Chapter 33 Chapter 10 Kamchatka Current

It's not hard to imagine how the people in the castle would warmly welcome Kalyma's arrival!For them, it means their connection to the outside world is open again.Mrs. Mac Knapp, Mrs. Ray, and Mrs. Jolliff rushed to embrace her.Karuma saw the baby at a glance, ran over and kissed the baby repeatedly. Karuma was really impressed by the hospitality of her European friends.She received a warm welcome.All were glad to hear that she was going to spend the winter at the Mercantile Station, for it was too late for her to return to her New Georgia residence before winter came. However, when the residents of Fort Hope were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of the Eskimo girl, what did Jasper Hobson think when he saw Karuma being helped in by Mrs. Barnett?He could hardly believe his eyes.A thought flashed through his mind at once like lightning, namely, that despite taking daily bearings, no one noticed that Victoria Island had been close to the mainland.

Mrs Barnett read Lieutenant Hobson's thoughts in his eyes, and she shook her head at him. Jasper Hobson understood that nothing had changed, and he looked forward to Mrs Barnet's explanation of Karuma's coming. After a while, Hobson and the female traveler went for a walk below Bathurst Point, and the lieutenant couldn't wait to inquire about Kaluma's adventures. That is to say, all of Jasper Hobson's guesses are correct!In a storm, a hurricane from the northeast has carried the island out of the current!During that terrible night of August 30th and August 31st, this great ice sheet was less than a mile from the American continent!What Jasper Hobson saw and heard was neither the lights of the ship nor the cry of the castaway!The land is there, just around the corner, and if the wind blows in this direction for an hour longer, Victoria Island will be on the coast of Russian America!

Just then the wind turned, a fatal and catastrophic turn, and carried the island back out to sea!The island fell again into the irresistible current, and from then on it was brought by the irresistible speed of the southeast wind into a dangerous situation between two opposing forces, either of which would destroy the island and make the island even more dangerous. All the victims will return to hell! The Lieutenant and Mrs Barnett had both talked about these things about a hundred times.Lieutenant Hobson then inquired whether any significant changes had taken place in the area between Bathurst Point and Moss Bay.

Mrs. Barnett told him that some of the shores there seemed to be sunken, where the waves had landed where they had never been able to reach before.She also recounted the events at Cape Eskimo, saying there had been severe fractures there. There is nothing more worrying than these.Apparently, the ice sheet at the base of the island is slowly melting, and warmer seawater is eroding the bottom layers of the ice sheet.What happened at Cape Eskimo could happen at Cape Bathurst at any moment.The houses of the merchant station also fall into the abyss every moment.The only thing that can save the situation is the coming of winter, and this year's winter is delayed!

The second day was September 4th. The result of the lieutenant's observation was that the position of Victoria Island had not changed significantly compared with the previous day.Between two opposing currents, it didn't move.In general, the current situation is the best. "I just hope that the severe cold will come soon, and I hope that the ice floes in the Arctic Ocean will stop us from floating," Hobson said, "I just hope that there will be ice all around us, and then we will be saved. A hundred miles away, we might reach either Russian America or the shores of Asia if we ventured our way through the frozen ice. But winter, come winter!"

At this time, according to the lieutenant's order, the final preparations for the winter were almost completed.People are busy preparing feed for livestock for the long polar winter nights.With nothing to do, the dogs grew fat and strong, which was better, because when the men left Fort Hope and returned to the mainland, these poor domestic animals had plenty of ways to run and work to do.It is of course important to keep them in good condition.Their food consists of bloody meat, especially the meat of reindeer they hunt is essential. The reindeer raised here reproduce very quickly.The pens have been built, and the meat sauce has filled the storehouses in the fort.The female reindeer provided Mrs. Jolliff with abundant fresh milk, which was an indispensable raw material for her daily cooking.

The corporal and his little wife took advantage of the warm weather to sow the seeds again in the fields, which had produced a good crop the previous season.The land was plowed before the snow fell.Planted sorrel, horseradish and labrador.These precious anti-scurbic plants can be found everywhere in the colonies. Firewood has also filled the warehouse.Now let the severe winter come, even if the mercury column of the cold and heat watch freezes outside, it doesn't matter. There is no need to use furniture as firewood to keep warm like in the previous severe winter.Carpenter Mike Knapp and his companions have adopted various methods. They also collected the remaining wood from the construction of the ship, which added a lot of firewood.

