第一封信
_致英格兰的萨维尔夫人。_
圣彼得堡，17—年12月11日。
你将欣喜地得知，在你曾如此不祥地预感的这项事业开端之际，并未伴随任何灾祸。我昨日抵达此地，而我的首要任务便是向我亲爱的妹妹保证我的安好，以及我对所谋之事必将成功的日益确信。
我已远在伦敦之北，当行走于彼得堡的街道，我感到一股寒冷的北风拂过面颊，它令我神经振奋，满心欢愉。你懂得这般感受么？这风自吾正奔赴之域吹来，予我以那些冰寒之境的先兆。受这允诺之风的鼓舞，我的白日梦变得愈发热切而生动。我徒劳地试图说服自己，那极地乃是霜冻与荒芜之座；它于我想象中，总呈现为美丽与欢愉之域。在那儿，玛格丽特，太阳永悬可见，其浑圆轮盘恰擦地平线，播散永恒之光华。在那儿——容我斗胆，妹妹，信那前代航海者些许——那儿雪与霜俱已驱散；且行于静海之上，我们或可被送抵一境，其奇其美，胜过往昔宜居地球上所发现之一切地域。其物其貌或无先例，一如那天体现象于未探之寂境中无疑之所是。于一永明之国，何可不为期？我或于彼处发现那引针之奇力，或可调校千百天象之观测——彼等唯待此行，方使其貌似之乖离永归谐一。我将以目见一未曾履及之世界片段，餍足我炽烈之好奇，或可踏一从未印以人足之地。此皆吾之诱因，足胜对危亡之一切惧意，引我以此乐启这劳顿远航——如童子偕假日之伴，乘小舟溯乡河而去探秘。然纵设此诸揣测俱伪，你亦不能否认，我将赋予全人类——至末代——之无价之益：或于极近处寻得通那些国度的航道，今抵彼处须耗数月之久；或确证磁石之秘，此若可能，唯凭如我之壮举方可成。
这些思虑驱散了提笔时的惶乱，我感到心头涌起一阵狂热，将我举向天庭，因无物如坚定之志——灵魂得以凝其智眼之点——更安人心神。这远征乃我早年最爱的梦。我曾热读诸般航行记，皆望穿环极之海以抵北太平洋。你或记得，我们好叔父托马斯的全部藏书，便是那为探秘而行的一切远航之史。我的教育被荒废了，然我酷爱读书。这些卷册是我昼夜之修，对其熟稔反增我儿时得知父亲遗命禁叔父许我出海为业后的怅憾。
当我初读那些诗人——其吐露摄我魂而举之入天——这些幻梦便淡了。我也成了诗人，有一载活于自造之乐园；我臆想或也可在荷马与莎士比亚之名所奉之殿占得一席。你深谙我的失败，及那失意之沉。但正当其时，我嗣了表亲之财，思绪便转回早先的偏向。
自决意此行已六载。即便今朝，我仍记得献身这大业的那一刻。我先以苦砺身。我随捕鲸者数赴北海；自受寒、饥、渴与缺眠；日间常较常水手更劳，夜则攻数学、医理及那海军冒险者最获实益的物理之支。两度我实雇为格陵兰捕鲸船之下副，且表现得令人称赏。须认，当船长以船中第二职授我、极恳我留时，我颇感一丝骄傲——他视我之用如此之贵。
而今，亲爱的玛格丽特，我岂不配成某大功？我本可安逸奢靡以度生，却择荣光弃财富沿途一切诱饵。噢，愿有励声答曰然也！我勇我志俱坚；然望时浮，神常郁。我将行一长而艰之航，其变需我全副刚毅：我不唯振人之气，亦当于彼气衰时自持。
此乃游俄最宜之时。他们乘雪橇疾过雪面；其行愉人，且依我见，远胜英之驿车。若裹以裘，寒不甚厉——此装我已取用，因立于甲板与枯坐数时不动大异，后者无运动阻血于脉中实冻。我无志殁于圣彼得堡与阿尔汉格尔斯克间的驿道。
我将于两礼拜或三周内赴后城；意欲彼处雇船——但付主家之保即可易成——并募熟鲸事之水手若干。我不拟六月前发。何时归？唉，亲妹，此问何答？若成，月月，或年年，方得见；若败，或速见，或永不见。
别了，我亲而贤的玛格丽特。愿天降福于你，且存我，俾我得再再证我对你爱善之谢。
你亲爱的兄，
R. 沃尔顿
_To Mrs. Saville, England._
St. Petersburgh, Dec. 11th, 17—.
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the
commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil
forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure
my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success
of my undertaking.
I am already far north of London, and as I walk in the streets of
Petersburgh, I feel a cold northern breeze play upon my cheeks, which
braces my nerves and fills me with delight. Do you understand this
feeling? This breeze, which has travelled from the regions towards
which I am advancing, gives me a foretaste of those icy climes.
