Part 27 (1/2)
I hastened back along the trail thinking that a rise in the ground obscured the view. There was no such good fortune, however, for I came to a gaping hole in the surface about eleven feet wide. The lid of a creva.s.se had broken in; two sledge tracks led up to it on the far side but only one continued on the other side.
Frantically waving to Mertz to bring up my sledge, upon which there was some alpine rope, I leaned over and shouted into the dark depths below.
No sound came back but the moaning of a dog, caught on a shelf just visible one hundred and fifty feet below. The poor creature appeared to have broken its back, for it was attempting to sit up with the front part of its body while the hinder portion lay limp. Another dog lay motionless by its side. Close by was what appeared in the gloom to be the remains of the tent and a canvas tank containing food for three men for a fortnight.
We broke back the edge of the neve lid and took turns leaning over secured by a rope, calling into the darkness in the hope that our companion might be still alive. For three hours we called unceasingly but no answering sound came back. The dog had ceased to moan and lay without a movement. A chill draught was blowing out of the abyss. We felt that there was little hope.
Why had the first sledge escaped the creva.s.se? It seemed that I had been fortunate, because my sledge had crossed diagonally, with a greater chance of breaking the snow-lid. The sledges were within thirty pounds of the same weight. The explanation appeared to be that Ninnis had walked by the side of his sledge, whereas I had crossed it sitting on the sledge. The whole weight of a man's body bearing on his foot is a formidable load and no doubt was sufficient to smash the arch of the roof.
By means of a fis.h.i.+ng line we ascertained that it was one hundred and fifty feet sheer to the ledge on which the remains were seen; on either side the creva.s.se descended into blackness. It seemed so very far down there and the dogs looked so small that we got out the field gla.s.ses, but could make out nothing more by their aid.
All our available rope was tied together but the total length was insufficient to reach the ledge and any idea of going below to investigate and to secure some of the food had to be abandoned.
Stunned by the unexpectedness of it all and having exhausted the few appliances we carried for such a contingency, we felt helpless. In such moments action is the only tolerable thing, and if there had been any expedient however hazardous which might have been tried, we should have taken all and more than the risk. Stricken dumb with the pity of it and heavy at heart, we turned our minds mechanically to what lay nearest at hand.
There were rations on the other sledge, and we found that there was a bare one and a half weeks' food for ourselves and nothing at all for the dogs. Part of the provisions consisted of raisins and almonds which had been taken as extras or ”perks,” as they were usually called.
Among other losses there were both spade and ice-axe, but fortunately a spare tent-cover was saved. Mertz's burberry trousers had gone down with the sledge and the best subst.i.tute he could get was a pair of thick Jaeger woollen under-trousers from the spare clothing we possessed.
Later in the afternoon Mertz and I went ahead to a higher point in order to obtain a better view of our surroundings. At a point two thousand four hundred feet above sea-level and three hundred and fifteen and three-quarter miles eastward from the Hut, a complete observation for position and magnetic azimuth was taken.
The coastal slopes were fearfully broken and scaured in their descent to the sea, which was frozen out to the horizon. No islands were observed or anything which could correspond with the land marked by Wilkes as existing so much farther to the north. Patches of ”water sky” were visible in two places in the far distance. As we stood looking north a Wilson petrel suddenly appeared and after flitting about for a short time departed.
We returned to the creva.s.se and packed the remaining sledge, discarding everything unnecessary so as to reduce the weight of the load. A thin soup was made by boiling up all the old food-bags which could be found.
The dogs were given some worn-out fur mitts, finnesko and several spare raw hide straps, all of which they devoured.
We still continued to call down into the creva.s.se at regular intervals in case our companion might not have been killed outright and, in the meantime, have become conscious. There was no reply.
A weight was lowered on the fis.h.i.+ng line as far as the dog which had earlier shown some signs of life, but there was no response. All were dead, swallowed up in an instant.
When comrades tramp the road to anywhere through a lonely blizzard-ridden land in hunger, want and weariness the interests, ties and fates of each are interwoven in a wondrous fabric of friends.h.i.+p and affection. The shock of Ninnis's death struck home and deeply stirred us.
He was a fine fellow and a born soldier--and the end:--
Life--give me life until the end, That at the very top of being, The battle spirit shouting in my blood, Out of very reddest h.e.l.l of the fight I may be s.n.a.t.c.hed and flung Into the everlasting lull, The Immortal, Incommunicable Dream.
At 9 P.M. we stood by the side of the creva.s.se and I read the burial service. Then Mertz shook me by the hand with a short ”Thank you!” and we turned away to harness up the dogs.
CHAPTER XIII TOIL AND TRIBULATION
The homeward track! A few days ago--only few hours ago-our hearts had beat hopefully at the prospect and there was no hint of this, the overwhelming tragedy. Our fellow, comrade, chum, in a woeful instant, buried in the bowels of the awful glacier. We could not think of it; we strove to forget it in the necessity of work, but we knew that the truth would a.s.suredly enter our souls in the lonely days to come. It was to be a fight with Death and the great Providence would decide the issue.
On the outward journey we had left no depots of provisions en route, for it was our bad fortune to meet such impossible country that we had decided to make a circuit on our return to Winter Quarters sufficiently far inland to avoid the coastal irregularities. As a matter of fact, on the very day of the calamity, preparations had been made to cache most of the food within twenty-four hours, as during the last few days of the journey we were to make a dash to our ”farthest east” point. Such were the plans, and now we were ranged against unexpected odds.
With regard to the dogs, there were six very miserable animals left.
The best of them had been drafted into the rear team, as it was expected that if an accident happened through the collapse of a snow-bridge the first sledge would most probably suffer. For the same reason most of the food and other indispensable articles had been carried on the rear sledge.
All the dogs which had perished were big and powerful; Basilisk, Ginger b.i.t.c.h, Shackleton, Castor, Franklin and John Bull. We had fully antic.i.p.ated that those at least would come back alive, at the expense of the six dogs in my sledge.
A silent farewell!--and we started back, aiming to reach our camping-ground on December 12 before a snowstorm intervened, as several things had been left there which would be of use to us in our straitened stances. The weather still held good and there were no signs of approaching snow or wind. So Mertz went ahead on skis, while we plodded slowly up the hills and dashed recklessly down them. During the descents I sat on the sledge and we slid over long creva.s.sed slopes in a wild fas.h.i.+on, almost with a languid feeling that the next one would probably swallow us up. But we did not much care then, as it was too soon after losing our friend.