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diff --git a/old/14350.txt b/old/14350.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a89aa7b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14350.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8920 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Three Voyages for the Discovery of a +Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an +Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 2 (of 2), by Sir William Edward +Parry + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North +Pole, Volume 2 (of 2) + +Author: Sir William Edward Parry + +Release Date: December 14, 2004 [eBook #14350] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF +A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, AND NARRATIVE OF AN +ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE, VOLUME 2 (OF 2)*** + + +E-text prepared by Robert Connal, David Gundry, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team from images generously made available +by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions + + + +Transcriber's Note: + The character = preceeding a vowel is used to indicate that the + vowel is to be pronounced long. + The character ~ preceeding a vowel is used to indicate that the + vowel is to be pronounced short. + These characters do not occur otherwise. + + + + + +THREE VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE ATLANTIC +TO THE PACIFIC, AND NARRATIVE OF AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE, +VOLUME II + +by + +SIR W. E. PARRY, CAPT. R.N., F.R.S. + +In Two Volumes. + +1844 + +New-York: +Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff-Street. + + + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +OF + +THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + + + +SECOND VOYAGE + +CONTINUED. + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Departure from Winter Island.--Meet with some Esquimaux travelling + to the Northward.--Obstruction and Danger from the Ice and + Tides.--Discovery of the Barrow River, and its Fall.--Favourable + Passage to the Northward.--Arrival off the Strait of the Fury and + Hecla.--Progress opposed by a fixed barrier of Ice.--Communicate + with the Natives of Igloolik.--Unsuccessful Attempt to get between + the Ice and the Land.--Land upon the Calthorpe Islands.--The Fury + drifted by the Ice between two Islands.--Account of a Journey + performed in Sledges up an Inlet to the Westward. + + +CHAPTER XI. + + A Whale killed.--Other Charts drawn by the Esquimaux.--Account of a + Journey to the Narrows of the Strait.--Discovery of the Sea to the + Westward.--Total Disruption of the Ice at the Eastern Entrance of + the Strait.--Instance of local Attraction on the Compasses.--Sail + through the Narrows, and again stopped by fixed Ice.--Account of + several Land Journeys and Boat Excursions.--Observations on the + Tides.--Continued Obstacles from fixed Ice. + + +CHAPTER XII. + + A Journey performed along the South Shore of Cockburn + Island.--Confirmation of an Outlet to the Polar Sea.--Partial + Disruption of the Old Ice, and formation of New.--Return through + the Narrows to the Eastward.--Proceed to examine the Coast to the + Northeastward.--Fury's Anchor broken.--Stand over to Igloolik to + look for Winter-quarters.--Excursion to the Head of Quilliam + Creek.--Ships forced to the Westward by Gales of Wind.--A Canal + sawed through the Ice, and the Ships secured in their Winter + Station.--Continued Visits of the Esquimaux, and Arrival of some of + the Winter Island Tribe.--Proposed Plan of Operations in the ensuing + Spring. + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + Preparations for the Winter.--Various Meteorological Phenomena to + the close of the year 1822.--Sickness among the + Esquimaux.--Meteorological Phenomena to the end of March. + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + Various Journeys to the Esquimaux Stations.--Preparations for the + Hecla's Return to England.--Remarkable Halos, &c.--Shooting Parties + stationed at Arlagnuk.--Journeys to Quilliam Creek.--Arrival of + Esquimaux from the Northward.--Account of a Journey to the Westward + for the purpose of reaching the Polar Sea.--The Esquimaux report two + Fishing-ships having been Wrecked.--A Journey performed to Cockburn + Island.--Discovery of Murray Maxwell Inlet + + +CHAPTER XV. + + Extraordinary Disruption of Ice in Quilliam Creek.--Some Appearance + of Scurvy among the Seamen and Marines--Discovery of Gifford + River.--Commence cutting the Ice outside the Ships to release them + from their Winter-quarters.--Considerations respecting the Return of + the Expedition to England.--Unfavourable State of the Ice at the + Eastern Entrance of the Strait.--Proceed to the Southward.--Ships + beset and drifted up Lyon Inlet.--Decease of Mr. George Fife.--Final + Release from the Ice, and Arrival in England.--Remarks upon the + practicability of a Northwest Passage. + + + + + + +THIRD VOYAGE + + +INTRODUCTION + + +CHAPTER I. + + Passage to the Whale-fish Islands, and Removal of Stores from the + Transport.--Enter the Ice in Baffin's Bay.--Difficulties of + Penetrating to the Westward.--Quit the Ice in Baffin's Bay.--Remarks + on the Obstructions encountered by the Ships, and on the Severity of + the Season. + + +CHAPTER II. + + Enter Sir James Lancaster's Sound.--Land at Cape Warrender.--Meet + with young Ice.--Ships beset and carried near the Shore.--Driven + back to Navy-board Inlet.--Run to the Westward, and enter Prince + Regent's Inlet.--Arrival at Port Bowen. + + +CHAPTER III. + + Winter Arrangements.--Improvements in Warming and Ventilating the + Ships.--Masquerades adopted as an Amusement to the + Men.--Establishment of Schools.--Astronomical + Observations.--Meteorological Phenomena + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Re-equipment of the Ships.--Several Journeys undertaken.--Open Water + in the Offing.--Commence sawing a Canal to liberate the + Ships.--Disruption of the Ice.--Departure from Port Bowen. + + +CHAPTER V. + + Sail over towards the Western Coast of Prince Regent's + Inlet.--Stopped by the Ice.--Reach the Shore about Cape + Seppings.--Favourable Progress along the Land.--Fresh and repeated + Obstructions from Ice.--Both Ships driven on Shore.--Fury seriously + damaged.--Unsuccessful Search for a Harbour for heaving her down to + repair. + +CHAPTER VI. + + Formation of a Basin for heaving the Fury down.--Landing of the + Fury's Stores, and other Preparations.--The Ships secured within the + Basin.--Impediments from the Pressure of the Ice.--Fury, hove + down.--Securities of the Basin destroyed by a Gale of + Wind.--Preparations to tow the Fury out.--Hecla Re-equipped, and + obliged to put to Sea.--Fury again driven on Shore.--Rejoin the + Fury; and find it necessary finally to abandon her. + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Some Remarks upon the Loss of the Fury--And on the Natural History, + &c, of the Coast of North Somerset.--Arrive at Neill's + Harbour.--Death of John Page.--Leave Neill's Harbour.--Recross the + Ice in Baffin's Bay.--Heavy Gales.--Temperature of the Sea.--Arrival + in England. + + + + + + +ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX + +NARRATIVE OF AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE IN BOATS + + + + +[Illustration] + + + + + + + +SECOND VOYAGE + +FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A + +NORTHWEST PASSAGE. + +CONTINUED. + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Departure from Winter Island.--Meet with some Esquimaux travelling + to the Northward.--Obstruction and Danger from the Ice and + Tides.--Discovery of the Barrow River, and its Fall.--Favourable + Passage to the Northward.--Arrival off the Strait of the Fury and + Hecla.--Progress opposed by a fixed barrier of Ice.--Communicate + with the Natives of Igloolik.--Unsuccessful Attempt to get between + the Ice and the Land--Land upon the Calthorpe Islands.--The Fury + drifted by the Ice between two Islands.--Account of a Journey + performed in Sledges up an Inlet to the westward. + + + + +The gale, which had for some time been blowing from the northward, +veered to the N.W.b.W., and increased in strength on the 1st of July, +which soon began to produce the effect of drifting the ice off the land. +At six o'clock on the 2d, the report from the hill being favourable, and +the wind and weather now also sufficiently so, we moved out of our +winter's dock, which was, indeed, in part broken to pieces by the swell +that had lately set into the bay. At seven we made sail, with a fresh +breeze from W.N.W., and having cleared the rocks at the entrance of the +bay, ran quickly to the northward and eastward. The ice in the offing +was of the "hummocky" kind, and drifting rapidly about with the tides, +leaving us a navigable channel varying in width from two miles to three +or four hundred yards. + +The closeness of the ice again obliging us to make fast on the 3d, we +soon after perceived a party of people with a sledge upon the land-floe. +I therefore sent Mr. Bushnan, with some of our men, to meet them and to +bring them on board, being desirous of ascertaining whereabout, +according to their geography, we now were. We found the party to +consist, as we expected, of those who had taken leave of us forty days +before on their departure to the northward, and who now readily +accompanied our people to the ships; leaving only Togolat's idiot-boy by +the sledge, tying him to a dog and the dog to the ice. As soon as they +came under the bows, they halted in a line, and, according to their +former promise, gave three cheers, which salutation a few of us on the +forecastle did not fail to return. As soon as they got on board they +expressed extreme joy at seeing us again, repeated each of our names +with great earnestness, and were, indeed, much gratified by this +unexpected encounter. Ewerat being now mounted on the plank which goes +across the gunwales of our ships for conning them conveniently among the +ice, explained, in a very clear and pilot-like manner, that the island +which we observed to lie off Cape Wilson was that marked by Iligliuk in +one of her charts, and there called _Awlikteewik_, pronounced by Ewerat +_Ow-l=itt~ee-week_. On asking how many days' journey it was still to +Amitioke, they all agreed in saying ten; and back to Winter Island +_oon=o=oktoot_ (a great many), so that we had good reason to hope we +were not far from the former place. I may at once remark, however, that +great caution is requisite in judging of the information these people +give of the distances from one place to another, as expressed by the +number of _se=eniks_ (sleeps) or days' journeys, to which, in other +countries, a definite value is affixed. No two Esquimaux will give the +same account in this respect, though each is equally desirous of +furnishing correct information; for, besides their deficiency as +arithmeticians, which renders the enumeration of ten a labour, and of +fifteen almost an impossibility to many of them, each individual forms +his idea of the distance according to the season of the year, and, +consequently, the mode of travelling in which his own journey has been +performed. Instances of this kind will be observed in the charts of the +Esquimaux, in which they not only differ from each other in this +respect, but the same individual differs from himself at different +times. It is only, therefore, by a careful comparison of the various +accounts, and by making allowances for the different circumstances under +which the journeys have been made, that these apparent inconsistencies +can be reconciled, and an approximation to the truth obtained. + +Many of our officers and men cordially greeted these poor people as old +acquaintances they were glad to see again, and they were loaded, as +usual, with numerous presents, of which the only danger to be +apprehended was lest they should go mad on account of them. The women +screamed in a convulsive manner at everything they received, and cried +for five minutes together with the excess of their joy; and to the +honour of "John Bull" be it recorded, he sent by one of the men as he +left the ship a piece of sealskin, as a present to _Parree_, being the +first offering of real gratitude, and without any expectation of return, +that I had ever received from any of them. I never saw them express more +surprise than on being assured that we had left Winter Island only a +single day; a circumstance which might well excite their wonder, +considering that they had themselves been above forty in reaching our +present station. They had obtained one reindeer, and had now a large +seal on their sledge, to which we added a quantity of bread-dust, that +seemed acceptable enough to them. As our way lay in the same direction +as theirs, I would gladly have taken their whole establishment on board +the ships to convey them to Amitioke, but for the uncertain nature of +this navigation, which might eventually have put it out of my power to +land them at the precise place of their destination. The ice again +opening, we were now obliged to dismiss them, after half an hour's +visit, when, having run to the Hecla's bows to see Captain Lyon and his +people, they returned to their sledge as fast as their loads of presents +would allow them. + +We continued our progress northward, contending with the flood-tide and +the drifting masses of ice; and the difficulties of such a navigation +may be conceived from the following description of what happened to us +on the 9th. + +At half past eight on the morning of the 9th, a considerable space of +open water being left to the northward of us by the ice that had broken +off the preceding night, I left the Fury in a boat for the purpose of +sounding along the shore in that direction, in readiness for moving +whenever the Hecla should be enabled to rejoin us. I found the soundings +regular in almost every part, and had just landed to obtain a view from +an eminence, when I was recalled by a signal from the Fury, appointed to +inform me of the approach of any ice. On my return, I found the external +body once more in rapid motion to the southward with the flood-tide, and +assuming its usual threatening appearance. For an hour or two the Fury +was continually grazed, and sometimes heeled over by a degree of +pressure which, under any other circumstances, would not have been +considered a moderate one, but which the last two or three days' +navigation had taught us to disregard, when compared with what we had +reason almost every moment to expect. A little before noon a heavy floe, +some miles in length, being probably a part of that lately detached from +the shore, came driving down fast towards us, giving us serious reason +to apprehend some more fatal catastrophe than any we had yet +encountered. In a few minutes it came in contact, at the rate of a mile +and a half an hour, with a point of the land-ice left the preceding +night by its own separation, breaking it up with a tremendous crash, and +forcing numberless immense masses, perhaps many tons in weight, to the +height of fifty or sixty feet, from whence they again rolled down on the +inner or land side, and were quickly succeeded by a fresh supply. While +we were obliged to be quiet spectators of this grand but terrific +sight, being within five or six hundred yards of the point, the danger +to ourselves was twofold; first, lest the floe should now swing in, and +serve us much in the same manner; and, secondly, lest its pressure +should detach the land-ice to which we were secured, and thus set us +adrift and at the mercy of the tides. Happily, however, neither of these +occurred, the floe remaining stationary for the rest of the tide, and +setting off with the ebb which made soon after. In the mean while the +Hecla had been enabled to get under sail, and was making considerable +progress towards us, which determined me to move the Fury as soon as +possible from her present situation into the bight I had sounded in the +morning, where we made fast in five and a half fathoms alongside some +very heavy grounded ice, one third of a mile from a point of land lying +next to the northward of Cape Wilson, and which is low for a short +distance next the sea. At nine o'clock a large mass of ice fell off the +land-floe and struck our stern; and a "calf" lying under it, having lost +its superincumbent weight, rose to the surface with considerable force, +lifting our rudder violently in its passage, but doing no material +injury. + +On the 12th, observing an opening in the land like a river, I left the +ship in a boat to examine the soundings of the coast. On approaching the +opening, we found so strong a current setting out of it as to induce me +to taste the water, which proved scarcely brackish; and a little closer +in, perfectly fresh, though the depth was from fourteen to fifteen +fathoms. As this stream was a sufficient security against any ice coming +in, I determined to anchor the ships somewhere in its neighbourhood; +and, having laid down a buoy in twelve fathoms, off the north point of +the entrance, returned on board, when I found all the boats ahead +endeavouring to tow the ships in-shore. This could be effected, however, +only by getting them across the stream of the inlet to the northern +shore; and here, finding some land-ice, the ships were secured late at +night, after several hours of extreme labour to the people in the boats. + +On the morning of the 13th, the ice being still close in with the land +just to the northward of us, I determined on examining the supposed +river in the boats, and, at the same time, to try our luck with the +seines, as the place appeared a likely one for salmon. Immediately on +opening the inlet we encountered a rapid current setting outward, and, +after rowing a mile and a half to the N.W.b.W., the breadth of the +stream varying from one third of a mile to four or five hundred yards, +came to some shoal water extending quite across. Landing on the south +shore and hauling the boats up above high-water mark, we rambled up the +banks of the stream, which are low next the water, but rise almost +immediately to the height of about two hundred feet. As we proceeded we +gradually heard the noise of a fall of water; and being presently +obliged to strike more inland, as the bank became more precipitous, soon +obtained a fresh view of the stream running on a much higher level than +before, and dashing with great impetuosity down two small cataracts. +Just below this, however, where the river turns almost at a right angle, +we perceived a much greater spray, as well as a louder sound; and, +having walked a short distance down the bank, suddenly came upon the +principal fall, of whose magnificence I am at a loss to give any +adequate description. At the head of the fall, or where it commences its +principal descent, the river is contracted to about one hundred and +fifty feet in breadth, the channel being hollowed out through a solid +rock of gneiss. + +After falling about fifteen feet at angle of 30 deg. with a vertical line, +the width of the stream is still narrowed to about forty yards, and +then, as if mustering its whole force previous to its final descent, is +precipitated, in one vast, continuous sheet of water, almost +perpendicular for ninety feet more. The dashing of the water from such a +height produced the usual accompaniment of a cloud of spray broad +columns of which were constantly forced up like the successive rushes of +smoke from a vast furnace, and on this, near the top, a vivid _iris_ or +rainbow was occasionally formed by the bright rays of an unclouded sun. +The basin that receives the water at the foot of the fall is nearly of a +circular form, and about four hundred yards in diameter, being rather +wider than the river immediately below it. + +After remaining nearly an hour, fixed, as it were, to the spot by the +novelty and magnificence of the scene before us, we continued our walk +upward along the banks; and after passing the two smaller cataracts, +found the river again increased in width to above two hundred yards, +winding in the most romantic manner imaginable among the hills, and +preserving, a smooth and unruffled surface for a distance of three or +four miles that we traced it to the southwest above the fall. What +added extremely to the beauty of this picturesque river, which Captain +Lyon and myself named after our friend Mr. BARROW, Secretary to the +Admiralty, was the richness of the vegetation on its banks, the +enlivening brilliancy of a cloudless sky, and the animation given to the +scene by several reindeer that were grazing beside the stream. Our +sportsmen were fortunate in obtaining four of these animals; but we had +no success with the seines, the ground proving altogether too rocky to +use them with advantage or safety. We returned on board at thirty +minutes past two P.M., after the most gratifying visit we had ever paid +to the shore in these regions. + +We found on our return that a fresh, southerly breeze, which had been +blowing for several hours, had driven the ice to some distance from the +land; so that at four P.M., as soon as the flood-tide had slackened, we +cast off and made all possible sail to the northward, steering for a +headland, remarkable for having a patch of land towards the sea, that +appeared insular in sailing along shore. As we approached this headland, +which I named after my friend Mr. PENRHYN, the prospect became more and +more enlivening; for the sea was found to be navigable in a degree very +seldom experienced in these regions, and, the land trending two or three +points to the westward of north, gave us reason to hope we should now be +enabled to take a decided and final turn in that anxiously desired +direction. As we rounded Cape Penrhyn at seven P.M., we began gradually +to lose sight of the external body of ice, sailing close along that +which was still attached in very heavy floes to this part of the coast. +Both wind and tide being favourable, our progress was rapid, and +unobstructed, and nothing could exceed the interest and delight with +which so unusual an event was hailed by us. Before midnight the wind +came more off the land, and then became light and variable, after which +it settled in the northwest, with thick weather for several hours. + +In the course of this day the walruses became more and more numerous +every hour, lying in large herds upon the loose pieces of drift-ice; and +it having fallen calm at one P.M., we despatched our boats to kill some +for the sake of the oil which they afford. On approaching the ice, our +people found them huddled close to, and even lying upon, one another, in +separate droves of from twelve to thirty, the whole number near the +boats being perhaps about two hundred..Most of them waited quietly to be +fired at: and even after one or two discharges did not seem to be +greatly disturbed, but allowed the people to land on the ice near them, +and, when approached, showed an evident disposition to give battle. +After they had got into the water, three were struck with harpoons and +killed from the boats. When first wounded they became quite furious, and +one, which had been struck from Captain Lyon's boat, made a resolute +attack upon her and injured several of the planks with its enormous +tusks. A number of the others came round them, also repeatedly striking +the wounded animals with their tusks, with the intention either of +getting them away, or else of joining in the attack upon them. Many of +these animals had young ones, which, when assaulted, they either took +between their fore-flippers to carry off, or bore away on their backs. +Both of those killed by the Fury's boats were females, and the weight of +the largest was fifteen hundred and two quarters nearly; but it was by +no means remarkable for the largeness of its dimensions. The peculiar +barking noise made by the walrus when irritated, may be heard, on a calm +day, with great distinctness at the distance of two miles at least. We +found musket-balls the most certain and expeditious way of despatching +them after they had been once struck with the harpoon, the thickness of +their skin being such that whale-lances generally bend without +penetrating it. One of these creatures being accidentally touched by one +of the oars in Lieutenant Nias's boat, took hold of it between its +flippers, and, forcibly twisting it out of the man's hand, snapped it in +two. They produced us very little oil, the blubber being thin and poor +at this season, but were welcomed in a way that had not been +anticipated; for some quarters of this "marine beef," as Captain Cook +has called it, being hung up for steaks, the meat was not only eaten, +but eagerly sought after on this and every other occasion throughout the +voyage, by all those among us who could overcome the prejudice arising +chiefly from the dark colour of the flesh. In no other respect that I +could ever discover, is the meat of the walrus, when fresh-killed, in +the slightest degree unpalatable. The heart and liver are indeed +excellent. + +After an unobstructed night's run, during which we met with no ice +except in some loose "streams," the water became so much shoaler as to +make it necessary to proceed with greater caution. About this time, +also, a great deal of high land came in sight to the northward and +eastward, which, on the first inspection of the Esquimaux charts, we +took to be the large portion of land called _Ke=iyuk-tar-ruoke_,[001] +between which and the continent the promised strait lay that was to lead +us to the westward. So far all was satisfactory; but, after sailing a +few miles farther, it is impossible to describe our disappointment and +mortification in perceiving an unbroken sheet of ice extending +completely across the supposed passage from one land to the other. This +consisted of a floe so level and continuous, that a single glance was +sufficient to assure us of the disagreeable fact, that it was the ice +formed in its present situation during the winter, and still firmly +attached to the land on every side. It was certain, from its continuous +appearance for some miles that we ran along its edge, that it had +suffered no disruption this season, which circumstance involved the +necessity of our awaiting that operation, which nature seemed scarcely +yet to have commenced in this neighbourhood, before we could hope to +sail round the northeastern point of the American continent. + +At thirty minutes past nine A.M. we observed several tents on the low +shore immediately abreast of us, and presently afterward five canoes +made their appearance at the edge of the land-ice intervening between us +and the beach. We soon found, by the cautious manner in which the canoes +approached us, that our Winter Island friends had not yet reached this +neighbourhood. In a few minutes after we had joined them, however, a few +presents served to dissipate all their apprehensions, if, indeed, people +could be said to entertain any who thus fearlessly met us half way; and +we immediately persuaded them to turn back with us to the shore. Being +under sail in the boat, with a fresh breeze, we took two of the canoes +in tow, and dragged them along at a great rate, much to the satisfaction +of the Esquimaux, who were very assiduous in piloting us to the best +landing-place upon the ice, where we were met by several of their +companions and conducted to the tents. Before we had reached the shore, +however, we had obtained one very interesting piece of information, +namely, that it was Igloolik on which we were now about to land, and +that we must therefore have made a very near approach to the strait +which, as we hoped, was to conduct us once more into the Polar Sea. + +We found here two divisions of tents, there being eleven where we +landed, and five more about half a mile to the northward. By the time we +reached the tents we were surrounded by a crowd of men, women, and +children, all carrying some trifling article, which they offered in +barter, a business they seemed to understand as well, and to need much +more than their countrymen to the southward. We were, of course, not +backward in promoting a good understanding by means of such presents as +we had brought with us, but they seemed to have no idea of our giving +them anything _gratis_, always offering some trifle in exchange, and +expressing hesitation and surprise when we declined accepting it. This +was not to be wondered at among people who scarcely know what a free +gift is among themselves; but they were not long in getting rid of all +delicacy or hesitation on this score. + +The tents, which varied in size according to the number of occupants, +consisted of several seal and walrus skins, the former dressed without +the hair, and the latter with the thick outer coat taken off, and the +rest shaved thin, so as to allow of the transmission of light through +it. These were put together in a clumsy and irregular patchwork, forming +a sort of bag of a shape rather oval than round, and supported near the +middle by a rude tent-pole composed of several deer's horns or the bones +of other animals lashed together. At the upper end of this is attached +another short piece of bone at right angles, for the purpose of +extending the skins a little at the top, which is generally from six to +seven feet from the ground. The lower part of the tent-pole rests on a +large stone, to keep it from sinking into the ground, and, being no way +secured, is frequently knocked down by persons accidentally coming +against it, and again replaced upon the stone. The lower borders of the +skins are held down by stones laid on them outside; and, to keep the +whole fabric in an erect position, a line of thong is extended from the +top, on the side where the door is, to a larger stone placed at some +distance. The door consists merely of two flaps, contrived so as to +overlap one another, and to be secured by a stone laid upon them at the +bottom. This entrance faces the south or southeast; and as the wind was +now blowing fresh from that quarter, and thick snow beginning to fall, +these habitations did not impress us at first sight with a very +favourable idea of the comfort and accommodation afforded by them. The +interior of the tents may be described in few words. On one side of the +end next the door is the usual stone lamp, resting on rough stones, with +the _ootkooseek_, or cooking pot, suspended over it; and round this are +huddled together, in great confusion, the rest of the women's utensils, +together with great lumps of raw seahorse flesh and blubber, which at +this season they enjoyed in most disgusting abundance. At the inner end +of the tent, which is also the broadest, and occupying about one third +of the whole apartment, their skins are laid as a bed, having under them +some of the _andromeda tetragona_ when the ground is hard, but in this +case placed on the bare dry shingle. Comfortless as these simple +habitations appeared to us in a snowstorm, they are, in general, not +deficient in warmth as summer residences; and, being easily removed from +place to place, they are certainly well suited to the wants and habits +of this wandering people. When a larger habitation than usual is +required, they contrive, by putting two of these together, to form a +sort of double tent somewhat resembling a marquee, and supported by two +poles. The difference between these tents and the one I had seen in Lyon +Inlet the preceding autumn, struck me as remarkable, these having no +_wall_ of stones around them, as is usual in many that we have before +met with, nor do I know their reason for adopting this different mode of +construction. + +Even if it were not the natural and happy disposition of these people to +be pleased, and to place implicit confidence wherever kind treatment is +experienced, that confidence would soon have been ensured by our +knowledge of their friends and relations to the southward, and the +information which we were enabled to give respecting their late and +intended movements. This, while it excited in them extreme surprise, +served also at once to remove all distrust or apprehension, so that we +soon found ourselves on the best terms imaginable. In return for all +this interesting information, they gave us the names of the different +portions of land in sight, many of which being recognised in their +countrymen's charts, we no longer entertained a doubt of our being near +the entrance of the strait to which all our hopes were directed. We now +found also that a point of land in sight, a few miles to the southward +of the tents, was near that marked _Ping-=it-k~a-l~ik_ on Ewerat's +chart, and that, therefore, the low shore along which we had been +constantly sailing the preceding night was certainly a part of the +continent. + +By the time we had distributed most of our presents, and told some long +stories about Winter Island, to all which they listened with eager +delight and interest, we found the weather becoming so inclement as to +determine us to make the best of our way on board, and to take a more +favourable opportunity of renewing our visit to the Esquimaux. After +pulling out for an hour and a half, Captain Lyon, who had a boat's crew +composed of officers, and had, unfortunately, broken one of his oars, +was under the necessity of returning to the shore. My anxiety lest the +ships should be ventured too near the shore, from a desire to pick up +the boats, induced me to persevere an hour longer, when the wind having +increased to a gale, which prevented our hearing any of the guns, I +reluctantly bore up for our former landing-place. Captain Lyon and his +party having quartered themselves at the southern tents, we took up our +lodgings at the others, to which we were welcomed in the kindest and +most hospitable manner. That we might incommode the Esquimaux as little +as possible, we divided into parties of two in each tent, though they +would willingly have accommodated twice that number. Immediately on our +arrival they offered us dry boots, and it was not long before we were +entirely "rigged out" in their dresses, which, thoroughly drenched as we +were by the sea, proved no small comfort to us. With these, and a +sealskin or two as a blanket, we kept ourselves tolerably warm during a +most inclement night; and the tents, which but a few hours before we had +looked upon as the most comfortless habitations imaginable, now afforded +us a sufficient and most acceptable shelter. + +The evening was passed in dealing out our information from the +southward, and never did any arrival excite more anxious inquiries than +those we were now obliged to answer. So intimate was the knowledge we +possessed respecting many of their relationships, that, by the help of a +memorandum-book in which these had been inserted, I believe we almost at +times excited a degree of superstitious alarm in their minds. This sort +of gossip, and incessant chattering and laughing, continued till near +midnight, when the numerous visitors in our tents began to retire to +their own and to leave us to our repose. Awaking at four A.M. on the +17th, I found that the weather had moderated and cleared up, and the +ships soon after appearing in sight, we called our boat's crew up, and +sent one of the Esquimaux round to the other tents to inform Captain +Lyon of our setting out. Several of the natives accompanied us to our +boat, which they cheerfully helped us to launch, and then went round to +another part of the beach for their own canoes. A thick fog had come on +before this time, notwithstanding which, however, we managed to find the +ships, and got on board by seven o'clock. Five canoes arrived soon +after, and the wind being now light and variable, we lay-to for an hour +to repay our kind friends for the hospitable reception they had given +us. After supplying them abundantly with tin canisters, knives, and +pieces of iron hoop, we hauled to the northeastward to continue our +examination of the state of the ice, in hopes of finding that the late +gale had in this respect done us some service. + +Finding that a farther examination of the eastern lands could not at +present be carried on, without incurring the risk of hampering the ships +at a time when, for aught that we knew, the ice might be breaking up at +the entrance of the strait, we stood back to the westward, and, having +fetched near the middle of Igloolik, were gratified in observing that a +large "patch" of the fixed ice[002] had broken off and drifted out of +sight during our absence. At nine A.M. we saw eleven canoes coming off +from the shore, our distance from the tents being about four miles. We +now hoisted two of them on board, their owners K=a-k~ee and +N~u-y=ak-k~a being very well pleased with the expedient, to avoid +damaging them alongside. Above an hour was occupied in endeavouring to +gain additional information respecting the land to the westward, and the +time when we might expect the ice to break up in the strait, after which +we dismissed them with various useful presents, the atmosphere becoming +extremely thick with snow, and threatening a repetition of the same +inclement weather as we had lately experienced. + +On the 23d we went on shore to pay another visit to the Esquimaux, who +came down on the ice in great numbers to receive us, repeatedly stroking +down the front of their jackets with the palm of the hand as they +advanced, a custom not before mentioned, as we had some doubt about it +at Winter Island, and which they soon discontinued here. They also +frequently called out _tima_, a word which, according to Hearne, +signifies in the Esquimaux language, "What cheer!" and which Captain +Franklin heard frequently used on first accosting the natives at the +mouth of the Coppermine River. It seems to be among these people a +salutation equivalent to that understood by these travellers, or at +least some equally civil and friendly one, for nothing could exceed the +attention which they paid us on landing. Some individual always attached +himself to each of us immediately on our leaving the boat, pointing out +the best road, and taking us by the hand or arm to help us over the +streams of water or fissures in the ice, and attending us wherever we +went during our stay on shore. The day proving extremely fine and +pleasant, everything assumed a different appearance from that at our +former visit, and we passed some hours on shore very agreeably. About +half a mile inland of the tents, and situated upon the rising ground +beyond the swamps and ponds before mentioned, we found the ruins of +several winter habitations, which, upon land so low as Igloolik, formed +very conspicuous objects at the distance of several miles to seaward. +These were of the same circular and dome-like form as the snow-huts, but +built with much more durable materials, the lower part or foundation +being of stones, and the rest of the various bones of the whale and +walrus, gradually inclining inward and meeting at the top. The crevices, +as well as the whole of the outside, were then covered with turf, which, +with the additional coating of snow in the winter, serves to exclude the +cold air very effectually. The entrance is towards the south, and +consists of a passage ten feet long, and not more than two in height and +breadth, built of flat slabs of stone, having the same external covering +as that of the huts. The beds are raised by stones two feet from the +ground, and occupy about one third of the apartment at the inner end; +and the windows and a part of the roofs had been taken away for the +convenience of removing their furniture in the spring. It was a natural +inference, from the nature of these habitations, that these people, or +at least a portion of them, were constant residents on this spot, which, +indeed, seemed admirably calculated to afford in luxurious profusion all +that constitutes Esquimaux felicity. This, however, did not afterward +prove to be absolutely the case; for though Igloolik (as perhaps the +name may imply) is certainly one of their principal and favourite +rendezvous, yet we subsequently found the inland entirely deserted by +them at the same season. + +In every direction around the huts were lying innumerable bones of +walruses and seals, together with sculls of dogs, bears, and foxes, on +many of which a part of the putrid flesh still remaining sent forth the +most offensive effluvia. We were not a little surprised to find also a +number of human sculls lying about among the rest, within a few yards of +the huts; and were somewhat inclined to be out of humour on this account +with our new friends, who not only treated the matter with the utmost +indifference, but, on observing that we were inclined to add some of +them to our collections, went eagerly about to look for them, and +tumbled, perhaps, the craniums of some of their own relations into our +bag, without delicacy or remorse. In various other parts of the island +we soon after met with similar relics no better disposed of; but we had +yet to learn how little pains these people take to place their dead out +of the reach of hungry bears or anatomical collectors. + +The account we gave of our visit to the shore naturally exciting the +curiosity and interest of those who had not yet landed, and the ice +remaining unchanged on the 24th, a couple of boats were despatched from +each ship, with a large party of the officers and men, while the ships +stood off and on. On the return of the boats in the evening, I found +from Lieutenant Reid that a new family of the natives had arrived to-day +from the main land, bringing with them a quantity of fine salmon and +venison, of which some very acceptable samples were procured for both +ships. Being desirous of following up so agreeable a kind of barter, I +went on shore the next morning for that purpose, but could only procure +a very small quantity of fish from the tent of the new-comer, a +middle-aged, noisy, but remarkably intelligent and energetic man named +_T=o=ol~em~ak_. After some conversation, we found from this man +that, in order to obtain a fresh supply of fish, three days would be +required; this prevented my putting in execution a plan of going out to +the place where the fish were caught, which we at first understood to be +near at hand. We therefore employed all our eloquence in endeavouring to +procure a supply of this kind by means of the Esquimaux themselves, in +which we at length so far succeeded, that Toolemak promised, for certain +valuable considerations of wood and iron, to set out on this errand the +following day. + +Shortly, after I returned on board Captain Lyon made the signal "to +communicate with me," for the purpose of offering his services to +accompany our fisherman on his proposed journey, attended by one of the +Hecla's men; to which, in the present unfavourable state of the ice, I +gladly consented, as the most likely means of procuring information of +interest during this our unavoidable detention. Being equipped with a +small tent, blankets, and four days' provision, Captain Lyon left us at +ten P.M., when I made sail to re-examine the margin of the ice. + +It blew fresh from the eastward during the night of the 28th, with +continued rain, all which we considered favourable for dissolving and +dislodging the ice, though very comfortless for Captain Lyon on his +excursion. The weather at length clearing up in the afternoon, I +determined on beating to the eastward, to see if any more of the land in +that direction could be made out than the unfavourable position of the +ice would permit at our last visit. The Fury then made sail and stood to +the eastward, encountering the usual strength of tide off the southwest +point of Tangle Island, and soon after a great quantity of heavy +drift-ice, apparently not long detached from some land. + +I determined to avoid, if possible, the entanglement of the Fury among +the ice, which now surrounded her on every side, and to stand back to +Igloolik, to hear what information Captain Lyon's journey might have +procured for us. + +At the distance of one third of a mile from Tangle Island, where we +immediately gained the open sea beyond, we observed the Hecla standing +towards us, and rejoined her at a quarter before eleven, when Captain +Lyon came on board to communicate the result of his late journey, of +which he furnished me with the following account, accompanied by a +sketch of the lands he had seen, as far as the extremely unfavourable +state of the weather would permit. + + + "Accompanied by George Dunn, I found Toolemak on landing, who + welcomed us to his tent, in which for two hours it was scarcely + possible to move, in consequence of the crowd who came to gaze at + us. A new deerskin was spread for me, and Dunn having found a corner + for himself, we all lay down to sleep, not, however, until our host, + his wife, their little son, and a dog, had turned in beside me, + under cover of a fine warm skin, all naked except the lady, who, + with the decorum natural to her sex, kept on a part of her clothes. + At ten A.M. we started, and found the sledge on a beach near the + southern ice. Four men were to accompany us on this vehicle, and the + good-natured fellows volunteered to carry our luggage. A second + sledge was under the charge of three boys who had eight dogs, while + our team consisted of eleven. The weather was so thick that at times + we could not see a quarter of a mile before us, but yet went rapidly + forward to the W.N.W., when, after about six hours, we came to a + high, bold land, and a great number of islands of reddish granite, + wild and barren in the extreme. We here found the ice in a very + decayed state, and in many places the holes and fissures were + difficult if not dangerous to pass. At the expiration of eight + hours, our impediments in this respect had increased to such a + degree as to stop our farther progress. Dunn, the old man, and + myself therefore walked over a small island, beyond which we saw a + sheet of water, which precluded any farther advance otherwise than + by boats. + + "In the hope that the morning would prove more favourable for our + seeing the land, the only advantage now to be derived from our + visit, since the fishing place was not attainable, it was decided to + pass the night on one of the rocky islands. The Esquimaux having + brought no provisions with them, I distributed our four days' + allowance of meat in equal proportions to the whole party, who + afterward lay down to sleep on the rocks, having merely a piece of + skin to keep the rain from their faces. In this comfortless state + they remained very quietly for eight hours. Our little hunting-tent + just held Dunn and myself, although not in a very convenient manner; + but it answered the purpose of keeping us dry, except from a stream + of water that ran under us all night. + + "The morning of the 27th was rather fine for a short time, and we + saw above thirty islands, which I named COXE'S GROUP, varying in + size from one hundred yards to a mile or more in length. Two deer + were observed on the northern land, which was called _Khead-Laghioo_ + by the Esquimaux, and Toolemak accompanied Dunn in chase of them. On + crossing to bring over our game, we found the old Esquimaux had + skinned and broken up the deer after his own manner, and my + companions being without food, I divided it into shares. + + "Arriving on the ice, a skin was taken from the sledge as a seat, + and we all squatted down to a repast which was quite new to me. In + ten minutes the natives had picked the deer's bones so clean that + even the hungry dogs disdained to gnaw them a second time. Dunn and + myself made our breakfast on a choice slice cut from the spine, and + found it so good, the windpipe in particular, that at dinner-time we + preferred the same food to our share of the preserved meat which we + had saved from the preceding night. + + "As we sat I observed the moschetoes to be very numerous, but they + were lying in a half torpid state on the ice, and incapable of + molesting us. Soon after noon we set forward on our return, and, + without seeing any object but the flat and decaying ice, passed from + land to land with our former celerity, dashing through large pools + of water much oftener than was altogether agreeable to men who had + not been dry for above thirty hours, or warm for a still longer + period. Our eleven dogs were large, fine-looking animals, and an old + one of peculiar sagacity was placed at their head by having a longer + trace, so as to lead them over the safest and driest places, for + these animals have a great dread of water. The leader was instant in + obeying the voice of the driver, who did not beat, but repeatedly + talked and called it by name. It was beautiful to observe the + sledges racing to the same object, the dogs and men in full cry, and + the vehicles splashing through the water with the velocity of rival + stage-coaches. + + "We were joyfully welcomed to the dwelling of Ooyarra, whose guest I + was now to become, and the place of honour, the deerskin seat, was + cleared for my reception. His two wives, _K~ai-m=o=o-khi~ak_ + and _Aw~a-r=un-n~i_ occupied one end, for it was a double + tent; while at the opposite extremity the parents of the senior wife + were established. The old mother N=ow-k~it-y~oo assisted the + young woman in pulling off our wet clothes and boots, which latter + being of native manufacture, she new-soled and mended without any + request on our side, considering us as a part of the family. Dunn + slept in the little tent to watch our goods, and I had a small + portion of Ooyarra's screened off for me by a seal's skin. My host + and his wives having retired to another tent, and my visitors taking + compassion on me, I went comfortably to sleep; but at midnight was + awakened by a feeling of great warmth, and, to my surprise, found + myself covered by a large deerskin, under which lay my friend, his + two wives, and their favourite puppy, all fast asleep and stark + naked. Supposing this was all according to rule, I left them to + repose in peace, and resigned myself to sleep. + + "On rising, Dunn and I washed with soap in a pond, which caused + great speculations among the by-standers, on some of whom we + afterward performed miracles in the cleansing way. A large + assemblage being collected to hear me talk of Ney-uning-Eitua, or + Winter Island, and to see us eat, the women volunteered to cook for + us; and, as we preferred a fire in the open air to their lamps, the + good-natured creatures sat an hour in the rain to stew some venison + which we had saved from our shares of the deer. The fires in summer, + when in the open air, are generally made of bones previously well + rubbed with blubber, and the female who attends the cooking chews a + large piece, from which, as she extracts the oil, she spirts it on + the flame. + + "After noon, as I lay half asleep, a man came, and, taking me by the + hand, desired Dunn to follow. He led to a tent, which, from the + stillness within, I conjectured was untenanted. Several men stood + near the door, and, on entering, I found eighteen women assembled + and seated in regular order, with the seniors in front. In the + centre, near the tent-pole, stood two men, who, when I was seated on + a large stone, walked slowly round, and one began dancing in the + usual manner, to the favourite tune of 'Amna aya.' The second + person, as I soon found, was the dancer's assistant; and, when the + principal had pretty well exhausted himself, he walked gravely up + to him, and, taking his head between his hands, performed a ceremony + called _K=o=on~ik_, which is rubbing noses, to the great + amusement and amid the plaudits of the whole company. After this, as + if much refreshed, he resumed his performance, occasionally, + however, taking a koonik to enliven himself and the spectators. The + rub-_bee_, if I may be excused the expression, was at length brought + forward and put in the place of the first dancer, who rushed out of + the tent to cool himself. In this manner five or six couples + exhibited alternately, obtaining more or less applause, according to + the oddity of their grimaces. At length a witty fellow, in + consequence of some whispering and tittering among the ladies, + advanced and gave me the koonik, which challenge I Was obliged to + answer by standing up to dance, and my nose was in its turn most + severely rubbed, to the great delight of all present. + + "Having been as patient as could be wished for above an hour, and + being quite overpowered by the heat of the crowded tent, I made a + hasty retreat, after having distributed needles to all the females, + and exacting kooniks from all the prettiest in return. A general + outcry was now made for Dunn, a most quiet North countryman, to + exhibit also; but he, having seen the liberties which had been taken + with my nose, very prudently made his retreat, anticipating what + would be his fate if he remained. + + "During a short, interval of fine weather, we hung out our clothes + to dry, and the contents of our knapsacks, instruments, knives, and + beads were strewed on the ground, while we went inland to shoot a + few ducks. We cautioned no one against thieving, and were so much at + their mercy that everything might have been taken without a + possibility of detection; yet not a single article was found to have + been removed from its place at our return. At night I was attended + by the same bedfellows as before; the young puppy, however, being + now better acquainted, took up his quarters in my blanket-bag, as + from thence he could the more easily reach a quantity of + walrus-flesh which lay near my head; and I was awakened more than + once by finding him gnawing a lump by my side. + + "On the morning of the 29th I was really glad to find that the ships + were not yet in sight, as I should be enabled to pass another day + among the hospitable natives. While making my rounds I met several + others, who were also visiting, and who each invited me to call at + his tent in its turn. Wherever I entered, the master rose and + resigned his seat next his wife or wives, and stood before me or + squatted on a stone near the door. I was then told to 'speak!' or, + in fact, to give a history of all I knew of the distant tribe, + which, from constant repetition, I could now manage pretty well. In + one tent I found a man mending his paddle, which was ingeniously + made of various little scraps of wood, ivory, and bone, lashed + together. He put it into my hands to repair, taking it for granted + that a Kabloona would succeed much better than himself. An hour + afterward the poor fellow came and took me by the hand to his tent, + where I found a large pot of walrus-flesh evidently cooked for me. + His wife licked a piece and offered it, but, on his saying something + to her, took out another, and, having pared off the outside, gave + me the clean part, which, had it been carrion, I would not have hurt + these poor creatures by refusing. The men showed me some curious + puzzles with knots on their fingers, and I did what I could in + return. The little girls were very expert in a singular but dirty + amusement, which consisted in drawing a piece of sinew up their + nostrils and producing the end out of their mouths. The elder people + were, for the most part, in chase of the tormentors, which swarmed + in their head and clothes; and I saw, for the first time, an + ingenious contrivance for detaching them from the back, or such + parts of the body as the hands could not reach. This was the rib of + a seal, having a bunch of the whitest of a deer's hair attached to + one end of it, and on this rubbing the places which require it, the + little animals stick to it; from their colour they are easily + detected, and, of course, consigned to the mouths of the hunters. + + "The weather clearing in the afternoon, one ship was seen in the + distance, which diffused a general joy among the people, who ran + about screaming and dancing with delight. While lounging along the + beach, and waiting the arrival of the ship, I proposed a game at + 'leap frog,' which was quite new to the natives, and in learning + which some terrible falls were made. Even the women with the + children at their backs would not be outdone by the men, and they + formed a grotesque party of opposition jumpers. Tired with a long + exhibition, I retreated to the tent, but was allowed a very short + repose, as I was soon informed that the people from the farthest + tents were come to see my performance, and, on going out, I found + five men stationed at proper distances with their heads down for me + to go over them, which I did amid loud cries of _koyenna_ (thanks). + + "As the ship drew near in the evening, I perceived her to be the + Hecla, but, not expecting a boat so late, lay down to sleep. I soon + found my mistake, for a large party came drumming on the side of the + tent, and crying out that a 'little ship' was coming, and, in fact, + I found the boat nearly on shore. Ooyarra's senior wife now + anxiously begged to tattoo a little figure on my arm, which she had + no sooner done than the youngest insisted on making the same mark; + and while all around were running about and screaming in the + greatest confusion, these two poor creatures sat quietly down to + embellish me. When the boat landed, a general rush was made for the + privilege of carrying our things down to it. Awarunni, who owned the + little dog which slept with me, ran and threw him as a present into + the boat; when, after a general koonik, we pushed off, fully + sensible of the kind hospitality we had received. Toolemak and + Ooyarra came on board in my boat, in order to pass the night and + receive presents, and we left the beach under three hearty cheers." + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + + A Whale killed.--Other Charts drawn by the Esquimaux.--Account of a + Journey to the Narrows of the Strait.--Discovery of the Sea to the + Westward.--Total Disruption of the Ice at the Eastern Entrance of + the Strait.--Instance of local Attraction on the Compasses.--Sail + through the Narrows, and again stopped by fixed Ice.--Account of + several Land Journeys and Boat Excursions.--Observations on the + Tides.--Continued Obstacles from fixed Ice. + + + +_Aug._ 1.