Arctic geography and ethnology. A selection of papers on Arctic geography and ethnology

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ARCTIC GEOGEAPHY

ETHNOLOGY.

^iOUTHERN BRANCH,

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,

LIBRARY,

U3S ANGELES, CALIF,

418 8

Arctic Geograpliy and Rthnology.

A SELECTION OF PAPEKS

ARCTIC GEOGRAPHY AND ETHNOLOGY.

REPRINTED, AND PRESENTED TO

THE AECTIC EXPEDITION OF 1875,

BY

THE PRESIDENT, COUNCIL, AND FELLOWS OF THE
]k)YAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.

LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.

1875.

6 0 1 () 5

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,

STAMFOItD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

f?8

PREFACE.

The President and Council of the Eoyal Geographical Society

suggested that a selection of papers on various branches of

science relating to the Arctic Eegions, which are rendered

-^ inaccessible through being bound up in ' Transactions ' and

^ ' Proceedings ' with other irrelevant matter, should be reprinted

for the use of the Arctic Expedition. This suggestion, so far

as regards subjects other than geography and ethnology, was

adopted by the Admiralty on the recommendation of the

^Council of the Koyal Society, and a collection of papers and

■^ extracts from books on zoology, geology and physics, will

be reprinted at the public expense for the use of the

expedition.

The present volume contains a series of papers on Arctic

geographical and ethnological subjects, which it was thought

j might be useful to the officers of the expedition ; and which

7> has been pi;epared by a Committee appointed by the Council,

\J and at the expense of the Royal Geographical Society.

V^ It is a contribution presented to the Arctic Expedition by

::! the Society, in the hope that some use and instruction may

be derived from it, and with the warmest and most heartfelt

wishes for the success and safe return of the explorers, on the

part of the Council and Fellows.

The Volume is divided into two sections — on Geography and
Ethnology.

The first series of papers in the Geographical Section is by
Dr. Robert Brown, f.r.g.s., who has twice visited Greenland,
and who is one of the highest living authorities on all scientific
subjects connected with that region. Dr. Brown, after briefly

vi PREFACE.

describing the Greenland coast-line, gives an account of all the
different attempts that have been made to penetrate into the
interior. He then treats of the Greenland glacier system, of
the action of sea-ice, of the rise and fall of the coast, and of the
formation of fjords, and concludes with some speculations on
the northern termination of Greenland, and on debateable points
regarding the physical structure of the vast icy continent.

Dr. Brown's series is followed by three papers reprinted from
the 'Journal' of the Eoyal Geographical Society. The first, by
Baron von Wrangell, is interesting, as being the first proposal
to attempt to reach the Pole by the route of Smith Sound.
The second is a valuable criticism on the narrative of Dr. Kane's
discoveries, by Dr. Eink, the eminent Danish Naturalist, and
Director of the Greenland Board of Trade ; and the third is a
paper on the Arctic Current around Greenland, by the Danish
Admiral Irminger.

The concluding series of Papers, in the Geographical Section,
is by Admiral Collinson. The full results of that distinguished
officer's remarkable Arctic voyage have never been given to tlie
public ; and both the Fellows of the Society and the officers of
the Arctic Expedition are to be congratulated in having, on
this occasion, elicited so valuable an instalment. Admiral
Collinson gives his notes on the state of the ice, and on
indications of open water, from the mouth of the Siberian river
Kolyma, along the shores of Arctic America, to Ballot Strait.
He also furnishes a narrative of all the expeditions that have
explored the shores of Arctic America from Point Barrow to
the Mackenzie Eiver, and from the Mackenzie to the Back
Eiver, including his own voyage, and concludes with some
general observations on the ice.

The Ethnological Section commences with two papers on the
origin and migrations of the Greenland Eskimo, and on the
Arctic Highlanders. Then follows a sketch of tlie Eskimo
grammar, and a series of classified vocabularies taken from the
lists of Egede, Kleinschmidt, Janssen, and Admiral Washington.

PREFACE. vii

The compilation of the list of names of places in Greenland
has been a difficult task, and it is feared that it falls short of
what might have been prepared if more time conld have been
bestowed upon it. The intention has been to give the name of
every place on the coast of Greenland from the Dannebrog
Islands, in latitude 65° 15' N. on the eastern side, round Cape
Farewell, to the entrance of Smith Sound ; with columns
for the Eskimo names, their meanings, identifications of
ancient Norman sites, Danish names, names and latitudes on
the Admiralty Chart, and remarks. The Eskimo meanings
have been kindly supplied by Dr. Eink, and the Norman iden-
tifications are mainly due to the learning of Mr. Major. Much
laborious assistance, in the preparation of this list, has also been
given by Commander A. H. Markham, k.n., f.r.g.s., of H.M.S.
AleH.

A short but interesting paper follows, by Dr. Kink, on the
descent of the Eskimo ; and the elaborate memoir by the late
Dr. Simpson, r.n., of H.M.S. Plover, on the Western Eskimo,
completes this Section. The volume concludes with a report,
and a series of questions, which were prepared in 1872, by
a Committee of the Council of the Anthropological Institute.

CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM,

Secretary R.G.S.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

Preface v

GEOGRAPHY.

I. On fHE Physical Structure of Greenland. By

Dr. Robert Brown, f.r.g.s., &g 1

1. The Gkeenland Coast-line 1

The East Coast 2

The West Coast 3

2. The Interiok of Greenland 4

Ocean and Landorifs Attempt in 1728 .. .. 6

Dalager's Journey in 1751 7

Kielsen's Journey in 1830 9

Hayes' Journey in 1860 10

Eae's attempted Journey in 18G0 12

Mr. Whymper's Expedition in 1867 12

Visits of Rink and others to the Inland Ice . . 13

Nordenskjold's and Berggrcn's Journey in 1870 14

AVhat is the Interior of Greenland ? 22

Are there any moiantains ii\ tlie Interior? .. 23

What is Greenland ? 25

Can Greenland be crossed ? 26

3. Greenland Glaciers and Sea-ice 27

4. Glacier System of Greenland 29

The Interior Ice-field 30

The Defluents of this Inland Ice-field .. .. 33

The Iceberg 36

The Sub-glacial Stream 38

The Moraines 45

Life near the Ice-Fjords 47

h

X TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGE

5. Action of Sea-Ice 48

6. EiSE AND Fall of the Greenland Coast .. .. 50

Rise 60

Fall 52

7. Application of the facts regarding Arctic Ice-

action AS explanatory of Glaciation and
OTHER Ice Eemains in Britain 54

8. On the Formation of Fjords 58

Glaciers and Fjords 61

Grinding-power of Glaciers 62

Filling-np of Fjords 64

The Walls of Fjords ^ .. .. 66

Volcanic Theory of the Formation ofFjords . . 67

Eamsay, Dana, Geikie, and Murphy, on Fjords . . 68

9. The Northern Termination of Greenland .. 70

10. Debateable Points regarding the Physical

Structure of Greenland 73

II. On the Best Means of beaching the Pole. By

Admieal Baeon von Weangell 75

III. On the Discoveeies of De. Kane, U.S.A. (1853-55).

By De. Eink 80

IV. The Aectic Cdeeent aeound Geeenland. By

Admieal C. Iemingee, of the Danish Navy . . 97

V. Notes on the State of the Ice, and on the Indi-
cations of Open Watee feom Beheing Steait
to Bellot Steait, along the Coasts of Aectic
Ameeica and Sibeeia, including the Accounts
OF Anjou and Weangell. By Vice-Admieal E.

COLLINSON, C.B.

Introduction 105

1. Behring Straits 106

Eussian Expeditions east of the Eiver Kolyma 108

Baron Wrangell's Eemarks 112

Kotzebue 112

Lutke .. 113

Voyage of the i?/ossom 113

Expeditions in Search of Sir John Franklin . . 114

The IferaW 114

The Plover 115

TABLE OF CONTEXTS. xi

1. Behring Straits, contimud.

PAGE

Enterprise mxA. Investigator 116

^he DceiJalns audi Amphitrite 119

Whymper, 1865-66 120

Whaling Fleet 121

Dr. Simpson's Eemarks 123

General Observations 126

Native Names, Mackenzie Eiver to Cape Hope 129

Extracts from the Plover's Log, 1852 130

2. A Short Account of the Exploration op the

Polar Sea 135

From Point Barrow to the IMackenzie Eiver . . 135

Yoyage of Mackenzie, 1789 135

Frankhn's Second Voyage, 1825-26 135

Dease and Simpson, 1837 137

Lieutenant Pullen's Voyage, 1850 138

Voyage of H.M.S. /»ve.s<i(/«itir 138

Sir E. M'Clure's Eemarks 140

Voyage of H.M.S. ii'»ierp?'tse 141

From the Mackenzie to the Back Eiver . . . . 145

Journey of Samuel Hearne in 1769-72 . . . . 145

Franklin's First Journey, 1819-22 145

Dr. Eichardson and Mr. Kendall 147

Sir George Back's Voyage 148

Dease and Simpson, 1S38 150

Eichardson and Eae, 1848 152

Eae's Journeys 152

Voyage of the Enterprise to Cambridge Bay .. 153

Eae's Journey from Eepulse Bay to Boothia .. 156

Anderson's Voyage down the Back Eiver .. 156

Victoria Strait and Franklin Channel .. .. 157

Sir L. M'Clintock's Eemarks 159

General Observations on the Ice 160

ETHNOLOGY.

I. Papers on the Greenland Eskimos. By Clements
R. Maekham.

1. On the Origin and Migrations of the Green-

land Eskimos 163

2. On the "Arctic Highlanders" 175

Names of Arctic Highlanders 188

3. Language of the Eskimo op Greenland .. .. 189 l

Vocabularies 194

4. List of Names of Places in Greenland .. .. 204

xu TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PAGB

11. On the Descent of the Eskimo. By De. Rink . . 230
III. The Western Eskimo. By Dr. Simpson, e.n. . . 233
IV. Report OF the Anthropological Institute. . .. 276

Questions for Arctic Explorers 281

1. General. By Dr. Barnard Davis 2bl

2. Eeligion, Sociology, &c. By Mr. Tylor ..282

3. Eemaius of Ancient Tribes. By Mr. Boyd

Dawkins 283

4. Customs relating to War. By Colonel Lane

Fox 283

Arrow-Marks and other Signs 286

Drawings, Ornamentation, &c 287

5. Further Ethnological Questions. By Mr.

Franks 288

6. Physical Characteristics. By Dr. Beddoe . . 290

7. Further Ethnological Inquiries. By Dr.

Turner 291

8. Suggested Inquiries. By Capt. Bedford Pirn 292

MAPS.

Map di-awn by Erasmus York, the "Arctic Highlander" .. to face 184

Map of the part of the Coast of Greenland containing the

ancient Norman Settlements ,, 209

GEOGKAPHY.

I.

ON THE PHYSICAL STEUCTUKE OF GREENLAND.

In drawing up a summary, as brief as such a wide subject will
admit of, regarding our knowledge of the physical structure of
Greenland, apart from its geology, which will be found in the
contributions to the Manual prepared by the Arctic Committee of
the Eoyal Society, the materials at my disposal will be best
utilized by adopting the following division : — (1) A description of
the coast. (2) A summary of what we know of the interior and
of the chief attempts which have been made to penetrate it. (3)
The Greenland ice and Greenland glaciers. (4) The nature of
the Greenland fjords. (5) A discussion of the question regarding
the probable termination of Greenland; and, finally, (6) a few
memoranda may be added in regard to the points discussed in
the preceding pages, in reference to which our knowledge is still
imperfect, but which the researches of the present Expedition could
do much to solve.

1. The Greenland Coast-line.

The Admiralty chart, and the numerous elaborate ones in the
narrative of the German Expedition to East Greenland,^ are so
detailed, that any minute description of the coast-line is super-
fluous. I will, therefore, merely confine myself to a brief outline,
more as connecting the topographical portion of my subject with
that which is more purely physico-geographical, than with any
view to supply what a glance at the chart will much more efficiently
afford the reader.

' ' Die Zweito Deutsche Nordpolarfahrt' (Leipzig, 1872-75), or its partial trana-
lation (but without all tlie maps, &c.) by Messrs. Bates and Mercier (Loudou,
1874).

^

2 THE EAST COAST OF GREENLAND.

The general form of Greenland, as at present portrayed on our
maps, is roughly triangular. It is probable that further discoveries
on the northern shores will show it to be more ellipsoidal than
triangular in shape. Its interior is unknown, but its shores on the
western and part of the eastern sides have been more or less com-
pletely explored. At almost no place is there a straight or unbroken
line of coast ; deep fjords, at short intervals, running more or less
parallel with each other, often for great distances into the land, and
in some cases divided into numerous branches or tributary fjords,
intersect the coast. These fjords are much more numerous on the
west than on the east coast— a fact which we shall see is true of every
other region where these peculiar intersections of a coast-line are
found (p. 69) ; and this fact may be received as some ground fur the
belief that the inland ice (p. 30) which covers the whole interior
of the country slopes more to the western than to the eastern sides.
1. The East Coast.— The Spitzbergen Ice-stream— a broad river
of pack-ice, floes, &c.— is carried by the current from the direc-
tion of Spitzbergen down the eastern shores of Greenland, south at
least of lat. 64^ and is drawn up Davis Strait by the in-draught
of the water until it impinges on the coast about the vicinity
of Holsteensborg. In this current are brought great quantities of
drift-wood, which has passed out of the mouths of the Siberian rivers,
and white bears, which afford a lucrative object of chase to the
South Greenlanders.

The most northerly point on the coast of Greenland which has
ever been sighted, is the mythical land which is said to have been
visited by Lambert in 1670. But this record is so dubious, that we
may really set down the furthest northern point reached by the
German Expedition on the 15th of April, 1870, viz., Cape Bismarck,
or a little beyond, in lat. 77°, as the limit of our knowledge of the
eastern shores. South of that parallel the coast-line has been
partially laid down by Scoresby, and by the expedition mentioned,
until we come to lat. 69° 12', near Knighton Bay, when again the
chart fails us. Between the points mentioned the coast is broken by
fjords and bays, with numerous oflf-lying islands. The most exten-
sive of these fjords is that of the Kaiser Franz Joseph, a beautiful
inlet (with many tributaries), which stretches into the interior
for an unknown distance.

Scarcely less beautiful are Ardencaple Inlet and the Fligely and

Tyrolese Fjords, though neither is equal in extent. or grandeur to that

named in honour of the Austrian Emperor. Koldewey's, Clavering's

and Shannon islands form the greatest extent of detached land.

Petermann's Peak (14,000 feet), and Payer's Peak (7600 feet), are

THE WEST COAST OF GREENLAND. 3

the highest points of laud in that region. In Greenland, it may be
remarked, there are few high elevations. " Greenland's icy moun-
tains " are to some extent a hymnal myth ! Scoresb^^'s Sound is an
unexplored inlet of perhaps an extent even greater than any of those
named. Davy Sound may also prove to be an extensive northern
tributary of Scoresby's Sound.

South of Knighton Bay, until we come to the White Saddle
Island in lat. 65°, we may be said to know nothing of the coast.
Here and there a cape has been sighted and a name applied to it ;
and practically a dotted line might fitly express all the exact know-
ledge which we possess in regard to it. From lat. 65° to Cape
Farewell, the southern termination of the country, the coast has
been laid down from the sketches of the old Norsemen, and from
the obsei-vations of Graah and others, who went in search of the
" lost colonies," believed, but erroneously, to have been situated, up
to the period of the Middle Ages, on the south-eastern portion of
Greenland.^ The coast-line is broken by fjords, with very few
islands lying off their mouths.

2. West Coast. — Cape Farewell (called by the Greenlandei-s
Kangekyadlek, or the cape rianning to the westward) is on a small
island (Sermilik). From this point up lat. 73° 40' (Tessiussak or
Kingatok) the coast has been more or less perfectly surveyed. Of
the southern harbours and inlets we indeed possess "Some excellent
charts by the Danish naval surveyors. At all events, no important
points in its geography are unknown, and it may be said that, for all
geographical purposes, the west coast of Greenland is perfectly well
known within the limits of the Danish possessions. Its general
character is much the same as the i-est of the Greenland continent
— not overlaid by ice — and will be described, so far as the natuiu.
of this memoir requires, in a subsequent section (p. 29). Siikker-
toppen("the sugar-loaf") and Sanderson's Hope (Kasorsoak) are
about the highest points of the coast.

North of these limits the unexplored or imperfectly known
region commences. The bottom of Melville Bay is, for instance,
entirely unknown. Great glaciers, fjords, and islands— one of
which is said to constitute that pillar-like land to the entrance of
the bay known as the Devil's Thumb — will most likely be found
to be the prevailing character of the coast. The bottom of few, if
any, of the inlets north of this are known, and the outer coast-lino
very imperfectly. How much, or how little, we know of Smith

' The " Osier Bygd " has now been proverl to liave been on the west
coast.

b2

4 THE INTERIOR OF GREENLAND,

Sound the charts and other documents will have so fully explained
to the Expedition, that it is manifestly out of the province of the
present writer to enter upon this subject. The physical charac-
teristics of the country do not, so far as a mere study of the pub-
lished sources of information which we possess in regard to it will
allow us to judge, differ in any remarkable degree from the region
already spoken of,

2. The Interior of Greenland.^

The interior of any considerable tract of land has always a mys-
terious interest surrounding it, especially when its coasts have long
been a familiar object on our maps. Indeed, now-a-days, when the
broad features of the world, excepting those of some of the more
remote Arctic and Antarctic regions, are tolerably well known,
little remains to the geographical explorer but the investigation
of the interior of some of the older continental masses of land.
Even with his ambition so bounded, the traveller need not, like a
second Alexander, sit down and weep because there are no more
worlds to conquer. The geography and resources of scarcely any
great mass of land, from Australia to Greenland, with the exception
of the long civilised and inhabited European countries, are well
known, and some even very near to the great centres of population
and enterprise of the world, such as Iceland and Greenland, are
little, if at all known, or even attempted to be explored. Yet the
superficial area of Greenland cannot be less than 750,000 square
miles — in a word, it is a continent.

It is now upwards of 1000 years ^ since the banished Iceland
Vikino-, Eed Erik (Thorwards' son), discovered the land to which
he applied the somewhat couleur- de-rose name of " Gronland." For
upwards of 700 years it was settled on its southern shores, or visited
for hunting, fishing, or trading purposes, by his countrymen from
Iceland and Norway. Thirteen bishops were ordained to preside
over this frozen diocese, and churches and villages yet remain, in
the shape of massive rude ruins, to attest how strong a hold it had
taken on the colonising spirit of Scandinavia. For nearly 300 years
exploring vessels of almost every European maritime nation have
passed along its ice-bound shores, either for the purpose of exploring
its northern termination or of tracing the trend of its unknown

> Condensed and re-cast, with corrections, from ' Das Inuere von Gronland '
(Petermann's ' Geog. Mittheilungen,' 1871).

" This date is not certain; some authors give it as a.d. 983. See also Konrad
Maurer's ' Island, von seiner ersten Entdeckung bis zura Untergange des Frei-
staats' (1874).

THE INTERIOR OF GREENLAND. 5

eastern coast. For upwards of 200 years thousands of English,
Dutch, Danish, German, Norwegian, American, or French ships
have visited it, hunted the whale and the seal in its waters, or every
summer battled with their giant quarr}' in the more distant seas
which wash its shores ; and finally, it is now nearly a century
and a half ago since the Danish Government first established
trading-posts on the western coasts from near Cape Farewell to
almost 74"^ x. latitude, where reside from year to year educated
and intelligent Danish officers with the whole resources of the
trading monopoly at their disposal. Yet, as far as any definite
knowledge of the interior goes, we know almost as little to-day as
we did when Erikr Eauthri returned home again to Sneefjeld-
jokelsfjord, boasting of the new country he had discovered.^

True, we know that it is covered with an immense glacier expan-
sion. But whether this glacier expansion is unbroken from north
to south or from east to west we can only reason from analogy, and
are not able to speak with the authority and confidence which actual
observation gives. Before we hastily vent our indignation in the
stereotyped phrase of " it being discreditable to the enterprise of
the age " that this should be, let us glance for a moment at the
causes of this. Though so near Europe, Greenland is yet in reality
far off", communication with it being rare and slow, while once
there, there is little to attract the attention of an explorer, who is
apt to think his time more profitably and pleasantly spent in more
fruitful and. hospitable regions. Accordingly, while the mysteries
of Afi-ica are explored at every risk of life and health, and the
eucalyjotus-thickets of Australia never lack Englishmen and Ger-
mans willing to risk a grave among them, and the gorgeous wonders
of Amazonian vegetation attract men to wander in awe-struck
admiration amongst it, the icy interior of familiar Greenland lies
solitary, mysterious, and unknown. The Danish residents in
Greenland are too occupied with their duties, and, unless under
special encouragement from the Government, can scarcely be ex-
pected to undertake what has found no attractions for professional
geographers and explorers. When I haid that it is Ttnoion that the
interior is an ice-waste covered with a huge mer da glace, I ought
to have qualified this statement by saying that this is only a matter

' " It was a green land, a fair country, greener than Iceland,'' loudly in ale-
house ami market-i)lac(! proclaimed tliis lusty, boisterous, roystering drinker of
61 and mead. The fact is, that, in his own small way, this same banished son of
the banished son of Jadar, the Norwegian jarl, was a '' promoter'' of a joint-stock
company for colonization, and knew as well as anybody within the city of London
or elsewhere what was in a name. " For," quotii he, " if the land have a good
name, it will cause many to come thither."

6 OCEAN AND LANDORFFS ATTEMPT IN 1728.

of knowledge to those who have devoted attention to the subject,
for, to the ordinary geographer and naturalist, the fact does not
seem to be generally known. It will, therefore, be useful to give
a summary of the different attemjDts — futile though most of them
have been — to penetrate the interior of the frozen land, and to
shortly sum up what the present state of our knowledge would lead
us to deduce regarding the structure and configuration of this inte-
resting Arctic Continent.

1. Ocean and Landorff's Attempt in 1728. — As far as I can learn,
this is the first attempt made to penetrate the interior of Greenland,
and from the ignorance it displayed of the nature and character of
the country to be passed over, we may well suppose that it was
planned in a time of supreme unacquaintance with the existence of
the inland ice. Major Ocean ^ and Capt. Landorlf were respectively
the governor and commandant designate of a fort which the Danish
Government proposed to establish on the east coast of Greenland.
They took with tliem an armed company, artillery and horses, from
Denmark. The horses died on the passage out ; and so a grandly
planned expedition failed, owing to its having been projected in
utter ignorance of the nature of the country. Finding that it was
all but impossible, on account of the great ice-stream wliich is ever
pouring down that coast, to reach the seat of Government, these
gallant officers proposed what appears to us now almost too ludi-
crous and madcap a scheme to be seriously related : viz., to ride on
horseback across the country from the west to the east coast. We
must, however, remember that a century and a half ago little or
nothing was known about Greenland except by vague tradition or
the tales of the Eskimo, repeated by Hans Egede, who had just
established his trading mission eight years, and was but imperfectly
acquainted with the language of the Eskimo, and more than sus-
picious of their veracity. It is also as well to bear in mind that
some of the South Greenland fjords support a few cattle and sheep,
and, therefore, in some respects, justify the name which Erikr
Eauthri applied to the countr}^ when he first discovered it. They
seem to have attempted it on foot, some will even say on horse-
back ; but history has preserved us but scanty details of this
extraordinary attempt, for all that I can find regarding it is a
doleful lament that the route taken was covered with glaciers and
chasms. Egede seemed to have been well acquainted with the
nature of the inland ice, for, in all the attempts either made by him

' According to my notes of the expedition. Nordenskjold, however, in hie
' Redogorelse for en Expedition till Gronland, ar 1870,' gives the name as

DALAGERS JOURNEY IN 1751. 7

or under hi8 directiou, we uevei" found liiui attempting to cross the
country, but always to work laboriously round Cape Farewell.
Soon after this tlie expanse of the inland ice over the interior seems
to have been well known, for Cranz gives us a lucid description uf
it ; and Otho Fabricius, the celebrated naturalist and philologist,
who was in the country about the same period, describes, in his
'Fauna Groenlandica,' published in Copenhagen in 1780, the
interior in these words (page 4) : " Interioribus ob plagam gla-
cialem continuam inhabitabilibus."

2. Dalagers Journey in 1751. — The Danish settlement of Fredriks-
haab, situated in lat. 60° n., and long. 50^ w. of Greenwich, was
founded in 1742 by a Danish merchant, Jakob Severin^ — the trade
of Greenland not being then, as it is now, a strict monopoly of the
Government. The first traders were Gelmeyden and Lars Dalager,
men of much energy and rather celebrated in the simple annals of
Greenland. Lars appears to have been the author of a work on
Greenland,^ which I have not seen, though there are quotations
from it, and from his private letters, both in the works of Cranz and
Saabye on Greenland, From the former of these we derive our
information regarding this enterprising attempt to penetrate to the
interior of the country. As it was one of the first, it probably yet
stands alone as one of the most interesting and energetic of all the
attempts which succeeded it. He informs us that on the 28th' of
August, 1751, he sent the great boat to search for firewood, north
of the " Iceblink," * and a day's journey north of Fredrikshaab,
while he followed in his hunting-boat. A Greenlander had, in the
preceding month, pursued his game so high in the country that he
could see, as he said, the mountains of the ancient " Kablunaks," or
Europeans, who had in the middle ages settled in South Greenland.
Induced by this intelligence, he determined to seize the present
opportunity of attempting a j)assage to the east side. On the 2nd
of September, accompanied by the Greenlander, the Greenlander's
daughter, and three other natives, he set out on his tour from a
bay on the south of the " Iceblink." They tied their bag of
provisions and. their furs to sleep in together, and gave them to the
girl to carry. The rest of the party took each a little skin kajak or
Greenland boat on his head, and a musket on his shoulder, and in

' Severin was the founder of aevuial other selth'menta. His name is perpe-
tuated in " Jakobsbavii," a acttlemtnt on the aouthern whores of Disco Bay.

^ ' Gronlandske relationer, indeholdende Gronlandcrnes liv og levnet, deres
ekikke og vedtiigter, saint temperament og superstilioner ; tiliigo nogle korte
reflexioner over missionen, siimmenskrivet ved Fredriksliaab's Colonic i Gron-
land af Lars Dalager, Kjobniand.'

* " Old style," 1 presume. * A projecting glacier in lat. C2^ 30' N.

