Letter IV

Walton reports that on July 31st the ship is nearly encircled by ice and fog. When the mist clears, the crew glimpses a dogsled driven by a gigantic, man-shaped figure heading north across the vast ice. That night the pack breaks; by morning a similar sledge, with only one surviving dog and a nearly frozen European aboard, drifts near the ship. The stranger insists on learning the ship’s destination before boarding and consents upon hearing they seek the pole.

Gravely emaciated, the stranger faints when taken below and is revived on deck with brandy, blankets, and soup. Over two days he regains strength but remains melancholy and volatile. When the lieutenant asks why he is on the ice, the stranger replies he seeks “one who fled,” calling the pursued a “daemon.” Learning the crew had sighted a similar sledge, he questions them intently about its route and becomes eager to watch the horizon, though Walton keeps him below due to weakness.

As the days pass, the stranger’s gentle manners win the sailors, while Walton grows deeply attached. On August 13th, after Walton confides his fervent, all-consuming ambition for discovery, the stranger is overcome with grief and warns him: “Do you share my madness?… Hear me—let me reveal my tale.” He later regains composure, speaks of friendship and irrevocable loss, and withdraws in calm sorrow.

On August 19th the stranger declares he has suffered unparalleled misfortunes and that Walton’s path mirrors his own. He hopes his narrative will serve as a moral, though he believes his destiny fixed and near its end. He promises to begin his story the next day, while Walton resolves to record it faithfully, anticipating a strange and harrowing account.