Chapter 24 Chapter One A Floating Fortress

The Fort Hope built by Lieutenant Jasper Hobson on the polar sea has drifted!Is this brave company employee to blame!No.Anybody else would be as wrong as he was.No human foreknowledge could have guarded against such contingencies.He thought it was built on rock, not even sand!The place that formed the Victoria Peninsula, bordering the American continent on the most accurate maps of British America, was suddenly separated from it.The peninsula is, in fact, but a gigantic ice pack, 150 square miles in size, whose surface has been reduced by successive impacts to a solid ground, lacking neither vegetation nor humus.For thousands of centuries it had been connected to the seashore, and I am afraid that the earthquake of January 8 shook this connection, and the peninsula became an island, and a wandering island at that, and for three months the currents guided it toward the Arctic Ocean. Float away!

yes!Just a big ice floe that holds Fort Hope and its inhabitants!Jasper Hobson immediately understood that there could be no other explanation for this shift in latitude.The isthmus which connects the Victoria Peninsula to the mainland has evidently been broken by a terrestrial convulsion, caused by a volcanic eruption some months before.While the arctic winter lasts, when the sea is still quite frozen, this break will not bring about any change in the geographical position of the peninsula.However, when the thawing period comes, when the ice cubes melt under the sun, when the large ice packs are pushed to the sea and recede to the horizon, when the sea is unimpeded, the ice-based The land, driven by some current, drifted with its woods, cliffs, headlands, lagoons, and seashores.For months it moved thus, and the winterers hunted not far from Hope, and failed to spot it.There were no marks, the fog obscured the view, it was invisible for miles, the surface of the land remained unmoved, and there was nothing to tell Lieutenant Hobson or his companions that they had changed from Continental to Insular .It is worth noting that despite the drift, the orientation of the peninsula did not even change, which must be due to its vast size and the direction of the water flow downstream.Indeed, if the cardinal points associated with Bathurst Point were changed, if the peninsula rotated, if the sunrise and sunset appeared on new horizons, then Jasper Hobson, Thomas Blake, Paulina Mrs Barnett or anyone else would understand what happened.But for some reason, this drift had until then followed the Earth's latitude, and so, although fast, was imperceptible.

Jasper Hobson, though he did not doubt the courage, composure, and strength of his companions, did not want them to know the truth.You can explain the new situation to them at any time, but let's study it carefully first.Fortunately, these honest soldiers and workers did not quite understand the results of astronomical observations, nor did they understand the longitude, latitude, and coordinate changes of the peninsula over the past few months. Therefore, they could not think of the thing that worried Jasper Hobson so much as a result of. The Lieutenant took courage, and he resolved to keep his secret and conceal his plight for as long as possible, since at this moment there was nothing to save him.

With great perseverance—which did not escape Mrs. Polina Barnett—he regained his composure, and contrived to do what he could to comfort the unfortunate Tobas Blake, who, in his despair, was anxious to catch hair. Astronomers never expected this to happen.He had not observed the strangeness of the place like the lieutenant, he could not understand anything, he could not conceive of any other possibility except the fact that, on that day, at the time he had intended, the moon had not fully covered the sun. .What would come naturally to him?It occurred to him that it was a great disgrace to astronomers, that the ephemeris was wrong, and he thought of this long-awaited eclipse, the eclipse of his Thomas Blake, whom he had come all the way from, and who had suffered so much, to think The solar eclipse to be observed is not a total solar eclipse in this area of ​​the earth on the 70-degree north latitude line!No!He could never take this!Never!So, he was terribly depressed, as he should be.Thomas Blake soon learned the truth, though.

Jasper Hobson, however, convinced his companions that the missed eclipse was a matter of nothing but astronomers, and allowed them to get on with their work.They were about to do the same, but Corporal Jolliffe stopped short as they were leaving the return station at the top of Bathurst Head: "Lieutenant," he approached and raised his hand in salute, "may I ask you a simple question?" "Certainly, Corporal," replied Jasper Hobson, not quite sure what his subordinate wanted to say, "well, go ahead!" But the corporal was silent.He hesitated.Her petite wife nudged him.

"Well, Lieutenant," the corporal continued, "it's about the 70th parallel. If I understand you correctly, we're not where you think we should be..." The lieutenant frowned. "Indeed," he said vaguely... "We were wrong in our calculations... our first observation was wrong. But why... what do you care about?" "Because of salary, Lieutenant," said the corporal slyly. "You also know that the company promised to pay double wages..." Jasper Hobson breathed a sigh of relief.Indeed, it is remembered that his people could have earned higher wages if they could settle in the weaker 70th parallel or further north.Corporal Jolliff had always been interested in this, and all he thought about in all this was money, and he was afraid he wouldn't get double pay.