8 DALAGER'S JOURNEY IN 1751.

this manner took up their march. The first half-mile was along
a brook-side, and was level and easy walking ; but they had now a
high and rugged rock to cross, and frequently fell down with
their boats on their heads. By sunset they had reached a large bay
on the other side, fourteen leagues in length, a hard day's pull for
an expert rower. In former times the Greenlanders could row into
this directly from the sea, but, owing to many of the fjords having
become filled up by glacier-mud and ice, this cannot be done now.
The next day they launched their kajaks, and rowed for 4 miles
straight acioss the bay to the north side. They then left their boats
covered with stones and pursued their journey on foot to the north-
east. Crossing a ridge of rocks, they came in the evening to firm
ice. Early on the morning of the 4th, they set out over it to the
nearest mountains of the Iceblink, at about 4 miles distant. " The
road was as level as the streets of Copenhagen." An hour after
sunset, they arrived at the top. The next day they occupied in
hunting reindeer, one of which they killed, and the raw flesh of
which fell to the Greenlanders ; for, as there was neither grass nor
brush to kindle a fire, Dalager was obliged to be satisfied with a
piece of bread and cheese. On the 5th they travelled about 4 miles
to the highest rock on the borders of the Iceblink, but were seven
hours on the road, as the ice was uneven and full of crevasses, which
obliged them to make frequent detours. About 11 o'clock they
came to the rock, and, after taking an hour's rest, began to ascend.
Towards 4 o'clock they gained the summit, spent with fatigue.
Hitherto they had only been travelling over the ground bordering
the great interior mer de glace, or over some defluent glaciers ; but
now an extensive prospect burst upon their view on all sides,
striking them with wonder, particularly when the vast fields of ice
were seen stretching across the country in the east coast, bounded
in the distance by mountains whose tops were covered with snow
like those on which they stood. At first these mountains seemed
only 6 or 7 leagues distant, but when they looked towards Godthaab
(lat. 64° 10' 36" N., long. 51° 45' 5" w.) and saw the mountains in
its vicinity appear equally large though at least 100 miles off, they
were obliged to enlarge their estimate. The adventurers remained
till evening on the mountain-side, then descending a short way they
lay down to rest ; but Dalager tells us that the activity of his
thoughts, aided by the cold, drove away sleep. On the morning of
the 6th they shot another reindeer close to their resting-place. All
scruples had now vanished, and, craving for something warm,
Dalager took a draught of its warm blood, which refreshed him
much, and joined the Greenlanders in a raw haunch of venison.

KIELSEN'S JOURNEY IN 1830. 9

He would fain liave gone further, but, on taking the state of the
party into consideration, he resolved that it would bo prudent to
return. Though each had taken two pairs of Eskimo boots with
him, they were now nearly bHrefooted ; and the girl, having lost
her tools, was unable to mend the dilapidated footgear.

The mountains they saw were doubtless those of the east coast.
The nearest Vaj n.e. or E.N.E., and are smaller than those on the
west, if this may be decided from the smaller quantity of snow on
their summits. Dalager thought that, so far as a journey to the
east coast across the inland ice was concerned, there was nothing to
preclude its possibility in the nature of the ground. The fields of
ice were not so dangerous or so full of chasms, or these so deep as
was supposed in his day, and is still generally believed in Greenland.
Some are hollowed out like a valley, and others so narrow that they
could easily be leaped over with the aid of their guns, or, not being
long, can be avoided by a short circuit. On the other hand, he
points out that there are diflSculties almost insuperable in the way.
No one could carry provisions sufficient for such a journey, even if
they could supply themselves on the other side for the return
journey, and the cold is intensely severe. On the 7th they got back
to the fjord where they had left their kajaks. Then crossed next
morning, and arrived at their tents before nightfall.^

3. Kielsens Journey in 1830. — 0. B. Kielsen was a whale-fishing
assistant at HolstenborgMn the Inspectorate of South Greenland,
situated at the mouth of a large fjord. On the 1st of March, 1830,
Kielsen penetrated in from this fjord with three sledges, and only
provided with dogs' food for the first two days, as one is always
moderately certain to fall in with reindeer in that section. The
3rd of March brought him to the last inhabited Greenland fishing-
station at the bottom of the fjord, and from this he ran as straight
as he could into the interior over the land. After having passed
the night in a cleft in the rocks, he ran the whole of the next day.
The land was for the most part rather level and unvaried, and his
course lay over small lakes and streams. The ground also became
more deeply covered with snow, which made travel more difficult,
and led to a corresponding scarcity of reindeer and fuel. The 5th
of March was devoted to reindeer-hunting for selves and dogs, and

' David Cranz's ' History of Greenland, &c.' (English translation, 1820), vol. i.
p. 18; and liana E^'edo .'^aabye's ' Bruchstiit-ke ciiieB TagebuclieH, gchaltcn ifl
(;ronland in 1770 his 1778 aus dem Diinischen iibersetzt von Ci. Fries' (Ham-
burg, 1817).

^ According to Inglcfield, in lat. 66'' 56' 46" N., long. 53'' 42' w. Bondo, how-
ever, gives it as 66^-" 56' n., and 53'' 42' w. ; while Ulrich, of the Uanisii navy,
makes it 66" 56' 16" N., 53" 40' 37" w.

10 HAYES' J0UUN?:Y IN 1860.

two were killed. At the same time from a high point he could see
the inland ice. The 6th of March saw them up betimes in the
morning, and by midday they came to a considerable extended plain.
Here the land sloped inwards, and now they saw at their feet the
huge extended mass of the great interior ice. They now quickly
ran over small hills, lakes, and streams, until they came to a
moderately large lake at the end of the inland ice, which was the
limit of their journey. After an attempt to climb the ice, Kielsen
returned, and had a most troublesome journey. When he reached
the fjord, he found that its frozen surface had broken up, so that he
had to go overland to the colony, which he reached on the 9th of
March, after having gone into the interior on this journey 80
miles in a straight line from Holstenborg.^

4. Hayes' Journey in 1860. — The voyage of Dr. I. I. Hayes in the
American schooner United States, to Smith Sound, in 1860-61, has
been so frequently referred to in the public journals that its objects
and ends must be familiar to most of my readers. One of the
minor excursions which he took, while his vessel lay in winter-
quarters, was to the interior of the country, and deserves in this
place a notice, as not only one of the most successful of these
attempts to penetrate the inland ice, but as also the most northerly
of them.

The particular off-shoot of the great interior mer de glace (for he
was never on the real inland ice, which differs considerably from
that which he travelled over) on which he broke ground was that
one named by Dr. Kane " My Brother John's Glacier," in Port
Foulke, lat. 78^ 17' 41" n., long. 72' 30' 57" w. On the advice of
his dog-driver, Jensen, he dispensed with dog-sledges ; though he
afterwards regretted this, as he had reason to believe that on some
part of the journey they would have been available. Everybody
was keen to go, as it was one of their first attempts at exploration
after they got into winter-quarters ; but Hayes selected as com-
panions Mr. Knorr, John McDonald, Harvey Heywood, Christian
Petersen (a Dane), and the Greenland Eskimo Peter. They set out
on the 22nd of October with one sledge and a small canvas tent,
two buffalo-skins for bedding, a cooking-lamp, provisions for eight
days, and an extra pair of fur stockings, a tea-cup and an iron spoon
for each man. Their first camp was at the foot of the glacier, when
the temperature was 11° Fahr, The second day they got to the top
of the glacier, with hard work and some trifling accidents, one of
which threatened to be rather serious, Dr. Hayes having, owing to

' Rink's ' Gronland Geograph. og Statistibk beski-evet,' Band ii. pp. 97-99.

HAVES' JOURNEY IX 1860. 11

the party not being roped together, fallen through a crevasse ; and,
as none of the party seemed to have the slightest experience of
glacier travel, the wonder Avas that more mishaps did not occur.
The ice was at first rough and broken, and almost free from snow.
As they penetrated further in, the surface of the glacier became
smoother, the great inequality nearer the edge was probably owing
to the inequality of the surface over which it spread itself.
After journeying for about 5 miles, they pitched their tent on
the ice, and slept soundly, though the temperature was several
degrees lower than what it was the night before. On the following
day they travelled 30 miles, and the ascent, which during the last
march had been an angle of about 6^, diminished to about one-
third of that angle of observation ; and from a surface of bard ice
they had come upon a plateau of compacted snow, through which no
true ice could be got by digging down to the depth of three feet.
At that depth, however, the snow assumed a more gelid condition,
and, though not actually ice, they could not penetrate into it further
without great difficulty. The snow was covered with a crust which
the foot broke at every step, making the travelling very laborious.
About 25 miles were made the following day, the track being much
the same character, and at about the same elevation. The tem-
perature had now fallen to 30° below zero (of Fahrenheit), and a
fierce gale meeting them in the face, drove them to the shelter of
their tent, and, after resting for a few hours, compelled them to
return, though Dr. Hayes had intended proceeding one day further
when he first set out. The temperature was now 34^ below zero
during the night, though at Port Foulkes, during their absence, it
was 22° higher. All of them were more or less frost-bitten, and
one of the party seemed likely to give in altogether. The cold was
so intense that all of them had to quit the shelter of the tent and
run about on the ice to save themselves from getting benumbed.
They were now at an altitude of 5000 feet above the sea, 70 miles '
from the coast, in the midst of a vast frozen Sahara, immeasurable to
human eye. Neither hill nor dale was anywhere in view. They
had completely sunk the strip of land which lies between the mer
de glace and the sea, and no object met the eye but their feeble tent,
which bent to the storm. " Fitful clouds swept over the lace of the
full-orbed moon, which, descending towards the horizon, glimmered
through the drifting snow that whirled out of the illimitable

' In the American ' Proc. Philo8oph. Soc.,' Dec, 18G1, and ' Proc. Koyal Geogr.
Soc.,' vol. ix. p. 18G, Dr. Hayes nientiouu<l the clistanco whioh he penetrated into
the interior m fifty rnilew. With every resj)oct to him, I think that he has OTer-
estimated the disUtncea travelled by his party on the glacier.

12 RAE'S ATTEMPT IN 1860, ETC.

distance, and scudded over the icy plains ; to the eye in undulating
lines of downy softucss — to the flesh in showers of piercing darts."

The storm now caused them to run for life to an elevation of
3000 feet lower before they stopped, when the wind was less
severe, and the temperature 12° higher. Kext day they reached
Port Foulke without any serious accident, the latter part of their
journey being wholly by moonlight. Hayes' journey was under-
taken at much too late a period of the year ; but still, so far as it
went, it was conducted with all the esprit and reckless courage in
which his nation has never been wanting, either in battle or in
geographical exploration, which demands bravery of a calmer and
more enduring description. "My Brother John's Glacier" pro-
jects into a valley, about 2 miles from the coast, towards which it
is gradually approaching. Hayes' measurements show that it is
moving seaward at a very rapid rate, viz. 94 feet in 8 months.
This will, however, vary according to the season, the nature of the
ground traversed, and other mechanical and phj-sical causes.

6. Baes attempted Journey in 1860. — While Hayes was struggling
into winter-quarters in Smith Sound, an English surveying
steamer, under the command of Captain Allen Young, was searching
the South Greenland fjords, in connection with a projected Atlantic
telegraph-cable to be laid via Iceland and Greenland. This project
has long ago passed into the limbo of forgotten schemes, now that
the Altantic is traversed by two submarine cables, but during this
stirvey (in the Fox) an attempt was made to penetrate the interior
of Greenland : attached to the expedition and in charge of the land
party was Dr. John Eae — already most deservedly famous as an
Arctic explorer. The expedition reached Fredrikshaab from Ice-
land on the 2nd of October, and, on the 24th, while the fjord of
Igalliko was being sounded. Dr. Eae considered that a short journey
should be made to the interior of the country for the purpose of
ascertaining the practicability of travelling over it. The use of
one seaman and a whale-boat was obtained from Captain Young to
enable the part}^ to return from the head of the fjord to Julianehaab.
Four Eskimo women — who in South Greenland are commonly
engaged in such labour — were engaged as rowers. They never
reached the inland ice ; for, after travelling through a miry
and boulder-covered valley 16 miles in from the head of the fjord,
a heavy fall of snow stopped further travel, and they returned,
after an absence of four days, to their boat — not, however, before
the fjord was frozen up for several miles — and with much difSculty
they reached the Fox.

Mr. Whyrnpers Expedition in 1867. — Towards the end of July 1867,

VISITS OF RINK AND OTHERS TO THE INLAND ICE. 13

the present ^v^iter, in company with Mr. Edward Whymper (who
most carefully planned the trip and made every arrangement), Mr.
Anthon P. Tegner, Mr. Jens Fleischer, and Amac, a Greenland
Eskimo (since deceased), made an attempt to penetrate this icy
waste with dog-sledges. The season was too late, and our attempt
was impeded by various circumstances. Accordingly we only were
enabled to proceed for a short distance, when, by the breaking
down of our sledges, we were forced to return. Even had this
been the place for it, any detailed account of this attempt would
take up too much space. The general results obtained by it I
have already given.

7. Visits of Bink and others to the Inland Ice. — The journeys or
attempts which I have recorded at some length form the chief
attempts which, as far as I can leai'n, have been made to penetrate
the interior of Greenland, or w^hich have been recorded. Possibly
there may have been others, though, from the well-known dislike
of the Eskimo to travel over the interior ice, and the absence of any
motive for enterprise in that direction on the part of the Danish
officers in charge of the government and trade of Greenland, I
think that it is hardly likely that there have been many other
attempts, and my friend. Dr. Eink, the most distinguished authority
on all matters Greenlandic, and for so many years Eoyal Inspector
of South Greenland, whom I consulted on the subject, agrees with
me. However, in addition to those I have recorded at length, there
are one or two of which I have no notes, or very brief ones, to
mention. Dr. Rink himself, who has been close to and has partly
viewed and delineated the margin of the inland ice in many diffi-
cult places from G0° to 70^ n.e., has also ascended the ice itself,
namely, at Tessiurssak, near Claushavn, in May, 1851 ; but only
spent some hours in walking upon it and in examining its surface,
without the intention of trying any inland excursion.

I am also informed by Dr. Eink that a Danish gentleman who
visited Greenland in 1862, for the purpose of magnetical obser-
vations, has walked several miles over this inland ice near
Pakitsok.

The natives are generally reindeer-hunting close to the margin
of the ice, and sometimes cross parts of it. A native gives au
account of this in the Greenland Journal, ' Atuagagdlintit' of
1864, in the Eskimo language. As, for instance, he says (' Atuag.'
p. 451), mentioning the localities from 64° to 65° N. : "On some of
the hunting-grounds there are dangers to be encountered, namely,
as follows : — The rivers issuing from the ice are very muddy, also
when walking over the ice (it presents itself) very fissured, the

14 NORDENSKJDLD'S and BERGGREN'S journey in 1870.

crevasses in which cannot be crossed, but must be gone aroixnd, are
tremendously deep. If somebody should fall into them he could
never be saved. The reindeer-hunters used to come there. The
land ice enlarges rapidly," &c.

The late Mr. Olrik, so many years inspector of North Greenland
and director of the Greenland trade in Copenhagen, and his
brother-in-law and predecessor, the well-known conchologist —
Inspector Moller — also visited the inland ice. In all likelihood,
the feat of exploring the interior will be again attempted this
summer by an eminent Arctic and Alpine explorer.

8, Nordenskjold' s and BerggrerCs Journey in 1870.^ — The account of
this interesting attempt I give in the leader's words. It is in-
teresting not only as being the most successful one ever made on the
inland ice, but in the fact that it was conducted by a very ex-
perienced Arctic explorer, and by men of science so eminent and
accomplished as Professor Kordenskjold and Dr. Berggren — a well-
known botanist, lately Assistant-Professor in the University of
Lund, and now engaged in botanical travels in New Zealand : —

" If the inland ice were not in motion, it is clear that its surface
would be as even and unbroken as that of a sand-field. But this,
as is known, is not the case. The inland ice is in constant motion,
advancing slowly but with different velocity in different places,
towards tlie sea, into which it-passes, on the west coast of Greenland,
through eight or ten large and a gi'eat many small ice-streams.
[For a description of these see p. 38.] This movement of the ice
gives rise in its turn to huge chasms and clefts, the almost bottom-
less depth of which close the traveller's way. It is natural that
these clefts should occur chiefly where the movement of the ice is
most rapid, that is to say, in the neighbourhood of the great ice-
streams ; but that, on the other hand, at a greater distance from
these the ground will be found more free from cracks. On this
account I determined to begin our wanderings on the ice at a point
as far distant as possible from the real ice-fjords. I should have
preferred one of the deep ' strom-fjords ' (stream-fjords) for this
purpose ; but as other business, intended to be carried out during
the short summer, did not permit a journey, per boat, so far
southward, I selected instead for my object the northern arm of
Auleitsivikfjord, which is situated 60 miles south of the ice-ljord

' From a transktion of liis ' Eedogorelse for en Expedition till Gronland kr
1870,' in the ' Geolop;ical Mao:azine' (edited by Henry Woodward, f.r.s.), 1872
(vol. ix.), pp. 303-306, 355-362. The passages within brackets are mine, and
here and there I liave ventured to make some slight emendations on tlie transla-
tion (apparently by the learned traveller himself) when such was obviously
required, but in no case have I iu any way altered his meaning.

NORDENSKJOLD'S AND BERGGREN'S JOURNEY IN 1870. 15

at Jakobzhavn, aud 240 north of that of Godthaab. The inland ice,
it is true, even in Aiileitssivik Fjord, reaches to the bottom of the
fjord ; but it only forms there a perpendicular glacier, very similar
to the glaciers at King's Bay, in Spitzbergen, but not any real ice-
stream. There was, accordingly, reason to expect that such fissures
and chasms as might here occur would be on a smaller scale.

On the 17th of July, in the afternoon, our tent was pitched on
the shore north of the steep precipitous edge of the inland ice at
Auleitsivikfjord. After having employed the 18th in preparations
and a few slight reconnoitrings, we entered on our wanderino-s
inward on the 19th. We set out earlj in the morning, and first
rowed to a little bay situated in the neighbourhood of the spot
occupied by our tent, into which several clayey rivers had their
embouchures. Here the land assumed a character varied by hill
and dale, and further inward was bounded by an ice-wall somewhat
perpendicular and sometimes rounded, covered with a thin layer
of earth and stones near the edge, only a couple of hundred feet hio-h,
but then rising at first rapidly, afterwards more slowlj-, to a heio-ht
of several hundred feet. In m6st places this wall could not possibly
be scaled ; we, however, soon succeeded in finding a place where it
was cut through by a small cleft, sufficiently deep to aiford a possi-
bility-of climbing up, with the means at our disposal — a sledo-e —
which at need might be used as a ladder, and a line, origihally
100 fathoms long, but which, proving too heavy a burden, had,
before our arrival at the first resting-place, been reduced one-half.
All of us, with the exception of our old and lame boatman, assisted
in the by no means easy work of bringing over mountain, hill and
dale, the apparatus of the ice-expedition to this spot, and after our
dinner's rest, a little further up the ice-wall. Here [as usualj our
followers left us ; only Dr. Berggren, I, and two Greenlanders (Isak
and Sisarniak) were to proceed further. We immediately com-
menced our march, but did not get very far that day. The inland
ice differs from ordinaiy glaciers by, among other things, the almost
total absence of moiaine formations. The collection of earth, gravel,
and stone, with which the ice on the landward edge is covered, are,
in fact, so inconsiderable in comparison with the moraines of even
very small glaciers that they scarcely deserve mention, and no
longer newly-formed ridges of gravel, running parallel with the
edge of the glacier, are to be met with, at least in the tract visited
by us. The landward border of the inward ice is, however, dark-
ened,we can scarcely say covered, with earth, and sprinkled with small
sharp stones. Here the ice is tolerably smooth, though furrowed
b}' deep clefts at right angles to the border, such as that made use

16 nokdenskjOld's and berggren's'joueney.

of by us to climb up. But in order not immediately to terrify the
Greenlanders by choosing the way over the frightful and dangerous
clefts, we determined to abandon this comparatively smooth ground,
and at first take a southerly direction parallel with the chasms, and
afterwards turn to the east. We gained our object by avoiding the
chasm, but fell in instead with extremely rough ice. We now under-
stood what the Greenlanders meant when they endeavoured to dis-
suade us from the journey on the ice, by sometimes lifting their
hands over their heads, sometimes sinking them down to the ground,
accompanied by to us an unintelligible talk. They meant by this to
describe the collection of closely-heaped pyramids and ridges of ice
over which we had now to walk. The inequalities of the ice were,
it is true, seldom more than 40 feet high, with an inclination of
25° to 30''. But one does not get on very fast when one has con-
tinually to drag a heavily-laden sledge up so irregular an acclivity,
and immediately after to endeavour to get down uninjured, at the
risk of getting one's legs broken, when occasionally losing one's
footing on the here often very slippery ice, in attempting to mode-
i-ate the speed of the downward-rushing sledge. Had we used an
ordinary sledge, it would have been immediately broken to pieces ;
but as the component parts of our sledge were not nailed, but tied
together, it held together at least for some hours.

Already the next day we perceived the impossibility, under such
circumstances, of dragging with us the thirty days' provisions with
which we had furnished ourselves, especially as it was evident that,
if we wished to proceed further, we must transform ourselves from
draught to pack horses. We, therefore, determined to leave the
sledge and part of the provisions, take the rest on our shouldei's, and
proceed on foot. We got on quicker, though for a sufficiently long
time over ground as bad as before. The ice became gradually
smoother, and was broken by large bottomless chasms, which one
must either jump with a heavy load on one's back — in which case
woe to him who made a false step — or else make a long circuit to
avoid. After two hours' wandering the region of clefts was passed.
We, however, in the course of our journey, very frequently met with
portions of similar ground, though none of any very great extent.
We were now at a height of more than 800 feet above the level of
the sea. Further inward the surface of the ice, except the occa-
sionally-recurring cleft, resembled that of a stony sea-midden, bound
in fetters by the cold. The rise upwards was still quite perceptible,
though frequently interrupted by shallow valleys, the centres of
which were occupied by several lakes or ponds, with no apparent
outlet, though they received water from innumerable rivers running

XORDENSKJOLD'S AND BERGGREN'S JOURNEY IN 1S70. 17

along the sides of the excavation. These rivers presented in many
places not so dangerous, though quite as time- wasting, a hindrance
to our progress as the clefts— with this difference, however, that
they did not so often occur: but the circuits to avoid them were so
much the longer. During the whole of our journey on the ice we
constantly enjoyed fine weather ; frequently there was not a single
cloud visible in the whole sky. The warmth was to us, clad as we
were, sensible ; higher up, in the shade, as much as 1° or 8^ Centi-
grade [19--1:^ or 17-6" Fahr.], but in the feun 25^ to 30° Cent. [77 to 86'
Fahr.]. After sunset^ the water-pools froze, and the night was very
cold ; we had no tent with us, and, although our party consisted of
four men, only two ordinary sleeping-sacks. These were open at both
ends, so that two persons could, though with great difficulty, with
their feet opposite to each other, squeeze themselves into one sack.
With rough ice for a substratum, the bed was thus so uncomfortable
that, after a few hours' sleep, one was awakened b}' a cramp in one's
closely-contracted limbs ; and, as there was only a thin tarpaulin
between the ice and the sleeping-sack, the bed was extremely cold
to the side resting on the ice, which the Greenlanders, who turned
back befo7e us, described to Dr. Nordstrom [one of Professor Nor-
denskjold's ])arty in Greenland] by shivering and shaking throughout
their whole bodies. Ournights' rests were, there fore, seldom long; but
our midday rest, during which, we could bask in a glorious warm
sun-bath, was taken on a proportionately more copious scale, whereby
I was enabled to take observations for both altitude and longitude.
On the surface of the inland ice we do not meet with any stones
at a distance of more than a cable's length from the border ; but we
find everywhere, instead, vertical cylindrical holes, of a foot or two
deep, and from a couple of lines to a couple of feet in section, so
close one to another that one might in vain seek between them
room for one's foot, much less for a sleeping-sack. We had always
a system of ice-pipes of this kind as a substratum when we rested
for the night ; and it often happened, in the morning, that the
warmth of our bodies had melted so much of the ice, that one's
sleeping sack touched the water wherewith the holes were always
nearly full. But, as a compensation, wherever we rested, we had
only to stretch out our hands to obtain the very finest water to
drink. The holes in the ice filled with water are in no way con-
nected with each other, and at the bottom of them we found every-
where, not only near the border, but in the most distant parts of
the inland ice visited by us, a layer, some few millimetres thick,

' The reader must, however, remember that nt that season there was con-
tiimous daylight throughout the twenty-tour hours. — [Ed.]

' 0

18 NORDENSKJOLD'S AND BEEGGREN'S JOURNEY IN 1870.

of grey powder, often conglomerated into small round balls of loose
consistency. Under the microscope, the principal substance of
this remarkable powder appeared to consist of white angular
transparent crystals. We could also observe remains of vegetable
fragments; yellow, imperfectly translucent particles, with, as it
appeared, evident surfaces of cleavage (felspar), green crystals
(augite) and black opaque grains, which were attracted by the
magnet. The quantity of these foreign components is, however,
so inconsiderable, that the whole mass may be looked upon as one
homogeneous substance. An analysis, by Mr. G. Lindstrom, of
this fine glacial sand gave : —

Silicic acid G2-25

Alumina 14-93

Sesquioxide of iron 0"74

Protoxide 4-6-1:

Protoxide of manganese 0-07

Lime 5-09

Magnesia 3-00

Potassa 2-02

Soda 4-01

Phosphoric acid 0-11

Chlorine 0-06

Water, organic substance (100° to red-heat) .. .. 2-86

Hygroscopic water (15^ to 100- ) 0-34

100-12

Hardness inconsiderable, crystallization probably monoclinic. The
substance is not a clay, but a sandy trachytic mineral, of a com-
position (especially as regards soda) which indicates that it does
not originate in the granite region of Greenland. Its origin
appears therefore to me very enigmatical. Does it come from the
basalt region ? or from the supposed volcanic tracts in the interior
of Greenland ? or is it of meteoric origin ? The octahedrally-
crystallised magnetic particles do not contain any traces of nickel.
As the principal ingredient corresponds to a determinate chemical
formula, it would perhaps be desirable to enter it under a separate
class in the register of science, and for that purpose I propose for
this substance the name of Kryohonite (from /cpous and kwis).