During this period, everyone has started winter hunting activities, and the fur animals they have hunted include minks, blue foxes, and ferrets.With the lieutenant's approval, Marbor and Sabine dug several traps around the yard.Jasper Hobson did not refuse their request, lest arouse their suspicion, and he could see no reason why they should not be allowed to hunt in order to increase their fur stores.Of course he knows that this kind of work is meaningless, and there is no benefit in exterminating these precious and harmless animals.However, the meat of these animals can be fed to dogs, which can save a lot of reindeer meat.

Everyone was preparing for the winter, as if Fort Hope was built on solid ground.Soldiers scrambled to work with the same zeal they would certainly not have had if they had known the secret of their situation. More careful observations were made over the next few days without any noticeable change in the location of Victoria Island.Jasper Hobson saw that the island had not changed, and a new hope arose in him.Nature hasn't shown many signs of winter yet, with temperatures still stuck at about 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius), but people have noticed that a few swans have already flown by, headed for warmer places in the south.Other fliers, though not afraid of the long trek across the ocean, were gradually leaving the island.They know very well that whether it is the American continent or the Asian continent, the temperature there is not so severe, the land there is more hospitable, there is a variety of food, and the distance is not too far, their wings are strong enough to carry them take it there.On Mrs. Barnett's suggestion, they captured several birds, and the lieutenant fastened adhesive tape around their necks, with the location of the floating island and everyone's name written on it.The birds were then released, and they watched with a glimmer of hope as they headed south.

Of course, the event took place in secret, and the only people present were Mrs Barnett, March, Karuma, Jasper Hobson, and Sergeant Long. As for the quadrupeds of those islands, they could not migrate to the south as before.At this time in previous years, after the beginning of September, reindeer, arctic hares, and even wolves will leave the Bathurst Point area to spend the winter in Big Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake, south of the Arctic Circle.But this year, the sea has become an insurmountable obstacle for them, and they can only wait until it is frozen before going to a place suitable for winter.Driven by instinct, they may have tried to go to the south, but because they were blocked by the sea, they instinctively returned to the vicinity of Fort Hope, and returned to people's surroundings.And those hunters were their worst enemies in the past.

