WHERE ARE WE^ I'J'J Or the current would take it to the south, perhaps through Behring Strait into the Pacific Ocean. In the former contingency, the colonists, shut in by ice and sur- rounded by impassable icebergs, would have no means of communi- cation with their fellow-creatures, and would die of cold and hunger in the solitudes of the north. In the latter contingency, Victoria Island, driven by the currents to the western waters of the Pacific, would gradually melt and go to pieces beneath the feet of its inhabitants. In either case death would await the Lieutenant and his com- panions, and the fort, erected at the cost of so much labour and suf- fering, would be destroyed. But it was scarcely probable that either of these events would happen. The season was already considerably advanced, and in less than three months the sea would again be rendered motionless by the icy hand of the Polar winter. The ocean would again be con- verted into an ice-field, and by means of sledges they might get to the nearest land — the coast of Russian America if the island re- mained in the east, or the coast of Asia if it were driven to the west. " For," added Hobson, " we have absolutely no control over our floating island. Having no sail to hoist, as in a boat, we cannot guide it in the least; Where it takes us we must go." All that Hobson said was clear, concise, and to the point. There could be no doubt that the bitter cold of winter would solder Victoria Island to the vast ice-field, and it was highly probable that it would drift neither too far north nor too far south. To have to cross a few hundred miles of ice was no such terrible prospect for brave and resolute men accustomed to long excursions in the Arctic regions. It would be necessary, it was true, to abandon Fort Hope — the object of so many hopes, and to lose the benefit of all their exertions, but what of that? The factor}', built upon a shifting soil, could be of no further use to the Company. Sooner or later it would be swallowed up by the ocean, and what was the good of useless regrets ? It must, therefore, be deserted as soon as circumstances should permit. The only thing against the safety of the colonists was — and the Lieutenant dwelt long on this point — that during the eight or nine weeks which must elapse before the solidification of the Arctic Ocean, Victoria Island might be dragged too far north or south. M
