Part One.: Chapter 5: At A Venture

by Jules Verne

　　The voyage of the Abraham Lincoln was for a long time markedby no special incident. But one circumstance happened which showedthe wonderful dexterity of Ned Land, and proved what confidencewe might place in him.

　　The 30th of June, the frigate spoke some American whalers,from whom we learned that they knew nothing about the narwhal.But one of them, the captain of the Monroe, knowing that Ned Land hadshipped on board the Abraham Lincoln, begged for his help in chasinga whale they had in sight. Commander Farragut, desirous of seeingNed Land at work, gave him permission to go on board the Monroe.And fate served our Canadian so well that, instead of one whale,he harpooned two with a double blow, striking one straight to the heart,and catching the other after some minutes' pursuit.

　　Decidedly, if the monster ever had to do with Ned Land's harpoon,I would not bet in its favour.

　　The frigate skirted the south-east coast of America with great rapidity.The 3rd of July we were at the opening of the Straits of Magellan, level withCape Vierges. But Commander Farragut would not take a tortuous passage,but doubled Cape Horn.

　　The ship's crew agreed with him. And certainly it was possiblethat they might meet the narwhal in this narrow pass.Many of the sailors affirmed that the monster could not pass there,"that he was too big for that!"

　　The 6th of July, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the Abraham Lincoln,at fifteen miles to the south, doubled the solitary island,this lost rock at the extremity of the American continent, to whichsome Dutch sailors gave the name of their native town, Cape Horn.The course was taken towards the north-west, and the next day the screwof the frigate was at last beating the waters of the Pacific.

　　"Keep your eyes open!" called out the sailors.

　　And they were opened widely. Both eyes and glasses, a little dazzled,it is true, by the prospect of two thousand dollars, had notan instant's repose.

　　I myself, for whom money had no charms, was not the leastattentive on board. Giving but few minutes to my meals,but a few hours to sleep, indifferent to either rain or sunshine,I did not leave the poop of the vessel. Now leaning on the nettingof the forecastle, now on the taffrail, I devoured with eagernessthe soft foam which whitened the sea as far as the eye could reach;and how often have I shared the emotion of the majority of the crew,when some capricious whale raised its black back above the waves!The poop of the vessel was crowded on a moment. The cabinspoured forth a torrent of sailors and officers, each with heavingbreast and troubled eye watching the course of the cetacean.I looked and looked till I was nearly blind, whilst Conseil keptrepeating in a calm voice:

　　"If, sir, you would not squint so much, you would see better!"

　　But vain excitement! The Abraham Lincoln checked its speed and madefor the animal signalled, a simple whale, or common cachalot,which soon disappeared amidst a storm of abuse.

　　But the weather was good. The voyage was being accomplished underthe most favourable auspices. It was then the bad season in Australia,the July of that zone corresponding to our January in Europe,but the sea was beautiful and easily scanned round a vast circumference.

　　The 20th of July, the tropic of Capricorn was cut by 105d of longitude,and the 27th of the same month we crossed the Equator on the 110th meridian.This passed, the frigate took a more decided westerly direction,and scoured the central waters of the Pacific. Commander Farragut thought,and with reason, that it was better to remain in deep water, and keepclear of continents or islands, which the beast itself seemed to shun(perhaps because there was not enough water for him! suggestedthe greater part of the crew). The frigate passed at some distance fromthe Marquesas and the Sandwich Islands, crossed the tropic of Cancer,and made for the China Seas. We were on the theatre of the last diversionsof the monster: and, to say truth, we no longer lived on board.The entire ship's crew were undergoing a nervous excitement, of which Ican give no idea: they could not eat, they could not sleep--twenty timesa day, a misconception or an optical illusion of some sailor seatedon the taffrail, would cause dreadful perspirations, and these emotions,twenty times repeated, kept us in a state of excitement so violent that areaction was unavoidable.