When I persuaded our botanist, Dr. Berggren, to accompany me
in the journey over the ice, we joked with him on the singularity
of a botanist making an excursion into a tract, perhaps the only
one in the world, that was a perfect desert as concerns botany.
This expectation was, however, not confirmed. Dr. Berggren's
quick eye soon discovered, partly in the surface of the ice, partly
in the above-mentioned powder, a brown poly cellular alga, which,

NORDEXSKJOLD'S AND BERGGREN'S JOURNEY IN 1870. 19

little as it is, together with the powder and certain other micro-
scopic organisms b}' which it is accompanied, is the most dangerous
enemy to the mass of ice, so man}' thonsand feet in height, and
hundreds of miles in extent. The dark mass absorbs a far greater
amount of the sun's rays of heat than the white ice, and thus pro-
duces over its whole surface deep holes which greatly promote
the process of melting. The same plant has no doubt played the
same part in our country, and we have to thank it, perhaps, that
the deserts of ice which formerly covered the whole of northern
Europe and America, have now given place to shady woods and
undulating corn-fields. Of course a great deal of the grey powder
is carried down in the rivers, and the blue ice at the bottom of
them is not unfrequently concealed by a dark dust. How rich
this mass is in organic matter is proved by the circumstance,
amongst others, that the quantity of organic in it was sufficient
to bring a large collection of the grey powder, which had been
carried away to a distant part of the ice by sundry now dried-up
glacier streams, into so strong a process of fermentation or putre-
faction, that the mass, even at a great distance, emitted a most dis-
agreeable smell, like" that of butyric acid." Dr. Berggren has
described these organisms in the ' Ofv. Kongl. Vet.-Akademiens
Forh.' for 1871, p. 293, under the name of Ancylonema NoixlensJcidldii
Berggr. Protococcus nivalis is also common, as well as P. vulgaris
and Scytomena gracilis.

" At our midday rest on the 21st we had reached lat. 68° 21' and
36' long, east of the place where our tent was pitched, and a height
of 1400 feet above the level of the sea. Later in the day, at our
afternoon rest, the Greenlanders take to take off their boots and
examine their little thin feet — a serious indication, as we soon
perceived. Isak presently informed us, in broken Danish, that he
and his companions now considered it time to return. All attempts
to persuade them to accompany us a little farther failed, and we
had, therefore, no other alternative than to let them return, and
continue our excursion without them. We took up our night's
quarters here. The provisions were divided. The Greenlanders,
considering that they might perhaps not be able to find our first
depot, were allowed to take as much as was necessary to enable
them to leach the tent. We took out cold provisions for five days.
The remainder, together with the excellent photogcn portable
kitchen, which we had hitherto carried with us, were laid up in a
depot in the neighbourhood, on which a piece of tarpaulin was
stretched upon sticks, that we might be able to find the place on
our return, which, however, we did not succeed in doing, though

a 2

20 NORDENSKJ OLD'S AND BERGGREN'S JOURNEY IN 1870.

we must have passed in its immediate vicinity. After these pre-
parations for a parting. Dr. Berggren and I proceeded alone further
inward. The Greelanders turned back. At first we passed one of
the above-mentioned extensive bowl-formed excavations in the ice-
plain, which is here furrowed by innumerable rivers, which often
obliged us to make long circuits; and when to avoid this we
endeavoured to make our way along the margin of the valleys, we .
came instead upon a tract where the ice-plain was cloven by long,
deep, parallel clefts, running true n.n.e. to s.s.w., quite as difficult
to get over as the rivets, but far more dangerous. Our progress
was accordingly but slow. At twelve o'clock on the 22nd we halted
in glorious, warm sunny weather to make a geographical determi-
nation ; we were now at a height of 2000 feet, in lat. 68° 22' and in
a long, of 56' of arc east of the position of our tent at the fjord.
During the whole of our excursion on the ice we had seen no other
animals than a couple of ravens, which on the morning of the 22nd,
at the moment of our separation, flew over our heads. At first,
however, there appeared in many places on the ice remnants of
ptarmigans, which seemed to indicate that these birds visit these
desert tracts in by no means inconsiderable flocks. Everything
else around was lifeless. Nevertheless, silence by no means
reigned here ; on bending down the ear to the ice, one could hear
on every side a peculiar subterranean hum, proceeding from rivers
flowing within the ice, and occasionally a loud single report like
that of a cannon gave notice of the formation of a new glacier cleft.
" After taking the observations, we proceeded over comparatively
better ground. Later in the afternoon we saw, at some distance
fiom us, a well-defined pillar of mist, which, when we approached
it, appeared to rise from a bottomless abyss, into which a mighty
glacier-river fell. The vast roaring water-mass had bored for
itself a vertical hole, probably all the way down to the rock,
situated certainly more than 2000 feet beneath, on which the
glacier rested. The following day (the 23rd) we rested in lat.
68° 22', and 76' of arc longitude east from the position of our
starting-point at Auleitsivik. The provisions we had taken with
us were, however, now so far exhausted, that we were obliged
to think of returning. We determined, nevertheless, first to
endeavour to reach an ice-hill, visible on the plain to the east,
flora which we hoped to obtain an extensive view: and, in order
to arrive there as quickly as possible, we left the scanty i-emains of
our provisions and our sleeping-sack at the spot where we had
passed the night, taking careful notice of the ice-rocks around,
and thus proceeded by forced march, without incumbrance.

NORDENSKJOLD'y AiND BERGGKEN'S JOURNEY IN 1870. 21

" The ice-hill was considerably farther off than we had supposed.
The walk to it was richly rewarded by "an uncommonly extensive
view, which showed us that the inland ive continued constantly to
rise towaids the interior, so tliat the horizon towards the east,
north, and siAith, was terminated by an ice-border almost as smooth
as that of the ocean. A journey further (if one were in a condition
to employ weeks for the purpose — which want of time and pro-
visions rendered impossible to us) could, therefore, evidently furnish
no other information concerning the nature of the ice than that
which we had already obtained ; and even if want of provisions
had not obliged us to return, we should hardly have considered it
worth while to add a few days' marches to our journey. Our
turning-point was situated at a height of 2200 feet above the
level of the sea, and about 83' of longitude, or 30 miles west of
the extremity of the northern arm of Auleitsivik Fjord. On
departing fiom the spot where we had left our jirovisions and
sleeping-sack, we had, as we supposed, taken careful notice of the
situation : nevertheless, we were nearly obliged to abandon our
search as vain — an example which shows how extremely difficult,
without lofty signals, we find objects again on a slightly undu-
lating surface eveiywhere similar, like that formed by the inland
ice. When, after anxiously searching in every direction, we at
length found our resting-place, we ate our dinner with an excellent
appetite, made some further reductions in our load, and then set
off with all haste to the boat, which we reached lute in the evening
of the 25th.

" At a short distance from our turning-point we came to a copious,
deep, and broad river, flowing rapidly between its blue baiaks of
ice, which were here not discoloured by any gravel, and which
could not be crossed without a bridge. As it cut off our return, we
were, at hist, somewhat disconcerted : but we soon concluded that,
as on our journey out we had not passed any stream of such large
dimensions, it must, at no great distance, disappear under ihe ice.
We therefore proceeded along its banks in the direction of the
current, and, before long, a distant roar indicated that our con-
jecture was right. The whole immense mass of water here rushed
down a perpendicular cleft into the depths below. We observed
another smaller, but, nevertheless, very remarkable waterfall tlie
next day, while examining, after our mid-day rest, the neighbour
hood around us with a telescope. We saw, m fact, a pillai' of
steam rising from the ice at some distance fiom our resting-place,
and, as the spot was not far out of our way, we steered our cour^e
bv it. in llio hop(> of meeting— judging fiom lh(^ height of iho misty

22 WHAT IS THE INTEEIOE OF GREENLAND?

pillar — a waterfall still greater than that jnst described. We were
mistaken : only a smaller, though, nevertheless, tolerably copious,
river rushed down from the azure cliifs, to a depth from which no
splashes rebounded to the mouth of the fall : but there arose instead,
from another smaller hole in the ice, in the immediate vicinity, an
intermittent jet of water mixed with air, which, carried hither and
thither by the wind, wetted the surrounding cliffs with its spray.
We had, then, here, in the midst of the desert of inland ice, a
fountain, as far as we could judge from descriptions, very like the
Geysers, which in Iceland are produced by volcanic heat.

" In order, if possible, to avoid the district of the rocks, which, on
our journey out had required so much patience and exertion, we
had, on returning, chosen a more northerly route, intending to
endeavour to descend from the ice-ridge up on the slip of ice-free
land which lies between the inland ice and Disco Bay. The ice
was here, with the exception of a few ice-hillocks of a few feet
high, in most places as even as a floor, but often crossed by very-
large and dangerous clefts, and we were so fortunate as immediately
to hit upon a place where the inclination towards the land was
inconsiderable, so that one might have driven up a four-in-hand.
The remainder of the way along the land was harder, partly on
account of the very uneven nature of the ground, and partly on
account of the numerous glacier-streams which we had to wade
throug;h, with the water far above our boots. At last, at a little
distance from the tent, we came to a glacier-stream, full of muddy
water, so large that, after several failures, we were obliged to
abandon the hope of finding a fordable place. We were, therefore,
obliged to climb high up again on the shining ice, so as to be able
to find our way down again further on, after passing the river ;
but the descent on this occasion was more difficult than before."
9. WJiat is the Interior of Greenland ? — It may seem a paradox when
, I say that so far as we can draw any conclusions from the observa-
tions on the short journeys into the country described in the fore-
going pages, Greenland has no Interior ! At least if we look upon
its interior in the light of something else than ice and snow. Solid
land or rock there is none now to be seen. All that we know of it
i shows it to be "a waste and weary land where no man comes, or
, hath come, since the making of the world." The country seems
only a circlet of islands separated from one another by deep fjords
or straits, and bound together on the landward side by the great
ice-covering which overlies the whole interior, and which is pour-
ing out its overflow into the sea in the shape of glaciers and ice-
bergs. No doubt, under this ice there lies land, just as it lies under

ARE THERE ANY MOUNTAINS IN THE INTERIOR? 23

the sea ; but nowadays none can be seen, and as an insulating medium
it might as Avell be water. Cross over that surrounding circlet of
outskirting itsland, and we ascend to a plateau where nought can
be seen but ice. No fragment of stone is there — no trace of vege-
tation, except a trace here and there of the red snow-plant — not a
sight or sound of moving thing, nothing but hard glacier ice
stretching north and south — westward after }ou have lust sight of
the land you have crossed over, and eastward as far as the eye can
see. The mountains which Dalager saw in South Greenland to the
eastward were in all likelihood those of the East Coast, and not
interior mountains, for wherever else it has been penetrated into,
nothing but ice can be seen on the distant eastern horizon. How
deep this ice overlies the country it is impossible to say ; in some
places, I doubt not, many thousand feet. As I have already, in
the section on the Glaciers and Ice of Greenland, described the
nature of this glacial covering at some length, it is not necessary for
me to go into a description of it in this place. I see no reason to
doubt that it continues throughout the whole country, except where
fjords may indent it, and even then, in many cases, it is increasing
— it is filling up these fjords. Dr. Rink has also discussed this
subject,^ in a paper in the Danish ' Tidsskrift for populair Freui-
stilling af Naturvidenskab ' for October, 1870, as well as in a
recently published hrocliure?

10. Are there any Mountains in the Interior ? — From what I have just
said, it will be apparent that there are none of an}^ extent. \V hat-
ever there may have been formerly are now overlaid by an ice-
covering, viz., by the glacial cap forming, by the immense fall of
snow and the little evaporation in the cold interior, much more
rapidly that it can be discharged in the shape of icebergs. There
are no iceberg " streams " on the east coast of Greenland, and bergs
are rare off that coast. As soon as you leave the innnediate vicinity
of the coast no moraine is seen coming over the inland ice, which

' " Cm Gronlands iiidland, og muliglieden af at Berojse samme " [On the Interior
of Greenland, and this possibility of Exploring the same], No. 0 of ' Era Videii-
skabeiis Vcrden.' Copenhagen, 1875.

■^ " The whole interior of the country, indeed,'" writes Mr. James Geikie, and I
quote his eonehi.sions us peculiarly bearing on the subject, "would appear to be
burii d underneath a great de[)th of snow and ice, which levels up the valleys,
ami sweeps over the hills. Tiie few daring ujeu who have tried to penetrate a
little way I'rom tlie coast, descril^e the scene as desolate in the extreme -far as
the eye can ria'li, nothing save one deail, dreary expanse of white. No living
creature freipients tliis wilderness — neither bird, nor b(;ast, nor insect — not even a
solitary mo.ss or lichen can be seen. Over everything bmods a .silence dee)) as
death, brok(,n oidy when the roaring storm arises to sweep before it the pildess
blinding snow." — 'The Great Ice Age,' p. 50.

24 ARE THERE ANY MOUNTAINS IN THE INTERIOR?

would certainly not be the case if the ice sloped from any moun-
tain range or in its tract to the coast touched any land at all. No
living creature — animal or plant — appeared on this desolate glacier-
field except a trace here and there of the red snow-plant (Protococcus
nivalis, P. vulgaris, &c.), so common in Alpine and Arctic regions. I
find, however, that Dr. Berggren discovered, as already noted, what
in our anxiety and other duties we might have omitted to observe —
various low forms of vegetable life, chiefly Diatomacece — though
approaching the Zygonemacece {Scytonema gracilis, &c.). These might
be expected, as we continually find them in hollows of icebergs
{vide Sutherland's ' Arctic Voyage with Captain Penny,' and my
paper on the discolouration of the sea^ — the facts in which have
been confirmed both by the Germans and Swedes. I am therefore
of opinion that the great ice-field slopes from the east to the
west coast of Greenland (chiefly),^ and that any bergs which may
be seen on the coast are from local glaciers, or from some un-
important defluent of the great interior ice. Nor do I think a range
of mountains at all necessary for the formation of this huge mer de
glace, for this idea is derived from the Alpine and other mountain
ranges where the glacial system is a petty atfair compared with
that of Greenland. I look upon Greenland and its interior ice-
field— to recapitulate what I will have occasion more fully to
enter upon when describing the inland ice (p. 34) — in "the light
of a broad-lipped, shallow vessel, but with breaks in the lips here
and there, and the glacier like some viscous matter in it. As more
is poured in, the viscous matter will run over the edges, naturally
taking the line of the chinks as its line of outflow. The broad lips
of the vessel, in my homely simile, are the outlying islands or
" outskirts ;" the viscous matter in the vessel the inland ice, the
additional matter continually being poured in the enormous snow
covering, which, winter after winter, for seven or eight months in
the year, falls almost continuously on it ; and the chinks or breaks
in the vessel are the fjords or valleys down which the glaciers, repre-
senting the outflowing viscous matter, empty the surplus of the
vessel. In other words, the ice flows out in glaciers — overflows
the land, in fact, down the valleys and fjords of Greenland — by force
of the superincumbent weight of snow, just as does the grain on
the floor of a barn when another sackful is emptied on the top of
the mound already on the floor. The want of much slope, there-
fore, in the country, and the absence of any great mountain range,

' Trans. Botanical Society Edin.,' vol. ix.

'Quart. Jour. Geoi. Soc.'Lond., 1871,' pp. 671-701.

WHAT IS GREENLAND? 25

are of little moment to the movement of this (or any other great
mass of \a,nd-ice) provided ice have snow enough. In the Appendix to
Lyell's ' Antiquity of Man,' p. 508, it is stated that Professor Otto
Terrell, of Lund, Director of the Geological Survey of Sweden,
from Mount Karsok in the Xoursak I'eninsula, North Greenland,
saw the inland ice with some " abrupt mountains standing up here
and there," and that, at Upernavik, Rink saw moraines on the ice. 1
am inclined to believe that these were only local, and the mountains
were not in the midst of the inland ice proper, but only part of
those on the outskirting land. No moraine comes over it from the
south.

11. What is Greenland? — Greenland, as it appears on our maps, is
a huge wedge of land hanging down from the North Pole. Add to
this the exaggerated proportions which Mercator's projection gives
to it, and the ranges of interior mountains which imaginative geo-
graphers now and then portray in its interior, and we are all
sufficiently familiar with its outline. It is now more than half a
century ago since Giesecke,^ who had long resided in the country,
expressed his opinion that it was meiely a collection of islands
bound together by ice ; and from what I have said, further research
has not invalidated, though it may have supported and extended
his views. Dr. Petermann considered that it might extend in a
more or less unbroken Hue to Wrangell's Land, north of Behring
Strait. With the views of Giesecke I am inclined to concur. That
the idea of Kane and Hayes, that it ends in an " open Polar Sea," is
unsupported and unreasonable, there can, I think, be little doubt,
and the idea is not now coincided in by many whose opinions on
such a matter can be received as of much moment. 1'hat it is a
collection of islands bound together by the inland ice and its out-
pouring glaciers I have already ventured to state my belief as being
a well-observed fact, and that, in a collection of broken islands, it
extends throughout the Arctic Polar basin perhaps on to ^^'rangel^s
Land is, I further believe, not at all improbable. Shortly before
writing these notes I read the admirable papers of Lieutenant
Payer on Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord ;^ and while admitting that this
and many other east-coast Ijords may penetrate the land for gieat
distances, I do not think that his views tend materially ti) alter the
ductriue I have stated. It was luny; a belief that some of the west-

' Appendix to Scoresby's 'Voyage to the Northern Wlialu Fi.shcry,' \>. HIT, iuul
Scoresby, Unci., p. 327.

' ' Gcogr. Mitt., IhTl,' Heft. iv. and v. This is suppo.sed to ^tn tih f.ir in from
the east c<ia.-t, in lat. fi.5° (rjVie picturo of it by Payer, in I\-teim(inirs 'Giog.
Mitth.,' 1871, iiiid in the ' l,ei»ure Hour' for Oct. 187J).

26 CAN GREENLAND BE CROSSED?

coast fjords — particularly those about Omenak Fjord and Disco
Bay— cut Greenland in two (see p. 42), and the Eskimo to this
day have traditions of timber drifting out, and even of men coming
through these fjords from the east coa>st. But whether this was
so or not in former times, we know this is not so now, and as all
of the west Greenland fjords are known as to their termination,
there need be little or no doubt as to the fact of Franz Joseph Fjord
not now reaching through to the west coast. Though the exact
heads of some of these fjords have not been reached, it is known
that they are terminated by the ice face of a glacier. So that,
thouo-h there may not be now water communication between the
east and west coast, it is just possible that at one time, before the
spread of the inland ice choked up these fjords (as we know it has
done Jakobshavn ice fjord and others within the memory of man),
it may have been so in former times ; and even yet there may be
no land shutting off the one end of the fjord from the other. The
Germans did not see the inland ice. That means nothing more
than that they did not penetrate far enough to pass over the out-
skirring land.

12. Can Greenland he crossed f— It may, I think, over the smooth,
suow-covered inland ice at certain seasons of the year, say in
May, when it is tolerably mild, and the whole summer is before
us, and the snow has not yet melted off the ice. Later in the
'season the snow melts off the ice, and, as happened in our
case, travel was impossible with sledges. Later, again, as when
Dalager and Hayes travelled, the winter is coming on, the nights
are dark, and the cold is intense. After much hardship and with a
fortuitous concourse of favourable circumstances, the country might
be crossed to the east coast, but I do not think the travellers could
return the same way. For even were it possible for them to cany
provisions for themselves and dogs, even allowing them to eat
their spare dogs now and then, it would certainly not be possible
to carry enough for the return journey also, if even the snow cover-
ing still remained on the ice. It would be too great a risk to
depend on getting provisions by reindeer-hunting on the east coast,
so that a depot or a ship would be needed to await them there.
To return down the east coast would be almost as dangerous and
risky as to return acro.-s the inland ice. However, in South Green-
land, where the continent is narrow, it might be possible to accom-
plish this. Hitherto I have spoken of a journey from the west to
the east coast, because visits to the latter coast are so rare and
difficult, that 1 had left out of account the chances of any one ever
attempting it there. Still there is a chance of it being done, and

GREENLAND GLACIEES AND SEA-ICE. 27

done much more safely and easily from the east than from the west
coast. It is even possible that, penetrating the country from Franz
Josef or other fjord, and then taking to sledge at a favourable time
of the year, that the journey could be performed with comparative
ease, for, once arrived at the west coast, there would not be much
difficulty in getting succour fiom the Eskimo or Danish settle-
ments.

I do not despair of its being done ; and if judiciously gone'
about, I do not think the risks are greater than the problem to be
solved.

3. Greenland Glaciers and Sea-Ice.'

It is difficult — if not impossible — to describe Greenland glaciers
without trenching on subjects of hot and, shall I say, heating contro-
versy. In touching again on the subject of Arctic ice-action and
glacial remains in Britain, I am well aware that I am risking the
stirring up of a hardly subsided degree of controversy most dis-
quieting to the peace of mind of men unwilling to enter the lists
of combatants. Of late years, however, the subject has received
new light from the hypothesis, propounded first, I believe, by
Agassiz,^ that Scotland and other portions of the north of Europe
were at one time covered with an icy mantle, and that it is to this,
and not to the agency of floating ice, that the glaciaP markings and
remains so abundantly scattered o^'^er our country are due. More
recently still, this theory, at one time so violently opposed, has
been brought into almost universal favour by the publication of
the fact that Greenland is at this day exactly in the condition in
which Agassiz, reasoning on observed facts, hypothetically de-
scribed North Britain to have been. This new start has been
chiefly due to the writings of Dr. H. Eink, of Copenhagen (until
recently, and for many years previously, Royal Inspector of South
Greenland, and now Director of the Eoyal Commerce of Greenland),
translated in the ' Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society,'*
though the facts were known long previously to his placing them
before English geographers in a clear light. Accordingly, thanks

' This paper Ls, to a great extent, reprinted from tlie " riiysics of Arctic
Ire" ('Quarterly Journal of the (jieological Society,' vol. xxvii., 1.S71, p. G71.

^ ' Edin. New Phil. Journ.,' vol. xxxiii., p. 217; ' I'roc. Oleol. Soc, vol. iii.,
p. 327.

' I use the word "Glacial" as expressing all relating to ice, on sea or land ;
while tlio word glacier is, of course, u.sed in the ordinary accoptalion of tlie term.

■• Vol. xxiii. p. 145 (\Hi>?,); ' Proc. of Soc.,' vol. vii. \>. 7('> (ISi,:i). It was al.--i>
descrihed hy Dr. Sutlierland (from Kink) in Inglrficld's ' Suiamer Search \\<v Sir
•loiiii Kniiiklin ' (IS,"j:'.), AjiptUflix, p. K!:;.

28 GEEENLAKD GLACIERS AND SEA-ICE.

to the labours of Smith of Jordanhill/ Lyell,'^ Chambers,^ Milne-
Home,* Darwin,® Fleming,® Murchison,'' Peach,* Jamieson,^ Eamsay,'®
Thomas Brown," Crosskey,'^ McBain,'* Howden,'* Jolly,'® Archibald
Geikie,'® James Geikie," and many other geologists, we are in
possession of a body of fects which enable us to reason on th©
subject with a degree of certainty which would otherwise have
been impossible. Let us then examine in a concise manner the
subject of the present glaciation of Greenland and other Arctic
countries, and ice-action generally.

Previously to doing so, I may say that I have enjoyed oppor-
tunities of studying ice-action in British Columbia, Washington
Territory, Oregon, California, &c., and on the western and eastern
shores of Davis Straits and Baffin Bay — that I have voyaged over
the seas of Spitzbergen and Greenland — that I have passed a whole
summer in the Danish possessions in Greenland, at a post situated
in close proximity to the great ice-fjord Jakobshavn, one of the chief
sources of icebergs in Mid-Greenland — and that, as already men-
tioned, I was one of those who attempted a journey over this great

' ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc' vol. vi. ; ' Memoirs of the Wernerian Natural
History Society,' vol. viii. ; and 'Newer Pliocene Geology.'

^ ' Proc. Geol. Soc.,' vol. iii. ; ' Antiquity of Man ; ' ' Elements ' and ' Prirv-
ciples,' &c. &e.

^ 'Ancient Sea Marsjins,' and ' Edin. New Phil. Journ.' 1853 and 1855.

* 'Coal-fields of Mid-Lothian;' 'Trans. Roy. Sue. Edin.,' vol. xvi. ; ibid.
vol. XXV. 1869, &c. " ' Phil. Trans., 1839.'

" 'The Geological Deluge, ms interpreted l)y Baron Cuvier and Professor
Buckland, inconsistent with the Testimony of Moses and the Phenomena of
Nature ; ' ' Lithology of Edinburgh,' &c.

' 'Brit. Assoc. Rep.,' vol. xx. ; 'Proc. R.G.S.,' vol. vii. ; 'Russia in Europe.'
&c. &c.

* 'Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society,' Edin. 1861 ; 'Edin. New Phil.
Journ.,' n. s. vol. ii. &c.

° ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vols. xiv. xvi. xviii. xix. and xxiv.

'» ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. xviii. ; ' Glaciers of Wales,' &c.

" * Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin.,' vol. x.xiv.

'^ ' Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow.' vols. ii. and iii.

'^ 'Procl Roy. Phys. Soc. Edin.' 1859-186-2.

'^ ' Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc.,' and ' Trans. Geol. Soc. Edin.,' vol. i.

'° ' Trans. Geol. Soc. Edin.' vol. i.

" ' Scenery of Scotland; ' ' Edin. New Phil. Journ.' 1861 ; ' Trans. Geol. Soc,
Glasgow,' vols. i. iii. &c.

'' ' Trans. Geol. Soc. Glasgow," vol. iii. ; ' The Great Ice Age ' (1874). That
this list by no means exhausts the names of those who by their writings have
advanced the subject, or contains all the papers of those mentioned, is self-
evident. Tiie names of Bald, Imrie, Hall, MaeCulloch, Dick-L.uider, Trevelytm,
J. D. and E. Forbes, Hibbert, Maxwell. Prestwich, INIaclaren. Craig, I.aiids-
borough, Mackenzie, Professor Jas. Thomson, Nicol, Gumming, Cleghorn, Smith,
Miller, Hopkins, Brickenden, Brvce, Martin, Hall, Macinto.-h, Murphy, Lubbock,
the Duke of Argyll, Searles, Wood, juu , Croll. De Ranee, ami otiiers, are
familiar as having done good service; but I have only referred to the papers
which liave come imraediatelv before me.