--The information obtained by Captain Lyon on his late journey +with the Esquimaux served very strongly to confirm all that had before +been understood from those people respecting the existence of the +desired passage to the westward in this neighbourhood, though the +impossibility of Captain Lyon's proceeding farther in that direction, +combined with our imperfect knowledge of the language, still left us in +some doubt as to the exact position of the strait in question. While, +therefore, Captain Lyon was acquainting me with his late proceedings, we +shaped a course for Igloolik, in order to continue our look-out upon the +ice, and made the tents very accurately by the compass, after a run of +five leagues. + +The present state of the ice, which was thin and "rotten,", served no +less to excite our surprise than to keep alive our hopes and +expectations. The spaces occupied respectively by ice and holes were +about equal; and so extensive and dangerous were the latter, that the +men could with extreme difficulty walk twenty or thirty yards from the +ship to place the anchors, and that at no small risk of falling through. +We were astonished, therefore, to find with what tenacity a field of +ice, whose parts appeared thus loosely joined, still continued to hang +together, notwithstanding the action of the swell that almost constantly +set upon its margin. + +We had for several days past occasionally seen black whales about the +ships, and our boats were kept in constant readiness to strike one, for +the sake of the oil, in which endeavour they at length succeeded this +morning. The usual signal being exhibited, all the boats were sent to +their assistance, and in less than an hour and a half had killed and +secured the fish, which proved a moderate-sized one of above "nine feet +bone," exactly suiting our purpose. The operation of "flinching" this +animal, which was thirty-nine feet and a half in length, occupied most +of the afternoon, each ship taking half the blubber and hauling it on +the ice, "to make off" or put into casks. + +As soon as we had completed the stowage of the blubber, and washed the +ships and people's clothes, we cast off on the 6th, taking in tow the +carcass of the whale (technically called the "crang") for our friends at +Igloolik. The wind dying away when the ships were off the northeast end +of the island, the boats were despatched to tow the whale on shore, +while Captain Lyon and myself went ahead to meet some of the canoes that +were paddling towards us. We soon joined eleven of them, and on our +informing the Esquimaux of the prize the boats were bringing them, they +paddled off with great delight. When they arrived at the spot, and had +civilly asked permission to eat some of it, they dropped their canoes +astern to the whale's tail, from which they cut off enormous lumps of +flesh and ravenously devoured it; after which they followed our boats +in-shore, where the carcass was made fast to a mass of grounded ice for +their future disposal. + +As we made several tacks off the island next to the northward of +Igloolik, called by the Esquimaux _Neerlo-Nackto_, two canoes came off +to us, in one of which was Toolemak. He and his companions came on board +the Fury, when I employed him for a couple of hours in drawing a chart +of the strait. Toolemak, though a sensible and intelligent man, we soon +found to be no draughtsman, so that his performance in this way, if +taken alone, was not a very intelligible delineation of the coast. By +dint, however, of a great deal of talking on his part, and some exercise +of patience on ours, we at length obtained a copious verbal illustration +of his sketch, which confirmed all our former accounts respecting the +existence of a passage to the westward in this immediate neighbourhood, +and the large extent of land on the northern side of the strait. +Toolemak also agreed with our other Esquimaux informants in stating, +that from the coast of Akkoolee no land is visible to the westward; nor +was any ever heard of in that direction by the Esquimaux. This fact they +uniformly assert with a whine of sorrow, meaning thereby to intimate +that their knowledge and resources are there both at an end. + +The disruption of the ice continued to proceed slowly till early on the +morning of the 14th; the breeze having freshened from the northwest, +another floe broke away from the fixed ice, allowing us to gain about +half a mile more to the westward; such was the vexatious slowness with +which we were permitted to advance towards the object of our most +anxious wishes! + +On the 14th I left the ship with Mr. Richards and four men, and +furnished with provisions for ten days, intending, if possible, to reach +the main land at a point where we could overlook the strait. In this we +succeeded after a journey of four days, arriving on the morning of the +18th at the extreme northern point of a peninsula, overlooking the +narrowest part of the desired strait, which lay immediately below us in +about an east and west direction, being two miles in width, apparently +very deep, and with a tide or current of at least two knots, setting the +loose ice through to the eastward. Beyond us, to the west, the shores +again separated to the distance of several leagues; and for more than +three points of the compass, in that direction, no land could be seen to +the utmost limits of a clear horizon, except one island six or seven +miles distant. Over this we could not entertain a doubt of having +discovered the Polar Sea; and, loaded as it was with ice, we already +felt as if we were on the point of forcing our way through it along the +northern shores of America. + +After despatching one of our party to the foot of the point for some of +the sea-water, which was found extremely salt to the taste, we hailed +the interesting event of the morning by three hearty cheers and by a +small extra allowance of grog to our people, to drink a safe and speedy +passage through the channel just discovered, which I ventured to name, +by anticipation, THE STRAIT OF THE FURY AND HECLA. Having built a pile +of stones upon the promontory, which, from its situation with respect to +the Continent of America, I called CAPE NORTHEAST, we walked back to our +tent and baggage, these having, for the sake of greater expedition, been +left two miles behind; and, after resting a few hours, set out at three +P.M. on our return. + +We reached the ships at ten o'clock P.M. on Tuesday the 20th. On almost +all the shores both of the main land and islands that we visited, some +traces of the Esquimaux were found; but they were less numerous than in +any other places on which we had hitherto landed. This circumstance +rather seemed to intimate, as we afterward found to be the case, that +the shores of the strait and its immediate neighbourhood are not a +frequent resort of the natives during the summer months. + +We got under way on the 21st, were off Cape Northeast on the 26th, and I +gave the name of CAPE OSSORY to the eastern point of the northern land +of the Narrows; but on that day, after clearing two dangerous shoals, +and again deepening our soundings, we had begun to indulge the most +flattering hopes of now making such a rapid progress as would in some +degree compensate for all our delays and disappointments, when, at once +to crush every expectation of this sort, it was suddenly announced from +the crow's nest that another barrier of _fixed_ ice stretched completely +across the strait, a little beyond us, in one continuous and +impenetrable field, still occupying its winter station. In less than an +hour we had reached its margin, when, finding this report but too +correct, and that, therefore, all farther progress was at present as +impracticable as if no strait existed, we ran the ships under all sail +for the floe, which proved so "rotten" and decayed that the ships forced +themselves three or four hundred yards through it before they stopped. +Keeping all our canvass spread, we then tried to break the thin edges +about the numerous holes, by dropping weights over the bows, as well as +by various other equally ineffectual expedients; but the ice was "tough" +enough to resist every effort of this kind, though its watery state was +such as to increase, if possible, our annoyance at being stopped by it. +The passage to the northward of the island was not even so clear as this +by above two miles of ice, so that in every respect our present route +was to be preferred to the other; and thus, after a vexatious delay of +six weeks at the eastern entrance of the strait, and at a time when we +had every reason to hope that nature, though hitherto tardy in her +annual disruption of the ice, had at length made an effort to complete +it, did we find our progress once more opposed by a barrier of the same +continuous, impenetrable, and hopeless nature as at first! + +As soon as the anchors were dropped, my attention was once more turned +to the main object of the expedition, from which it had for a moment +been diverted by the necessity of exerting every effort for the +immediate safety of the ships. This being now provided for, I had +leisure to consider in what manner, hampered as the ships were by the +present state of the ice, our means and exertions might, during this +unavoidable detention, be employed to the greatest advantage, or, at +least, with the best prospect of ultimate utility. + +Whatever doubts might at a distance have been entertained respecting the +identity, or the contrary, of the place visited by Captain Lyon with +that subsequently discovered by myself, there could be none on a nearer +view; as, independently of the observed latitude, Captain Lyon could +not, on approaching the narrows, recognise a single feature of the land; +our present channel being evidently a much wider and more extensive one +than that pointed out by Toolemak, on the journey. It became, therefore, +a matter of interest, now that this point was settled and our progress +again stopped by an insuperable obstacle, to ascertain the extent and +communication of the southern inlet; and, should it prove a second +strait, to watch the breaking up of the ice about its eastern entrance, +that no favourable opportunity might be missed of pushing through it to +the westward. I therefore determined to despatch three separate parties, +to satisfy all doubts in that quarter, as well as to gain every possible +information as to the length of the strait, and the extent of the fixed +ice now more immediately before us. + +With this view, I requested Captain Lyon to take with him Mr. Griffiths +and four men, and proceed overland in a S.b.E. direction, till he should +determine, by the difference of latitude, which amounted only to sixteen +miles, whether there was or was not a strait leading to the westward, +about the parallel of 69 deg. 26', being nearly that in which the place +called by the Esquimaux _Kh=emig_ had been found by observation to +lie. In the mean time, Lieutenant Palmer was directed to proceed in a +boat to Igloolik, or Neerlo-Nackto, as might be necessary, to ascertain +whether the passage leading towards Kh=emig was yet clear of ice; and, +should he find any one of the Esquimaux willing to accompany him to the +ships with his canoe, to bring him on board as a pilot. The third party +consisted of Mr. Bushnan, with three men, under the command of +Lieutenant Reid, who was instructed to proceed along the continental +coast to the westward, to gain as much information as possible +respecting the termination of our present strait, the time of his return +to the ships being limited to four days, at the expiration of which the +other two parties might also be expected to reach us. + +On the morning of the 29th, the wind being light from the eastward, but +the weather much more clear than before, we weighed and stood over to +the mainland with the intention of putting our travellers on shore, but +found that coast now so lined with the ice which had lately broken +adrift that it was not possible for a boat to approach it. Standing off +to the westward, to see what service the late disruption had done us, we +found that a considerable floe had separated, exactly in a line between +the island off which we lay and a second to the westward of it, +subsequently named in honour of LORD AMHERST. Tacking at the +newly-formed margin of the fixed ice, we observed, not only that it was +still firmly attached to the shores, but that it was now almost entirely +"hummocky," and heavier than any we had seen since making Igloolik; some +of the hummocks, as we afterward found, measuring from eight to ten feet +above the surface of the sea. + +The different character now assumed by the ice, while it certainly +damped our hopes of the passage being cleared this season by the gradual +effects of dissolution, confirmed, however, in a very satisfactory +manner, the belief of our being in a broad channel communicating with a +western sea. As the conclusions we immediately drew from this +circumstance may not be so obvious to others, I shall here briefly +explain that, from the manner in which the hummocky floes are formed, it +is next to impossible that any of these of considerable extent can ever +be produced in a mere inlet having a narrow communication with the sea. +There is, in fact, no ice to which the denomination of "sea-ice" may be +more strictly and exclusively applied than this; and we therefore felt +confident that the immense floes which now opposed our progress must +have come from the sea on one side or the other; while the current, +which we had observed to run in an easterly direction in the narrows, of +this strait, precluded the possibility of such ice having found its way +in from that quarter. The only remaining conclusion was, that it must +have been set into the strait from the westward towards the close of a +summer, and cemented in its present situation by the frost of the +succeeding winter. + +A great deal of snow having fallen in the last two days, scarcely a dark +patch was now to be seen on any part of the land, so that the prospect +at daylight on the 30th was as comfortless as can well be imagined for +the parties who were just about to find their way among the rocks and +precipices. Soon after four A.M., however, when we had ascertained that +the drift-ice was no longer lying in their way, they were all +despatched in their different directions. For each of the land-parties a +depot of several days' provision and fuel was, in case of accidents, +established on the beach; and Lieutenant Palmer took in his boat a +supply for nine days. + +On the 31st the wind blew fresh and cold from the northwest, which +caused a quantity of ice to separate from the fixed floe in small pieces +during the day, and drift past the ships. Early in the morning, a +she-bear and her two cubs were observed floating down on one of these +masses, and, coming close to the Hecla, were all killed. The female +proved remarkably small, two or three men being able to lift her into a +boat. + +At half past nine on the morning of the 1st of September, one of our +parties was descried at the appointed rendezvous on shore, which, on our +sending a boat to bring them on board, proved to be Captain Lyon and his +people. From their early arrival we were in hopes that some decisive +information had at length been obtained; and our disappointment may +therefore be imagined, in finding that, owing to insuperable obstacles, +on the road, he had not been able to advance above five or six miles to +the southward, and that with excessive danger and fatigue, owing to the +depth of the snow, and the numerous lakes and precipices. + +At nine A.M. on the 2d, Lieutenant Reid and his party were descried at +their landing-place, and a boat being sent for them, arrived on board at +half past eleven. He reported that the ice seemed to extend from Amherst +Island as far as they could see to the westward, presenting one unbroken +surface from the north to the south shore of the strait. + +Notwithstanding every exertion on the part of our travellers, their +labours had not thrown much light on the geography of this part of the +coast, nor added any information that could be of practical use in +directing the operations of the ships. The important question respecting +a second passage leading to the westward still remained as much a matter +of mere conjecture as at first; while the advanced period of the season, +and the unpromising appearance of the ice now opposing our progress, +rendered it more essential than ever that this point should, if +possible, be decided. Under this impression it occurred to me, that the +desired object might possibly be accomplished by pursuing the route +along the head or western shore of Richards's Bay, part of which I had +already traversed on my former journey, and found it much less laborious +walking than that experienced by Captain Lyon on the higher and more +rugged mountains inland. I determined, therefore, to make this attempt, +taking with me Mr. Richards and most of my former companions. + +This night proved the coldest we had experienced during the present +season, and the thermometer stood at 24 deg. when I left the ships at four +A.M. on the 3d, having previously directed Captain Lyon to remain as +near their present station as might be consistent with safety, and +carefully watch for any alteration that might occur in the western ice. + +Being favoured by a strong northwesterly breeze, we reached the narrows +at half past six A.M., and immediately encountered a race or ripple, so +heavy and dangerous that it was only by carrying a press of canvass on +the boat that we succeeded in keeping the seas from constantly breaking +into her. This rippling appeared to be occasioned by the sudden +obstruction which the current meets at the western mouth of the narrows, +aided, in the present instance, by the strong breeze that blew directly +upon the corner forming the entrance on the south side. + +Having landed at Cape Northeast, I made sail for the isthmus at ten +A.M., where we arrived after an hour's run; and hauling the boat up on +the rocks, and depositing the greater part of our stores near her, set +off at one P.M. along the shore of Richards's Bay, being equipped with +only three days' provision, and as small a weight of clothing as +possible. The coast, though not bad for travelling, led us so much more +to the westward than I expected, in consequence of its numerous +indentations, that, after above five hours' hard walking, we had only +made good a W.S.W. course, direct distance six miles. We obtained on +every eminence a distinct view of the ice the whole way down to +Neerlo-nakto, in which space not a drop of clear water was discernible; +the whole of Richards's Bay was filled with ice as before. + +We moved at six P.M. on the 4th, and soon came to a number of lakes from +half a mile to two miles in length occurring in chains of three or four +together, round which we had to walk, at the expense of much time and +labour. At half past six, on gaining a sight of the sea from the top of +a hill, we immediately recognised to the eastward the numerous islands +of red granite described by Captain Lyon; and now perceived, what had +before been surmised, that the south shore of Richards's Bay formed the +northern coast of the inlet, up which his journey with the Esquimaux had +been pursued. Our latitude, by account from noon, being now 69 deg. 28', we +felt confident that a short walk directly to the south must bring us to +any strait communicating with that inlet, and we therefore pushed on in +confident expectation of being near our journey's end. At seven P.M., +leaving the men to pitch the tent in a sheltered valley, Mr. Richards +and myself ascended the hill that rose beyond it, and, on reaching its +summit, found ourselves overlooking a long and narrow arm of the sea +communicating with the inlet before seen to the eastward, and appearing +to extend several miles nearly in an east and west direction, or +parallel to the table-land before described, from which it is distant +three or four miles. That the creek we now overlooked was a part of the +same arm of the sea which Captain Lyon had visited, the latitude, the +bearings of Igloolik, which was now plainly visible, and the number and +appearance of the Coxe Islands, which were too remarkable to be +mistaken, all concurred in assuring us; and it only, therefore, remained +for us to determine whether it would furnish a passage for the ships. +Having made all the remarks which the lateness of the evening would +permit, we descended to the tent at dusk, being directed by a cheerful, +blazing fire of the _andromeda tetragona_, which, in its present dry +state, served as excellent fuel for warming our provisions. + +Setting forward at five A.M. on the 5th, along some pleasant valleys +covered with grass and other vegetation, and the resort of numerous +reindeer, we walked six or seven miles in a direction parallel to that +of the creek; when, finding the latter considerably narrowed, and the +numerous low points of its south shore rendering the water too shoal, to +all appearance, even for the navigation of a sloop of ten tons, I +determined to waste no more time in the farther examination of so +insignificant a place. The farther we went to the westward, the higher +the hills became; and the commanding prospect thus afforded enabled us +distinctly to perceive with a glass that, though the ice had become +entirely dissolved in the creek, and for half a mile below it, the whole +sea to the eastward, even as far as Igloolik, was covered with one +continuous and unbroken floe. + +Having now completely satisfied myself, that, as respected both ice and +land, there was no navigable passage for ships about this latitude, no +time was lost in setting out on our return. + +At half past eight we arrived on board, where I was happy to find that +all our parties had returned without accident, except that Lieutenant +Palmer had been wounded in his hand and temporarily blinded by a gun +accidentally going off, from which, however, he fortunately suffered no +eventual injury. + +The result of our late endeavours, necessarily cramped as they had been, +was to confirm, in the most satisfactory manner, the conviction that we +were now in the only passage leading to the westward that existed in +this neighbourhood. Notwithstanding, therefore, the present unpromising +appearance of the ice, I had no alternative left me but patiently to +await its disruption, and instantly to avail myself of any alteration +that nature might yet effect in our favour. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + + A Journey performed along the South Shore of Cockburn + Island.--Confirmation of an Outlet to the Polar Sea.--Partial + Disruption of the Old Ice, and formation of New.--Return through + the Narrows to the Eastward.--Proceed to examine the Coast to the + Northeastward.--Fury's Anchor broken.--Stand over to Igloolik to + look for Winter-quarters.--Excursion to the Head of Quilliam + Creek.--Ships forced to the Westward by Gales of Wind--A Canal + sawed through the Ice, and the Ships secured in their Winter + Station.--Continued Visits of the Esquimaux, and Arrival of some of + the Winter Island Tribe.--Proposed Plan of Operations in the + ensuing Spring. + + + +A light air springing up from the eastward on the morning of the 8th, we +took advantage of it to run up the margin of the fixed ice, which was +now, perhaps, half a mile farther to the westward, in consequence of +small pieces being occasionally detached from it, than it had been when +we tacked off it ten days before. + +The pools on the floes were now so hardly frozen, that skating and +sliding were going on upon them the whole day, though but a week before +it had been dangerous to venture upon them. + +This latter circumstance, together with the fineness of the weather, and +the tempting appearance of the shore of Cockburn Island, which seemed +better calculated for travelling than any that we had seen, combined to +induce me to despatch another party to the westward, with the hope of +increasing, by the only means within our reach, our knowledge of the +lands and sea in that direction. Lieutenant Reid and Mr. Bushnan were +once more selected for that service, to be accompanied by eight men, a +large number being preferred, because by this means only is it +practicable to accomplish a tolerably long journey, especially on +account of the additional weight of warm clothing which the present +advanced state of the season rendered indispensable. Lieutenant Reid was +furnished with six days' provisions, and directed to land where most +practicable on the northern shore, and thence to pursue his journey to +the westward as far as his resources would admit, gaining all possible +information that might be useful or interesting. + +On the 14th, while an easterly breeze continued, the water increased +very much in breadth to the westward of the fixed floe to which we were +attached; several lanes opening out, and leaving in some places a +channel not less than three miles in width. At two P.M., the wind +suddenly shifting to the westward, closed up every open space in a few +hours, leaving not a drop of water in sight from the masthead in that +direction. To this, however, we had no objection; for being now certain +that the ice was at liberty to move in the western part of the strait, +we felt confident that, if once our present narrow barrier were also +detached, the ordinary changes of wind and tide would inevitably afford +us opportunities of making progress. The westerly wind was accompanied +by fine snow, which continued during the night, rendering the weather +extremely thick, and our situation, consequently, very precarious, +should the ice give way during the hours of darkness. + +At four P.M. on the 15th we discovered our travellers upon the ice. A +fresh party being despatched to meet and to relieve them of their +knapsacks, Lieutenant Reid arrived safely on board at seven P.M., +having, by a quick and most satisfactory journey, ascertained the +immediate junction of the Strait of the Fury and Hecla with the Polar +Sea. + +The weather continuing very thick, with small snow, and there being now +every reason to suppose a final disruption of the fixed ice at hand, I +determined to provide against the danger to which, at night, this +long-wished-for event would expose the ships, by adopting a plan that +had often before occurred to me as likely to prove beneficial in an +unknown and critical navigation such as this. This was nothing more than +the establishment of a temporary lighthouse on shore during the night, +which, in case of our getting adrift, would, together with the +soundings, afford us that security which the sluggish traversing of the +compasses otherwise rendered extremely doubtful. For this purpose, two +steady men, provided with a tent and blankets, were landed on the east +point of Amherst Island at sunset, to keep up some bright lights during +the eight hours of darkness, and to be sent for at daylight in the +morning. + +On the 17th the wind freshened almost to a gale from the northwest, with +thicker and more constant snow than before. The thermometer fell to +16-1/2 deg. at six A.M., rose no higher than 20 deg. in the course of the +day, and got down to 12 deg. at night, so that the young ice began now to +form about us in great quantities. + +Appearances had now become so much against our making any farther +progress this season, as to render it a matter of very serious +consideration whether we ought to risk being shut up during the winter +in the middle of the strait, where, from whatever cause it might +proceed, the last year's ice was not yet wholly detached from the +shores, and where a fresh formation had already commenced, which there +was too much reason to believe would prove a permanent one. Our +wintering in the strait involved the certainty of being frozen up for +eleven months; a sickening prospect under any circumstances, but in the +present instance, probably, fatal to our best hopes and expectations. + +The young ice had now formed so thick about the Fury, that it became +rather doubtful whether we should get her out without an increase of +wind to assist in extricating her, or a decrease of cold. At ten A.M., +however, we began to attempt it, but by noon had not moved the ship more +than half her own length. As soon as we had reached the outer point of +the floe, in a bay of which we had been lying, we had no longer the +means of applying a force from without, and, if alone, should therefore +have been helpless, at least for a time. The Hecla, however, being +fortunately unencumbered, in consequence of having lain in a less +sheltered place, sent her boats with a hawser to the margin of the young +ice; and ours being carried to meet it, by men walking upon planks, at +considerable risk of going through, she at length succeeded in pulling +us out; and, getting into clear water, or, rather, into less tough ice, +at three P.M. we shaped a course to the eastward. + +In our return to Igloolik we encountered a severe gale, but we luckily +discovered it at half past ten A.M., though such was the difficulty of +distinguishing this from Neerlo-nakto, or either from the mainland, on +account of the snow that covered them, that, had it not been for the +Esquimaux huts, we should not easily have recognised the place. At noon +on the 24th we arrived off the point where the tents had first been +pitched, and were immediately greeted by a number of Esquimaux, who came +running down to the beach, shouting and jumping with all their might. + +As soon as we had anchored I went on shore, accompanied by several of +the officers, to pay the Esquimaux a visit, a crowd of them meeting us, +as usual, on the beach, and greeting us with every demonstration of joy. +They seemed disappointed that we had not reached Akkolee, for they +always receive with eagerness any intelligence of their distant country +people. Many of them, and Toolemak among the number, frequently repeated +the expressions "_Owyak Na-o_!" (no summer), "_Took-too Na-o!_" (no +reindeer), which we considered at the time as some confirmation of our +own surmises respecting the badness of the past summer. When we told +them we were come to winter among them, they expressed very great, and, +doubtless, very sincere delight, and even a few _koyennas_ (thanks) +escaped them on the first communication of this piece of intelligence. + +We found these people already established in their winter residences, +which consisted principally of the huts before described, but modified +in various ways both as to form and materials. The roofs, which were +wholly wanting in the summer, were now formed by skins stretched tight +across from side to side. This, however, as we soon afterward found, was +only a preparation for the final winter covering of snow; and, indeed, +many of the huts were subsequently lined in the same way within, the +skins being attached to the sides and roof by slender threads of +whalebone, disposed in large and regular stitches. Before the passages +already described, others were now added, from ten to fifteen feet in +length, and from four to five feet high, neatly constructed of large +flat slabs of ice, cemented together by snow and water. Some huts also +were entirely built of this material, of a rude circular or octangular +form, and roofed with skins like the others. The light and transparent +effect within these singular habitations gave one the idea of being in a +house of ground glass, and their newness made them look clean, +comfortable, and wholesome. Not so the more substantial bone huts, +which, from their extreme closeness and accumulated filth, emitted an +almost insupportable stench, to which an abundant supply of raw and +half-putrid walrus' flesh in no small degree contributed. The passages +to these are so low as to make it necessary to crawl on the hands and +knees to enter them; and the floors of the apartments were in some +places so slippery, that we could with difficulty pass and repass, +without the risk of continually falling among the filth with which they +were covered. These were the dirtiest, because the most durable, of any +Esquimaux habitations we had yet seen; and it may be supposed they did +not much improve during the winter. Some bitches with young were very +carefully and conveniently lodged in small square kennels, made of four +upright slabs of ice covered with a fifth, and having a small hole as a +door in one of the sides. The canoes were also laid upon two slabs of +this kind, like tall tombstones standing erect; and a quantity of spare +slabs lying in different places, gave the ground an appearance somewhat +resembling that of a statuary's yard. Large stores of walrus' and seals' +flesh, principally the former, were deposited under heaps of stones all +about the beach, and, as we afterward found, in various other parts of +the island, which showed that they had made some provision for the +winter, though, with their enormous consumption of food, it proved a +very inadequate one. + +Leaving the Fury at seven A.M. on the 26th, and being favoured by a +fresh easterly breeze, we soon cleared the southwest point of Igloolik; +and, having passed the little island of _Oogli=aghioo_, immediately +perceived to the W.N.W. of us a group of islands, so exactly answering +the description of Coxe's Group, both in character and situation, as to +leave no doubt of our being exactly in Captain Lyon's former track. +Being still favoured by the wind and by the total absence of fixed ice, +we reached the islands at eleven A.M., and, after sailing a mile or two +among them, came at once in sight of two bluffs, forming the passage +pointed out by Toolemak, and then supposed to be called _Khemig_. The +land to the north, called by the Esquimaux _Khiadlaghioo_, was now found +to be, as we had before conjectured, the southern shore of Richards's +Bay. The land on our left or to the southward proved an island, five +miles and a quarter in length, of the same bold and rugged character as +the rest of this numerous group, and by far the largest of them all. To +prevent the necessity of reverting to this subject, I may at once add, +that two or three months after this, on laying before Ewerat our own +chart of the whole coast, in order to obtain the Esquimaux names, we +discovered that the island just mentioned was called _Khemig_, by which +name Ormond Island was _also_ distinguished; the word expressing, in the +Esquimaux language, anything stopping up the mouth of a place or +narrowing its entrance, and applied also more familiarly to the cork of +a bottle, or a plug of any kind. And thus were reconciled all the +apparent inconsistencies respecting this hitherto mysterious and +incomprehensible word, which had occasioned us so much perplexity. + +At daylight on the 27th we crossed to a small island at the margin of +the ice; and leaving the boat there in charge of the coxswain and two of +the crew, Mr. Ross and myself, accompanied by the other two, set out +across the ice at seven A.M. to gain the main land, with the intention +of determining the extent of the inlet by walking up its southern bank. +After an hour's good travelling, we landed at eight A.M., and had +scarcely done so when we found ourselves at the very entrance, being +exactly opposite the place from which Mr. Richards and myself had +obtained the first view of the inlet. The patch of ice on which we had +been walking, and which was about three miles long, proved the only +remains of last year's formation; so forcibly had nature struggled to +get rid of this before the commencement of a fresh winter. + +Walking quickly to the westward along this shore, which afforded +excellent travelling, we soon perceived that our business was at an end, +the inlet terminating a very short distance beyond where I had first +traced it, the apparent turn to the northward being only that of a +shallow bay. + +Having thus completed our object, we set out on our return, and reached +the boat at three P.M., after a walk of twenty miles. The weather +fortunately remaining extremely mild, no young ice was formed to +obstruct our way, and we arrived on board at noon the following day, +after an examination peculiarly satisfactory, inasmuch as it proved the +non-existence of _any_ water communication with the Polar Sea, however +small and unfit for the navigation of ships, to the southward of the +Strait of the Fury and Hecla. + +I found from Captain Lyon on my return, that, in consequence of some ice +coming in near the ships, he had shifted them round the point into the +berths-where it was my intention to place them during the winter; where +they now lay in from eleven to fourteen fathoms, at the distance of +three cables' length from the shore. + +It was not till the afternoon of the 30th that the whole was completed, +and the Fury placed in the best berth for the winter that circumstances +would permit. An early release in the spring could here be scarcely +expected, nor, indeed, did the nature of the ice about us, independently +of situation, allow us to hope for it; but both these unfavourable +circumstances had been brought about by a contingency which no human +power or judgment could have obviated, and at which, therefore, it would +have been unreasonable, as well as useless, to repine. We lay here in +rather less than five fathoms, on a muddy bottom, at the distance of one +cable's length from the eastern shore of the bay. + +The whole length of the canal we had sawed through was four thousand +three hundred and forty-three feet; the thickness of the ice, in the +level and regular parts, being from twelve to fourteen inches, but in +many places, where a separation had occurred, amounting to several feet. +I cannot sufficiently do justice to the cheerful alacrity with which the +men continued this laborious work during thirteen days, the thermometer +being frequently at _zero_, and once as low as -9 deg. in that interval. It +was satisfactory, moreover, to find, that in the performance of this, +not a single addition had been made to the sick-list of either ship, +except by the accident of one man's falling into the canal, who returned +to his duty a day or two afterward. + +While our people were thus employed, the Esquimaux had continued to make +daily visits to the ships, driving down on sledges with their wives and +children, and thronging on board in great numbers, as well to gratify +their curiosity, of which they do not, in general, possess much, as to +pick up whatever trifles we could afford to bestow upon them. These +people were at all times ready to assist in any work that was going on, +pulling on the ropes, heaving at the windlass, and sawing the ice, +sometimes for an hour together. They always accompanied their exertions +by imitating the sailors in their peculiar manner of "singing out" when +hauling, thus, at least, affording the latter constant amusement, if not +any very material assistance, during their labour. Among the numerous +young people at Igloolik, there were some whose activity on this and +other occasions particularly struck us. Of these I shall, at present, +only mention two: _N=o=ogloo_, an adopted son of Toolemak, and +_K=ong~ol~ek_, a brother of "John Bull." These two young men, who +were from eighteen to twenty years of age, and stood five feet seven +inches in height, displayed peculiar _tact_ in acquiring our method of +heaving at the windlass, an exercise at which _K=ong~ol~ek_ became +expert after an hour or two's practice. The countenances of both were +handsome and prepossessing, and their limbs well-formed and muscular; +qualities which, combined with their activity and manliness, rendered +them (to speak like a naturalist), perhaps, as fine specimens of the +human race as almost any country can produce. + +Some of our Winter Island friends had now arrived also, being the party +who left us there towards the end of the preceding May, and whom we had +afterward overtaken on their journey to the northward. They were +certainly all very glad to see us again, and, throwing off the Esquimaux +for a time, shook us heartily by the hand, with every demonstration of +sincere delight. Ewerat, in his quiet, sensible way, which was always +respectable, gave us a circumstantial account of every event of his +journey. On his arrival at _Owlitteweek_, near which island we overtook +him, he had buried the greater part of his baggage under heaps of +stones, the ice no longer being fit for dragging the sledge upon. Here +also he was happily eased of a still greater burden, by the death of his +idiot boy, who thus escaped the miseries to which a longer life must, +among these people, have inevitably exposed him. As for that noisy +little fellow, "John Bull" (_Kooillitiuk_), he employed almost the whole +of his first visit in asking every one, by name, "How d'ye do, Mr. So +and So?" a question which had obtained him great credit among our people +at Winter Island. Being a very important little personage, he also took +great pride in pointing out various contrivances on board the ships, and +explaining to the other Esquimaux their different uses, to which the +latter did not fail to listen with all the attention due to so knowing +an oracle. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + + Preparations for the Winter.--Various Meteorological Phenomena to + the close of the year 1822.--Sickness among the + Esquimaux.--Meteorological Phenomena to the end of March. + + + +_November_.--The measures now adopted for the security of the ships and +their stores, for the maintenance of economy, cleanliness, and health, +and for the prosecution of the various observations and experiments, +being principally the same as those already detailed in the preceding +winter's narrative, I shall be readily excused for passing them over in +silence. + +The daily visits of the Esquimaux to the ships throughout the winter +afforded, both to officers and men, a fund of constant variety and +never-failing amusement, which no resources of our own could possibly +have furnished. Our people were, however, too well aware of the +advantage they derived from the schools not to be desirous of their +re-establishment, which accordingly took place soon after our arrival at +Igloolik; and they were glad to continue this as their evening +occupation during the six succeeding months. + +The year closed with the temperature of -42 deg., the mean of the month of +December having been 27 deg. 8', which, taken in connexion with that of +November, led us to expect a severe winter. + +About the middle of the month of December several of the Esquimaux had +moved from the huts at Igloolik, some taking up their quarters on the +ice at a considerable distance to the northwest, and the rest about a +mile outside the summer station of the tents. At the close of the year +from fifty to sixty individuals had thus decamped, their object being, +like that of other savages on _terra firma_, to increase their means of +subsistence by covering more ground; their movements were arranged so +quietly that we seldom heard of their intentions till they were gone. At +the new stations they lived entirely in huts of snow; and the northerly +and easterly winds were considered by them most favourable for their +fishing, as these served to bring in the loose ice, on which they +principally kill the walruses. + +Towards the latter end of January [1823], the accounts from the huts, as +well from the Esquimaux as from our own people, concurred in stating +that the number of the sick, as well as the seriousness of their +complaints, was rapidly increasing there. We had, indeed, scarcely heard +of the illness of a woman named _Kei-m=o=o-seuk_, who, it seemed, +had lately miscarried, when an account arrived of her death. She was one +of the two wives of _Ooyarra_, one of Captain Lyon's fellow-travellers +in the summer, who buried her in the snow, about two hundred yards from +the huts, placing slabs of the same perishable substance over the body, +and cementing them by pouring a little water in the interstices. Such an +interment was not likely to be a very secure one; and, accordingly, a +few days after, the hungry dogs removed the snow and devoured the body. + +Captain Lyon gave me the following account of the death and burial of +another poor woman and her child: + + + "The mother, Poo-too-alook, was about thirty-five years of age, the + child about three years--yet not weaned, and a female; there was + also another daughter, Shega, about twelve or thirteen years of + age, who, as well as her father, was a most attentive nurse. My + hopes were but small, as far as concerned the mother; but the child + was so patient that I hoped, from its docility, soon to accustom it + to soups and nourishing food, as its only complaint was actual + starvation. I screened off a portion of my cabin, and arranged some + bedding for them, in the same manner as the Esquimaux do their own. + Warm broth, dry bedding, and a comfortable cabin, did wonders + before evening, and our medical men gave me great hopes. As an + introduction to a system of cleanliness, and preparatory to + washing the sick, who were in a most filthy state, I scrubbed Shega + and her father from head to foot, and dressed them in new clothes. + During the night I persuaded both mother and child, who were very + restless, and constantly moaning, to take a few spoonfuls of soup. + On the morning of the 24th the woman appeared considerably + improved, and she both spoke and ate a little. As she was covered + with so thick a coating of dirt that it could be taken off in + scales, I obtained her assent to wash her face and hands a little + before noon. The man and his daughter now came to my table to look + at some things I had laid out to amuse them; and, after a few + minutes, Shega lifted up the curtain to look at her mother, when + she again let it fall, and tremblingly told us she was dead. + + "The husband sighed heavily, the daughter burst into tears, and the + poor little infant made the moment more distressing by calling in a + plaintive tone on its mother, by whose side it was lying. I + determined on burying the woman on shore, and the husband was much + pleased at my promising that the body should be drawn on a sledge + by men instead of dogs; for, to our horror, Takkeelikkeeta had told + me that dogs had eaten part of Keimooseuk, and that, when he left + the huts with his wife, one was devouring the body as he passed it. + + "Takkeelikkeeta now prepared to dress the dead body, and, in the + first place, stopped his nose with deer's hair and put on his + gloves, seeming unwilling that his naked hand should come in + contact with the corpse. I observed, in this occupation, his care + that every article of dress should be as carefully placed as when + his wife was living; and, having drawn the boots on the wrong legs, + he pulled them off again and put them properly. This ceremony + finished, the deceased was sewed up in a hammock, and, at the + husband's urgent request, her face was left uncovered. An officer + who was present at the time agreed with me in fancying that the + man, from his words and actions, intimated a wish that the living + child might be enclosed with its mother. We may have been mistaken, + but there is an equal probability that we were right in our + conjecture; for, according to Crantz and Egede, the Greenlanders + were in the habit of burying their motherless infants, from a + persuasion that they must otherwise starve to death, and also from + being unable to bear the cries of the little ones while lingering + for several days without sustenance; for no woman will give them + any share of their milk, which they consider as the exclusive + property of their own offspring. My dogs being carefully tied up at + the man's request, a party of our people, accompanied by me, drew + the body to the shore, where we made a grave, about a foot deep, + being unable to get lower on account of the frozen earth. The body + was placed on its back, at the husband's request, and he then + stepped into the grave and cut all the stitches of the hammock, + although without throwing it open, seeming to imply that the dead + should be left unconfined. I laid a woman's knife by the side of + the body, and we filled up the grave, over which we also piled a + quantity of heavy stones, which no animal could remove. When all + was done and we returned to the ship, the man lingered a few + minutes behind us and repeated two or three sentences, as if + addressing himself to his departed wife; he then silently followed. + We found Shega quite composed, and attending her little sister, + between whose eyebrows she had made a spot with soot, which I + learned was because, being unweaned, it must certainly die. During + the night my little charge called on its mother without + intermission, yet the father slept as soundly until morning as if + nothing had happened. + + "All who saw my patient on the morning of the 25th gave me great + hopes; she could swallow easily, and was even strong enough to turn + or sit upright without assistance, and in the forenoon slept very + soundly. At noon, the sister of the deceased, Ootooguak, with her + husband and son, came to visit me. She had first gone to the Fury, + and was laughing on deck, and, at her own request, was taken below, + not caring to hurry herself to come to the house of mourning. Even + when she came to the Hecla she was in high spirits, laughing and + capering on deck as if nothing had happened; but, on being shown to + my cabin, where Shega, having heard of her arrival, was sitting + crying in readiness, she began with her niece to howl most wofully. + I, however, put a stop to this ceremony, for such it certainly was, + under the plea of disturbing the child. The arrival of a pot of + smoking walrus-flesh soon brought smiles on all faces but that of + Takkeelikkeeta, who refused food and sat sighing deeply; the others + ate, chatted, and laughed as if nothing but eating was worth + thinking of. Dinner being over, I received thanks for burying the + woman in such a way that 'neither wolves, dogs, nor foxes could dig + her up and eat her,' for all were full of the story of Keimooseuk, + and even begged some of our officers to go to Igloolik and shoot + the offending dogs. A young woman named Ablik, sister to Ooyarra, + was induced, after much entreaty and a very large present of beads, + to offer her breast to the sick child, but the poor little creature + pushed it angrily away. Another woman was asked to do the same; + but, although her child was half weaned, she flatly refused. + + "The aunt of my little one seeming anxious to remain, and Shega + being now alone, I invited her to stop the night. In the evening + the child took meat and jelly, and sat up to help itself, but it + soon after resumed its melancholy cry for its mother. At night my + party had retired to sleep; yet I heard loud sighing occasionally, + and, on lifting the curtain, I saw Takkeelikkeeta standing and + looking mournfully at his child. I endeavoured to compose him, and + he promised to go to bed; but, hearing him again sighing in a few + minutes, I went and found the poor infant was dead, and that its + father had been some time aware of it. He now told me it had seen + its mother the last time it called on her, and that she had + beckoned it to Khil-la (Heaven), on which it instantly died. He + said it was 'good' that the child was gone; that no children + outlived their mothers; and that the black spot, which Shega had + frequently renewed, was quite sufficient to ensure the death of the + infant. + + "My party made a hearty breakfast on the 26th, and I observed they + did not scruple to lay the vessel containing the meat on the dead + child, which I had wrapped in a blanket; and this unnatural table + excited neither disgust nor any other feeling among them more than + a block of wood could have done. We now tied up all the dogs, as + Takkeelikkeeta had desired, and took the child about a quarter of a + mile astern of the ships, to bury it in the snow; for the father + assured me that her mother would cry in her grave if any weight of + stones or earth pressed on her infant. She herself, he feared, had + already felt pain from the monument of stones which we had laid + upon her. The snow in which we dug the child's grave was not above + a foot deep, yet we were not allowed to cut into the ice, or even + use any slabs of it in constructing the little tomb. The body, + wrapped in a blanket, and having the face uncovered, being placed, + the father put the slings by which its deceased mother had carried + it on the right side, and, in compliance with the Esquimaux custom + of burying toys and presents with their dead, I threw in some + beads. A few loose slabs of snow were now placed so as to cover, + without touching, the body, and with this very slight sepulchre the + father was contented, although a fox could have dug through it in + half a minute. We, however, added more snow, and cemented all by + pouring about twenty buckets of water, which were brought from the + ship, on every part of the mound. I remarked that, before our task + was completed, the man turned and walked quietly to the ships. + + "During the last two days I obtained some information with respect + to mourning ceremonies, or, at all events, such as related to the + loss of a mother of a family; three days were to be passed by the + survivors without their walking on the ice, performing any kind of + work, or even having anything made for them. Washing is out of the + question with Esquimaux at most times, but now I was not allowed to + perform the necessary ablutions of their hands and faces, however + greasy or dirty they might be made by their food; the girl's hair + was not to be put into pig-tails, and everything was neglected; + Takkeelikkeeta was not to go sealing until the summer. With the + exception of an occasional sigh from the man, there were no more + signs of grief; our mourners ate, drank, and were merry, and no one + would have supposed they ever had wife, mother, or sister. When the + three days (and it is singular that such should be the time) were + expired, the man was to visit the grave; and, having talked with + his wife, all duties were to be considered as over. The 28th was + our third day, but a heavy northerly gale and thick drift prevented + our visiting the grave. The 29th, although not fine, was more + moderate, and I accompanied him at an early hour. Arriving at the + grave, he anxiously walked up to it and carefully sought for + foot-tracks on the snow; but, finding none, repeated to himself, + 'No wolves, no dogs, no foxes; thank ye, thank ye.' He now began a + conversation, which he directed entirely to his wife. He called her + twice by name, and twice told her how the wind was blowing, looking + at the same time in the direction from whence the drift was coming. + He next broke forth into a low monotonous chant, and, keeping his + eyes fixed upon the grave, walked slowly round it in the direction + of the sun four or five times, and at each circuit he stopped a few + moments at the head. His song was, however, uninterrupted. At the + expiration of about eight minutes he stopped, and, suddenly + turning round to me, exclaimed, '_Tugw~a_' (that's enough), and + began walking back to the ship. In the song he chanted I could + frequently distinguish the word _Koyenna_ (thank you), and it was + occasionally coupled with the Kabloonas. Two other expressions, + both the names of the spirits or familiars of the Annatko, + Toolemak, were used a few times; but the whole of the other words + were perfectly unintelligible to me. + + "I now sent Shega and her father home, well clothed and in good + case. The week they had passed on board was sufficient time to gain + them the esteem of every one, for they were the most quiet, + inoffensive beings I ever met with; and, to their great credit, + they never once begged. The man was remarkable for his + extraordinary fondness for treacle, sugar, salt, acids, and + spruce-beer, which the others of the tribe could not even smell + without disgust; and he walked about to the different messes in + hopes of being treated with these delicacies. Shega was a timid, + well-behaved girl, and generally remained eating in my cabin, for I + am confident of speaking far within bounds when I say she got + through eight pounds of solids per diem. As far as gratitude could + be shown by Esquimaux, which is saying 'koyenna' on receiving a + present, my friends were sensible of the attentions I had shown + them." + + +_March_ 5th.--The Esquimaux were about this time rather badly off for +food, in consequence of the winds having of late been unfavourable for +their fishery; but this had only occurred two or three times in the +course of the winter, and never so much as to occasion any great +distress. It is certain, indeed, that the quantity of meat which they +procured between the 1st of October and the 1st of April was sufficient +to furnish about double the population of working people who were +moderate eaters, and had any idea of providing for a future day; but to +individuals who can demolish four or five pounds at a sitting, and at +least ten in the course of a day,[003] and who never bestow a thought on +to-morrow, at least with a view to provide for it by economy, there is +scarcely any supply which could secure them from occasional scarcity. It +is highly probable that the alternate feasting and fasting to which the +gluttony and improvidence of these people so constantly subject them, +may have occasioned many of the complaints that proved fatal during the +winter; and on this account we hardly knew whether to rejoice or not at +the general success of their fishery. Certain it is, that on a +particular occasion of great plenty, one or two individuals were seen +lying in the huts, so distended by the quantity of meat they had eaten +that they were unable to move, and were suffering considerable pain, +arising solely from this cause. Indeed, it is difficult to assign any +other probable reason for the lamentable proportion of deaths that took +place during our stay at Igloolik, while, during a season of nearly +equal severity, and of much greater privation as to food, at Winter +Island, not a single death occurred. Notwithstanding their general +plenty, there were times in the course of this winter, as well as the +last, when our bread-dust was of real service to them, and they were +always particularly desirous of obtaining it for their younger children. +They distinguished this kind of food by the name of _k=an~ibr~o~ot_, +and biscuit or soft bread by that of _sh=eg~al~ak_, the literal meaning +of which terms we never could discover, but supposed them to have some +reference to their respective qualities. + +Our lengthened acquaintance with the Esquimaux and their language, which +a second winter passed among them afforded, gave us an opportunity of +occasionally explaining to them in some measure in what direction our +country lay, and of giving them some idea of its distance, climate, +population, and productions. It was with extreme difficulty that these +people had imbibed any correct idea of the superiority of rank possessed +by some individuals among us; and when at length they came into this +idea, they naturally measured our respective importance by the riches +they supposed each to possess. The ships they considered, as a matter +of course, to belong to Captain Lyon and myself, and on this account +distinguished them by the names of _Lyon-oomiak_ and _Paree-oomiak_; but +they believed that the boats and other parts of the furniture were the +property of various other individuals among us. They were, therefore, +not a little surprised to be seriously assured that neither the one nor +the other belonged to any of us, but to a much richer and more powerful +person, to whom we all paid respect and obedience, and at whose command +we had come to visit and enrich the _Innuees_. Ewerat, on account of his +steadiness and intelligence, as well as the interest with which he +listened to anything relating to _Kabloonas_, was particularly fit to +receive information of this nature; and a general chart of the Atlantic +Ocean, and of the lands on each side, immediately conveyed to his mind +an idea of the distance we had come, and the direction in which our home +lay. This and similar information was received by Ewerat and his wife +with the most eager astonishment and interest, not merely displayed in +the "hei-ya!" which constitutes the usual extent of Esquimaux +admiration, but evidently enlarging their notion respecting the other +parts of the world, and creating in them ideas which could never before +have entered their minds. By way of trying their inclinations, I asked +them if they would consent to leave their own country, and, taking with +them their children, go to live in ours, where they would see no more +_Innuees_, and never eat any more seal or walrus. To all this they +willingly agreed, and with an earnestness that left no doubt of their +sincerity; Togolat adding, in an emphatic manner, "_Shagloo ooagoot +nao_" (we do not tell a falsehood), an expression of peculiar force +among them. The eagerness with which they assented to this proposal made +me almost repent my curiosity, and I was glad to get out of the scrape +by saying, that the great personage of whom I had spoken would not be +pleased at my taking them home without having first obtained his +permission. Information of the kind alluded to was subsequently given to +many of the other Esquimaux, some of whom could at length pronounce the +name of "King George" so as to be tolerably intelligible. + +The weather was now so pleasant, and the temperature in the sun so +comfortable to the feelings when a shelter could be found from the wind, +that we set up various games for the people, such as cricket, football, +and quoits, which some of them played for many hours during the day. + +At the close of the month of March, we were glad to find that its mean +temperature, being -19.75 deg., when taken in conjunction with those of +January and February, appeared to constitute a mild winter for this +latitude. There were, besides, some other circumstances, which served to +distinguish this winter from any preceding one we had passed in the ice. +One of the most remarkable of these was the frequent occurrence of hard, +well-defined clouds, a feature we had hitherto considered as almost +unknown in the winter sky of the Polar Regions. It is not improbable +that these may have, in part, owed their origin to a large extent of sea +keeping open to the southeastward throughout the winter, though they not +only occurred with the wind from that quarter, but also with the colder +weather, usually accompanying northwesterly breezes. About the time of +the sun's reappearance, and for a week or two after it, these clouds +were not more a subject of admiration to us on account of their novelty, +than from the glowing richness of the tints with which they were +adorned. It is, indeed, scarcely possible for nature, in any climate, to +produce a sky exhibiting greater splendour and richness of colouring +than we at times experienced in the course of this spring. The edges of +the clouds near the sun often presented a fiery or burning appearance, +while the opposite side of the heavens was distinguished by a deep +purple about the horizon, gradually softening upward into a warm yet +delicate rose-colour of inconceivable beauty. These phenomena have +always impressed us the most forcibly about the time of the sun's +permanent setting and that of his reappearance, especially the latter, +and have invariably furnished a particular subject of conversation to us +at those periods; but I do not know whether this is to be attributed so +much to the colouring of the sky exactly at the times alluded to, as to +our habit of setting on every enjoyment a value proportioned to its +scarceness and novelty. + +Another peculiarity observed in this winter was the rare occurrence of +the Aurora Borealis, and the extraordinary poorness of its display +whenever it did make its appearance. It was almost invariably seen to +the southward, between an E.S.E. and a W.S.W. bearing, generally low, +the stationary patches of it having a tendency to form an irregular +arch, and not unfrequently with coruscations shooting towards the +zenith. When more diffused it still kept, in general, on the southern +side of the zenith; but never exhibited any of those rapid and +complicated movements observed in the course of the preceding winter, +nor, indeed, any feature that renders it necessary to attempt a +particular description. The electrometer was frequently tried, by Mr. +Fisher, at times when the state of the atmosphere appeared the most +favourable, but always without any sensible effect being produced on the +gold leaf. + +The difference in the temperature of the day and night began to be +sensible as early as the first week in March, and the daily range of the +thermometer increased considerably from that time. The increase in the +average temperature of the atmosphere, however, is extremely slow in +these regions, long after the sun has attained a considerable meridian +altitude; but this is in some degree compensated by the inconceivable +rapidity with which the days seem to lengthen when once the sun has +reappeared. There is, indeed, no change which continues to excite so +much surprise as that from almost constant darkness to constant day; and +this is, of course, the more sudden and striking, in proportion to the +height of the latitude. Even in this comparatively low parallel, the +change seemed sufficiently remarkable; for, soon after the middle of +March, only ten weeks after the sun's reappearance above the horizon, a +bright twilight appeared at midnight in the northern heavens. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + + Various Journeys to the Esquimaux Stations.--Preparations for the + Hecla's Return to England.--Remarkable Halos, &c.--Shooting Parties + stationed at Arlagnuk.--Journeys to Quilliam Creek.--Arrival of + Esquimaux from the Northward.--Account of a Journey to the Westward + for the purpose of reaching the Polar Sea.--The Esquimaux report + two Fishing-ships having been Wrecked.--A Journey performed to + Cockburn Island.