From September 5th to 9th, the position of Victoria Island did not change.This eddy between the two currents has kept the island in place.If this situation continued for another 15 days, 3 weeks, Lieutenant Hobson could assert that they would be saved. But the bad luck has not passed, and there are more terrible tests waiting for the residents of Fort Hope! On September 10, the location of Victoria Island moved, and it moved in a northerly direction, but the speed of the movement was not fast. Jasper Hobson was taken aback!The island was finally swept into the Kamchatka Current!It is drifting towards the unknown sea where ice packs are formed!It is drifting to the lonely arctic region that human beings cannot reach, and it is drifting to a place where it can never return! Lieutenant Hobson did not conceal this new danger from those who knew their situation.Lady Paulina Barnett, March, Karuma and Sergeant Long all faced this new danger with courage and poise. "Maybe," said the traveler, "the island will stop drifting! Maybe it will move slowly! There is always hope... Let us be patient! Winter is coming, let us prepare for it Go! In short, God will arrange everything!" "My friends," asked Lieutenant Hobson, "you see, will I tell you all about the situation? You all know what kind of situation we are in and what accidents are going to happen! But it is a shame to keep such dangers from them. Can we take responsibility?" "Let's wait and see," said Mrs. Barnett without hesitation. "As long as we are not at the end of our rope, let us not despair." "I think so too." Sergeant Long briefly added. In fact, Lieutenant Barnett thought so too, and he was glad that everyone agreed. On September 11th and 12th, the island moved northward more obviously.Victoria Island is drifting at 12 to 13 miles a day.That means it drifts north, away from the mainland, 12 to 13 miles per day, that is, following the curve of the Kamchatka Current to the north at high latitudes.The island will soon cross the 70th line, which formerly passed through the northernmost point of Cape Bathurst, and there will be no more land north of this line. Jasper Hobson marked the observed positions on the map every day, and he could see what kind of abyss the island was drifting into.The only hope is that the farther north the island goes, the sooner it will welcome winter, as Mrs Barnett said.Severe cold and freezing can harden ice sheets.If the people of Cape Hope didn't want to die at the bottom of the ocean, how far and how many untrodden areas would they have to travel to get back?what!If the ship had been built, it would not have been perfect, and Lieutenant Hobson would not hesitate to take all the men on board; but although the carpenters were diligently working, the ship was not yet built, and it would not be completed in a short time, because Mike Knapp The boat had to be built with care, 20 people's lives were at stake, and it sailed in very dangerous waters. On September 16, Victoria Island drifted 75 to 80 miles north from the point at which it remained motionless in the Kamchatka and Bering Sea currents.By this time, the signs of winter had begun to appear.It snows often, sometimes in heavy snow.The mercury column of the cold and heat meter is gradually falling.The average daytime temperature is still 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6 to 7 degrees Celsius), while nighttime drops to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (zero degrees Celsius).The daily sun is just walking on the horizon.It only rises a few degrees around noon, and the sun is invisible for 11 out of 24 hours. During the night of September 16-17, a thin layer of ice formed on the sea.These are ten thin ice flakes, like snowflakes, and there are such ice cubes everywhere on the clear sea level.It can be seen that, according to the famous navigator Strisby, this is the snow that can calm the sea quickly, just like the effect of oil poured into the sea by a sailor to temporarily calm the waves.These small ice cubes gather together when they encounter calm water; but when they have just formed a plane, they will be broken and separated again when they encounter undulating waves. Jasper Hobson watched the first ice formation carefully.He knew that it only took 24 hours for the ice shell to gradually strengthen until it was 2 to 3 fingers thick, which could bear the weight of a person.He estimated that Victoria Island would stop drifting northward soon. However, the results of the night were destroyed by the day.At night, the movement of the small island will be blocked by ice, but during the day the ice will melt or be crushed by the waves, which can no longer stop the movement of the small island, and the strong current makes it drift at a very fast speed. In this way, the speed of the northward movement was accelerated, and nothing could be done to stop the movement of the islet. At the autumnal equinox on September 21, the days and nights are as long as they are, and from that point onwards, the days gradually become shorter and the nights longer.Winter has clearly arrived, but the temperature has not dropped suddenly.On this day, Victoria Island has almost reached the 71st parallel north latitude.For the first time, the island has begun to rotate on its axis, and Hobson estimates that it has turned 90 degrees. Now one can estimate what Hobson might have been worried about.What he had tried to conceal till this time, nature was about to reveal to the least aware.The situation is that due to the rotational motion of the island, its cardinal point has been completely changed.Bathurst Point no longer points north, but east.The sun, moon, and stars no longer rise and set from their original horizon.People like Mike Knapp, Ray, Marbor, and others who also watched regularly could not fail to notice this important change. But to Hobson's great satisfaction, none of these brave soldiers seemed to notice this situation.The change of the azimuth cardinal point is not too big, and the sky is often shrouded in fog, making it difficult for people to observe the changes in the starry sky. But this rotational motion appears to be occurring in parallel with a faster drifting motion.Since that day, Victoria Island has been drifting at a speed of 1 mph.It continues to move toward higher latitudes, farther and farther away from land.Jasper Hobson did not despair, for despair was not in his character; but he also felt that the sky was falling, and he looked forward to winter, and hoped that winter would soon bring them severe cold. The temperature continues to drop. A heavy snowfall fell on September 23 and 24, which thickened the ice layer on the frozen sea, and the boundless sea ice sheet was forming.The island was still drifting, it was still breaking through the ice, but the resistance to its movement was increasing.Looking around, the sea is still surrounding the island. Finally, on September 27, it was observed that Victoria Island was surrounded by a vast ice sheet and could not move since last night!It stopped at longitude 177° 22' west, latitude 77° 57' north, more than 600 miles from any continent!