Journeys and Adventures of Captain Hatteras
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras is an adventure novel
by Jules Verne
in two parts: The English at the North Pole and The desert of ice .
The novel was published for the first time in 1864
. The definitive version from 1866 was included into Voyages Extraordinaires
series (The Extraordinary Voyages). Although it was the first book of the series it was labeled as number two. Three Verne's books from 1863-65 (Five Weeks in a Balloon
, Journey to the Center of the Earth
, and From the Earth to the Moon
) were added into the series retroactively. Captain Hatteras shows many similarities with British explorer John Franklin
.
expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the North Pole
. Hatteras is convinced that the sea around the pole is not frozen and his obsession is to reach the place no matter what. Mutiny by the crew results in destruction of their ship but Hatteras, with a few men, continues on the expedition. On the shore of the island of "New America" he discovers the remains of a ship used by the previous expedition from the United States
. Doctor Clawbonny recalls in mind the plan of the real Ice palace
, constructed completely from ice in Russia
in 1740 to build a snow-house, where they should spend a winter. The travellers winter on the island and survive mainly due to the ingenuity of Doctor Clawbonny (who is able to make fire with an ice lens
, make bullets from frozen mercury
and repel attacks by polar bear
s with remotely controlled explosions of black powder).
When the winter ends the sea becomes ice-free. The travellers build a boat from the shipwreck and head towards the pole. Here they discover an island, an active volcano
, and name it after Hatteras. With difficulty a fjord
is found and the group get ashore. After three hours climbing they reach the mouth of the volcano. The exact location of the pole is in the crater and Hatteras jumps into it. As the sequence was originally written, Hatteras perishes in the crater; Verne's editor, Jules Hetzel, suggested or rather required that Verne do a rewrite so that Hatteras survives but is driven insane by the intensity of the experience, and after return to England
he is put into an asylum for the insane. Losing his "soul" in the cavern of the North Pole, Hatteras never speaks another word. He spends the remainder of his days walking the streets surrounding the asylum with his faithful dog Duke. While mute and deaf to the world Hatteras' walks are not without a direction. As indicated by the last line "Captain Hatteras forever marches northward".
New America is the name given to a large Arctic island, a northward extension of Ellesmere Island
, as discovered by Captain John Hatteras and his crew. Its features include, on the west coast, Victoria Bay, Cape Washington, Johnson Island, Bell Mountain, and Fort Providence, and at its northern point (87°5′N 118°35′W), Altamont Harbour.
As with many of Verne's imaginative creations, his description of Arctic geography was based on scientific knowledge at the time the novel was written (1866) but foreshadowed future discoveries. Ellesmere Island had been re-discovered and named by Edward Inglefield in 1852 and further explored by Isaac Israel Hayes
in 1860-61. Forty years after the novel's publication, in 1906, Robert Peary
claimed to have sighted Crocker Land
around 83° N, and in 1909, Frederick Cook
sighted Bradley Land
at 85° N, both at locations occupied by Verne's New America. Cook's choice of route may actually have been inspired by his reading of Verne.
The land is named by Captain Altamont, an American explorer, who is first to set foot on the land. In the novel as published, it is unclear whether New America is meant to be a territorial claim for the United States
. As William Butcher points out, this would not be surprising, since Verne wrote about the US acquisition of Alaska
in The Fur Country
, and Lincoln Island is proposed as a US possession in The Mysterious Island
. In fact, a deleted chapter, "John Bull and Jonathan," had Hatteras and Altamont dueling for the privilege of claiming the land for their respective countries.
made a film based on the story entitled Conquest of the Pole
.
, and copies can be obtained from free sources:
These translations compress and truncate Verne's text to varying degrees; the Osgood translation is considered to be of “relatively good quality.” Editions from other publishers are generally based on one of these four translations.
A modern translation by William Butcher was published by Oxford University Press in 2005.
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
in two parts: The English at the North Pole and The desert of ice .
The novel was published for the first time in 1864
1864 in literature
The year 1864 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Ambrose Bierce is wounded at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.*Charles Baudelaire leaves Paris for Belgium in the hope of resolving his financial difficulties....
. The definitive version from 1866 was included into Voyages Extraordinaires
Voyages Extraordinaires
Les Voyages Extraordinaires was a publishing title affixed to the novels and non-fictional writings of French author and science fiction pioneer Jules Verne...
series (The Extraordinary Voyages). Although it was the first book of the series it was labeled as number two. Three Verne's books from 1863-65 (Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon
Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen is an adventure novel by Jules Verne.It is the first Verne novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his later work, skillfully mixing a plot full of adventure and twists that hold the reader's interest with...
, Journey to the Center of the Earth
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A Journey to the Center of the Earth is a classic 1864 science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The story involves a German professor who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth...
, and From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon is a humorous science fantasy novel by Jules Verne and is one of the earliest entries in that genre. It tells the story of the president of a post-American Civil War gun club in Baltimore, his rival, a Philadelphia maker of armor, and a Frenchman, who build an enormous...
) were added into the series retroactively. Captain Hatteras shows many similarities with British explorer John Franklin
John Franklin
Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
.
Plot summary
The novel, set in 1861, described adventures of BritishBritish Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
. Hatteras is convinced that the sea around the pole is not frozen and his obsession is to reach the place no matter what. Mutiny by the crew results in destruction of their ship but Hatteras, with a few men, continues on the expedition. On the shore of the island of "New America" he discovers the remains of a ship used by the previous expedition from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Doctor Clawbonny recalls in mind the plan of the real Ice palace
Ice palace
An ice palace or ice castle is a castle-like structure made of blocks of ice. These blocks are usually harvested from nearby rivers or lakes when they become frozen in winter. The first known ice palace appeared in St...
