Jules Verne's Captain Hatteras - Part 2: Ice Desert

Chapter 17 - Altamont's Revenge

The next day, the doctor and his two comrades woke up after a night spent in the most profound silence. The cold, though not strong, had stung them a little at dawn; but, well covered, they slept soundly, guarded by peaceful animals.

The weather was still good, so they decided to dedicate this day to the recognition of this land and the search for musk oxen. He had to give Altamont a chance to hunt a little, and they decided that even if these oxen were the gentlest animals on the Earth's surface, they would have the right to shoot them. In fact, their meat, although very impregnated with the aroma of musk, was a very tasty food, and the hunters enjoyed bringing a few pieces of fresh and refreshing meat to Fort Providence.

The trip didn't offer any peculiarities during the first hours of the morning; the land, in the northwest, was beginning to change its appearance; a few elevations, the first undulations of a mountainous region, revealed a new soil. This land of New America, if it didn't form a continent, was to be at least an important island; moreover, there was no question of verifying this geographical point.

Duk ran away and stopped on tracks that belonged to a herd of musk oxen; he took a quick step forward and soon disappeared from the hunters' eyes.

They were guided by his strong, distinct barks, whose haste made them realize that their faithful dog had finally found what they were looking for.

They rushed forward and, after an hour and a half of walking, were in the presence of two large animals with a dreadful appearance; these strange four-legged men seemed astonished at Duk's attacks, without fear, by the way; they were grazing a kind of pink moss that covered the bare ground with snow.

The doctor recognized them easily by their medium size, by their widened and welded horns at the base, by the curious absence of the snout, by the beveled forehead like a sheep and by their very short tail: the whole of this structure made naturalists call them ovibos, a compound word reminiscent of the two animals to which they belong. The thick, long fur seemed to be made of fine brown silk.

At the sight of the hunters, the two animals were quick to flee, and they followed them, running as fast as they could.

But reaching them was very difficult for some people who had been out of breath for half a hour. Hatteras and his companions stopped.

Altamont: Damn.

Clawbonny: That's an appropriate word. I tell you those ruminants are of American origin, but they don't seem to have, about your compatriots, a good opinion.

Altamont: This means we're skilled hunters.

Meanwhile, the musk oxen, seeing that they were no longer being pursued, stopped in astonishment. Obviously, they weren't to be forced to flee, they were to be besieged; the plateau they occupied at the time was suitable for such a maneuver. The hunters, leaving Duk to harass the animals, descended into the surrounding riverbeds so as to bypass the plateau. Altamont and the doctor hid in one of those extremities, behind some rocks, while Hatteras, unexpectedly appearing from the opposite extremity, had to chase the oxen to them.

Half an hour later, each of them was at their post.

Altamont: I hope this time you aren't opposed to hunting these quadrupeds?

Clawbonny: No, this time it's for a good cause.

That being said, they saw the musk oxen moving, with Duk following in their footsteps; in the distance, Hatteras, shouting loudly, drove them towards the doctor and the American, who immediately rushed in front of this magnificent prey. Soon the oxen stopped, and, less frightened at the sight of a single enemy, turned to Hatteras; he waited for them, aimed at the nearest of the two quadrupeds, fired, without his bullet, hitting the animal right in the forehead, managing to stop him from running. Hatteras's second gunfire produced no effect other than to annoy these angry beasts even more; they rushed at the unarmed hunter and shot him down in an instant.