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(3) Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras (The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, 1864-66) (2 volumes) 139K words


This is the third novel I read in my personal journey through Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires. Among those three (the others are Five Weeks in a Balloon and Journey to the Center of the Earth), Captain Hatteras is the closest to a conventional adventure novel. And I say that in the best possible sense. This one doesn't have such a ground-breaking premise; it's just an old-fashioned naval exploration tale, but what a gripping one. It was published originally as two books: Les Anglais au pôle nord (The English at the North Pole) and Le Désert de glace (The Desert of Ice).


First read or reread?: This is a first read for me.


Synopsys: Set in 1861, describes the adventures of a British naval expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the Arctic Ocean. Struggling against mutiny and the harshness of the polar winter, Hatteras refuses to give up in his ambition to reach the North Pole.


The Adventures of Captain Hatteras is long, as long as the previous two novels put together, but for my taste it has better pace. None of it was dull. From the moment it starts, with a bunch of sailors discussing a state-of-the-art ship that has just been built, and the mysterious captain who doesn't skimp on expense and only communicates with his crew through letters, it gets our attention, and doesn't let it go throughout the whole epic tale.

There is a speculative element here, although in this case it's purely geographic. At the time it was written, no one had been able to reach the northernmost regions of the Earth, and it was unknown what they would find there. There was a very popular theory at the time, called the Open Polar Sea, suggesting that in the summer there was an open sea around the North Pole. Many naval expeditions had failed to reach it, becoming stranded in a frozen sea, sometimes for several years. However, there were measurements suggesting that the "cold pole", the coldest areas of the northern hemisphere, were at lower latitudes than the North Pole, and there were some testimonies of captains who thought they had glimpsed an open sea in the summer, north to the point where they were themselves trapped in the ice fields. (As modern readers, we know the Open Polar Sea theory is not true, but in Verne's world that was still unknown and waiting to be determined.)

Captain Hatteras firmly believes in that theory. He is convinced that he will be able to reach that open sea and get to the pole with his ship. However, the tragic outcomes of his previous expeditions make it difficult for him to hire a crew. What follows is a truly epic and gritty fight of human spirit against the force of nature.

The cast of key characters here is larger than in the other two novels I have read. We have of course Captain Hatteras, who is that kind of visionary, strong-willed character that we find in many Verne novels. Like Professor Lidenbrock from Journey to the Center of the Earth, Hatteras is relentless in his quest. No matter how overwhelming the danger is, to himself and to his companions, he won't give up. In this case, this relentless character is the adventurer, not the scientist.

The role of the scientist then is played by the ship physician, Doctor Clawbonny. He is competent in his job, good-natured but also filled with a thirst for knowledge and adventure, even if he has a lot of the former and little experience of the latter. His knowledge and ingenious ideas (like making a bullet with frozen mercury from a thermometer when they are far from the ship, without ammunitions and stalked by a hungry beast) save the lives of his companions more than once.

We also have Shandon, the first mate of the ship, whose falling-out with Hatteras poisons the expedition. We have Duke, the captain's dog, with as much character and dedication as any member of the crew (in fact, in the beginning of the novel, before Hatteras shows up, there was a rumour among the crew that the dog was actually the captain). We have Captain Altamont, the American explorer, who is a bitter rival of Hatteras but may have to find a way to cooperate with him if they are all to survive. And several other important characters...

The book is narrated in third person, and the Verne-style infodumps come in the form of conversations of Doctor Clawbonny with other characters, where he talks about the state of Arctic exploration. I find the subject fascinating, so I was on board with that. You know, the story of Franklin's lost expedition and that kind of thing.

As always, if you read it in English and can afford to pay a bit more, look for a modern translation if there is one, in this case William Butcher's translation published by Oxford University Press.


Enjoyment factor: I hadn't read this one in my youth and liked it a lot. Even though it's long, and as always with Verne there are educative infodumps, the pace of this novel is good. The dangers were not occasional, but ever-present, and the difficulties seemingly overwhelming. It doesn't have as much sense of wonder as the previous two novels, but the thrill of getting to unexplored regions is there. I really enjoyed it, and if your edition doesn't have a map, don't hesitate to look for the Captain Hatteras map online, to follow the course of the journey as you read.


Next up: From the Earth to the Moon