, constructed completely from ice in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1740 to build a snow-house, where they should spend a winter. The travellers winter on the island and survive mainly due to the ingenuity of Doctor Clawbonny (who is able to make fire with an ice lens
Lens (optics)
A lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
, make bullets from frozen mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
and repel attacks by polar bear
Polar Bear
The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...
s with remotely controlled explosions of black powder).
When the winter ends the sea becomes ice-free. The travellers build a boat from the shipwreck and head towards the pole. Here they discover an island, an active volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
, and name it after Hatteras. With difficulty a fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
is found and the group get ashore. After three hours climbing they reach the mouth of the volcano. The exact location of the pole is in the crater and Hatteras jumps into it. As the sequence was originally written, Hatteras perishes in the crater; Verne's editor, Jules Hetzel, suggested or rather required that Verne do a rewrite so that Hatteras survives but is driven insane by the intensity of the experience, and after return to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
he is put into an asylum for the insane. Losing his "soul" in the cavern of the North Pole, Hatteras never speaks another word. He spends the remainder of his days walking the streets surrounding the asylum with his faithful dog Duke. While mute and deaf to the world Hatteras' walks are not without a direction. As indicated by the last line "Captain Hatteras forever marches northward".
New America
Ellesmere Island
Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada...
, as discovered by Captain John Hatteras and his crew. Its features include, on the west coast, Victoria Bay, Cape Washington, Johnson Island, Bell Mountain, and Fort Providence, and at its northern point (87°5′N 118°35′W), Altamont Harbour.
As with many of Verne's imaginative creations, his description of Arctic geography was based on scientific knowledge at the time the novel was written (1866) but foreshadowed future discoveries. Ellesmere Island had been re-discovered and named by Edward Inglefield in 1852 and further explored by Isaac Israel Hayes
Isaac Israel Hayes
Isaac Israel Hayes was an Arctic explorer and physician.Hayes was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. After completing his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Hayes signed on as ship's surgeon for an 1853-5 expedition led by Elisha Kent Kane to search for John Franklin...
in 1860-61. Forty years after the novel's publication, in 1906, Robert Peary
Robert Peary
Robert Edwin Peary, Sr. was an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person, on April 6, 1909, to reach the geographic North Pole...
claimed to have sighted Crocker Land
Crocker Land
Crocker Land was the name Robert Peary gave to a mass of land which he believed he saw in the distant northwest from the summit of Cape Thomas Hubbard, during a 1906 expedition. Peary estimated the landmass to be 130 miles away at about 83 degrees N, longitude 100 degrees W...
around 83° N, and in 1909, Frederick Cook
Frederick Cook
Frederick Albert Cook was an American explorer and physician, noted for his claim of having reached the North Pole on April 21, 1908. This would have been a year before April 6, 1909, the date claimed by Robert Peary....
sighted Bradley Land
Bradley Land
Bradley Land was the name Frederick Cook gave to a mass of land which he claimed to have seen between and during a 1909 expedition. He described it as two masses of land with a break, a strait, or an indentation between. The land was named for John R...
at 85° N, both at locations occupied by Verne's New America. Cook's choice of route may actually have been inspired by his reading of Verne.
The land is named by Captain Altamont, an American explorer, who is first to set foot on the land. In the novel as published, it is unclear whether New America is meant to be a territorial claim for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As William Butcher points out, this would not be surprising, since Verne wrote about the US acquisition of Alaska
Alaska purchase
The Alaska Purchase was the acquisition of the Alaska territory by the United States from Russia in 1867 by a treaty ratified by the Senate. The purchase, made at the initiative of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, gained of new United States territory...
in The Fur Country
The Fur Country
The Fur Country is an adventure novel by Jules Verne in The Extraordinary Voyages series, first published in 1873. The novel was serialized in Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation from September 1872 to December 1873. The two-volume first original French edition and the first illustrated...
, and Lincoln Island is proposed as a US possession in The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island
The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1874. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though thematically it is...
. In fact, a deleted chapter, "John Bull and Jonathan," had Hatteras and Altamont dueling for the privilege of claiming the land for their respective countries.
Adaptation
In 1912, Georges MélièsGeorges Méliès
Georges Méliès , full name Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. He was very innovative in the use of special effects...
made a film based on the story entitled Conquest of the Pole
Conquest of the Pole
Conquest of the Pole is a science fantasy film by Georges Méliès based on the novel The Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne. It was released in 1912 and deals with an extraordinary race to the north pole by rival parties of balloonists....
.
English translations
A number of English-language translations of The Adventures of Captain Hatteras were published in the nineteenth century. These are generally considered to be out-of-copyrightCopyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
, and copies can be obtained from free sources:
- London: George Routledge and Sons. (1874)
- London, New York: Ward, LockWard Lock & CoWard Lock & Co was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group.-History:...
. (1876) - Boston: James R. Osgood Company. (1876)
- London: Goubaud & Son (1877).
These translations compress and truncate Verne's text to varying degrees; the Osgood translation is considered to be of “relatively good quality.” Editions from other publishers are generally based on one of these four translations.
A modern translation by William Butcher was published by Oxford University Press in 2005.
External links
- Hetzel (French) edition: Part I scanned copy from Bibliothèque nationale de France.
- Osgood translation, scanned copy at archive.org; with original illustrations.
- Routledge translation: Part II, text file at Project Gutenberg.
- Ward Lock translation: Part I, Part II, scanned copy at archive.org.
- Ward Lock translation: Part I, text file at Project Gutenberg.