GLACIAL SYSTEM OF GREENLAND. 29

interior ice-cap. I may, however, mention that in 1867,we were not
far enongl) north, or early enough in Davis Straits, to see anj^thing
of the action of sea-ice, and that, though I saw the " inhmd ice "
close af hand for the first time that year, yet I added nothing to the
knowledge which my observations duiing a much more extended
voyage along the northern shores of Greenland and the western
shoies of Davis Straits enabled me to gain as early as 1861.
Accordingly many of these descriptions are written almost verbatim
from my notes of that date, and the views I now enunciate were
formed at that period also. lam, in addition, not ignoiant of the
remains of the glacial period in Scandinavia and Great Britain, as
well as in North America and other countries. Though the facts
here narrated will, in almost every case, be wholly derived fiom
my own observation, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I
do not present them as any thing new, but solely as the observa-
tions and conclusions of an independent student of the subject, and
as therefore of some value. If some of the facts here related are
already familiar to the reader from other sources, I can only plead
that few, if any, of them are yet suf&cientl}^ well understood, or
received into the commonwealth of knowledge as confirmed facts, not
to admit of being repeatedly described by independent observers.

4. Glacier-System of Grkemland.

Greenland is in all likelihood a large wedge-shaped island, or
series of islands, surrounded by the icy Polar basin on its northern
shores, and with Smith Sound, Baffin Bay, Davis Straits, and the
Spitzbergen, or Greenland Sea of the Dutch, the " old Greenland
Sea " of the English whalers, completing its insularity on its western
and eastern sides. The whole of the real de facto land of this great
island consists, then, of a circlet of islets, of greater or less extent
circling round the coast, and acting as the shores of a great interior
mer de glace — a huge inland sea of fresh- water ice, or glacier, which
covers the whole extent of the country to an unknown depth.
Beneath this icy covering must lie the original bare ice-covered
country, at a much lower elevation than the surrounding circlet of
i.slands. These islands are bare, bleak, and more or less moun-
tainous, reaching to about 2000 feet ; the snow clears off, leaving
room for vegetation to burst out during the short Arctic summer.
The breadth of this outskirting land vaiios, as do the spaces
between the difi'orent islands. These inlets between the islands
constitute the fjords of Greenland, and are the channels through
which the ovei-fl(jw of the interior ice discharges itself. It is on

30 THE INTERIOR ICE-FIELD OF GREENLAND.

these islanrls, or outskirting land, tliat the population of Greenland
lives, and the Danish trading-posts are built— all the rest of the
country, Math the exception of this island circlet, being an icy,
landless, sea-like waste of glacier, which can be seen here and
there peeping out in the distance. On some of the large and more
mountainous islands, as might be expected in such a climate, there
are small independent glaciers, in many cases coming down to the
sea, and there discharging icebergs ; but these glaciers are of little
importance, and have no connection with the great internal ice-cover-
ing of the country. I have called the land circling this interior
ice desert " a collection of islands," because though many of them
are joined together by glaciers, and only a few are wholly insulated
by water, many of them (indeed, the majority) are bounded on
their eastern side by this internal inland ice ; yet, whether bounded
by water or by ice, the boundary is perpetual, and whatever be the
insulating medium, they are to all intents and purposes islands.

1. The Interior Ice-field. — This is well known to the Danes in
Greenland by the name of the " inlands iis," and though a familiar
subject of talk amongst them from the earliest times, it is only a
very few of the " colonists " who have ever reached it. The natives
everywhere have a great horror of penetrating into the interior, not
only on account of the dangers of ice-travel, but from a super-
stitious notion that the interior is inhabited by evil spirits in the
shape of all sorts of monsters.

Crossing over the comparatively narrow strip of land, the
traveller comes to this great inland ice (fig. 1, a). If the termina-
tion of it is at the sea, its face looks like a great ice wall : indeed
the Eskimo called it the SermiJc soaJc, which means this exactly.
The height of this icy face varies according to the depth of the
valley or fjord which it fills. If the valley is shallow the height is
low ; if, on the contrary, it is a deep glen, then the sea-face of the
glacier in the ijord is lofty. From 1000 to 3000 feet is not un-
common. In such situations the face is always steep, because bergs
are continually breaking off from it; and in such situations it is
not only dangerous to approach it, on account of the ice falling, or
the wave caused by the displacement of the water, but from the
great steei)ness of the face it is rarely possible to get on to it in
such situations.^ In such places Dr. Eink has generally found
that it rises by a gradual slope to the general level plateau beyond.^

' Tlie " great glacier " of Humboldt is merely such an exposed glacier-face,
tliouo;h of gn at extent.

^ Kane speaks about the " escaladed structure " of the Greenland glacier
('Arctic Explunitions ' [American ed.], vol. ii. p. 284). This phrase .seems to

THE INTERIOR ICE-FIELD OF GREENLAND.

31

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32 THE INTEEIOR ICE-FIELD OF GREENLAND.

However, where it does not reach the sea, it is often possible to
climb on it fj'om the land by a gentle slope, or even in some cases
to step up on it as it shelves np. Once fairly on the inland ice a
dreary scene meets the view. Far as the eye can reach to the
north and to the south is this same great ice-field, the only thing
to relieve the eye being the winding black circuit of the coast-line
land or islands before desciibed, here and there infringing in little
peninsulas on the ice, there the ice dovetailing in the form of a
glacier on the land, and now and then the waters of a deep fjord
penetrating into the ice-field, its circuit marked by the black line of
coast surrounding it on either side, the eastern generally being the
ice-wall of the glacier, the western being the sea. Travelling a
short distance on this interior ice, it seems as if we were travelling
on the sea. The land begins to fade away behind us like the shore
receding as we sail out to sea ; while far away to the eastward
nought can be seen but a dim, clear outline like the horizon bound-
ing our view. The ice rises by a gentle slope, the gradient being
steeper at first, but gradually getting almost imperceptible thoujih
real. In the winter and spring this ice-field must be covered with
a deep blanket of snow, and the surface must then be smooth as a
glassy lake ; but in the summer, by the melting of the snow, it is
covered with pools and coursing streams gf icy-cold water, which
either find their way over the edge, or tumble with a hollow sound
through the deep crevasses in the ice. How deep these crevasses go,
it is impossible to say, as we could not see to the bottom of them,
nor did the sounding-cord reach down except a short way. The
depth of the ice-covering will of course vary ; when it lies over a
valley it will be deeper, over a mountain-top less. All we know is,
that just now it is almost level throughout, hill and dale making
no difference. However, with such a huge superincumbent mass
of ice, the average height of the coast-lying islands is greater than
that of the inland ice, and it is only after climbing considerable
heights that it can be seen.' Therefore supposing this covering to
be removed, I think the country would look like a huge, shallow,
oblong vessel with high v/alls around it. The surface of the ice is
ridged and furrowed after the manner of glaciers generally ; and

have arisen frora the translator of Dr. Rink's abstract in the ' Journ. Royal Geog.
Soc.,' I. c, having mistaken the word "ice-stream" for "ice-steps." The "ice-
steps," or " platfoim," so universally described by the authors who have followed
the translation of Dr. Rink's remarks, have no existence in nature, or in the
writings of the eminent geographer mentioned.

' In Rink's ' Grouland,' ii. p. 2, are two characteristic views of the appearance
of the interior ice seen from such elevations.

THE IXTERIOE ICE-FIELD OF GEEENLAND. 33

this furrowing does not decrease as we go further inland ; on the
contrary, as far as our limited means of ohservation go, it seems to
increase ; so that even were it possible to cross this vast icy-desert
on dog-sledges when the snow is on the ground, I do not think it
would be possible to return, and its exploration would require the
aid of a ship on the other side. On its surface there appears not a
trace pf any living thing except a minute alga ; and after leaving
the little outpouring offshoot of a glacier from it, the dreariness of
the scene is not relieved by even the sight of a patch of earth, a
stone, or aught belonging to the world we seem to have left behind.
Once, and only once, during our attempt to explore this waste did
I see a faint red streak, which showed the existence of the red snow-
plant (Protococcus nivalis) ; but even this was before the land had
been fairly left. A few traces of other alga were seen by Dr. Berg-
gren, as I have already intimated (pp. 19 and 24). Animal life seems
to have left the vicinity ; and the chilliness of the afternoon breeze,
which regularly blew with piercing bitterness over the ice-wastes,
even caused the Eskimo dogs to couch under the lee of the sledge,
and made us, their masters, draw the fur hoods of our coats higher
about our ears.^ Whether this ice-field is continuous from north to
south it is not possible in the present state of our knowledge to
decide ; but most likely it is so. Whether its longitudinal range is
continuous is more difBcult to decide, though the explorers already
mentioned saw nothing to the eastward to break their view; ^o
that, as I shall immediately discuss, there seems every probability
that in Greenland there is one continuous unbroken level field of
ice, swaddling up in its snowy winding-sheet hill and valley, with-
out a single break for upwards of 1200 miles^ of latitude, and an
average of 400 miles of longitude, or from Cape Farewell to the
upper extremity of Smith Sound, and from the west coast of
Greenland to the east coast of the same country, a stretch of ice-
covered country infinitely greater than ever was demanded hypo-
thetically by Agassiz in support of his glacier-theory.

2. Tlie Defluents of this Inland Ice-field. — Are there any ranges of
mountains from the slopes of which this great interior ice descends?
As I have said, we are not in a position to absolutely decide ; but

' For description of tlie efifects of the ice in limiting animal and vegetable life
vide the author's "Mammalian Fauna of Greenland," ' Proc. Znol. Soc. Lond.
1868,' p. .337 ; and "Florula Discoana," ' Trans. Bot. Soc. Edin.,' vol, ix. p. 440.

^ Rink, ' Journ. R. ii. S.' I. r., bays 800 miles; but throughout his valuable
works he only speaks of the Danish portion of Greenland, of which it professes
solely to be a description. Jainieson and other writers seem to think that it is
only North Greenland that is covered. All the country, nortJi and sduth, is
equally swathed in ice.

34 THE DEFLUENTS OF THE INLAND ICE-FIELD.

the probabilities are in favour of the negative/ There are no ice-
berg " streams " on the east coast of Greenland, and bergs are rare off
that coast. If there were many icebergs, the field of floe~ice which
skirts that coast, and which has prevented exploration except in
very open seasons, would soon be broken up by the force with which
the bergs, breaking off from the land, would smash through the ice-
field, and, acting as sails, help, by the aid of the winds, as elsewhere,
to sweep it away. I am therefore of opinion that the great ice-
field slopes from the east to the west coast of Greenland, and that
any bergs which may be seen on that coast are from local glaciers,
or from some unimportant defluent of the great interior ice. Nor
do I think a range of mountains at all necessary for the formation
of this huge mer de glace ; for this is an idea wholly derived from
the Alpine and other mountain-ranges where the glacier system is
a petty aifair compared with that of Greenland. I look upon Green-
land and its interior ice-field in the light of a broad-lipped shallow
vessel, but with chinks in the lips here and there, and the glacier,
like viscous matter ^ in it. As more is poured in, the viscous matter
will run over the edges, naturally taking the line of the chinks as
its line of outflow. The broad lips of the vessel, in my homely simile,
are the outlying islands or " outskirts ;" the viscous matter in the
vessel the inland ice, the additional matter continually being poured
in in the form of the enormous snow covering, which, winter after
winter, for seven or eight months in the year, falls almost con-
tinuously on it ; the chinks are the fjords or valleys down which
the glaciers, representing the outflowing viscous matter, empty the
surplus of the vessel. In other words, the ice floats out in glaciers,
overflows the land, in fact, down the valleys and fjords of Greenland,
by force of the superincumbent weight of snow, just as does the grain
on the floor of a barn (as admirably described by Mr. Jamieson)
when another sackful is emptied on the top of the mound already
on the floor. " The floor is flat, and therefore does not conduct the
grain in any direction ; the outward motion is due to the pressure
of the particles of grain on one another ; and, given a floor of infinite
extension, and a pile of sufficient amount, the mass would move
outward to any distance ; and with a very slight pitch or slope it
would slide forward along the incline." To this let me add that if
the floor on the margin of the heap of grain was undulating, the
stream of grain would take the course of such undulations. The
want, therefore, of much slope in a country, and the absence of any

> While, for the sake of illustration, speaking of ice as " viscous matter," I must
not be understood as giving support to the " viscous theory " of glacier motion.

THE DEFLUENTS OF THE INLAND ICE-FIELD. 35

great mountain-range, are of very little moment " to the movement
of land-ice, provided we have snoio enough." ^

As the ice reaches the coast it naturally takes the lowest level.
Accordingly it there forks out into glaciers or ice-rivers, by which
means the overflow of this great ice-lake is sent off to the sea. The
length and breadth of these glaciers varies according to the breadth
or length of the interspace between the islands down which it flows.^
If the land projects a considerable way into the great ice-lake, then
the glacier is a long one ; if the contrary is the case, then it is
hardly distinguished from the great interior ice-iield, and, as in the
case of the great glacier of Humboldt in Smith Sound, the interior
ice may be said to discharge itself almost without a glacier. The
face of Humboldt's glacier is in breadth about 60 miles. This,
therefore, I take to be the interspace between the nearest elevated
skirting land on either side. It thus appears that, between the
inland ice and the glacier, the difference is one solely of degree, not
of kind, though, for the sake of clearness of description, a nominal
distinction has been drawn. The glacier, as I have said, will
usually flow to the lowest elevation. Accordingly it may take a
valley, and gradually advance until it reaches the sea. In the course
of ages this valley will be grooved down until it deepens to the sea-
level. The sea will then enter it, and the glacier-bed of former
times will become one of those fjords which indent the coast of
Greenland and other northern countries often for many miles ; or
these may be much more speedily produced by depression of the
land, such as I shall show is at present going on. By force of the
sea the glacier proper will then be limited to the land, and its old
bed become a deep inlet of the sea, hollowed out and grooved by the
icebergs which pass outwards, until in the course of time, by
the action of a force which I shall presently describe, the fjords
get filled up and choked again with icebergs, in all probability
again to become the bed of some future glacier stream.^ \\'here
there is no fjord at hand, or where these defluents are not sufficient
to draw off the surplus supply of ice, the " inland ice " will " boil "
over the cliffs, overflowing its basin, and appear as hanging glaciers,
whence every now and again huge masses of ice (the aerial equiva-

' 'Quart. .Tourn. Geol. Soc.,' xxiv. 18G5, p. IGG.

- I'ruiterly speakiiif^, accordinj^ to the oidinaiy nomenclaturo, the whole of the
ice, I'rijia the "neve" downwards, sliould bo calh.d "glaci(3r;" Imt as we havo
not yet penetrated sufficiently far into tho interior to ohaervo where the " neve"
ends and the "glacier" begins, I havo for the sake of distinctness adopted tho
above arbitrary nomcnclatun;.

' Tlie origin of fjords is more lidly developed iji Section iv. of tin's Memoir

(p. r.s).

d2

36 THE ICEBERG.

lent of the bergs) are detaclied, as the attraction of gravity overcomes
the cohesiveuess of the ice. These have been seen and described
by Dr. Kane on many parts of the Arctic coast. I noticed them in
the shape of " miniature glaciers between the cliffs," (' Trans. Bot.
Soc' ix. 13) at Sakkak, lat. 70° 0' 28" n., and on the Waigat shore
of Disco Island. In this latter locality they were the overflow of
the inland ice of the island. They are also seen in the little local
glaciers, where the bed they move in is shallow, and the seaward or
outward end high, as near Oraenak, where, however, I did not see
them, but depend for my information on intelligent Danish officers
resident in that section. In Alpine regions, away from the coast,
the glacier, as it pushes its way down into warmer regions, either
advances or retreats, according to the heat of the summer ; but in
either case it gives off no great masses of ice from its inferior ex-
tremity. The same is true of the Arctic glacier when it protrudes
into some mossy valley without reaching the sea ; but when it reaches
the sea another force comes into operation. We have seen (1) the
inland ice-field emptied by (2) the glacier ; we now see the glacier
relieving itself by means of (3) the iceberg or " ice mountain," as
the woi d means.

3. Tlie Iceberg. — When the glacier reaches the sea (fig. 1, e) it
grooves its way along the bottom under the water for a considerable
distance ; indeed it might do so for a long way did not the buoyant
action of the sea stop it. For instance, in one locality in South
Greenland, in about 62° 32' N. lat., between Fredrikshaab and Fisk-
ernaesset, or a little north of the Eskimo fishing-station of Avigait,
and south of another village called Tekkisok, is a remarkable instance
of this. Here the " lisblink," or the " ice glance " of the Danes
{i.e., the projecting glacier, though English seamen use the word
iceblink in a totally different sense, meaning thereby the " loom " of
ice at a distance), projects bodily out to sea for more than a mile.
The bottom appears to be so shallow that the sea has no effect in
raising it up ; and the breadth of the glacier itself is so considerable
as to form a stout breakwater to the force of the waves. ^ It was
long supposed that th^ iceberg broke ofT from the glacier by the mere
force of gravity : this is not so. It is forced off from the parent
glacier by the buoyant action of the sea from beneath. The ice
groans and creaks ; then there is a crashing, then a roar like the
discharge of a park of artilleiy ; and with a monstrous regurgita-
tion of waves, felt far from the scene of disturbance, the iceberg
is launched into life. The breeze which blows out from the land,

' On this subject see also Nordenskjold, I. c, p. 364-5.

THE ICEBERG. 37

generally for several Lours eveiy da}', seems, according to my observa-
tion, to have the efiect of blowing the bergs out to bea ; and then
they may be seen sailing majestically along in long lines out of
the ice-fjords. Often, however, isolated bergs or groups of bergs
will float away south or north. Bergs from the ice-streams of
Baffin Bay Avill be found in the southern reaches of Davis Straits ;
while others, bearing debris which could only have been accumu-
lated in South Greenland, will be found frozen in the floes of
Melville Bay, or Lancaster Sound. It is a common mistake, but
one which a moment's reflection would surely dissipate, that bergs
found in the south must all have come from the north, and that
those further north must have come from the regions still farther
northward. The winds and the currents waft them hither and
thither, until by the force of the waves they break into fragments
and become undistinguishable from the oozy fragments of floes
around them. Often, however, they will ground either in the fjord
or outside of it, and in this position remain for months, and even
years, only to be removed by pieces calving or breaking off from
them, and thus lightening them, or forced ofii" the bank where they
have touched bottom by the force of the displaced wave caused by
the breaking ofi" of a fresh berg. Ice much exposed to the sea only
breaks off in small ice-calves, but not in bergs. This calving will
sometimes set the sea in motion as much as 16 miles ofi". The colour
of the berg is, of course, that of the glacier ; but by the continuous
beating of the waves on it the sxirface gets glistening. The colour
of the mass is a dead white, like hard-pressed snow, which in reality
it is, while scattered through it are lines of blue. These lines are
also seen in the glacier on looking down into the crevasses, or at the
glacier-face, and are in all probability caused by the annual melting
and freezing of the surface-water of the glacier. Then anotlier fall
of snow comes in the winter ; then the suns of summer melt the
surface to some slight extent ; this freezes, forming an ice difieient
in colour from the compressed snow-ice of the glacier, and so on.
I am aware, however, that this is a subject of controversy ; and this
view of mine is only brought forward as a probable explanation,
suggested to me as far back as 1861, when I first saw glaciers in the
upper reaches of Baffin Bay and on the western shores of Davis
Strait, and long before I was aware that this streaked or veined
character of glacier-ice had been a subject of dispute.^

' These bhio stripes are several feet ia dimension, and in them are gcntnilly
found tlie "dirt hands" of fonij^n njatter (clones, (gravel, clay, ike), the rt mains
of the moiaine. Dr. Rink tliinks tiiat the blue striiies are formed by a tilling up
of the fissures iu the inland iee with water—" perhaps mixed with snow, gravel,

G 0 7 G 5

38 THE SUB-GLACIAL STREAM.

The greater portion of these bergs form long " streams " opposite
their " ice-fjords," these streams being constantly reinforced by fresh
additions from the land, poured out from the fjord. Hence certain
localities in Greenland are distinguished by their " ice-streams ;"
these localities being invariably opposite the mouths of ice-fjords,
or fjords with great glaciers at their landward end pouring out
icebergs. Few, if any, as I have already stated, are found on the
east coast ; but on the west (or Davis Strait and Baffin Bay side,
from south to north, in the Danish possessions), the following
localities, among others, chiefly known by their native names, are
situated : —

1. SerjQiilik ice-fjord and ice-stream in about N. lat. .. 60 30

2. Sermeliarsnk „ 61 32

3. Narsalik „ 61 57

4. Godthaab „ 64 30

5. Jakobshava „ 69 12

6. Tossukatek „ 69 48

7. Great Kariak „ 70 26

8. Little Kariak „ 70 36

9. Sermelik „ 70 41

10. Itifliarsuk „ 70 52

11. Innerit „ 70 56

12. Great Kangerdlursoak .... „ 71 25

13. Upernivik „ 72 57'

We have now sketched the ice-field with the glacier and the ice-
berg. Are there no other defluents of the " inland ice ? " This
leads lis to speak of: —

•i. The Suhglacial Stream. — What is under the inland ice is, I fear,
a question we shall never be able to answer. No doubt the country
is undulating ; for I believe this immense glaciation overspread
the country after the close of the Tertiary period, perhaps about the
same period when Scotland lay under the ice cap. Continuously
grinding over these rocks, a creamy mud must be formed, which
mud must now be of considerable thickness, if not swept into hollows
or washed out from beneath the ice. In the Alps the glacier is said
to wear for itself a muddy bed, which Agassiz ^ calls la couche de
houe or la houe glaciaire, and other authors la moraine profonde

and stones ; and such a refrigeration of tlie water in the fissures may be sup-
posed to be an important agency in setting in motion these great mountains
of ice."

' Kink : Cm den geographiske BeskafFenhed af de danske Handels distrikter
i Nord-Gronland : udsigt over Nord-gronlands Geognosie. Det Kongl. danske
Vidensk. Selskab. Skr., 8 Bind, 1853, p. 71, et lib. cit. Dr. Kink altogetlier
resided for sixteen winters and twenty-two summers in Greenland.

'^ ' Etudes sur les Glaciers et Systeme Glaciaire." p. 574.

THE SUB-GLACIAL STREAM. 39

(fig. 1, fc) ; so that, I thluk, there can be little doubt that the Green-
land inland ice has triturated down a similar clayey bed. However,
another instrument in the arrangement, and, if I may use the term,
" utilisation " of this mud, this moraine prqfonde, comes into pla3^
Eink ^ has calculated the yearly amount of precipitation in Greenland
in the form of snow and rain at 12 inches, and that of the outpour
of ice by its glaciers at 2 inches. He considers that only a small
part of the remaining 10 inches is disposed of by evaporation, and
that the remainder must be carried to the sea in the form of sub-
glacial rivers. These subglacial rivers are familiar in all Alpine
countries, and in Greenland pour out from beneath the glacier,
whether it lies at the sea or in a valley, and in summer and winter.
He also mentions a lake adjacent to the outfall of a glacier into the
sea, which has an irregularly intermittent rise and fall. " AVhenever
it rises, the glacier-river disappears ; but when it sinks, the spring
bursts out afresh," — showing, as he thinks, a direct connection
between the two. Aiguing from what has been observed in the
Alps, he concludes that an amount of glacier-water equivalent to
10 inches of precipitation on the whole surface of Greenland is not
an extravagant hypothesis ; and he accounts for its presence partly
by the transmission of terrestrial heat to the lowest layer of ice, and
partly by the fact that the summer heats are conveyed into the
body of the glacier, while the winter cold never reaches it. The
heat melts the surface-snow into water, which percolates the ice,
while the cold penetrates a very inconsiderable portion of the
glacier, whose thickness exceeds 2000 feet. As in the Alpine
glaciers, these subglacial rivers are thickly loaded with mud from
the grinding of the glacier on the infrajacent rocks ; in fact, from
the washings of the moraine profonde. This stream flows in a torrent
the whole year round, and in every case which I know of (in the
Arctic regions) reaches the sea eventually, though, no doubt, parting
on the way with some small amount of its suspended mud. After
it reaches the sea it discolours the water for miles, finally depositing
on the bottom a thick coating of impalpable powder. \\ hen this
falls in the open sea it may be scattered over a considerable space ;
but when (as in most cases) it falls in narrow long fjords, it collects
at the bottom, shoaling up these inlets for several miles from their
heads, until, in the course of time, the fjord gets wholly choked up,
and the glacier seeks another outlet or gets choked up with bergs,
which slowly plough their way through the deep banks of clay,
uutil they get so consolidated together as to shut off the land alto-

' 'Naturliistorisk Tidsskrift," 8rcl series, vol. i. part 2 (18G2), nnd 'I'loc. Rny.
Geog. Soc.,' vii. 7<j.

40 THE SUB-GLACIAL STREAM.

gether.^ Supposing that the deposit only reaches 3 inches in the
year, there is a bank or flat 25 feet thick formed in the course of a
century. However, any one who has seen these muddy sub-glacier
streams, and the way in which they deposit their mud, must be
convinced that this estimate is far below the mark, and that an
important geological deposit, which has never been rightly ac-
counted for (if even noticed, as far as my observation goes), is form-
ing off the coast of Greenland and wherever its great glaciers pro-
trude into the deep quiet fjords. It ought also to be noticed that the
fjords which have been the scenes of old ice-streams, in almost every
instance end in a valley at the head, this valley being due, first, to
the glacier which reclined on it and hollowed it out and, secondly, and
further down, to the filling up of it by the glacier-clay. This form
of fjord is not only common in Greenland, but also in every other
part of the world where I have studied their form and formation.

After carefully examining and studying this clixy, I can find no
appreciahle difference between it and the hricli-clay, or fossiliferous
Boulder-clay. Mr. Milne Home," among other arguments against
the theory that Boulder-clay has been formed by land-ice, remarks
that he saw nothing forming in Switzerland at all comparable to
Boulder-clay. Eeserving to ourselves a doubt on that subject, I can
only say that long after my opinion regarding the identical cha-
racter of the subglacial-stream-clay and the fossiliferous brick-clay
was formed, a very illustrious Scandinavian Arctic explorer visited
Edinburgh and declared, as soon as he saw the sections of Boulder-
clay exhibited near that city, that this was the very substance
he saw forming in under the Spitzbergen ice. Many theoretical
writers, however, confound the ordinary non-stratified azoic clay,
and the finer, sti'atified fossiliferous clay.