--Discovery of Murray Maxwell Inlet. + + + +About the first and second weeks in April, the Esquimaux were in the +habit of coming up the inlet, to the southward of the ships, to kill the +_neitiek,_ or small seal, which brings forth its young at this season, +and probably retires into sheltered places for that purpose. Besides the +old seals, which were taken in the manner before explained, the +Esquimaux also caught a great number of young ones, by fastening a hook +to the end of a staff, and hooking them up from the sea-hole after the +mother had been killed. Our large fishhooks were useful to them for this +purpose, and the beautiful silvery skins of these young animals were +occasionally brought to the ships as articles of barter: those of the +foetus of the _neitiek_ are more yellow than the others, and, indeed, +both in colour and texture, very much resemble raw silk. + +The first ducks noticed by the Esquimaux were mentioned to us on the +16th, and a few days afterward immense flocks appeared, all of the +king-duck species, about the open water near the margin of the ice; but +our distance from this was so great, that we never saw any of them, and +the weather was yet too cold to station a shooting-party in that +neighbourhood. Dovekies were now also numerous, and a gull or two, of +the silvery species, had been seen. + +On the 20th, after divine service, I took the opportunity of Captain +Lyon and his people being on board the Fury, to communicate to the +assembled officers and ships' companies my intentions respecting the +future movements of the expedition; at the same time requesting Captain +Lyon to furnish me with a list of any of the Hecla's men that might +volunteer to remain out, as it would be necessary to fill up, or, +perhaps, even to increase the complement of the Fury. + +Our preparations were therefore immediately commenced, a twelvemonths' +provision and other stores being received by the Fury, and various +necessary exchanges made in anchors, cables, and boats; and, in the +course of a single fortnight, the whole of these were transported from +ship to ship without any exposure or labour to the men outside their +respective ships, our invaluable dogs having performed it for us with +astonishing ease and expedition. It was a curious sight to watch these +useful animals walking off with a bower-anchor, a boat, or a topmast, +without any difficulty; and it may give some idea of what they are able +to perform, to state, that nine dogs of Captain Lyon's dragged sixteen +hundred and eleven pounds a distance of seventeen hundred and fifty +yards in nine minutes, and that they worked in a similar way between the +ships for seven or eight hours a day. The road was, however, very good +at this time, and the dogs the best that could be procured. + +The wind settling to the southward for a few days near the end of April, +brought an increased, and, to us a comfortable degree of warmth; and it +was considered an event of some interest, that the snow which fell on +the 29th dissolved as it lay on our decks, being the first time that it +had done so this season. We now also ventured to take off some of the +hatches for an hour or two in the day, and to admit some fresh air, a +luxury which we had not known for six months. The Esquimaux, about this +time, began to separate more than before, according to their usual +custom in the spring; some of them, and especially our Winter Island +acquaintance, setting off to the little islands called Oolglit, and +those in our neighbourhood removing to the northeast end of Igloolik, to +a peninsula called _Keiyuk-tarruoke_, to which, the open water was +somewhat nearer. These people now became so much incommoded by the +melting of their snow-huts, that they were obliged to substitute skins +as the roofs, retaining, however, the sides and part of the passages of +the original habitations. These demi-tents were miserable enough while +in this state, some of the snow continually falling in, and the floor +being constantly wet by its thawing. + +Favourable as the first part of the month of May had appeared with +respect to temperature, its close was by no means equally promising, and +on the first of June, at two A.M., the thermometer stood at +8 deg. This +unusually low temperature, much exceeding in severity anything we had +experienced at Melville Island at the same season, rendered it +necessary to defer for a time a journey which it was proposed that +Captain Lyon should undertake, across the land to the westward at the +head of Quilliam Creek, and thence, by means of the ice, along the +shores of the Polar Sea, in the direction towards Akkoolee. The object +of this journey, like that of most of the others which had been +performed in various directions, was to acquire all the information +within our reach of those parts of the continental coast to which the +ships were denied access; and it was hoped that, at the coming season, +some judgment might be formed of the probable state of the ice along +that shore in the summer, by which the future movements of the Fury +might be influenced. Captain Lyon was to be accompanied by two men, and +a complete supply of every kind for a month's travelling was to be drawn +on a sledge by ten excellent dogs, which he had taken great pains to +procure and train for such occasions. As I was desirous of ascertaining, +beyond any doubt, the identity of the _Khemig_, to which I had sailed in +the autumn, with that seen by Captain Lyon on his journey with the +Esquimaux, I determined to accompany the travellers on my sledge as far +as the head of Quilliam Creek, and by victualling them thus far on their +journey, enable them to gain a day or two's resources in advance. +Another object which I had in view was to endeavour to find a lake +mentioned by Toolemak; who assured me that, if I could dig holes in the +ice, which was five feet thick, plenty of large salmon might be caught +with hooks, an experiment which seemed at least well worth the trying. + +On the 7th, the weather being more favourable than before, Captain Lyon +and myself set out to the westward at half past eleven A.M., and the ice +proving level, reached Khemig at half past five; when it was +satisfactory to find that the route followed by Captain Lyon on his +journey with Toolemak was precisely that which I had supposed, every +feature of the land, of which the fog had before scarcely allowed him a +glimpse, being now easily recognised, and every difficulty cleared up. +Proceeding at eight A.M. on the 8th, we soon met with numerous tracks of +deer upon the ice, which, together with the seals that lay in great +numbers near their holes, expedited our journey very considerably, the +dogs frequently setting off at full gallop on sniffing one of them. +Landing at the head of Quilliam Creek at half past one, we took up an +advantageous position for looking about us, in order to determine on the +direction of Captain Lyon's route over land, which all the Esquimaux +concurred in representing as a laborious one. We met with several +reindeer immediately on our landing; and, while in pursuit of them, +Captain Lyon discovered a lake two or three miles long and a quarter of +a mile broad, a short distance from the tents, which we concluded to be +that of which I was in search. As some of our party were suffering from +snow-blindness, and, what is scarcely less painful, severe inflammation +of the whole face, occasioned by the heat of the sun, we remained here +for the rest of this day to make our final arrangements. + +At nine A.M. on: the 9th we struck the tents, and Captain Lyon set off +to the southward, while we drove over to the lake, which is one mile +N.N.W. of the head of the creek, and, after three or four hours' +labour, completed a hole through the ice, which was very dark-coloured, +brittle, and transparent, and, as Toolemak had said, about five feet +thick. The water, which was eleven fathoms deep, flowed up within a +couple of inches of the surface, over which lay a covering of snow +eighteen inches in depth. In confident hope of now obtaining some fish, +we proceeded exactly according to Toolemak's instructions; but, after +four-and-twenty hours' trial at all depths, not even a single nibble +rewarded our labour. + +Coasting the south shore, on which I wished to obtain observations and +angles for the survey, we the next day entered a small bay, where we +pitched our tent; our whole party being now so snow-blind with +endeavouring to distinguish the land from the ice (so entirely were both +covered with snow), that we could literally no longer muster one eye +among three of us to direct the sledge. I found a handkerchief tied +close, but not too tightly, round the eyes for a whole night, to be a +more effectual remedy for this disagreeable complaint than any +application of eyewater; and my companions being induced to try the same +experiment, derived equal benefit from it. Reaching Arlagnuk towards +evening of the 13th, we found that our parties had each thirty or forty +ducks ready for the ships; and that the Esquimaux had lately altogether +deserted this station, owing to the scarcity of walruses, and had +removed to Ooglit, where these animals were said to be abundant at this +season. Leaving our people on the morning of the 14th, I returned on +board soon after noon, where I found that nothing worthy of particular +notice had occurred during my absence. + +On the 20th three or four other Esquimaux, strangers to us, arrived at +Igloolik from the northward, and we found from two young men who visited +us on the following day, that they came from _Too-n=o=o-nek_, a +place undoubtedly situated somewhere on the western coast of Baffin's +Bay, or about some of the inlets communicating with it, as they had +there seen several _Kabloona_ ships employed in killing whales. It is +not improbable, from the various accounts of the direction and distance +of Toonoonek, communicated by the Esquimaux through the usual medium of +their charts, that the part of the seacoast so named lies at no great +distance from Pond's Bay, in lat. 72-1/2 deg., which has lately become a +common rendezvous of our Davis's Strait fishermen. Of this fact we had, +in the course of the winter, received intimation from these people from +time to time, and had even some reason to believe that our visit to the +Esquimaux of the River Clyde in 1820 was known to them; but what most +excited our interest at this time was the sledge brought by the new +comers, the runner being composed of large single pieces of wood, one of +them painted black over a lead-coloured priming, and the cross-bars +consisting of heading-pieces of oak-buts, one flat board with a +hinge-mark upon it the upper end of a skid or small boat's davit, and +others that had evidently and recently been procured from some ship. On +one of the heading-pieces we distinguished the letters _Brea_--, showing +that the cask had, according to the custom of the whalers, contained +bread on the outward passage. The nature of all these materials led us +to suppose that it must have been procured from some vessel wrecked or +damaged on the coast; and this suspicion was on the following day +confirmed by our obtaining information that, at a place called +Akk=o=odneak, a single day's journey beyond Toonoonek, two ships +like ours had been driven on shore by the ice, and that the people had +gone away in boats equipped for the purpose, leaving one ship on her +beam ends, and the other upright, in which situation the vessels were +supposed still to remain.[004] + +We observed on this occasion as on our first arrival at Igloolik, that +the new Esquimaux were obliged to have recourse to the others to +interpret to them our meaning, which circumstance, as it still appeared +to me, was to be attributed, as before, to our speaking a kind of broken +Esquimaux that habit had rendered familiar to our old acquaintance, +rather than to any essential difference in the true languages of the two +people. + +Toolemak having some time before promised to accompany me to the +fishing-place, taking with him his wife, together with his sledge, dogs, +and tent, made his appearance from Ooglit on the 23d, bringing, however, +only the old lady and abundance of meat. Having lent him a tent and two +of our dogs, and hired others to complete his establishment, we set out +together at five A.M. on the 24th, my own party consisting of Mr. +Crozier and a seaman from each ship. Arriving at Khemig towards noon, we +found among the islands that the ice was quite covered with water, +owing, probably, to the radiation of heat from the rocks. The weather +proved, indeed, intensely hot this day, the thermometer in the shade, at +the ships, being as high as 51 deg., and the land in this neighbourhood +preventing the access of wind from any quarter. The travelling being +good beyond this, we arrived within four or five miles of the head of +Quilliam Creek at ten P.M., where we pitched the tents for the night. In +this day's journey ten dogs had drawn my sledge a distance of forty +statute miles since the morning, the weight on the sledge being about +twelve hundred pounds, and half of the road very indifferent. It is the +custom of the Esquimaux, even when meat is most abundant, to feed these +invaluable animals only once a day, and that in the evening, which they +consider to agree with them better than more frequent meals; we always +observed the same practice with ours, and found that they performed +their journeys the better for it. + +On the morning of the 25th, while passing close to a point of land, +Toolemak suddenly stopped his sledge, and he and his wife walked to the +shore, whither I immediately followed them. The old woman, preceding her +husband, went up to a circle of stones, of which there were two or three +on the spot, and, kneeling down within it, cried most loudly and +bitterly for the space of two or three minutes, while Toolemak also shed +abundant tears, but without any loud lamentation. On inquiring presently +after, I found that this was the spot on which their tent had been +pitched in the summer, and that the bed-place on which the old woman +knelt had been that of their adopted son _Noogloo_, whose premature +death we had all so much regretted. The grief displayed on this +occasion seemed to have much sincerity in it, and there was something +extremely touching in this quiet but unaffected tribute of sorrow on the +spot, which so forcibly reminded them of the object of their parental +affection. I have much gratification in adding, in this place, another +circumstance, which, though trifling in itself, deserves to be noticed +as doing honour to these people's hearts. They had always shown +particular attachment to a dog they had sold me, and which bore the same +name as a young man, a son of their own, whom they had formerly lost. In +the course of this journey, the old woman would constantly call the dog +"Eerninga" (son), which the affectionate animal never failed to repay by +jumping up and licking her face all over, whenever his trace would allow +him; and at night, after Toolemak had fed his own dogs, he frequently +brought to our tent an extra piece of meat, expressly for +_Ann=owtalik_, to whom these poor people seemed to take a mournful +pleasure in now transferring their affection. + +Landing close to the head of the inlet on the south shore, we proceeded +with difficulty a couple of miles over land till we came to a river, the +limits of which the warmth of the weather was just rendering +discernible, and which, our guides informed us was to be our fishing +place. It was interesting to observe that, in every case of doubt as to +the situation of a place, the best route, or the most advisable method +of overcoming any difficulty, Toolemak invariably referred to his wife; +and a consultation of some minutes was held by these two before they +would determine on what was to be done, or even return an answer to our +questions respecting it. Pitching our tents upon the banks of the river, +we went upon the ice, which was still quite solid except close to the +shores, and soon made two or three holes for a hook and line, the +thickness of the ice in the middle being from six to seven feet. The +Esquimaux fishhook is generally composed of a piece of ivory, having a +hook of pointed iron, without a barb, let into it. The ivory they +consider useful in attracting the salmon, but they also bait the hook +with a piece of blubber well cleared of its oil by chewing, and securely +tied on with a thread of sinew, so as to cover nearly the whole of the +hook. A small piece of bone, reindeer's horn, or wood, serves as a rod, +and with this they keep the bait constantly in motion up and down, the +bait being from one to three feet below the surface of the ice. +Previous, however, to commencing the fishery, the old lady, who took the +principal part in this employment, muttered some words, to me altogether +incomprehensible, over the hole, to which Toolemak, in a formal manner, +added something about fish and _Kabloonas_; and the whole of this +preparatory ceremony seemed intended to propitiate the spirit to whose +department the salmon particularly belonged. The lady (for it seems she +is a female) did not, however, appear to lend a very favourable ear to +our wants or Toolemak's rhetoric; for, after many hours' patient trial +on this and the following day, only two fish were seen and one caught to +repay our labour. + +On the 27th Toolemak and his wife went over to a small shallow lake, on +the opposite side of the river, where they caught three or four fish of +the salmon kind, but none more than one pound in weight. He then came +back to the tent, and made a small spear according to their own fashion; +but with this, to his great disappointment, he could not strike a single +fish. A sort of _fish-gig_, which we made out of four large hooks lashed +back to back at the end of a light staff, succeeded much better, the +bait being played in the usual manner to attract the fish, which were +then hooked up with great ease and certainty by this instrument. In this +manner we soon caught a dozen of the same kind as before; and the rest +of our party had in the mean time killed a deer. + +Toolemak began now to be extremely impatient to return home, his +principal anxiety arising, I believe, from a childish desire to know +what I should give him for his trouble; and when, in writing a note to +Lieutenant Nias, I enumerated the articles I intended to present to him, +he expressed more delight than I had ever before seen escape him. Among +these was one of the rifle-guns supplied as presents, together with a +sufficient quantity of ammunition to last him one summer, after which +the gun would probably become useless itself for want of cleaning. It +was astonishing to see the readiness with which these people learned to +fire at a mark, and the tact they displayed in everything relating to +this art. Boys from twelve to sixteen years of age would fire a +fowling-piece, for the first time, with perfect steadiness; and the men, +with very little practice, would very soon become superior +marksmen.[005] As, however, the advantage they could derive from the +use of firearms must be of very short duration, and the danger to any +careless individuals very considerable, we did not, on any other +occasion, consider it prudent to furnish them in this manner. + +On the morning of the 28th Toolemak had left us for the ships, carrying +with him our venison to be left there, and having first explained when +and where the Esquimaux catch the fish with which he had supplied us the +preceding summer; for it now appeared that they were not found in great +abundance, or of that magnitude, in the river, but at the mouth of a +very small stream about two miles lower down the creek on the same side. +Their method is, to place in the bed of the stream, which is quite +narrow, and seldom or never so deep as a man's middle, though running +with great force, two or three separate piles of stones, which serve the +double purpose of keeping off the force of the stream from themselves, +and of narrowing the passage through which the fish have to pass in +coming up from the sea to feed; thus giving the people an opportunity of +striking them with their spears, and throwing them on the shore without +much difficulty. + +On the afternoon of the 1st of July we shifted our tents overland, and +down the creek as far as the salmon stream. In performing this short +journey over bare ground, I was enabled to form some conception of the +difficulties likely to be encountered by Captain Lyon and his +companions; for, even with our light load, the dogs could scarcely move +at times. One of the strongest of eleven fell down in a fit occasioned +by over exertion; the poor animal lay on his side, foaming at the mouth +for a minute or two, but soon recovered sufficiently to be able to walk; +and, being taken out of the sledge, was quite strong again the next day. +We had scarcely arrived at the stream, when Toolemak's account was very +satisfactorily confirmed by our finding on the ice near its mouth part +of two fine salmon, above two feet in length, that had been thrown up by +the force of the torrent, and a similar one was seen in the water. Our +provisions being now out, we prepared for returning to the ships the +following day; and I determined in a short time to send out Mr. Crozier +with a larger party, well equipped with everything necessary for +procuring us both fish and deer. We therefore left our tent, spare +ammunition, and various other articles that would be required here, +buried under a heap of stones near the stream, and on the morning of the +2d set out for the ships. The change which one week had made upon the +ice it is quite impossible to conceive, the whole surface being now +checkered with large and deep pools of water, where not a symptom of +thawing had before appeared. This continued the whole way to the ships, +which we reached at eight P.M., finding Captain Lyon and his party +returned, after a laborious but unsuccessful endeavour to penetrate +overland to the westward. On my arrival at the ships I found several +new Esquimaux on board, who, to the number of twenty, had lately +arrived from _Toon=o=onee-r=o=ochiuk_, a place situated to the +westward and northward of Igloolik, and somewhere upon the opposite +coast of Cockburn Island. This party confirmed the former account +respecting the two ships that had been forced on shore; and, indeed, as +an earnest of its truth, one man named _Adloo_, who was said to have +actually seen them in this state, was a day or two afterward met by our +people at Arlagnuk, while travelling to the southward, and having on his +sledge a great deal of wood of the same kind as that before described. + +This information having excited considerable interest, Lieutenant +Hoppner, who had taken great pains to ascertain the facts correctly, +volunteered his services to accompany some of the Esquimaux, who were +said to be going northward very shortly, and to obtain every information +on this and other subjects which might be within the scope of such a +journey. On the night of the 4th, having heard that a party of the +Esquimaux intended setting out the following morning, Lieutenant Hoppner +and his people went out to their tents to be in readiness to accompany +them. We were surprised to find the next day, that not only Lieutenant +Hoppner's intended guide, but the whole of the rest of these people, had +altogether left the island, and, as it afterward proved, permanently for +the summer. We were now, therefore, for the first time since our arrival +here, entirely deserted by the natives, only two or three of whom again +visited the ships during the remainder of our stay. It appears probable, +indeed, that these wandering people are in the habit of residing at +their various stations only at particular intervals of time, perhaps +with the intention of not scaring the walruses and seals too much by a +very long residence at one time upon the same spot. What made this +appear still more likely was the present state of their winter +habitations at Igloolik, which, though offensive enough at about the +same time the preceding year, were then wholesome and comfortable in +comparison. Besides quantities of putrid walrus flesh, blubber, and oil, +carcasses of dogs, and even of human beings recently deceased, were now +to be seen exposed in their neighbourhood. What remained of the corpse +of Keim=o=oseuk was of course wholly uncovered; a second, of a +child, on which the wolves had feasted, was also lying about; and a +third, of a newly-born infant, was discovered in the middle of a small +lake by Mr. Richards, who caused them all to be buried under ground. + +Our stock of meat for the dogs being nearly expended, and no seahorses +having yet been seen near the shore, I sent Mr. Ross with a sledge to +Tern Island on the 13th, in expectation of being supplied by the +Esquimaux. Mr. Ross returned on the 14th without success, the whole of +the natives having left the island after plundering the birds' nests, as +they had done the preceding year. + +Finding that our valuable dogs must be now wholly dependant on our own +exertions in providing meat, a boat from each ship was carried down to +the neighbourhood of the open water, and shortly afterward two others, +to endeavour to kill walruses for them. This was the more desirable from +the probability of the Fury's passing her next winter where no natives +were resident, and the consequent necessity of laying in our stock for +that long and dreary season during the present summer. Our people, +therefore, pitched their tents near the old Esquimaux habitations; and +thus were four boats constantly employed, whenever the weather would +permit, for the three succeeding weeks. + +On the 16th Lieutenant Hoppner and his party returned to the ships, +having only been enabled to travel to the south shore of Cockburn +Island, on account of their guides not yet proceeding any farther. Two +of the Esquimaux accompanied our travellers back to Igloolik, and, being +loaded with various useful presents from the ships, returned home the +following day. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + + Extraordinary Disruption of Ice in Quilliam Creek.--Some Appearance + of Scurvy among the Seamen and Marines.--Discovery of Gifford + River.--Commence cutting the Ice outside the Ships to release them + from their Winter-quarters.--Considerations respecting the Return + of the Expedition to England.--Unfavourable State of the Ice at the + Eastern Entrance of the Strait.--Proceed to the Southward.--Ships + beset and drifted up Lyon Inlet.--Decease of Mr. George + Fife.--Final Release from the Ice, and Arrival in England.--Remarks + upon the practicability of a Northwest Passage. + + + +Among the various changes which the warmth of the returning summer was +now producing around us, none was more remarkable than that noticed by +Captain Lyon in an excursion to Quilliam Creek, and which, in a note +received from him by the return of the sledges on the 17th, he thus +describes: "Between the two points forming the entrance of the creek, we +saw a high wall of ice extending immediately across from land to land, +and on arriving at it, found that, by some extraordinary convulsion, the +floe had burst upward, and that immense masses of ice had been thrown in +every direction. Several blocks, eight or nine feet in thickness, and +many yards in diameter, were lying on the level solid floe; yet we were +for some time at a loss to discover whence they had been ejected, till +at length we found a hole or pool, which appeared so small as to be +hardly capable of containing the immense fragments near it; yet from +this place alone must they have been thrown." + +Captain Lyon subsequently added, that "the water, which was found to be +quite fresh, was running rapidly to seaward in this opening; and it +seemed probable that the vast accumulation from the streams at the head +of the creek, although at about ten miles distance, had burst a passage, +and thus ejected the ice. The force employed for this purpose may be +conceived, when I mention that, of several masses of ice, one in +particular was above eight feet thick, full forty yards in +circumference, and lay more than five hundred yards from the pool. No +traces could be found of the manner in which these bodies had been +transported, as not a single small fragment was seen lying about, to +warrant the supposition that they had fallen with a shock. Neither were +there any marks observable on the smooth uncracked floe to cause a +suspicion that they had slidden over it, the general appearance of the +floe at this place being the same as at all other parts of the inlet, +and bearing no marks of having had any rush of water over it." + +The weather was now, at times, extremely sultry, bringing out swarms of +moschetoes, that soon became very troublesome, even on board the ships. +A thermometer suspended in the middle of the observatory, and exposed to +the sun's rays, was observed by Mr. Fisher to stand at 92 deg. at five P.M. +on the 18th. + +On the 19th Captain Lyon returned from Quilliam Creek, bringing with him +the whole of our party stationed there, the ice being now so broken up +in that neighbourhood as to render the fishing dangerous without proper +boats. On this journey, which it took two days to perform, eleven dogs +drew a weight of two thousand and fifty pounds, of which six hundred and +forty were salmon, and ninety-five venison, procured by our people. The +fish had all been caught in the trawl; and treble the quantity might +easily have been taken with a seine, had we known how wide the mouth of +the stream was to become. They varied in length from twenty to twenty +six inches, and one of the largest, when cleaned, weighed eight pounds +and a half; but their average weight in this state did not exceed two +pounds and a quarter. The distance of the fishing-place from the ships, +the dangerous state of the ice, and the soreness of the dogs' feet from +travelling on the rough, honey-combed ice, prevented our taking any +farther advantage of this very acceptable change of diet. + +Nothing worthy of notice occurred till the 29th, when a patch of ice, a +mile broad, separated from the outer margin of our barrier and drifted +away. The canal formed by laying sand on the ice was now quite through +in most places, showing that the plan would, in this latitude at least, +always ensure a ship's escape at an earlier season than by the regular +course of nature, provided it could be carried the whole way down to the +open water. + +I am now under the disagreeable necessity of entering on a subject which +I had at one time ventured to hope need scarcely occupy any part of this +narrative: I mean that of the scurvy, some slight but unequivocal +symptoms of which disease were this day reported to me, by Mr. Edwards, +to have appeared among four or five of the Fury's men, rendering it +necessary, for the first time during the voyage, to have recourse to +antiscorbutic treatment among the seamen and marines. + +It will, perhaps, be considered a curious and singular fact in the +history of sea-scurvy, that during the whole of the preceding part of +this voyage, none among us but officers were in the slightest degree +affected by it, a circumstance directly contrary to former experience. +To whatever causes this might be attributed, it could not, however, but +be highly gratifying to be thus assured that the various means employed +to preserve the health of the seamen and marines had proved even beyond +expectation efficacious. + +That a ship's company began to evince symptoms of scurvy after +twenty-seven months' entire dependance upon the resources contained +within their ship (an experiment hitherto unknown, perhaps, in the +annals of navigation, even for one fourth part of that period), could +scarcely, indeed, be a subject of wonder, though it was at this +particular time a matter of very sincere regret. From the health enjoyed +by our people during two successive winters, unassisted as we had been +by any supply of _fresh_ antiscorbutic plants or other vegetables, I +had began to indulge a hope that, with a continued attention to their +comforts, cleanliness, and exercise, the same degree of vigour might, +humanly speaking, be ensured at least as long as our present liberal +resources should last. Present appearances, however, seemed to indicate +differently; for, though our sick-list had scarcely a name upon it, and +almost every individual was performing his accustomed duty, yet we had +at length been impressed with the unpleasant conviction that a strong +predisposition to disease existed among us, and that no very powerful +exciting cause was wanting to render it more seriously apparent. Such a +conviction at the present crisis was peculiarly disagreeable; for I +could not but lament any circumstance tending to weaken the confidence +in our strength and resources at a time when more than ordinary exertion +was about to be required at our hands. + +The 1st of August had now arrived; and yet, incredible as it may appear, +the ships were as securely confined in the ice as in the middle of +winter, except that a pool of water, about twice their own length in +diameter, was now opened around them. I determined, therefore, +notwithstanding the apparent hopelessness of sawing our way through four +or five miles of ice, to begin that laborious process; not, indeed, with +the hope of cutting a canal sufficiently large to allow the passage of +the ships to sea, but with a view to weaken it so much as in some +measure to assist its disruption whenever any swell should set in upon +its margin. On this and the following day, therefore, all the gear was +carried down for that purpose, and a large tent pitched for the ships' +companies to dine in, the distance being too great to allow them to +return on board to their meals. On the 3d, however, we were saved a +great deal of unnecessary labour, by the ice opening out at the crack +before mentioned, so that our sawing might now be commenced within a +mile of the Fury. After divine service, therefore, all hands were sent +from both ships to bring back the tent and tools to the point of +Oongalooyat, and the parties were recalled from the walrus-fishery, +except a single boat's crew: these also returned on board a few days +after, the whole number of seahorses killed being eight, and one large +seal. + +On the 4th our sawing work was commenced, with the usual alacrity on the +part of the officers and men, and three hundred and fifty yards of ice +were got out before night, its thickness varying from one to four feet, +but very irregular on account of the numerous pools and holes. An equal +length was accomplished on the following day, though not without +excessive fatigue and constant wet to the men, several of whom fell into +the water by the ice breaking under them. + +On the 5th, the register-thermometer, which had been placed in the +ground in the winter, was taken up, though, to our astonishment, the +ground above and about it had become nearly as hard and compactly frozen +as when we dug the hole to put it down. How this came about we were +quite at a loss to determine; for the earth had been thrown in quite +loosely, whereas its present consolidated state implied its having been +thoroughly thawed and frozen again. It occupied two men ten days to +extricate it, which, as they approached the thermometer, was done by a +chisel and mallet, to avoid injury by jarring. This, however, was not +sufficient to prevent mischief, the instrument being so identified with +the frozen earth as to render it impossible to strike the ground near it +without communicating the shock to the tubes, two of which were in +consequence found to be broken. Thus ended our experiment for +ascertaining the temperature of the earth during the winter; an +experiment which it would seem, from this attempt, scarcely practicable +to make in any satisfactory manner without some apparatus constructed +expressly for the purpose. + +On the 6th the work was continued as before, and about four hundred +yards of ice were sawn through and floated out, leaving now a broad +canal, eleven hundred yards in length, leading from the open water +towards that formed by the gravelled space. + +When the lateness of the season to which the ships had now been detained +in the ice is considered, with reference to the probability of the +Fury's effecting anything of importance during the short remainder of +the present summer, it will not be wondered at that, coupling this +consideration with that of the health of my officers and men, I began to +entertain doubts whether it would still be prudent to adopt the intended +measure of remaining out in the Fury as a single ship; whether, in +short, under existing circumstances, the probable evil did not far +outweigh the possible good. In order to assist my own judgment on this +occasion upon one of the most material points, I requested the medical +officers of the Fury to furnish me with their opinions "as to the +probable effect that a third winter passed in these regions would +produce on the health of the officers, seamen, and marines of that ship, +taking into consideration every circumstance connected with our +situation." Their answer was decidedly adverse to remaining; and it was +fortified with such good reasons, connected with the health of the +officers and crews, as scarcely to leave me at liberty to adopt any +other course than that of returning to England with both vessels. + +Enclosing to Captain Lyon the replies of the medical gentlemen, I now +also requested his opinion whether, under existing circumstances, he +still considered it expedient to adopt the measure originally intended, +with respect to the separation of the two ships. I had scarcely +despatched a letter to this effect, when, at 10 A.M. on the 8th, the ice +about the Fury began to move, the pools breaking up, and the gravelled +canal soon entirely closing. A breeze springing up from the northward at +this time, all sail was made upon the ship, and the ice gradually +driving out as it detached itself from the shore, the Fury got into open +water about one P.M. The Hecla, however, still remained in the middle of +her winter's floe, which, though it moved a little with the rest at +first, did not come out of the bay. In the course of the afternoon, +finding her still stationary, I determined to occupy the time in +stretching over to the northward, for the purpose of examining the state +of the fixed ice at the eastern mouth of the strait; and, arriving at +its margin by ten P.M., found it attached to both shores from the +northeastern part of Neerlo-naktoo across to Murray Maxwell Inlet. It +was the general opinion that this ice was in a more solid state than at +the same time and place the preceding year, but its situation did not, I +believe, differ half a mile from what it had then been. As the sun went +down nearly in the direction of the strait, we obtained from the +masthead a distinct and extensive view in that quarter, and it is +impossible to conceive a more hopeless prospect than this now presented. +One vast expanse of level solid ice occupied the whole extent of sea +visible to the westward, and the eye wearied itself in vain to discover +a single break upon its surface. + +Having finished this examination, which at once destroyed every hope I +had never ceased to indulge of a passage through the strait, we returned +towards Igloolik to rejoin the Hecla. It was not, however, till the +morning of the 9th that we observed her to be moving out of the bay, +when at length (for the first time, perhaps, that such an event ever +occurred) she drove to sea in the middle of the floe. Thus at the mercy +of the ice, she was carried over the shoals off the southeast point of +Igloolik in six and a half fathoms, but was then fortunately drifted +into deeper water. The swell on the outside was all that was wanting to +break up her icy prison, which, separating at seven A.M., finally +released her from confinement. + +Having soon afterward received Captain Lyon's answer to my +communication, it was necessary for me to come to a final determination +on the subject therein alluded to. For various reasons, he advised that +the Fury and Hecla should return to England together, as soon as such +arrangements respecting the removal of stores and provisions, as I might +judge proper to make, should be completed. + +Under such circumstances, to which may be added the uncertainty of the +Hecla's liberation from the ice to the southward before the close of the +season, I no longer considered it prudent or justifiable, upon the +slender chance of eventual success now before us, to risk the safety of +the officers and men committed to my charge, and whom it was now my +first wish to reconduct in good health to their country and their +friends. Having communicated my intentions to the officers and ships' +companies, I directed several additions to be made to their ordinary +allowance of provisions, particularly in the various antiscorbutics, +which had hitherto been reserved for cases of emergency; and then +beating up to our winter station, which I named Turton Bay, we anchored +there in the afternoon in ten fathoms, and immediately commenced our +preparations for lightening the Fury. Seven months' provisions, a bower +anchor, and a few other stores, were received by the Hecla, some of her +water, before filled as ballast, being started to make room for them; +and such other arrangements made as circumstances would permit for +improving the stowage of the Fury's hold. The bay was now entirely clear +of ice in every part; and so changed was its appearance in the course of +the last four-and-twenty hours, that it was scarcely possible to believe +it the same place that we had been accustomed daily to look upon for the +ten preceding months. + +The conveyance and stowage of the stores had scarcely been completed, +when some loose ice drifting into the bay with the tide on the night of +the 10th, obliged us hastily to get under way and stand out. On the +following morning I ran across to the main land in the Fury, for the +purpose of erecting, in compliance with my instructions, a flagstaff +fifty-six feet in height, having at its top a ball, made of iron hoops +and canvass, ten feet in diameter, and a cylinder buried near its foot, +containing a parchment with some account of our visit to this place. In +the mean time, I requested Captain Lyon to stand over to the point of +Igloolik, where our walruses had been landed, and to bring off these, as +well as our boats and tents remaining there. The ice soon after coming +in upon the point, it was not without risk of the Hecla's being +dangerously beset that Captain Lyon succeeded in bringing off everything +but one boat. This was, indeed, no great loss to us, though a great +acquisition to the Esquimaux; for, being almost worn out, I had intended +to break her up previously to leaving the ice. Besides this, we +purposely left our sledges, and a quantity of wood in pieces of a +convenient size for bows, spears, and paddles, distributing them about +in several places, that one or two individuals might not make a prize of +the whole. + +The Hecla rejoining us on the morning of the 12th, we stood out to the +eastward, and finally took our departure from Igloolik. In the course of +the night the favourable breeze failed us, and on the morning of the +14th was succeeded by a southerly wind, the ships being close to another +island called Ooglit, about twelve leagues to the S.S.W. of the others. +We were here immediately visited by our old acquaintance the Esquimaux, +several of whom came off in their canoes in the course of the morning, +as if determined to loose no opportunity of profiting by us. Among these +was our worthy old friend Nannow, to whom everybody was glad to give +something; and, indeed, they all received as many presents as their +canoes could safely carry or tow on shore. Their tents, nine in number +were pitched on the main land, a little to the northward of Ooglit, at a +station they call _Ag-wis-se-=o-wik_, of which we had often heard +them speak at Igloolik. They now also pointed out to us Amitioke, at the +distance of four or five leagues to the southward and westward, which +proved to be the same piece of low land that we had taken for it in +first coming up this coast. The Esquimaux told us that a number of their +younger men were inland in pursuit of deer, and that the rest had +abundant supplies of walrus, which animals we saw in considerable +numbers about this place. + +We were now for some days all but beset in this neighbourhood, calms or +light southerly and easterly breezes constantly prevailing. During this +time the main body of ice remained, in most parts, close to the shore, +leaving us only a "hole" of water to work about in, and much nearer to +the land than on this shoal and shelving coast was altogether safe for +the ships. Notwithstanding this, however, we had soon occasion to +observe that they not only kept their ground, but even drew to the +southward, owing, no doubt, to the current before found to set in that +direction along the coast. + +The ice remained close the whole of the 26th; but we continued, as +usual, to drift generally to the southward, and the next morning, being +off Owlitteeweek, were enabled to cast off and make sail, the ice being +rather more open than before. Being favoured by a commanding northerly +breeze, we ran a considerable distance to the southward, having, +however, only just room to sail between the points of the closely packed +ice and a flat, dangerous shore. Without escaping for a moment, from our +confined situation, and almost without perceiving any motion of the +masses of ice among themselves, we had, at noon on the 30th, drifted +down within a mile of a small island lying near the northeast point of +Winter Island. On the 31st the tide took us through between these, the +breadth of the passage being three quarters of a mile, in no less than +sixteen fathoms water. We then passed within a dangerous reef of rocks, +lying a full mile from the shore, and having numerous heavy masses of +grounded ice upon it. After clearing this in a good depth of water, we +were, by the evening, carried along shore within a mile of Cape Fisher. + +Thus had we, in a most singular manner, once more arrived at our old +winter-quarters, with scarcely a single successful exertion on our parts +towards effecting that object. The distance from Ooglit to our present +station was about one hundred and sixty miles along the coast. Of this +we had never _sailed_ above forty, the rest of the distance having +been accomplished, while we were immoveably beset, by mere drifting. The +interval thus employed having been barely eight days, gives an average +drift to the southward of above fifteen miles per day. + +In the afternoon of the 6th I was much pained at being informed by +telegraph from the Hecla, that Mr. Fife, Greenland master of that ship, +had just expired, an event which for some days past there had been but +too much reason to apprehend; the scurvy having within the last three +weeks continued to increase considerably upon him. It is proper for me, +however, both in justice to the medical officers under whose skilful and +humane care he was placed, and to the means with which we were in this +way so liberally supplied, to state, that during a part of that time Mr. +Fife had taken so great a dislike to the various antiscorbutics which +were administered to him, that he could seldom be induced to use any of +them. The disease, in consequence, reduced him to a state of extreme +debility, which at length carried him off almost without pain. The Hecla +being at the time closely beset, and in a situation of great danger +among the shoals off Winter Island, Captain Lyon caused the remains of +the deceased to be committed to the sea with all the solemnity which +circumstances would permit. + +In the night of the 6th, the ships, which had before nearly closed each +other, were again separated to the distance of several miles, though no +motion was perceptible in the masses of ice about them. On the evening +of the 11th, however, the wind at length began to freshen from the +northwest, when the ice immediately commenced driving down the inlet at +the rate of a mile an hour, carrying the Fury with it, and within half a +mile of the rocks, the whole way down to Cape Martineau, but keeping +her in deep water. In the mean time the Hecla had been swept into much +more dangerous situations, passing along the east and south sides of +Winter Island; and, after driving nearly up to Five-hawser Bay, being +carried near some dangerous shoals about Cape Edwards, where Captain +Lyon expected every other tide that she would take the ground. + +On the 15th, when the ships had closed each other within a mile, we +could see the clear water from the masthead, and the Hecla could now +have been easily extricated. Such, however, are the sudden changes that +take place in this precarious navigation, that not long afterward the +Fury was quite at liberty to sail out of the ice, while the Hecla was +now, in her turn, so immoveably fast set, and even cemented between +several very heavy masses, that no power that could be applied was +sufficient to move her an inch. In this situation she remained all the +16th, without our being able to render her any assistance; and the frost +being now rather severe at night, we began to consider it not improbable +that we might yet be detained for another winter. We were perhaps, +indeed, indebted for our escape to a strong westerly breeze, which blew +for several hours on the 17th, when, the ice being sufficiently close to +allow our men to walk to the assistance of the Hecla, we succeeded, +after seven hours' hard labour, in forcing her into clear water, when +all sail was made to the eastward, and our course shaped for the Trinity +Islands in a perfectly open sea. + +We thus finally made our escape from the ice after having been almost +immoveably beset in it for twenty-four days out of the last twenty-six, +in the course of which time the ships had been taken over no less than +one hundred and forty leagues of ground, generally very close to the +shore, and always unable to do anything towards effecting their escape +from danger. + +We made the Trinity Islands on the 18th, and ran down Hudson's Strait +with a favourable breeze, reaching the Orkneys on the morning of Oct. +9th. It can scarcely, perhaps, be imagined by those who have not been +similarly situated, with what eager interest one or two vessels were +this day descried by us, being the first trace of civilized man that we +had seen for the space of seven-and-twenty months. The breeze increasing +to a fresh gale from the southward in the course of the night, with a +heavy sea from the same quarter, rendering it impossible for us to make +any progress in that direction, I determined to put into Lerwick in the +Shetland Islands, to procure refreshments, and await a change in our +favour. We accordingly bore up for that harbour early on the morning of +the 10th, and at thirty minutes past ten A.M. anchored there, where we +were immediately visited by a great number of the inhabitants, anxious +to greet us on our return to our native country. + +I feel it utterly impossible adequately to express, the kindness and +attention we received for the three or four days that we were detained +in Bressay Sound by a continuance of unfavourable winds. On the first +information of our arrival the bells of Lerwick were set ringing, the +inhabitants flocked from every part of the country to express their joy +at our unexpected return, and the town was at night illuminated, as if +each individual had a brother or a son among us. + +On the 13th, a breeze springing up from the northward, we took leave of +our kind and hospitable friends, deeply sensible of the cordial and +affectionate reception we had experienced; and, being still favoured by +the wind, were abreast of Buchaness the following evening. On the 16th, +being off Whitby, I went on shore there, and, after receiving the +cordial greetings of a great number of the worthy inhabitants of Whitby, +who had assembled to meet us on landing, set off for London, and arrived +at the Admiralty on the morning of the 18th. + + + + + + + +THIRD VOYAGE + +FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE. + + + + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +Notwithstanding the want of success of the late expedition to the Polar +Seas, it was resolved to make another attempt to effect a passage by +sea, between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The chief alterations in +the equipment of the present expedition consisted in the placing of +Sylvester's warming stove in the very bottom of the ship's hold, in +substituting a small quantity of salt beef for a part of the pork, and +in furnishing a much larger supply of newly corned beef. Preserved +carrots and parsnips, salmon, cream, pickles of onions, beet-root, +cabbage, and, to make the most of our stowage, _split_ peas, instead +of whole ones, were supplied. A small quantity of beef pemmican, made by +pounding the meat with a certain portion of fat, as described by Captain +Franklin, was also furnished. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + Passage to the Whale-fish Islands, and Removal of Stores from the + Transport.--Enter the Ice in Baffin's Bay.--Difficulties of + Penetrating to the Westward.--Quit the Ice in Baffin's + Bay.--Remarks on the Obstructions encountered by the Ships, and on + the Severity of the Season. + + + +The equipment of the Hecla and Fury, and the loading of the William +Harris transport, being completed, we began to move down the river from +Deptford on the 8th of May, 1824, and on the 10th, by the assistance of +the steamboat, the three ships had reached Northfleet, where they +received their powder and their ordnance stores. + +Early on the morning of the 3d of July, the whole of our stores being +removed, and Lieutenant Pritchard having received his orders, together +with our despatches and letters for England, the William Harris weighed +with a light wind from the northward, and was towed out to sea by our +boats. + +Light northerly winds, together with the dull sailing of our now +deeply-laden ships, prevented our making much progress for several days, +and kept us in the neighbourhood of numerous icebergs, which it is +dangerous to approach when there is any swell. We counted from the deck, +at one time, no less than one hundred and three of these immense bodies, +some of them from one to two hundred feet in height above the sea; and +it was necessary, in one or two instances, to tow the ships clear of +them with the boats. + +From this time, indeed, the obstructions from the quantity, magnitude, +and closeness of the ice were such as to keep our people almost +constantly employed in heaving, warping, or sawing through it; and yet +with so little success, that, at the close of the month of July, we had +only penetrated seventy miles to the westward, or the longitude of about +62 deg. 10'. + +_Sept_. 9th.--I shall, doubtless, be readily excused for not having +entered in this journal a detailed narrative of the obstacles we met +with, and of the unwearied exertions of the officers and men to overcome +them, during the tedious eight weeks employed in crossing this barrier. + +The constant besetment of the ships, and our daily observations for +latitude and longitude, afforded a favourable opportunity for +ascertaining precisely the set of any currents by which the whole body +of ice might be actuated. By attending very carefully to all the +circumstances, it was evident that a daily set to the southward obtained +when the wind was northerly, differing in amount from two or three, to +eight or ten miles per day, according to the strength of the breeze; but +a northerly current was equally apparent, and fully to the same amount, +whenever the wind blew from the southward. A circumstance more +remarkable than these, however, forced itself strongly upon my notice at +this time, which was, that a _westerly_ set was very frequently +apparent, even against a fresh breeze blowing from that quarter. I +mention the circumstance in this place, because I may hereafter have to +offer a remark or two on this fact, in connexion with some others of a +similar nature noticed elsewhere. + +With respect to the dimensions of the ice through which we had now +scrambled our way, principally by warping and towing, a distance of +between three and four hundred miles, I remarked that it for the most +part increased, as well in the thickness as the extent of the floes, as +we advanced westward about the parallel of 71 deg. During our subsequent +progress to the north, we also met with some of enormous dimensions, +several of the floes, to which we applied our hawsers and the power of +the improved capstan, being at their margin more than twenty feet above +the level of the sea; and over some of these we could not see from the +masthead. Upon the whole, however, the magnitude of the ice became +somewhat less towards the northwest, and within thirty miles of that +margin the masses were comparatively small, and their thickness much +diminished. Bergs were in sight during the whole passage, but they were +more numerous towards the middle of the "pack," and rather the most so +to the southward. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + Enter Sir James Lancaster's Sound.--Land at Cape Warrender.--Meet + with young Ice.--Ships beset and carried near the Shore.--Driven + back to Navy-board Inlet.--Run to the Westward, and enter Prince + Regent's Inlet.--Arrival at Port Bowen. + + + +All our past obstacles were in a moment forgotten when we once more saw +an open sea before us; but it must be confessed that it was not so easy +to forget that the middle of September was already near at hand, +without having brought us even to the entrance of Sir James Lancaster's +Sound. That not a moment might be lost, however, in pushing to the +westward, a press of canvass was crowded, and, being happily favoured +with an easterly breeze, on the morning of Sept. 10th we caught a +glimpse of the high bold land on the north side of the magnificent inlet +up which our course was once more to be directed. From the time of our +leaving the main body of ice, we met with none of any kind, and the +entrance to the Sound was, as usual, entirely free from it, except here +and there a berg, floating about in that solitary grandeur, of which +these enormous masses, when occurring in the midst of an extensive sea, +are calculated to convey so sublime an idea. + +On the morning of the 12th we were once more favoured with a breeze from +the eastward, but so light and unsteady that our progress was +vexatiously slow; and on the 13th, when within seven leagues of Cape +York, we had the mortification to perceive the sea ahead of us covered +with young ice, the thermometer having, for two days past, ranged only +from 18 deg. to 20 deg. + +The next breeze sprung up from the westward, drawing also from the +southward, at times, out of Prince Regent's Inlet, and for three days we +were struggling with the young ice to little or no purpose, now and then +gaining half a mile of ground to windward in a little "hole" of open +water, then losing as much by the necessity of bearing up or wearing +(for the ice was too strong to allow us to tack), sallying from morning +to night with all hands, and with the watch at night, two boats +constantly under the bows; and, after all, rather losing ground than +otherwise, while the young ice was every hour increasing in thickness. + +Towards sunset on the 17th we became more and more hampered, and were +eventually beset during the night. The sea was covered with ice between +us and the shore, all of this year's formation, but now of considerable +thickness and formidable appearance. The wind continuing strong, the +whole body was constantly pressed in upon the land, bearing the ships +along with it, and doubling one sheet over another, sometimes to a +hundred thicknesses. We quickly shoaled the water from seventy to forty +fathoms, the latter depth occurring about a mile from the beach; and +after this we drifted but little, the ice being blocked up between the +point and a high perpendicular berg lying aground off it. + +Under such circumstances, it evidently became expedient to endeavour, by +sawing, to get the ships as close in-shore as possible, so as to secure +them either to grounded ice, or by anchoring within the shelter of a bay +at no great distance inside of us; for it now seemed not unlikely that +winter was about to put a premature stop to all farther operations at +sea for this season. At all events, it was necessary to consult the +immediate safety of the ships, and to keep them from being drifted back +to the eastward. I therefore gave orders for endeavouring to get the +ships in towards the bay, by cutting through what level floes still +remained. So strong had been the pressure while the ice was forcing in +upon us, that on the 20th, after liberating the Hecla on one side, she +was as firmly cemented to it on the other, as after a winter's +formation; and we could only clear her by heavy and repeated "sallying." +After cutting in two or three hundred yards, while the people were at +dinner on the 21st, our canal closed by the external pressure coming +upon the parts which we had weakened, and in a few minutes the whole was +once more in motion, or, as the seamen not inaptly expressed it, +"alive," mass doubling under mass, and raising those which were +uppermost to a considerable height. The ice thus pressed together was +now about ten feet in thickness in some places, and on an average not +less than four or five, so that, while thus forced in upon a ship, +although soft in itself, it caused her to tremble exceedingly; a +sensation, indeed, commonly experienced in forcing through young ice of +considerable thickness. We were now once more obliged to be quiet +spectators of what was going on around us, having, with extreme +difficulty, succeeded in saving most of our tools that were lying on the +ice when the squeezing suddenly began. + +A sudden motion of the ice, on the morning of the 22d, occasioned by a +change of the wind to the S.E., threatened to carry us directly off the +land. It was now, more than ever, desirable to hold on, as this breeze +was likely to clear the shore, and, at the same time, to give us a run +to the westward. Hawsers were therefore run out to the land-ice, +composed of some heavy masses, almost on the beach. With the Hecla this +succeeded, but the Fury being much farther from the shore, soon began to +move out with the whole body of ice, which, carrying her close to the +large berg off the point, swept her round the latter, where, after great +exertion, Captain Hoppner succeeded in getting clear, and then made sail +to beat back to us. In the mean time the strain put upon the Hecla's +hawsers being too great for them, they snapped one after another, and a +bower-anchor was let go as a last resource. It was one of Hawkins's, +with the double fluke, and immediately brought up, not merely the ship, +but a large floe of young ice which had just broken our stream-cable. +All hands were sent upon the floe to cut it up ahead, and the whole +operation was a novel, and, at times, a fearful one; for the ice, being +weakened by the cutting, would suddenly gather fresh way astern, +carrying men and tools with it, while the chain cable continued to +plough through it in a manner which gave one the idea of something +alive, and continually renewing its attacks. The anchor held +surprisingly; and after this tremendous strain had been put upon it for +above an hour, we had fairly cut the floe in two, and the ship was +riding in clear water about half a mile from the shore. + +I was in hopes we should make some progress, for a large channel of +clear water was left open in-shore; a breeze blew off the land, and the +temperature of the atmosphere had again risen considerably. We had not +sailed five miles, however, when a westerly wind took us aback, and a +most dangerous swell set directly upon the shore, obliging me +immediately to stand off the land; and the Fury being still to the +eastward of the point, I ran round it in order to rejoin her before +sunset. + +After midnight on the 27th the wind began to moderate, and, by degrees, +also drew more to the southward than before. At daylight, therefore, we +found ourselves seven or eight miles from the land; but no ice was in +sight, except the "sludge," of honey-like consistence, with which almost +the whole sea was covered. A strong blink, extending along the eastern +horizon, pointed out the position of the main body of ice, which was +farther distant from the eastern shore of the inlet than I ever saw it. +Being assisted by a fine working breeze, which, at the same time, +prevented the formation of any more ice to obstruct us, we made +considerable progress along the land, and at noon were nearly abreast of +Jackson Inlet, which we now saw to be considerably larger than our +distant view of it on the former voyage had led us to suppose. A few +more tacks brought us to the entrance of Port Bowen, which, for two or +three days past, I had determined to make our wintering-place, if, as +there was but little reason to expect, we should be so fortunate as to +push the ships thus far. Beating up, therefore, to Port Bowen, we found +it filled with "old" and "hummocky" ice, attached to the shores on both +sides, as low down as about three-quarters of a mile below Stony Island. +Here we made fast in sixty-two fathoms water, running our hawsers far in +upon the ice, in case of its breaking off at the margin. + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + Winter Arrangements.--Improvements in Warming and Ventilating the + Ships.--Masquerades adopted as an Amusement to the + Men.--Establishment of Schools.--Astronomical + Observations.--Meteorological Phenomena. + + + +_Oct_.--Our present winter arrangements so closely resembled, in +general, those before adopted, that a fresh description of them would +prove little more than a repetition of that already contained in the +narratives of our former voyages. + +To those who read, as well as to those who describe, the account of a +winter passed in these regions can no longer be expected to afford the +interest of novelty it once possessed; more especially in a station +already delineated with tolerable geographical precision on our maps, +and thus, as it were, brought near to our firesides at home. +Independently, indeed, of this circumstance, it is hard to conceive any +one thing more like another than two winters passed in the higher +latitudes of the Polar Regions, except when variety happens to be +afforded by intercourse with some other branch of "the whole family of +man." Winter after winter, nature here assumes an aspect so much alike, +that cursory observation can scarcely detect a single feature of +variety. The winter of more temperate climates, and even in some of no +slight severity, is occasionally diversified by a thaw, which at once +gives variety and comparative cheerfulness to the prospect. But here, +when once the earth is covered, all is dreary, monotonous whiteness; not +merely for days or weeks, but for more than half a year together. +Whichever way the eye is turned, it meets a picture calculated to +impress upon the mind an idea of inanimate stillness, of that motionless +torpor with which our feelings have nothing congenial; of anything, in +short, but life. In the very silence there is a deadness with which a +human spectator appears _out of keeping_. The presence of man seems an +intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, which even its +native animals have for a while forsaken. + +I am persuaded, therefore, that I shall be excused in sparing the +dulness of another winter's diary, and confining myself exclusively to +those facts which appear to possess any scientific interest, to the few +incidents which _did_ diversify our confinement, and to such remarks as +may contribute to the health and comfort of any future sojourners in +these dreary regions. + +It may well be supposed that, in this climate, the principal desideratum +which art is called upon to furnish for the promotion of health, is +warmth, as well in the external air as in the inhabited apartments. +Exposure to a cold atmosphere, _when the body is well clothed_, produces +no bad effect whatever beyond a frostbitten cheek, nose, or finger. As +for any injury to healthy lungs from the breathing of cold air, or from +sudden changes from this into a warm atmosphere, or _vice versa_, it may +with much confidence be asserted that, with due attention to external +clothing, there is nothing in this respect to be apprehended. This +inference, at least, would appear legitimate, from the fact that our +crews, consisting of one hundred and twenty persons, have for four +winters been constantly undergoing, for months together, a change of +from eighty to a hundred degrees of temperature, in the space of time +required for opening two doors (perhaps less than half a minute), +without incurring any pulmonary complaints at all. + +In speaking of the external clothing sufficient for health in this +climate, it must be confessed that, in severe exposure, quite a _load_ +of woollen clothes, even of the best quality, is insufficient to retain +a comfortable degree of warmth; a strong breeze carrying it off so +rapidly, that the sensation is that of the cold piercing through the +body. A jacket made very long, like those called by seamen +"pea-jackets," and lined with fur throughout, would be more effectual +than twice the weight of woollen clothes, and is, indeed, almost +weather-proof. For the prevention of lumbago, to which our seamen are +especially liable, from their well-known habit of leaving their loins +imperfectly clothed, every man should be strictly obliged to wear, under +his outer clothes, a canvass belt a foot broad, lined with flannel, and +having straps to go over the shoulder.