"Relax, Corporal," replied Jasper Hobson with a smile, "and reassure your companions. Our mistake is indeed inexplicable, but fortunately it will not cause you any loss. We are not at 70 It's below the 70-degree line, but above the 70-degree line, so you get double wages." "Thank you, Lieutenant," said the corporal, his face beaming. "Thank you. It's not that money is always on people's minds, but it's the damn money that's always on your mind." After considering the matter, Corporal Jolliffe and his companions departed, not suspecting the terrible and strange change in the nature of this place.

Sergeant Long was also about to return to the trading station when Jasper Hobson stopped him and said to him: "Stay here, Sergeant Long." The sergeant turned back and waited for the lieutenant to speak. Still on top of the headland at this time were Mrs Polina Barnett, March, Thomas Blake, the Lieutenant and the Sergeant. The woman traveler hadn't said a word since the eclipse event.She questioned Jasper Hobson with her eyes, and he seemed to duck.More surprise than worry on the face of brave woman traveler.Does she understand?Did she, like the lieutenant, understand it all at once?Has she understood the situation, and what conclusions has she deduced from it?Anyway, she said nothing, and leaned against Madge, who put his arm around her waist.

As for the astronomer, he paced up and down.He couldn't stand still.His hair stood on end, and he gesticulated.He clapped his hands and put them down again.He let out a desperate sigh.He punches the sun!He stared at the sun, risking burning his eyes! After a few minutes, the restlessness in his heart finally calmed down.He felt he could speak, and, with arms crossed and eyes burning, he walked straight up to Lieutenant Hobson. "Two of us!" he cried. "Two of us, Mr. Hudson's Bay Company agent!" This address, this tone, and this attitude are very much like a challenge.Jasper Hobson didn't want to stop him, but just stared at the poor man, and he understood the astronomer's dismay.

"Mr. Hobson," said Thomas Blake, with irrepressible irritation in his voice, "please tell me what this means? Is this folly originated in you? If so, sir, it will be more serious. Hit you better than me, hear? You'll regret it!" "What do you mean, Mr. Black?" Jasper Hobson asked quietly. "I mean, sir," continued the astronomer, "that you promised to bring your detachment to the 70th parallel..." "Or north," answered Jasper Hobson. "North, sir," cried Thomas Blake. "Hmph! What am I doing up north! I shouldn't have left the 70th parallel in British America to see a total solar eclipse, and we're three degrees off now!"