In this clayey bed the Arctic Mollusca and other marine animals
find a congenial home, and burrow into it in great numbers. How-
ever, as new deposits are thrown down, they keep near the surface,
to be able to get their food ; so that if to-day a catastrophe were
to overwhelm the whole marine life of the Arctic regions, it would
be found (supposing by upheaval or otherwise we were able to
verify the fact) that the animals would only be imbedded in the
upper strata of clay, and that the bottom one, with the exception
of a few dead shells, would be azoic ; yet I need not say how erro-
neously we should argue if, from this, we drew the inference that,

'■ I am glad to tind that, independently, this identical view is held by Mr.
J. W. Taylor, who resided for several years in Greenland, ' Proc. Eoy. Geogr.
Soc' V. p. 90 (1861).

- ' Trans. Roy. See. Edin.,' vol. xxv. p. 6t)l ; and ' Estuary of the Forth ' (1871).

THE SUB-GLACIAL STREAM. 41

at the time the bottom layers or strata of this laminated clay were
formed, there was no life in the Arctic waters, or that they were
formed under circumstances which prevented their being fossili-
ferous. The bearing of this on the subject in question need scarcely
be pointed out. It ought to be noted that, supposing wo were able to
examine the bottom of the Arctic Sea (Davis Straits, for instance),
it would be found that this clayey deposit would not be found over
the whole surface of it, but only over patches. For instance, all of
the ice-fjords would be found full of it to the depth of many feet,
shoaling off at the seaward ends ; and certain other places on the
coast would be also covered with it ; but the middle and mouth of
Davis Straits and Baffin Bay, and the wide intervals between the
different ice-fjords, would either be bare or but slightly covered
with small patches from local glaciers ; yet we should reason most
grievously in error, did we conclude therefrom that the other
portions of the bottom, covered with sand, gravel, or black mud,
were laid down at a different period from the other, or under other
different conditions than geographical position. These ice-rivers
seem, in the first place, to have taken their direction according to
the nature of the country over which the inland ice lies, and latterly
according to the course of the glaciers. No doubt they branch
over the whole country like a regular river-system.* When the
glacier reaches the sea, the stream flows out under the water, and,
owing to the smaller specific gravity of the fresh water, rises to the
surface, as Dr. Eink describes, " like springs "—though I do not
suppose that he considers (as some have supposed him to do) that
that water was in reality spring-water, or of the nature of springs.

» It may be somewhat superfluous for me to say that these subglacial streams
are totally different in nature from the streams which flowed in the old water-
courses found under the drift in various parts of the world. These were the beds
of the preglacial rivers, and are known to miners as '• sand-dykes,'' " washouts,"
&c. On the North Pacific slope of the Eocky Mountains they are very comuion,
and are eagerly sought for by the gold-miners, the " old beds " generally y ielduig
a cousid(;rable amount of gold. In California, so thoroughly have they been
explored by the gold-diggers that, if proper records had been kept, a nuij) of the
preglacial rivers might now bt; drawn, almost as detailed as that of the postglacial
or present river-system. The courses of these ancient rivers appear to have been
generally in the same direction, and to have iiad their outlets in the valleys near
about the same pla(X'S as the present rivers. Sometimes these channels seem to
cross nearly at right angles. The old Yulja channel, for instance, when its course
was interrupted and diverted, ran through the site of the present village of
" Timbuctoo," crossing the bed of the present riverat Park's Par ; thence running
in a north-westerly course, and falling into the Kio do las J'liunas (Feather
Kiver), near Oroville, a consideral>le distance from its present junction with that
river at INIarysville. These old channels exhibit the same windings and i)rc-
cipitous falls as the present river; and they liave been cut in various i)laces by
caiions anil ravines: and pijrtions of the older deposit, carried down, mingle Willi
the loose gravel and sand detached by more recent aiiueous action.

42 THE SQB -GLACIAL STREAM.

Here are generally swarms of Entomostraca and other marine
animals, wliich attract flights of gulls, which are ever noisily fight-
ing for their food in the vicinity of such places.

We lived for the greater portion of a whole summer at Jakobshavn,
a little Danish post, 69° 13' n., close to which is the great Jakobshavn
ice-fjord, which annually pours an immense quantity of icebergs into
Disco Bay. In early times this inlet was quite open for boats ; and
Nunatak (a word meaning a " land surrounded by ice ") was once an
Eskimo settlement. There is (or was in 1867 ) an old man (Manyus)
living at Jakobshavn whose grandfather was born there. The Tessi-
usak, an inlet of Jakobshavn ice-fjord, could then be entered by
boats. Now-a-days Jakobshavn ice-fjord is so choked up by bergs
that it is impossiijle to go up in boats, and such a thing is never
thought of. The Tessiusak must be reached by a laboriousjourney
over land ; and Kunatak is now only an island surrounded by the in-
land ice, at a distance — a place where no man lives, or has, in the
memory of any one now living, reached. Both along its shore and
that of the main fjord are numerous remains of dwellings long unin-
habitable, owing to it being now impossible to gain access to them by
sea. The inland ice is now encroaching on the land. At one time it
seems to have covered many portions of the country now bare.
In a few places glaciers have disappeared. I believe that this has
been mainly owing to the inlet having got shoaled by the deposit of
glacier-clay through the rivers already described. I have little
doubt that — Graah's dictum^ to the contrary, notwithstanding — a
great inlet once stretched across Greenland not far from this place,
as represented on the old maps, but that it has also now got choked
up with consolidated bergs. In former times the natives used to
describe pieces of timber drifting out of this inlet, and even tell of
people coming across ; and stories yet linger among them of the
former occurrence of such proofs of the openness of the inlet.^

' ' Reise til Ostkysten af Gronland,' 1832, and translated by Macdougall, 1837.

- " There is another bay which I could not investigate to its bottom ou account
of the immense masses of ice that were setting out, and which is called by the
natives Ikak and Ikarsek {Sound). It runs between Karsarsuk and Kingatok,
and its length is from Kai'sarsuk to its end about 15 German miles ; it is situated
in 72° 48', and the sea, at its entrance, is covered by numerous islands. All the
natives living in this neighbourhood assured me unanimously that there had been
a passage formerly to the other side of the land. They told me also that they
were afraid that, with heavy north-easterly gales, the ice would go oti" again, and
that the people from the other side, whom they describe as barbarians, would
come over and kill them. They stated that, from time to time, carcasses of
whales, which had been killed on the other side, pieces of wood, and fragments of
utensils, were to be seen driving out of this bay." — Giesecke in Appendix to
Scoresby's ' Joiuual of a Voyage to the Northern Whalctishery,' p. 468. Owing to
an erroneous note and reference obtained at secondhand, 1 made it appear, in the

THE SUB-GLACIAL STREAM. 43

All that we know is, that such a transcontinental passage, if ever
it existed, is now shut up. The glacier and the ice-stream have
not changed their course, though, if the shoaling of the inlet ' goes
on (and if the glacier continues at its head, nothing is more certain),
then it is just possible that the friction of the bottom of the inlet
may overcome the force of the glacier, and that the ice may seek
another course. As the neighbourhood is high and rocky, this is
hardly possible with the present contour of the land. At the present
day, the whole neighbourhood of the mouth of the glacier is full of
bergs ; and often we should be astonished on some quiet sunshiny day,
without a breath of wind in the bay, to see the " ice shooting out "
(as the local phrase is) from the ice-fjord, and to make up with the
little bay in front of our door in Jakobshavn Kirke covered with
huge icebergs, so that we had to put off our excursion to the other
side of the inlet ; and the natives would stand hungry on the shore,
as nobody would dare put off in his kayak to kill seals, afraid
of the falling of the bergs. In a few hours the bay would be
clear, until another crop sprang out from the fjord. At any
time it would be dangerous to venture near these bergs ; and
the poor Greenlander often loses his life in the attempt, as the
bergs, even when aground, have always a slight motion which
has the effect of stirring up the food on which the seals sub-
sist. Accordingly the neighbourhood of these bergs is favourable
for seals, in the attempt to capture which the hapless kayaker not
unfrequently loses his life by falling ice. When we would row
between two to avoid a few hundred yards' circuit, the rower would
pull with muffled oars and bated breath. Orders would be given in
whispers; and even were Sabine's gull or the great auk to swim
past, I scarcely think that even the chance of gaining such a prize
would tempt us to run the risk of firing, and thereby endangering
our lives by the reverberations bringing down pieces of crumbling
ice hanging overhead. A few strokes, and we are out of danger ;

original paper of which thin memoir is a partial reprint, as if this fjord spoken of
in the preceding extract was Jakobshavn fjord, and that Jakolishavn fjord was
open to boats in (iiesecke's day. The error was of no great ini]i(ntancc-, but I have
to thank Prof. Nordenskjijld for calling my attention to it. There is a tradition
among the whalers that a whale was '' struck " on tlie East Coast of Greenland,

Fjord or 8coresby Sound maybe the open easterly tcrnuniition of one of these
fjords now closed by ice on the west ."ide. See, on the question of the former or
present connection of the fjords on tlie East and West Coasts, Suabyc's 'Green-
land ' (English Tran.s., 1818.) pp. 98-107.

' The.^ inlets are, in fact, the "friths" of these ice-rivers. Imleed, tlie term
I- actually used by some authors.

44 THE "SHOOTING OUT" OF ICEBERGS.

and then the pent-np feelings of our stolid fur-clad oarsmen find
vent in lusty huzzahs ! Yet, when viewed out of danger, this noble
assemblage of ice palaces, hundreds in number being seen at such
times from the end of Jakobyhavn Kii-ke, was a magnificent sight ;
and the voyager might well indulge in some poetic frenzy at the view.
The noonday heat had melted their sides ; and the rays of the red
evening sun glancing askance among them would conjure up fairy
visions of castles of silver and cathedrals of gold floating in a sea of
summer sunlight. Here was the Walhalla of the sturdy Yikings,
here the city of the sun-god FrejT, Alfheim, with its elfin caves,
and Glitner, with its walls of gold and roofs of silver, Gimle, more
brilliant than the sun, Gladsheim, the home of the happy, and there,
piercing the clouds, was Himlenberg, the celestial mount, where the
bridge of the gods touches heaven.^ Suddenly there is a swaying, a
moving of the water, and our fairy palace falls in pieces, or with an
echo like a prolonged thunder-peal, it capsizes, sending the waves
in breakers up to our very feet. Some of these icebergs are of
enormous size. Hayes calculated that one stranded in Baffin Bay, in
water nearly half a mile in depth contained about 27,000,000,000 cu-
bical feet of ice, and must have weighed not less than 2,000,000,000
tons.

It is most probable that the cause of this " shooting out " of
bergs from the ice-fjord of Jakobshavn is due to the force gene-
rated by the detachment of a fresh berg from the glacier at the
extremity of the fjord. Occasionally, at the time of this " shooting
out," the waters of Jakobshavn harbour (a little fjord, the locality
of a now extinct glacier) will rise and fall with such tremendous
force as to snap a ship's cable. Actually the cable of the 'Mari-
anne,' a brig of 200 tons, was so broken in 1866. This wave is well-
known to the Greenland Danes, under the name of the ' kaaneel.' ^
Various theories are afloat about it and its cause, which is
not very well known ; but as it only happens when the ice is
" shooting out " in great quantities, it is most likely caused by the
displacement of the volume of water confined in the inlet ; and
this wave is also felt outside ; but its force is lost in the open
sea. It is also exhibited at Omenak and other harbours, when the
ice is shooting out of the ice-fjords in their vicinities ; but these
harbours being situated at a greater distance from the scene of
action, it is not so much felt as at Jakobshavn, close to the ice-
fjord. From November to June, the fjords being frozen, there is
no " shooting out " of bergs but in July, and more especially in

Hayes, op. c. p. 24. 2 j gpeii the word phonetically.

THE MOKAIXES. 45

August, and on until late in autumn, they pour out in great numbers.
In concluding what I have got to say regarding the subglacial
rivers, I cannot help remarking that the effect of this great ice-
covering over Greenland must be to thoroughly denude any soft
sedimentary strata which might have reclined on the underlying
igneous rocks at the time when the whole country got so over-
spread. Now we know that during the later Miocene epoch the
country supported a luxuriant vegetation, as evinced by the remains
which I and others have collected from these beds.^ I was struck,
when studying this subject in Greenland, with the fact (though I
have no desire to push the theory too far) that the only places
where I did not see former ice-action were the very localities where
these Miocene beds repose. These localities are a very limited
district on either side of the AVaigat Strait, on Noursoak Penin-
sula, and Disco Island, neither of these localities having apparently
been overlain at any time by the great inland ice. Noursoak Penin-
sula juts out from the land, and only nourishes small glaciers of its
own ; and Disco Island is high land, possessing a miniature inland
ice or rner de glace, with defluent glaciers of its own. If the great
inland ice had ever ground over this tract, I hardly think it possible
that the soft sandstone, shales, and coal-beds could have survived
the effects of this ice-file for any length of time.

5. Tlie Moraines. — Moraines are usually classified as lateral,
median, terminal, and profonde,^ or under the glacier. From the
simple character of the Greenlander glacier, as described, it will be
readily seen that the median moraine, formed by the junction of
two lateral moraines, must be rare, while the terminal takes, ex-
cept in rare instances, another form. Ordinary Alpine glaciers,
when grinding down between the two sides of a mountain-gorge,
set accumulated on their sides rubbish, such as earth, rocks, &c.,
which faU either by being undermined by the glacier, by
frost, or by land-slips, until two lateral moraines are formed. If
the glacier anastomoses with a second, it is evident that two of the
lateral moraines will unite in the common glacier into a median one.
A\hen the glacier terminates, this moraine, carried along with it,
is deposited at its base, and forms the terminal moiaine. Over the

' Heer, in the ' Philosophical Transactions, 1869,' pp. 44.5-488. In this treatise
of Prof. He>r I have 7)rlnted u few notes on the geology of those Miocene beds :
but, owing to an accident, I did not see them in proof. Hence there are several
errors. The title of the paper is also apt to misloiid. These geological and otlier
points I have since corrected in a full account of the geology of the Waigat Straits,
&c., with illustrative map ('Trans. Gool. Soc, Glasgow,' vol. v. part i. p. ."J.')).

^ The term moraine prnfonde was first used by Hogard in his 'Coup d'coil sur
le terrain erratiijue des Vo.sges' (18ol), p. 10.

46 THE MORAINES. '

lower face of a glacier, according to the heat of the day, some ma-
terial is always falling, a thimbleful of sand, it may be, trickling
down in the stream of water ; or a mass of stone, gravel, and earth,
may thunder over the edge. If the glacier advances, it pushes this
moraine in front of it, or, it is possible, may creep over it and carry
it on as a moraine profonde. This moraine profonde consists of the
boulders, gravel, &c., which the glacier, grinding along, has carried
with it, and which, adhering to its lower surface, help to grind
down infrajacent rocks, and at the same time get grooved in a cor-
responding direction. If the Greenland glacier does not reach the
sea, then the programme of the Alpine glacier is repeated ; but
when the lower end breaks on reaching the head of the fjord, then
a different result ensues. The terminal moraine (if there is any ;
for none comes over the inland ice, which leads me to believe that
it does not rise in mountains ; and often the glacier is so short as
to take little or none from the sides of its valley) floats off on the
surface of the iceberg, and the moraine profonde either drops into
the sea, or is carried further on in the base of the iceberg : very
frequently this moraine profonde is composed of boulders and gravel,
and it is rare that they are not dropped before the berg gets out of
the fjord. The berg itself very often capsizes in the inlet, and de-
posits what load it may have on its surface or bottom at the bottom
of the sea ; and when it gets out of the inlet, as I have already
described, it often ranges itself in the outside ice-stream ; and if it
there capsizes, then the boulders lie on the bottom there, so that,
if the floor of the sea were raised up, a long line of boulders would
be found imbedded in a tenacious bed of laminated clay, with fossil
shells and remains of other Arctic animals, skeletons of seals, heaps
of gi'avel here and there, and so on, in what would then be a mossy
valley, most likely the bed of some river. Again, allow me to re-
mark that a berg may not capsize by pieces breaking off from above
the water, but it may also lose its equilibrium (as is well known)
by being worn away, as is most frequently the case, at the base,
or (as is less known) by pieces calving off from below. If the berg
ground on a bank or shoal, or in any other water not deep enough
for its huge bulk to float in, it will often bring up from the bottom
boulders, gravels, &c., deposited by former bergs, and carry them on
until this material is deposited elsewhere ; when grounding, it will
graze over the submerged boulders, or rocks just under water,
grooving them in long grooves ; for an iceberg, it cannot be too often
remembered, is merely a mountain of ice floating in the sea. In my
earlier voyages in the Arctic regions I was rather inclined to under-
rate the transporting-power of bergs, as I saw but few of them with

LIFE NEAR THE ICE-FJORDS. 47

any earth, rocks, or other land-matter on them. Though still believ-
ing that this has been exaggerated to support their theories by some
writers, ignorant, unless by hearsay, of the nature of ieebei-gs,^ I am
inclined to think that I was in error.

Towards the close of my voyage, in 1861, I had occasion to
ascend to the summit of many bergs when the seamen were water-
ing the vessels from the pools of water on their summits ; and I
almost invariably found moraine, which had sunk by the melting
of the ice into the hollows, deep down out of sight of the voyager
sailing past, but which would have been immediately deposited
if the berg had been capsized. In 1867 I saw many bergs with
masses of rock on them, and only at the mouth of Waigat one with
a block of trap (?) so large, that it looked, even at a di^-tance, like a
good-sized house. The Greenland glaciers — or defluents of the inland,
ice — carry little moraine. The termininal moraines are therefore
little marked in comparison with what a glacier of the same size
would deposit in the Alpine or other mountain regions abounding
in glaciers. Indeed, the Swiss glaciers in almost no degree repre-
sent, even on a small scale, the great Greenland glaciation. It is
unique.

6. Life near tJie Ice-fjm-ds. — In the immediate vicinity of the
Jacobshavn ice-fjord (and I take it as the type of the whole) ani-
mals living on the bottom were rare, except on the immediate shore
or in deep water ; for the bergs grazed the bottom in moderately
deep water to such an extent as almost to destroy animal and
vegetable life rooted to the bottom. In this vicinity bunches of
algaj were floating about, uprooted by the grounding bergs ; and the
dredge bionght up so little material for the zoologist's examination
that, unless in deep water, his time was almost thrown away.
Again, the heads of the inlets, unless very broad and open to the
sea, are bare of marine life, the quantity of fresh water from the
sub-glacial stream and the melting bergs being such as to make
the neighbourhood (as in the Baltic) unfavourable for sea-animals.
Some inlets are said to be so cold that fish leave them. I have not
been able to confirm this in the Arctic regions. When stream-
emptying lakes fall into the head of these fjords, having salmon in
them, then seals ascend into the lakes in pursuit of them. Other
localities, owing to the capricious distribution of life, would be barer

« I have found, however, that much of the " discoloration " in berg8 is caused
by the brown Icfives of the Cassiope fetragona and other jdants, growing among
tlio rocks abutting on the glaciers, and l)luwn down upon tluiii. 'i'ho supposed
intiuence of icebergs in dispersing plants by carrying their roots and seeds in
moraine I have shown to be in reality very little.— ('Ocean Highways,' 1873.)

48 ACTION OF SEA-ICE.

or more abundantly inhabited. Again, in shallow inlets, except for
Crustacea or other free-swimming animals, the bottom, continnally
disturbed by the dropping of moraine or the ploughing up of bergs,
would be unfavourable for life. Accordingly, if the bed of the
Arctic Ocean in these places were raised, and we found the mouth
of a valley with laminated beds of clay rich in Arctic shells, and
the head bare of life, but still showing that the beds had been
assorted by marine action, supposing we were (as in Scotland)
ignorant, except by analogy, of the history of this, should we not
feel justified in saying that the beds at the one place and the other
were deposited under different conditions, and were in all likeli-
hood of different ages ? How just that apparently logical inference
would be I need scarcely ask.

5. Action of Sea-Ice.

"VVe have in the previous section in the most outline form sketched
the subject of Greenland glacial action. As the object of this paper
is not to form a summary of our knowledge on the subject, I have
not entered into a discussion of any points on the physics of ice,
further than was necessary to a right understanding of the subject
in hand. Suffice it to say that all sea-ice forms originally from the
" bay-ice " of the whaler, as the thin covering which first forms on
the surfaces of the quieter waters is called, and that this " bay-ice "
is almost entirely fresh, the effect of Arctic freezing temperature
being to precipitate the salt. Hence, when we talk of the tempera-
ture requisite to freeze salt water, it is merely equivalent to saying
that this temperature is requisite for the precipitation of the saline
constituents of the water. The water of the Arctic Sea is, accord-
ing to Scoresby, of the specific gravity 1-0263.^ At this specific
gravity it contains 5f oz. (avoird.) of salt to every gallon of 231
cubic inches, and freezes at 28^° Fahr. The specific gravity of this
ice is about 0*873. To enter upon this subject, of which the above
is only the summary of a long series of experiments, is foreign to
the object of this paper. From this bay-ice is formed the floe,
from the floe the pack-ice, and other forms familar to Arctic navi-
gators. In the summer the ice in Davis Strait on either side breaks
up sooner than that in the middle of the Strait, which remains for

' In au interesting series of experiments by Dr. Walker of the Fox Expedition,
it was shown that the bay-ice was never entirely free from salt. If sea water is
frozen its specific gravity is 1'005, showing salts, especially chloride of sodium or
common salts. Fresh water is often frozen on the surface of the salt. — (' Journ.
Roy. Dublin Soc, I860,' vol. ii. pp. 371-380.)

ACTION OF SEA-ICE. 49

a considerable time, forming the " middle ice " of the whalers.
Still, however, a narrow belt remains attached to the shore during
a considerable portion of the summer. This is called by the Danes
in Greenland the " iis fod," and by the English navigators the
" ice-foot." As the spring and summer-thaws proceed, land-slips
occur, and earth, gravel, and avalanches of stones come thundering
down on the ice-foot, there to remain until it breaks oil" from the
coast, and floats out to sea with its raft-like load of land-debris. As
the summer's long sunlight goes on, the ice, worn by the sea, parts
with its load ; and this may be shortly after its leaving the lands
or it may float tolerably far south. The ice-foot, however, rarely
carries its load as far south as the mouth of Davis Strait ; and sea-
ice is seldom seen far out of the Arctic regions, while, as we all
know, bergs often float far out into the Atlantic. Often fields of ice
will float along and, like icebergs, graze the surface of rocks only a
wash at low tides ; and therefore its action might be mistaken for
that of icebergs or land-ice. In other cases I have known the ice-
foot, laden with debris, to be driven up by the wind and high-tides
on to low-lying islands, spits, and shores, piling them with the
load thus carried from distant localities, so that blocks of trap
from the shores of Disco or the Waigat might be drifted up on the
beach at Cumberland Sound or on the gneissose shores of South
Greenland.

It has even been found that in shallowish water the ice will freeze
to the bottom of the sea ; and in such situations the gravel, blocks,
&c., there lying will freeze in and be carried out to sea, to be
deposited in course of time in a manner similar to the superin-
cumbent loads of the ice-foot, though more speedy. The same
])henomenon holds good of the Baltic. In the Sound, the Great
Belt, &c., the ground-ice often rises to the surface laden with sand,
gravel, stones, and sea-weed. Sheets of ice, with included boulders,
are driven up on the coasts during storms and " packed " to a
height of 50 feet. How easily such sheets of ice, with included
sand, gravel, or boulders, may furrow and streak rocks beneath
may be imagined.^ The patches of gravel on the pack-ice are
owing, I think, to portions of the giavcl-laden ice-foot having got
among the ordinary materials of the pack ; for I do not think that
ice formed in deep water, unless when it passes over rocks, and
therefore may take up fragments of stone or earth, has any geo-
logical significance.

> Forchhammer in ' Bull, de la Soc. Ge'ol. de Fiance, 1817," t. iv. \>\>. llS'2-8:i;
1, yell's Trincipleb ' (11th Kd.), vol. i., p. 3H3.

50 RISE AND FALL OF THE GREENLAND COAST.

The concbisions wliicli we are forced to draw from wliat I have
said regarding the deposi ting-power of glacier-streams, "bergs, and
sea-ice must be :— 1. That the bottom of Davis Strait must be com-
posed of various materials ; 2. That particular m.aterials must pre-
dominate in particular localities ; 3. That the bottom in the vicinity
of ice-fjords and in fjords must be chiefly composed of clay, with
boulders, gravel, and earth either scattered over it or in patches ;
4. That the mouth and centre of Davis Strait and various banks,
such as Eif kol, must be chiefly composed of earth, gravel, boulders,
&c., with little or none of the glacier-clay ; 5. That life must not
be uniformly distributed through this bottom; 6. That though
the lines of travelled blocks, boulders rubbed by grounding bergs,
ice, or by being brought out as part of the moraine profonde, will
be found scattered over every portion of the sea, still they will
chiefly be found in the lines of fjords and of the iceberg-stream ;
6. That the clayey bottom of deep inlets will be little disturbed,
while that of shallow ones will be grooved and torn up by ground-
ing bergs, &c.

EisE AND Fall of the Greenland Coast.

It may be asked — Have we any data for the conclusions in the
foregoing paragraphs, further than logical inferences from observed
facts justify us in drawing ? Yes, we have ; for there has been a
rise of the Greenland coast, laying bare the sea-bottom, as just now
there is a fall going on. This fact is not new ; on the contrary, it
is notorious, but has been much misunderstood. We have the
Danes telling us on the most irrefragable evidence that the coast is
falling, while the Americans who wintered high up in Smith Sound,
saw there, and in all the country they visited to the north of
Wolstenholme Sound, raised sea-beaches and terraces, and accord-
ingly say that it is rising in that direction, while, in truth, both of
them are right, but not in the exclusive sense they would have us
to imagine. There has been a rise ; there is a fall going on. We
now supply the proofs.