　　And truly, reaction soon showed itself. For three months,during which a day seemed an age, the Abraham Lincoln furrowedall the waters of the Northern Pacific, running at whales,making sharp deviations from her course, veering suddenlyfrom one tack to another, stopping suddenly, putting on steam,and backing ever and anon at the risk of deranging her machinery,and not one point of the Japanese or American coastwas left unexplored.

　　The warmest partisans of the enterprise now became its mostardent detractors. Reaction mounted from the crew to the captain himself,and certainly, had it not been for the resolute determination on the partof Captain Farragut, the frigate would have headed due southward.This useless search could not last much longer. The Abraham Lincolnhad nothing to reproach herself with, she had done her best to succeed.Never had an American ship's crew shown more zeal or patience;its failure could not be placed to their charge--there remained nothingbut to return.

　　This was represented to the commander. The sailors couldnot hide their discontent, and the service suffered.I will not say there was a mutiny on board, but after a reasonableperiod of obstinacy, Captain Farragut (as Columbus did)asked for three days' patience. If in three days the monster didnot appear, the man at the helm should give three turns of the wheel,and the Abraham Lincoln would make for the European seas.

　　This promise was made on the 2nd of November. It had the effect ofrallying the ship's crew. The ocean was watched with renewed attention.Each one wished for a last glance in which to sum up his remembrance.Glasses were used with feverish activity. It was a grand defiancegiven to the giant narwhal, and he could scarcely fail to answerthe summons and "appear."

　　Two days passed, the steam was at half pressure; a thousandschemes were tried to attract the attention and stimulatethe apathy of the animal in case it should be met in those parts.Large quantities of bacon were trailed in the wake of the ship,to the great satisfaction (I must say) of the sharks.Small craft radiated in all directions round the Abraham Lincolnas she lay to, and did not leave a spot of the sea unexplored.But the night of the 4th of November arrived without the unveiling ofthis submarine mystery.

　　The next day, the 5th of November, at twelve, the delay would(morally speaking) expire; after that time, Commander Farragut,faithful to his promise, was to turn the course to the south-eastand abandon for ever the northern regions of the Pacific.

　　The frigate was then in 31@ 15' N. lat. and 136@ 42' E. long.The coast of Japan still remained less than two hundred miles to leeward.Night was approaching. They had just struck eight bells;large clouds veiled the face of the moon, then in its first quarter.The sea undulated peaceably under the stern of the vessel.

　　At that moment I was leaning forward on the starboard netting.Conseil, standing near me, was looking straight before him.The crew, perched in the ratlines, examined the horizon whichcontracted and darkened by degrees. Officers with their nightglasses scoured the growing darkness: sometimes the ocean sparkledunder the rays of the moon, which darted between two clouds,then all trace of light was lost in the darkness.

　　In looking at Conseil, I could see he was undergoing a littleof the general influence. At least I thought so. Perhaps forthe first time his nerves vibrated to a sentiment of curiosity.

　　"Come, Conseil," said I, "this is the last chance of pocketingthe two thousand dollars."

　　"May I be permitted to say, sir," replied Conseil, "that I never reckonedon getting the prize; and, had the government of the Union offered a hundredthousand dollars, it would have been none the poorer."

　　"You are right, Conseil. It is a foolish affair after all, and one uponwhich we entered too lightly. What time lost, what useless emotions!We should have been back in France six months ago."

　　"In your little room, sir," replied Conseil, "and in your museum, sir; and Ishould have already classed all your fossils, sir. And the Babiroussa wouldhave been installed in its cage in the Jardin des Plantes, and have drawnall the curious people of the capital!"

　　"As you say, Conseil. I fancy we shall run a fair chance of beinglaughed at for our pains."

　　"That's tolerably certain," replied Conseil, quietly; "I thinkthey will make fun of you, sir. And, must I say it----?"

　　"Go on, my good friend."

　　"Well, sir, you will only get your deserts."

　　"Indeed!"

　　"When one has the honour of being a savant as you are, sir, one shouldnot expose one's self to----"

　　Conseil had not time to finish his compliment.In the midst of general silence a voice had just been heard.It was the voice of Ned Land shouting:

　　"Look out there! The very thing we are looking for--on our weather beam!"