"Then, Mr. Black," replied Jasper Hobson in the calmest tone, "we have been mistaken, and that is all." "That's all!" cried the astronomer, irritated all the more by the lieutenant's calm. "Furthermore, I would like to draw your attention," continued Jasper Hobson, "that if I am mistaken, you shall share my error, you, Mr. Black, for, when we reached Bathurst Point , you took your instrument, I took mine, and we measured its latitude together. Therefore, you can't blame me for the observation errors, and you have a share!" Hearing this answer, Thomas Blake was subdued, and although he was indignant, he did not know how to refute it.There is no acceptable reason!If it was wrong, he was wrong too!And in European academia, at the Greenwich Observatory, what do people think of a clumsy astronomer who can get the latitude wrong?Under what circumstances would a man like Thomas Blake be wrong by 3 degrees when measuring the altitude of the sun?How long would it be before the opportunity to accurately determine the latitude and enable him to observe a total solar eclipse!Thomas Blake is a disgraced scholar! "But how come," he cried, pulling his hair again, "how could I have made such a mistake? Don't I know how to use a sextant! Don't I know how to calculate angles! Then, I He's blind! If that's the case, I just jumped off the headland and landed head first..." "Mr. Black," said Hobson now gravely, "don't reproach yourself, you have made no error of measurement, and you have nothing to reproach yourself for!" "Then, you alone..." "I am as much as you are, Mr. Black. Listen to me, and so are you, ma'am," he added, turning to Mrs. Pauline Barnett, "and you, March, and you, Lang Sergeant. I have only one request to you, be absolutely conservative with what I have said to you. There is no need to frighten our wintering companions, or perhaps disappoint us." Mrs Polina Barnett, her companion, the sergeant, and Thomas Blake all approached the lieutenant.They didn't say anything, but they tacitly kept what they were about to hear a secret. "Friends," said Jasper Hobson, "a year ago, when we arrived at this point in British America, we determined the position of the Bathers Feature, a headland which lies on the 70th parallel north, If it is now above the 72nd parallel north latitude, that is to say, it has passed 3 degrees to the north, it is because it has drifted." "Drift!" cried Thomas Blake. "Go tell someone, sir! Since when has the headland drifted!" "But just so, Mr. Black," replied the Lieutenant gravely, "the whole Victoria Peninsula is but an island of ice. An earthquake has separated it from the shores of America, and now a great Arctic tide is driving it! ..." "Where are you going?" Sergeant Long asked. "As God wills!" replied Jasper Hobson. The lieutenant's companions were silent.Their eyes turned involuntarily to the south, to the vast plain, to the broken isthmus, but from their position they could not see, except to the north, the edge of the sea which now surrounded them on all sides.If Bathurst Point were several hundred feet above sea level, their surroundings would be clearly on display, and they would be seen to have become islands. A thrill made them sick at the thought of Fort Hope and its inhabitants being carried out into the open sea, the plaything of the wind and the waves. "Therefore, Mr. Hobson," said Paulina Barnett at this moment, "therefore all the curious things you observe in the land are explained, are they not?" "Yes, ma'am," replied the lieutenant, "everything is clear. This Victorian peninsula, now the island, which we thought to be well-founded, is in reality nothing but a great ice floe, which has been held tight for centuries. Large ice floes attached to the American continent. Slowly, the wind brought mud and sand, sowed seeds to grow into forests and vegetation. Rainfall from clouds brought fresh water from lagoons and creeks. Green plants made It has changed! But under this lake, under this earth, under this sand, under our feet, is the ice that floats on the sea, because it is light. Yes! It is the floating ice that carries us, and took us away, that's why, since we've lived here, we've seen neither pebbles nor boulders on the ground! That's why its banks are steep, and why, when we dig traps for reindeer At the same time, the ice appeared 10 feet below the formation, and finally, why the tides are not obvious at all in this coastal area, because the high tide and low tide rise and fall with the whole peninsula!" "It's all explained, indeed, Mr Hobson," replied Mrs Pauline Barnet, "and your premonition is all right. I should like to ask you, however, about these tides, which are gone now, But why is there a slight change when we reach Bathurst Point?" "Because, ma'am," replied Lieutenant Hobson, "because when we arrived, the peninsula was still connected to the American continent by a fragile isthmus, so that it still had some resistance to high tides, and on its northern coast, The water rose about two feet, not 20. So when the earthquake created a break and the half-dang island was completely free to heave with the waves, the tides were completely gone, which was just a few days ago when the new moon appeared We observed it together!" Thomas Blake, disappointed as he was, was listening to Lieutenant Jasper Hobson's explanation with great attention.He felt that the lieutenant's deduction was absolutely correct, but he thought with resentment that such a phenomenon, so rare, so unexpected, so "absurd"--so he said--this phenomenon just missed him. Observing a total solar eclipse left him silent, gloomy, and, so to speak, embarrassed. "Poor Mr. Black!" said Mrs. Polina Barnett, "it must be confessed that no astronomer since the birth of the world has had such misfortune!" "Anyway, ma'am," answered Jasper Hobson, "it's never our fault! One can blame nothing, not you, and not me. Nature made it all, it is The only culprit! The earthquake shook the peninsula from the mainland, and we were literally taken far away on floating islands. This also explains why there are so many fur animals and other animals around the fort, they are also like We're stuck in this land, too!" "And," said March, "that explains why the competitor you fear has not visited since the warm season, Mr. Hobson!" "As a result," added the sergeant, "the detachment sent by Captain Claventi couldn't come to Bathurs' waiting corner either!" "Then, in the end," said Paulina and Mrs. Barnett, looking at the lieutenant, "I have to give up any hope of returning to Europe, at least not within this year!" The tone of the traveler's resignation suggested that she was more optimistic than one might think.She seemed to have suddenly tolerated this strange situation, and seemed to have left a series of interesting things for her to observe.Besides, even if she was pessimistic, even if her companions were full of complaints, even if they were blaming, would that have prevented what happened?Can they control the progress of the floating island?Can they connect the island continents somehow?cannot!Only God can control the future of Fort Hope.Must obey God's will.