Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Davis Strait

On this day, the "Forward" easily passed through the broken ice, and the wind was smooth, but the temperature was too low, and the air flow swept over the ice sheet, bringing a biting cold. A close watch must be kept at night, and the drifting icebergs are concentrated in this narrow passage; there are about a hundred of them on the horizon; Melt into or submerge into the deep ocean.There are also several long rows of logs that should be avoided; on the top of the fore-mast there is also a "crow's nest", which consists of a barrel that turns at the bottom, and a part of the iceberg pilot's body can be protected from the wind, He monitors the sea, indicates icebergs he sees, and even steers ships forward if need be.

The nights are short and, due to refraction, from January 31st the sun reappears and tends to rise higher and higher on the horizon.But snow obscured the view, making navigation difficult even if it didn't bring darkness. On April 21st, Cape Regret appeared in the fog; the crew was very tired from sailing, and since the ship entered the sea of ​​ice floes, the crew had not rested for a moment. Make a way. The doctor chatted with Mr. Johnson in the stern, and Sandon slept a few hours in his room.Croubney manages to get the old sailor's conversation going, and his seafaring experience of such magnitude is an interesting and lively educational lesson.The doctor was very kind to him, and the boatswain was no different to him.

"You see, Mr. Crawburn," said Johnson, "this district is quite different; it is called 'the Green,' but there are not many weeks of the year in which it lives up to that name!" "Who knows, my good Johnson," replied the doctor. "Didn't this land have a right to be called that in the X century? It's not unique on our planet. You'd be surprised if I told you that, according to the Icelandic chroniclers, in the eight hundred or so Nine hundred years ago, there were more than 200 villages on this continent!" "You astonish me so much," Mr. Clopani, "I can't believe what you're saying. It's a desolate area."

"Yes! However desolate it may be, it will provide a place of shelter for its inhabitants, even for the civilized people of Europe." "True! On Disko Island, on Upnavik Island, we met people who would live in the same climate; but I always thought they were there out of necessity, not out of fun. .” "I would like to believe it, but one takes things for granted, and these Greenlanders seem to me to have as little complaints as the workers in our great cities; they may be unhappy, but it is certain that they are not at all miserable; And, I say unfortunately, the word fails to express what I think, after all, if they have not the advantage of temperate regions, these people who were born in harsh climates, obviously find here pleasures we did not expect!"

"Should think so, Mr. Crawburn, for Heaven is just, but many voyages have brought me to these shores, and my heart is always pained to see this desolate and lonely sight, where one might, for instance, Give these capes, headlands, and bays more eloquent names, for Cape Farewell and Cape Sorrows will not attract navigators!" "I have also noticed this," replied the doctor, "but these names have a geographical meaning which cannot be confused; Among the names, if I meet Cape Sorrow, I soon find Mersey Bay, Cape Destiny is associated with Port Anxiety, Bay of Rejection takes me to Cape Eden; Just resting in Safe Bay, where I see a succession of risks, failures, obstacles, successes, desperations, and achievements. These are all associated with the great men of our country, and these proper nouns, like a set of ancient medals, help me review these oceans entire history."

"That's right, Mr. Croubney, and may we encounter more Bay of Success than Cape Despair in our voyages!" "I hope so, Johnson; but tell me, has the crew lessened their fears?" "One point, sir, but, anyway, since we entered the Channel, everyone has started to care about the mysterious captain again. More than one person expects him to appear in Greenland. So far, nothing. Think about it, Crowe Mr. Burney, we say in private, doesn't that baffle you a little?" "Yes, Johnson." "Do you believe in such a captain?" "no doubt."

"But what made him do it?" "If I'm going to be blunt, Johnson, I think this guy wants to take the ship where it's never going to come back. But if he's on the ship when it's going out and everybody wants to know where the ship's going, He would be in an awkward position." "Why is this happening?" "Indeed, if he wanted to do something superhuman, if he wanted to go into places no one else could, you think he'd recruit crews? a need." "It is possible, Dr. Crawburn, that I have known more than one daring adventurer, whose name is enough to terrify anyone who would take such a voyage with him. . . . "

"Except for me," said the doctor. "Besides you and I," replied Johnson, "I follow you! I mean our captain is undoubtedly one of those adventurers. Anyway, we shall see. I think this brave stranger will come from The Upernavik Coast or Melville Bay quietly appeared on board and told us where he fancied taking the ship." "I'm thinking the same as you, Johnson; but the difficulty lies in driving all the way to Melville Sound, and look at the icebergs all around us! They hardly give way to the Forward. Say! Look at that vast ice field. " "In the language of our whalers, Mr. Crawburn, we call this an icefield, which means a continuous expanse of ice as far as the eye can see."

"Then from this side, this broken ice field, what are these long fragments whose edges are more or less connected together?" "It's a pack of drift ice. If it's round, we call it a Palch. If it's elongated, we call it a glacier." "Where's the floating ice in there?" "These are ice floes. The taller ones are called icebergs. It is very dangerous for a ship to touch them. They should be carefully avoided. Look, the ice field over there is raised due to the pressure between the ice blocks, We call these ice mounds; if the bottom of this ice mound is submerged, we call it juvenile ice, and these should be given names to identify them."