[006] + +It is certain, however, that no precautions in clothing are sufficient +to maintain health during a Polar winter, without a due degree of warmth +in the apartments we inhabit. Most persons are apt to associate with the +idea of warmth, something like the comfort derived from a good fire on a +winter's evening at home; but in these regions the case is +inconceivably different: here it is not simple comfort, but health, and, +therefore, ultimately life, that depends upon it. The want of a constant +supply of warmth is here immediately followed by a condensation of all +the moisture, whether from the breath, victuals, or other sources, into +abundant drops of water, very rapidly forming on all the coldest parts +of the deck. A still lower temperature modifies, and perhaps improves, +the annoyance by converting it into ice, which again an occasional +increase of warmth dissolves into water. Nor is this the amount of the +evil, though it is the only visible part of it; for not only is a moist +atmosphere thus incessantly kept up, but it is rendered stagnant also by +the want of that ventilation which warmth alone can furnish. With an +apartment in this state, the men's clothes and bedding are continually +in a moist and unwholesome condition, generating a deleterious air, +which there is no circulation to carry off; and, whenever these +circumstances combine for any length of time together, so surely may the +scurvy, to say nothing of other diseases, be confidently expected to +exhibit itself. + +Every attention was, as usual, paid to the occupation and diversion of +the men's minds, as well as to the regularity of their bodily exercise. +Our former amusements being almost worn threadbare, it required some +ingenuity to devise any plan that should possess the charm of novelty to +recommend it. This purpose was completely answered by a proposal of +Captain Hoppner, to attempt a _masquerade_, in which officers and men +should alike take a part, but which, without imposing any restraint +whatever, would leave every one to his own choice whether to join in +this diversion or not. It is impossible that any idea could have proved +more happy, or more exactly suited to our situation. Admirably dressed +characters of various descriptions readily took their parts, and many of +these were supported with a degree of spirit and genuine humour which +would not have disgraced a more refined assembly; while the latter might +not have disdained, and would not have been disgraced by, copying the +good order, decorum, and inoffensive cheerfulness which our humble +masquerade presented. It does especial credit to the dispositions and +good sense of our men, that, though all the officers entered fully into +the spirit of these amusements, which took place once a month, no +instance occurred of anything that could interfere with the regular +discipline, or at all weaken the respect of the men towards their +superiors. Ours were masquerades without licentiousness; carnivals +without excess. + +But an occupation not less assiduously pursued, and of infinitely more +eventual benefit, was furnished by the re-establishment of our schools, +under the voluntary superintendence of my friend Mr. Hooper in the +Hecla, and of Mr. Mogg in the Fury. By the judicious zeal of Mr. Hooper, +the Hecla's school was made subservient, not merely to the improvement +of the men in reading and writing (in which, however, their progress was +surprisingly great), but also to the cultivation of that religious +feeling which so essentially improves the character of a seaman, by +furnishing the highest motives for increased attention to every other +duty. Nor was the benefit confined to the eighteen or twenty +individuals whose want of scholarship brought them to the school-table, +but extended itself to the rest of the ship's company, making the whole +lower-deck such a scene of quiet rational occupation as I never before +saw on board a ship. And I do not speak lightly when I express my +thorough persuasion, that to the moral effects thus produced upon the +minds of the men, were owing, in a very high degree, the constant yet +sober cheerfulness, the uninterrupted good order, and even, in some +measure, the extraordinary state of health which prevailed among us +during this winter. + +The extreme facility with which sounds are heard at a considerable +distance in severely cold weather, has often been a subject of remark; +but a circumstance occurred at Port Bowen which deserves to be noticed, +as affording a sort of measure of this facility, or, at least, conveying +to others some definite idea of the fact. Lieutenant Foster having +occasion to send a man from the observatory to the opposite shore of the +harbour, a measured distance of 6696 feet, or about one statute mile and +two tenths, in order to fix a meridian mark, had placed a second person +half way between, to repeat his directions; but he found, on trial, that +this precaution was unnecessary, as he could, without difficulty, keep +up a conversation with the man at the distant station. The thermometer +was at this time-18 deg., the barometer 30.14 inches, and the weather +nearly calm, and quite clear and serene. + +About one o'clock on the morning of the 23d February, the Aurora +appeared over the hills in a south direction, presenting a brilliant +mass of light. The rolling motion of the light laterally was very +striking, as well as the increase of its intensity thus occasioned. The +light occupied horizontally about a point of the compass, and extended +in height scarcely a degree above the land, which seemed, however, to +conceal from us a part of the phenomenon. It was always evident enough +that the most attenuated light of the Aurora sensibly dimmed the stars, +like a thin veil drawn over them. We frequently listened for any sound +proceeding from this phenomenon, but never heard any. Our variation +needles, which were extremely light, suspended in the most delicate +manner, and, from the weak directive energy, susceptible of being acted +upon by a very slight disturbing force, were never, in a single +instance, sensibly affected by the Aurora, which could scarcely fail to +have been observed at some time or other, had any such disturbance taken +place, the needles being visited every hour for several months, and +oftener when anything occurred to make it desirable. + +The meteors called falling stars were much more frequent during this +winter than we ever before saw them, and particularly during the month +of December. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + Re-equipment of the Ships.--Several Journeys undertaken.--Open + Water in the Offing.--Commence sawing a Canal to liberate the + Ships.--Disruption of the Ice.--Departure from Port Bowen. + + + +The height of the land about Port Bowen deprived us longer than usual of +the sun's presence above our horizon. Some of our gentlemen, indeed, who +ascended a high hill for the purpose, caught a glimpse of him on the 2d +of February; on the 15th it became visible at the observatory, but at +the ships not till the 22d, after an absence of one hundred and +twenty-one days. It is very long after the sun's reappearance in these +regions, however, that the effect of his rays, as to warmth, becomes +perceptible; week passes after week, with scarcely any rise in the +thermometer except for an hour or two during the day; and it is at this +period more than any other, perhaps, that the lengthened duration of a +Polar winter's cold is most wearisome, and creates the most impatience. +Towards the third week in March, thin flakes of snow lying upon black +painted wood or metal, and exposed to the sun's direct rays in a +sheltered situation, readily melted. In the second week of April any +very light covering of sand or ashes upon the snow close to the ships +might be observed to make its way downward into holes; but a coat of +sand laid upon the unsheltered ice, to the distance of about two thirds +of a mile, for dissolving a canal to hasten our liberation, produced no +such sensible effect till the beginning of May. Even then the +dissolution was very trifling till about the first week in June, when +pools of water began to make their appearance, and not long after this a +small boat would have floated down it. On shore the effect is, in +general, still more tardy, though some deception is there occasioned by +the dissolution of the snow next the ground, while its upper surface is +to all appearance undergoing little or no change. Thus a greater +alteration is sometimes produced in the aspect of the land by a single +warm day in an advanced part of the season, than in many weeks +preceding, in consequence of the last crust of snow being dissolved, +leaving the ground at length entirely bare. We could now perceive the +snow beginning to leave the stones from day to day, as early as the last +week in April. Towards the end of May a great deal of snow was dissolved +daily; but, owing to the porous nature of the ground, which absorbed it +as fast as it was formed, it was not easy to procure water for drinking +on shore, even as late as the 10th of June. In the ravines, however, it +could be heard trickling under stones before that time; and about the +18th, many considerable streams were formed, and constantly running both +night and day. After this the thawing proceeded at an inconceivably +rapid rate, the whole surface of the floes being covered with large +pools of water rapidly increasing in size and depth. + +The animals seen at Port Bowen may now be briefly noticed. The principal +of these seen during the winter were bears, of which we killed twelve +from October to June, being more than during all the other voyages +taken together; and several others were seen. One of these animals was +near proving fatal to a seaman of the Fury, who, having straggled from +his companions, when at the top of a high hill saw a large bear coming +towards him. Being unarmed, he prudently made off, taking off his boots +to enable him to run the faster, but not so prudently precipitated +himself over an almost perpendicular cliff, down which he was said to +have rolled or fallen several hundred feet; here he was met by some of +the people in so lacerated a condition as to be in a very dangerous +state for some time after. + +A she-bear, killed in the open water on our first arrival at Port Bowen, +afforded a striking instance of maternal affection in her anxiety to +save her two cubs. She might herself easily have escaped the boat, but +would not forsake her young, which she was actually "towing" off, by +allowing them to rest on her back, when the boat came near them. A +second similar instance occurred in the spring, when two cubs having got +down into a large crack in the ice, their mother placed herself before +them, so as to secure them from the attacks of our people, which she +might easily have avoided herself. + +One or two foxes (_Canis Lagopus_) were killed, and four caught in traps +during the winter, weighing from four pounds and three quarters to three +pounds and three quarters. The colour of one of these animals, which +lived for some time on board the Fury, and became tolerably tame, was +nearly pure white till the month of May, when he shed his winter coat, +and became of a dirty chocolate colour, with two or three light brown +spots. Only three hares (_Lepus Variabilis_) were killed from October +to June, weighing from six to eight pounds and three quarters. Their fur +was extremely thick, soft, and of the most beautiful whiteness +imaginable. We saw no deer near Port Bowen at any season, neither were +we visited by their enemies the wolves. A single ermine and a few mice +(_Mus Hudsonius_) complete, I believe, our scanty list of quadrupeds at +this desolate and unproductive place. + +Towards the end of June, the dovekies (_Colymbus Grylle_) were extremely +numerous in the cracks of the ice at the entrance of Port Bowen; and as +these were the only fresh supply of any consequence that we were able to +procure at this unproductive place, we were glad to permit the men to go +out occasionally with guns, after the ships were ready for sea, to +obtain for their messes this wholesome change of diet; while such +excursions also contributed essentially to their general health and +cheerfulness. Many hundreds of these birds were thus obtained in the +course of a few days. On the evening of the 6th of July, however, I was +greatly shocked at being informed by Captain Hoppner that John +Cotterell,[007] a seaman of the Fury, had been found drowned in one of +the cracks of the ice by two other men belonging to the same party, who +had been with him but a few minutes before. We could never ascertain +precisely in what manner this accident happened, but it was supposed +that he must have overreached himself in stooping for a bird that he +had killed. His remains were committed to the earth on Sunday the 10th, +with every solemnity which the occasion demanded, and our situation +would allow; and a tomb of stones, with a suitable inscription, was +afterward erected over the grave. + +In order to obtain oil for another winter's consumption, before the +ships could be released from the ice, and our travelling parties having +seen a number of black whales in the open water to the northward, two +boats from each ship were, with considerable labour, transported four +miles along shore in that direction, to be in readiness for killing a +whale and boiling the oil on the beach, whenever the open water should +approach sufficiently near. Notwithstanding these preparations, however, +it was vexatious to find that on the 9th of July the water was still +three miles distant from the boats, and at least seven from Port Bowen. +On the 12th, the ice in our neighbourhood began to detach itself, and +the boats, under the command of Lieutenants Sherer and Ross, being +launched on the following day, succeeded almost immediately in killing a +small whale of "five feet bone," exactly answering our purpose. Almost +at the same time, and, as it turned out, very opportunely, the ice at +the mouth of our harbour detached itself at an old crack, and drifted +off, leaving only about one mile and a quarter between us and the sea. +Half of this distance being occupied by the gravelled canal, which was +dissolved quite through the ice in many parts, and had become very thin +in all, every officer and man in both ships were set to work without +delay to commence a fresh canal from the open water to communicate with +the other. This work proved heavier than we expected, the ice being +generally from five to eight feet, and in many places from ten to eleven +in thickness. It was continued, however, with the greatest cheerfulness +and alacrity from seven in the morning till seven in the evening daily, +the dinner being prepared on the ice, and eaten under the lee of a +studding sail erected as a tent. + +On the afternoon of the 19th, a very welcome stop was put to our +operations by the separation of the floe entirely across the harbour, +and about one third from the ships to where we were at work. All hands +being instantly recalled by signal, were, on their return, set to work +to get the ships into the gravelled canal, and to saw away what still +remained in it to prevent our warping to sea. This work, with only half +an hour's intermission for the men's supper, was continued till half +past six the following morning, when we succeeded in getting clear. The +weather being calm, two hours were occupied in towing the ships to sea, +and thus the officers and men were employed at a very laborious work for +twenty-six hours, during which time there were, on one occasion, fifteen +of them overboard at once; and, indeed, several individuals met with the +same accident three times. It was impossible, however, to regret the +necessity of these comparatively trifling exertions, especially as it +was now evident that to saw our way out without any canal would have +required at least a fortnight of heavy and fatiguing labour. + + + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + Sail over towards the Western Coast of Prince Regent's + Inlet.--Stopped by the Ice.--Reach the Shore about Cape + Seppings.--Favourable Progress along the Land.--Fresh and repeated + Obstructions from Ice.--Both Ships driven on Shore.--Fury seriously + damaged.--Unsuccessful Search for a Harbour for heaving her down to + repair. + + + +_July_ 20.--On standing out to sea, we sailed, with a light southerly +wind, towards the western shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, which it was +my first wish to gain, on account of the evident advantage to be derived +from coasting the southern part of that portion of land called in the +chart "North Somerset," as far as it might lead to the westward; which, +from our former knowledge, we had reason to suppose it would do as far +at least as the longitude of 95 deg., in the parallel of about 72-3/4 deg. +After sailing about eight miles, we were stopped by a body of close ice +lying between us and a space of open water beyond. We were shortly after +enveloped in one of the thick fogs which had, for several weeks past, +been observed almost daily hanging over some part of the sea in the +offing, though we had scarcely experienced any in Port Bowen until the +water became open at the mouth of the harbour. + +On the clearing up of the fog on the 21st, we could perceive no opening +of the ice leading towards the western land, nor any appearance of the +smallest channel to the southward along the eastern shore. I was +determined, therefore, to try at once a little farther to the +northward, the present state of the ice appearing completely to accord +with that observed in 1819, its breadth increasing as we advanced from +Prince Leopold's Islands to the southward. + +Light winds detained us very much, but, being at length favoured by a +breeze, we carried all sail to the northwest, the ice very gradually +leading us towards the Leopold Isles. Having arrived off the +northernmost on the morning of the 22nd, it was vexatious, however +curious, to observe the exact coincidence of the present position of the +ice with that which it occupied a little later in the year 1819. The +whole body of it seemed to cling to the western shore, as if held there +by some strong attraction, forbidding, for the present, any access to +it. After running all night, with light and variable winds, through +loose and scattered ice, we suddenly found ourselves, on the clearing up +of a thick fog through which we had been sailing on the morning of the +24th, within one third of a mile of Cape Seppings, the land just +appearing above the fog in time to save us from danger, the soundings +being thirty-eight fathoms, on a rocky bottom. The Fury being apprized +by guns of our situation, both ships were hauled off the land, and the +fog soon after dispersing, we had the satisfaction to perceive that the +late gale had blown the ice off the land, leaving us a fine navigable +channel from one to two miles wide, as far as we could see from the +masthead along the shore. We were able to avail ourselves of this but +slowly, however, in consequence of a light southerly breeze still +blowing against us. + +The land here, when closely viewed, assumes a very striking, and +magnificent character; the strata of limestone, which are numerous and +quite horizontally disposed, being much more regular than on the eastern +shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, and retaining nearly their whole +perpendicular height of six or seven hundred feet close to the sea. I +may here remark, that the whole of Barrow's Strait, as far as we could +see to the N.N.E. of the islands, was entirely free from ice; and, from +whatever circumstance it may proceed, I do not think that this part of +the Polar Sea is at any season very much encumbered with it. + +It was the general feeling at this period among us, that the voyage had +but now commenced. The labours of a bad summer, and the tedium of a long +winter, were forgotten in a moment when we found ourselves upon ground +not hitherto explored, and with every apparent prospect before us of +making as rapid a progress as the nature of this navigation will permit, +towards the final accomplishment of our object. + +A breeze enabling us again to make some progress, and an open channel +still favouring us, of nearly the same breadth as before, we passed, +during the night of the 25th, a second bay, about the same size as the +other, and also appearing open to the sea; it lies in latitude (by +account from the preceding and following noon) 73 deg. 19' 30", and its +width is one mile and a half. We now perceived that the ice closed +completely in with the land a short distance beyond us; and, having made +all the way we could, were obliged to stand off and on during the day in +a channel not three quarters of a mile wide. + +A light southerly breeze on the morning of the 28th gradually cleared +the shore, and a fresh wind from the N.W. then immediately succeeded. We +instantly took advantage of this circumstance, and, casting off at six +A.M., ran eight or nine miles without obstruction, when we were stopped +by the ice, which, in a closely packed and impenetrable body, stretched +close into the shore as far as the eye could reach from the crow's nest. +Being anxious to gain every foot of distance that we could, and +perceiving some grounded ice which appeared favourable for making fast +to, just at a point where the clear water terminated, the ships were run +to the utmost extent of it, and a boat prepared from each to examine the +water at the intended anchoring place. Just as I was about to leave the +Hecla for that purpose, the ice was observed, to be in rapid motion +towards the shore. The Fury was immediately hauled in by some grounded +masses, and placed to the best advantage; but the Hecla, being more +advanced, was immediately beset in spite of every exertion, and, after +breaking two of the largest ice-anchors in endeavouring to heave in to +the shore, was obliged to drift with the ice, several masses of which +had fortunately interposed themselves between us and the land. The ice +slackening around us a little in the evening, we were enabled, with +considerable labour, to get to some grounded masses, where we lay much +exposed, as the Fury also did. In this situation, our latitude being 72 +deg. 51' 51", we saw a comparatively low point of land three or four +leagues to the southward, which proved to be near that which terminated +our view of this coast in 1819. + +The ice opening for a mile and a half alongshore on the 30th, we shifted +the Hecla's berth about that distance to the southward, chiefly to be +enabled to see more distinctly round a point which before obstructed our +view, though our situation as regarded the security of the ship was much +altered for the worse. In the afternoon it blew a hard gale, with +constant rain, from the northward, the clouds indicating an easterly +wind in other parts. This wind, which was always the troublesome one to +us, soon brought the ice closer and closer, till it pressed with very +considerable violence on both ships, though the most upon the Fury, +which lay in a very exposed situation. Early on the morning of the 31st, +as soon as a communication could be effected, Captain Hoppner sent to +inform me that the Fury had been forced on the ground, where she still +lay; but that she would probably be hove off without much difficulty at +high water, provided the external ice did not prevent it. A large party +of hands from the Hecla being sent round to the Fury towards high water, +she came off the ground with very little strain, so that, upon the +whole, considering the situation in which the ships were lying, we +thought ourselves fortunate in having incurred no very serious injury. A +shift of wind to the southward in the afternoon at length began +gradually to slacken it, but it was not till six A.M. on the 1st of +August that there appeared a prospect of making any progress. The signal +to that effect was immediately made; but, while the sails were setting, +the ice, which had at first been three quarters of a mile distant from +us, was observed to be closing the shore The ships were cast with all +expedition, in hopes of gaining the broader channel before the ice had +time to shut us up. So rapid, however, was the latter in this its sudden +movement, that we had but just got the ships' heads the right way when +the ice came boldly in upon us, being doubtless set in motion by a very +sudden freshening of the wind almost to a gale in the course of a few +minutes. The ships were now almost instantly beset, and in such a manner +as to be literally helpless and unmanageable. + +The sails were, however, kept set; and, as the body of ice was setting +to the southward withal, we went with it some little distance in that +direction. The Hecla, after thus driving, and now and then forcing her +way through the ice, in all about three quarters of a mile, quite close +to the shore, at length struck the ground forcibly several times in the +space of a hundred yards, and being then brought up by it, remained +immoveable, the depth of water under her keel abaft being sixteen feet, +or about a foot less than she drew. The Fury, continuing to drive, was +now irresistibly carried past us, and we escaped, only by a few feet, +the damage invariably occasioned by ships coming in contact under such +circumstances. She had, however, scarcely passed us a hundred yards, +when it was evident, by the ice pressing her in, as well as along the +shore, that she must soon be stopped like the Hecla; and having gone +about two hundred yards farther, she was observed to receive a severe +pressure from a large floe-piece forcing her directly against a grounded +mass of ice upon the beach. After setting to the southward for an hour +or two longer, the ice became stationary, no open water being anywhere +visible from the masthead, and the pressure on the ships remaining +undiminished during the day. Just as I had ascertained the utter +impossibility of moving the Hecla a single foot, and that she must lie +aground fore and aft as soon as the tide fell, I received a note from +Captain Hoppner, informing me that the Fury had been so severely +"nipped" and strained as to leak a good deal, apparently about four +inches an hour; that she was still heavily pressed both upon the ground +and against the large mass of ice within her; that the rudder was at +present very awkwardly situated; and that one boat had been much +damaged. However, about high water, the ice very opportunely slacking, +the Hecla was hove off with great ease, and warped to a floe in the +offing, to which we made fast at midnight. The Fury was not long after +us in coming off the ground, when I was in hopes of finding that any +twist or strain by which her leaks might have been occasioned, would, in +some measure, close when she was relieved from pressure and once more +fairly afloat. My disappointment and mortification, therefore, may in +some measure be imagined, at being informed by telegraph, about two A.M. +on the 2d, that the water was gaining on two pumps, and that a part of +the doubling had floated up. Presently after, perceiving from the +masthead something like a small harbour nearly abreast of us, every +effort was made to get once more towards the shore. In this the ice +happily favoured us; and, after making sail, and one or two tacks, we +got in with the land, when I left the ship in a boat to sound the place +and search for shelter. The whole shore was more or less lined with +grounded masses of ice; but, after examining the soundings within more +than twenty of them, in the space of about a mile, I could only find two +that would allow the ships to float at low water, and that by some care +in placing and keeping them there. Having fixed a flag on each berg, the +usual signal for the ships taking their stations, I rowed on board the +Fury, and found four pumps constantly going to keep the ship free, and +Captain Hoppner, his officers and men, almost exhausted with the +incessant labour of the last eight-and-forty hours. The instant the +ships were made fast, Captain Hoppner and myself set out in a boat to +survey the shore still farther south, there being a narrow lane of water +about a mile in that direction; for it had now become too evident that +the Fury could proceed no farther without repairs, and that the nature +of those repairs would in all probability involve the disagreeable, I +may say the ruinous, necessity of heaving the ship down. After rowing +about three quarters of a mile, we considered ourselves fortunate in +arriving at a bolder part of the beach, where three grounded masses of +ice, having from three to four fathoms water at low tide within them, +were so disposed as to afford, with the assistance of art, something +like shelter. Returning to the ships, we were setting the sails in order +to run to the appointed place, when the ice closed in and prevented our +moving, and in a short time there was once more no open water to be +seen. We were therefore under the necessity of remaining in our present +berths, where the smallest external pressure must inevitably force us +ashore, neither ship having more than two feet of water to spare. One +watch of the Hecla's crew were sent round to assist at the Fury's +pumps, which required one third of her ship's company to be constantly +employed at them. + +The more leisure we obtained to consider the state of the Fury, the more +apparent became the absolute, however unfortunate, necessity of heaving +her down. Four pumps were required to be at work without intermission to +keep her free, and this in perfectly smooth water, showing that she was, +in fact, so materially injured as to be very far from seaworthy. One +third of her working men were constantly employed, as before remarked, +in this laborious operation, and some of their hands had become so sore +from the constant friction of the ropes, that they could hardly handle +them any longer without the use of mittens, assisted by the unlaying of +the ropes to make them soft. As, therefore, not a moment could be lost, +we took advantage of a small lane of water, deep enough for boats, which +kept open within the grounded masses along the shore, to convey to the +Hecla some of the Fury's dry provisions, and to land a quantity of heavy +iron work, and other stores not perishable; for the moment this measure +was determined on, I was anxious, almost at any risk, to commence the +lightening of the ship as far as our present insecurity and our distance +from the shore would permit. + +At two A.M. on the 5th, the ice began to slacken near the ships, and, as +soon as a boat could be rowed alongshore to the southward, I set out, +accompanied by a second from the Fury, for the purpose of examining the +state of our intended harbour since the recent pressure, and to +endeavour to prepare for the reception of the ships by clearing out the +loose ice. The Fury was detained some time by a quantity of loose ice, +which had wedged itself in in such a manner as to leave her no room to +move outward; but she arrived about seven o'clock, when both ships were +made fast in the best berths we could find, but they were excluded from +their intended place by the quantity of ice which had fixed itself +there. Within twenty minutes after our arrival, the whole body of ice +again came in, entirely closing up the shore, so that our moving proved +most opportune. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + + Formation of a Basin for heaving the Fury down.--Landing of the + Fury's Stores, and other Preparations.--The Ships secured within + the Basin.--Impediments from the Pressure of the Ice.--Fury hove + down.--Securities of the Basin destroyed by a Gale of + Wind.--Preparations to tow the Fury out.--Hecla Re-equipped, and + obliged to put to Sea.--Fury again driven on Shore.--Rejoin the + Fury; and find it necessary finally to abandon her. + + + +As there was now no longer room for floating the ice out of the proposed +basin, all hands were immediately employed in preparing the intended +securities against the incursions of the ice. These consisted of anchors +carried to the beach, having bower-cables attached to them, passing +quite round the grounded masses, and thus enclosing a small space of +just sufficient size to admit both ships. The cables we proposed +floating by means of the two hand-masts and some empty casks lashed to +them as buoys, with the intention of thus making them receive the +pressure of the ice a foot or two below the surface of the water. By +uncommon exertions on the part of the officers and men, this laborious +work was completed before night as far as was practicable until the +loose ice should set out; and all the tents were set up on the beach for +the reception of the Fury's stores. + +The ice remaining quite close on the 6th, every individual in both +ships, with the exception of those at the pumps, was employed in landing +provisions from the Fury, together with the spars, boats, and everything +from off her upper deck. On the following day, the ice remaining as +before, the work was continued without intermission, and a great +quantity of things landed. The armorer was also set to work on the beach +in forging bolts for the martingales of the outriggers. In short, every +living creature among us was somehow or other employed, not even +excepting our dogs, which were set to drag up the stores on the beach; +so that our little dock-yard soon exhibited the most animated scene +imaginable. The Fury was thus so much lightened in the course of the +day, that two pumps were now nearly sufficient to keep her free, and +this number continued requisite until she was hove down. + +At night, just as the people were going to rest, the ice began to move +to the southward, and soon after came in towards the shore, pressing the +Fury over on her side to so alarming a degree, as to warn us that it +would not be safe to lighten her much more in her present insecure +situation. One of our bergs also shifted its position by this pressure, +so as to weaken our confidence in the pier-heads of our intended basin; +and a long "tongue" of one of them forcing itself under the Hecla's +forefoot, while the drifting ice was also pressing her forcibly from +astern, she once more sewed three or four feet forward at low water, and +continued to do so, notwithstanding repeated endeavours to haul her off, +for four successive tides, the ice remaining so close and so much +doubled under the ship, as to render it impossible to move her a single +inch. Notwithstanding the state of the ice, however, we did not remain +idle on the 8th, all hands being employed in unrigging the Fury, and +landing all her spars, sails, booms, boats, and other top weight. + +The ice still continuing very close on the 9th, all hands were employed +in attempting, by saws and axes, to clear the Hecla, which still +grounded on the tongue of ice every tide. After four hours' labour, they +succeeded in making four or five feet of room astern, when the ship +suddenly slid down off the tongue with considerable force, and became +once more afloat. As it very opportunely happened, the external ice +slackened to the distance of about a hundred yards outside of us on the +morning of the 10th, enabling us, by a most tedious and laborious +operation, to clear the ice out of our basin piece by piece. Our next +business was to tighten the cables sufficiently by means of purchases, +and to finish the floating of them in the manner and for the purpose +before described. After this had been completed, the ships had only a +few feet in length, and nothing in breadth to spare, but we had now +great hopes of going on with our work with increased confidence and +security. The Fury, which was placed inside, had something less than +eighteen feet at low water; the Hecla lay in four fathoms, the bottom +being strewed with large and small fragments of limestone. + +While thus employed in securing the ships, the smoothness of the water +enabled us to see, in some degree, the nature of the Fury's damage; and +it may be conceived how much pain it occasioned us plainly to discover +that both the sternpost and forefoot were broken and turned up on one +side with the pressure. We also could perceive, as far as we were able +to see along the main keel, that it was much torn, and we had therefore +much reason to conclude that the damage would altogether prove very +serious. We also discovered that several feet of the Hecla's false keel +were torn away abreast of the forechains, in consequence of her +grounding forward so frequently. + +Being favoured with fine weather, we continued our work very quickly, so +that on the 12th every cask was landed, and also the powder; and the +spare sails and clothing put on board the Hecla. The coals and preserved +meats were the principal things now remaining on board the Fury, and +these we continued landing by every method we could devise as the most +expeditious. + +Early on the morning of the 14th, the ice slackening a little in our +neighbourhood, we took advantage of it, though the people were much +fagged, to tighten the cables, which had stretched and yielded +considerably by the late pressure. It was well that we did so; for in +the course of this day we were several times interrupted in our work by +the ice coming with a tremendous strain on the north cables, the wind +blowing strong from the N.N.W., and the whole "pack" outside of us +setting rapidly to the southward. Indeed, notwithstanding the recent +tightening and readjustment of the cables, the bight was pressed in so +much as to force the Fury against the berg astern of her twice in the +course of the day. + +From this trial of the efficacy of our means of security, it was plain +that the Fury could not possibly be hove down under circumstances of +such frequent and imminent risk: I therefore directed a fourth anchor, +with two additional cables, to be carried out, with the hope of breaking +some of the force of the ice by its offering a more oblique resistance +than the other, and thus, by degrees, turning the direction of the +pressure from the ships. We had scarcely completed this new defence, +when the largest floe we had seen since leaving Port Bowen came sweeping +along the shore, having a motion to the southward of not less than a +mile and a half an hour; and a projecting point of it, just grazing our +outer berg, threatened to overturn it, and would certainly have +dislodged it from its situation but for the cable recently attached to +it. + +The Fury being completely cleared at an early hour on the 16th, we were +all busily employed in "winding" the ship, and in preparing the +outriggers, shores, purchases, and additional rigging. Though we +purposely selected the time of high water for turning the ship round, we +had scarcely a foot of space to spare for doing it; and indeed, as it +was, her forefoot touched the ground, and loosened the broken part of +the wood so much as to enable us to pull it up with ropes, when we found +the fragments to consist of the whole of the "gripe" and most of the +"cutwater." In the evening we received the Fury's crew on board the +Hecla, every arrangement and regulation having been previously made for +their personal comfort, and for the preservation of cleanliness, +ventilation, and dry warmth throughout the ship. The officers of the +Fury, by their own choice, pitched a tent on shore for messing and +sleeping in, as our accommodation for two sets of officers was +necessarily confined. Every preparation being made, at three A.M. on the +18th we began to heave her down on the larboard side; but when the +purchases were nearly ablock, we found that the strops under the Hecla's +bottom, as well as some of the Fury's shore-fasts, had stretched or +yielded so much that they could not bring the keel out of water within +three or four feet. We immediately eased her up again, and readjusted +everything as requisite, hauling her farther in-shore than before by +keeping a considerable heel upon her, so as to make less depth of water +necessary; and we were then in the act of once more heaving her down, +when a snowstorm came on and blew with such violence off the land as to +raise a considerable sea. The ships had now so much motion as to strain +the gear very much, and even to make the lower masts of the Fury bend in +spite of the shores; we were, therefore, most unwillingly compelled to +desist until the sea should go down, keeping everything ready to +recommence the instant we could possibly do so with safety. The officers +and men were now literally so harassed and fatigued as to be scarcely +capable of farther exertion without some rest; and on this and one or +two other occasions, I noticed more than a single instance of stupor, +amounting to a certain degree of failure in intellect, rendering the +individual so affected quite unable at first to comprehend the meaning +of an order, though still as willing as ever to obey it. It was +therefore, perhaps, a fortunate necessity that produced the intermission +of labour which the strength of every individual seemed to require. + +The gale rather increasing than otherwise during the whole day and night +of the 18th, had, on the following morning, when the wind and sea still +continued unabated, so destroyed the bergs on which our sole dependance +was placed, that they no longer remained aground at low water; the +cables had again become slack about them, and the basin we had taken so +much pains in forming had now lost all its defences, at least during a +portion of every tide. After a night of most anxious consideration and +consultation with Captain Hoppner, who was now my messmate in the Hecla, +it appeared but too plain that, should the ice again come in, neither +ship could any longer be secured from driving on shore. It was therefore +determined instantly to prepare the Hecla for sea, making her thoroughly +effective in every respect; so that we might at least push _her_ out +into comparative safety among the ice when it closed again, taking every +person on board her, securing the Fury in the best manner we could, and +returning to her the instant we were able to do so, to endeavour to get +her out, and to carry her to some place of security for heaving down. +If, after the Hecla was ready, time should still be allowed us, it was +proposed immediately to put into the Fury all that was requisite, or, at +least, as much as she could safely carry, and, towing her out into the +ice, to try the effect of "foddering" the leaks by sails under those +parts of her keel which we knew to be damaged, until some more effectual +means could be resorted to. + +Having communicated to the assembled officers and ships' companies my +views and intentions, we commenced our work; and such was the hearty +good-will and indefatigable energy with which it was carried on, that by +midnight the whole was accomplished. + +On the 20th, therefore, the reloading of the Fury commenced with +recruited strength and spirits, such articles being in the first place +selected for putting on board as were essentially requisite for her +reequipment; for it was my full determination, could we succeed in +completing this, not to wait even for rigging a topmast, or getting a +lower yard up, in the event of the ice coming in, but to tow her out +among the ice, and there put everything sufficiently to rights for +carrying her to some place of security. A few hands were also spared, +consisting chiefly of two or three convalescents, and some of the +officers, to thrum a sail for putting under the Fury's keel; for we were +very anxious to relieve the men at the pumps, which constantly required +the labour of eight to twelve hands to keep her free. By a long and hard +day's labour, the people not going to rest till two o'clock on the +morning of the 21st, we got about fifty tons' weight of coals and +provisions on board the Fury, which, in case of necessity, we considered +sufficient to give her stability. Having hauled the ships out a little +from the shore, and prepared the Hecla for casting by a spring at a +moment's notice, all the people except those at the pumps were sent to +rest, which, however, they had not enjoyed for two hours, when, at four +A.M. on the 21st, another heavy mass coming violently in contact with +the bergs and cables, threatened to sweep away every remaining security. +More hawsers were run out, however, and enabled us still to hold on; +and, after six hours of disturbed rest, all hands were again set to work +to get the Fury's anchors, cables, rudder, and spars on board, these +being absolutely necessary for her equipment, should we be able to get +her out. At two P.M. the crews were called on board to dinner, which +they had not finished when several not very large masses of ice drove +along the shore near us at a quick rate, and two or three successively +coming in violent contact either with the Hecla or the bergs to which +she was attached, convinced me that very little additional pressure +would tear everything away, and drive both ships on shore. I saw that +the moment had arrived when the Hecla could no longer be kept in her +present situation with the smallest chance of safety, and therefore +immediately got under sail, despatching Captain Hoppner with every +individual, except a few for working the ship, to continue getting the +things on board the Fury, while the Hecla stood off and on. Captain +Hoppner had scarcely been an hour on board the Fury, and was busily +engaged in getting the anchors and cables on board, when we observed +some large pieces of not very heavy ice closing in with the land near +her; and at twenty minutes past four P.M., being an hour and five +minutes after the Hecla had cast off, I was informed by signal that the +Fury was on shore. As the navigating of the Hecla, with only ten men on +board, required constant attention and care, I could not at this time, +with propriety, leave the ship to go on board the Fury. I therefore +directed Captain Hoppner by telegraph, "if he thought nothing could be +done at present, to return on board with all hands until the wind +changed;" for this alone, as far as I could see the state of the Fury, +seemed to offer the smallest chance of clearing the shore, so as to +enable us to proceed with our work, or to attempt hauling the ship off +the ground. About seven P.M. Captain Hoppner returned to the Hecla, +accompanied by all hands, except an officer with a party at the pumps, +reporting to me, that the Fury had been forced aground by the ice +pressing on the masses lying near her, and bringing home, if not +breaking, the seaward anchor, so that the ship was soon found to have +sewed from two to three feet fore and aft. + +Finding, soon after Captain Hoppner's return, that the current swept the +Hecla a long way to the southward while hoisting up the boats, and that +more ice was drifting in towards the shore, I was under the painful +necessity of recalling the party at the pumps, rather than incur the +risk, now an inevitable one, of parting company with them altogether. +Accordingly, Mr. Bird, with the last of the people, came on board at +eight o'clock in the evening, having left eighteen inches water in the +well, and four pumps being requisite to keep her free. In three hours +after Mr. Bird's return, more than half a mile of closely packed ice +intervened between the Fury and the open water in which we were +beating, and before the morning this barrier had increased to four or +five miles in breadth. + +We carried a press of canvass all night, with a fresh breeze from the +north, to enable us to keep abreast of the Fury, which, on account of +the strong southerly current, we could only do by beating at some +distance from the land. The breadth of the ice in-shore continued +increasing during the day, but we could see no end to the water in which +we were beating, either to the southward or eastward. It fell quite calm +in the evening, when the breadth of the ice in-shore had increased to +six or seven miles. We did not, during the day, perceive any current +setting to the southward, but in the course of the night we were drifted +four or five leagues to the southwestward. + +A southerly breeze enabling us to regain our northing, we ran along the +margin of the ice, but were led so much to the eastward by it, that we +could approach the ship no nearer than before during the whole day. She +appeared to us at this distance to have a much greater heel than when +the people left her, which made us still more anxious to get near her. +The latitude at noon was 72 deg. 34' 57", making our distance from the Fury +twelve miles, which, by the morning of the 25th, had increased to at +least five leagues, the ice continuing to "pack" between us and the +shore. The wind, however, now gradually drew round to the westward, +giving us hopes of a change, and we continued to ply about the margin of +the ice, in constant readiness for taking advantage of any opening that +might occur. It favoured us so much by streaming off in the course of +the day, that by seven P.M. we had nearly reached a channel of clear +water, which kept open for seven or eight miles from the land. Being +impatient to obtain a sight of the Fury, and the wind becoming light, +Captain Hoppner and myself left the Hecla in two boats, and reached the +ship at half past nine, or about three quarters of an hour before high +water, being the most favourable time of tide for arriving to examine +her condition. + +We found her heeling so much outward, that her main channels were within +a foot of the water; and the large floe-piece, which was still alongside +of her, seemed alone to support her below water, and to prevent her +falling over still more considerably. The ship had been forced much +farther up the beach than before, and she had now in her bilge above +nine feet of water, which reached higher than the lower-deck beams. The +first hour's inspection of the Fury's condition too plainly assured me +that, exposed as she was, and forcibly pressed up upon an open and stony +beach, her holds full of water, and the damage of her hull to all +appearance and in all probability more considerable than before, without +any adequate means of hauling her off to seaward, or securing her from +the farther incursions of the ice, every endeavour of ours to get her +off, or _if_ got off, to float her to any known place of safety, would +be at once utterly hopeless in itself, and productive of extreme risk to +our remaining ship. + +Mr. Pulfer, the carpenter of the Fury, considered that it would occupy +five days to clear the ship of water; that if she were got off, all the +pumps would not be sufficient to keep her free, in consequence of the +additional damage she seemed to have sustained; and that, if even hove +down, twenty days' work, with the means we possessed, would be required +for making her sea-worthy. Captain Hoppner and the other officers were +therefore of opinion, that an absolute necessity existed for abandoning +the Fury. My own opinion being thus confirmed as to the utter +hopelessness of saving her, and feeling more strongly than ever the +responsibility which attached to me of preserving the Hecla unhurt, it +was with extreme pain and regret that I made the signal for the Fury's +officers and men to be sent for their clothes, most of which, had been +put on shore with the stores. + +The whole of the Fury's stores were of necessity left either on board +her or on shore, every spare corner that we could find in the Hecla +being now absolutely required for the accommodation of our double +complement of officers and men, whose cleanliness and health could only +be maintained by keeping the decks as clear and well ventilated as our +limited space would permit. The spot where the Fury was left is in +latitude 72 deg. 42' 30"; the longitude by chronometers is 91 deg. 50' +05"; the dip of the magnetic needle 88 deg. 19' 22"; and the variation +129 deg. 25' westerly. + +When the accident first happened to the Fury, I confidently expected to +be able to repair her damages in good time to take advantage of a large +remaining part of the navigable season in the prosecution of the voyage; +and while the clearing of the ship was going on with so much alacrity, +and the repairs seemed to be within the reach of our means and +resources, I still flattered myself with the same hope. Those +expectations were now at an end. With a twelvemonth's provisions for +both ship's companies, extending our resources only to the autumn of the +following year, it would have been folly to hope for final success, +considering the small progress we had already made, the uncertain nature +of this navigation, and the advanced period of the present season. I was +therefore reduced to the only remaining conclusion, that it was my duty, +under all the circumstances of the case, to return to England in +compliance with the plain tenour of my instructions. As soon as the +boats were hoisted up, therefore, and the anchor stowed, the ship's head +was put to the northeastward, with a light air off the land, in order to +gain an offing before the ice should again set in-shore. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + + Some Remarks upon the Loss of the Fury--And on the Natural History, + &c., of the Coast of North Somerset.--Arrive at Neill's + Harbour.--Death of John Page.--Leave Neill's Harbour.--Recross the + Ice in Baffin's Bay.--Heavy Gales.--Temperature of the + Sea.--Arrival in England. + + + +The accident which had now befallen the Fury, and which, when its fatal +result was finally ascertained, at once put an end to every prospect of +success in the main object of this voyage, is not an event which will +excite surprise in the minds of those who are either personally +acquainted with the true nature of this precarious navigation, or have +had patience to follow me through the tedious and monotonous detail of +our operations during seven successive summers. To any persons thus +qualified to judge, it will be plain that an occurrence of this nature +was at all times rather to be expected than otherwise, and that the only +real cause for wonder has been our long exemption from such a +catastrophe. + +The summer of 1825 was, beyond all doubt, the warmest and most +favourable we had experienced since that of 1818. Not more than two or +three days occurred, during the months of July and August, in which that +heavy fall of snow took place which so commonly converts the aspect of +nature in these regions, in a single hour, from the cheerfulness of +summer into the dreariness of winter. Indeed, we experienced very little +either of snow, rain, or fog: vegetation, wherever the soil allowed any +to spring up, was extremely luxuriant and forward; a great deal of the +old snow, which had laid on the ground during the last season, was +rapidly dissolving even early in August; and every appearance of nature +exhibited a striking contrast with the last summer, while it seemed +evidently to furnish an extraordinary compensation for its rigour and +inclemency. + +We have scarcely ever visited a coast on which so little of animal life +occurs. For days together, only one or two seals, a single seahorse, and +now and then a flock of ducks, were seen. I have already mentioned, +however, as an exception to this scarcity of animals, the numberless +kittiwakes which were flying about the remarkable spout of water; and +we were one day visited, at the place where the Fury was left, by +hundreds of white whales, sporting about in the shoal water close to the +beach. No black whales were ever seen on this coast. Two reindeer were +observed by the gentlemen who extended their walks inland; but this was +the only summer in which we did not procure a single pound of venison. +Indeed, the whole of our supplies obtained in this way during the +voyage, including fish, flesh, and fowl, did not exceed twenty pounds +per man. + +The weather continuing nearly calm during the 26th, and the ice keeping +at the distance of several miles from the land, gave us an opportunity +of clearing decks, and stowing the things belonging to the Fury's crew +more comfortably for their accommodation and convenience. I now felt +more sensibly than ever the necessity I have elsewhere pointed out, of +both ships employed on this kind of service being of the same size, +equipped in the same manner, and alike efficient in every respect. The +way in which we had been able to apply every article for assisting to +heave the Fury down, without the smallest doubt or selection as to size +or strength, proved an excellent practical example of the value of being +thus able, at a moment's warning, to double the means and resources of +either ship in case of necessity. In fact, by this arrangement, nothing +but a harbour to secure the ships was wanted to complete the whole +operation in as effectual a manner as in a dockyard; for not a shore, or +outrigger, or any other precaution was omitted, that is usually attended +to on such occasions, and all as good and effective as could anywhere +have been desired. The advantages were now scarcely conspicuous in the +accommodation of the officers and men, who in a short time became little +less comfortable than in their own ship; whereas, in a smaller vessel, +comfort, to say nothing of health, would have been quite out of the +question. + +A breeze from the northward freshening up strong on the 27th, we +stretched over to the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, and this +with scarcely any obstruction from ice. We could, indeed, scarcely +believe this the same sea which, but a few weeks before, had been loaded +with one impenetrable body of closely-packed ice from shore to shore, +and as far as the eye could discern to the southward. Having a great +deal of heavy work to do in the restowage of the holds, which could not +well be accomplished at sea, and also a quantity of water to fill for +our increased complement, I determined to take advantage of our fetching +the entrance of Neill's Harbour to put in here, in order to prepare the +ship completely for crossing the Atlantic. I was desirous also of +ascertaining the depth of water in this place, which was wanting to +complete Lieutenant Sherer's survey of it. Finding the harbour an +extremely convenient one for our purpose, we worked the ship in, and at +four P.M. anchored in thirteen fathoms, but afterward shifted out to +eighteen, on a bottom of soft mud. Almost at the moment of our dropping +the anchor, John Page, seaman of the Fury, departed this life: he had +for several months been affected with a scrofulous disorder, and had +been gradually sinking for some time. + +The funeral of the deceased being performed, we immediately commenced +landing the casks and filling water; but, notwithstanding the large +streams which, a short time before, had been running into the harbour, +we could hardly obtain enough for our purpose by sinking a cask with +holes in it. This work, together with the entire restowage of all the +holds, occupied the whole of the 29th and 30th, during which time +Lieutenant Sherer was employed in completing the survey of the harbour, +more especially the soundings, which the presence of the ice had before +prevented. These arrangements had just been completed, when the +northeasterly wind died away, and was succeeded, on the morning of the +31st, by a light air from the northwest. As soon as we had sent to +ascertain that the sea was clear of ice on the outside, and that the +breeze which blew in the harbour was the true one, we weighed and stood +out, and before noon had cleared the shoals at the entrance. + +Finding the wind at northwest in Prince Regent's Inlet, we were barely +able to lie along the eastern coast. As the breeze freshened in the +course of the day, a great deal of loose ice, in extensive streams and +patches, came drifting down from the Leopold Islands, occasioning us +some trouble in picking our way to the northward. By carrying a press of +sail, however, we were enabled, towards night, to get into clearer +water, and by four A.M. on the 1st of September, having beat to windward +of a compact body of ice which had fixed itself on the lee shore about +Cape York, we soon came into a perfectly open sea in Barrow's Strait, +and were enabled to bear away to the eastward. We now considered +ourselves fortunate in having got out of harbour when we did, as the ice +would probably have filled up every inlet on that shore in a few hours +after we left it. + +Being again favoured with a fair wind, we now stretched to the eastward, +still in an open sea; and our curiosity was particularly excited to see +the present situation of the ice in the middle of Baffin's Bay, and to +compare it with that in 1824. This comparison we were enabled to make +the more fairly, because the season at which we might expect to come to +it coincided, within three or four days, with that in which we left it +the preceding year. The temperature of the sea-water now increased to +38 deg. soon after leaving the Sound, where it had generally been from +33 deg. to 35 deg., whereas at the same season last year it rose no +higher than 32 deg. anywhere in the neighbourhood, and remained even so +high as that only for a very short time. This circumstance seemed to +indicate the total absence of ice from those parts of the sea which had +last autumn been wholly covered by it. Accordingly, on the 5th, being +thirty miles beyond the spot in which we had before contended with +numerous difficulties from ice, not a piece was to be seen, except one +or two solitary bergs; and it was not till the following day, in latitude +72 deg. 45', and longitude 64 deg. 44', or about one hundred and +twenty-seven miles to the eastward of where we made our escape on the 9th +of September, 1824, that we fell in with a body of ice so loose and open +as scarcely to oblige us to alter our course for it. At three P.M. on the +7th, being in latitude 72 deg. 30', and longitude 60 deg. 05', and +having, in the course of eighty miles that we had run through it, only +made a single tack, we came to the margin of the ice, and got into an +open sea on its eastern side. In the whole course of this distance, the +ice was so much spread that it would not, if at all closely "packed," +have occupied one third of the same space. There were at this time +thirty-nine bergs in sight, and some of them certainly not less than two +hundred feet in height. + +On the 8th, being in latitude 71 deg. 55', longitude 60 deg. 30', and +close to the margin of the ice, we fell in with the Alfred, Ellison, and +Elizabeth, whalers, of Hull, all running to the northward, even at this +season, to look for whales. + +As the whaling-ships were not homeward bound, having as yet had +indifferent success in the fishery, I did not consider it necessary to +send despatches by them. After an hour's communication with them, and +obtaining such information of a public nature as could not fail to be +highly interesting to us, we made sail to the southward; while we +observed them lying to for some time after, probably to consult +respecting the unwelcome information with which we had furnished them as +to the whales, not one of which, by some extraordinary chance, we had +seen since leaving Neill's Harbour. As this circumstance was entirely +new to us, it seems not unlikely that the whales are already beginning +to shift their ground, in consequence of the increased attacks which +have been made upon them of late years in that neighbourhood. + +On the 10th we had an easterly wind, which, gradually freshening to a +gale, drew up the Strait from the southward, and blew strong for +twentyfour hours from that quarter. The wind moderated on the 11th, but +on the following day another gale came on, which for nine or ten hours +blew in most tremendous gusts from the same quarter, and raised a heavy +sea. We happily came near no ice during the night, or it would scarcely +have been possible to keep the ship clear of it. It abated after +daylight on the 13th, but continued to blow an ordinary gale for twelve +hours longer. + +On the 17th, at noon, we had passed to the southward of the Arctic +Circle, and from this latitude to that of about 58 deg., we had favourable +winds and weather; but we remarked on this, as on several other +occasions during this season, that a northerly breeze, contrary to +ordinary observation, brought more moisture with it than any other. In +the course of this run, we also observed more driftwood than we had ever +done before, which I thought might possibly be owing to the very great +prevalence of easterly winds this season driving it farther from the +coast of Greenland than usual. + +On, the morning of the 24th, notwithstanding the continuance of a +favourable breeze, we met, in the latitude of 58-1/2 deg., so heavy a swell +from the northeastward as to make the ship labour violently for +four-and-twenty hours. On the morning of the 25th we had again an +easterly wind, which in a few hours reduced us to the close-reefed +topsails and reefed courses. At eight P.M. it freshened to a gale, which +brought us under the main-topsail and storm-staysails, and at seven the +following morning it increased to a gale of such violence from N.E.b.N. +as does not very often occur at sea in these latitudes. The gusts were +at times so tremendous as to set the sea quite in a foam, and +threatened to tear the sails out of the bolt-ropes. The wind gradually +drew to the westward, with dry weather, after the gale began to abate, +and at six A.M. we were enabled to bear up and run to the eastward with +a strong gale at N.W. + +The indications of the barometer previous to and during this gale +deserve to be noticed, because it is only about Cape Farewell that, in +coming from the northward down Davis's Strait, this instrument begins to +speak a language which has ever been intelligible to us _as a weather +glass_. On the 24th, notwithstanding the change of wind from north to +east, the mercury rose from 29.51 on that morning, to 29.72 at three +A.M. the following day, but fell to 26.39 by nine P.M. with the strong +but not violent breeze then blowing. After this it continued to descend +very gradually, and had reached 28.84, which was its minimum, at three +P.M. on the 26th, after which it continued to blow tremendously hard for +eleven or twelve hours, the mercury uniformly, though slowly, ascending +to 28.95 during that interval, and afterward to 29.73 as the weather +became moderate and fine in the course of the taeaehree following days. + +After this gale the atmosphere seemed to be quite cleared, and we +enjoyed a week of such remarkably fine weather as seldom occurs at this +season of the year. We had then a succession of strong southerly winds, +but we were enabled to continue our progress to the eastward, so as to +make Mould Head, towards the northwest end of the Orkney Islands, at +daylight on the 10th of October. + +After rounding the north end of the Orkneys on the 10th of October, we +were, on the 12th, met by a strong southerly wind when off Peterhead. I +therefore immediately landed (for the second time) at that place, and, +setting off without delay for London, arrived at the Admiralty on the +16th. + +The Hecla arrived at Sheerness on the 20th of October, where she was +detained for a few days for the purpose of Captain Hoppner, his +officers, and ship's company being put upon their trial (according to +the customary and indispensable rule in such cases) for the loss of the +Fury--when, it is scarcely necessary to add, they received an honourable +acquittal. The Hecla then proceeded to Woolwich, and was paid off on the +21st of November. + + + + + + + +ACCOUNT + +OF + +THE ESQUIMAUX + +OF + +MELVILLE PENINSULA AND THE ADJOINING ISLANDS: MORE PARTICULARLY OF +WINTER ISLAND AND IGLOOLIK. + + + + + + + +ACCOUNT OF THE ESQUIMAUX. + + +The number of individuals composing the tribe of Esquimaux assembled at +Winter Island and Igloolik was two hundred and nineteen, of whom +sixty-nine were men, seventy-seven women, and seventy-three children. +Two or three of the men, from their appearance and infirmities, as well +as from the age of their children, must have been near seventy; the rest +were from twenty to about fifty. The majority of the women were +comparatively young, or from twenty to five-and-thirty, and three or +four only seemed to have reached sixty. Of the children, about one third +were under four years old, and the rest from that age upward to sixteen +or seventeen. Out of one hundred and fifty-five individuals who passed +the winter at Igloolik, we knew of eighteen deaths and of only nine +births. + +The stature of these people is much below that of Europeans in general. +One man, who was unusually tall, measured five feet ten inches, and the +shortest was only four feet eleven inches and a half. Of twenty +individuals of each sex measured at Igloolik, the range was: + + +Men.