1. Bise. — In Smith Sound both Kane's and Hayes's expeditions
observed a number of raised terraces 110 feet above high tide-mark,
the lowest being 32 feet. These were composed of small pebbles,
&c. Hence they concluded that the coast icas rising. I think it
can be easily enough shown that this is only a portion of the old
rise of the Greenland coast. The interval between this locality and
the Danish possessions, commencing at 73° N. lit., has been so little
examined either by the geographer or the geologist that we can

RISE AND FALL OF THE GREENLAND COAST. 51

say nothing about it ; biit more to the south, and along the whole
extent of tlae Danish colonies, this raised portion of the sea-bottom is
seen. The hills are low and rounded, and everywhere scattered with
perched blocks, boulders, &c., many of them brought from nprthern
or southern localities. In other localities, in the hollows or along
the sea-shore, we see several feet of the glacier-clay (the " brick-
clay," in factj full of Arctic shells such as are now living in the
sea, Echinodermata, Crustacea, &c., while in other places, as might
be expected from what I have said, the clay is bare of life. This
clay corresponds identically in many places with some of the
"brick-clays" of Scotland, though, as might be expected from the
difference these clays partake of from the different rocks the tri-
tnrition of which has given origin to them, they are in some places
of different shades of colouring. In this glacier-clay (or shall I
call it upper laminated Boulder-clay ?) all the shells found are of
species still living in the neighbouring sea, with the exception of
Glycimeris siUqiia, and Panopcea norvegica ; but as both of these are
found in the Newfoundland Sea, we may expect them yet to be
shown to be living in Davis Strait.^ I have seen this " fossili-
ferous clay " up to the height of more than 500 feet above the sea,
on the banks overlooking glaciers. At the Illartlek glacier, in
69*^ 27' N. lat., this glacier-clay, deposited on the bottom of the sea
by some former glacier, now formed a moraine ; and on the surface
of the ice I picked up several species of shells which had got washed
out by the streams crossing over the glacier face. This Illartlek
glacier does not reach the sea ; but supposing (as is doubtless the
case elsewhere) that this clay had fallen on a glacier giving off ice-
bergs, then the shells deposited in the old sea-bottom would be again
carried out to sea, and a second time transferred to the bottom of
Davis Strait ! I found this clay everywhere along the coast and in
Leer Bay, south-west of Claushavn ; in knots of this clay are found
impressions of the Angmaksaett {Mallotus arcticus, 0. Fabr.), a fish
still quite abundant in Davis Strait.^ However, though this glacier-
clay was found everywhere along the coast, yet it should be noticed
that this was chiefly when glaciers had been in fjords, &c,, and that
often for long distances it would be sparingly found only in valleys
or depressions.

Other evidences of the rise of the Greenland coast are furnished

• Morch in Tillteg No. 7 til Rink's ' Grouland,' Bind 2, S. 14.3.

* " In fjeneral, I may say," remarks Agashiz, wlien speaking of the closeness
with which Tertiary fishes agreed with recent ones, "tiiat I luivc not yet found a
single spe<-ies which was iierfectly identical with any marine existing fish, except
the little species (Mallolm), wiiidi is found in nodules of clay, of unknown age,
in Greeidand." 1 am convinced that the age I have given is correct.

b2

62 IIISE AND FALL OF THE GREENLAND COAST.

by ruins of liouses being found high above tbe water, in places
where no Greenlander would ever tliink of building them now.
On Hunde (Dog) Island, in the district of Egedesminde, there are
said to be two such houses', and two little lakes with marine shells
naturalised in them, and remains of fish-bones, &c., on the shores.
I only heard this when it was too late, so that to my regret I
had to leave the country without paying a visit to this remarkable
locality.

2. Fall. — This has been long known ; but it is only within the
last thirty years that special attention has been drawn to the sub-
iect, chiefly by Dr. Pingel,' who passed some time in Greenland.
The facts are tolerably well known, how houses are found jammed
in by ice in places where they never would have been built by the
natives, as Proven, and so on. It may, however, be as well to
recapitulate these proofs.

Between 1777 and 1779 Arctander noticed that in Igalliko Fjord
(lat. 60'' 4:V N.) a small rocky island, " about a gun-shot from the
shore," was entirely submerged at spring-tides ; yet on it were the
walls of a house (dating from the period of the old Icelandic
colonists) 52 feet in length, 30 in bieadth, 5 in thickness, and
6 high. Fifty years later the whole of it was so submerged that
only the ruins rose above the water. The settlement of Julianeshaab
was founded in 1776 in the same fjord ; but the foundations of the
old store-house, built on an island called " The Castle," are now dry
only at very low water. Again, the remains of native houses are
seen under water near the colony of Fredrikshaab (lat. 62° N).
Near the great glacier which projects into the sea between Fred-
rikshaab and Fiskernajsset, in 62' 32' N., there is a group of islands
called Fulluarlalik, on the shores of which are the ruins of dwell-
ings which are now overflowed by the tide. In 1758 the Moravian
Unitas Fratrum founded the mission establishment of Lichtenfels,
about 2 miles from Fiskernassset (lat. 63° 4') ; but in thirty or forty
years they were obliged once, " perhaps twice," to remove the frames
or posts on which they rested their large omiaTcs, or " women's " (seal-
skin) " boats." The posts may j-et be seen beneath the water.

To the north-east of Godthaab (lat. 64° 10' 36" N.,long. 51° 45' 5"
w.^) on a point called Vildmansuees (Savage Point) by Hans Egede,
in 1721-36, several Greenland families lived. These dwellings are
now desolate, being overflowed at high tide. At Nappersoak,

» ' Proc. Geol. Soc.,' vol. ii. p. 208.

^ According to observations by the late Capt. v. Falbe, of the Royal Danish
Navy, furnished to me by Capt. H. L. M. Holm, of the Hydrographic Depart-
ment, Copenhagen.

RISE AND FALL OF THE GREENLAND COAST. o3

45 miles north of Sukkertoppen (lat. 65° 25' 23" n., lung. 52= 45' 25"
\v.), the ruins of old Greenland houses are also to be seen at low
water.

In Disco Bay I had another curious instance brought under my
attention by Hr. Xeilsen, at the date of my visit, Colonibe.styrer of
Claushavn. The blubber-boiling house of that post was originally
built on a little rocky islet, about one-eighth of a mile from the jshore,
called by the Danes " Speck-HuseOe," andby the Eskimo " Krowe-
lenwak," which just means the same thing, viz. " Blubber-house
Island." For many years the island had been gradually sinking,
until, in 18G7, the year of our visit, Hr. Xeilsen had been under the
necessity of removing the house from it, as the island had been gra-
dually subsiding until the floor of the house was flooded at high tide,
though, it is needless to say, sufficiently far above high-water mark
when originally built. On another island in its vicinity the whole
of the Claushavn natives used to encamp in the summer, for the
treble purpose of drying seals' flesh for winter use, of getting free
from disturbance by the dogs, and of getting somewhat relieved
from the plague of mosquitoes ; but now the island is so circum-
scribed that the natives do not encamp there, the space above water
not allowing of room for more than three or four skin tents. These
facts are sufficient evidence that the coast of Greenland is falling
at the present time ; and I doubt not that if there were observers
stationed in Smith Sound for a sufficiently long time, it would be
fuund that the coast is also falling there, though hitherto only Kane
and Hayes have stayed there, but for too short a period to decide
on the matter ; and I cannot see that there is the slightest reason
why the fall should halt at Kingatok (n. lat. 73" 4o'), the most
northern Danish post, and the most northerl}' abode of civilised
man. Circumstances have only allowed of its being noted so far.

Hr. Xeilson told me that he considered that Disco Island, opposite
Claushavn, was rising, because the glaciers were on the increase.
I think that if there is no more evidence than this for that sup-
posed fact, we may lay it aside as erroneous, because the glaciers
are undoubtedly increasing by the increase of the interior mer de
glace on the island, and by the regular, descent which they are
making to the sea. Disco Island is a miniature edition of Green-
land ; it has its inland ice, its defluent glaciers, and its sub-glacial
rivers, which sweep the denuded material from beneath the ice.

I have made an attempt to estimate the rate of fall; and though
we have no certain data, yet I believe that it does not exceed
5 feet in a century, if so much ; so that none of us will live to see
Greenland overspread b) the sea. Such at least are the views I

54 ArPLICATION OF FACTS REGARDING ICE-ACTION.

have arrived at from a careful study of this question. Little doubt
remains in my mind as to its correctness. The only serious reason
for hesitating to ask the reader to accej)t this elucidation of the
subject is, that it would appear that for some indefinite period
there has been a gradual elevation of most of the circumpolar
region going on. The facts in regard to this have been carefully
collated by Mr. H. Howorth,' though it must be acknowledged
with apparently a foregone conclusion, or at least a strong bias to
the doctrine he has espoused, and to his memoir the reader can be
safely recommended. One fact I may mention, which I am not
aware has been noticed by Mr. Howorth. A few j^ears ago the
Norwegian walrus hunter discovered a group of small islets north
of Novai Semlai. They were merely sandy patches scattered with
boulders dropped from icebergs which had at one time floated over
them, raised but a few feet above the sea —

" . . . . islands salt aud bare,
The haunt of seals and ores and seamews' clang."

On some of the islets — notably on Hellwald's and Brown's — were
found West Indian fruits washed up by the Gulf Stream ; hence
they were named " The Gulf Stream Islands." Yet only about
two centuries ago the Dutch took soundings on the very spot where
these islands have since been gradually raised above the sea. It is
also said that the whale (Balcena mysticetus) has left the Spitzbergen
Sea, owing to the waters having got too shallow for it, on account
of the gradual rise of the bottom. On Franz Joseph's Land there
are also raised beaches. The whole question is an important and
interesting one for the naturalists of the present Arctic Expedition
to attempt the solution of. Here I may point out what seems to be
a fallacy in the reasoning of those authors who write about the
denuding powers of rivers, and calculate that such and such a
country will be overwhelmed by the sea in so many millions of
3'ears. Whatever the land loses by denudation the sea gains ; and
therefore the two forces keep pace with each other. We thus see
in Greenland two appearances : (1) In the interior what Scotland
once was ; (2) on the coast what Scotland now is.

7. Application of the Facts regarding Arctic Ice-action as ex-
planatory OF Glaciation and other Ice-remains in Britain.

In the paper referred to,^ and in the geological portion of the

' ' Journ. of the Eoy. Geog. Soc.,' vol. xliii. (1873), p. 240.

^ ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. xxvii. p. 671 ; also ' Popular Science Review,'
August, 1871, and April, 1875; and more popularly in Kiugsley's 'Town
Geology,' pp. 48-52.

APPLICATION OF FACTS REGAKDING ICE-ACTION. 55

Ro3al Society's ' Manual of the Natural History of Greenlaml,' as
well as in tlie instructions by the distinguished head of the Geo-
logical Survey of Great Britain — than whom there is no higher
authority on the subject in Britain — will doubtless enter fully into
the application of the foregoing facts as affording some explanation
of the puzzling deposits of late geological age in Britain, and other
portions of the northern hemisphere, and known as the " glacial
beds " or remains. We are still far from understanding fully all the
phenomena presented by these glacial remains. Still, as it is only
by the study of a country like Greenland, which is in a condition
similar to that which Scotland and a great portion of the northern
hemisphere are believed to have been during the glacial period, it
may be well, though this is not the place for geological details,
to briefly recapitulate the general conclusions which I have arrived
at from the study of Greenland ice : —

(1.) The brick clays or laminated fossiliferous clays of Scotland,
&c., are exactly the same as the clays now filling up the Greenland
fjords from the mud-laden streams which flow from under the glaciers,
and are due to the same or similar agents acting during the " Glacial
period." These agents must have been acting at that period, and
the clay formed from these sub-glacial streams has never yet been
accounted for.

(2.) The non-fossil iferous " till," though there are still appear-
ances in this non-stratified deposit that we cannot account for, is in
all likelihood the representation of the moraine profonde of the great
ice-cap. Had it been moraine dropped from icebergs, as has been
argued, even supposing that icebergs could deposit it so uniformly
over great tracts and to such a thickness, it would have been
fossiliferous and stratified. It is neither. (3.) Kaimes, Osars,*
Escars, &c., are only the "banks" of the old glacial seas. Some
may be of fresh-water origin, but most are marine. (4.) The angular
" travelled blocks " (the " foundlings " of the Swiss mountaineers)
have been dropped by icebergs floating over the submerged country.
The rounded ice-borue boulders are part of the moraine ■profonde.

The conclusions thus briefly summarised, with the deductions as
to the foi-mer state of Scotland, will be found fully stated in the
memoirs and works referred to. Lastly, the observer ought to
guard against supposing that, in the old glacial seas or on tho
glacial lands, life was poor.. If we are to judge the past by the
present, wo have no right to suppose any such thing.

The rarity of life in many of tho glacial beds need not be

' A Swedish word so pronounced, but written Asar or Aamr.

56 APPLICATION OB' FACTS REGAEDTNG ICE-ACTION.

wondered at when we consider the capricious and even sporadic
distribution of life in the fjords of Greenland. It is possible also, as
Lyell suggests, that animal life was originally scarce ; for " we
read of the waters being so chilled and freshened by the melting of
icebergs in some Norwegian and Icelandic fjords that the fish are
driven away and all the mollusca killed." ^ He also points out most
justly that, as the moraines are at the first devoid of life, if trans-
ported by icebergs to a distance, and deposited where the ice
melts, they may continue as barren of every indication of life as
they were where they originated. That the freshening of the water
of fjords does destroy or prevent animal life developing, I have
already shown ; but 1 doubt whether the chilling has much, if any,
effect ; and the recent researches of Carpenter, Jeffreys, Thomson,
and others, show that the idea which was suggested, that the sea
might then be too deep for animal life, is without foundation ; for
life seems, as far as oui- present knowledge goes, to have no zero ;
besides, the shells found m the glacial formations are not deejj-sea
shells. Again, we must be careful to avoid concluding that the
plant- and animal-life on the dreary shores or mountain-tops of the
old glacial Scotland was poor. In Greenland, the outskirting
islands support a luxuriant phanerogamic vegetation of between
300 and 400 species of plants;- the sea is full of fishes and inverte-
brates, which shelter in forests of Algss. Plants even ascend to the
height of 4000 feet. Millions of seals and whales, and of many
species, sport in these waters, or are killed in thousands every
spring on the pack-ice or land-floes. Every rock is swarming and
noisy with the cries of water-fowl ; reindeer browse in countless
herds in some of the valleys ; the Arctic fox barks its hue ! hue !
from the dreariest rocks in the depth of winter ; and the polar
bear is on the range all the year round. Land-birds from southern
regions come here for a nesting-place,^ and from the snowy valleys
the Greenlanders will bring in the depth of winter sledge-loads of
ptarmigan into the Danish posts. Life is so abundant that the
Danish Government find it profitable to keep up trading-posts
there, and the collecting and preserving of the skins, oil, and
ivory of the native animals afford profitable employment to a con-
siderable population. Independently of the fish eaten, the seals

Lyell's ' Antiquity of Man,' p. 268.

^ The present writer, in little moie than two months, amid many other occu-
pations, collected on the shores and in the vicinity of Disco Bay alone, 129 species
of flowering: plants and vascular cryptogams, more than 40 mosses, 11 Hepaticse,
more than 100 Lichens, including many new species, about 50 Algse, and several
Fungi (see 'Transactions of the Edinburgh Botanical Society,' vol. ix.).

^ About 115 spe«ies of birds are found in Greenland.

APPLICATION OF FACTS REGARDIXG ICE-ACTIOX. 57

used as food and clothing, and the oil consumed in the country,
it may not be irrelevant in this light to present the following
list of a portion of the annual exports of the Danish settlements in
1855:'—

9569 barrels of seal-oil.
47,809 seal-skins.

63-i6 reindeer-skins. There is on record the fact of 30,000 being
exported in one year.
171-t fox-skins.

34r bear-skins (the animal being almost extinct in Danish Green-
land).

194 dog-skins (in addition to the numerous teams used by the
natives).

3437 lbs. rough eider-down.
5206 lbs. of feathers.

439 lbs. of narwhal ivory (the natives also using up much for
their implements).

51 lbs. of walrus ivory (the walrus being little pursued).
And 3596 lbs. of whalebone (very few of the Balmia mysticetus
being killed).

Add to this that, when the Danes came to Greenland first, there
was a population not much less than 30,000 ; and to this day there
lives within the Danish possessions a healthy, hearty race of up-
wards of 10,000 civilised intelligent hunters of narwhal, seal, and
reindeer, with schools and churches within sight of the eternal
inland ice, and with a long night of fonr months, which, perhaps,
Scotland had not during the glacial epoch. I do not believe, how-
ever, that our shores were inhabited then ; but still I see no reason
why they could not have been ; and, with the bright skies and warm
sunshiny days of a Greenland summer fresh in my memory, I
cannot bring myself to believe in the poetically gloomy pictures
pseudo-scientific writers have delighted to draw of the leaden skies,
the misty air, and unutterable dreariness of our Scottish shores in
that incalculably distant period when glaciers ran through our
valleys from the inland ice, and icebergs crashed in our romantic
glens, then fjords of that glacial coast.

' For this return I am indebted to my friend Dr. Rink, the most eminent autho-
rity on all matters connected witii Greeidand. See also my monoKraplis oi
(ireenland Mammals in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Koci.^tyof London ' l..r
18G8, and in ' I'etermann's Geographische Mittheiluiigen.' ISC'J.

58 THE FORMATION OF FJORDS.

8. On the Formation of Fjords.*

Intersecting the sea-coasts of various portions of the world, more
particularly in northern latitudes, are deep, narrow inlets of the
sea, surrounded generally by high precipitous cliifs, and varying
in length from 2 or 3 miles to 100 or more, variously known as
" inlets," " canals," " fjords," and even, on the western shores of
Scotland, as "lochs." The nature of these inlets is everywhere
identical, even though existing in widely-distant parts of the
world, so much so as to suggest a common origin. On the extreme
north-west coast of America the}^ intersect the sea-line of British
Columbia to a depth, in some cases of upwards of 100 miles, the
soundings in them showing a great depth of water, high precipitous
walls on either side, and generally with a valley towards the head.
On the eastern shore of the opposite Island of Vancouver no such
inlets are found, but on the western coast of the same island they
ai'e again found in perfection ; shewing that, in all probability,
Vancouver Island was isolated from the mainland by some throe of
Nature prior to the formation of the present " canals " on the
British Columbia shore, but that the present inlets on the western
shore of Vancouver Island formed, at a former period, the sea-board
termination of the mainland, and were dug out under conditions
identical with those which subsequently formed the fjords now
intersecting the coast,

Jervis Inlet may be taken as the type of nearly all of these inlets
here, as well as in other portions of the world. It extends in a
northerly direction for more than 40 miles, while its width rarely
exceeds 1^ mile, and in some places is even less. It is hemmed in
on all sides by mountains of the most rugged and stupendous
character, rising from its almost perpendicular shores to a height of
from 5000 and 6000 feet. The hardy pine, where no other tree can
find soil to sustain life, holds but a feeble and uncertain tenure
here ; and it is not uncommon to see whole mountain sides denuded
by the blasts of winter or the still more certain destruction of the
avalanche which accompanies the thaw of summer. Strikingly
grand and magnificent, there is a solemnity in the silence and utter
desolation which prevails here during the months of winter, not a
native, not a living thing to disturb the solitude ; and though in
the summer a few miserable Indians may occasionally be met with,
and the reverberatino; echoes of a hundred cataracts disturb the

' Abridged, witli additions and corrections, from tlie ' Journal of the Royal
Geograiihical Society,' 1869 and 1871.

THE FORMATION OF FJORDS. 59

i-ilence, yet the desolation remains, and seems inseparable from a
scene Nature never intended as the abode of man. The depths
below almost rival the heights of the mountain summit : bottom is
rarely reached under 200 fathoms, even close to the shore.' The
deep inlets on the Norwegian coast, known as fjords — a familiar
name, now applied generally to such breaks in the coast-line — are
two well known to require description. On the coast of Greenland
are again found similar Sounds, indenting both sides of that group
of islands (?), but more particularly the western or Davis Strait
shore. Most of these inlets are thickly studded with floating ice-
bergs, and others are so densely choked with them as to receive
the name of ice-fjords. All of these fjords form the highways by
which the icebergs float out from the glaciers at their heads, when-
even these prolongations of the great mer de glace of Greenland (the
" inland iis ") reach the sea. After a long and careful study of
these fjords in most parts of the world where they are found, I
have come to the conclusion that we must look upon glaciers as
the material which hollowed them in such an uniform manner.
Everywhere you see marks on the sides of the British Columbian
fjords of ice-action ; ^ and there seems no reason to doubt but that
they were at one time the beds of ancient glaciers, which, grinding
their outward course to the sea, scooped out these inlets of this
great and uniform depth. At the time when these inlets formed
the beds of glaciers, the coast was higher than now. Wo know
that the coast of Greenland is now falling ; and, supposing that
the present rate of depression goes on, many glacier valleys will in
course of time become ice-fjords. After having seen not a little of
the abrading action of ice during three different visits to the Arctic
regions, extending in circuit from the Spitzbeigen Sea to the upper
reaches of Baffin Bay and westward and southward to the " Meta
Incognita " of Frobisher, I cannot side with those geologists who,
judging ice-action merely from what is seen of the comparatively
puny glaciers of the Alps and other European langes, are inclined
to under-estimate the abrading power of the glacier. 1 do not,
however, for a moment pretend to assert that the valleys in
which glaciers in the Arctic regions (or elsewhere) now lie were
originally formed by the glacier. On the contrary, I am at one
with those who believe that these rents were chiefly due to the

' ' Vaueouvcr IhIuikI Pilot,' p. i::5!) f Admiral Richards).

2 A fact which my iiiciid, Dr. Comric, it.N., wiiosc fiimiliarity witli the Britisli
Coliiiiibiiui coast is well known, informs; mo that ho haw repeatedly confirmed, f
;im aiiliiori.sed to .say that in his mind no doubt remainn that these fjords were
formed in the manner I liave det-cribed.

60 THE FORMATION OF FJORDS.

volcanic disturbances which threw up the mountain ranges, and
that the glacier merely took advantage of the depression. How-
ever, hy long abrasion it hollowed out the valley into the form we
now see it in the fjords under description. At this present day,
not far from the head of most of these inlets, glaciers are found in
the Coast Eange and Cascade mountains in British Columbia; and
along both ranges marks of old glacier action can be seen 2000 to
3000 feet below their summits, and even near the sea-margin.
Such a depression of the coast, with the presence of the lower
temperature then prevailing, would fill these fjords with glaciers.

Such is the thesis I ventured to put forth on the nature of these
fjords or inlets. That it would be allowed to pass unchallenged
was scarcely to be expected, when such a variety of views were
held on the subject. As the object of these pages is not to pro-
mulgate the author's own views, but to give an unbiassed statement
of the doctrines held in regard to the subjects of them, I can
perhaps best serve the purpose I had in view, by simply giving the
reply to my various critics. By perusing this the reader can at
once see the arguments pro and con. the subject, and form his
own opinion as to which explanation most fully meets the difficulty,
and from this stand-point endeavour to aid in the solution of the
question.

The doctrines broached have been favourably received on the
Continent and in America, and by many of those in this country
best able to judge regarding their reasonableness. My paper, how-
ever, in so far as regards the theory of the formation of fjords, has
been honoured by two special attacks having been directed against
it. The first^ of these in time is by Mr. Joseph W. Ta}'ler, so long
connected with the cryolite mines of Arksut Fjord, in Greenland ;
the second ^ is by the late illustrious President of this Society.
Though no words coming from Sir Eoderick Murchison on a subject
of physical geology can fail to be received with the careful atten-
tion and profound respect which his long and pre-eminent services
to science entitle them to, and though well aware of Mr, Tayler's
long residence in Greenland, yet, with every respect for both, I
must humbly submit that they have not made good their case for
the doctrine that glaciers have nothing whatever to do with the
formation of fjords. On the contrary, after having studied the
subject anew, and visited, since my paper was published, several of
the regions where fjords abound, and which are cited in illustra-
tion of my ideas in the paper mentioned, I am convinced — even

^ ' Proceedings E. G. S.,' vol. xiv. p. 156; ' Journal,' vol. xl. p. 228.
- Ibid. p. 827 ; ' Joiunal,' vol. xl. p. clxxiv.

THE FORMATION OF FJORDS. 61

move than before — that the explanation I then gave, if not exactly
the true one, is at least nearer the truth than the one opj)osed to it.
It is \A'ith a view to recapitulate these arguments, and not with a
view to bolster up a theory, "which must eventually stand or fall on
its own merits, that I ask a place in the Society's transactions for
these additional remarks. The question is not so much whether
fjords were hollowed out by glaciers, but simply a renewal of the
contest between the rival schools of " catastrophists," who believe
that all the great physical features of the world have been caused
by some cataclysm or cataclysms of Nature ; and of " uniformi-
tarians," who teach that the uniform and long-continued action of
the forces at present acting on the earth's surface would be suffi-
cient to account for many features hitherto ascribed by their rivals
to huge throes of Nature. The whole subject has been discussed
over and over again, and all the main arguments which have been
brouglit to bear against this particular application of the uniformi-
tarian doctrines, have been advanced against some other application
of it, in explanation of other physical features. Nor have the
supporters of the contrary view been backward in replying ; and
the whole matter stands in statu quo, or as the leanings of physical
geologists bear to one side or other of the controversy. Foremost
and chief of the school of catastrophists was our distinguished
President, and our Transactions almost yearly bear witness to the
skill, eloquence, and learning with which he has emploj'ed the
weapons of his party against the adherents of the opposite view.
- Originally, when he visited the Arctic Eegions for the first time
ten years ago, a discijjle of Sir Eoderick in this country, and of
von Buch in Germany, the present writer must confess that addi-
tional observation and more extensive travel have led him to desert
to the enemy. The paper mentioned is a result of his studies
under the new banner, and these further remarks must be taken as
his justification of the faith that is in him. The arguments brought
against him bcith by Sir Eoderick and Mr, Tayler are so nearly
identical, so far as they go, that he may be permitted to reply to
them conjointly. Had, however, Mr. Tayler waited until the
publication of my complete paper, he would have > spared himself
and the Society some of his remarks, which his impatience for what
seemed an easy victory has induced him to advance against the im-
perfect statement of m}^ case in the fi'agmentary report published
in the ' Pi'oceedings.' Unfortunattdy he commences his arguments
by entirely misunderstanding my views.

