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This news produced a great sensation on board. Our last hope was suddenly extinguished. And what a blow to Captain Len Guy! We should have to seek land of the austral zone under higher latitudes without being sure of ever coming across it! And then the cry, “Back ship! back ship!” sounded almost unanimously on board the Halbrane.
What it behoves us to do is, while watching the boat, to keep an eye on the provisions.” “We are lucky,” added Hurllguerly, “to have put our cargo in safety. Poor, dear Halbrane. She will remain in these seas, like the fane, her elder sister!”
And what good luck it would be if the Halbrane, in this first fortnight of December, were to find the Weddell route open! There! I am talking of the Weddell route as though it were a macadamized road, well kept, with mile-stones and “This way to the South Pole” on a signpost! The numerous wandering masses of ice gave our men no trouble; they were easily avoided.
Nevertheless, I resolved to wait, before I came to any definite determination, until an opportunity of speaking to the captain should arise. After an interval of unfavourable weather, during which the Halbrane made but slow progress, on the 4th of October, in the morning, the aspect of the sky and the sea underwent a marked change.
There, on the coast, at about three miles from Klock-Klock, they established themselves in a grotto very like that in our own occupation on the coast of Halbrane Land.
The wind, continuing to blow steadily from the west, was in our favour, and if the present speed of the Halbrane could be maintained, as I ventured to suggest to Captain Len Guy, the voyage from the South Orkneys to the Polar Circle would be a short one. Beyond, as I knew, we should have to force the gate of the thick barrier of icebergs, or to discover a breach in that ice-fortress.
The Halbrane was not defenceless, however; on the contrary, she was heavily armed, and this was well, for those southern seas were not too safe; they were frequented at that period by pirates, and on approaching the isles the Halbrane was put into a condition to resist attack. Besides, the men always slept with one eye open.
Now, of a sudden, the grapnel that had belonged to the Halbrane, and was in the bow of the boat, flew out of its socket as though drawn by an irresistible power, and the rope that held it was strained to breaking point. It seemed to tow us, as it grazed the surface of the water towards the shore.
Were there only drifting ice-mountains in the distance instead of a shore? Presently, there was no doubt on the subject; for some time past the crew had no longer believed existence of land in that direction. Ten minutes afterwards, the man in the crow’s-nest announced that several icebergs were coming north-west, in an oblique direction, into the course of the Halbrane.
Then the boatswain took a hearty leave of the innkeeper, and was rowed back to the quay. Thomas D’Arcy McGee. Never did a voyage begin more prosperously, or a passenger start in better spirits. The interior of the Halbrane corresponded with its exterior. Nothing could exceed the perfect order, the Dutch cleanliness of the vessel.
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