--From 5 ft. 10 in. to 4 ft. 11 in. + The average height, 5 ft. 5-1/3 in. +Women.--From 5 ft. 3-1/2 in. to 4 ft. 8-3/4 in. + The average height, 5 ft. 0-1/2 in. + + +The women, however, generally appear shorter than they really are, both +from the unwieldy nature of their clothes, and from a habit, which they +early acquire, of stooping considerably forward in order to balance the +weight of the child they carry in their hood. + +In their figure they are rather well formed than otherwise. Their knees +are indeed rather large in proportion, but their legs are straight, and +the hands and feet, in both sexes, remarkably small. The younger +individuals were all plump, but none of them corpulent; the women +inclined the most to this last extreme, and their flesh was, even in the +youngest individuals, quite loose and without firmness. + +Their faces are generally round and full, eyes small and black, nose +also small and sunk far in between the cheek bones, but not much +flattened. It is remarkable, that one man T=e-~a, his brother, his +wife, and two daughters, had good Roman noses, and one of the latter was +an extremely pretty young woman. Their teeth are short, thick, and +close, generally regular, and in the young persons almost always white. +The elderly women were still well furnished in this way, though their +teeth were usually a good deal worn down, probably by the habit of +chewing the sealskins for making boots. + +In the young of both sexes the complexion is clear and transparent, and +the skin smooth. The colour of the latter, when divested of oil and +dirt, is scarcely a shade darker than that of a deep brunette, so that +the blood is plainly perceptible when it mounts into the cheeks. In the +old folks, whose faces were much wrinkled, the skin appears of a much +more dingy hue, the dirt being less easily, and, therefore, less +frequently dislodged from them. + +By whatever peculiarities, however, they may in general be +distinguished, they are by no means an ill-looking people; and there +were among them three or four grown-up persons of each sex, who, when +divested of their skin-dresses, their tattooing, and, above all, of +their dirt, might have been considered pleasing-looking, if not +handsome, people in any town in Europe. This remark applies more +generally to the children also; several of whom had complexions nearly +as fair as that of Europeans, and whose little bright black eyes gave a +fine expression to their countenances. + +The hair, both of males and females, is black, glossy, and straight. The +men usually wear it rather long, and allow it to hang about their heads +in a loose and slovenly manner. The women pride themselves extremely on +the length and thickness of their hair; and it was not without +reluctance on their part, and the same on that of their husbands, that +they were induced to dispose of any of it. Some of the women's hair was +tolerably fine, but would not, in this respect, bear a comparison with, +that of an Englishwoman. In both sexes it is full of vermin, which they +are in the constant habit of picking out and eating; a man and his wife +will sit for an hour together performing for each other that friendly +office. The women have a comb, which, however, seems more intended for +ornament than use, as we seldom or never observed them comb their hair. +When a woman's husband is ill, she wears her hair loose, and cuts it off +as a sign of mourning if he dies; a custom agreeing with that of the +Greenlanders. The men wear the hair on the upper lip and chin from an +inch to an inch and a half in length, and some were distinguished by a +little tuft between the chin and lower lip. + +In winter every individual, when in the open air, wears two jackets, of +which the outer one (_C=app~e t=egg~a_) has the hair outside, +and the inner one (_At-t=e=ega_) next the body. Immediately on +entering the hut the men take off their outer jacket, beat the snow from +it, and lay it by. The upper garment of the females, besides being cut +according to a regular and uniform pattern, and sewed with exceeding +neatness, which is the case with all the dresses of these people, has +also the flaps ornamented in a very becoming manner by a neat border of +deerskin, so arranged as to display alternate breadths of white and dark +fur. This is, moreover, usually beautified by a handsome fringe, +consisting of innumerable long narrow threads of leather hanging down +from it. This ornament is not uncommon also in the outer jackets of the +men. When seal-hunting, they fasten up the tails of their jackets with a +button behind. + +Their breeches, of which in winter they also wear two pairs, and +similarly disposed as to the fur, reach below the knee, and fasten with +a string drawn tight round the waist. Though these have little or no +waistband, and do not come very high, the depth of the jackets, which +considerably overlap them, serves very effectually to complete the +covering of the body. + +Their legs and feet are so well clothed, that no degree of cold can well +affect them. When a man goes on a sealing excursion, he first puts on a +pair of deerskin boots (_All~ekt=eeg~a_) with the hair inside, and +reaching to the knee, where they tie. Over these come a pair of shoes of +the same material; next a pair of dressed sealskin boots, perfectly +water-tight; and over all a corresponding pair of shoes, tying round the +instep. These last are made just like the moccasin of a North American +Indian, being neatly crimped at the toes, and having several serpentine +pieces of hide sewn across the sole to prevent wearing. The water-tight +boots and shoes are made of the skin of the small seal (_neitiek_), +except the soles, which consist of the skin of the large seal (_oguk~e_); +this last is also used for their fishing-lines. When the men are not +prepared to encounter wet, they wear an outer boot of deerskin, with the +hair outside. + +The inner boot of the women, unlike that of the men, is loose round the +leg, coming as high as the knee-joint behind, and in front carried up, +by a long pointed flap, nearly to the waist, and there fastened to the +breeches. The upper boot, with the hair as usual outside, corresponds +with the other in shape, except that it is much more full, especially on +the outer side, where it bulges out so preposterously as to give the +women the most awkward, bow-legged appearance imaginable. This +superfluity of boot has probably originated in the custom, still common +among the native women of Labrador, of carrying their children in them. +We were told that these women sometimes put their children there to +sleep; but the custom must be rare among them, as we never saw it +practised. These boots, however, form their principal pockets, and +pretty capacious ones they are. Here, also, as in jackets, considerable +taste is displayed in the selection of different parts of the deerskin, +alternate strips of dark and white being placed up and down the sides +and front by way of ornament. The women also wear a moccasin +(_Itteeg~eg~a_) over all in the winter time. + +To judge by the eagerness with which the women received our beads, +especially small white ones, as well as any other article of that kind, +we might suppose them very fond of personal ornament. Yet of all that +they obtained from us in this way at Winter Island, scarcely anything +ever made its appearance again during our stay there, except a ring or +two on the finger, and some bracelets of beads round the wrist; the +latter of these was probably considered as a charm of some kind or +other. We found among them, at the time of our first intercourse, a +number of black and white beads, disposed alternately on a string of +sinew, and worn in this manner. They would also sometimes hang a small +bunch of these, or a button or two, in front of their jackets and hair; +and many of them, in the course of the second winter, covered the whole +front of their jackets with the beads they received from us. + +Among their personal ornaments must be reckoned that mode of marking the +body called tattooing, which, of the customs not essential to the +comfort or happiness of mankind, is perhaps the most extensively +practised throughout the world. Among these people it seems to be an +ornament of indispensable importance to the women, not one of them being +without it. The operation is performed about the age of ten, or +sometimes earlier, and has nothing to do with marriage, except that, +being considered in the light of a personal charm, it may serve to +recommend them as wives. The parts of the body thus marked are their +faces, arms, hands, thighs, and in some few women the breasts, but never +the feet, as in Greenland. The operation, which, by way of curiosity, +most of our gentlemen had practised on their arms, is very expeditiously +managed by passing a needle and thread, the latter covered with +lampblack and oil, under the epidermis, according to a pattern +previously marked out upon the skin. Several stitches being thus taken +at once, the thumb is pressed upon the part while the thread is drawn +through, by which means the colouring matter is retained, and a +permanent dye of a blue tinge imparted to the skin. A woman expert at +this business will perform it very quickly and with great regularity, +but seldom without drawing blood in many places, and occasioning some +inflammation. Where so large a portion of the surface of the body is to +be covered, it must become a painful as well as tedious process, +especially as, for want of needles, they often use a strip of whalebone +as a substitute. For those parts where a needle cannot conveniently be +passed under the skin, they use the method by puncture, which is common +in other countries, and by which our seamen frequently mark their hands +and arms. Several of the men were marked on the back part of their +hands; and with them we understood it to be considered as a _souvenir_ +of some distant deceased person who had performed it. + +In their winter habitations, I have before mentioned that the only +materials employed are snow and ice; the latter being made use of for +the windows alone. The work is commenced by cutting from a drift of hard +and compact snow a number of oblong slabs, six or seven inches thick and +about two feet in length, and laying them edgeways on a level spot, also +covered with snow, in a circular form, and of a diameter from eight to +fifteen feet, proportioned to the number of occupants the hut is to +contain. Upon this as a foundation is laid a second tier of the same +kind, but with the pieces inclining a little inward, and made to fit +closely to the lower slabs and to each other by running a knife adroitly +along the under part and sides. The top of this tier is now prepared for +the reception of a third, by squaring it off smoothly with a knife, all +which is dexterously performed by one man standing within the circle and +receiving the blocks of snow from those employed in cutting them +without. When the wall has attained a height of four or five feet, it +leans so much inward as to appear as if about to tumble every moment; +but the workmen still fearlessly lay their blocks of snow upon it, until +it is too high any longer to furnish the materials to the builder in +this manner. Of this he gives notice by cutting a hole close to the +ground in that part where the door is intended to be, which is near the +south side, and through this the snow is now passed. Thus they continue +till they have brought the sides nearly to meet in a perfect and +well-constructed dome, sometimes nine or ten feet high in the centre; +and this they take considerable care in finishing, by fitting the last +block or _keystone_ very nicely in the centre, dropping it into its +place from the outside, though it is still done by the man within. The +people outside are in the mean time occupied in throwing up snow with +the _p~oo=all~er=ay_ or snow shovel, and in stuffing in little +wedges of snow where holes have been accidentally left. + +The builder next proceeds to let himself out by enlarging the proposed +doorway into the form of a Gothic arch, three feet high and two feet and +a half wide at the bottom, communicating with which they construct two +passages, each from ten to twelve feet long and from four to five feet +in height, the lowest being that next the hut. The roofs of these +passages are sometimes arched, but more generally made flat by slabs +laid on horizontally. In first digging the snow for building the hut, +they take it principally from the part where the passages are to be +made, which purposely brings the floor of the latter considerably lower +than that of the hut, but in no part do they dig till the bare ground +appears. + +The work just described completes the walls of a hut, if a single +apartment only be required; but if, on account of relationship, or from +any other cause, several families are to reside under one roof, the +passages are made common to all, and the first apartment (in that case +made smaller) forms a kind of antechamber, from which you go through an +arched doorway five feet high into the inhabited apartments. When there +are three of these, which is generally the case, the whole building, +with its adjacent passages, forms a tolerably regular cross. + +For the admission of light into the huts, a round hole is cut on one +side of the roof of each apartment, and a circular plate of ice, three +or four inches thick and two feet in diameter, let into it. The light is +soft and pleasant, like that transmitted through ground glass, and it is +quite sufficient for every purpose. When, after some time, these +edifices become surrounded by drift, it is only by the windows, as I +have before remarked, that they could be recognised as human +habitations. It may, perhaps, then be imagined how singular is their +external appearance at night, when they discover themselves only by a +circular disk of light transmitted through the windows from the lamps +within. + +The next thing to be done is to raise a bank of snow, two and a half +feet high, all round the interior of each apartment, except on the side +next the door. This bank, which is neatly squared off, forms their beds +and fireplace, the former occupying the sides, and the latter the end +opposite the door. The passage left open up to the fireplace is between +three and four feet wide. The beds are arranged by first covering the +snow with a quantity of small stones, over which are laid their paddles, +tentpoles, and some blades of whalebone: above these they place a number +of little pieces of network, made of thin slips of whalebone, and lastly +a quantity of twigs of birch[008] and of the _andromeda tetragona_. +Their deerskins, which are very numerous, can now be spread without risk +of their touching the snow; and such a bed is capable of affording not +merely comfort, but luxurious repose, in spite of the rigour of the +climate. The skins thus used as blankets are made of a large size and +bordered, like some of the jackets, with a fringe of long, narrow slips +of leather, in which state a blanket is called _k=eipik_. + +The fire belonging to each family consists of a single lamp, or shallow +vessel of _lapis ollaris_, its form being the lesser segment of a +circle. The wick, composed of dry moss rubbed between the hands till it +is quite inflammable, is disposed along the edge of the lamp on the +straight side, and a greater or smaller quantity lighted, according to +the heat required or the fuel that can be afforded. When the whole +length of this, which is sometimes above eighteen inches, is kindled, it +affords a most brilliant and beautiful light, without any perceptible +smoke or any offensive smell. The lamp is made to supply itself with +oil, by suspending a long, thin slice of whale, seal, or seahorse +blubber near the flame, the warmth of which causes the oil to drip into +the vessel until the whole is extracted. Immediately over the lamp is +fixed a rude and rickety framework of wood, from which their pots are +suspended, and serving also to sustain a large hoop of bone, having a +net stretched tight within it. This contrivance, called _Inn~et~at_, +is intended for the reception of any wet things, and is usually loaded +with boots, shoes, and mittens. + +The fireplace just described as situated at the upper end of the +apartment, has always two lamps facing different ways, one for each +family occupying the corresponding bedplace. There is frequently, also, +a smaller and less-pretending establishment on the same model--lamp, +pot, net, and all--in one of the corners next the door; for one +apartment sometimes contains three families, which are always closely +related; and no married woman, or even a widow without children, is +without her separate fireplace. + +With all the lamps lighted and the hut full of people and dogs, a +thermometer placed on the net over the fire indicated a temperature of +38 deg.; when removed two or three feet from this situation, it fell to +31 deg.; and, placed close to the wall, stood at 23 deg., the temperature +of the open air at the time being 25 deg. below _zero_. A greater degree +of warmth than this produces extreme inconvenience by the dropping from +the roofs. This they endeavour to obviate by applying a little piece of +snow to the place from which a drop proceeds, and this adhering, is for a +short time an effectual remedy; but for several weeks in the spring, when +the weather is too warm for these edifices, and still too cold for tents, +they suffer much on this account. + +The most important, perhaps, of the domestic utensils, next to the lamp +already described, are the _=o=otk~o~os~e~eks_, or stone +pots for cooking. These are hollowed out of solid _lapis ollaris_, of an +oblong form, wider at the top than at the bottom all made in similar +proportion; though of various sizes corresponding with the dimensions +of the lamp which burns under it. The pot is suspended by a line of +sinew at each end to the framework over the fire, and thus becomes so +black on every side that the original colour of the stone is in no part +discernible. Many of them were cracked quite across in several places, +and mended by sewing with sinew or rivets of copper, iron, or lead, so +as, with the assistance of a lashing and a due proportion of dirt, to +render them quite watertight. + +Besides the ootkooseeks, they have circular and oval vessels of +whalebone, of various sizes, which, as well as their ivory knives made +out of a walrus's tusk, are precisely similar to those described on the +western coast of Baffin's Bay in 1820. They have also a number of +smaller vessels of skin sewed neatly together; and a large basket of the +same material, resembling a common sieve in shape, but with the bottom +close and tight, is to be seen in every apartment. Under every lamp +stands a sort of "save-all," consisting of a small skin basket for +catching the oil that falls over. Almost every family was in possession +of a wooden tray very much resembling those used to carry butcher's meat +in England, and of nearly the same dimensions, which we understood them +to have procured by way of Noowook. They had a number of the bowls or +cups already once or twice alluded to as being made out of the thick +root of the horn of the musk-ox. Of the smaller part of the same horn +they also form a convenient drinking-cup, sometimes turning it up +artificially about one third from the point, so as to be almost parallel +to the other part, and cutting it full of small notches as a +convenience in grasping it. These or any other vessels for drinking they +call _Imm=o=ochiuk_. + +Besides the ivory knives, the men were well supplied with a much more +serviceable kind, made of iron, and called _panna_. The form of this +knife is very peculiar, being seven inches long, two and a quarter +broad, quite straight and flat, pointed at the end, and ground equally +sharp at both edges; this is firmly secured into a handle of bone or +wood about a foot long, by two or three iron rivets, and has all the +appearance of a most destructive spearhead, but is nevertheless put to +no other purpose than that of a very useful knife, which the men are +scarcely ever without, especially on their sealing excursions. For +these, and several knives of European form, they are probably indebted +to an indirect communication with our factories in Hudson's Bay. The +same may be observed of the best of their women's knives (_ooloo_), on +one of which, of a larger size than usual, were the names of "Wild and +Sorby." When of their own manufacture, the only iron part was a little +narrow slip let into the bone and secured by rivets. + +Of the horn of the musk-ox they make also very good spoons, much like +ours in shape; and I must not omit to mention their marrow spoons +(_patt=ekniuk_, from _p=att~ek_, marrow), made out of long, +narrow, hollowed pieces of bone, of which every housewife has a bunch of +half a dozen or more tied together, and generally attached to her +needle-case. + +For the purpose of obtaining fire, the Esquimaux use two lumps of common +iron pyrites, from which sparks are struck into a little leathern case +containing moss well dried and rubbed between the hands. If this tinder +does not readily catch, a small quantity of the white floss of the seed +of the ground-willow is laid above the moss. As soon as a spark has +caught, it is gently blown till the fire has spread an inch around, +when, the pointed end of a piece of oiled wick being applied, it soon +bursts into a flame--the whole process having occupied perhaps two or +three minutes. + +In enumerating the articles of their food, we might, perhaps, give a +list of every animal inhabiting these regions, as they certainly will, +at times, eat any one of them. Their principal dependance, however, is +on the reindeer (_t=o=okto~o_); musk-ox (_=o=om~ingm~uk_), +in the parts where this animal is found; whale (_=agg~aw~ek_); +walrus (_=ei-~u-~ek_); the large and small seal (_=og~uke_ and +_n~eitiek_); and two sorts of salmon, the _=ew~ee-t=ar~oke_ +(_salmo alpinus?_) and _ichl=u~ow~oke_. The latter is taken by +hooks in fresh-water lakes, and the former by spearing in the shoal +water of certain inlets of the sea. Of all these animals, they can only +procure in the winter the walrus and small seal upon this part of the +coast; and these at times, as we have seen, in scarcely sufficient +quantity for their subsistence. + +They certainly, in general, prefer eating their meat cooked, and, while +they have fuel, they usually boil it; but this is a luxury, and not a +necessary to them. Oily as the nature of their principal food is, yet +they commonly take an equal proportion of lean to their fat, and, unless +very hungry, do not eat it otherwise. Oil they seldom or never use in +any way as a part of their general diet; and even our butter, of which +they were fond, they would not eat without a due quantity of +bread.[009] They do not like salt meat as well as fresh, and never use +salt themselves; but ship's pork or even a red herring did not come +amiss to them. Of pea-soup they would eat as much as the sailors could +afford to give them; and that word was the only one, with the exception +of our names, which many of them ever learned in English. Among their +own luxuries must be mentioned a rich soup called k=ay~o, made of +blood, gravy, and water, and eaten quite hot. + +Their only drink is water; and of this, when they can procure it, they +swallow an inconceivable quantity; so that one of the principal +occupations of the women during the winter is the thawing of snow in the +ootkooseeks for this purpose. They cut it into thin slices, and are +careful to have it clean, on which account they will bring it from a +distance of fifty yards from the huts. They have an extreme dislike to +drinking water much above the temperature of 32 deg. In eating their +meals, the mistress of the family, having previously cooked the meat, +takes a large lump out of the pot with her fingers, and hands it to her +husband, who, placing a part of it between his teeth, cuts it off with a +large knife in that position, and then passes the knife and meat together +to his next neighbour. In cutting off a mouthful of meat, the knife +passes so close to their lips, that nothing but constant habit could +ensure them from the danger of the most terrible gashes; and it would +make an English mother shudder to see the manner in which children five +or six years old are at all times freely trusted with a knife to be used +in this way. + +The length of one of the best of seven canoes belonging to these +Esquimaux was twenty-five feet, including a narrow-pointed projection, +three feet long at each end, which turns a little upward from the +horizontal. The extreme breadth, which is just before the circular hole, +was twenty-one inches, and the depth ten inches and a half. The plane of +the upper surface of the canoe, except in the two extreme projections, +bends downward a little from the centre towards the head and stern, +giving it the appearance of what in ships is called "broken-backed." The +gunwales are of fir, in some instances of one piece, three or four +inches broad in the centre, and tapering gradually away towards the +ends. The timbers, as well as the fore-and-aft connecting pieces, are of +the same material, the former being an inch square, and sometimes so +close together as to require between forty and fifty of them in one +canoe: which, when thus "in frame," is one of the prettiest things of +the kind that can be imagined. The skin with which the canoe is covered +is exclusively that of the _neitiek_, prepared by scraping off the hair +and fat with an _ooloo_, and stretching it tight on a frame over the +fire; after which and a good deal of chewing, it is sown on by the women +with admirable neatness and strength. Their paddles have a blade at each +end, the whole length being nine feet and a half; the blades are covered +with a narrow plate of bone round the ends to secure them from +splitting; they are always made of fir, and generally of several pieces +scarfed and woolded together. + +In summer they rest their canoes upon two small stones raised four feet +from the ground, and in winter on a similar structure of snow; in one +case to allow them to dry freely, and in the other to prevent the +snowdrift from covering, and the dogs from eating them. The difficulty +of procuring a canoe may be concluded from the circumstance of there +being at Winter Island twenty men able to manage one, and only seven +canoes among them. Of these, indeed, only three or four were in good +repair; the rest being wholly or in part stripped of the skin, of which +a good deal was occasionally cut off during the winter, to make boots, +shoes, and mittens for our people. We found no _oomiak_, or woman's +boat, among them, and understood that they were not in the habit of +using them, which may in part be accounted for by their passing so much +of the summer in the interior; they knew very well, however, what they +were, and made some clumsy models of them for our people. + +In the weapons used for killing their game there is considerable +variety, according to the animal of which they are in pursuit. The most +simple of these is the _=o=on~ak_, which they use only for killing +the small seal. It consists of a light staff of wood, four feet in +length, having at one end the point of a narwhal's horn, from ten to +eighteen inches long, firmly secured by rivets and wooldings; at the +other end is a smaller and less effective point of the same kind. To +prevent losing the ivory part in case of the wood breaking, a stout +thong runs along the whole length of the wood, each end passing through +a hole in the ivory, and the bight secured in several places to the +staff. In this weapon, as far as it has yet been described, there is +little art or ingenuity displayed; but a considerable degree of both in +an appendage called _si=atk~o_, consisting of a piece of bone three +inches long, and having a point of iron at one end, and at the other end +a small hole or socket to receive the point of the oonak. Through the +middle of this instrument is secured the _=allek_, or line of thong, +of which every man has, when sealing, a couple of coils, each from four +to six fathoms long, hanging at his back. + +When a seal is seen, the siatko is taken from a little leathern case, in +which, when out of use, it is carefully enclosed, and attached by its +socket to the point of the spear; in this situation it is retained by +bringing the allek tight down and fastening it round the middle of the +staff by what seamen call a "slippery-hitch," which may instantly be +disengaged by pulling on the other end of the line. As soon as the spear +has been thrown and the animal struck, the siatko is thus purposely +separated; and being slung by the middle, now performs very effectually +the important office of a barb, by turning at right angles to the +direction in which it has entered the orifice. This device is in its +principle superior even to our barb; for the instant any strain is put +upon the line, it acts like a toggle, opposing its length to a wound +only as wide as its own breadth. + +The _=akl~eak_ or _akl=e=eg~a_, used for the large seal, has a +blown bladder attached to the staff, for the purpose of impeding the +animal in the water. + +The third and largest weapon is that called _katteelik_, with which the +walrus and whale are attacked. The staff of this is not longer, but much +stouter than that of the others, especially towards the middle, where +there is a small shoulder of ivory securely lashed to it for the thumb +to rest against, and thus to give additional force in throwing or +thrusting the spear. The ivory point of this weapon is made to fit into +a socket at the end of the staff, where it is secured by double thongs +in such a manner as steadily to retain its position when a strain is put +upon it in the direction of its length, but immediately disengaging +itself with a sort of spring when any lateral strain endangers its +breaking. The siatko is always used with this spear; and to the end of +the allek, when the animal pursued is in open water, they attach a whole +sealskin (_h~ow-w=ut-t~a_), inflated like a bladder, for the +purpose of tiring it out in its progress through the water. + +They have a spear called _~ippoo_ for killing deer in the water. They +describe it as having a light staff and a small head of iron; but they +had none of these so fitted in the winter. The _n=ug~uee_, or dart +for birds, has, besides its two ivory prongs at the end of the staff, +three divergent ones in the middle of it, with several small double +barbs upon them turning inward. The spear for salmon or other fish, +called _k=ak~eew~ei_, consists of a wooden staff, with a spike of +bone or ivory, three inches long, secured at one end. On each side of +the spike is a curved prong, much like that of a pitchfork, but made of +flexible horn, which gives them a spring, and having a barb on the inner +part of the point turning downward. Their fishhooks (_kakli=okio_) +consist only of a nail crooked and pointed at one end, the other being +let into a piece of ivory to which the line is attached. A piece of +deer's horn or curved bone only a foot long is used as a rod, and +completes this very rude part of their fishing-gear. + +Of their mode of killing seals in the winter I have already spoken in +the course of the foregoing narrative, as far as we were enabled to make +ourselves acquainted with it. In their summer exploits on the water, the +killing of the whale is the most arduous undertaking which they have to +perform; and one cannot sufficiently admire the courage and activity +which, with gear apparently so inadequate, it must require to accomplish +this business. Okotook, who was at the killing of two whales in the +course of a single summer, and who described the whole of it quite _con +amore_, mentioned the names of thirteen men who, each in his canoe, had +assisted on one of these occasions. When a fish is seen lying on the +water, they cautiously paddle up astern of him, till a single canoe, +preceding the rest, comes close to him on one quarter, so as to enable +the man to drive the _katteelik_ into the animal with all the force of +both arms. This having the _siatko_, a long _allek_, and the inflated +sealskin attached to it, the whale immediately dives, taking the whole +apparatus with him except the katteelik, which, being disengaged in the +manner before described, floats to the surface, and is picked up by its +owner. The animal reappearing after some time, all the canoes again +paddle towards him, some warning being given by the sealskin buoy +floating on the surface. Each man being furnished like the first, they +repeat the blows as often as they find opportunity, till perhaps, every +line has been thus employed. After pursuing him in this manner sometimes +for half a day, he is at length so wearied by the resistance of the +buoys, and exhausted by the loss of blood, as to be obliged to rise more +and more often to the surface, when, by frequent wounds with their +spears, they succeed in killing him, and tow their prize in triumph to +the shore. + +In attacking the walrus in the water they use the same gear, but much +more caution than with the whale, always throwing the _katteelik_ from +some distance, lest the animal should attack the canoe and demolish it +with his tusks. The walrus is, in fact, the only animal with which they +use any caution of this kind. They like the flesh better than that of +the seal; but venison is preferred by them to either of these, and, +indeed, to any other kind of meat. + +At Winter Island they carefully preserved the heads of all the animals +killed during the winter, except two or three of the walrus, which we +obtained with great difficulty. As the blood of the animals which they +kill is all used as food of the most luxurious kind, they are careful to +avoid losing any portion of it; for this purpose they carry with +them on their excursions a little instrument of ivory called +_t~oop=o=ot~a_, in form and size exactly resembling a "twenty-penny" +nail, with which they stop up the orifice made by the spear, by +thrusting it through the skin by the sides of the wound, and securing +it with a twist. + +One of the best of their bows was made of a single piece of fir, four +feet eight inches in length, flat on the inner side and rounded on the +outer, being five inches in girth about the middle, where, however, it +is strengthened on the concave side, when strung, by a piece of bone ten +inches long, firmly secured by treenails of the same material. At each +end of the bow is a knob of bone, or sometimes of wood covered with +leather, with a deep notch for the reception of the string. The only +wood which they can procure, not possessing sufficient elasticity +combined with strength, they ingeniously remedy the defect by securing +to the back of the bow, and to the knobs at each end, a quantity of +small lines, each composed of a plat or "sinnet" of three sinews. The +number of lines thus reaching from end to end is generally about thirty; +but, besides these, several others are fastened with hitches round the +bow, in pairs, commencing eight inches from one end, and again united at +the same distance from the other, making the number of strings in the +middle of the bow sometimes amount to sixty. These being put on with the +bow bent somewhat the contrary way, produce a spring so strong as to +require considerable force as well as knack in stringing it, and giving +the requisite velocity to the arrow. The bow is completed by a woolding +round the middle, and a wedge or two, here and there, driven in to +tighten it. A bow in one piece is, however, very rare; they generally +consist of from two to five pieces of bone of unequal lengths, secured +together by rivets and treenails. + +The arrows vary in length from twenty to thirty inches, according to the +materials that can be commanded. About two thirds of the whole length +is of fir rounded, and the rest of bone let by a socket into the wood, +and having a head of thin iron, or more commonly of slate, secured into +a slit by two treenails. Towards the opposite end of the arrow are two +feathers, generally of the spotted oval, not very neatly lashed on. The +bowstring consists of from twelve to eighteen small lines of three-sinew +sinnet, having a loose twist, and with a separate becket of the same +size for going over the knobs at the end of the bow. + +We tried their skill in archery by getting them to shoot at a mark for a +prize, though with bows in extremely bad order on account of the frost, +and their hands very cold. The mark was two of their spears stuck +upright in the snow, their breadth being three inches and a half. At +twenty yards they struck this every time; at thirty, sent the arrows +always within an inch or two of it; and at forty or fifty yards, I +should think, would generally hit a fawn if the animal stood still. +These weapons are perhaps sufficient to inflict a mortal wound at +something more than that distance, for which, however, a strong arm +would be required. The animals which they kill with the bow and arrow +for their subsistence are principally the musk-ox and deer, and less +frequently the bear, wolf, fox, hare, and some of the smaller animals. + +The reindeer are killed by the Esquimaux in great abundance in the +summer season, partly by driving them from islands or narrow necks of +land into the sea, and then spearing them from their canoes; and partly +by shooting them from behind heaps of stones raised for the purpose of +watching them, and imitating their peculiar bellow or grunt. Among the +various artifices which they employ for this purpose, one of the most +ingenious consists in two men walking directly _from_ the deer they wish +to kill, which almost always follows them. As soon as they arrive at a +large stone, one of the men hides behind it with his bow, while the +other continuing to walk on, soon leads the deer within range of his +companion's arrows. They are also very careful to keep to leeward of the +deer, and will scarcely go out after them at all when the weather is +calm. For several weeks in the course of the summer, some of these +people almost entirely give up their fishery on the coast, retiring to +the banks of lakes several miles in the interior, which they represent +as large and deep, and abounding with salmon, while the pasture near +them affords good feeding to numerous herds of deer. + +The distance to which these people extend their inland migrations, and +the extent of coast of which they possess a personal knowledge, are +really very considerable. A great number of them, who were born at +Amitioke and Igloolik, had been to _Noowook_, or nearly as far south as +Chesterfield Inlet, which is about the _ne plus ultra_ of their united +knowledge in a southerly direction. Okotook and a few others of the +Winter Island tribe had extended their peregrinations a considerable +distance to the northward, over the large insular piece of land to which +we have applied the name of Cockburn Island; which they described as +high land, and the resort of numerous reindeer. By the information +afterward obtained when nearer the spot, we had reason to suppose this +land must reach beyond the seventy-second degree of latitude in a +northerly direction; so that these people possess a personal knowledge +of the Continent of America and its adjacent islands, from that parallel +to Chesterfield Inlet in 63-3/4 deg., being a distance of more than five +hundred miles reckoned in a direct line, besides the numerous turnings +and windings of the coast along which they are accustomed to travel. +Ewerat and some others had been a considerable distance up the Wager +River; but no record had been preserved among them of Captain +Middleton's visit to that inlet about the middle of the last century. + +Of the Indians they know enough by tradition to hold them in +considerable dread, on account of their cruel and ferocious manners. +When, on one occasion, we related the circumstances of the inhuman +massacre described by Hearne, they crowded round us in the hut, +listening with mute and almost breathless attention; and the mothers +drew their children closer to them, as if to guard them from the +dreadful catastrophe. + +The Esquimaux take some animals in traps, and by a very ingenious +contrivance of this kind they caught two wolves at Winter Island. It +consists of a small house built of ice, at one end of which a door, made +of the same plentiful material, is fitted to slide up and down in a +groove; to the upper part of this a line is attached, and, passing over +the roof, is let down into the trap at the inner end, and there held by +slipping an eye in the end of it over a peg of ice left for the purpose. +Over the peg, however, is previously placed a loose grummet, to which +the bait is fastened, and a false roof placed over all to hide the line. +The moment the animal drags at the bait, the grummet slips off the peg, +bringing with it the line that held up the door, and this, falling down, +closes the trap and secures him, + +A trap for birds is formed by building a house of snow just large enough +to contain one person, who closes himself up in it. On the top is left a +small aperture, through which the man thrusts one of his hands to secure +the bird the moment he alights to take away a bait of meat laid beside +it. It is principally gulls that are taken thus; and the boys sometimes +amuse themselves in this manner. A trap in which they catch foxes has +been mentioned in another place. + +The sledges belonging to these Esquimaux were in general large and +heavily constructed, being more adapted to the carriage of considerable +burdens than to very quick travelling. They varied in size, being from +six feet and a half to nine feet in length, and from eighteen inches to +two feet in breadth. Some of those at Igloolik were of larger +dimensions, one being eleven feet in length, and weighing two hundred +and sixty-eight pounds, and two or three others above two hundred +pounds. The runners are sometimes made of the right and left jaw-bones +of a whale; but more commonly of several pieces of wood or bone scarfed +and lashed together, the interstices being filled, to make all smooth +and firm, with moss stuffed in tight, and then cemented by throwing +water to freeze upon it. The lower part of the runner is shod with a +plate of harder bone, coated with fresh-water ice to make it run +smoothly, and to avoid wear and tear, both which purposes are thus +completely answered. This coating is performed with a mixture of snow +and fresh water about half an inch thick, rubbed over it till it is +quite smooth and hard upon the surface, and this is usually done a few +minutes before setting out on a journey. When the ice is only in part +worn off, it is renewed by taking some water into the mouth, and +spirting it over the former coating. We noticed a sledge which was +extremely curious, on account of one of the runners and a part of the +other being constructed without the assistance of wood, iron, or bone of +any kind. For this purpose, a number of sealskins being rolled up and +disposed into the requisite shape, an outer coat of the same kind was +sewed tightly round them; this formed the upper half of the runner, the +lower part of which consisted entirely of moss moulded while wet into +the proper form, and being left to freeze, adhering firmly together and +to the skins. The usual shoeing of smooth ice beneath completed the +runner, which, for more than six months out of twelve, in this climate, +was nearly as hard as any wood; and for winter use, no way inferior to +those constructed of more durable materials. The cross-pieces which form +the bottom of the sledges are made of bone, wood, or anything they can +muster. Over these is generally laid a sealskin as a flooring, and in +the summer time a pair of deer's horns are attached to the sledge as a +back, which in the winter are removed, to enable them, when stopping, to +turn the sledge up, so as to prevent the dogs running away with it. The +whole is secured by lashings of thong, giving it a degree of strength +combined with flexibility which perhaps no other mode of fastening could +effect. + +The colour of the dogs varies from a white, through brindled, to black +and white, or almost entirely black. Their hair in the winter is from +three to four inches long; but, besides this, nature furnishes them, +during this rigorous season, with a thick under coating of close, soft +wool, which they begin to cast in the spring. While thus provided, they +are able to withstand the most inclement weather without suffering from +the cold; and, at whatever temperature the atmosphere may be, they +require nothing but a shelter from the wind to make them comfortable, +and even this they do not always obtain. They are also wonderfully +enabled to endure the cold even on those parts of the body which are not +thus protected; for we have seen a young puppy sleeping, with its bare +paw laid on an ice-anchor, with the thermometer at -30 deg., which, with +one of our dogs, would have produced immediate and intense pain, if not +subsequent mortification. They never bark, but have a long, melancholy +howl like that of the wolf, and this they will sometimes perform in +concert for a minute or two together. They are, besides, always snarling +and fighting among one another, by which several of them are generally +lame. When much caressed and well fed, they become quite familiar and +domestic: but this mode of treatment does not improve their qualities as +animals of draught. Being desirous of ascertaining whether these dogs +are wolves in a state of domestication, a question which we understood +to have been the subject of some speculation, Mr. Skeoch, at my request, +made a skeleton of each, when the number of all the vertebrae was found +to be the same in both,[010] and to correspond with the well-known +anatomy of the wolf. + +When drawing a sledge, the dogs have a simple harness (_annoo_) of deer +or seal skin going round the neck by one bight, and another for each of +the fore legs, with a single thong leading over the back and attached to +the sledge as a trace. Though they appear at first sight to be huddled +together without regard to regularity, there is, in fact, considerable +attention paid to their arrangement, particularly in the selection of a +dog of peculiar spirit and sagacity, which is allowed, by a longer +trace, to precede the rest as leader, and to which, in turning to the +right or left, the driver usually addresses himself. This choice is made +without regard to age or sex, and the rest of the dogs take precedence +according to their training or sagacity, the least effective being put +nearest the sledge. The leader is usually from eighteen to twenty feet +from the fore part of the sledge, and the hindermost dog about half that +distance, so that when ten or twelve are running together, several are +nearly abreast of each other. The driver sits quite low on the fore part +of the sledge, with his feet overhanging the snow on one side, and +having in his hand a whip, of which the handle, made either of wood, +bone, or whalebone, is eighteen inches, and the lash more than as many +feet in length. The part of the thong next the handle is platted a +little way down to stiffen it and give it a spring, on which much of its +use depends; and that which composes the lash is chewed, by the women to +make it flexible in frosty weather. The men acquire from their youth +considerable expertness in the use of this whip, the lash of which is +left to trail along the ground by the side of the sledge, and with which +they can inflict a very severe blow on any dog at pleasure. Though the +dogs are kept in training entirely by fear of the whip, and indeed +without it would soon have their own way, its immediate effect is always +detrimental to the draught of the sledge; for not only does the +individual that is struck draw back and slacken his trace, but generally +turns upon his next neighbour, and this, passing on to the next, +occasions a general divergency, accompanied by the usual yelping and +showing of teeth. The dogs then come together again by degrees, and the +draught of the sledge is accelerated; but even at the best of times, by +this rude mode of draught, the traces of one third of the dogs form an +angle of thirty or forty degrees on each side of the direction in which +the sledge is advancing. Another great inconvenience attending the +Esquimaux method of putting the dogs to, besides that of not employing +their strength to the best advantage, is the constant entanglement of +the traces by the dogs repeatedly doubling under from side to side to +avoid the whip, so that, after running a few miles, the traces always +require to be taken off and cleared. + +In directing the sledge the whip acts no very essential part, the driver +for this purpose using certain words, as the carters do with us, to make +the dogs turn more to the right or left. To these a good leader attends +with admirable precision, especially if his own name be repeated at the +same time, looking behind over his shoulder with great earnestness, as +if listening to the directions of the driver. On a beaten track, or +even where a single foot or sledge mark is occasionally discernible, +there is not the slightest trouble in guiding the dogs; for even in the +darkest night and in the heaviest snowdrift, there is little or no +danger of their losing the road, the leader keeping his nose near the +ground, and directing the rest with wonderful sagacity. Where, however, +there is no beaten track, the best driver among them makes a terribly +circuitous course, as all the Esquimaux roads plainly show; these +generally occupying an extent of six miles, when with a horse and sledge +the journey would scarcely have amounted to five. On rough ground, as +among hummocks of ice, the sledge would be frequently overturned or +altogether stopped if the driver did not repeatedly get off, and, by +lifting or drawing it to one side, steer it clear of those accidents. At +all times, indeed, except on a smooth and well-made road, he is pretty +constantly employed thus with his feet, which, together with his +never-ceasing vociferations and frequent use of the whip, renders the +driving of one of these vehicles by no means a pleasant or easy task. +When the driver wishes to stop the sledge, he calls out "Wo, woa," +exactly as our carters do; but the attention paid to his command depends +altogether on his ability to enforce it. If the weight is small and the +journey homeward, the dogs are not to be thus delayed; the driver is +therefore obliged to dig his heels into the snow to obstruct their +progress; and, having thus succeeded in stopping them, he stands up with +one leg before the foremost crosspiece of the sledge, till, by means of +laying the whip gently over each dog's head, he has made them all lie +down. He then takes care not to quit his position; so that, should the +dogs set off, he is thrown upon the sledge, instead of being left behind +by them. + +With heavy loads the dogs draw best with one of their own people, +especially a woman, walking a little way ahead; and in this case they +are sometimes enticed to mend their pace by holding a mitten to the +mouth, and then making the motion of cutting it with a knife, and +throwing it on the snow, when the dogs, mistaking it for meat, hasten +forward to pick it up. The women also entice them from the huts in a +similar manner. The rate at which they travel depends, of course, on the +weight they have to draw and the road on which their journey is +performed. When the latter is level, and very hard and smooth, +constituting what in other parts of North America is called "good +sleighing," six or seven dogs will draw from eight to ten hundred +weight, at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour for several hours +together, and will easily, under those circumstances, perform a journey +of fifty or sixty miles a day; on untrodden snow, five-and-twenty or +thirty miles would be a good day's journey. The same number of well-fed +dogs, with a weight of only five or six hundred pounds (that of the +sledge included), are almost unmanageable, and will, on a smooth road, +run any way they please at the rate of ten miles an hour. The work +performed by a greater number of dogs is, however, by no means in +proportion to this; owing to the imperfect mode already described of +employing the strength of these sturdy creatures, and to the more +frequent snarling and fighting occasioned by an increase of numbers. + +In the summer, when the absence of snow precludes the use of sledges, +the dogs are still made useful on journeys and hunting excursions, by +being employed to carry burdens in a kind of saddle-bags laid across +their shoulders. A stout dog thus accoutred will accompany his master, +laden with a weight of about twenty or twenty-five pounds. + +The scent of the Esquimaux dogs is excellent; and this property is +turned to account by their masters in finding the seal-holes, which +these invaluable animals will discover entirely by the smell at a very +great distance. The track of a single deer upon the snow will in like +manner set them off at a full gallop when travelling, at least a quarter +of a mile before they arrive at it, when they are with difficulty made +to turn in any other direction; and the Esquimaux are accustomed to set +them after those animals to hunt them down when already wounded with an +arrow. In killing bears the dogs act a very essential part; and two or +three of them, when led on by a man, will eagerly attack one of those +ferocious creatures. An Esquimaux seldom uses any other weapon than his +spear and _panna_ in this encounter, for which the readiness of the dogs +may be implied from the circumstance of the word "nen-nook" (bear) being +often used to encourage them when running in a sledge. Indeed, the only +animal which they are not eager to chase is the wolf, of which the +greater part of them seem to have an instinctive dread, giving notice at +night of their approach to the huts by a loud and continued howl. There +is not one dog in twenty among them that will voluntarily, or, indeed, +without a great deal of beating, take the water, if they think it is out +of their depth, and the few that would do so were spoken of as +extraordinary exceptions. + +The Esquimaux in general treat their dogs much as an unfeeling master +does his slaves; that is, they take just as much care of them as their +own interest is supposed to require. The bitches with young are in the +winter allowed to occupy a part of their own beds, where they are +carefully attended and fed by the women, who will even supply the young +ones with meat and water from their mouths as they do their own +children, and not unfrequently also carry them in their hoods to take +care of them. It is probably on this account that the dogs are always so +much attached to the women, who can at any time catch them or entice +them from the huts when the men fail. Two females that were with young +on board the Fury in the month of February, brought forth six and seven +at a litter, and the former number were all females. Their feeding, +which, both in summer and winter, principally consists of k=a~ow, or +the skin and part of the blubber of the walrus, is during the latter +season very precarious, their masters having then but little to spare. +They therefore become extremely thin at that time of the year, and would +scarcely be recognised as the same animals as when regularly fed in the +summer. No wonder, therefore, that they will eat almost anything, +however tough or filthy, and that neither whipping nor shouting will +prevent their turning out of the road, even when going at full speed, to +pick up whatever they espy. When at the huts they are constantly +creeping in to pilfer what they can, and half the time of the people +sitting there is occupied in vociferating their names, and driving them +by most unmerciful blows out of the apartments. The dogs have no water +to drink during the winter, but lick up some clean snow occasionally as +a substitute; nor, indeed, if water be offered them, do they care about +it, unless it happens to be oily. They take great pleasure in rolling in +clean snow, especially after or during a journey, or when they have been +confined in a house during the night. Notwithstanding the rough +treatment which they receive from their masters, their attachment to +them is very great, and this they display after a short absence by +jumping up and licking their faces all over with extreme delight. The +Esquimaux, however, never caress them, and, indeed, scarcely ever take +any notice of them but when they offend, and they are not then sparing +in their blows. The dogs have all names, to which they attend with +readiness, whether drawing in a sledge or otherwise. Their names are +frequently the same as those of the people, and in some instances are +given after the relations of their masters, which seems to be considered +an act of kindness among them. Upon the whole, notwithstanding the +services performed by these valuable creatures, I am of opinion that art +cannot well have done less towards making them useful, and that the same +means in almost any other hands would be employed to greater advantage. + +In the disposition of these people, there was, of course, among so many +individuals, considerable variety as to the minute points; but in the +general features of their character, which with them are not subject to +the changes produced by foreign intercourse, one description will nearly +apply to all. + +The virtue which, as respected ourselves, we could most have wished them +to possess, is honesty; and the impression derived from the early part +of our intercourse was certainly in this respect a favourable one. A +great many instances occurred, some of which have been related where +they appeared even scrupulous in returning articles that did not belong +to them; and this, too, when detection of a theft, or, at least, of the +offender, would have been next to impossible. As they grew more familiar +with us, and the temptations became stronger, they gradually relaxed in +their honesty, and petty thefts were from time to time committed by +several individuals, both male and female, among them. + +The bustle which any search for stolen goods occasioned at the huts was +sufficient proof of their understanding the estimation in which the +crime was held by us. Until the affair was cleared up, they would affect +great readiness to show every article which they had got from the ships, +repeating the name of the donor with great warmth, as if offended at our +suspicions, yet with a half smile on their countenance at our supposed +credulity in believing them. There was, indeed, at all times, some, +trick, and cunning in this show of openness and candour; and they would +at times bring back some very trifling article that had been given them, +tendering it as a sort of expiation for the theft of another much more +valuable. When a search was making, they would invent all sorts of lies +to screen themselves, not caring on whom besides the imputation fell; +and more than once they directed our people to the apartments of others +who were innocent of the event in question. If they really knew the +offender, they were generally ready enough to inform against him, and +this with an air of affected secrecy and mysterious importance; and, as +if the dishonesty of another constituted a virtue in themselves, they +would repeat this information frequently, perhaps for a month afterward, +setting up their neighbour's offence as a foil to their own pretended +honesty. + +In appreciating the character of these people for honesty, however, we +must not fail to make allowance for the degree of temptation to which +they were daily exposed, amid the boundless stores of wealth which our +ships appeared to them to furnish. To draw a parallel case, we must +suppose an European of the lower class suffered to roam about amid +hoards of gold and silver; for nothing less valuable can be justly +compared with the wood and iron that everywhere presented themselves to +their view on board the ships. The European and the Esquimaux, who, in +cases so similar, both resist the temptation to stealing, must be +considered pretty nearly on a par in the scale of honesty; and, judging +in this manner, the balance might possibly be found in favour of the +latter, when compared with any similar number of Europeans taken at +random from the lower class. + +In what has been hitherto said, regard has been had only to their +dealings with _us_. In their transactions among themselves, there is no +doubt that, except in one or two privileged cases, such as that of +destitute widows, the strictest honesty prevails, and that, as regards +the good of their own community, they are generally honest people. We +have, in numberless instances, sent presents by one to another, and +invariably found that they had been faithfully delivered. The manner in +which their various implements are frequently left outside their huts is +a proof, indeed, that robbery is scarcely known among them. + +In the barter of their various commodities, their dealings with us were +fair and upright, though latterly they were by no means backward nor +inexpert in driving a bargain. The absurd and childish exchanges which +they at first made with our people induced them subsequently to