fr:Les Aventures du capitaine Hatteras - Première partie - 20
June 25th the Forward sighted Cape Dundas, at the northwest
extremity of Prince of Wales Land. There they found more
serious difficulties amid thicker ice. The channel here grows narrower, and the line of Crozier, Young, Day, and Lowther Islands ranged in a line, like forts in a harbor, drive the ice-streams nearer together. What would otherwise have taken the brig a day now detained her from June 25th to the end of the month; she was continually obliged to stop, to retreat, and to wait for a favorable chance to reach Beechey Island. Meanwhile a great deal of coal was consumed; though during the frequent halts only small fires were kept burning, sufficient to keep steam up day and night.
Hatteras knew as well as Shandon the reduced state of their
supply; but feeling sure that he would find fuel at Beechey
Island, he did not wish to lose a minute for the sake of economy; he had been very much delayed by running south; and, although he had taken the precaution of leaving England in April, he now found himself no farther advanced than previous expeditions had been at that time of year.
The 30th they passed Cape Walker at the northeast extremity
of Prince of Wales Land; this is the farthest point seen by Kennedy
and Bellot, May 3d, 1852, after an expedition across North
Somerset. In 1851, Captain Ommaney of the Austin expedition
had been fortunate enough to get fresh supplies there for his
detachment.
This cape, which is very lofty, is remarkable for its reddish-brown
color; in clear weather one can see as far as the entrance
of Wellington Channel. Towards evening they saw Cape Bellot, separated from Cape Walker by MacLeon's Bay. Cape Bellot was so named in presence of that young French officer to whom the English expedition gave three cheers. At this place the coast consists of a yellowish limestone, very rough in appearance; it is protected by huge masses of ice which the north wind collects there in the most imposing way. It was soon no longer to be seen from the Forward'''s deck, as she was making her way amid the loose ice towards Beechey Island through Barrow Strait.
Hatteras, having resolved to go on in a straight line, in order
not to be carried past the island, hardly left the deck during the
subsequent days; he would go aloft to the cross-trees in order to
pick out the most favorable path for the brig. All that skill, coolness, boldness, and even maritime genius could do, was done by him while sailing through the strait. It is true that fortune did not favor him, for at that season he ought to have found the sea nearly open. But by dint of sparing neither steam, his men, nor himself, he succeeded in his aim.
July 3d, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the ice-master saw
land to the north; Hatteras soon made it out as Beechey Island, the general rendezvous for arctic explorers. Almost all the ships which sail in these latitudes touch here. Here Franklin passed his first winter before advancing into Wellington Channel. Here Creswell, MacClure's lieutenant, after a march of four hundred and sixty miles on the ice, rejoined the Phoenix and returned to England. The last ship which anchored at Beechey Island before the Forward was the Fox; MacClintock took in supplies there, August 11, 1855, and repaired the dwellings and storehouses; that was but a short time previous. Hatteras knew all these details.
The boatswain's heart beat strongly at the sight of this island; when he had last seen it he had been quartermaster on the Phoenix; Hatteras asked him about the coast, the place for anchoring, the possible change of the bottom. The weather was perfect; the thermometer marked 57°.
“Well, Johnson,” said the captain, “do you recognize this
place?”
“Yes, Captain, it's Beechey Island! Only we ought to
bear a little farther north; the coast is more easily approached
there.”
“But the buildings, the stores?” said Hatteras.
“0, you can't see them till you get ashore; they are hidden
behind those hillocks you see there!”
“And did you carry large supplies there?”
“Yes, they were large. The Admiralty sent us here in
1853, under the command of Captain Inglefield, with the
steamer Phoenix and a transport, the Breadalbane, loaded
with supplies; we carried enough to revictual a whole expedition.”
“But did not the commander of the Fox take a great deal
away in 1855?” said Hatteras.