1. Glaciers and Fjords. — "When Mr. Tayler savs that he "takes
it for granted " that by " liollowing " I mean causing Jjurds to bo

62 GRINDING POWER OF GLACIERS.

where none were before, ho takes for granted what I never did
o-rant. On the contrary, I have always shunned the extreme views
of either geological school, which would assign the origin of all
physical features alone to the causes of which they are the advocate.
I believe, and consider that in my paper I made it clear, that as a
glacier outpour in approaching the coast, or in falling from an
elevation, always takes the line of least resistance ; so in former
times it sought the valleys and depressions then existing in the
coast-line of Greenland. It might even have taken the " gulches "
and ravines which former volcanic force had formed. But at that
time Greenland, Norway, and other fjord-indented countries did
not present the aspect they do now. Fjords, as we understand
them now, did not then exist. It was to the long-continued action
of the glaciers moving over these valley-beds that the deep uniform
inlets are due. Probably the sea assisted the glacier after the
coast had fallen, but that the sea alone cut out these fjords no one
who knows anything of the action of the waves on a coast-line can
for a moment entertain. If the rocks along a coast were alternately
soft and hard in parallel lines, then the sea by wearing away the
soft and leaving the hard, might accomplish the feat of forming-
fjords. But as no coast is formed on this plan, then it must follow
that either the shore is equally worn away, according to the force
of the waves, or cut here and there into bays, of the rocks out of it.
At that time the present coast-line of these continents did not
exist, and when Mr. Tayler attempts to disprove my theory by
talking of the present fjords of Greenland as if they were of
primeval origin, I fear that he does not clearly understand the
doctrines held by all geologists, that the Greenland coast has been
undergoing a continual oscillation. He mixes up, with a curious
confusion of ideas, the fjords after they are formed and the causes
which formed them. A moment's consideration would convince
any one that the coast of Greenland at that time was entirely
different from now, and that since these fjords have been formed it
has undergone many changes of level.

2. Grinding Power of Glaciers. — When Mr. Tayler and Sir Eoderick
Murchison inform us that ice has no abrading power, and only slides
over the rock, they will scarcely expect me to agree with them.
This question is as yet suh judice, though I am inclined to believe
that those who assert the grinding power of ice have made out a
very clear case. I cannot understand how any one who has seen
the rounded ice-planed hills of Greenland, and the immense mud-
laden stream which flows out from under every large glacier, as the
result of the grinding action of the ice, by means of its file-like

GRINDING POWER OF GLACIERS. 63

moraine profonde, can believe that the glacier merely slides over tlie
surface of the rock without causing any abrading action. Though
I cannot allow that Mr. Tayler's long residence in the Arctic regions
— principally, I presume, in the vicinity of Arksut Fjord — enables
him to come so positively to the conclusion he does, which is only
the old theoretical opinion of some geologists, derived from the
comparatively puny glaciers of the Alps ; yet even there he must
have seen the stream laden with clay, pouring from under every
glacier, and choking up the neighbouring fjord, and shoaling even
the open sea around. Where can this mud have come from, if not
from the country underlying the glacier, and the great inland ice
of the interior of Greenland ; and if from these — as undoubtedly it
has — how can any one, with these well-known facts before his eyes,
declare that the glacier has little or no abrading power ? Mr. Tayler,
even when wishing to prove the contrary, states a fact which entirely
cuts the ground from beneath his feet. " It is true," he says, " that
boulders and debris, borne along by the ice, scratch, polish, and grind
the rocks to a considerable extent ; but, though strong as a trans-
porting agency, ice alone has but little excavating power ; it is like
the soft wheel of the lapidary — the hard matter it carries with it
does the polishing." Exactly so. It is to the geologist a matter of
the most supreme indiiference whether it is the ice of the glacier
itself, or the moraine 2^'>'ofonde, invariably accompanying it, which
does the abrasion of the underlying rocks, so long as it is done. And
that even Mr. Tayler, in contradiction of his own doctrine, seems to
allow. Some opponents of the doctrine of ice-abrasion, who even
allow less power to the glacier than Mr. Tayler, always lose sight of
the long period during which the glacier must have been acting to
form these long fjords or inlets of the sea as they now exist. This
allowed — and there is no geologist who will doubt that though the
glacial period is but of yesterday in geological time, viewed in the
light of human chronology, it is so incalculably distant that it would
be vain to attempt to calculate the date of that epoch, and even
allowing that the glacier pouring down the Norwegian, British
Columbian, or Greenland valley of that date, only removed every
year by means of the sub-glacier stream, one inch of rock or other
subcumbent stratum — it requires but a very moderate number of
years to excavate the broadest and deepest fjord in the world. At
that time the coast was higher than now, and it is the lowei ing of
the coast, combined with the deepening of the valley, that has con-
verted what was once a glacier-valley iiit(j a fjord or inlet of the sea.
The great error of the catastiophists is, that their method of thought
has led them unconsciously to expect the slow and nuil'orm action of

64 FILLING UP OF FJORDS.

the forces of nature — acting from the beginning until now under
the contiol of one uniform unchanged and unchangeable law — to act
as rapidly as their " cataclysms " and other prodigious " catastrophes
of nature." Mr. Tayler is especially, I think, a little unreasonable
in disowning the abrading power of ice, because, in the eighteen
years or so during which he was a witness of its power, he did not
see it " hollow out " a fjord, and complete it ready for use ! After
all, the Eoman poet, who eighteen hundred years ago saw the rain-
drops splashing on the pavement of Tomi, had a clearer idea of the
effect of the slow, but constant, action of the forces of nature than
some geologists in later times — " Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed
scepe cadendo.'' Therein lies the whole theory of ice and river action.
When we see a smoothly-gliding river excavate canons thousands of
feet in depth through the solid rock, surely it would be inconsistent
to deny that an ice-river flowing over the same spot for thousands of
years, may, assisted by a huge file, in the shape of the moraine
profondc, which it carries along with it on its under-surface, and
the sub-glacial river to carry off part of the debris thus worn, do
something approaching to this?

If the advocates of the non-abrading power of ice will not allow
that glaciers can convert a valley in course of time into a deep glen,
and that then, b}- the aid of an oscillation of the coast, the sea enters
and the glacier floats away in icebergs, and its former bed now
becomes the fjoid through which they sail, I cannot expect them to
give in their adhesion to Professor Eamsay's views regarding the
excavation of lake-basins by means of glaciers.^ On the contrary,
this view of that distinguished geologist, while gaining many con-
verts, has been violently attacked both in this country and on the
Continent, yet, I venture to think, without being at all shaken in its
main points. Already it has been extensively adopted; and only
recently an eminent American naturalist — Piofessor Newberry, of
New York — has applied it to account for the formation of the great
American lakes.^ Yet Professor Eamsay's theory requires much
more of ice than is required of it by mine.

3. Filling up of Fjords. — When Mr. Tayler says that, "instead of
glaciers excavating fjords, they are continually filling them up," he
must not expect me to follow him ; for here, again, he loses the
thread of his arguments with a confusion of ideas which renders it

> ' Quarterly Journal, Geological Society,' tol. xviii. p. 185 (1862 .

^ 'Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History' (1869). Prof.
Nordenskjold, while agreeing that glaciers exercise an abrading influence, does
not, however, coincide with Prof. Ramsay's theory of the formation of lake-ba»ins
(Nordenskjold, I. c, p. 3G5).

FILLING UP OF FJORDS. 65

quite unnecessary to say more in refutation of what has nothino-
whatever to do with the subject in hand. It does not at all follow
that, because ancient glaciers hollowed out the present fjords, the
sub-glacial stream flowing into them from modern glaciers may not
shoal them up. But the moflern glacier, like the ancient one, whether
ending in the head of a fjord (the bed of an ancient glacier) or at
the open sea— as at the great " lisblink," 15 miles north of Frederiks-
haab — is, I believe, unquestionably excavating out the valley in
which it lies, to become hereafter, in some future period of Greenland
history — either tlirough a change of climate or of coast-level — a deep
valley or a deeper fjord. I know — as does any one at all acquainted
with Greenland — that this great glacier, though it is not the only
one, reaches the sea without entering a fjord, and findin"" the sea
too shallow to buoy its seaward end up, and so break it oiT in the
form of icebergs (as in the deep fjords), it pushes its way along the
bottom for some distance, until getting into deeper water it will
again, like the others, discharge its icebergs. This, again, is quite
foreign to the subject of the formation of fjoids. There are modern
glaciers. I spoke of ancient ones. Still even the great " lisblink "
spoken of, though it happens — accidentally it may be said — not to
enter a fjord, is, nevertheless, by the part of it which lies on land,
grinding down the infia-jacent countiy and acting the part of the
ancient glaciers which formed the present fjoids. In regard to this
filling up of the fjords by the modern glaciers at their head, this is
due to the mud brought down by the sub-glacial stream, and which
is again due to the abrasion of the rocks by the incumbent glacier
moving over them. In another memoir, ' On the Physics of Arctic
Ice as explanatory of the Glacial Remains of Scotland,' I have entered
into a full discus.sion of this and other points connected with Arctic
glaciers, so that it would be needless to take up space here with any
resume of my observations. In that memoir 1 have estimated that,
at the veiy lowest calculation, this glacial mud is accumulating at
the head of these fjords at the rate of not less than 25 feet thick in a
century. Accordingly it has closed some old fjords with ice, the
glacier at their head being no longer able to discharge its bergs,
owing to the shallowness of the water, and in some cases, as pre-
viously pointed out by Dr. Rink^ and Mr. 'i'ayler,^ the glaciers arc
seeking new outlets, on the principle of ice seeking the plane of least

' ' Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society,' vol. xxiv. (1871) pp. 671-701 ;
and in a more coTidensed*form, reprinted at pp. 27-58 of this ' Manual,' and " Das
Innere von Gronland," in Petermann's ' Geographische Mittheilungen,' October
1871.

^ ' Gronland Geographisk og statistisk boskrevet,' &c.

' ' Proceedings of the Koyal Geographical Society,' vol. v. p. 93 (18G1).

r>() THE WALLS OF FJORDS.

resistance. Mr. Tayler asks triumphantly. Why does not the great
glacier referred to cut its way through the sand and debris which lie
at its base ? I answer, Give it time, and most assuredly it will do
so. That is, however, not a question at all connected with the
abrading power of the glacier. It is simply connected with the
question of what mechanical force the glacier exerts in pushing
forward. When the average rate of the downwaid and outward
progress of a Greenland glacier is only about ^we inches per diem, we
must not be in a great huriy to see the solution of the question
Mr. Tayler has proposed. But, just as truly as a glacier moves,
will this rubbish be shot into deeper water, and the end of the
glacier, buoyed off by the deeper water, break off in the form of an
iceberg.

4. The Walls of Fjords. — I am asked, Why were ;iot the soft sand-
stone, coal, " black-lead," &c., of which the sides of many fjords
are composed, ground away ? Eeally, it is unnecessary to give
an answer. It answers itself. Some glaciers are rather broad,
but still they have a limit, and so had these ancient glaciers, whose
bed these fjords were ; and I suppose that though the " soft sand-
stone, coal, black-lead," &c., which lay in the way, was worn away
and floated seaward by the sub-glacial stream ; still, w^hen the glacier
reached its limits, what did not come within the area of the action of
ice would remain. I believe this does not require a very great ten-
sion of the scientific imagination to conceive, and that even my
opponent will acknowledge. Mr. Tayler in his, on the whole, short
but admirably conscientious description of the Greenland fjords,
mentions a ftict in support of my theory, viz., that on the
rocks on either side of these fjords are ice-markings. I would
like him to explain these. It ought, however, to be mentioned
that, except where the walls of the fjord are composed of trap,
gneiss, or some other hard rock, we must not expect to see
many marks of the grooving of the ice which formerly rubbed
against them. For the action of the weather, disintegrating
the surface of the rocks, or tumbling down huge masses into
the sea, frost riving the rocks asunder, as well as the masses
which in former times must have fallen on the side of the glacier
in the form of lateral moraine, must have all helped greatly
to efface any ice-markings which might have been formed. Both,
however, Mr. Tajler here, and Dr. Kae in some remarks he made
at the meeting in support of my views, mention seeing these
markings, as I have seen them, both on the sides of these Greenland
and Arctic fjords, and in other parts of the world. Mr. Tayler
has presented a geological puzzle for my consideration in the form

VOLCANIC THEORY OF FORMATION OF FJORDS. 07

of a Greenland fjord, and asked me to explain its formation on the
theory I have advocated. I daresay it would admit of a very simple
explanation, were we put in possesbion of all the facts in connection
with it. But, as Mr. Taylor's description is so meagre, until I
have seen it myself it would only be mere guess-work to attempt
showing its mode of formation. I do not advocate that everything
in the shape of an inlet of the sea was formed as I have mentioned.
On the contiary, doubtless, many inlets now classed under the name
of fjords were originally rifts and chasms in the country from
almost primeval times. It would be damaging to any theory to
claim for it the merit of explaining every fact of this nature ;
and it is scarcely fair to adduce some supposed exception to the
law enunciated, and thereby attempt to throw overboard all
the numerous facts adduced which prove that in the vast pre-
ponderance of typical cases it holds true. The glacier-bed theory
of fjords is a general theory applied to, and applicable to, all parts
of the world where fjords are found ; so that because seemingly
some glen in Greenland, or elsewhere, looks like an exception, it
must not be thrown aside. With, however, even less display of
ingenuity than has been exerted on throwing it in the way of my
theory, it could be accounted for, yet for the reason mentioned I
will not attempt this, but leave it to the opponents of the theory to
extract from it whatever comfort it is capable of affording them in
the way of argument.

5. Volcanic Theory of the Formation of Fjords. — "What expla-
nation the opponents of this glacier-bed theory would adduce is,
of course, not difficult to suppose. That fjords were formed by
the great volcanic agencies which in former times dislocated
the earth's crust is naturally their theory. Mr. Tayler has even
invented an hypothesis so ingeniously mechanical that I hope
he is not to be taken as a recognised exponent of the doctrines
of his school ! " It appears," he remarks,^ " that at the time
of the elevation of the west coast of Greenland, a chain of
motmtains about 50 miles in breadth, running nearly north and
south, was acted on in a wave-like manner, i.e. leaving depres-
sions nearly equal to the elevations, and more or less at right
angles with the direction of the chain. These depi'cssions, or
long valleys into which the sea runs, constitute the fjords,"
and so on. I am afraid this theory is much too ingenious to
]>Q accepted by those who know anything of fjords or of igneous
action ; nor, I fear, is the general volcanic theory, though supi)ortcd

' Op. ci(., vol. V. 1). W.

f2

68 RAMSAY, DANA, GEIKIE, AND MUEPHY, ON FJOEDS.

by illustrious names, so well founded as to he unassailable. It is,
to say the least of it, very remarkable, if fjords were owing to vol-
canic action, that they are not, as we might expect, found in countries
where there has been the most remarkable display of igneous
agency, or in countries where volcanic agency is equally well marked
with those countries in which fjords are found. On the contrary,
fjords are only found in northei-n and southern latitudes, where
glaciers either now form or could have formed, and nowhere
else ; so that they must in some way be connected with climatal
agencies. Again, these fjords are only in the line towards the
sea, and always end at the shore, as if the agent which formed
them had been like a glacier making its way to the sea. A
volcanic rift is entirely different, and would never have shown
such a steady, uniform system of openings in the earth's surface.
If some great subterranean force had formed these openings in
the earth's crust we might have expected to find them on flats,
in mountains, in sandy tracts, in fact, anywhere — for a great
subterranean force would have risen the crust of the earth without
regard to locality. The fjords we always find surrounded by
mountains. Much more could be said, but it would be a mere waste
of time ; for it must already be evident that, whatever agency has
formed these fjords, volcanic agency alone is not the one. I, with
all deference to my distinguished opponents, still think that the
glacier-bed theory is not untenable, in default of a better.

6. Bamsay, Dana, Geikie, and Murphy, on Fjords. — -The views I have
enunciated, both here and elsewhere, regarding the action of Arctic
glaciers and glacier fjords, were first suggested to me when visiting
both sides of Baffin Bay and Davis Strait as early as 1861. I after-
wards thought a great deal on the subject, during some years of a
lonely life, far away from scientific works or intercourse, while explor-
ing the wild fjord-indented shores of British Columbia and Vancouver
Island.^ Afterwards I saw enough in Greenland and Norway to
convince me that my early ideas had the germ of truth in them, and
that former writers, who attributed the formation of these to vol-
canic rifts alone, were not on the right track. I have accordingly,
in the course of the foregoing remarks, occasionally styled this
" my theory," for, until recently, I was unaware that the idea
had ever suggested itself to any one else. Though to me it is
a matter of perfect indifference who was the author of it, so
long as it is founded on truth, yet, in case it might be supposed

^ See my " Das Innere der Vancouver Insel " (with map) iu Petermann's
' Geographisclie Mittheilungen,' 1869, and 'Vancouver Island Explorations'
(V. I. Colonial Blue-book, 1865).

RAMSAY, DANA, GEIKIE, AND MURPHY, ON FJORDS. 69

that I am adopting other men's ideas, I hasten to say I have
recently learned that, without exactly explaining the formation of
fjords as I have dune, both Professors Dana and Eamsay had some
years previously hinted at a similar explanation ; and more recently.
Dr. Archibald Geikie, Murchison Professor of Geology in the
University of Edinburgh, and Director of the Geological Survey
of Scotland, has suggested that possibly the " lochs " on the west
coast of Scotland might be so accounted for. Though none of these
gentlemen took exactly the same view as I have done, or gave it
such a general application, yet I am glad to have the support of men
so able as they. I may be, therefore, excused if I add them as
supporters of the glacier-bed theory of fjords.

Professor Eamsay ^ says : " Furthermore, as the glacialated sides
and bottoms of the Norwegian fjords and of the salt-water lochs of
Scotland seem to prove, each of these arms of the sea is only
the prolongation of a valley down which a glacier flowed, and
was itself filled with a glacier. ... In parts of Scotland, some
of these lochs being deeper in places than the neighbouring sea, I
incline to attribute this depth to the grinding power of the ice
that of old flowed down the valleys, when, possibly, the land may
have been higher than now." Professor Geikie gives utterance to
very similar views.^ More recently still, Mr. J. Murphy, in a
paper read to the Geological Society,^ some months after mine was
read to the Eoyal Geographical Society, apparently in entire ig-
norance of the writings of his predecessors, gives utterance to views
even more decided regarding the part glaciers have played in the
formation of fjords. His words are worth quoting: "Not many
coasts in the world are cut up into fjords ; and nearly all that are
so are western coasts in high latitudes. The fjord-formation is
found in Korth-Western Europe, including Norway, the West of
Scotland, and the A\est of Ireland ; in North America from Van-
couver Island northward, and in South America from the Island of
Chiloe southward. From Vancouver Island to Chiloe is an im-
mense stretch of nearly straight coast-line ; but, at these limits, its
character changes quite abruptly. The transition from straight to
indented coast-lines coincides pretty equally with that from dry
to moist climates ; and the change from the dry climate of Chili
to the moist one of Western Patagonia is accompanied, as we might
expect, by a depression of the snow-line on the Andes. It is now
generally believed that the prevalence of lakes in high latitudes is,

• Op. cit, vol. xviii. p. 203.

2 ' Scenery of Scotland,' pp. 127, 183, &c.

=■ • (iucirtcrly Joiirual of the (Jcological Society,' vol. xxv. p. 354.

70 NORDENSKJOLD ON FJOEDS.

in some way, a result of glacial action : it can scarcely he doubted
that this is equally true of fjords, and the coasts I have mentioned are
those on which glacial action must necessarily he the most energetic ;
hecause west coasts in high latitudes are exposed to west winds
(Maury's ' countertrades'), which deposit on the mountains in snow
the moisture they have taken up from the sea."

7. NordensJcjold on Fjords. — There is no scientific man living better
acquainted with the varied phenomena of Arctic ice-action and
Physical Geography than Professor Nordenskjold, and these are
his words, speaking of the Greenland shore :^ — " The deep fjords
evidently scooped out by glaciers."

I do not pit these authorities against the opponents of the glacier-
bed theory of fjords; but only to show that, in supposing that
glaciers and fjords have an intimate connection, I am not alone, as
might be supposed from merely reading the arguments brought
against my paper in this Society's ' Journal.'

9. The Northern Termination of Greenland.

What will be found to be the northern termination of Greenland
is one of those geographical problems which, like the more trivial
question of " What songs the Sirens sang," though a subject of legi-
timate speculation, is yet at the same time a matter which can
only be settled by an Expedition like the one now preparing. Dr.
Petermann has hazarded the opinion that Greenland stretches aci-oss
the Pole and joins Wrangel Land north of Behring Strait. Without
being able to express any decided opinion jpro or con., this hypo-
thesis of the illustrious German geographer, except that it is just
as reasonable as any other — but not more so — and as ingenious as is
everything which emanates from the mind of my excellent friend, I
think that recent discoveries point to the northern termination being
somewhat different. Most likely it will be found that Greenland
will end in a broken series of islands forming a Polar archipelago.
That the continent (?) is itself a series of such islands and islets —
consolidated by means of the inland ice — I have already shown
to be highly probable, if not absolutely certain, as Giesecke and
Scoresby affirmed (p. 25). It is not likely that the northern portion
will be widely different.

The farthest view we have as yet had of it points to a group of
broken islets. The open sea, or sea at least without any continuous

' ' Kedogiirelse for en Expedition till Gronlanil, Ar 1870' (Oversigt af K.
Vet.-Akad. Forh. 1870, No. 10), and tiaus. ' Geol. Magazine, 1872,' p. 30].

THE NORTHERN TERMINATION OF GREENLAND. 71

or extensive floes, would seem to show that there is no narrow strait
which wonhl prevent the sea being cleared of ice in that direction.
Farragut Point, and the other headlands which figure dimly on the
map of the Polaris expedition, are probably capes of such islands.
Nowhere in the Arctic Ocean have we found great unbroken
stretches of laud, and Greenland will most probably prove no
exception to the rule. That huge glaciers, like the Humbold
glacier or those of Melville Bay, do not form the northern wall
appear to me almost certain from the followirg facts : High up on
the Greenland shore of Smith Sound we find the musk-ox {Ovihos
moschatiis) ; but this large and essential Arctic mammal is perfectly
unknown south of AVolstenholme Sound. The glaciers south of
that point seem to have formed an impassable barrier to its further
progress, for the little difference in climate could have but a small
^flect on its range. In the winter season any portion of Greenland
is sufiiciently cold for it, and Smith's Sound in the summer is not
much colder than most of the other parts of the continent. There
must be, therefore, some physical cause for its being confined to that
portion of the Greenland coast. Now comes in another most remark-
able fact. On Shannon Island and the vicinit}^ in 74° n.l. (several
degrees southward of where it roams on the opposite coast), the
German Expedition to East Greenland found the musk-ox in great
abundance. Again, so far as we know, it is as perfectly unknown
on the south-eastern Greenland shores as it is on the south-western.
How did it come across, for across Greenland it must have come ?
It is an American animal, and is nowhere found in Arctic Europe
or Asia. It could not have travelled 700 or 800 miles across the
inland ice, fur such a large animal, independently of other con-
siderations, requires a large quantity of food, which it could not
have obtained on that icy waste. It must necessarily have passed
over on dry land, where willows or other dwarf Arctic plants, on
which it subsists, could be found. It might easily travel short
distances on the frozen ice from island to island, and thus double
the northern termination of Greenland, and stretch down the east
coast for some distance, until again it met with an impassable
barrier to its southern progress.

Take one further zoological illustration — and these illustrations,
though seemingly trivial in themselves, are yet of extreme zoo-
geographical interest — as tending to show that the Greenland land
must end not far north of latitude 82" or 83°. In 1 822, Scoresby
discov(,'red a lemming near Scoresby's Sound on tlio cast coast,
wliich was named Mas Grecnlandicus. it is now known tc» l)o a
climatic variety of the Euio[ican species, viz., Mijodes lorqnaius.

72 THE NORTHERN TERMINATION OP GREENLAND.

Suoresby's specimen remained for long unique in the Edinburgh
Museum, until in 1869 and 1870 the German Expedition found
it in abundance on the same coast. This fact was interesting
in itself, for it is unknown in the region, so far as has been ex-
plored further to the south, and in all parts of the west coast of
Greenland explored up to the date of the Polaris Expedition. How-
ever, that Expedition found it not at all uncommon on the shores of
the most northern reaches of Smith Sound (or the continuation
of the gulf which goes under that name). The variety appears the
same as on the east coast, but different from the lemming of the
western shores of Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, which is Myodes
hudsonius. Again the question suggests itself, how has this animal
found its way across Greenland to the east coast, or vice versa ? That
its route has not been across the inland ice we may consider certain ;
we may be sure, it has been where food and footing could be found.
In its migrations it will most likely be found to have been a com-
panion of the musk-ox. The European ermine (Mustela erminea, L.)
was also found by the German Expedition on the north-eastern
coast, but is quite unknown on the west. If it should be found
in Smith Sound also, the fact would form another remarkable zoo-
geographical problem for the English Polar Expedition to solve.

Lastly, it is, I venture to suggest, probable, or at least not im-
probable, that the aborigines, who to a small number now, but at
one time in greater numbers, inhabited the east coast of Greenland
did not stretch up from Cape Farewell as colonists from the west
coast, but doubled the northern end of the country from the Smith
Sound region. Like the Smith Sound people, the east coast
Eskimo seem to want the kayak ; and it would be an interesting
point to compare the iuiplements, &c., of the remnant of '' Arctic
Highlanders" now living in Smith Sound, with the Eskimo of
the south-eastern coast, and with the remains which the German
Expedition discovered in the graves, which are now the only repre-
sentatives of the fur-clad hunters and fishers who once inhabited
that part of the coast explored by these intrepid voyagers.

If it should be found that the Greenland coast trends on the
east towards the west and on the west towards the east, as there is
some ground for believing, it is just possible that the English
Arctic Expedition might be able to double the northern extremity
of the continent, more especially if a sea comparatively free of
fixed ice (I will not venture to say " an oj)en Polar sea ") be found
to lave its northern shores. Once on the eastern shores of Green-
land, the observations of Captain David Gray, a Peterhead whaler,
who last summer penetrated through the Spitzbergen ice-stream,

DEBATEABLE POINTS REGARDING GREENLAND. 73

and fuund open water to the north,^ would seem to point out that
the course of the expedition would then be clear. Such a feat in
geographical importance and naval enterprise would be only second
to the doubling of the northern termination of America — in other
words, to the discovery of the north-west passage as achieved by
M'Clure.

10. Debateable Points rkgarding the Physical Structure of
Greenland.

Attention need scarcely be called to the fundamental point of
all, viz., the improvement of our knowledge of the geography of the
coast-line ; to that, no doubt, the main etibrts of the Expedition
will be devoted. We know, as has been shown, comparatively
little of the interior, and even the few expeditions which have
attempted to penetrate eastward have only reached a few miles
from the coast. Are there any mountains in the interior ? — a ques-
tion which I have ventured, reasoning from the facts before us, to
answer in the negative : but Dr. Kink, incomparably the greatest
of all authorities on Greenland, is (p. 58) by no means so positive
on this question ; perhaps he is right. What is the nature of the
soil under the ice ? Is it of the same character as the boulder-clay
of Britain ? The many points which ought to be investigated under
these heads will appear in the geological instructions or will be
evident to the reader after perusing the section on the " Green-
land Glaciers and Ice."