complain +that the Kabloonas had stolen their things, though the profit had +eventually been a hundred-fold in their favour. Many such complaints +were made, when the only fault in the purchaser had been excessive +liberality, and frequently, also, as a retort, by way of warding off the +imputation of some dishonesty of their own. A trick not uncommon with +the women was to endeavour to excite the commiseration, and to tax the +bounty of one person, by relating some cruel theft of this kind that +had, as they said, been practised upon them by another. One day, after I +had bought a knife of Togolat, she told Captain Lyon, in a most piteous +tone, that _Parree_ had stolen her last _ooloo_, that she did not know +what to do without one, and at length, coming to the point, begged him +to give her one. Presently after this, her husband coming in and asking +for something to eat, she handed him some meat, accompanied by a very +fine ooloo. Her son, being thus reminded of eating, made the same +request, upon which a second knife was produced, and immediately after a +third of the same kind for herself. Captain Lyon, having amused himself +in watching these proceedings, which so well confirmed the truth of the +proverb, that certain people ought to have good memories, now took the +knives, one by one, out of their hands, and, holding them up to Togolat, +asked her if Parree had not stolen her last ooloo. A hearty laugh all +round was the only notice taken by them of this direct detection of the +deceit. + +The confidence which they really placed in us was daily and hourly +evinced by their leaving their fishing gear stuck in the snow all round +the ships; and not a single instance occurred, to my knowledge, of any +theft committed on their property. The licking of the articles received +from us was not so common with them as with Esquimaux in general, and +this practice was latterly almost entirely left off by them. + +Among the unfavourable traits in their character must be reckoned an +extreme disposition to envy, which displayed itself on various occasions +during our intercourse with them. If we had made any presents in one +hut, the inmates of the next would not fail to tell us of it, +accompanying their remarks with some satirical observations, too +unequivocally expressed to be mistaken, and generally by some stroke of +irony directed against the favoured person. If any individual with whom +we had been intimate happened to be implicated in a theft, the +circumstance became a subject of satisfaction too manifest to be +repressed, and we were told of it with expressions of the most +triumphant exultation on every occasion. It was, indeed, curious, though +ridiculous, to observe that, even among these simple people, and even in +this obscure corner of the globe, that little gossip and scandal so +commonly practised in small societies among us were very frequently +displayed. This was especially the case with the women, of whom it was +not uncommon to see a group sitting in a hut for hours together, each +relating her _quota_ of information, now and then mimicking the persons +of whom they spoke, and interlarding their stories with jokes evidently +at the expense of their absent neighbours, though to their own infinite +amusement. + +I have already, in the course of the foregoing narrative, hinted at the +want of gratitude evinced by these people in their transactions with us. +Some exceptions, for they were only exceptions, and rare ones, to this +rule, have been mentioned as they occurred; but in general, however +considerable the benefit conferred, it was forgotten in a day; and this +forgetfulness was not unfrequently aggravated by their giving out that +their benefactor had been so shabby as to make them no present at all. +Even those individuals who, either from good behaviour or superior +intelligence, had been most noticed by us, and particularly such as had +slept on board the ships, and whether in health or sickness had received +the most friendly treatment from everybody, were in general just as +indifferent as the rest; and I do not believe that any one among them +would have gone half a mile out of his road, or have sacrificed the most +trivial self-gratification to serve us. Okotook and Iligliuk, whom I had +most loaded with presents, and who had never offered me a single free +gift in return, put into my hand, at the time of their first removal +from Winter Island, a dirty, crooked model of a spear, so shabbily +constructed that it had probably been already refused as an article of +barter by many of the ship's company. On my accepting this, from an +unwillingness to affront them, they were uneasy and dissatisfied till I +had given them something in return, though their hands were full of the +presents which I had just made them. Selfishness is, in fact, almost +without exception, their universal characteristic, and the mainspring of +all their actions, and that, too, of a kind the most direct and +unamiable that can well be imagined. + +In the few opportunities we had of putting their hospitality to the +test, we had every reason to be pleased with them. Both as to food and +accommodation, the best they had were always at our service; and their +attention, both in kind and degree, was everything that hospitality and +even good-breeding could dictate. The kindly offices of drying and +mending our clothes, cooking our provision, and thawing snow for our +drink, were performed by the women with an obliging cheerfulness which +we shall not easily forget, and which commanded its due share of our +admiration and esteem. While thus their guest, I have passed an evening +not only with comfort, but with extreme gratification; for, with the +women working and singing, their husbands quietly mending their lines, +the children playing before the door, and the pot boiling over the blaze +of a cheerful lamp, one might well forget for the time that an Esquimaux +hut was the scene of this domestic comfort and tranquillity; and I can +safely affirm with Cartwright,[011] that, while thus lodged beneath +their roof, I know no people whom I would more confidently trust, as +respects either my person or my property, than the Esquimaux. + +The estimation in which women are held among these people is, I think, +somewhat greater than is usual in savage life. In their general +employments they are by no means the drudges that the wives of the +Greenlander's are said to be; being occupied only in those cares which +may properly be called domestic, and, as such, are considered the +peculiar business of the women among the lower classes in civilized +society. The wife of one of these people, for instance, makes and +attends the fire, cooks the victuals, looks after the children, and is +sempstress to her whole family; while her husband is labouring abroad +for their subsistence. In this respect it is not even necessary to +except their task Of cutting up the small seals, which is, in truth, one +of the greatest luxuries and privileges they enjoy; and, even if it were +esteemed a labour, it could scarcely be considered equivalent to that of +the women in many of our own fishing-towns, where the men's business is +at an end the moment the boat touches the beach. The most laborious of +their tasks occur, perhaps, in making their various journeys, when all +their goods and chattels are to be removed at once, and when each +individual must undoubtedly perform a full share of the general labour. +The women are, however, good walkers and not easily fatigued; for we +have several times known a young woman of two-and-twenty, with a child +in her hood, walk twelve miles to the ships and back again the same day, +for the sake of a little bread-dust and a tin canister. When stationary +in the winter, they have really almost a sinecure of it, sitting quietly +in their huts, and having little or no employment for the greater part +of the day. In short, there are few, if any people, in this state of +society among whom the women are so well off. They always sit upon the +beds with their legs doubled under them, and are uneasy in the posture +usual with us. The men sometimes sit as we do, but more generally with +their legs crossed before them. + +The women do not appear to be, in general, very prolific. Illumea indeed +had borne seven children, but no second instance of an equal number in +one family afterward came to our knowledge; three or four is about the +usual number. They are, according to their own account, in the habit of +suckling their children to the age of three years; but we have seen a +child of five occasionally at the breast, though they are dismissed from +the mother's hood at about the former age. It is not uncommon to see one +woman suckling the child of another, while the latter happens to be +employed in her other domestic occupations. They are in the habit, also, +of feeding their younger children from their own mouths, softening the +food by mastication, and then turning their heads round so that the +infant in the hood may put its lips to theirs. The chill is taken from +water for them in the same manner, and some fathers are very fond of +taking their children on their knees and thus feeding them. The women +are more desirous of having sons than daughters, as on the former must +principally depend their support in old age. + +Twelve of the men had each two wives, and some of the younger ones had +also two betrothed; two instances occurred of the father and son being +married to sisters. The custom of betrothing children in their infancy +is commonly practised here, in which respect these people differ from +the natives of Greenland, where it is comparatively rare. A daughter of +Arnaneelia, between two and three years old, had long been thus +contracted to Okotook's son, a hero of six or seven, and the latter used +to run about the hut calling his intended by the familiar appellation of +_N~o~oll=e-~a_ (wife), to the great amusement of the parents. +When a man has two wives there is generally a difference of five or six +years in their ages. The senior takes her station next the principal +fire, which comes entirely under her management; and she is certainly +considered in some respects superior to the other, though they usually +live together in the utmost harmony. The men sometimes repudiate their +wives without ceremony, in case of real or supposed bad behaviour as in +Greenland, but this does not often occur. There was a considerable +disparity of age between many of the men and their wives, the husband +being sometimes the oldest by twenty years or more, and this also when +he had never married any former wife. We knew no instance in which the +number of a man's wives exceeded two, and, indeed, we had every reason +to believe that the practice is never admitted among them. We met with a +singular instance of two men having exchanged wives, in consequence +merely of one of the latter being pregnant at the time when her husband +was about to undertake a long journey. + +The authority of the husband seems to be sufficiently absolute, +depending, nevertheless, in great measure on the dispositions of the +respective parties. Iligliuk was one of those women who seem formed to +manage their husbands; and we one day saw her take Okotook to task in a +very masterly style, for having bartered away a good jacket for an old +useless pistol, without powder or shot. He attempted at first to bluster +in his turn, and with most women would probably have gained his point. +But with Iligliuk this would not do; she saw at once the absurdity of +his bargain, and insisted on his immediately cancelling it, which was +accordingly done, and no more said about it. In general, indeed, the +husband maintains his authority, and in several instances of supposed +bad behaviour in a wife, we saw obedience enforced in a very summary +manner. It is very rare, however, to see them proceed to this extremity; +and the utmost extent of a husband's want of tenderness towards his wife +consists in making her walk or lead the dogs, while he takes his own +seat in the sledge and rides in comfort. Widows, as might be expected, +are not so well off as those whose husbands are living, and this +difference is especially apparent in their clothes, which are usually +very dirty, thin, and ragged; when, indeed, they happen to have no near +relatives, their fate, as we have already seen, is still worse than +this. + +I fear we cannot give a very favourable account of the chastity of the +women, nor of the delicacy of their husbands in this respect. As for the +latter, it was not uncommon for them to offer their wives as freely for +sale as a knife or a jacket. Some of the young men informed us that, +when two of them were absent together on a sealing excursion, they often +exchanged wives for the time, as a matter of friendly convenience; and, +indeed, without mentioning any other instances of this nature, it may +safely be affirmed, that in no country is prostitution carried to +greater lengths than among these people. The behaviour of most of the +women when their husbands were absent from the huts, plainly evinced +their indifference towards them, and their utter disregard of connubial +fidelity. The departure of the men was usually the signal for throwing +aside restraint, which was invariably resumed on their return. For this +event they take care to be prepared by the report of the children, one +of whom is usually posted on the outside for the purpose of giving due +notice. + +The affection of parents for their children was frequently displayed by +these people, not only in the mere passive indulgence, and abstinence +from corporeal punishment, for which Esquimaux have before been +remarked, but by a thousand playful endearments also, such as parents +and nurses practise in our own country. Nothing, indeed, can well exceed +the kindness with which they treat their children, and this trait in +their character deserves to be the more insisted on, because it is, in +reality, the only very amiable one which they possess. It must be +confessed, indeed, that the gentleness and docility of the children are +such as to occasion their parents little trouble, and to render severity +towards them quite unnecessary. Even from their earliest infancy they +possess that quiet disposition, gentleness of demeanour, and uncommon +evenness of temper, for which, in more mature age, they are for the most +part distinguished. Disobedience is scarcely ever known; a word or even +a look from a parent is enough; and I never saw a single instance of +that frowardness and disposition to mischief which, with our youth, so +often requires the whole attention of a parent to watch over and to +correct. They never cry from trifling accidents, and sometimes not even +from very severe hurts, at which an English child would sob for an hour. +It is, indeed, astonishing to see the indifference with which, even as +tender infants, they bear the numerous blows they accidentally receive, +when carried at their mothers' backs. + +They are just as fond of play as any other young people, and of the same +kind; only that while an English child draws a cart of wood, an +Esquimaux of the same age has a sledge of whalebone; and for the superb +baby-house of the former, the latter builds a miniature hut of snow, and +begs a lighted wick from her mother's lamp to illuminate the little +dwelling. Their parents make for them, as dolls, little figures of men +and women, habited in the true Esquimaux costume, as well as a variety +of other toys, many of them having some reference to their future +occupations in life, such as canoes, spears, and bows and arrows. The +drum or tambarine, mentioned by Crantz, is common among them, and used +not only by the children, but by the grown-up people at some of their +games. They sometimes serrate the edges of two strips of whalebone and +whirl them round their heads, just as boys do in England to make the +same peculiar humming sound. They will dispose one piece of wood on +another, as an axis, in such a manner that the wind turns it round like +the arms of a windmill; and so of many other toys of the same simple +kind. These are the distinct property of the children, who will +sometimes sell them, while their parents look on without interfering or +expecting to be consulted. + +When not more than eight years old, the boys are taken by their fathers +on their sealing excursions, where they begin to learn their future +business; and even at that early age they are occasionally intrusted to +bring home a sledge and dogs from a distance of several miles over the +ice. At the age of eleven we see a boy with his water-tight boots and +moccasins, a spear in his hand, and a small coil of line at his back, +accompanying the men to the fishery, under every circumstance; and from +this time his services daily increase in value to the whole tribe. On +our first intercourse with them we supposed that they would not +unwillingly part with their children, in consideration of some valuable +present, but in this we afterward found that we were much mistaken. +Happening one day to call myself Toolooak's _attata_ (father), and +pretend that he was to remain with me on board the ship, I received from +the old man, his father, no other answer than what seemed to be very +strongly and even satirically implied, by his taking one of our +gentlemen by the arm and calling him _his_ son; thus intimating that the +adoption which he proposed was as feasible and as natural as my own. + +The custom of adoption is carried to very great lengths among these +people, and served to explain to us several apparent inconsistencies +with respect to their relationships. The custom owes its origin entirely +to the obvious advantage of thus providing for a man's own subsistence +in advanced life; and it is consequently confined almost without +exception to the adoption of _sons_, who can alone contribute +materially to the support of an aged and infirm parent. When a man +adopts the son of another as his own, he is said to "_tego_," or take +him; and at whatever age this is done (though it generally happens in +infancy), the child then lives with his new parents, calls them father +and mother, is sometimes even ignorant of any such transfer having been +made, especially if his real parents should be dead; and whether he +knows it or not, is not always willing to acknowledge any but those with +whom he lives. The agreement seems to be always made between the +fathers, and to differ in no respect from the transfer of other +property, except that none can equal in value the property thus disposed +of. The good sense, good fortune, or extensive claims of some +individuals were particularly apparent in this way, from the number of +sons they had adopted. Toolemak, deriving, perhaps, some advantage from +his qualifications as Angetkook, had taken care to negotiate for the +adoption of some of the finest male children of the tribe; a provision +which now appeared the more necessary, from his having lost four +children of his own, besides Noogloo, who was one of his _tego'd_ sons. +In one of the two instances that came to our knowledge of the adoption +of a female child, both its own parents were still living, nor could we +ascertain the motive for this deviation from the more general custom. + +In their behaviour to old people, whose age or infirmities render them +useless, and, therefore, burdensome to the community, the Esquimaux +betray a degree of insensibility bordering on inhumanity, and ill +repaying the kindness of an indulgent parent. The old man Hikkeiera, +who was very ill during the winter, used to lie day after day, little +regarded by his wife, son, daughter, and other relatives, except that +his wretched state constituted, as they well knew, a forcible claim upon +our charity; and, with this view, it was sure to excite a whine of +sympathy and commiseration whenever we visited or spoke of him. When, +however, a journey of ten miles was to be performed over the ice, they +left him to find his way with a stick in the best manner he could, while +the young and robust ones were many of them drawn on sledges. There is, +indeed, no doubt that, had their necessities or mode of life required a +longer journey than he could thus have accomplished, they would have +pushed on like the Indians, and left a fellow-creature to perish. It was +certainly considered incumbent on his son to support him, and he was +fortunate in that son's being a very good man; but a few more such +journeys to a man of seventy would not impose this encumbrance upon him +much longer. Illumea, the mother of several grown-up children, lived +also in the same hut with her other relations. She did not, however, +interfere, as in Greenland, with the management of her son's domestic +concerns, though his wife was half an idiot. She was always badly +clothed, and, even in the midst of plenty, not particularly well-fed, +receiving everything more as an act of charity than otherwise; and she +will probably be less and less attended to, in proportion as she stands +more in need of assistance. + +The different families appear always to live on good terms with each +other, though each preserves its own habitation and property as +distinct and independent as any housekeeper in England. The persons +living under one roof, who are generally closely related, maintain a +degree of harmony among themselves which is scarcely ever disturbed. The +more turbulent passions which, when unrestrained by religious principle, +or unchecked by the dread of human punishment, usually create so much +havoc in the world, seem to be very seldom excited in the breasts of +these people, which renders personal violence or immoderate anger +extremely rare among them; and one may sit in a hut for a whole day, and +never observe an angry word or look, except in driving out the dogs. If +they take an offence, it is more common for them to show it by the more +quiet method of sulkiness, and this they now and then tried as a matter +of experiment with us. Okotook, who was often in this humour, once +displayed it to some of our gentlemen in his own hut, by turning his +back and frequently repeating the expression "good-by," as a broad hint +to them to go away. Toolooak was also a little given to this mood, but +never retained it long, and there was no malice mixed with his +displeasure. One evening that he slept on board the Fury, he either +offended Mr. Skeoch, or thought that he had done so, by this kind of +humour; at all events, they parted for the night without any formal +reconciliation. The next morning Mr. Skeoch was awakened at an unusually +early hour, by Toolooak's entering his cabin and taking hold of his hand +to shake it, by way of making up the supposed quarrel. On a disposition +thus naturally charitable, what might not Christian education and +Christian principles effect? Where a joke is evidently intended, I +never knew people more ready to join in it than these are. If ridiculed +for any particularity of manner, figure, or countenance, they are sure +not to be long behind-hand in returning it, and that very often with +interest. If we were the aggressors in this way, some ironical +observation respecting the _Kabloonas_ was frequently the consequence; +and no small portion of wit as well as irony was at times mixed with +their raillery. + +In point of intellect as well as disposition, great variety was, of +course, perceptible among the different individuals of this tribe; but +few of them were wanting in that respect. Some, indeed, possessed a +degree of natural quickness and intelligence which, perhaps, could +hardly be surpassed in the natives of any country. Iligliuk, though one +of the least amiable, was particularly thus gifted. When she really +wished to develop our meaning, she would desire her husband and all the +rest to hold their tongues, and would generally make it out while they +were puzzling their heads to no purpose. In returning her answers, the +very expression of her countenance, though one of the plainest among +them, was almost of itself sufficient to convey her meaning; and there +was, in these cases, a peculiarly decisive energy in her manner of +speaking which was extremely interesting. This woman would, indeed, have +easily learned anything to which she chose to direct her attention; and +had her lot been cast in a civilized country instead of this dreary +region, which serves alike to "freeze the genial current of the soul" +and body, she would probably have been a very clever person. For want +of a sufficient object, however, neither she nor any of her companions +ever learned a dozen words of English, except our names, with which it +was their interest to be familiar, and which, long before we left them, +any child could repeat, though in their own style of pronunciation. + +Besides the natural authority of parents and husbands, these people +appear to admit no kind of superiority among one another, except a +certain degree of superstitious reverence for their _angetkooks_, and +their tacitly following the counsel or steps of the most active +seal-catcher on their hunting excursions. The word _nallegak_, used in +Greenland to express "master," and "lord" in the Esquimaux translations +of the Scriptures, they were not acquainted with. One of the young men +at Winter Island appeared to be considered somewhat in the light of a +servant to Okotook, living with the latter, and quietly allowing him to +take possession of all the most valuable presents which he received from +us. Being a sociable people, they unite in considerable numbers to form +a settlement for the winter; but on the return of spring they again +separate into several parties, each appearing to choose his own route, +without regard to that of the rest, but all making their arrangements +without the slightest disagreement or difference of opinion that we +could ever discover. In all their movements, they seem to be actuated by +one simultaneous feeling that is truly admirable. + +Superior as our arts, contrivances, and materials must unquestionably +have appeared to them, and eager as they were to profit by this +superiority, yet, contradictory as it may seem, they certainly looked +upon us in many respects with profound contempt; maintaining that idea +of self-sufficiency which has induced them, in common with the rest of +their nation, to call themselves, by way of distinction, Innue, or +mankind. One day, for instance, in securing some of the gear of a +sledge, Okotook broke a part of it, composed of a piece of our white +line, and I shall never forget the contemptuous sneer with which he +muttered in soliloquy the word "Kabloona!" in token of the inferiority +of our materials to his own. It is happy, perhaps, when people, +possessing so few of the good things of this life, can be thus contented +with the little allotted them. + +The men, though low in stature, are not wanting in muscular strength in +proportion to their size, or in activity and hardiness. They are good +and even quick walkers, and occasionally bear much bodily fatigue, wet, +and cold, without appearing to suffer by it, much less to complain of +it. Whatever labour they have gone through, and with whatever success in +procuring game, no individual ever seems to arrogate to himself the +credit of having done more than his neighbour for the general good. Nor +do I conceive there is reason to doubt their personal courage, though +they are too good-natured often to excite others to put that quality to +the test. It is true, they will recoil with horror at the tale of an +Indian massacre, and probably cannot conceive what should induce one set +of men deliberately and without provocation to murder another. War is +not their trade; ferocity forms no part of the disposition of the +Esquimaux. Whatever manly qualities they possess are exercised in a +different way, and put to a far more worthy purpose. They are +fishermen, and not warriors; but I cannot call that man a coward who, +at the age of one-and-twenty, will attack a polar bear single-handed, or +fearlessly commit himself to floating masses of ice, which the next puff +of wind may drift for ever from the shore. + +Of the few arts possessed by this simple people, some account has +already been given in the description of their various implements. As +mechanics, they have little to boast when compared with other savages +lying under equal disadvantages as to scantiness of tools and materials. +As carpenters, they can scarf two pieces of wood together, secure them +with pins of whalebone or ivory, fashion the timbers of a canoe, shoe a +paddle, and rivet a scrap of iron into a spear or arrow-head. Their +principal tool is the knife (panna); and, considering the excellence of +a great number which they possessed previous to our intercourse with +them, the work they do is remarkably coarse and clumsy. Their very +manner of holding and handling a knife is the most awkward that can be +imagined. For the purpose of boring holes, they have a drill and bow so +exactly like our own, that they need no farther description, except that +the end of the drill handle, which our artists place against their +breasts, is rested by these people against a piece of wood or bone held +in their mouths, and having a cavity fitted to receive it. With the use +of the saw they were well acquainted, but had nothing of this kind in +their possession better than a notched piece of iron. One or two small +European axes were lashed to handles in a contrary direction to ours, +that is, to be used like an adze, a form which, according to the +observation of a traveller[012] well qualified to judge, savages in +general prefer. It was said that these people steamed or boiled wood, in +order to bend it for fashioning the timbers of their canoes. As +fishermen or seamen, they can put on a woolding or seizing with +sufficient strength and security, and are acquainted with some of the +most simple and serviceable knots in use among us. In all the arts, +however, practised by the men, it is observable that the ingenuity lies +in the principle, not in the execution. The experience of ages has led +them to adopt the most efficacious methods, but their practice as +handicrafts has gone no farther than absolute necessity requires; they +bestow little labour upon neatness or ornament. + +In some of the few arts practised by the women there is much more +dexterity displayed, particularly in that important branch of a +housewife's business, sewing, which, even with their own clumsy needles +of bone, they perform with extraordinary neatness. They had, however, +several steel needles of a three-cornered shape, which they kept in a +very convenient case, consisting of a strip of leather passed through a +hollow bone, and having its ends remaining out, so that the needles +which are stuck into it may be drawn in and out at pleasure. These cases +were sometimes ornamented by cutting; and several thimbles of leather, +one of which, in sewing, is worn on the first finger, are usually +attached to it, together with a bunch of narrow spoons and other small +articles liable to be lost. The thread they use is the sinew of the +reindeer (_tooktoo =ew=all~o~o_), or, when they cannot procure +this, the swallow-pipe of the _neiliek_. This may be split into threads +of different sizes, according to the nature of their work, and is +certainly a most admirable material. This, together with any other +articles of a similar kind, they keep in little bags, which are +sometimes made of the skin of birds' feet, disposed with the claws +downward in a very neat and tasteful manner. In sewing, the point of the +needle is entered and drawn through in a direction towards the body, and +not from it or towards one side, as with our seamstresses. They sew the +deerskins with a "round seam," and the water-tight boots and shoes are +"stitched." The latter is performed in a very adroit and efficacious +manner, by putting the needle only half through the substance of one +part of the sealskin, so as to leave no hole for admitting the water. In +cutting out the clothes, the women do it after one regular and uniform +pattern, which probably descends unaltered from generation to +generation. The skin of the deer's head is always made to form the +_apex_ of the hood, while that of the neck and shoulders comes down the +back of the jacket; and so of every other part of the animal which is +appropriated to its particular portion of the dress. To soften the +sealskins of which the boots, shoes, and mittens are made, the women +chew them for an hour or two together and the young girls are often seen +employed in thus preparing the materials for their mothers. The covering +of the canoes is a part of the women's business, in which good +workmanship is especially necessary to render the whole smooth and +water-tight. The skins, which are those of the _neitiek_ only, are +prepared by scraping off the hair and the fleshy parts with an _ooloo,_ +and stretching them out tight on a frame, in which state they are left +over the lamps or in the sun for several days to dry; and after this +they are well chewed by the women to make them fit for working. The +dressing of leather and of skins in the hair, is an art which the women +have brought to no inconsiderable degree of perfection. They perform +this by first cleansing the skin from as much of the fat and fleshy +matter as the _ooloo_ will take off, and then rubbing it hard for +several hours with a blunt scraper, called _si=ak~o~ot_, so as +nearly to dry it. It is then put into a vessel containing urine, and +left to steep a couple of days, after which a drying completes the +process. Skins dressed in the hair are, however, not always thus +steeped; the women, instead of this, chewing them for hours together +till they are quite soft and clean. Some of the leather thus dressed +looked nearly as well as ours, and the hair was as firmly fixed to the +pelt; but there was in this respect a very great difference, according +to the art or attention of the housewife. Dyeing is an art wholly +unknown to them. The women are very expert at platting, which is usually +done with three threads of sinew; if greater strength is required, +several of these are twisted slackly together, as in the bowstrings. The +quickness with which some of the women plat is really surprising; and it +is well that they do so, for the quantity required for the bows alone +would otherwise occupy half the year in completing it. + +It may be supposed that, among so cheerful a people as the Esquimaux, +there are many games or sports practised; indeed, it was rarely that we +visited their habitations without seeing some engaged in them. One of +these our gentlemen saw at Winter Island, on an occasion when most of +the men were absent from the huts on a sealing excursion, and in this +Iligliuk was the chief performer. Being requested to amuse them in this +way, she suddenly unbound her hair, platted it, tied both ends together +to keep it out of her way, and then stepping out into the middle of the +hut, began to make the most hideous faces that can be conceived, by +drawing both lips into her mouth, poking forward her chin, squinting +frightfully, occasionally shutting one eye, and moving her head from +side to side as if her neck had been dislocated. This exhibition, which +they call _=ay=ok~it-t=ak-poke_, and which is evidently +considered an accomplishment that few of them possess in perfection, +distorts every feature in the most horrible manner imaginable, and +would, I think, put our most skilful horse-collar grinners quite out of +countenance. + +The next performance consists in looking steadfastly and gravely +forward, and repeating the words _t~ab=ak-tabak, k~eib=o-keibo, +k~e-b=ang-~e-n=u-t~o-~e~ek, kebang-enutoeek, ~am=at~am=a-amatama_, in +the order in which they are here placed, but each at least four times, +and always by a peculiar modulation of the voice, speaking them in pairs +as they are coupled above. The sound is made to proceed from the throat +in a way much resembling ventriloquism, to which art it is indeed an +approach. After the last _amatama_ Iligliuk always pointed with her +finger towards her body, and pronounced the word _angetkook,_ steadily +retaining her gravity for five or six seconds, and then bursting into a +loud laugh, in which she was joined by all the rest. The women sometimes +produce a much more guttural and unnatural sound, repeating principally +the word _=ikk~er~ee-ikkeree_, coupling them as before, and staring in +such a manner as to make their eyes appear ready to burst out of their +sockets with the exertion. Two or more of them will sometimes stand up +face to face, and with great quickness and regularity respond to each +other, keeping such exact time that the sound appears to come from one +throat instead of several. Very few of the females are possessed of this +accomplishment, which is called _pitkoo-she-r=ak-poke_, and it is not +uncommon to see several of the younger females practising it. A third +part of the game, distinguished by the word _keit=ik-poke_, consists +only in falling on each knee alternately--a piece of agility which they +perform with tolerable quickness, considering the bulky and awkward +nature of their dress. + +The last kind of individual exhibition was still performed by Iligliuk, +to whom in this, as in almost everything else, the other women tacitly +acknowledged their inferiority, by quietly giving place to her on every +occasion. She now once more came forward, and letting her arms hang down +loosely and bending her body very much forward, shook herself with, +extreme violence, as if her whole frame had been strongly convulsed, +uttering at the same time, in a wild tone of voice, some of the +unnatural sounds before mentioned. + +This being at an end, a new exhibition was commenced, in which ten or +twelve women took a part, and which our gentlemen compared to +blind-man's buff. A circle being formed, and a boy despatched to look +out at the door of the hut, Iligliuk, still the principal actress, +placed herself in the centre, and after making a variety of guttural +noises for about half a minute, shut her eyes and ran about till she had +taken hold of one of the others, whose business it then became to take +her station in the centre, so that almost every woman in her turn +occupied this post; and in her own peculiar way, either by distortion of +countenance or other gestures, performed her part in the game. This +continued three quarters of an hour; and, from the precaution of placing +a look-out, who was withdrawn when it was over, as well as from some +very expressive signs which need not here be mentioned, there is reason +to believe that it is usually followed by certain indecencies, with +which their husbands are not to be acquainted. Kaoongut was present, +indeed, on this occasion, but his age seemed to render him a privileged +person; besides which, his own wife did not join in the game. + +The most common amusement, however, and to which their husbands made no +objection, they performed at Winter Island expressly for our +gratification. The females being collected to the number of ten or +twelve, stood in as large a circle as the hut would admit, with Okotook +in the centre. He began by a sort of half howling, half singing noise, +which appeared as if designed to call the attention of the women, the +latter soon commencing the _Amna Aya_ song hereafter described. This +they continued without variety, remaining quite still while Okotook +walked round within the circle; his body was rather bent forward, his +eyes sometimes closed, his arms constantly moving up and down, and now +and then hoarsely vociferating a word or two, as if to increase the +animation of the singers, who, whenever he did this, quitted the chorus +and rose into the words of the song. At the end of ten minutes they all +left off at once, and after one minute's interval commenced a second act +precisely similar and of equal duration; Okotook continuing to invoke +their muse as before. A third act, which followed this, varied only in +his frequently, towards the close, throwing his feet up before and +clapping his hands together, by which exertion he was thrown into a +violent perspiration. He then retired, desiring a young man (who, as we +were informed, was the only individual of several then present thus +qualified) to take his place in the centre as master of the ceremonies, +when the same antics as before were again gone through. After this +description it will scarcely be necessary to remark, that nothing can be +poorer in its way than this tedious singing recreation, which, as well +as everything in which dancing is concerned, they express by the word +m~om=ek-poke. They seem, however, to take great delight in it; and +even a number of men, as well as all the children, crept into the hut by +degrees to peep at the performance. + +The Esquimaux women and children often amuse themselves with a game not +unlike our "skip-rope." This is performed by two women holding the ends +of a line, and whirling it regularly round and round, while a third +jumps over it in the middle, according to the following order. She +commences by jumping twice on both feet, then alternately with the right +and left, and next four times with the feet slipped one behind the +other, the rope passing once round at each jump. After this she performs +a circle on the ground, jumping about half a dozen times in the course +of it, which bringing her to her original position, the same thing is +repeated as often as it can be done without entangling the line. One or +two of the women performed this with considerable agility and +adroitness, considering the clumsiness of their boots and jackets, and +seemed to pride themselves, in some degree, on the qualification. A +second kind of this game consists in two women holding a long rope by +its ends, and whirling it round in such a manner, over the heads of two +others standing close together near the middle of the bight, that each +of these shall jump over it alternately. The art, therefore, which is +indeed considerable, depends more on those whirling the rope than on the +jumpers, who are, however, obliged to keep exact time, in order to be +ready for the rope passing under their feet. + +The whole of these people, but especially the women, are fond of music, +both vocal and instrumental. Some of them might be said to be +passionately so, removing their hair from off their ears, and bending +their heads forward, as if to catch the sounds more distinctly, whenever +we amused them in this manner. Their own music is entirely vocal, +unless, indeed, the drum and tambarine before mentioned be considered an +exception. + +The voices of the women are soft and feminine, and, when singing with +the men, are pitched an octave higher than theirs. They have most of +them so far good ears, that, in whatever key a song is commenced by one +of them, the rest will always join in perfect unison. After singing for +ten minutes, the key had usually fallen a full semitone. Only two of +them, of whom Iligliuk was one, could catch the tune as pitched by an +instrument, which made it difficult with most of them to complete the +writing of the notes; for if they once left off they were sure to +recommence in some other key, though a flute or violin was playing at +the time. + + * * * * * + +During the season passed at Winter Island, which appears to have been a +healthy one with the Esquimaux, we had little opportunity of becoming +acquainted with the diseases to which they are subject. Our subsequent +intercourse with a great number of these people at Igloolik having +unfortunately afforded more frequent and fatal instances of sickness +among them, I here insert Mr. Edwards's remarks on this subject. + + + "Our first communication with these people at Winter Island gave us + a more favourable impression of their general health than + subsequent experience confirmed. There, however, they were not free + from sickness. A catarrhal affection, in the month of February, + became generally prevalent, from which they readily recovered after + the exciting causes, intemperance and exposure to wet, had ceased + to operate. A solitary instance of pleurisy also occurred, which + probably might have ended fatally but for timely assistance. Our + intercourse with them in the summer was more interrupted; but at + our occasional meetings they were observed to be enjoying excellent + health. It is probable that their certain supplies of food, and the + nomade kind of life they lead in its pursuit during that season, + are favourable to health. Nutrition goes on actively, and an + astonishing increase of strength and fulness is acquired. Active + diseases might now be looked for, but that the powers of nature are + providentially exerted with effect. + + "The unlimited use of stimulating animal food, on which they are + from infancy fed, induces at an early age a highly plethoric state + of the vascular system. The weaker, over-distended vessels of the + nose quickly yield to the increased impetus of the blood, and an + active hemorrhage relieves the subject. As the same causes continue + to be applied in excess at frequent intervals, and are followed by + similar effects, a kind of vicarious hemorrhage at length becomes + established by habit; superseding the intervention of art, and + having no small share in maintaining a balance in the circulating + system. The phenomenon is too constant to have escaped the + observation of those who have visited the different Esquimaux + people; a party of them has, indeed, rarely been seen, that did not + exhibit two or three instances of the fact. + + "About the month of September, the approach of winter induced the + Esquimaux at Igloolik to abandon their tents and to retire into + their more established village. The majority were here crowded into + huts of a permanent construction, the materials composing the sides + being stones and the bones of whales, and the roofs being formed of + skins, turf, and snow; the rest of the people were lodged in snow + huts. For a while they continued very healthy; in fact, as long as + the temperature of the interior did not exceed the freezing point, + the vapours of the atmosphere congealed upon the walls, and the + air remained dry and tolerably pure; besides, their hard-frozen + winter stock of walrus did not at this time tempt them to indulge + their appetites immoderately. In January the temperature suffered + an unseasonable rise; some successful captures of walrus also took + place; and these circumstances, combined perhaps with some + superstitious customs of which we were ignorant, seemed the signal + for giving way to sensuality. The lamps were accumulated, and the + kettles more frequently replenished; and gluttony, in its most + disgusting form, became for a while the order of the day. The + Esquimaux were now seen wallowing in filth, while some, surfeited, + lay stretched upon their skins, enormously distended, and with + their friends employed in rolling them about, to assist the + operations of oppressed nature. The roofs of their huts were no + longer congealed, but dripping with wet and threatening speedy + dissolution. The air was, in the bone huts, damp, hot, and beyond + sufferance offensive with putrid exhalations from the decomposing + relics of offals or other animal matter permitted to remain from + year to year undisturbed in these horrible sinks. + + "What the consequences might have been had this state of affairs + long continued, it is not difficult to imagine; but, fortunately + for them, an early and gradual dispersion took place, so that by + the end of January few individuals were left in the village. The + rest, in divided bodies, established themselves in snow huts upon + the sea-ice at some distance from the land. Before this change had + been completed, disorders of an inflammatory character had + appeared. A few went away sick, some were unable to remove, and + others taken ill upon the ice, and we heard of the death of several + about this period. + + "Their distance from the ships at once precluded any effectual + assistance being rendered them at their huts, and their removal on + board with safety; the complaints of those who died at the huts, + therefore, did not come under observation. It appears, however, to + have been acute inflammation of some of the abdominal viscera, very + rapid in its career. In the generality, the disease assumed a more + insidious and sub-acute form, under which the patient lingered for + a while, and was then either carried off by a diarrhoea, or slowly + recovered by the powers of nature. Three or four individuals, who, + with some risk and trouble, were brought to the ships, we were + providentially instrumental in recovering; but two others, almost + helpless patients, were so far exhausted before their arrival, that + the endeavours used were unsuccessful, and death was probably + hastened by their removal. + + "That affection of the eyes known by the name of snow-blindness, is + extremely frequent among these people. With them it scarcely ever + goes beyond painful irritation, while among strangers inflammation + is sometimes the consequence. I have not seen them use any other + remedy besides the exclusion of light; but, as a preventive, a + wooden eye-screen is worn, very simple in its construction, + consisting of a curved piece of wood, six or seven inches long, and + ten or twelve lines broad. It is tied over the eyes like a pair of + spectacles, being adapted to the forehead and nose, and hollowed + out to favour the motion of the eyelids. A few rays of light only + are admitted through a narrow slit an inch long, cut opposite to + each eye. + + "There are, upon the whole, no people more destitute of curative + means than these. With the exception of the hemorrhage already + mentioned, which they duly appreciate, and have been observed to + excite artificially to cure headache, they are ignorant of any + rational method of procuring relief. It has not been ascertained + that they use a single herb medicinally. As prophylactics, they + wear amulets, which are usually the teeth, bones, or hair of some + animal, the more rare apparently the more valuable. In absolute + sickness they depend entirely upon their Angekoks, who, they + persuade themselves, have influence over some submarine deities who + govern their destiny. The mummeries of these impostors, consisting + in pretended consultations with their oracles, are looked upon with + confidence, and their mandates, however absurd, superstitiously + submitted to. These are constituted of unmeaning ceremonies and + prohibitions generally affecting the diet, both in kind and mode, + but never in quantity. Seal's flesh is forbidden, for instance, in + one disease, that of the walrus in the other; the heart is denied + to some, and the liver to others. A poor woman, on discovering that + the meat she had in her mouth was a piece of fried heart instead of + liver, appeared horror-struck; and a man was in equal tribulation + at having eaten, by mistake, a piece of meat cooked in his wife's + kettle. + + "Personal deformity from malconformation is uncommon; the only + instance I remember being that of a young woman, whose utterance + was unintelligibly nasal, in consequence of an imperfect + development of the palatine bones leaving a gap in the roof of the + mouth." + + + * * * * * + +Whatever may be the abundance sometimes enjoyed by these people, and +whatever the maladies occasioned by their too frequent abuse of it, it +is certain that they occasionally suffer very severely from the opposite +extreme. A remarkably intelligent woman informed Captain Lyon, that two +years ago some Esquimaux arrived at Igloolik from a place near +_Akkoolee_, bringing information that, during a very grievous famine, +one party of men had fallen upon another and killed them; and that they +afterward subsisted on their flesh, while in a frozen state, but never +cooked or even thawed it. This horrible account was soon after confirmed +by Toolemak on board the Fury; and though he was evidently uneasy at our +having heard the story, and conversed upon it with reluctance, yet, by +means of our questions, he was brought to name, upon his fingers, five +individuals who had been killed upon this occasion. Of the fact, +therefore, there can be no doubt; but it is certain, also, that we +ourselves scarcely regarded it with greater horror than those who +related it; and the occurrence may be considered similar to those +dreadful instances on record, even among civilized nations, of men +devouring one another, in wrecks or boats, when rendered desperate by +the sufferings of actual starvation. + +The ceremony of crying, which has before been mentioned as practised +after a person's death, is not, however, altogether confined to those +melancholy occasions, but is occasionally adopted in cases of illness, +and that of no very dangerous kind. The father of a sick person enters +the apartment, and, after looking at him a few seconds without speaking, +announces by a kind of low sob his preparation for the coming ceremony. +At this signal every other individual present composes his features for +crying, and the leader of the chorus then setting up a loud and piteous +howl, which lasts about a minute, is joined by all the rest, who shed +abundant tears during the process. So decidedly is this a matter of +form, unaccompanied by any feeling of sorrow, that those who are not +relatives shed just as many tears as those that are; to which may be +added, that in the instances which we saw there was no real occasion for +crying at all. It must, therefore, be considered in the light of a +ceremony of condolence, which it would be either indecorous or unlucky +to omit. + +I have already given several instances of the little care these people +take in the interment of their dead, especially in the winter season; it +is certain, however, that this arises from some superstitious notion, +and particularly from the belief that any heavy weight upon the corpse +would have an injurious effect upon the deceased in a future state of +existence; for even in the summer, when it would be an easy matter to +secure a body from the depredations of wild animals, the mode of burial +is not essentially different. The corpse of a child observed by +Lieutenant Palmer, he describes "as being laid in a regular but shallow +grave, with its head to the northeast. It was decently dressed in a good +deerskin jacket, and a sealskin prepared without the hair was carefully +placed as a cover to the whole figure, and tucked in on all sides. The +body was covered with flat pieces of limestone, which, however, were so +light that a fox might easily have removed them. Near the grave were +four little separate piles of stones, not more than a foot in height, in +one of which we noticed a piece of red cloth and a black silk +handkerchief, in a second a pair of child's boots and mittens, and in +each of the others a whalebone pot. The face of the child looked +unusually clean and fresh, and a few days could only have elapsed since +its decease." + +These Esquimaux do not appear to have any idea of the existence of One +Supreme Being, nor indeed can they be said to entertain any notions on +this subject which may be dignified with the name of Religion. Their +superstitions, which are numerous, have all some reference to the +preternatural agency of a number of _to=orng~ow_ or spirits, with +whom, on certain occasions, the _Angetkooks_ pretend to hold mysterious +intercourse, and who, in various and distinct ways, are supposed to +preside over the destinies of the Esquimaux. On particular occasions of +sickness or want of food, the Angetkooks contrive, by means of a +darkened hut, a peculiar modulation of the voices and the uttering of a +variety of unintelligible sounds, to persuade their countrymen that they +are descending to the lower regions for this purpose, where they force +the spirits to communicate the desired information. The superstitious +reverence in which these wizards are held, and a considerable degree of +ingenuity in their mode of performing their mummery, prevent the +detection of the imposture, and secure implicit confidence in these +absurd oracles. Some account of their ideas repecting death, and of +their belief in a future state of existence, has already been introduced +in the course of the foregoing pages, in the order of those occurrences +which furnished us with opportunities of observing them. + + + + + + + +NARRATIVE + +OF + +AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE + +NORTH POLE, + +IN BOATS FITTED FOR THE PURPOSE, AND ATTACHED +TO HIS MAJESTY'S SHIP HECLA, + +IN THE YEAR 1827. + + + + + + + + +NARRATIVE + +INTRODUCTION. + + +In April, 1826, I proposed to the Right Honourable Viscount Melville, +first lord commissioner of the Admiralty, to attempt to reach the North +Pole by means of travelling with sledge-boats over the ice, or through +any spaces of open water that might occur. My proposal was soon +afterward referred to the president and council of the Royal Society, +who strongly recommended its adoption; and an expedition being +accordingly directed to be equipped for this purpose, I had the honour +of being appointed to the command of it; and my commission for his +majesty's ship the Hecla, which was intended to carry us to Spitzbergen, +was dated the 11th of November, 1826. + +Two boats were constructed at Woolwich, under my superintendence, after +an excellent model suggested by Mr. Peake, and nearly resembling what +are called "troop-boats," having great flatness of floor, with the +extreme breadth carried well forward and aft, and possessing the utmost +buoyancy, as well as capacity for stowage. Their length was twenty feet, +and their extreme breadth seven feet. The timbers were made of tough ash +and hickory, one inch by half an inch square, and a foot apart, with a +"half-timber" of smaller size between each two. On the outside of the +frame thus formed was laid a covering of Macintosh's water-proof +canvass, the outer part being covered with tar. Over this was placed a +plank of fir, only three sixteenths of an inch thick; then a sheet of +stout felt; and, over all, an oak plank of the same thickness as the +fir; the whole of these being firmly and closely secured to the timbers +by iron screws applied from without. The following narrative will show +how admirably the elasticity of this mode of construction was adapted to +withstand the constant twisting and concussion to which the boats were +subject.[013] On each side of the keel, and projecting considerably +below it, was attached a strong "runner," shod with smooth steel, in the +manner of a sledge, upon which the boat entirely rested while upon the +ice; and, to afford some additional chance of making progress on hard +and level fields, we also applied to each boat two wheels, of five feet +diameter, and a small one abaft, having a swivel for steering by, like +that of a Bath chair; but these, owing to the irregularities of the ice, +did not prove of any service, and were subsequently relinquished. A +"span" of hide-rope was attached to the forepart of the runners, and to +this were affixed two strong ropes of horse-hair, for dragging the boat: +each individual being furnished with a broad leathern shoulder-belt, +which could readily be fastened to or detached from the drag-ropes. The +interior arrangement consisted only of two thwarts; a locker at each +end for the nautical and other instruments, and for the smaller stores; +and a very slight framework along the sides for containing the bags of +biscuit and our spare clothes. A bamboo mast nineteen feet long, a +tanned duck sail, answering also the purpose of an awning, a spreat, one +boat-hook, fourteen paddles, and a steer-oar, completed each boat's +equipment. + +Two officers and twelve men (ten of the latter being seamen, and two +marines) were selected for each boat's crew. It was proposed to take +with us resources for ninety days; to set out from Spitzbergen, if +possible, about the beginning of June; and to occupy the months of June, +July, and August in attempting to reach the Pole and returning to the +ship; making an average journey of thirteen miles and a half per day. +Our provisions consisted of biscuit of the best wheaten flour; beef +_pemmican_;[014] sweetened cocoa-powder, and a small proportion of rum, +the latter concentrated to fifty-five per cent. above proof, in order to +save weight and stowage. The proper instruments were provided, both by +the Admiralty and the Board of Longitude, for making such observations +as might be interesting in the higher latitudes, and as the nature of +the enterprise would permit. Six pocket chronometers, the property of +the public, were furnished for this service; and Messrs. Parkinson and +Frodsham, with their usual liberality, intrusted to our care several +other excellent watches, on trial, at their own expense. + +Annexed is a list of the different articles composing the equipment of +the boats, together with the actual weight of each. + + + Enter- Endeav- + prise our + lbs. lbs. +Boat . . . . . . . . . 1539 1542 +Bamboo mast, 1 spreat, 1 boat-hook, 1 steer-oar. . 46-1/2 46-1/2 +Fourteen paddles . . . . . . . 41 41 +Sail (or awning) . . . . . . . 22 22 +Spare rope and line . . . . . . 6 6 +Small sounding line (750 fathoms in all) . . . 8 10 +Carpenters' tools, screws, nails, &c. . . . 10 10 +Copper and felt for repairs . . . . . 19 19 +Four fowling pieces,with 2 bayonets. . . . 15 15 +Small articles for guns. . . . . . -- 4 +Ammunition . . . . . . . . 17-1/2 17-1/2 +Instruments. . . . . . . . 29 29 +Books. . . . . . . . . 7 5-1/2 +S { +p {Fur Suits for sleeping in (14 in each boat) . . 162 162 +a {Thick-nailed boots (14 in each boat) . . . 47 47 +r {Esquimaux do., with spare soles (14 in each . +e { boat . . . . . . . . 33 33 +C {Flannel shirts (7 in each boat) . . . . 8-3/4 8-3/4 +l {Guernsey frocks (do. do.) . . . . . 11-1/2 11-1/2 +o {Thick drawers (do. do.) . . . . 14 14 +t {Mittens (28 in each boat) . . . . . 5 5 +h {Comforters (14 in each boat) . . . . 1 1 +e {Scotch caps (do. do.) . . . . . 4 4 +s { +A bag of small articles for the officers, . + including soap, &c., &c. . . . . . 4 4 +Do. do. for the men do. . . . . . 12 12 +Biscuit . . . . . . . . 628 628 +Pemmican . . . . . . . . 564 564 +Rum . . . . . . . . 180 180 +Cocoa powder, sweetened. . . . . . 63 63 +Salt . . . . . . . . . 14 14 +Spirits of Wine . . . . . . . 72 72 +Cooking apparatus. . . . . . . -- 20 +Tobacco . . . . . . . . 20 20 +Medicine chest . 19 -- +Pannikins, knife, fork, and spoon (14 in each boat) . 5 5 +Weighing-dials and measures . 2 2 +Various small articles for repairs, &c., not mentioned +above 14 -- +Packages for provisions, clothes, &c 110 116 + ---- ---- + 14)3753 1/4 3753 3/4 + + Weight, per man 268 lbs. +Exclusive of four sledges, weighing 26 lbs. each. + + +I have not thought it necessary, in the course of this volume, to enter +into any examination of the question respecting the approaches to the +North Pole which had already been effected previous to our late attempt. +I shall, therefore, only add that, after carefully weighing the various +authorities, from which every individual interested in this matter is at +liberty to form his own conclusions, my own impartial conviction, at the +time of our setting out on this enterprise, coincided (with a single +exception) with the opinion expressed by the Commissioners of Longitude +in their memorial to the king, that "the progress of discovery had not +arrived northward, according to any well-authenticated accounts, so far +as eighty-one degrees of north latitude." The exception to which I +allude is in favour of Mr. Scoresby, who states his having, in the year +1806, reached the latitude of 81 deg. 12' 42" by actual observation, and +81 deg. 30' by dead reckoning. I therefore consider the latter parallel +as, in all probability, the highest which had ever been attained prior +to the attempt recorded in the following pages. + + + * * * * * + + +The Hecla being ready to proceed down the river, she was taken in tow, +at ten A.M. on the 25th of March, 1827, by the Lightning steam-vessel; +and having received and returned the cheers of the Greenwich pensioners, +the children of the Naval Asylum, and of various ships in the river, she +made fast to the moorings at Northfleet at three P.M. The following day +was occupied in swinging the ship round on the various points of the +compass, in order to obtain the amount of the deviation of the magnetic +needle produced by the attraction of the ship's iron, and to fix Mr. +Barlow's plate for correcting it.