The Fur Country

The land of furs, too: At outpost in the land of furs (French: Le Pays des fourrures ) is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne. The original edition was published in 1873 by Pierre -Jules Hetzel in Paris. The German -language edition was published in 1875 under the title The Land of furs. The English title of the novel is The Fur Country.

Action

Upon receipt of the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Reliance meet soldiers, chiefs of the Indians and explorers such as Barnett with her ​​servant Madge each other. Barnett has been on the map of Australia, as in the past, traveled to Tibet and the Brahmaputra white patches of the Gulf of Carpentaria. This time she is planning a trip to the far north of Canada. She wants to join the expedition of Lieutenant Hobson, who wants to advance beyond the Arctic Circle in Arctic regions. The Hudson Bay Fur Company has commissioned him on the north coast of the American continent to establish for the fur trade, a new branch. This is against the background of the planned sale of Alaska by Russia to the United States. The new base will enable a new trade route across the Pacific with steam ships as an alternative to the then supposed Northwest Passage. At the expedition is joined also the astronomer Thomas Black, who wants to observe in the far north the total solar eclipse on July 18, 1860. He plans to demonstrate the solar corona, which is visible only when the moon moves in front of the sun. A total of 19 people with 12 break dogsled journey to the North. Finally Over the Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories to reach the time of the midnight sun the 70th latitude of the Cape Bathurst and build their Fort Esperance on the Victoria Peninsula. There they hunt fur-bearing animals, such as badgers, bobcats, beavers, muskrats, martens, weasels and silver foxes. There is little tidal To their amazement. Tides are scarcely observed. A child is born among the settlers. They winter in the cold polar night. The temperatures reach values ​​of up to -52 ° C. You survive the attack of polar bears and get a visit from an Eskimo family. The girl Kalumah befriends with Barnett and promises them to visit again. In the polar night they suddenly see the light of fire on the horizon. A volcano has erupted. The volcanic eruption has a huge spectacle and leads to an earthquake. The spring thaw finally leads to a cancel of the peninsula from the mainland of the North American continent. Lieutenant Hobson finally waiting in vain for the promised replacement troops with new equipment, such as ammunition, liquor and drugs. They observe that there is no longer tidal. On July 18, 1860 finally enters the eclipse. However, this is not total, but only partially. Thomas Black is angry because the thereby the solar corona can not be observed and the next total eclipse of the sun is above the Arctic Circle occur again until August 9, 1896. Then the astronomer makes a new position determination. They discover that their position has changed and that their peninsula them away drifting on the sea. Let the soldiers at first not to undermine in the dark about the morale of the troops. They build on the one hand a small sailing ship with a size and plan the other hand, an outbreak in the coming winter on the frozen sea. When the ice is driving back to the vicinity of the North American mainland Kalumah comes with a kayak on the driving floe to make true to her promise. Hobson finally informed the soldiers about their situation. In the polar winter they attempt a breakout over the frozen sea. This fails because of the piled-up pack ice and grave openings in the ice, however, fail and they have to turn back. Later Fort Esperance is buried by a collapsing wall of ice. Kalumah, Barnett, Madge and Thomas Black can be saved from the other out of the house buried. The sailing ship is lost. Instead, the settlers build a raft. The former peninsula slowly drifts south into warmer waters and melts gradually. Again and again break sheets of ice on it. It eventually also lost the raft. A whalers passed the driving floe, the settlers but not noticed. By sailing they can speed up their journey. You will eventually driven by the strong -sealed ice floe on the island Blejinic the Aleutian Islands and finally rescued by the local fishermen