Inspirited by this wind of promise, my daydreams become more fervent
and vivid. I try in vain to be persuaded that the pole is the seat of
frost and desolation; it ever presents itself to my imagination as the
region of beauty and delight. There, Margaret, the sun is for ever
visible, its broad disk just skirting the horizon and diffusing a
perpetual splendour. There—for with your leave, my sister, I will put
some trust in preceding navigators—there snow and frost are banished;
and, sailing over a calm sea, we may be wafted to a land surpassing in
wonders and in beauty every region hitherto discovered on the habitable
globe. Its productions and features may be without example, as the
phenomena of the heavenly bodies undoubtedly are in those undiscovered
solitudes. What may not be expected in a country of eternal light? I
may there discover the wondrous power which attracts the needle and may
regulate a thousand celestial observations that require only this
voyage to render their seeming eccentricities consistent for ever. I
shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world
never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by
the foot of man. These are my enticements, and they are sufficient to
conquer all fear of danger or death and to induce me to commence this
laborious voyage with the joy a child feels when he embarks in a little
boat, with his holiday mates, on an expedition of discovery up his
native river. But supposing all these conjectures to be false, you
cannot contest the inestimable benefit which I shall confer on all
mankind, to the last generation, by discovering a passage near the pole
to those countries, to reach which at present so many months are
requisite; or by ascertaining the secret of the magnet, which, if at
all possible, can only be effected by an undertaking such as mine.
These reflections have dispelled the agitation with which I began my
letter, and I feel my heart glow with an enthusiasm which elevates me
to heaven, for nothing contributes so much to tranquillise the mind as
a steady purpose—a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual
eye. This expedition has been the favourite dream of my early years. I
have read with ardour the accounts of the various voyages which have
been made in the prospect of arriving at the North Pacific Ocean
through the seas which surround the pole. You may remember that a
history of all the voyages made for purposes of discovery composed the
whole of our good Uncle Thomas’ library. My education was neglected,
yet I was passionately fond of reading. These volumes were my study
day and night, and my familiarity with them increased that regret which
I had felt, as a child, on learning that my father’s dying injunction
had forbidden my uncle to allow me to embark in a seafaring life.
These visions faded when I perused, for the first time, those poets
whose effusions entranced my soul and lifted it to heaven. I also
became a poet and for one year lived in a paradise of my own creation;
I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the
names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. You are well
acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment.
But just at that time I inherited the fortune of my cousin, and my
thoughts were turned into the channel of their earlier bent.
Six years have passed since I resolved on my present undertaking. I
can, even now, remember the hour from which I dedicated myself to this
great enterprise. I commenced by inuring my body to hardship. I
accompanied the whale-fishers on several expeditions to the North Sea;
I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep; I often
worked harder than the common sailors during the day and devoted my
nights to the study of mathematics, the theory of medicine, and those
branches of physical science from which a naval adventurer might derive
the greatest practical advantage. Twice I actually hired myself as an
under-mate in a Greenland whaler, and acquitted myself to admiration. I
must own I felt a little proud when my captain offered me the second
dignity in the vessel and entreated me to remain with the greatest
earnestness, so valuable did he consider my services.
And now, dear Margaret, do I not deserve to accomplish some great purpose?
My life might have been passed in ease and luxury, but I preferred glory to
every enticement that wealth placed in my path. Oh, that some encouraging
voice would answer in the affirmative! My courage and my resolution is
firm; but my hopes fluctuate, and my spirits are often depressed. I am
about to proceed on a long and difficult voyage, the emergencies of which
will demand all my fortitude: I am required not only to raise the spirits
of others, but sometimes to sustain my own, when theirs are failing.
This is the most favourable period for travelling in Russia. They fly
quickly over the snow in their sledges; the motion is pleasant, and, in
my opinion, far more agreeable than that of an English stagecoach. The
cold is not excessive, if you are wrapped in furs—a dress which I have
already adopted, for there is a great difference between walking the
deck and remaining seated motionless for hours, when no exercise
prevents the blood from actually freezing in your veins. I have no
ambition to lose my life on the post-road between St. Petersburgh and
Archangel.
I shall depart for the latter town in a fortnight or three weeks; and my
intention is to hire a ship there, which can easily be done by paying the
insurance for the owner, and to engage as many sailors as I think necessary
among those who are accustomed to the whale-fishing. I do not intend to
sail until the month of June; and when shall I return? Ah, dear sister, how
can I answer this question? If I succeed, many, many months, perhaps years,
will pass before you and I may meet. If I fail, you will see me again soon,
or never.
Farewell, my dear, excellent Margaret. Heaven shower down blessings on you,
and save me, that I may again and again testify my gratitude for all your
love and kindness.
Your affectionate brother,
R. Walton