[015] On the 3d of April the ship's +company received three months' wages in advance, together with their +river-pay; and on the following morning, at half past four, we weighed +and made sail from the Nore. + +We had at this time remarkably fine weather for the season of the year, +and such a continuance of southerly winds that we arrived off the island +of Soroe, within which Hammerfest lies, on the 17th, without having had +occasion to make a tack till we entered the fiord which forms the +northern entrance. + +The wind becoming light from the southward, and very variable, we were +occupied the whole of the 18th in beating up towards Hammerfest. In the +evening a Lapland boat came on board, and one of the men undertook to +pilot the ship to the anchorage, which, after beating all night against +an ebb tide, we reached at three A.M. on the 19th. Finding that our +reindeer had not arrived, I immediately despatched Lieutenant Crozier, +in one of our own boats, to Alten, from whence they were expected--a +distance of about sixty English miles. At the same time, we landed our +observatories and instruments at Fugleness, near the establishment of +Messrs. Crowe and Woodfall, the British merchants residing here; and +Lieutenant Foster and myself immediately commenced our magnetic and +other observations, which were continued during the whole of our stay +here. We completed our supply of water, and obtained a small quantity of +venison, with abundance of good fish (principally torsk and cod), and +some milk. We also purchased a set of snow-shoes for our travelling +party, together with the Lapland shoes of leather (called Kamooga[016]), +which are the most convenient and comfortable for wearing with them; and +we practised our people in the manner of walking in them in deep snow, +which afforded them fine exercise and amusement. + +On the 23d, Lieutenant Crozier returned in the boat from Alten, and was +followed the next day by Mr. Wooodfall, who brought with him eight +reindeer for our use, together with a supply of moss for their provender +(_cenomyce rangiferina_). As, however, the latter required a great deal +of picking, so as to render it fit to carry with us over the ice, and +as it was also necessary that we should be instructed in the manner of +managing the deer, I determined on remaining a day or two longer for +these purposes. Nothing can be more beautiful than the training of the +Lapland reindeer. With a simple collar of skin round his neck, a single +trace of the same material attached to the "pulk" or sledge, and passing +between his legs, and one rein, fastened like a halter about his neck, +this intelligent and docile animal is perfectly under the command of an +experienced driver, and performs astonishing journeys over the softest +snow. When the rein is thrown over on the off side of the animal, he +immediately sets off at a full, trot, and stops short the instant it is +thrown back to the near side. Shaking the rein over his back is the only +whip that is required. In a short time after setting off, they appear to +be gasping for breath, as if quite exhausted; but, if not driven too +fast at first, they soon recover this, and then go on without +difficulty. The quantity of _clean_ moss considered requisite for each +deer per day is four pounds; but they will go five or six days without +provender, and not suffer materially. As long as they can pick up snow +as they go along, which they like to eat quite clean, they require no +water; and ice is to them a comfortable bed. It may well be imagined, +with such qualifications, how valuable these animals seemed likely to +prove to us; and the more we became accustomed, and, I may say, attached +to them, the more painful became the idea of the necessity which was +likely to exist, of ultimately having recourse to them as provision for +ourselves. + +Our preparations were completed on the 27th, but the wind continuing +fresh from the northwestern quarter in the offing, we had no prospect of +making any progress till the morning of the 29th, when we weighed at six +A.M. + +On the 5th of May, being in latitude 73 deg. 30', and longitude 7 deg. +28' E., we met with the first straggling mass of ice, after which, in +sailing about 110 miles in a N.N.W. direction, there was always a number +of loose masses in sight; but it did not occur in continuous "streams" +till the morning of the 7th, in latitude 74 deg. 55', a few miles to the +eastward of the meridian of Greenwich. On the 10th several whalers were +in sight, and Mr. Bennett, the master of the Venerable, of Hull, whom we +had before met in Baffin's Bay in 1818, came on board. From him I +learned that several of the ships had been in the ice since the middle +of April, some of them having been so far to the westward as the island +of Jan Mayen, and that they were now endeavouring to push to the +northward. They considered the ice to offer more obstacles to the +attainment of this object than it had done for many years past.[017] +None of the ships had yet taken a single whale, which, indeed, they +never expect to do to the southward of about 78 deg. + +In the afternoon, after waiting for some time for the ice to open, we +again entered it, in company with all the whalers, and by the following +morning had succeeded in pushing about fifty miles farther to the +northward, though not without some heavy blows in "boring" through the +ice. + +At five A.M. on the 14th we passed Magdalena Bay, and by ten o'clock had +arrived off Hakluyt's Headland, round which we hauled to the +southeastward, to look, for anchorage in Smerenburg Harbour. In this, +however, we were disappointed, the whole place being occupied by one +unbroken floe of ice, still firmly attached to the land on each side. +Here we made fast, though not without considerable difficulty; the wind, +which was now freshening from the southward, blowing in such violent and +irregular gusts off the high land that the ship was scarcely manageable. +Walruses, dovekies, and eider-ducks were very numerous here, especially +the former; and four reindeer came down upon the ice near the ship. + +We now prepared a quantity of provisions and other stores to land at +Hakluyt's Headland, as a supply for my party on our return from the +northward; so that, in case of the ship being obliged to go more to the +southward, or of our not being able at once to reach her, we should be +furnished with a few days' resources of every kind. Our intentions were, +however, frustrated for the present; for we had scarcely secured our +hawsers, when a hard gale came on from the southward, threatening every +moment to snap them in two, and drive us from our anchorage. We held on +for several hours, till, at nine P.M., some swell having set in upon the +margin of the ice, it began to break off and drift away. Every possible +exertion was instantly made to shift our stream cable farther in upon +the floe; but it broke away so quickly as to baffle every endeavour, +and at ten the ship went adrift, the wind blowing still harder than +before. Having hauled in the hawsers and got the boats on board, we set +the close-reefed topsails, to endeavour to hang to windward; but the +wind blew in such tremendous gusts from the high land as almost to lay +the ship on her beam-ends; so that we were obliged to reduce our canvass +to the main topsail and stormsails, and let her drive to leeward.[018] +The situation of the ship now appeared a very precarious one, the wind +still blowing with unabated violence, and with every appearance of a +continuance of stormy weather. Under these circumstances, it was the +general opinion of the officers, as well as my own, that it was +advisable to take advantage of the comparatively smooth water within the +stream of ice, and to run the ship into the pack, rather than incur the +risk of having to do the same thing in a heavy sea. This plan succeeded +remarkably well; a tolerably smooth and open part of the margin being +selected, the ship was forced into it at three A.M., when, after +encountering a few severe blows from the heavy washed pieces which +always occur near the sea-edge, she was gradually carried onward under +all sail, and at four A.M. we got into a perfectly smooth and secure +situation, half a mile within the margin of a "pack." + +It was impossible not to consider ourselves highly fortunate in having +thus early, and with no great difficulty, succeeded in reaching the +highest latitude to which it was our object to take the ship. But, from +what we had already seen at Smerenburg, it was also impossible not to +feel much anxiety as to the prospect of getting her into any secure +harbour before the proper time of my departure to the northward should +arrive. However, we could only wait patiently for the result of a few +more days; and, in the mean time, everybody was busily employed in +completing the arrangements for our departure, so that, if an +opportunity did offer of securing the ship, we might have nothing else +to attend to. Our deer were in good order, having been thriving well +ever since they came on board; they make excellent sailors, and do not +seem to mind bad weather, always lying down quite comfortable whenever +there is any sea. + +In order to try what our chances were, at the present low temperature, +of procuring water upon the ice without expense of fuel, we laid a black +painted canvass cloth, and also a piece of black felt, upon the surface +of the snow; the temperature of the atmosphere being from 18 deg. to 23 +deg. These substances had, in a couple of hours, sunk half an inch into +the snow, but no water could be collected. I was desirous, also, of +ascertaining whether any part of the real sea-ice was so entirely fresh +when melted as to be drunk without injury or inconvenience. For this +purpose we cut a block of ice from a large hummock, about ten feet high +above the sea; and having broken, pounded, and melted it, without any +previous washing, we found it, both by the hydrometer and by the +chemical test (nitrate of silver), _more_ free from salt than any which +we had in our tanks, and which was procured from Hammerfest. I +considered this satisfactory, because, in the autumn, the pools of water +met with upon the ice generally become very brackish, in consequence of +the sea-water being drawn up into them by capillary action as the ice +becomes more "rotten" and porous; and we might, therefore, have to +depend chiefly on melted ice for our daily supply. + +No change took place till the 21st, when, on the weather clearing up, we +found that the open water we had left to the westward was now wholly +closed up, and that there was none whatever in sight. It was now also so +close in-shore, that on the 22d, Lieutenant Ross, with a party of +officers and men, succeeded in landing without difficulty. They found a +small floe of level ice close to the beach, which appeared very lately +formed. Walking up to a little conspicuous eminence near the eastern end +of the beach, they found it to be composed of clay-slate, tinged of a +brownish red colour. The few uncovered parts of the beach were strewed +with smooth schistose fragments of the same mineral, and in some parts a +quantity of thin slates of it lay closely disposed together in a +vertical position. On the little hillock were two graves, bearing the +dates of 1741 and 1762 on some of the stones which marked them, and a +considerable quantity of fir driftwood lay upon the beach. + +I now clearly saw that there was, for the present, no reasonable +prospect of our getting towards any harbour; and I could not but feel +confident that, even if we did get to the entrance of any, some time +must be occupied in securing the ship. It may be well imagined how +anxious I had now become to delay no longer in setting out upon the +main object of the expedition. I felt that a few days at the +commencement of the season, short as it is in these regions, might be of +great importance as to the result of our enterprise, while the ship +seemed to be so far secure from any immediate danger as to justify my +leaving her, with a reduced crew, in her present situation. The nature +of the ice was, beyond all comparison, the most unfavourable for our +purpose that I remember to have ever seen. It consisted only of loose +pieces, scarcely any of them fifteen or twenty yards square; and when +any so large did occur, their, margins were surrounded by the smaller +ones, thrown up by the recent pressure into ten thousand various shapes, +and presenting high and sharp angular masses at every other step. The +men compared it to a stone-mason's yard, which, except that the stones +were of ten times the usual dimensions, it indeed very much resembled. +The only inducement to set out over such a road was the certainty that +floes and fields lay beyond it, and the hope that they were not _far_ +beyond it. In this respect, indeed, I considered our present easterly +position as a probable advantage, since the ice was much less likely to +have been disturbed to any great extent northward in this meridian than +to the westward clear of the land, where every southerly breeze was sure +to be making havoc among it. Another very important advantage in setting +off on this meridian appeared to me to be, that, the land of Spitzbergen +lying immediately over against the ice, the latter could never drift so +much or so fast to the southward as it might farther to the westward. + +Upon these grounds it was that I was anxious to make an attempt, at +least, as soon as our arrangements could be completed; and the officers +being of the same opinion as myself, we hoisted out the boats early in +the morning of the 27th, and, having put the things into one of them, +endeavoured, by way of experiment, to get her to a little distance from +the ship. Such however, were the irregularities of the ice, that, even +with the assistance of an additional party of men, it was obvious that +we could not have gained a single mile in a day, and, what was still +more important, not without almost certain and serious injury to the +boats by their striking against the angular masses. Under these +circumstances, it was but too evident to every one that it would have +been highly imprudent to persist in setting out, since, if the ice, +after all, should clear away, even in a week, so as to allow us to get a +few miles nearer the main body, time would be ultimately saved by our +delay, to say nothing of the wear and tear, and expense of our +provisions. I was, therefore, very reluctantly compelled to yield to +this necessity, and to order the things to be got on board again. + +Immediately after we had, on the 27th, proved experimentally the extreme +difficulty of transporting our boats and stores over the ice which now +surrounded us, I made up my mind to the very great probability there +seemed to be of the necessity of adopting such alterations in our +original plans as would accommodate them to these untoward circumstances +at the outset. The boats forming the main impediment, not so much on +account of their absolute weight as from the difficulty of managing so +large a body upon a road of this nature, I made preparations for the +possible contingency of our having to take only one, continuing the same +number of men in our whole party. All that I saw reason to apprehend +from having only a single boat on our outward journey, was some +occasional delay in ferrying over spaces of water in two trips instead +of one; but we considered that this would be much more than compensated +by the increased rate at which we should go whenever we were upon the +ice, as we expected to be nine days out of ten. The principal +disadvantage, therefore, consisted in our not all being able to sleep in +the boat, and this we proposed to obviate in the following manner. + +We constructed out of the Lapland snow-shoes fourteen sledges, each +sledge consisting of two pairs well fastened together. Upon these we +proposed dragging almost all the weight, so as to keep the boat nearly +without any cargo in her, as we found by experiment that a man could +drag about three hundred pounds on one of the sledges with more facility +than he could drag the boat when his proportion did not exceed one +hundred pounds. Upon these sledges we proposed lodging half our party +alternately each night, placing them under the lee of the boat, and then +stretching over them, as a sloped roof, a second awning, which we fitted +for the purpose. Upon this plan we likewise could afford to make our +boat considerably stronger, adding some stout iron knees to the supports +of her runners, and increasing our store of materials for repairing her. +The weight reduced by this arrangement would have been above two +thousand pounds, without taking away any article conducive to our +comfort, except the boat and her gear. I proposed to the officers and +men who had been selected to accompany me this change in our equipment; +and I need scarcely say that they all clearly saw the probable necessity +of it, and cheerfully acquiesced in its adoption, if requisite. + +On the 29th I sent Lieutenants Foster and Crozier, with the greater part +of the ship's company, and with a third or spare travelling-boat, to +endeavour to land her on Red Beach, together with a quantity of stores, +including provisions, as a deposite for us on our return from the +northward, should it so happen, as was not improbable, that we should +return to the eastward. It is impossible to describe the labour +attending this attempt. Suffice it to say, that, after working for +fourteen hours, they returned on board at midnight, having accomplished +about four miles out of the six. The next day they returned to the boat, +and, after several hours' exertion, landed her on the beach with the +stores. What added to the fatigue of this service was the necessity of +taking a small boat to cross pools of water on their return, so that +they had to drag this boat both ways, besides that which they went to +convey. Having, however, had an opportunity of trying what could be done +upon a regular and level floe which lay close to the beach, everybody +was of opinion, as I had always been, that we could easily travel twenty +miles a day on ice of that kind. + +It will not be wondered at if the apparent hopelessness of getting the +ship free for the present again suggested the necessity of my own +setting out: and I had once more, on the 1st of June, after an anxious +consultation with my officers, resolved on making a second attempt, when +the ice near us, which had opened at regular hours with the tide for +three or four days past, began to set us much more rapidly than usual to +the eastward, and towards a low point which runs off from Red Beach, +near its western end, causing us to shoal the water in a few hours from +fifty-two to twenty fathoms, and on the following morning to fourteen +and a half. By sending a lead-line over the ice a few hundred yards +beyond us, we found ten fathoms water. However unfavourable the aspect +of our affairs seemed before, this new change could not fail to alter it +for the worse. The situation of the ship now, indeed, required my whole +attention; for the ice occasionally opened and shut within twenty or +twenty-five yards of us on the in-shore side, the ship herself was still +very firmly imbedded by the turned up masses which pressed upon her on +the 19th, and which, on the other side, as well as ahead and astern, +were of considerable extent. Thus she formed, as it were, part of a +floe, which went drifting about in the manner above described. This was +of little importance while she was in sixty fathoms of water, as she was +for the first fourteen days of our besetment, and a distance of five or +six miles from the land; but now that she had shoaled the water so +considerably, and approached the low point within two or three miles, it +became a matter of importance to try whether any labour we could bestow +upon it would liberate the ship from her present imbedded state, so as +to be at least ready to take advantage of slack water, should any occur, +to keep her off the shore. All hands were therefore set to work with +handspikes, capstan-bars, and axes, it being necessary to detach every +separate mass, however small, before the larger ones could be moved. The +harassing and laborious nature of this operation is such as nothing but +experience can possibly give an idea of, especially when, as in this +case, we had only a small pool of clear water near the margin in which +the detached pieces could be floated out. However, we continued at work, +with only the necessary intermissions for rest and meals, during this +and the two following days, and on the evening of the 3d had +accomplished all that the closeness of the ice would permit; but the +ship was still by no means free, numberless masses of ice being doubled +under her, even below her keel, which could not be moved without more +space for working. + +Painful as was this protracted delay in setting out upon the principal +object of the expedition, the absolute necessity of it will scarcely, I +think, be doubted by any person conversant in such matters. So long as +the ship continued undisturbed by the ice, nearly stationary, and in +deep water, for several days together, I had, in my anxiety to lose not +a moment's time, ventured to flatter myself with the hope that, in a +case of such unlooked-for emergency, when every moment of our short and +uncertain season was of importance, I might be justified in quitting my +ship at sea; and in this opinion the zeal of my officers, both those who +were to accompany me and those who were to remain on board, induced them +unanimously to concur. But the case was now materially altered; for it +had become plain to every seaman in the ship, first, that the safety of +the Hecla, if thus left with less than half her working hands, could not +be reckoned upon for an hour; and, secondly, that no human foresight +could enable us to conjecture, should we set out while she was thus +situated, when or where we should find her on our return. In fact, it +appeared to us at this time, as indeed it was, a very providential +circumstance, that the impracticable nature of the ice for travelling +had offered no encouragement to persevere in my original intention of +setting out a week before this time. + +For the two following days we continued closely beset, but still driving +to the eastward across the mouth of Weyde Bay, which is here six or +seven miles in breadth, and appeared to be very deep, the land in the +centre receding to a distance of full eight leagues. In the afternoon of +the 6th, we had driven within five miles of a point of land, beyond +which, to the eastward, it seemed to recede considerably; and this +appearing to answer tolerably to the situation of Muscle or Mussel Bay, +as laid down in most of the charts, I was very anxious to discover +whether we could here find shelter for the ship. A lane of water leading +towards the land at no great distance from us, I hauled a boat over the +ice and then rowed on shore, accompanied by Lieutenant Foster and some +of the other officers, taking with me another small store of provisions, +to be deposited here, as a future resource for my party, should we +approach this part of the coast. + +Landing at half past six P.M., and leaving Mr. Bird to bury the +provisions, Lieutenant Foster and myself walked without delay to the +eastward, and, on ascending the point, found that there was, as we had +supposed, an indentation in the coast on the other side. We now began to +conceive the most flattering hopes of discovering something like a +harbour for the ship, and pushed on with all possible haste to examine +the place farther; but, after three hours walking, were much mortified, +on arriving at its head, to find that it was nothing but an open bay, +entirely exposed to the inroads of all the northern ice, and therefore +quite unfit for the ship. We returned to the boat greatly disappointed, +and reached the Hecla at 1.30 A.M. on the 7th. + +I do not remember to have ever experienced in these regions such a +continuance of beautiful weather as we now had, during more than three +weeks that we had been on the northern coast of Spitzbergen. Day after +day we had a clear and cloudless sky, scarcely any wind, and, with the +exception of a few days previous to the 23d of May, a warm temperature +in the shade, and quite a scorching sun. On the 3d of June we had a +shower of rain, and on the 6th it rained pretty hard for two or three +hours. After the 1st of June we could procure abundance of excellent +water upon the ice, and by the end of the first week the floe-pieces +were looking blue with it in some parts, and the snow had everywhere +become too soft to bear a man's weight. + +On the 7th, the ship, still closely beset, had drifted much more to the +eastward, being within a mile of the spot where the provisions had been +deposited the preceding evening. There was now no other ice between us +and the land except the floe to which we had been so long attached; and +round this we were occasionally obliged to warp, whenever a little +slackening of the ice permitted, in order to prevent our getting too +near the rocks. In this situation of suspense and anxiety we still +remained until the evening of the 8th, when a breeze at length springing +up from the southward began to open out the ice from the point near +which we lay. As soon as the channel was three or four hundred yards +wide, we warped into the clear water, and, making sail, rounded the +point in safety, having no soundings with twenty fathoms, at one third +of a mile from a small rocky islet lying off it. In the mean time the +wind had been driving the ice so fast off the land as to form for us a +clear communication with the open water before seen to the eastward; and +thus we were at length liberated from our confinement, after a close and +tedious "besetment" of twenty-four days. + +The weather continued so thick, that, impatient as we were to stand in +towards the eastern land, we could not venture to do so till eleven A.M. +on the 10th, when we made sail towards Brandywine Bay, the wind being +now from the W.S.W., or nearly dead upon that shore. The weather +clearing up at 1.15 P.M., we saw the eastern land, and soon after +discovered the grounded ice off Low Island; Walden's Island was also +plainly in sight to the N.E. The bay seemed deeply indented, and very +likely to afford nooks such as we wanted; and where so large a space of +open water, and, consequently, some sea, had been exerting its influence +for a considerable time, we flattered ourselves with the most sanguine +hopes of now having access to the shores, sufficiently near, at least, +for sawing into some place of shelter. How, then, shall I express our +surprise and mortification in finding that the whole of the coast, from +the islands northward to Black Point, and apparently also as far as +Walden's Island, was rendered inaccessible by one continuous and heavy +floe, everywhere attached to the shores, and to the numberless grounded +masses about the island, this immense barrier being in some places six +or seven miles in width, and not less than twelve feet in thickness near +the margin. + +The prospect from our masthead at this time was certainly enough to cast +a damp over every sanguine expectation I had formed, of being _soon_ +enabled to place the Hecla in security; and more willingly than ever +would I, at this period, have persuaded myself, if possible, that I +should be justified in quitting her at sea. Such, however, was the +nature of this navigation, as regarded the combined difficulties arising +from ice and a large extent of shoal and unsurveyed ground, that, even +with our full complement of officers and men on board, all our strength +and exertions might scarcely have sufficed, in a single gale of wind, to +keep the ship tolerably secure, and much less could I have ensured +placing her ultimately in any proper situation for picking up an absent +party; for, if once again beset, she must, of course, be at the mercy of +the ice. The conclusion was, therefore, irresistibly forced upon my +mind, that thus to leave the ship would be to expose her to imminent and +certain peril, rendering it impossible to conjecture where we should +find her on our return, and, therefore, rashly to place all parties in a +situation from which nothing but disaster could reasonably be expected +to ensue. + +After beating through much ice, which was all of the drift or broken +kind, and had all found its way hither in the last two days, we got into +an open space of water in-shore, and about six miles to the northward of +Low Island; and on the morning of the 13th stretched in towards Walden +Island, around which we found, as we had feared, a considerable quantity +of fixed ice. It was certainly much less here, than elsewhere; but the +inner, or eastern side of the island was entirely enveloped by it. + +Having from twenty-six to twenty-four fathoms at the distance of four +miles from Walden Island, I was preparing two boats, with the intention +of going to sound about its northern point, which was the most clear of +ice, and not without a faint hope of finding something like shelter +there; but I was prevented by a thick fog coming on. Continuing, +therefore, to beat to the northward, we passed occasionally a good deal +of drift ice, but with every appearance of much clear water in that +direction; and the weather clearing about midnight, we observed in +latitude 80 deg.43'32". The Seven Islands were in sight to the eastward, +and the "Little Table Island" of Phipps bore E.N.E. (true) distant about +nine or ten miles. It is a mere craggy rock, rising, perhaps, from four +to five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and with a small low +islet lying off its northern end. This island, being the northernmost +known land in the world, naturally excited much of our curiosity; and +bleak, and barren, and rugged as it is, one could not help gazing at it +with intense interest. + +At midnight on the 14th we had reached the latitude 81 deg.5'32" Our +longitude by chronometers at this time was 19 deg. 34' E., Little Table +Island bearing S. 26 deg. E. (true), distant six or seven leagues, and +Walden Island S. 4 deg. E.[019] The depth of water was ninety-seven +fathoms, on a bottom of greenish mud; and the temperature at ninety-five +fathoms, by Six's thermometer, was 29.8 deg., that at the surface being +31 deg., and of the air 28 deg. All that could here be seen to the +northward was loose drift-ice. To the northeast it was particularly +open, and I have no doubt that we might have gone many miles farther in +that direction, had it not been a much more important object to keep the +ship free than to push her to the northward. + +We now stood back again to the southward, in order again to examine the +coast wherever we could approach it; but found, on the 15th, that none +of the land was at all accessible, the wind having got round to the +W.N.W., and loaded all the shores with drift-ice. + +Walden Island being the first part clear of the loose ice, we stretched +in for it on the 16th, and, when within two miles, observed that about +half that space was occupied by land-ice, even on its northwestern side, +which was the only accessible one, the rest being wholly enclosed by it. +However, being desirous of obtaining a better view than our crow's-nest +commanded, and also of depositing here a small quantity of provisions, +I left the ship at one P.M., accompanied by Lieutenant Foster in a +second boat, and, landing upon the ice, walked over about three quarters +of a mile of high and rugged hummocks to the shore. Ascending two or +three hundred feet, we had a clear and extensive view of the Seven +Islands, and of some land far beyond them to the eastward; and the whole +sea was covered with one unbroken land-floe, attached to all the shores +extending from the island where we stood, and which formed an abutment +for it each way along the land as far as the eye could reach. After this +discouraging prospect, which wholly destroyed every hope of finding a +harbour among the Seven Islands, we returned to the place where the men +had deposited the provisions, and, after making the necessary +observations for the survey, returned immediately on board. + +Observing from the island that the sea was perfectly clear to the +northward, we now stood for Little Table Island, with some slight hope +that the rock off its northern end might afford shelter for the ship; at +all events, being the most exposed, on account of its situation, it was +the most likely to be free from ice. A thick fog prevented our getting +near it till the morning of the 17th, when, having approached it within +a mile and a half, I sent Lieutenant Ross on shore to a little islet, +which was quite free from ice, where he deposited another small store of +provisions, but found nothing like shelter for the ship. + +Having no farther business here, and the easterly wind still continuing, +I thought the best thing we could do would be to run again to the +southward of Low Island, and try once more to approach the shores about +the entrance of the Waygatz Strait. We therefore bore up under all sail +to the southwest. + +It would be vain to deny that I had lately begun to entertain the most +serious apprehensions as related to the accomplishment of our principal +object. The 17th of June had now arrived, and all that we saw afforded +us the most discouraging prospect as to our getting the Hecla into +harbour; while every day's experience showed how utterly rash a measure +it would be to think of quitting her in her present situation, which, +even with all her officers and men, was one of extreme precariousness +and uncertainty. + +On the evening of the 18th, while standing in for the high land to the +eastward of Verlegen Hook, which, with due attention to the lead, may be +approached with safety, we perceived from the crow's-nest what appeared +a low point, possibly affording some shelter for the ship, and which +seemed to answer to an indentation of the coast laid down in an old +Dutch chart, and there called _Treurenburg Bay_. + +On the following morning I proceeded to examine the place, accompanied +by Lieutenant Ross in a second boat, and, to our great joy, found it a +considerable bay, with one part affording excellent landlocked anchorage +and, what was equally fortunate, sufficiently clear of ice to allow the +ship to enter. Having sounded the entrance and determined on the +anchorage, we returned to the ship to bring her in; and I cannot +describe the satisfaction which the information of our success +communicated to every individual on board. The main object of our +enterprise now appeared almost within our grasp, and everybody seemed +anxious to make up, by renewed exertions, for the time we had +unavoidably lost. The ship was towed and warped in with the greatest +alacrity, and at 1.40 A.M. on June 20th, we dropped the anchor in Hecla +Cove, in thirteen fathoms, on a bottom of very tenacious blue clay, and +made some hawsers fast to the land-ice, which still filled all the upper +part of the bay. After resting a few hours, we sawed a canal a quarter +of a mile in length, through which the ship was removed into a better +situation, a bower-cable taken on shore and secured to the rocks, and an +anchor, with the chain-cable, laid out the other way. On the morning of +the 21st we hauled the launch up on the beach, it being my intention to +direct such resources of every kind to be landed as would render our +party wholly independent of the ship, either for returning to England or +for wintering, in case of the ship being driven to sea by the ice; a +contingency against which, in these regions, no precaution can +altogether provide. I directed Lieutenant Foster, upon whom the charge +of the Hecla was now to devolve, to land without delay the necessary +stores, keeping the ship seaworthy by taking in an equal quantity of +ballast; and, as soon as he should be satisfied of her security from +ice, to proceed on the survey of the eastern coast; but, should he see +reason to doubt her safety with a still farther diminution of her crew +to relinquish the survey, and attend exclusively to the ship. I also +gave directions that notices should be sent, in the course of the +summer, to the various stations where our depots of provisions were +established, acquainting me with the situation and state of the ship, +and giving me any other information which might be necessary for my +guidance on our return from the northward. These and other arrangements +being completed, I left the ship at five P.M. with our two boats, which +we named the Enterprise and Endeavour, Mr. Beverly being attached to my +own, and Lieutenant Ross, accompanied by Mr. Bird, in the other. Besides +these, I took Lieutenant Crozier in one of the ship's cutters, for the +purpose of carrying some of our weight as far as Walden Island, and also +a third store of provisions to be deposited on Low Island, as an +intermediate station between Walden Island and the ship. As it was still +necessary not to delay our return beyond the end of August, the time +originally intended, I took, with me only seventy-one days provisions; +which, including the boats and every other article, made up a weight of +268 lbs. per man; and as it appeared highly improbable, from what we had +seen of the very rugged nature of the ice we should first have to +encounter, that either the reindeer, the snow-shoes, or the wheels would +prove of any service for some time to come, I gave up the idea of taking +them. We, however, constructed out of the snow-shoes four excellent +sledges for dragging a part of our baggage over the ice; and these +proved of invaluable service to us, while the rest of the things just +mentioned would only have been an encumbrance. + +Having received the usual salutation of three cheers from those we left +behind, we paddled through a quantity of loose ice at the entrance of +the bay, and then steered, in a perfectly open sea, and with calm and +beautiful weather, for the western part of Low Island, which we reached +at half past two on the morning of the 22d. + +Having deposited the provisions, we set off at four A.M., paddling watch +and watch, to give the people a little rest. It was still quite calm; +but there being much ice about the island, and a thick fog coming on, we +were several hours groping our way clear of it. The walruses were here +very numerous, lying in herds upon the ice, and plunging into the water +to follow us as we passed. The sound they utter is something between +bellowing and very loud snorting, which, together with their grim, +bearded countenances and long tusks, makes them appear, as indeed they +are, rather formidable enemies to contend with. Under our present +circumstances, we were very well satisfied not to molest them, for they +would soon have destroyed our boats if one had been wounded; but I +believe they are never the first to make the attack. We landed upon the +ice still attached to Walden Island at 3.30 A.M. on the 23d. Our +flat-bottomed boats rowed heavily with their loads, but proved perfectly +safe, and very comfortable. The men being much fatigued, we rested here +some hours, and, after making our final arrangements with Lieutenant +Crozier, parted with him at three in the afternoon, and set off for +Little Table Island. Finding there was likely to be so much open water +in this neighbourhood in the autumn, I sent directions to Lieutenant +Foster to have a spare boat deposited at Walden Island in time for our +return, in case of any accident happening to ours. + +The land-ice, which still adhered to the Seven Islands, was very little +more broken off than when the Hecla had been here a week before; and we +rowed along its margin a part of the way to Little Table Island, where +we arrived at ten P.M. We here examined and re-secured the provisions +left on shore, having found our depot at Walden Island disturbed by the +bears. The prospect to the northward at this time was very favourable, +there being only a small quantity of loose ice in sight; and the weather +still continuing calm and clear, with the sea as smooth as a mirror, we +set off without delay, at half past ten, taking our final leave of the +Spitzbergen shores, as we hoped, for at least two months. Steering due +north, we made good progress, our latitude by the sun's meridian +altitude at midnight being 80 deg. 51' 13". A beautifully-coloured rainbow +appeared for some time, without any appearance of rain falling. We +observed that a considerable current was setting us to the eastward just +after leaving the land, so that we had made a N.N.E. course, distance +about ten miles, when we met with some ice, which soon becoming too +close for farther progress, we landed upon a high hummock to obtain a +better view. We here perceived that the ice was close to the northward, +but to the westward we discovered some open water, which we reached +after two or three hours' paddling, and found it a wide expanse, in +which we sailed to the northward without obstruction, a fresh breeze +having sprung up from the S.W. The weather soon after became very thick, +with continued snow, requiring great care in looking out for the ice, +which made its appearance after two hours' run, and gradually became +closer, till at length we were stopped by it at noon, and obliged to +haul the boats upon a small floe-piece, our latitude by observation +being 81 deg. 12' 51". + +Our plan of travelling being nearly the same throughout this excursion, +after we first entered upon the ice, I may at once give some account of +our usual mode of proceeding. It was my intention to travel wholly at +night, and to rest by day, there being, of course, constant daylight in +these regions during the summer season. The advantages of this plan, +which was occasionally deranged by circumstances, consisted, first, in +our avoiding the intense and oppressive glare from the snow during the +time of the sun's greatest altitude, so as to prevent, in some degree, +the painful inflammation in the eyes called "snow blindness," which is +common in all snowy countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth +during the hours of rest, and had a better chance of drying our clothes; +besides which, no small advantage was derived from the snow being harder +at night for travelling. The only disadvantage of this plan was, that +the fogs were somewhat more thick by night than by day, though even in +this respect there was less difference than might have been supposed, +the temperature during the twenty-four hours undergoing but little +variation. This travelling by night and sleeping by day so completely +inverted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to persuade +ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all +furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at +what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were +several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they, never +knew night from day during the whole excursion.[020] + +When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers, after +which we took off our fur sleeping-dresses and put on those for +travelling; the former being made of camlet, lined with racoon-skin, and +the latter of strong blue box-cloth. We made a point of always putting +on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they dried +during the day or not; and I believe it was only in five or six +instances, at the most, that they were not either wet or hard-frozen. +This, indeed, was of no consequence, beyond the discomforture of first +putting them on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in +a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey; while, on the other +hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in. +Being "rigged" for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and +biscuit, and, after stowing the things in the boats and on the sledges, +so as to secure them as much as possible from wet, we set off on our +day's journey, and usually travelled from five to five and a half hours, +then stopped an hour to dine, and again travelled four, five, or even +six hours, according to circumstances. After this we halted for the +night, as we called it, though it was usually early in the morning, +selecting the largest surface of ice we happened to be near for hauling +the boats on, in order to avoid the danger of its breaking up by coming +in contact with other masses, and also to prevent drift as much as +possible. The boats were placed close alongside each other, with their +sterns to the wind, the snow or wet cleared out of them, and the sails, +supported by the bamboo masts and three paddles, placed over them as +awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. Every man then immediately +put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which we set about the +necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes; and, after serving the +provisions for the succeeding day, we went to supper. Most of the +officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats +and awnings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our +lodgings 10 deg. or 15 deg. This part of the twenty-four hours was +often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment to us; the men told +their stories and "fought all their battles o'er again," and the labours +of the day, unsuccessful as they too often were, were forgotten. A +regular watch was set during our resting-time, to look out for bears or +for the ice breaking up round us, as well as to attend to the drying of +the clothes, each man alternately, taking this duty for one hour. We +then concluded our day with prayers, and, having put on our fur-dresses, +lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort, which perhaps few persons +would imagine possible under such circumstances; our chief inconvenience +being that we were somewhat pinched for room, and therefore obliged to +stow rather closer than was quite agreeable. The temperature, while we +slept, was usually from 36 deg. to 45 deg., according to the state of +the external atmosphere; but on one or two occasions in calm and warm +weather, it rose as high as 60 deg. to 66 deg., obliging us to throw off +a part of our fur-dress. After we had slept seven hours, the man +appointed to boil the cocoa roused us when it was ready by the sound of +a bugle, when we commenced our day in the manner before described. + +Our allowance of provisions for each man per day was as follows: + + +Biscuit 10 ounces. +Pemmican 9 ounces. +Sweetened Cocoa Powder 1 ounce, to make one pint. +Rum 1 gill. +Tobacco 3 ounces per week. + + +Our fuel consisted entirely of spirits of wine, of which two pints +formed our daily allowance, the cocoa being cooked in an iron boiler +over a shallow iron lamp, with seven wicks; a simple apparatus, which +answered our purpose remarkably well. We usually found one pint of the +spirits of wine sufficient for preparing our breakfast, that is, for +heating twenty-eight pints of water, though it always commenced from the +temperature of 32 deg. If the weather was calm and fair, this quantity of +fuel brought it to the boiling point in about an hour and a quarter; but +more generally the wicks began to go out before it had reached. 200 deg. +This, however, made a very comfortable meal to persons situated as we +were. Such, with very little variation, was our regular routine during +the whole of this excursion. + +We set off on our first journey over the ice at ten P.M. on the 24th, +Table Island bearing S.S.W., and a fresh breeze blowing from W.S.W., +with thick fog, which afterward changed to rain. The bags of pemmican +were placed upon the sledges, and the bread in the boats, with the +intention of securing the latter from wet; but this plan we were soon +obliged to relinquish. We now commenced upon very slow and laborious +travelling, the pieces of ice being of small extent and very rugged, +obliging us to make three journeys, and sometimes four, with the boats +and baggage, and to launch several times across narrow pools of water. +We stopped to dine at five A.M. on the 25th, having made, by our log +(which we kept very carefully, marking the courses by compass, and +estimating the distances), about two miles and a half of northing; and, +again setting forward, proceeded till eleven A.M., when we halted to +rest; our latitude, by observation at noon, being 81 deg. 15' 13". + +Setting out again at half past nine in the evening, we found our way to +lie over nothing but small, loose, rugged masses of ice, separated by +little pools of water, obliging us constantly to launch and haul up the +boats, each of which operations required them to be unloaded, and +occupied nearly a quarter of an hour. It came on to rain very hard on +the morning of the 26th; and, finding we were making very little +progress (having advanced not more than half a mile in four hours), and +that our clothes would be soon wet through, we halted at half past one, +and took shelter under the awnings. The weather improving at six +o'clock, we again moved forward, and travelled till a quarter past +eleven, when we hauled the boats upon the only tolerably large +floe-piece in sight. The rain had very much increased the quantity of +water lying upon the ice, of which nearly half the surface was now +covered with numberless little ponds of various shapes and extent. It is +a remarkable fact, that we had already experienced, in the course of +this summer, more rain than during the whole of seven previous summers +taken together, though passed in latitudes from 7 deg. to 15 deg. lower +than this. A great deal of the ice over which we passed to-day presented +a very curious appearance and structure, being composed, on its upper +surface, of numberless irregular, needle-like crystals, placed +vertically, and nearly close together; their length varying, in +different pieces of ice, from five to ten inches, and their breadth in +the middle about half an inch, but pointed at both ends. The upper +surface of ice having this structure sometimes looks like greenish +velvet; a vertical section of it, which frequently occurs at the margin +of floes, resembles, while it remains compact, the most beautiful +satin-spar, and asbestos when falling to pieces. At this early part of +the season, this kind of ice afforded pretty firm footing; but, as the +summer advanced, the needles became more loose and moveable, rendering +it extremely fatiguing to walk over them, besides cutting our boots and +feet, on which account the men called them "penknives." + +We pursued our journey at half past nine P.M., with the wind at N.E., +and thick weather, the ice being so much in motion as to make it very +dangerous to cross in loaded boats, the masses being all very small. On +this account we halted at midnight, having waded three quarters of a +mile through water from two to five inches deep upon the ice. The +thermometer was at 33 deg. + +At seven A.M. on the 28th, we came to a floe covered with high and +rugged hummocks, which opposed a formidable obstacle to our progress, +occurring in two or three successive tiers, so that we had no sooner +crossed one than another presented itself. Over one of these we hauled +the boats with extreme difficulty by a "standing pull," and the weather +being then so thick that we could see no pass across the next tier, we +were obliged to stop at nine A.M. While performing this laborious work, +which required the boats to be got up and down places almost +perpendicular, James Parker, my coxswain, received a severe contusion in +his back, by the boat falling upon him from a hummock, and the boats +were constantly subject to very heavy blows, but sustained no +damage.[021] The weather continued very foggy during the day, but a +small lane of water opening out at no great distance from the margin of +the floe, we launched the boats at eight in the evening among loose +drift-ice, and, after some time, landed on a small floe to the eastward, +the only one in sight, with the hope of its leading to the northward. It +proved so rugged that we were obliged to make three, and sometimes four +journeys with the boats and provisions, and this by a very circuitous +route; so that the road, by which we made a mile of northing, was full a +mile and a half in length, and over this we had to travel at least five, +and sometimes seven times. Thus, when we halted to dine at two A.M., +after six hours' severe toil, and much risk to the men and boats, we had +only accomplished about a mile and a quarter in a N.N.E. direction. +After dining we proceeded again till half past six, and then halted, +very much fatigued with our day's work, and having made two miles and a +half of northing. We were here in latitude, by account, 81 deg. 23", and +in longitude, by the chronometers, 21 deg. 32' 34" E., in which +situation the variation of the magnetic needle was observed to be 15 +deg. 31' westerly. We now enjoyed the first sunshine since our entering +the ice, and a great enjoyment it was, after so much thick and wet +weather. We rose at half past four P.M., in the hopes of pursuing our +journey; but, after hauling the boats to the edge of the floe, found +such a quantity of loose, rugged ice to the northward of us, that there +was no possibility, for the present, of getting across or through it. +Observing a small opening at 10.30 P.M., we launched the boats, and +hauled them across several pieces of ice, some of them being very light +and much decayed. Our latitude, by the sun's meridian altitude at +midnight, was 81 deg. 23'; so that we had made only eight miles of +northing since our last observation at noon on the 25th. + +The 30th commenced with snowy and inclement weather, which soon rendered +the atmosphere so thick that we could no longer see our way, obliging us +to halt till two P.M., when we crossed several small pools with great +labour and loss of time. We had generally very light ice this day, with +some heavy, rugged pieces intermixed; and, when hauling across these, we +had sometimes to cut with axes a passage for the boats among the +hummocks. We also dragged them through a great many pools of fresh +water, to avoid the necessity of going round them. The wind freshening +up from the S.S.W., we afterward found the ice gradually more and more +open, so that, in the course of the day, we made by rowing, though by a +very winding channel, five miles of northing; but were again stopped by +the ice soon after midnight, and obliged to haul up on the first mass +that we could gain, the ice having so much motion that we narrowly +escaped being "nipped." We set out at 11.30 A.M. on the 1st July, the +wind still fresh from the S.W., and some snow falling: but it was more +than an hour before we could get away from the small pieces of ice on +which we slept, the masses beyond being so broken up and so much in +motion, that we could not, at first, venture to launch the boats. Our +latitude, observed at noon, was 81 deg. 30' 41". After crossing several +pieces, we at length got into a good "lead" of water, four or five miles +in length; two or three of which, as on the preceding day, occurred +under the lee of a floe, being the second we had yet seen that deserved +that name. We then passed over four or five small floes, and across the +pools of water that lay between them. The ice was now less broken up, +and sometimes tolerably level; but from six to eighteen inches of soft +snow lay upon it in every part, making the travelling very fatiguing, +and obliging us to make at least two, and sometimes three, journeys +with our loads. We now found it absolutely necessary to lighten the boat +as much as possible, by putting the bread-bags on the sledges, on +account of the "runners" of the boats sinking so much deeper into the +snow; but our bread ran a great risk of being wetted by this plan. + +We halted at eleven P.M. on the 1st, having traversed from ten to eleven +miles, and made good, by our account, seven and half in a N.b.W. +direction. We again set forward at ten A.M. on the 2d, the weather being +calm, and the sun oppressively warm, though with a thick fog. The +temperature in the shade was 35 deg. at noon, and only 47 deg. in the +sun; but this, together with the glare from the snow, produced so +painful a sensation in most of our eyes, as to make it necessary to halt +at one P.M., to avoid being blinded. We therefore took advantage of this +warm weather to let the men wash themselves, and mend and dry their +clothes, and then set out again at half past three. The snow was, +however, so soft as to take us up to our knees at almost every other +step, and frequently still deeper; so that we were sometimes five +minutes together in moving a single empty boat, with all our united +strength. It being impossible to proceed under these circumstances, I +determined to fall into our night-travelling again, from which we had of +late insensibly deviated. We therefore halted at half past five, the +weather being now very clear and warm, and many of the people's eyes +beginning to fail. We did not set out again till after midnight, with +the intention of giving the snow time to harden after so warm a day; but +we found it still so soft as to make the travelling very fatiguing. Our +way lay at first across a number of loose pieces, most of which were +from five to twenty yards apart, or just sufficiently separated to give +us all the labour of launching and hauling up the boats, without the +advantage of making any progress by water; while we crossed, in other +instances, from mass to mass, by laying the boats over as bridges, by +which the men and the baggage passed. By these means, we at length +reached a floe about a mile in length, in a northern direction; but it +would be difficult to convey an adequate idea of the labour required to +traverse it. The average depth of snow upon the level parts was about +five inches, under which lay water four or five inches deep; but, the +moment we approached a hummock, the depth to which we sank increased to +three feet or more, rendering it difficult at times to obtain sufficient +footing for one leg to enable us to extricate the other. The pools of +fresh water had now also become very large, some of them being a quarter +of a mile in length, and their depth above our knees. Through these we +were prevented taking the sledges, for fear of wetting all our +provisions; but we preferred transporting the boats across them, +notwithstanding the severe cold of the snow-water, the bottom being +harder for the "runners" to slide upon. On this kind of road we were, in +one instance, above two hours in proceeding a distance of one hundred +yards. + +We halted at half past six A.M. to dine; and to empty our boots and +wring our stockings, which, to our feelings, was almost like putting on +dry ones; and again set out in an hour, getting at length into a "lane" +of water a mile and a quarter long, in a N.N.E. direction. We halted for +the night at half an hour before midnight, the people being almost +exhausted with a laborious day's work, and our distance made good to the +northward not exceeding two miles and a quarter. We allowed ourselves +this night a hot supper, consisting of a pint of soup per man, made of +an ounce of pemmican each, and eight or ten birds, which we had killed +in the course of the last week; and this was a luxury which persons thus +situated could perhaps alone duly appreciate. + +We rose and breakfasted at nine P.M.; but the weather had gradually +become so inclement and thick, with snow, sleet, and a fresh breeze from +the eastward, that we could neither have seen our way, nor have avoided +getting wet through had we moved. We therefore remained under cover; and +it was as well that we did so, for the snow soon after changed to heavy +rain, and the wind increased to a fresh gale, which unavoidably detained +us till 7.30 P.M. on the 4th. The rain had produced even a greater +effect than the sun in softening the snow. Lieutenant Ross and myself, +in performing our pioneering duty, were frequently so beset in it, that +sometimes, after trying in vain to extricate our legs, we were obliged +to sit quietly down for a short time to rest ourselves and then make +another attempt; and the men, in dragging the sledges, were often under +the necessity of crawling upon all-fours to make any progress at all. +Nor would any kind of snow-shoes have been of the least service, but +rather an encumbrance to us, for the surface was so irregular, that they +would have thrown us down at every other step. We had hitherto made use +of the Lapland shoes, or _kamoogas_, for walking in, which are excellent +for dry snow; but there being now so much water upon the ice, we +substituted the Esquimaux boots, which had been made in Greenland +expressly for our use, and which are far superior to any others for this +kind of travelling. Just before halting, at six A.M. on the 5th, the ice +at the margin of the floe broke while the men were handing the +provisions out of the boats; and we narrowly escaped the loss of a bag +of cocoa, which fell overboard, but fortunately rested on a "tongue." +The bag being made of Mackintosh's waterproof canvass, the cocoa did not +suffer the slightest injury. + +We rose at five P.M., the weather being clear and fine, with a moderate +breeze from the south; no land was in sight from the highest hummocks, +nor could we perceive anything but broken loose ice in any direction. We +hauled across several pieces which were scarcely fit to bear the weight +of the boats, and in such cases used the precaution of dividing our +baggage, so that, in case of the ice breaking or turning over, we should +not lose all at once. The farther we proceeded, the more the ice was +broken; indeed, it was much more so here than we had found it since +first entering the "pack." After stopping at midnight to dine and to +obtain the meridian altitude, we passed over a floe full of hummocks, a +mile and a half in length; but any kind of floe was relief to us after +the constant difficulty we had experienced in passing over loose ice. + +After several hours of very beautiful weather, a thick fog came on +early on the morning of the 6th July, and at five A.M. we halted, having +got to the end of the floe, and only made good two miles and a half to +the northward. The fog continued very thick all day; but, being +unwilling to stop on this account, we set out again at half past six in +the evening, and passed over several small flat pieces with no great +difficulty, but with much loss of time in launching and hauling up the +boats. Towards the end of our day's journey, we landed on the only +really level floe we had yet met with. It was, however, only three +quarters of a mile in length, but, being almost clear of snow, afforded +such good travelling, that, although much fatigued at the time, we +hauled the boats and all the baggage across it at one journey, at the +rate of about two miles an hour, and halted at the northern margin at +five A.M. on the 7th. The prospect beyond was still very unfavourable, +and at eight in the evening, when we again launched the boats, there was +not a piece of large or level ice to be seen in a northern direction. + +We halted at six A.M. on the 8th, in time to avoid a great deal of rain +which fell during the day, and again proceeded on our journey at eight +in the evening, the wind being fresh from the E.S.E., with thick, wet +weather. We now met with detached ice of a still lighter kind than +before, the only floe in sight being much to the eastward of our course. +This we reached after considerable labour, in the hope of its leading to +the northward, which it did for about one mile, and we then came to the +same kind of loose ice as before. On the morning of the 9th July, we +enjoyed the indescribable comfort of two or three hours' clear, dry +weather, but had scarcely hung up our wet clothes, after halting at five +A.M., when it again came on to rain; but, as everything was as wet as it +could be, we left them out to take their chance. The rain continued most +of the day, but we set out at half past seven P.M., crossing loose ice, +as usual, and much of the surface consisting of detached vertical +needles. After an hour, the rain became so heavy that we halted to save +our shirts, which were the only dry clothes' belonging to us. Soon after +midnight, the rain being succeeded by one of the thickest fogs I ever +saw, we again proceeded, groping our way almost yard by yard from one +small piece of ice to another, and were very fortunate in hitting upon +some with level surfaces, and also a few tolerable-sized holes of water. +At half past two we reached a floe which appeared at first a level and +large one; but, on landing, we were much mortified to find it so covered +with immense ponds, or, rather, small lakes of fresh water, that, to +accomplish two miles in a north direction, we were under the necessity +of walking from three to four, the water being too deep for wading, and +from two hundred yards to one third of a mile in length. We halted at +six A.M., having made only one mile and three quarters in a N.N.W. +direction, the wind still blowing fresh from the eastward, with a thick +fog. We were in latitude 82 deg. 3' 19", and longitude, by chronometers, +23 deg. 17' E., and we found the variation of the magnetic needle to be +13 deg. 41' westerly. We moved again at seven P.M., with the weather +nearly as foggy as before, our road lying