Part 4 (1/2)
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No tie was the principal thing, as it needed thorough repair There was plenty of wood, and, profiting by the experience they had recently had of this mode of transit, several improvements were made by Bell
Inside, a sort of couch was laid for the American, and covered over with the tent The sht, but, to make up the deficiency, as much as piled up on it as it could hold
The Doctor did the packing, andtheir stores would last He found that, by allowing three-quarter rations to each ht hold out for three weeks
Towards seven in the evening, they felt so worn out that they were obliged to give up work for the night; but, before lying down to sleep, they heaped up the wood in the stove, andfire, deterathered round it, basking in the unaccusto their hot coffee and biscuits and peot all their sufferings
About seven in the ain and by three in the afternoon everything was ready
It was alh the sun had reappeared above the horizon since the 31st of January, his light was feeble and of short duration Happily the moon would rise about half-past six, and her soft beaht to show the road
The parting , though the jolting would necessarily increase his sufferings, for the Doctor would find on board the medicines he required for his cure
They lifted hie, and laid his, including Duk One final look towards the icy bed where the Forward had been, and the little party set out for the Porpoise Bell was scout, as before; the Doctor and Johnson took each a side of the sledge, and lent a helping hand when necessary; while Hatteras walked behind to keep all in the right track
They got on pretty quickly, for the weather was good, and the ice s, yet the te, and had often to stop and take breath About seven the moon shone out, and irradiated the whole horizon Far as the eye could see, there was nothing visible but a wide-stretching level plain of ice, without a solitary hummock or patch to relieve the uniformity
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As the Doctor remarked to his companion, it looked like some vast, monotonous desert
”Ay! Mr Clawbonny, it is a desert, but we shan't die of thirst in it at any rate”
”That's a co: it proves, Johnson, we reat distance from any coast The nearer the coast, the eneral, and you see there is not one in sight”
”The horizon is rather h”
”So it is, but ever since we started, we have been on this same interminable ice-field”
”Do you know, Mr Clawbonny, that sround? Fathoh, but they won't engulph us This white sheet over the thicker too; for in these latitudes, it snows nine days out of ten even in April and May; ay, and in June as well The ice here, in some parts, cannot be less than between thirty and forty feet thick”
”That sounds reassuring, at all events” said Johnson
”Yes, we're not like the skaters on the Serpentine--always in danger of falling through This ice is strong enough to bear the weight of the Custom House in Liverpool, or the Houses of Parliament in Westminster”
”Can they reckon pretty nearly what ice will bear, Mr
Clawbonny?” asked the old sailor, always eager for information