The Fur Country · Chapter
A Communication from Lieutenant Hobson explained
The colonists realize their island has drifted north and is now frozen in place, six hundred miles from land.
What happens
The colonists realize their island has drifted north and is now frozen in place, six hundred miles from land. Hobson decides they must cross the ice to reach the continent before the thaw, and finally reveals their true situation to the group, only to learn they already knew.
Themes in this chapter
Survival Against Nature
The colonists must decide whether to risk a six-hundred-mile trek across unstable ice or remain on the drifting island.
Human Resilience and Camaraderie
The group's unity is tested as Hobson finally shares the dire news, and the colonists reveal they already knew but remained calm.
Characters to notice
- Lieutenant Jaspar Hobson
Decides to abandon Fort Hope and lead the colonists across the ice; reveals the truth to the group.
- Mrs. Paulina Barnett
Expresses sorrow at leaving Fort Hope but supports Hobson's decision; suggests Kalumah's knowledge of Alaska will be useful.
- Sergeant Long
Advises immediate departure and helps assess the ice conditions; calls the men together for Hobson's announcement.
- Kalumah
Mentioned as a native who knows Alaska well, useful for guiding the party to Fort Michael.
- Mac-Nab
His son Michael turns one year old and is weighed at a small celebration.
- Corporal Joliffe
Takes pride in having helped care for baby Michael, feeling partly responsible for his weight.
Key passages
“Such was the situation. To use Sergeant Long’s expression, the island had “cast anchor,” and was as stationary as when the isthmus connected it with the mainland.”
The island had stopped moving, frozen in place like it used to be attached to the mainland.
Describes the island becoming immobile due to winter ice.
““My friends, until today I have felt it my duty, in order to spare you useless anxiety, to conceal from you the situation of our fort. An earthquake separated us from the continent. Cape Bathurst has broken away from the mainland. Our peninsula is but an island of ice, a wandering island—””
Hobson finally tells the colonists that an earthquake detached them from the mainland and they are now on a drifting ice island.
Hobson reveals the truth about their isolation.
“At this moment Marbre stepped forward, and said quietly. “We knew it, sir!””
Marbre calmly responded that everyone already knew the situation.
The colonists were already aware of their predicament.