"Ah! what a strange sight it is," exclaimed the doctor, as he surveyed the wonders of the northern seas, and his imagination was at once excited by all these phenomena. "Undoubtedly," Johnson replied, "ice floes sometimes take on strange shapes, and we humans don't have to be embarrassed to explain them in their own way." "Look, Johnson, marvel at this world of ice and snow! Doesn't it look like a marvelous city, with its minarets and mosques, in the pale moonlight, an Eastern city? Farther away is a long row of Gothic dome, reminding us of Henry VII's church or the palace of Parliament."

"Indeed, Mr. Crawburn, it is suitable for any taste, but these cities or churches are dangerous to live in, and one should not get too close to them, and the bases of these steeples are wobbly, and a mere touch can shake them off." Ships like the Forward crush." "How can one venture at sea like this," went on the doctor, "without a steam engine! How can one imagine a sailing ship among moving rocks?" "It's still done, Mr. Crawfordney, and against the wind, which I've done more than once, and I'll tell you: people patiently anchor, on an iceberg, more or less away from it; But in the end people waited for Jike to go on the road, and honestly, it takes months to sail this way, and with a little luck, we only need a few days." "It seems to me," said the doctor, "that the temperature is still on a downward trend." "It's a bit of a nuisance," replied Johnson, "that the floes have to be thawed before they melt and sink into the Atlantic, which is particularly plentiful in Davis Strait, because at Cape Walsingham and Holstable The land between the Capes is evidently very close, and May and June will be the best season for our navigation." "Not bad, but first you have to go." "Should pass, Mr. Crawburn, in June and July we shall be free to sail like whaling ships, but the order is clear, and it shall be April. Unless I am mistaken, Our captain is a well-tested man, he has his own opinion, and he chose such a good time to set off, so he can only travel far away. In short, let's wait and see." The doctor pointed out that the drop in temperature was justified. At noon, the thermometer indicated only -14°C. The northwest wind blew, and the sky became clear.There is no way to avoid all the ice floes, and there are quite a few that hit it. Among them, the highest one was carried away by the undercurrent of the seabed and drifted in the opposite direction. So people realized the difficulty of this voyage. The mechanics did not get a moment's rest. They operated the steam engine on the deck. According to the command of the captain on duty, the joystick opened the steam engine sometimes, stopped it sometimes, and turned it over sometimes.Sometimes you need to rush through the exit of the ice rink, and sometimes you need to drive at full speed to rush through the iceberg that is about to close the only feasible exit. Perhaps an iceberg turned over unexpectedly, and the ship had to back carefully so as not to be crushed .This group of ice floes, swept, gathered, and mixed by the northern currents, is swarming the route. Once it freezes, they will form an insurmountable barrier for the "Forward". There are countless birds in these sea areas: Petrels hovering around and calling in a muffled voice; there are also many seagulls with big heads, short necks, and flat beaks. fly.These birds add life to the scene. Lots of logs came floating up and bumping against each other and making noises, and a few sperm whales with their huge, humped heads swam to the side of the boat, but couldn't hunt them, though Simpson, the whale-gunner, wasn't out of his mind.In the evening, many seals were also seen, sticking their noses to the bottom of the water and swimming among the huge ice floes. On the 22nd, the temperature continued to drop, and the "Forward" sailed smoothly under the drive of the steam engine. The wind direction was finally northwest, and the sails were furled. All day Sunday, the sailors struggled with little effort.After Sandon read the Bible, the crew started hunting puffins, and caught a lot of them.The birds, properly cooked according to Crawford's method, made a delicious addition to the tables of officers and sailors. At three o'clock in the evening, the "Advance" came to Jin Desaier, which is east to north and east, and the Tipuding Mountains, which is half to the east and south to east; the sea was rough, and a large amount of fog suddenly appeared. Diffuse from the gray sky.However, at noon, a closer look can be made.The latitude of the ship is 65°20' and the longitude is 54°22'.Two more latitudes are needed to sail more smoothly on a freer sea. During the next three days, April 24th, 25th and 26th, there was a relentless struggle with the pack ice, and the handling of the engine became very tiring, and every minute the steam engine was suddenly interrupted or turned over, and the air flow hissed. Hissing out of the valve. Because of the thick fog, the approaching iceberg was only known by the muffled sound of the avalanche; the ship immediately turned around and almost ran into the freshwater ice floes, which were very dazzling, transparent as crystal, and hard as stone.Richard Shandon did not miss this opportunity to replenish fresh water, and every day he brought tons of ice to the ship. Physicians cannot get used to the optical illusions created by light refraction in these areas.After all, what appeared to him to be a small ice floe was 10 or 12 nautical miles away from the ship, and he tried his best to adjust his eyes to the strange phenomenon so that he could quickly correct his vision accordingly. mistake. In the end, the crew soon became less fatigued, either thanks to the tugboat being pulled along the ice sheet, or with the help of long poles to stay away from the most dangerous ice floes.But on Friday, April 27, the Forward remained at the impassable edge of the polar circle.