The Fur Country · Chapter
In the Offing explained
Victoria Island drifts south through the Bering Sea, its ice base melting in warmer waters.
What happens
Victoria Island drifts south through the Bering Sea, its ice base melting in warmer waters. A storm destroys the main house and accelerates the island's decay. Hobson and the colonists debate whether to abandon the island for a raft, but decide to wait, hoping to reach the Aleutian Islands. The icebergs that had been driving the island shift position, leaving it adrift and helpless.
Themes in this chapter
Survival Against Nature
The colonists face the imminent destruction of their island home from melting ice, storms, and shifting currents, struggling to find a way to survive.
Human Resilience and Camaraderie
Despite despair, Hobson consults with his comrades, they work together on the raft, and they rescue Sabine from a crevasse, showing collective resolve.
The Sublime and Uncanny Nature
The island's transformation into a drifting, melting fragment, the storm's fury, and the house sinking into the sea evoke the awe and terror of nature's power.
Characters to notice
- Lieutenant Jaspar Hobson
Presses construction of the raft, takes bearings, and consults with the men about whether to abandon the island.
- Mrs. Paulina Barnett
Examines the map, muses on the island's fatal course, and urges Hobson to consider any possible action.
- Sergeant Long
Shakes his head doubtfully when Hobson hopes to reach the Aleutians in eight days, and is consulted about the raft decision.
- Mac-Nab
Wishes to make the raft as strong as possible for the long journey; consulted by Hobson.
- Thomas Black
Remains gloomily indifferent to the island's disintegration.
- Captain Kellet
Exclaims that the icebergs shifting position will cause the island to lose its 'screw' (driving force).
Key passages
“This evening we shall have lost our screw!”
Kellet predicts that the icebergs, now positioned ahead of the island, will drift away and leave the island without its driving force.
Kellet uses a nautical metaphor to explain that the island will lose its propulsion.
“Eight days is a long time.”
Sergeant Long expresses doubt that the island can survive the eight days needed to reach the Aleutians.
Long's skepticism underscores the precariousness of their situation.
“Could not the course of the island be controlled?”
Mrs. Barnett asks if there is any way to steer or influence the island's drift.
She seeks a proactive solution, but Hobson replies that only God can help.