across a very hummocky floe, +on which we had considerable difficulty in getting the boats, the ice +being extremely unfavourable both for launching and hauling them up. +After stopping an hour at midnight to dine, we were again annoyed by a +heavy fall of rain, a phenomenon almost as new to us in these regions +until this summer, as it was harassing and unhealthy. Being anxious, +however, to take advantage of a lane of water that seemed to lead +northerly, we launched the boats, and by the time that we had crossed +it, which gave us only half a mile of northing, the rain had become much +harder, and our outer clothes, bread bags, and boats were thoroughly +wet. After this we had better travelling on the ice, and also crossed +one or two larger holes of water than we had met with for a long time, +and halted for our night's rest at half past seven A.M., after nearly +twelve hours' hard, but not altogether unsuccessful labour, having +traversed about twelve miles, and made good by our account, seven and a +half, in a N.W.b.N. direction. The rain ceased soon after we had halted, +but was succeeded, by a thick, wet fog, which obliged us, when we +continued our journey, to put on our travelling clothes in the same +dripping state as when we took them off. The wind continued fresh from +the southeastward, and at nine P.M. the weather suddenly cleared up, and +gave us once more the inconceivably cheering, I had almost said the +blessed, sight of a blue sky, with hard, well-defined white clouds +floating across it. We halted at six A.M., after making, by our day's +exertions, only three miles and a half of northing, our latitude at this +time being 82 deg. 14' 28", and our longitude, by chronometers, 22 deg. +4' E. The thermometer was from 35 deg. to 36 deg. in the shade during +most of the day, and this, with a clear sky over head, was now absolute +luxury to us. Setting out again at seven P.M., we crossed a small lane +of water to another floe; but this was so intersected by ponds, and by +streams running into the sea, that we had to make a very circuitous +route, some of the ponds being half-a mile in length. Notwithstanding +the immense quantity of water still upon the ice, and which always +afforded us a pure and abundant supply of this indispensable article, we +now observed a mark round the banks of all the ponds, showing that the +water was less deep in them, by several inches, than it had been +somewhat earlier in the summer; and, indeed, from about this time, some +small diminution in its quantity began to be perceptible to ourselves. +We halted for our resting-time at six A.M. on the 13th, having gained +only two miles and a half of northing, over a road of about four, and +this accomplished by ten hours of fatiguing exertion. We were here in +latitude, by the noon observation, 82 deg. 17' 10", and could find no +bottom with four hundred fathoms of line. We launched the boats at seven +in the evening, the wind being moderate from the E.S.E., with fine, +clear weather, and were still mortified in finding that no improvement +took place in the road over which we had to travel; for the ice now +before us was, if possible, more broken up and more difficult to pass +over than ever. Much of it was also so thin as to be extremely dangerous +for the provisions; and it was often a nervous thing to see our whole +means of existence lying on a decayed sheet, having holes quite through +it in many parts, and which the smallest motion among the surrounding +masses might have instantly broken into pieces. There was, however, no +choice, except between this road and the more rugged though safer +hummocks, which cost ten times the labour to pass over. Mounting one of +the highest of these at nine P.M., we could discover nothing to the +north, ward but the same broken and irregular surface; and we now began +to doubt whether we should at all meet with the solid fields of unbroken +ice which every account had led us to expect in a much lower latitude +than this. A very strong, yellow ice-blink overspread the whole northern +horizon. + +We stopped to dine at half an hour past midnight, after more than five +hours unceasing labour, in the course of which time we had only +accomplished a mile and a half due north, though we had traversed from +three to four, and walked at least ten, having made three journeys a +great part of the way. We had launched and hauled up the boats four +times, and dragged them over twenty-five separate pieces of ice. After +dinner we continued the same kind of travelling, which was, beyond all +description, harrassing to the officers and men. In crossing from mass +to mass, several of which were separated about half the length of our +sledges, the officers were stationed at the most difficult places to see +that no precaution, was omitted which could ensure the safety of the +provisions. Only one individual was allowed to jump over at a time, or +to stand near either margin, for fear of the weight being too great for +it; and when three or four men had separately crossed, the sledge was +cautiously drawn up to the edge, and the word being given, the men +suddenly ran away with the ropes, so as to allow no time for its +falling in if the ice should break. Having at length succeeded in +reaching a small floe, we halted at half past six A.M., much wearied by +nearly eleven hours' exertion, by which we had only advanced three miles +and a half in a N.N.W. direction. We rose at six P.M., and prepared to +set out, but it rained so hard and so incessantly that it would have +been impossible to move without a complete drenching. It held up a +little at five, and at six we set out; but the rain soon recommenced, +though less heavily than before. At eight the rain again became heavier, +and we got under shelter of our awnings for a quarter of an hour, to +keep our shirts and other flannel clothes dry; these being the only +things we now had on which were not thoroughly wet. At nine we did the +same, but before ten were obliged to halt altogether, the rain coming +down in torrents, and the men being much exhausted by continued wet and +cold, though the thermometer was at 36 deg., which was somewhat above our +usual temperature. At half past seven P.M. we again pursued our journey, +and, after much laborious travelling, we were fortunate, considering the +fog, in hitting upon a floe which proved the longest we had yet crossed, +being three miles from south to north, though alternately rugged and +flat. From this we launched into a lane of water half a mile long from +east to west, but which only gave us a hundred and fifty yards of +northing. + +The floe on which we stopped to dine, at one A.M. on the 16th, was not +more than four feet thick, and its extent half a mile square; and on +this we had the rare advantage of carrying all our loads at one journey. +At half past six the fog cleared away, and gave us beautiful weather +for drying our clothes, and once more the cheerful sight of the blue +sky. We halted at half past seven, after being twelve hours on the road, +having made a N.b.W. course, distance only six miles and a quarter, +though we had traversed nine miles. We saw, during this last journey, a +mallemucke and a second Ross gull: and a couple of small flies (to us an +event of ridiculous importance) were found upon the ice. + +We again pursued our way at seven in the evening, having the unusual +comfort of putting on dry stockings, and the no less rare luxury of +delightfully pleasant weather, the wind being moderate from the S.S.E. +It was so warm in the sun, though the temperature in the shade was only +35 deg., that the tar was running out of the seams of the boats; and a +blackened bulb held against the paint-work raised the thermometer to +72 deg. The floes were larger to-day, and the ice, upon the whole, of +heavier dimensions than any we had yet met with. The general thickness +of the floes, however, did not exceed nine or ten feet, which is not +more than the usual thickness of those in Baffin's Bay and Hudson's +Strait. + +The 17th of July being one of the days on which the Royal Society of +Edinburgh have proposed to institute a series of simultaneous +meteorological observations, we commenced an hourly register of every +phenomenon which came under our notice, and which our instruments and +other circumstances would permit, and continued most of them throughout +the day. Our latitude, observed at noon, was 82 deg. 32' 10", being more +than a mile to the southward of the reckoning, though the wind had been +constantly from that quarter during the twenty-four hours. + +After midnight the road became, if possible, worse, and the prospect to +the northward more discouraging than before; nothing but loose and very +small pieces of ice being in sight, over which the boats were dragged +almost entirely by a "standing-pull." The men were so exhausted with +their day's work, that it was absolutely necessary to give them +something hot for supper, and we again served a little cocoa for that +purpose. They were also put into good spirits by our having killed a +small seal, which, the following night, gave us an excellent supper. The +meat of these young animals is tender, and free from oiliness; but it +certainly has a smell and a look which would not have been agreeable to +any but very hungry people like ourselves. We also considered it a great +prize on account of its blubber, which gave us fuel sufficient for +cooking six hot messes for our whole party, though the animal only +weighed thirty pounds in the whole. + +Setting out at half past seven in the evening, we found the sun more +distressing to the eyes than we had ever yet had it, bidding defiance to +our crape veils and wire-gauze eye-shades;[022] but a more effectual +screen was afforded by the sun becoming clouded about nine P.M. At half +past nine we came to a very difficult crossing among the loose ice, +which, however, we were encouraged to attempt by seeing a floe of some +magnitude beyond it. We had to convey the sledges and provisions one +way, and to haul the boats over by another. One of the masses over which +the boats came began to roll about while one of them was upon it, giving +us reason to apprehend its upsetting, which must have been attended with +some very serious consequence: fortunately, however, it retained its +equilibrium long enough to allow us to get the boat past it in safety, +not without several of the men falling overboard, in consequence of the +long jumps we had to make, and the edges breaking with their weight. + +On the morning of the 20th we came to a good deal of ice, which formed a +striking contrast with the other, being composed of flat bay-floes, not +three feet thick, which would have afforded us good travelling had they +not recently been broken into small pieces, obliging us to launch +frequently from one to another. These floes had been the product of the +last winter only, having probably been formed in some of the interstices +left between the larger bodies; and, from what we saw of them, there +could be little doubt of their being all dissolved before the next +autumnal frost. We halted at seven A.M., having, by our reckoning, +accomplished six miles and a half in a N.N.W. direction, the distance +traversed being ten miles and a half. It may therefore be imagined how +great was our mortification in finding that our latitude, by observation +at noon, was only 82 deg. 36' 52", being less than _five_ miles to the +northward of our place at noon on the 17th, since which time we had +certainly travelled _twelve_ in that direction. + +At five A.M. on the 21st, having gone ahead, as usual, upon a bay-floe, +to search for the best road, I heard a more than ordinary noise and +bustle among the people who were bringing up the boats behind. On +returning to them, I found that we had narrowly, and most +providentially, escaped a serious calamity; the floe having broken under +the weight of the boats and sledges, and the latter having nearly been +lost through the ice. Some of the men went completely through, and one +of them was only held up by his drag-belt being attached to a sledge +which happened to be on firmer ice. Fortunately the bread had, by way of +security, been kept in the boats, or this additional weight would +undoubtedly have sunk the sledges, and probably some of the men with +them. As it was, we happily escaped, though we hardly knew how, with a +good deal of wetting; and, cautiously approaching the boats, drew them +to a stronger part of the ice, after which we continued our journey till +half past six A.M., when we halted to rest, having travelled about seven +miles N.N.W., our longitude by chronometers being 19 deg. 52' east, and the +latitude 82 deg. 39' 10", being only two miles and a quarter to the +northward of the preceding day's observation, or four miles and a half +to the southward of our reckoning. + +Our sportsmen had the good fortune to kill another seal to-day, rather +larger than the first, which again proved a most welcome addition to our +provisions and fuel. Indeed, after this supply of the latter, we were +enabled to allow ourselves every night a pint of warm water for supper, +each man making his own soup from such a portion of his bread and +pemmican as he could save from dinner. Setting out again at seven in the +evening, we were not sorry to find the weather quite calm, which +sailors account "half a fair wind;" for it was now evident that nothing +but a southerly breeze could enable us to make any tolerable progress, +or to regain what we had lately lost. + +Our travelling to-night was the very best we had during this excursion; +for though we had to launch and haul up the boats frequently, an +operation which, under the most favourable circumstances, necessarily +occupies much time, yet the floes being large and tolerably level, and +some good lanes of water occurring, we made, according to the most +moderate calculation, between ten and eleven miles in a N.N.E. +direction, and traversed a distance of about seventeen. We halted at a +quarter past eight A.M. after more than twelve hours' actual travelling, +by which the people were extremely fatigued; but, while our work seemed +to be repaid by anything like progress, the men laboured with great +cheerfulness to the utmost of their strength. The ice over which we had +travelled was by far the largest and heaviest we met with during our +whole journey; this, indeed, was the only occasion on which we saw +anything answering in the slightest degree to the descriptions given of +the main ice. The largest floe was from two and a half to three miles +square, and in some places the thickness of the ice was from 15 to 20 +feet. However, it was a satisfaction to observe that the ice had +certainly improved; and we now ventured to hope that, for the short time +that we could still pursue our outward journey, our progress would be +more commensurate with our exertions than it had hitherto proved. In +proportion, then, to the hopes we had begun to entertain, was our +disappointment in finding, at noon, that we were in latitude 82 deg. 43' +5", or not quite four miles to the northward of yesterday's observation, +instead of the ten or eleven which we had travelled! We halted at seven +A.M. on the 23d, after a laborious day's work, and, I must confess, a +disheartening one to those who knew to how little effect we were +struggling; which, however, the men did not, though they often +laughingly remarked that "we were a long time getting to this 83 deg.!" +Being anxious to make up, in some measure, for the drift which the +present northerly wind was in all probability occasioning, we rose +earlier than usual, and set off at half past four in the evening. At +half past five P.M. we saw a very beautiful natural phenomenon. A broad +white fog-bow first appeared opposite the sun, as was very commonly the +case; presently it became strongly tinged with, the prismatic colours, +and soon afterward no less than five other complete arches were formed +within the main bow, the interior ones being gradually narrower than +those without, but the whole of them beautifully coloured. The larger +bow, and the one next within it, had the red on the outer or upper part +of the circle, the others on the inner side. + +We halted at a quarter past three on the morning of the 24th, having +made four miles and a half N.N.E., over a road of about seven and a +half, most of which we traversed, as usual, three times. We moved again +at four P.M. over a difficult road, composed of small and rugged ice. So +small was the ice now around us, that we were obliged to halt for the +night at two A.M. on the 25th, being upon the only piece in sight, in +any direction, on which we could venture to trust the boats while we +rested. Such was the ice in the latitude of 82-3/4 deg. + +The wind had now got round to the W.N.W., with raw, foggy weather, and +continued to blow fresh all day. Snow came on soon after our halting, +and about two inches had fallen when we moved again at half past four +P.M. We continued our journey in this inclement weather for three hours, +hauling from piece to piece, and not making more than three quarters of +a mile progress, till our clothes and bread-bags had become very wet, +and the snow fell so thick that we could no longer see our way. It was +therefore necessary to halt, which we did at half past seven, putting +the awnings over the boats, changing our wet clothes, and giving the men +employment for the mere sake of occupying their minds. The weather +improving towards noon on the 26th, we obtained the meridian altitude of +the sun, by which we found ourselves in latitude 82 deg. 40' 23"; so that, +since our last observation (at midnight on the 22d), we had lost by +drift no less than thirteen miles and a half; for we were now more than +three miles to the _southward_ of that observation, though we had +certainly travelled between ten and eleven due north in this interval! +Again, we were but one mile to the north of our place at noon on the +21st, though we had estimated our distance made good at twenty-three +miles. Thus it appeared that for the last five days we had been +struggling against a southerly drift exceeding four miles per day. + +It had, for some time past, been too evident that the nature of the ice +with which we had to contend was such, and its drift to the southward, +especially with a northerly wind, so great, as to put beyond our reach +anything but a very moderate share of success in travelling to the +northward. Still, however, we had been anxious to reach the highest +latitude which our means would allow, and with this view, although our +whole object had long become unattainable, had pushed on to the +northward for thirty-five days, or until half our resources were +expended, and the middle of our season arrived. For the last few days +the eighty-third parallel was the limit to which we had ventured to +extend our hopes; but even this expectation had become considerably +weakened since the setting in of the last northerly wind, which +continued to drive us to the southward, during the necessary hours of +rest, nearly as much as we could gain by eleven or twelve hours of daily +labour. Had our success been at all proportionate to our exertions, it +was my full intention to proceed a few days beyond the middle of the +period for which we were provided, trusting to the resources we expected +to find at Table Island. But I could not but consider it as incurring +useless fatigue to the officers and men, and unnecessary wear and tear +for the boats, to persevere any longer in the attempt. I determined, +therefore, on giving the people one entire day's rest, which they very +much needed, and time to wash and mend their clothes, while the officers +were occupied in making all the observations which might be interesting +in this latitude; and then to set out on our return on the following +day. Having communicated my intentions to the people, who were all much +disappointed at finding how little their labours had effected, we set +about our respective occupations, and were much favoured by a remarkably +fine day. + +The highest latitude we reached was probably at seven A.M. on the 23d, +when, after the midnight observation, we travelled, by our account, +something more than a mile and a half, which would carry us a little +beyond 82 deg. 45'. Some observations for the magnetic intensity were +obtained at this station. We here found no bottom with five hundred +fathoms of line. At the extreme point of our journey, our distance from +the Hecla was only 172 miles in a S. 8 deg. W. direction. To accomplish +this distance, we had traversed, by our reckoning, 292 miles, of which +about 100 were performed by water, previous to our entering the ice. As +we travelled by far the greater part of our distance on the ice three, +and not unfrequently five, times over, we may safely multiply the length +of the road by two and a half; so that our whole distance, on a very +moderate calculation, amounted to 580 geographical or 668 statute miles, +being nearly sufficient to have reached the Pole in a direct line. + +Our day of rest (27th of July) proved one of the warmest and most +pleasant to the feelings we had yet had upon the ice, though the +thermometer was only from 31 deg. to 36 deg. in the shade, and 37 deg. +in the sun, with occasional fog; but to persons in the open air, calm +and tolerably dry weather affords absolute enjoyment, especially by +contrast with what we had lately experienced. Our ensigns and pendants +were displayed during the day; and, sincerely as we regretted not having +been able to hoist the British flag in the highest latitude to which we +had aspired, we shall perhaps be excused in having felt some little +pride in being the bearers of it to a parallel considerably beyond that +mentioned in any other well-authenticated record. + +At 4.30 P.M. on the 27th, we set out on our return to the southward, and +I can safely say that, dreary and cheerless as were the scenes we were +about to leave, we never turned homeward with so little satisfaction as +on this occasion. To afford a chance of determining the general set of +the current from this latitude, we left upon a hummock of ice a paper, +sewn up in a water-proof canvass bag, and then enclosed in a water-tight +tin canister, giving an account of the place where it was deposited, and +requesting any person who should find it to send it to the secretary of +the admiralty. Nothing worthy of particular notice occurred on this and +the following day, on each of which we travelled eleven hours; finding +the water somewhat more open and the floes less rugged than usual. Two +of these were from two to three miles in length, and in one instance the +surface was sufficiently level to allow us to drag the boats for three +quarters of a mile with the sledges _in tow_. Our latitude, observed at +noon of the 30th, was 82 deg. 20' 37", or twelve miles and a half to the +southward of the preceding day's observation, though we had travelled +only seven by our account; so that the drift of the ice had assisted us +in gaining five miles and a half in that interval. + +Setting out to continue our journey at five P.M., we could discover +nothing from a high hummock but the kind of bay-ice before noticed, +except on the floe on which we had slept. The travelling was very +laborious, but we were obliged to go on till we could get to a secure +floe for resting upon, which we could not effect till half past four on +the 31st, when, in eleven hours and a half, we had not made more than +two miles and a quarter of southing. However, we had the satisfaction, +which was denied us on our outward journey, of feeling confident that we +should keep all that we gained, and probably make a good deal more; +which, indeed, proved to be the case, for at noon we found our latitude, +by observation, to be 82 deg. 14' 25", or four miles to the southward of +the reckoning. + +We halted at five A.M. on the 1st of August, the officers and men being +quite knocked up, and having made by our account only two miles of +southing over a road not less than five in length. As we came along we +had seen some recent bear-tracks, and soon after discovered Bruin +himself. Halting the boats and concealing the people behind them, we +drew him almost within gun-shot; but, after making a great many +traverses behind some hummocks, and even mounting one of them to examine +us more narrowly, he set off and escaped--I must say, to our grievous +disappointment; for we had already, by anticipation, consigned a +tolerable portion of his flesh to our cooking kettle, over a fire of his +own blubber. + +In the course of our journey, on the 2d of August, we met with a +quantity of snow, tinged, to the depth of several inches, with some red +colouring matter, of which a portion was preserved in a bottle for +future examination. This circumstance recalled to our recollection our +having frequently before, in the course of this journey, remarked that +the loaded sledges, in passing over hard snow, left upon it a light, +rose-coloured tint, which, at the time, we attributed to the colouring +matter being pressed out of the birch of which they were made. Today, +however, we observed that the runners of the, boats, and even our own +footsteps, exhibited the same appearance; and, on watching it more +narrowly afterward, we found the same effect to be produced, in a +greater or less degree, by heavy pressure, on almost all the ice over +which we passed, though a magnifying glass could detect nothing to give +it this tinge. Halting at seven A.M. on the 3d, after launching and +hauling up the boats a great number of times, we had not only the +comfort of drying all our wet clothes, but were even able to wash many +of our woollen things, which dried in a few hours. The latitude observed +at noon was 82 deg. 1' 48", or twelve miles and a half, to the southward of +our place on the 31st, which was about three more than our log gave, +though there had been southing in the wind during the whole interval. + +We proceeded on our journey southward at eight P.M., and were again +favoured with a clear and beautiful night, though the travelling was as +slow and laborious as ever, there being scarcely a tolerable floe lying +in our road. The sun now became so much lower at night, that we were +seldom annoyed by the glare from the snow. It was also a very +comfortable change to those who had to look out for the road, to have +the sun behind us instead of facing it, as on our outward journey. We +stopped to rest at a quarter past six A.M. on the 4th, after +accomplishing three miles in a south direction, over a troublesome road +of nearly twice that length. It was almost calm, and to our feelings +oppressively warm during the day, the thermometer within the boats +rising as high as 66 deg., which put our fur dresses nearly "out of +commission," though the mercury exposed to the sun outside did not rise +above 39 deg. Pursuing our journey at eight P.M., we paid, as usual, for +this comfort by the extreme softness of the snow. The upper crust would +sometimes support a man's weight for a short time, and then suddenly let +him down two or three feet, so that we could never make sure of our +footing for two steps together. Several of the men were also suffering +much at this time from chilblains, which, from the constant wet and +cold, as well as the irritation in walking, became serious sores, +keeping them quite lame. With many of our people, also, the epidermis or +scarfskin peeled off in large flakes, not merely in the face and hands, +which were exposed to the action of the sun and the weather, but in +every other part of the body; this, however, was attended with no pain, +nor with much inconvenience. + +A fat bear crossed over a lane of water to visit us, and, approaching +the boats within twenty yards, was killed by Lieutenant Ross. The scene +which followed was laughable, even to us who participated in it. Before +the animal had done biting the snow, one of the men was alongside of him +with an open knife; and, being asked what he was about to do, replied +that he was about cut out his heart and liver to put into the pot, which +happened to be then boiling for our supper. In short, before the bear +had been dead an hour, all hands of us were employed, to our great +satisfaction, in discussing the merits, not only of the said heart and +liver, but a pound per man of the flesh; besides which, some or other of +the men were constantly frying steaks during the whole day, over a large +fire made of the blubber. The consequence of all this, and other similar +indulgences, necessarily was, that some of them complained, for several +days after, of the pains usually arising from indigestion; though they +all, amusingly enough, attributed this effect to the quality, and not +the quantity of meat they had eaten. However, notwithstanding these +excesses at first, we were really thankful for this additional supply of +meat; for we had observed for some time past, that the men were +evidently not so strong as before, and would be the better for more +sustenance. + +The rain continued so hard at our usual time of setting out, that I was +obliged to delay doing so till six P.M. on the 8th, when it ceased a +little, after falling hard for twenty-four hours, and less violently for +twelve more. When we first launched the boats, our prospect of making +progress seemed no better than usual, but we found one small hole of +water leading into another in so extraordinary a manner, that, though +the space in which we were rowing seemed always to be coming to an end, +we continued to creep through narrow passages, and, when we halted to +dine at half an hour before midnight, had only hauled the boats up once, +and had made, though by a winding channel, four or five miles of +southing. This was so unusual a circumstance, that we could not help +entertaining some hope of our being at no great distance from the open +sea, which seemed the more probable from our having seen seven or eight +narwhals, and not less than two hundred rotges, a flock of these little +birds occurring in every hole of water. At noon on the 10th of August, +we observed in latitude 81 deg. 40' 13", which was only four miles to the +northward of our reckoning from the last observation, although there had +been almost constantly southing in the wind ever since, and it had been +blowing strong from that quarter for the last thirty hours. This +circumstance afforded a last and striking proof of the general tendency +of the ice to drift southward, about the meridians on which we had been +travelling. Another bear came towards the boats in the course of the +day, and was killed. We were now so abundantly supplied with meat, that +the men would again have eaten immoderately had we not interposed the +necessary authority to prevent them. As it was, our encampment became so +like an Esquimaux establishment, that we were obliged to shift our place +upon the floe in the course of the day, for the sake of cleanliness and +comfort. + +The wind falling towards midnight, we launched the boats at half past +one A.M. on the 11th, paddling alternately in large spaces of clear +water and among streams of loose "sailing ice." We soon afterward +observed such indications of an open sea as could not be mistaken, much +of the ice being "washed" as by a heavy sea, with small rounded +fragments thrown on the surface, and a good deal of "dirty ice" +occurring. After passing through a good deal of loose ice, it became +gradually more and more open, till at length, at a quarter before seven +A.M., we heard the first sound of the swell under the hollow margins of +the ice, and in a quarter of an hour had reached the open sea, which was +dashing with heavy surges against the outer masses. We hauled the boats +upon one of these, to eat our last meal upon the ice, and to complete +the necessary supply of water for our little voyage to Table Island, +from which we were now distant fifty miles, our latitude being 81 deg. 34', +and longitude 18-1/4 deg. E. A light air springing up from the N.W., we +again launched the boats, and at eight A.M. finally quitted the ice, +after having taken up our abode upon it for forty-eight days. + +We had some fog during the night, so that we steered entirely by +compass, according to our last observations by the chronometers, which +proved so correct, that, at five A.M. on the 12th, on the clearing up of +the haze, we made the island right ahead. At eleven A.M. we reached the +island, or rather the rock to the northward of it, where our provisions +had been deposited; and I cannot describe the comfort we experienced in +once more feeling a dry and solid footing. We found that the bears had +devoured all the bread (one hundred pounds), which occasioned a remark +among the men, with reference to the quantity of these animals' flesh +that we had eaten, that "Bruin was only square with us." We also found +that Lieutenant Crozier had been here since we left the island, bringing +some materials for repairing our boats, as well as various little +luxuries to which we had lately been strangers, and depositing in a +copper cylinder a letter from Lieutenant Foster, giving me a detailed +account of the proceedings of the ship up to the 23d of July. By this I +learned that the Hecla had been forced on shore on the 7th of July, by +the breaking-up of the ice at the head of the bay, which came down upon +her in one solid mass; but, by the unwearied and zealous exertions of +the officers and men, she had again been hove off without incurring the +slightest damage, and placed in perfect security. Among the supplies +with which the anxious care of our friends on board had now furnished +us, some lemon-juice and sugar were not the least acceptable; two or +three of the men having for some days past suffered from oedematous +swellings of the legs, and evinced other symptoms apparently scorbutic, +but which soon improved after administering this valuable specific. + +Having got our stores into the boats, we rowed round Table Island to +look for a place on which to rest, the men being much fatigued; but so +rugged and inhospitable is this northern rock, that not a single spot +could we find where the boats could possibly be hauled up, or lie afloat +in security. I therefore determined to take advantage of the freshening +of the N.E. wind, and to bear up for Walden Island, which we accordingly +did at two P.M. We had scarcely made, sail when the weather became +extremely inclement, with a fresh gale and very thick snow, which +obscured Walden Island from our view. Steering by compass, however, we +made a good landfall, the boats behaving well in a sea; and at seven +P.M. landed in the smoothest place we could find under the lee of the +island. Everything belonging to us was now completely drenched by the +spray and snow; we had been fifty-six hours without rest, and +forty-eight at work in the boats, so that, by the time they were +unloaded, we had barely strength left to haul them up on the rock. We +noticed, on this occasion, that the men had that wildness in their looks +which usually accompanies excessive fatigue; and, though just as willing +as ever to obey orders, they seemed at times not to comprehend them. +However, by dint of great exertion, we managed to get the boats above +the surf; after which, a hot supper, a blazing fire of driftwood, and a +few hours' quiet rest, quite restored us. + +The next morning, the 13th, I despatched Lieutenant Ross, with a party +of hands, to the N.E. part of the island, to launch the spare boat, +which, according to my directions, Lieutenant Foster had sent for our +use, and to bring round the stores deposited there in readiness for our +setting off for Low Island. They found everything quite undisturbed; +but, by the time they reached us, the wind had backed to the westward, +and the weather become very wet, so that I determined to remain here +till it improved. + +At ten A.M. on the 14th, the weather being fine, we launched our three +boats and left Walden Island; but the wind backing more to the westward, +we could only fetch into a bay on the opposite or southern shore, where +we hauled the boats up on very rugged rocks, under cliffs about six +hundred feet high, and of the same granite formation as Walden Island. + +The wind dying away on the morning of the 17th, we once more set out for +the ship at nine A.M.; but having a second time nearly reached Shoal +Point, were again met by a strong breeze as we opened Waygatz Strait, +and were therefore obliged to land upon the low shore to the southward +of Low Island. + +On the 18th of August the wind increased to a strong breeze from the +S.W., with rain and sleet, which afterward changed to snow in some of +the largest flakes I ever saw, completely changing the whole aspect of +the land from summer to winter in a few hours. On the following morning +we prepared to move at an early hour, but the wind backed more to the +westward, and soon after increased to a gale, raising so much surf on +the beach as to oblige us to haul the boats higher up. On the 20th, +tired as we were of this tedious confinement, and anxious to reach the +ship, the wind and sea were still too high to allow us to move, and it +was not till half past seven A.M. on the following day that we could +venture to launch the boats. Having now, by means of the driftwood, +converted our paddles into oars, and being occasionally favoured by a +light breeze, with a perfectly open sea, we made tolerable progress, and +at half past four P.M. on the 21st of August, when within three or four +miles of Hecla Cove, had the gratification of seeing a boat under sail +coming out to meet us. Mr. Weir soon joined us in one of the cutters; +and, after hearing good accounts of the safety of the ship, and of the +welfare of all on board, together with a variety of details, to us of no +small interest, we arrived on board at seven P.M., after an absence of +sixty-one days, being received with that warm and cordial welcome which +can alone be felt, and not described. + +I cannot conclude the account of our proceedings without endeavouring +to do justice to the cheerful alacrity and unwearied zeal displayed by +my companions, both officers and men, in the course of this excursion; +and if steady perseverance and active exertion on their parts could have +accomplished our object, success would undoubtedly have crowned our +labours. I must also mention, to the credit of the officers of Woolwich +dock-yard, who took so much pains in the construction of our boats, +that, notwithstanding the constant and severe trial to which their +strength had been put--and a more severe trial could not well be +devised--not a timber was sprung, a plank split, or the smallest injury +sustained by them; they were, indeed, as tight and as fit for service +when we reached the ship as when they were first received on board, and +in every respect answered the intended purpose admirably. + + + * * * * * + + +On my arrival on board, I learned from Lieutenant Crozier that +Lieutenant Foster, finding that no farther disturbance from ice was to +be apprehended, and after making an accurate plan of the bay and its +neighbourhood, had proceeded on the survey of Waygatz Strait, and +proposed returning by the 26th of August, the day to which I had limited +his absence. I found the ship quite ready for sea, with the exception of +getting on board the launch, with the stores deposited by my direction +on the beach. Lieutenant Foster's report informed me that, after the +ship had been hauled off the ground, they had again suffered +considerable disturbance for several days, in consequence of some heavy +masses of ice driving into the bay, which dragged the anchors, and +again threatened them with a similar accident. However, after the middle +of July, no ice had entered the bay, and, what is still more remarkable, +not a piece had been seen in the offing for some weeks past, even after +hard northerly and westerly gales. + +On the 22d of August, as soon as our people had enjoyed a good night's +rest, we commenced bringing the stores on board from the beach, throwing +out such a quantity of the stone ballast as was necessary for trimming +the ship; after which the cables and hawsers were cast off from the +shore, and the ship hauled off to single anchor. Lieutenant Foster +returned on board on the 24th, having surveyed the greater part of the +shores of the strait, as far to the southward as 79 deg. 33". + +Lieutenant Foster saw some seahorses (narwhals) and white whales in the +course of this excursion, but no black whales; nor did we, in the whole +course of the voyage, see any of these, except on the ground already +frequented by our whalers on the western coast of Spitzbergen. It is +remarkable, however, that the "crown-bones," and other parts of the +skeleton of whales, are found in most parts where we landed on this +coast. The shores of the strait, like all the rest in Spitzbergen, are +lined with immense quantities of driftwood, wherever the nature of the +coast will allow it to land. + +The animals met with here during the Hecla's stay were principally +reindeer, bears, foxes, kittiwakes, glaucus and ivory gulls, tern, +eider-ducks, and a few grouse. Looms and rotges were numerous in the +offing. Seventy reindeer were killed, chiefly very small, and, until +the middle of August, not in good condition. They were usually met with +in herds of from six or eight to twenty, and were most abundant on the +west and north sides of the bay. Three bears were killed, one of which +was somewhat above the ordinary dimensions, measuring eight feet four +inches from the snout to the insertion of the tail. The vegetation was +tolerably abundant, especially on the western side of the bay, where the +soil is good; a considerable collection of plants, as well as minerals, +was made by Mr. Halse, and of birds by Mr. M'Cormick. + +The neighbourhood of this bay, like most of the northern shores of +Spitzbergen, appears to have been much visited by the Dutch at a very +early period; of which circumstance records are furnished on almost +every spot where we landed, by the numerous graves which we met with. +There are thirty of these on a point of land on the north side of the +bay.[023] The bodies are usually deposited in an oblong wooden coffin, +which, on account of the difficulty of digging the ground, is not +buried, but merely covered by large stones; and a board is generally +placed near the head, having, either cut or painted upon it, the name of +the deceased, with those of his ship and commander, and the month and +year of his burial. Several of these were fifty or sixty years old; one +bore the date of 1738; and another, which I found on the beach to the +eastward of Hecla Cove, that of 1690; the inscription distinctly +appearing in prominent relief, occasioned by the preservation of the +wood by the paint, while the unpainted part had decayed around it. + +The officers who remained on board the Hecla during the summer described +the weather as the most beautiful, and the climate altogether the most +agreeable, they had ever experienced in the Polar Regions. Indeed, the +Meteorological Journal shows a temperature, both of the air and of the +sea water, to which we had before been altogether strangers within the +Arctic Circle, and which goes far towards showing that the climate of +Spitzbergen is a remarkably temperate one for its latitude.[024] It +must, however, be observed, that this remark is principally applicable +to the weather experienced _near the land_, that at sea being rendered +of a totally different character by the almost continual presence of +fogs; so that some of our most gloomy days upon the ice were among the +finest in Hecla Cove, where, however, a good deal of rain fell in the +course of the summer. + +The Hecla was ready for sea on the 25th of August; but the wind blowing +fresh from the northward and westward prevented our moving till the +evening of the 28th, when, the weather improving, we got under way from +Hecla Cove, and, being favoured with a light air from the S.E., stood +along the coast to the westward. On the evening of the 29th, when off +Red Beach, we got on board our boat and other stores which had been +left there, finding them undisturbed and in good order. The weather was +beautifully fine, and the sun (to us for the first time for about four +months) just dipped his lower limb into the sea at midnight, and then +rose again. It was really wonderful to see that, upon this whole +northern coast of Spitzbergen, where in May and June not a "hole" of +clear water could be found, it would now have been equally difficult to +discover a single mass of ice in any direction. This absence of ice now +enabled us to see Moffen Island, which is so low and flat that it was +before entirely hidden from our view by the hummocks. On rounding +Hakluyt's Headland on the 30th, we came at once into a long swell, such +as occurs only in places exposed to the whole range of the ocean, and, +except a small or loose stream or two, we after this saw no more ice of +any kind. On the 31st we were off Prince Charles's Foreland, the middle +part of which, about Cape Sietoe, appeared to be much the highest land +we had seen in Spitzbergen; rising probably to an elevation of above +four thousand feet. + +We had favourable winds to carry us clear of Spitzbergen; but after the +3d of September, and between the parallels of 70 deg. and 60 deg., were +detained by continual southerly and southwesterly breezes for a +fortnight. On the evening of the 17th we made Shetland, and on the +following day, being close off Balta Sound, and the wind blowing strong +from the S.W., I anchored in the Voe at two P.M., to wait a more +favourable breeze. We were here received by all that genuine hospitality +for which the inhabitants of this northern part of the British dominions +are so justly distinguished, and we gladly availed ourselves of the +supplies with which their kindness furnished us. + +Early on the morning of the 19th of September, the wind suddenly shifted +to the N.N.W., and almost immediately blew so strong a gale that we could +not safely cast the ship until the evening, when we got under way and +proceeded to the southward; but had not proceeded farther than Fair +Island, when, after a few hours' calm, we were once more met by a +southerly wind. Against this we continued to beat till the morning of +the 23d, when, finding that we made but little progress, and that there +was no appearance of an alteration of wind, I determined to put into +Long Hope, in the Orkney Islands, to await a change in our favour, and +accordingly ran in and anchored there as soon as the tide would permit. + +We found lying here his majesty's revenue cutter the Chichester; and Mr. +Stuart, her commander, who was bound direct to Inverness, came on board +as soon as we had anchored, to offer his services in any manner which +might be useful. The wind died away in the course of the night of the +24th, and was succeeded on the following morning by a light air from the +northward, when we immediately got under way; but had not entered the +Pentland Firth, when it again fell calm and then backed to the +southward, rendering it impossible to make any progress in that +direction with a dull-sailing ship. I therefore determined on returning +with the Hecla to the anchorage, and then taking advantage of Mr. +Stuart's offer; and accordingly left the ship at eight A.M., accompanied +by Mr. Beverly, to proceed to Inverness in the Chichester, and from +thence by land to London, in order to lay before his royal highness the +lord high admiral, without farther delay, an account of our proceedings. +By the zealous exertions of Mr. Stuart, for which I feel greatly obliged +to that gentleman, we arrived off Fort George the following morning, +and, landing at Inverness at noon, immediately set off for London, and +arrived at the Admiralty on the morning of the 29th of September. + +Owing to the continuance of southerly winds, the Hecla did not arrive in +the river Thames until the 6th of October, when I was sorry, though not +surprised, to learn the death of Mr. George Crawford, the Greenland +master, who departed this life on the 29th of September, sincerely +lamented by all who knew him, as a zealous, active, and enterprising +seaman, and an amiable and deserving man. Mr. Crawford had accompanied +us in five successive voyages to the Polar Seas, and I truly regret the +occasion which demands from me this public testimony of the value of his +services and the excellence of his character. + + + * * * * * + + +Having finished my Narrative of this Attempt to reach the North Pole, I +may perhaps be permitted, in conclusion, to offer such remarks as have +lately occurred to me on the nature and practicability of the +enterprise. + +That the object is of still more difficult attainment than was before +supposed, even by those persons who were the best qualified to judge of +it, will, I believe, appear evident from a perusal of the foregoing +pages; nor can I, after much consideration and some experience of the +various difficulties which belong to it, recommend any material +improvement in the plan lately adopted. Among the various schemes +suggested for this purpose, it has been proposed to set out from +Spitzbergen, and to make a rapid journey to the northward with sledges +or sledge-boats, drawn wholly by dogs or reindeer; but, however feasible +this plan may at first sight appear, I cannot say that our late +experience of the nature of the ice which they would probably have to +encounter has been at all favourable to it. It would, of course, be a +matter of extreme imprudence to set out on this enterprise without the +means of crossing, not merely narrow pools and "lanes," but more +extensive spaces of open water, such as we met with between the margin +of the ice and the Spitzbergen shores; and I do not conceive that any +boat sufficiently large to be efficient and safe for this purpose could +possibly be managed upon the ice, were the power employed to give it +motion dependant on dogs or reindeer. On the contrary, it was a frequent +subject of remark among the officers, that reason was a qualification +scarcely less indispensable than strength and activity in travelling +over such a road; daily instances occurring of our having to pass over +difficult places, which no other animal than man could have been easily +prevailed upon to attempt. Indeed, the constant necessity of launching +and hauling up the boats (which operations we had frequently to perform +eight or ten, and, on one occasion, seventeen times in the same day) +would alone render it inexpedient, in my opinion, to depend chiefly +upon animals; for it would certainly require more time and labour to get +them into and out of the boats, than their services in the intervals, or +their flesh ultimately used as food, would be worth; especially when it +is considered how large a weight of provender must be carried for their +own subsistence.[025] + +In case of employing reindeer, which, from their strength, docility, and +hardy habits, appear the best suited to this kind of travelling, there +would be an evident advantage in setting out much earlier in the year +than we did; perhaps about the end of April, when the ice is less broken +up, and the snow much harder upon its surface than at a more advanced +part of the season. But this, it must be recollected, would involve the +necessity of passing the previous winter on the northern coast of +Spitzbergen, which, even under favourable circumstances, would probably +tend to weaken in some degree the energies of the men; while, on the +other hand, it would be next to impossible to procure there a supply of +provender for a number of tame reindeer, sufficient even to keep them +alive, much less in tolerable condition, during a whole winter. In +addition to this, it may be observed, that any party setting out earlier +must be provided with a much greater weight of warm clothing in order to +guard against the severity of cold, and also with an increased +proportion of fuel for procuring water by the melting of snow, there +being no fresh water upon the ice in these latitudes before the month of +June. + +In the kind of provisions proper to be employed in such enterprises--a +very important consideration, where almost the whole difficulty may be +said to resolve itself into a question of weight--I am not aware that +any improvement could be made upon that with which we were furnished; +for I know of none which appears to contain so much nutriment in so +small a weight and compass. It may be useful, however, to remark, as the +result of absolute experience, that our daily allowance of +provisions,[026] although previously tried for some days on board the +ship, and then considered to be enough, proved by no means sufficient to +support the strength of men living constantly in the open air, exposed +to wet and cold for at least twelve hours a day, seldom enjoying the +luxury of a warm meal, and having to perform the kind of labour to which +our people were subject. I have before remarked, that, previously to our +return to the ship, our strength was considerably impaired; and, indeed, +there is reason to believe that, very soon after entering upon the ice, +the physical energies of the men were gradually diminishing, although, +for the first few weeks, they did not appear to labour under any +specific complaint. This diminution of strength, which we considered to +be principally owing to the want of sufficient sustenance, became +apparent, even after a fortnight, in the lifting of the bread-bags and +other heavy weights; and I have no doubt that, in spite of every care on +the part of the officers, as well as Mr. Beverly's skilful and humane +attention to their ailments, some of the men, who had begun to fail +before we quitted the ice, would, in a week or two longer, have suffered +very severely, and become a serious encumbrance, instead of an +assistance, to our party. As far as we were able to judge, without +farther trial, Mr. Beverly and myself were of opinion that, in order to +maintain the strength of men thus employed for several weeks together, +an addition would be requisite of at least one third more to the +provisions which we daily issued. I need scarcely remark how much this +would increase the difficulty of equipping such an expedition. + +I cannot dismiss the subject of this enterprise without attempting to +explain, as far as I am able, how it may have happened that the ice over +which we passed was found to answer so little to the description of that +observed by the respectable authorities quoted in a former part of this +volume.[027] It frequently occurred to us, in the course of our daily +journeys, that this may, in some degree, have arisen from our +navigators' having generally viewed the ice from a considerable height. +The only clear and commanding view on board a ship is that from the +crow's-nest; and Phipps's most important remarks concerning the nature +of the ice to the north of Spitzbergen were made from a station several +hundred feet above the sea; and, as it is well known how much the most +experienced eye may thus be deceived, it is possible enough that the +irregularities which cost us so much time and labour may, when viewed in +this manner, have entirely escaped notice, and the whole surface have +appeared one smooth and level plain. + +It is, moreover, possible, that the broken state in which we +unexpectedly found the ice may have arisen, at least in part, from an +unusually wet season, preceded, perhaps, by a winter of less than +ordinary severity. Of the latter we have no means of judging, there +being no record, that I am aware of, of the temperature of that or any +other winter passed in the higher latitudes; but, on comparing our +Meteorological Register with some others kept during the corresponding +season and about the same latitude,[028] it does appear that, though no +material difference is observable in the mean temperature of the +atmosphere, the quantity of rain which we experienced is considerably +greater than usual; and it is well known how very rapidly ice is +dissolved by a fall of rain. At all events, from whatever cause it may +have arisen, it is certain that, about the meridian on which we +proceeded northward in the boats, the sea was in a totally different +state from what Phipps experienced, as may be seen from comparing our +accounts--his ship being closely beset, near the Seven Islands, for +several days about the beginning of August; whereas the Hecla, in the +beginning of June, sailed about in the same neighbourhood without +obstruction, and, before the close of July, not a piece of ice could be +seen from Little Table Island. + +I may add, in conclusion, that, before the middle of August, when we +left the ice in our boats, a ship might have sailed to the latitude, of +82 deg. almost without touching a piece of ice; and it was the general +opinion among us, that, by the end of that month, it would probably have +been no very difficult matter to reach the parallel of 83 deg., about the +meridian of the Seven Islands. + + +THE END. + + + + + +FOOTNOTES + +[001] This name being applied by the Esquimaux to several other portions +of land, all of which are insular, or nearly so, it is probable that the +word simply signifies an island. + +[002] The expression "fixed ice" appearing better suited to our present +obstacle than that of "land ice," I shall in future adopt it in speaking +of this barrier. + +[003] Lest it should be thought that this account is exaggerated, I may +here state, that, as a matter of curiosity, we one day tried how much a +lad, scarcely full grown, would, if freely supplied, consume in this +way. The under-mentioned articles were weighed before being given to +him; he was twenty hours in getting through them, and certainly did not +consider the quantity extraordinary. + + lb. oz. + Seahorse flesh, hard frozen 4 4 + Ditto, boiled 4 4 + Bread and bread-dust 1 12 + ________ + + Total of solids 10 4 + The Fluids were in fair proportion, viz.: + Rich gravy-soup 1-1/4 pint. + Raw spirits 3 wine glasses. + Strong grog. 1 tumbler. + Water 1 gallon 1 pint. + +[004] We have since heard that these ships were the Dexterity, of Leith, +and the Aurora, of Hull, which were wrecked on the 28th of August, 1821, +about the latitude of 72 deg. + +[005] A fine lad, of about sixteen, being one day out in a boat with one +of our gentlemen at Arlagnuk, reminded him, with a serious face, that he +had laid a gun down _full-cocked_. There happened to be no charge in the +gun at the time; but this was a proof of the attention the boy had paid +to the art of using firearms, as well as an instance of considerate and +manly caution, scarcely to have been expected in an individual of that +age. + +[006] Most Greenland sailors use these; but many persons, both officers +and men, have an absurd prejudice against what they call "wearing +stays." + +[007] It is remarkable that this poor man had, twice before, within the +space of nine months, been very near death; for, besides the accident +already mentioned, of falling down the hill when escaping from the bear, +he was also in imminent danger of dying of dropsy during the winter. + +[008] This birch, they said, had been procured from the southward by way +of _Noowook_. We never met with any of the same kind in those parts of +the country which we visited, except that observed by Captain Lyon in +the deserted habitations of the Esquimaux near Five Hawser Bay. + +[009] Toolooak, who was a frequent visitor at the young gentlemen's +mess-table on board the Fury, once evinced this taste, and no small +cunning at the same time, by asking alternately for a little more bread +and a little more butter, till he had made a hearty meal. + +[010] Cervical, 7; dorsal, 13; lumbar, 7; sacral, 3; caudal, 19. + +[011] Cartwright's _Labrador_, iii., 232. + +[012] Ledyard. _Proceedings of the African Association_, vol i, p. 30. + +[013] The first travelling boat, which was built by way of experiment, +was planked differently from these two; the planks, which were of +half-inch oak, being ingeniously "tongued" together with copper, in +order to save the necessity of caulking in case of the wood shrinking. +This was the boat subsequently landed on Red Beach. + +[014] This article of our equipment contains a large proportion of +nutriment in a small weight and compass, and is therefore invaluable on +such occasions. The process, which requires great attention, consists in +drying large thin slices of the lean of the meat over the smoke of +wood-fires, then pounding it, and lastly mixing it with about an equal +weight of its own fat. In this state it is quite ready for use, without +farther cooking. + +[015] The merits of this simple but valuable invention being now too +well known to require any detailed account of the experiments, it is +only necessary for me to remark, in this place, that the compass, having +the plate attached to it, gave, under all circumstances, the correct +magnetic bearing. + +[016] It is remarkable, that the Esquimaux word for boot is very like +this--Kameega. + +[017] I find it to be the universal opinion among the most experienced +of our whalers, that there is much less ice met with, of late years, in +getting to the northward, in these latitudes, than formerly was the +case. Mr. Scoresby, to whose very valuable local information, contained +in his "Account of the Arctic Regions," I have been greatly indebted on +this occasion, mentions the circumstance as a generally received fact. + +[018] It was probably some such gale as this which has given to +Hakluyt's Headland, in an old Dutch chart, the appellation of "Duyvel's +Hoek." + +[019] I have been thus particular in noticing the Hecla's position, +because our observations would appear to be, with one exception, the +most northern on record at that time. The Commissioners of Longitude, in +their memorial to the king in council, in the year 1821, consider that +the "progress of discovery has not arrived northward, according to any +well-authenticated accounts, so far as eighty-one degrees of north +latitude." Mr. Scoresby states his having observed in lat. 81 deg. 12' 42". + +[020] Had we succeeded in reaching the higher latitudes, where the +change of the sun's altitude during the twenty-four hours is still less +perceptible, it would have been essentially necessary to possess the +certain means of knowing this; since an error of twelve hours of time +would have carried us, when we intended to return, on a meridian +opposite to, or 180 deg. from, the right one. To obviate the possibility of +this, we had some chronometers constructed by Messrs. Parkinson and +Frodsham, of which the hour-hand made only one revolution in the day, +the twenty-four hours being marked round the dial-plate. + +[021] I may here mention, that, notwithstanding the heavy blows which +the boats were constantly receiving, all our nautical and astronomical +instruments were taken back to the ship without injury. This +circumstance makes it, perhaps, worth while to explain, that they were +lashed upon a wooden platform in the after locker of each boat, +sufficiently small to be clear of the boat's sides, and playing on +strong springs of whalebone, which entirely obviated the effects of the +severe concussions to which they would otherwise have been subject. + +[022] We found the best preservative against this glare to be a pair of +spectacles, having the glass of a bluish-green colour, and with +side-screens to them. + +[023] Perhaps the name of this bay, from the Dutch word _Treuren_, "to +lament, or be mournful," may have some reference to the graves found +here. + +[024] Mr. Crowe, of Hammerfest, who lately passed a winter on the +southwestern coast of Spitzbergen, in about latitude 78 deg., informed me +that he had _rain at Christmas_; a phenomenon which would indeed have +astonished us at any of our former wintering stations in a much lower +latitude. Perhaps the circumstance of the reindeer wintering at +Spitzbergen may also be considered a proof of a comparatively temperate +climate. + +[025] See p. 254 of this volume. {line 6545 "The quantity of clean moss +considered requisite for each deer per day is four pounds ..." - +Transcriber} + +[026] See p. 280 of this volume. {line 7210 "Our allowance of provisions +for each man per day was as follows:" - Transcriber} + +[027] See Introduction. {line 6343 "INTRODUCTION." - Transcriber} + +[028] Particularly that of Mr. Scoresby during the month of July, from +1812 to 1818 inclusive, and Captain Franklin's for July and August, +1818. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A +NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, AND NARRATIVE OF AN +ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE, VOLUME 2 (OF 2)*** + + +******* This file should be named 14350.txt or 14350.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/3/5/14350 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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