The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, Part 2: The Field of Ice

MP3 Audio CD. The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, Part 2: The Field of Ice

CHAPTER I.



THE DOCTOR'S INVENTORY.


It was a bold project of Hatteras to push his way to the North Pole,
and gain for his country the honour and glory of its discovery. But
he had done all that lay in human power now, and, after having
struggled for nine months against currents and tempests, shattering
icebergs and breaking through almost insurmountable barriers, amid
the cold of an unprecedented winter, after having outdistanced all
his predecessors and accomplished half his task, he suddenly saw all
his hopes blasted. The treachery, or rather the despondency, of his
worn-out crew, and the criminal folly of one or two leading spirits
among them had left him and his little band of men in a terrible
situation--helpless in an icy desert, two thousand five hundred
miles away from their native land, and without even a ship to
shelter them.

However, the courage of Hatteras was still undaunted. The three men
which were left him were the
best on board his brig, and while they remained he might venture to
hope.

After the cheerful, manly words of the captain, the Doctor felt the
best thing to be done was to look their prospects fairly in the
face, and know the exact state of things. Accordingly, leaving his
companions, he stole away alone down to the scene of the explosion.

Of the Forward, the brig that had been so carefully built and had
become so dear, not a vestige remained. Shapeless blackened
fragments, twisted bars of iron,
cable ends still smouldering, and here and there in the distance
spiral wreaths of smoke, met his eye on all sides. His cabin and all
his precious treasures were gone, his books, and instruments, and
collections reduced to ashes. As he stood