Has the ice an abrading power ? This is almost perfectly cer-
tain ; yet some observers — and still more some theorists — have
attempted to deny this. Make every examination of the raised
beaches on the shores of Smith Sound, and try, if possible, to test
the question whether tlie shores of Smith Sound are actually rising,
or are falling like the southern coast. On this point Mr. James
Geikie, of the Geological Survey of Scotland — a most competent
authority on all questions touching glacial deposits — suggests to me
that " it would be very interesting to have determined whether the
raised beaches of Greenland give any indication of changes of climate,
such as having been observed in these deposits in Spitzbergen.
Great banks of Mytilus edulis, Cyprina islandica, and Litturina littorea,
occur in that island, and now are even found living in the Spitz-
bergen sea. It is true that Mytilus is occasionally seen attached to
algas in these regions, but such rare birds are but poor representa-

Petermanu's ' Geographische Mittheilungen,' March 1875.

74 DEBATEABLE POINTS REGARDING GREENLAND.

tives of the banks of the same shell which are met with in the
same island. Mr. Nathorst, of the Swedish Geological Survey,
tells me that in 1870 he examined these shell-banks, and found
one made up of Mytilus resting upon a scratched rock surface (now
far removed from any glacier), and the scratches ran parallel with
the fjord. The Mytilus still lives in Greenland, as does also Cyprina
islandica, but Littorina Uttorea does not. Heer notices these circum-
stances in his paper ' Die Miocens Flora und Fauna Spitzbergens.' ^
It would be worth while, I think, for the naturalists attached to the
Arctic Expedition to examine any raised beaches they may come
across, with a view to discover whether the facts bear on the con-
clusions drawn by Swedish geologists, for it is difficult to believe
that a considerable change of climate could take place in Spitz-
bergen without also leaving traces in North Greenland." All
these questions are of deep philosophical interest, and to their
solution the members of this Expedition are invited to apply them-
selves. We have shown, and the other portions of this manual only
confirm the remark, that in Greenland there is still much for the
geographer to do, and that when an ancient mariner wrote, 200
years ago, that " Greenland is a country very farre IVorthward,
. . . the land wonderfull mountainous, the mountaines all the year
long full of yce and snow, the plaines in part bare in summer-time
. . . where growes neither tree nor hearbe . . . except scurvy-grass
and sorrell . . . the sea ... as barren as the land, affording no
fish but whales, sea-horses, seals, and another small fish . . . and
thither there is a yearely fleet of English sent," ^ he only wrote in
accordance with the knowledge of his time — and time has not
confirmed honest Edward Pellham's dictum.

' ' Ofversigt af Kongl. Svenska Vet. Akad. Forhand.' Band. 8, N'. 7, p. 23.

- In reality, though after the fashion of his time styling it " Greenland," the
devout old mariner — first of that long line of English seamen who have had the
courage to winter in Spitzbergen, and the good fortune to come back to tell
the tale — was describing Spitzbergen ; but the quotation is sufficiently apropos to
remain without any very strict geographical criticism.

( 75 )

II.

ON THE BEST MEANS OF REACHING THE POLE.

By Admiral Baron von Wrangkl.*

The vast accumulation of ice — which covers the nortliern seas in
immense fields, high hills, and small islands — subjects the navi-
gator in these waters to incessant danger and anxiety : to struggle
with the elements, to overcome obstacles, to be familiarised with
dangers — all this is so habitual to the seaman, that he is some-
times even dull without it. The continual, uniform, and quiet
navigation in the regions of the trade-winds excites in the sailor a
desire for change : he encounters a squall with joy, welcomes even
a storm in the seas beyond the tropics not without a certain
pleasure ; and, confident in his skill, in the activity and indefati-
gable energy and experience of his crew, in the strength of his
vessel and soundness of all her parts, he does not fear the terrible
powers which so often put to the trial all his patience and all his
coolness. Such being the ordinary feeling of the seamen, it is not
astonishing that the Frozen Ocean has long attracted the naviga-
tors of all nations, but in particular those of England — that country
which has an indisputable right to be regarded as the first of all
maritime nations. Without taking into consideration the great
number of whalers, who have carried on their trade among the
mountains of ice in the most remote latitudes of the Atlantic,
England has sent out fifty-eight distinct expeditions to discover a
shorter passage to the Pacific, either by the north-west or north-
east channel, from the time of John Cabot (1497) to George Back
(183b) : not one of these has been crowned with complete success.

In all those enterprises, however, one common aim, not specified
in the instructions, has ever been kept in view ; and this aim
has been more or less attained by every successive attempt — the
maintenance of the spirit of enterprise and the support of a laud-

' From the 'Journal of Iho Royal Geographical Society,' vol. xviii.

76 PARRY'S VIEWS.

able national pride, in the attainment of the laurels of disinterested
exploits, for the advantage of science, trade, and navigation — the
true sources of power and glory to every maritime people.

When, after nearly three centuries and a half, scientific men,
and even navigatois, were persuaded of the improbability of the
existence of a north-west or north-east passage to the Pacific,
practicable for trade, the evident aim for new enterprises was
transferred to the invisible point of the earth — the North Pole.
The expedition of Captain Buchan, and the fourth voyage of the
ill defagi table Parry, were undertaken expressly with that view.

This question, supported by the celebrated Barrow, has been
again moved in England, and has resulted in the exchange of
opinions on this subject between navigators and scientific men.

Captain Sir William Edward Parry, in a letter, dated the 2oth
of November, 1845, to Sir John Barrow, proposes in a short out-
line a new plan for the expedition. Following the principles
there traced, a party would not, he thinks, meet with any of the
difficulties encountered by Parry himself in the latitude of
82° 45' N., or about 2° to the N. of the extreme point of Spitz-
bergen, which was the starting-point of the Polar Expedition.
Having unequivocally assigned as the chief causes of failure in
those attempts — to which, however, no others can be compared
with respect to the difficulties overcome — 1st., the broken, uneven,
and spongy state of the ice, covered with snow ; and 2ndly., the
drift of the whole mass of ice in a southerly direction — Captain
Parry proposes, in order to avoid these unfavourable circumstances,
that the ship employed in the projected expedition should winter
at the northern point of Spitzbergen, and the party particularly
designed for the attainment of the Pole should leave the vessel in
April. About 100 miles north of this point there should be pre-
viously prepared a store of provisions, so that the party, at the
commencement of its journey, should not be too heavily laden ;
and about the time of its return, according to the reckoning of
Pany, in the course of May, there should be sent out another
detachment with provisions to meet it about 100 miles further
from the place where the ship is wintered. Captain Parry founds
his hopes of success on the supposition that, in April and May,
the party would proceed about 30 miles a-day along the ice, which
would then offer an immovable, solid, and unbroken surface. He
also thinks it advisable to provide the expedition with reindeer.

Finding it difficult to make these ideas of Captain Parry accord
with those which I entertain respecting the state of the ice and
the circumstances indispensable to success in travelling along its

EMPLOYMENT OF EEINDEER. ' 77

surface, I beg leave to express my doubts, and submit my ideas on
this subject.

Expeditions were undertaken in the j'ears 1821, 1822, and 1823,
in the Siberian Frozen Sea, from two points of departure, distant
one from the other, in the diiection of the parallel, more than
1000 miles, viz., from the mouths of the rivers Lena and Kolyma.
These expeditions occupied an interval from about the end of
February to the beginning of May (O.S.), and the state of the
ice does not at all seem to have been such as Captain Parry sup-
poses it to be, to the north of Spitzbergeu, in the course of April
and May (X.S.).

Lieutenant (now Eear- Admiral) Anjou was stopped by thin and
broken ice moving in diiferent directions, in

1521. April 5 (O.S.) at the distance of 20 Italian miles")

from the nearest shore IN. of the Island

1822. March 22. 22 Italian miles J Kotelnoy.

„ April 14. 60 „ E. of New Siberia.

{N. of the islands at
the months of
the Lena.
The expedition commanded by the author, which took its de-
parture from the mouth of the Kolyma, encountered the same
impediments : —

In 1821. April 3, at 120 Italian miles ]

„ 1822. „ 12, at IGO „ l^'- ^^ ^^^ nearest

„ 1823. March 23, at 90 „ J ^^°^^-

But on the 27th of March the masses of ice, which were separated
from each other by large channels of open water, were driven about
by the wind and threatened the voyagers with destruction.

My hypothesis is founded on the above facts, collected during a
three years' navigation in a sea whose depth is not more than
22 fathoms, and which is, so to say, landlocked to the south by the
Siberian coast, and there defended from the winds and waves over
a space of 180" of the compass; whereas the sea on the meridian
of Spitzbergen has a considerable depth, and is exposed to the
swell of the whole Atlantic. Therefore I cannot concur in Captain
Parry's hopes that the ice can be in a state favourable to the
execution of a journey towards the north in April and May.

Captain Parry's calculations as to the possibility of advancino-
30 miles a-day seem to imply the employment of reindeer, and
would render it necessary to provide the expedition with those
animals : we must, therefore, conclude that that officer expects to
obtain the necessary rapidity by the assistance of reindeer. If 1

78 SMITH SOUND ROUTE.

am warianted in this supposition, I must remark that reindeer
are far from being capable of advancing over the uneven surface of
the ice, and are besides too weak to carry heavy burdens.

Sir John Barrow, in his work ' Voyages of Disco veiy and Ee-
search within the Arctic Eegions,' &c., publishes the above-men-
tioned letter of Captain Parry, disapproving, however, his proposed
plan, and anticipates greater success in the enterprise by accom-
plishing it in small sailing-vessels, fitted with the Archimedian
screw (like the ships Erehus and Terror), and steering noithward
on the meridian of Spitzbergen : in other words — Barrow proposes
the repetition of the former attempts, notwithstanding their failure,
expecting success from more favourable circumstances. But here
a question is naturally suggested — may there not exist means of
reaching the Pole other than those which have been hitherto
resorted to — means not liable to the various inconveniences already
encountered during the several expeditions undertaken from the
coasts of Siberia towards the north upon the surface of the ice, and
which must be encountered in proceeding on foot, as Captain Parry
proposes ?

The last Siberian expeditions were executed in a particular kind
of sledges, called " Narty," drawn by dogs. The expedition, un-
dertaken from the mouth of the Kolyma, travelled in this manner
in 1823 (from the 26th February to the 10th May) 1533 miles,
of which the greater part was along the shore towards the island of
Koluchin, seen by Captain Cook during his navigation in a north-
west direction from Behring's Straits. We proceeded upon the
ice along the shore very successfully, but as soon as we left it the
difficulties and impediments increased. If the coast of Siberia
had a direction parallel to the meridian, the Kolyma expedition
would have travelled 11° of latitude in one direction and the same
in returning ; therefore, if the point of departure had been the 79°
of north latitude, the expedition might have reached the Pole and
returned to its starting-point.

The utmost limits of the coast of Greenland towards the north
remain yet unknown ; but the meridian direction of its mountains
and coasts allows us to suppose that, in proceeding along them, it
is possible to approach the Pole nearer than from any other
direction or even to reach that point.

The northernmost point of Greenland, Smith's Sound, seen by
Captain Ross, is in latitude 77° 56' N. ; and in latitude 76° 29',
and on the island Wolstenholme, there is a village of Esquimaux.
Taking all this into consideration, my opinion may be expressed
in the following plan ; — The ship of the expedition should winter

PLAN OF TRAVEL. 7i»

near the Esquimaux village, xinder the 77th parallel, on the western
coast of Greenland. There should be previously despatched to
this point, in a separate party, at least ten narty, with dogs, and
active and courageous drivers ; the latter the same, if possible, as
were employed in the Siberian expeditions,' likewise stores and
provisions in sufficient quantity. In autumn, as soon as the water
freezes, the expedition should go to Smith's Sound, and from thence
further towards the north. On arriving at 79^, it should seek on
the coasts of Greenland, or in the valleys between the mountains,
for a convenient place to deposit a part of the provisions.

In February the expedition might advance towards that place ;
and in the beginning of March another station, two degrees further
north, might be established. From this last point the Polar detach-
ment of the expedition would proceed during ]\Iarch over the ice,
wdthout leaving the coasts, keeping along the valleys, or on the
ridge of mountains, as may be found most expedient, but deviating
as little as possible from the line of the meridian, and shortening
the distance by crossing the straits and bays. A part of the men,
dogs, and provisions, should await their return at the last station.

The expedition, to reach the Pole and to return, must traverse
in a direct line nearly 1200 miles, or, including all deviations,
perhaps not above 1530 miles, which is very practicable, with well-
constructed sledges, good dogs, and proper conductors.

If the most northern limits of Greenland, or the Archipelago of
Greenland Islands, should be found at too great a distance from
the Pole, and the attainment of that point seem impossible, the
expedition might at any rate draw up the description of a country
hitherto absolutely unexplored, and would, even by so being, render
an important service to geography in general.

' The success of such an enterprise would chiefly depend on the kind of dogs,
the experience and courage of the conductors, and tlie form of the sledges. It
certaiidy will not advance rapidly if Esquimaux or Tchouktsclii dogs are em])loyod,
because these are (>ntirely unaccustomed to sucli long journeys ; nor with Esqui-
maux or Tchouktschi drivers, — men without courage or activity.

( 80 )

III.

ON THE DISCOVERIES OF DR. E. K. KANE, u.s.a.

(1853-55).

By Dr. Eink, Director of The Eoyal Greenland Board of Trade, and
formerly Inspector in Greenland for the Danish Government.^

The author of the work above quoted makes the following remark
in the Introduction : " This book is not a record of scientific inves-
tigations ;" and adds, that his aim has been to publish a narrative
of the adventures of his fellow travellers, and that he has attempted
very little else. Nevertheless, on perusing this promised " simple
story " of a voyage, we find it embellished with scientific theories
extending far beyond the bounds of such a narrative. As these
speculations relate to a subject, the examination of which has
occupied me during nine years, namely, the Physical Geography
of Greenland, I feel called on to subject them to a somewhat closer
inquiry. As his richly and elegantly illustrated work has awakened
great sensation, nay even partly placed the other Polar expeditions
in the shade, I am led to think that a communication of my views
respecting this matter will not be entirely without interest to the
Society.

It is well known that the active and undaunted American tra-
veller. Dr. Kane, unfortunately so early carried off, attempted, in
the year 1853, to go farther north up Smith Sound than Captain
Inglefield, the year previously, had done ; but that he only suc-
ceeded in taking his ship a trifling distance farther than Ingle-
field; that he was then frozen in, lost his ship, and in the year
1855 saved himself and party by returning, in boats, to the Danish
colony of Upernivik. From his two years' winter quarters in Van
Eenssellaer Bay, on the east side of the Sound, he, by the help of
dog and drag sledges, undertook expeditions in different directions,
partly across to the American side, but mainly along the coast,
pursuing it northward, to find, if possible, the northern end of
Greenland.

* From the ' Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society,' Vol. xxviii.

GREENLAND FJOKDS. 81

What was discovered on these tours iniist be regarded as the
real profit of the expedition, and I will here confine myself to the
two points which have cast the chief lustre over it. First, that
which concerns the unknown interior of Greenland, the glaciers
and floating icebergs that issue thence, about which the author
expresses himself on occasion of having discovered a glacier on the
coast of Greenland, between 79° and 80" n. lat., to which he has
given the name of Humboldt. Secondly, a sledge expedition under-
taken by Morton (one of the ship's crew who it seems was steward),
in conjunction with Hans, a Greenlander from Fiskerna3sset ; whereby
they are said to have come to the margin of an open sea, which is
presumed to occupy the whole region around the North Pole, and to
be kept open by a branch of the Gulf-stream ; and, besides this,
to have discovered the most northern lands on our globe, which,
according to their description, are likewise laid down on the chart
and called " Victoria and Albert," " Washington," &c., Lands.

As regards the fii'st of these points, I must repeat what I have
explained in my work on North Greenland,* namely, how the
whole of the inner mainland, regarded from the outer land, appears
buried under one uniform covering of ice, which sends its branches
down into all deep fjords ; how these branches are pushed down
into the sea, and yield annually large masses of ice in the form of
floating icebergs or calves. The glacier discovered by Kane, which
he has named " the great glacier of Humboldt," and which has called
forth much admiration, even in well-known geographical journals,
has been represented as the crowning point of the discoveries made
by the expedition, but which is really nothing more than what
can be observed in the interior of most of the Greenland fjords,
from the southernmost to the most northern reached point.

The reason why Kane has not had an opportunity to observe
these, and that the one discovered by his expedition has therefore
appeared to him so remarkable, lies in the simple fact, that such
ice formations in general lie hid behind the numerous high islands
and peninsulas, which almost form the outer coast of Greenland
towards Davis Strait, and which, with regard to snow and ice,
do not show any other phenomena than the higher parts of the
mountain chains of Europe.

Now as the different discovery-ships, that have sailed in search
of the North- West Passage and of Franklin, have always rapidly
hurried through Davis Strait, and have only touched at one or
other of the Danish colonies, it is no wonder that the numerous

'De Danske Handelsdistrikter i Nordgionland.'

82 OPEN POLAR SEA.

remarkable ice-fjords, -which require a longer time to travel through
and examine, have more or less escaped attention. Kane had thus
either not seen these ice formations, or only had an occasion of
seeing them from a great distance, before he came to the place
where he was frozen in and had to pass two winters. Humboldt
glacier does not even seem to belong to the most remarkable among
them, as even in the very southernmost of our Greenland districts,
at Julianehaab, we have opportunities of observing just as remark-
able phenomena of this kind.

With respect to the second point— namely, the Open Polar Sea,
discovered by Morton the steward and the Greenlander Hans —
the manner in which Morton's journey is described by Petersen,'
the Dane, who accompanied the expedition as interpreter, seems
to give a clearer picture of its result than that which Kane has
sketched.

This discovery of an Open Sea gives Kane occasion to make a
comparison with other Polar expeditions, and he goes as far back
as the days of Barentz in 1596, and "without referring to the
earlier and more uncertain chronicles," he mentions the Dutch
whale fishers. Dr. Scoresby, Baron Wrangel, Captains Penny and
Inglefield, and shows how they have all spoken about large open-
ings in the ice around the North Pole. He shows likewise how
these have all been found to be " illusory discoveries," and antici-
pates the objection that " his own may one day pass within the
same category " by extolling the far larger scale on which Ms Open
Sea has been observed. Petersen confines his remarks on this
subject to the following : —

" The Greenlander, Hans, was sent after them with the dog-sledge in order to
continue the journey still farther towards the N., and when he reached their
sledo-e (i. e. a drag-sledge that had been sent out earlier), he and the steward
Morton proceeded onwards. They reached the Sound of which the Esquimaux
had spoken. This Sound was open ; probably cut up by the strong current
they had observed there. It was, however, Midsummer, so that the sun had
perhaps aided the current in getting away the ice. After this expedition no
other such was attempted." ^

It is a known fact that, here and there under the coast of Nortli
Greenland, places are found which, on account of the strong

' See vol. i. pp. 280-310. Petersen is a man well known to me. He was ap-
pointed foreman in the trading service at Upernivik. His communications bear
the full impression of truth, and are written in a clear and simple style, without
boasting and self-praise, although he has been of great service to the expeditions
that he accompanied as interpreter — viz. Penny's and Kane's. He is now serving
with Capt. M'Clintock.

- See 'Erindringer fra Polarlanderne,' p. 12.

DOUBTFUL DISCOVERIES. 83

current, do not freeze, even in the severest winter, although the
whole waters round them are covered with ice of two to four feet
thick, and Kane himself remarks, that in the most rigorous cold
he has found such stream-holes. As soon as the Spring commences
these stream-holes expand themselves, as the ice in their neighbour-
hood is always thinner and sooner thawed, either above, by the
sun, or below, by the under-current.

Now, as Morton's expedition was undertaken at Midsummer, and
as he found such an opening in the ice, not more than 90 miles from
the place where they, the year before, had been able to navigate
the vessel, and as there was an unusually strong current running
in this opening, which just appeared where the Strait became
smaller, nothing is more probable than that this opening was just
such a stream-hole, in which opinion I must concur with Petersen,
until stronger proofs be adduced in favour of the hypothesis of
an Open Polar Sea kept open by a branch of the Gulf- stream
deflected from Nova Zembla to the Pole : a solution of a problem
which has occupied Geographers since 1596, if not farther
back, &c., &c,'

Next, as to what concerns the lands that are said to surround
this enigmatical Sea with a coast of 90 to 130 miles in extent,
which Morton measured almost at a single glance, and which Kane
has been able to lay down on his chart, even with an exact coast
margin, adorned with celebrated names, and accompanied in the
text with correct statements of the heights of mountains (Mount
Parry, &c., &c.), I must express a well-founded doubt of the correct-
ness of all this.

The ship, as stated, was frozen in on the coast of Greenland, in
78'' 37' N. lat., in the beginning of September, 1853. Of the expe-
ditions that were sent out the same Autumn with boats or sledges,
one reached, as presumed, 79' 50' n. lat. along the same coast. In
March, 1854, Dr. Kane sent out a sledge expedition, which was
obliged to return without result; the eight travellers who took
part in it were in the greatest danger of being frozen to death ;
three of them had a foot or toes amputated, and one died a few
days after his return. Of the later expeditions, the one under Dr.
Hayes was directed towards the opposite, or American coast, which
he traversed to 79^^ 45' n. lat. under great sufferings from snow-
blindness. The others kept under the coast of Greenland, and did
not got farther than Humboldt glacier, or al)Out 79?' N. lat. ; Avith
the exception only of the one undertaken by JMorton and Hans,

' See Kuiic'd 'Considerations,' vol. i. pp. yOl-IJOt).

84 HUMBOLDT GLACIER.

who, according to their own statement, reached 81° 20' n. lat., from
which point they supposed they had seen land as far as 82° 30' n.
lat. ; these two members of the expedition alone came to the Open
water. The breadth of the whole of the northernmost part of
Baffin Bay, thus explored, was from 8 to 16 geographical miles
between the coasts of Greenland and America.'

After the first excursions in the vicinity of their winter quarters
attention was directly drawn to the great Humboldt glacier, and
Kane had an occasion, one clear day in Aj)ril, to survey it closely ;
and then remarks : —

" My notes speak simply of the ' long ever-shining line of cliff, diminished
to a well-pointed wedge in the perspective ;' and again, of ' the face of glisten-
ing ice, sweeping in a long curve from the low interior, the facets in front
intensely illuminated by the sun.' But this line of cliff rose in a solid
glassy wall, 300 feet above the water-level, with an unknown, unfathomable
depth below it ; and its curved face, 60 miles in length from Cape Agassiz to
Cape Forbes, vanished into unknown space at not more than a single day's
railroad travel from the Pole. The interior with which it communicated, and
from which it issued, was an unsurveyed mer de glace, an ice-ocean, to the eye,
of boundless dimensions.

" It was in full sight — the mighty crystal bridge which connects the two
continents of America and Greenland. I say continents ; for Greenland,
however insulated it may ultimately prove to be, is in mass strictly continental.
The least possible axis, measured from Cape Farewell to the line of this glacier,
in the neighbourhood of the 80th parallel, gives a length of more than 1200
miles, not materially less than that of Australia from its northern to its
southern Cape.

" Imagine, now, the centre of such a continent, occupied through nearly its
whole extent by a deep unbroken sea of ice, that gathers perennial increase
from the waterparting of vast snow-covered mountains, and all the precipitations
of the atmosphere upon its own surface. Imagine this, moving onward like a
great glacial river, seeking outlets at every fjord and valley, rolling icy cata-
racts into the Atlantic and Greenland seas ; and, having at last reached the
northern limit of the land that has borne it up, pouring out a mighty frozen
torrent into unknown Arctic space.

"It is thus, and only thus, that we must form a just conception of a
phenomenon like this great glacier. I had looked in my own mind for such
an appearance, should I ever be fortunate enough to reach the northern coast
of Greenland. But now that it was before me, I could hardly realize it.

" I had recognized, in my quiet library at home, the beautiful analogies
which Forbes and Studer have developed between the glacier and the river.
But I could not comprehend at first this complete substitution of ice for
water. It was slowly that the conviction dawned on me, that I was looking
on the counterpart of the great river-system of Arctic Asia and America.
Yet, here were no water-feeders from the south. Every particle of moisture

• -See vol. i. pp. 225-228.

CENTRAL ICE. 85

had its origia within the Polar circle, and had been converted into ice. There
were no vast alluvions, no forest or animal traces borne down by liquid
toiTents. Here was a plastic, moving, semi-solid mass, obliterating lite,
swallowing rocks and islands, and ploughing its way with irresistible march
through the crust of an investing sea."

As Kane, in this section of his work, just expatiates upon the
nature and quality of the whole of Greenland and its unknown
interior, it is chiefly at this place that I must refer to my previously
cited work ; in the first section of which, at page 10, 1 have treated
on the extension of the land-ice, and the origin of the floating ice-
bergs. But as the subject is rather comprehensive, I will here
confine myself to the following remarks : —

The interior, with which the glacier stood in connection was :
"an ice-ocean, to the eye, of boundless dimensions." That this
ice-ocean could not be overlooked at that place certainly does not
signify much with regard to its extent ; but farther on, he remarked
that it occupies the whole centre of Greenland, right down to Cape
Farewell. Now, from what source does the author know this, as
he only cites a few places, quite in the neighbourhood of his winter
harbour, where he has followed the margin of the inland ice, and
had never been in the fjords of Greenland, between Upernivik and
Cape Farewell ? I for my part have emploj'ed eight years in ex-
amining to what degree the interior was covered with ice, by pur-
suing it from fjord to fjord ; and nevertheless I have been obliged
to confine myself to conjecture with regard to many extensive tracts
that lie between these fjords ; and my own explorations in this
direction, must, as we shall see, be supposed to have been unknown
to him. In the account of his first voyage,^ he says of the Omenak
fjord, that he could see into its mouth whilst sailing up the Strait ;
that its interior had never yet been explored, and that there was
great probability that it passed rigiit through the country to this
Atlantic Ocean. But if we admit this central ice-ocean as existing,
what does it then signify ? that this ice-ocean moves like a great
ice-river (from south to north V), rolling cataracts of ice out to both
sides in the Atlantic and Greenland seas, until it reaches the northern
bouudaiy of the coimtry, and there pours forth a mighty frozen
stream, Humboldt glacier, in that unknown Arctic space ? 1 cannot
follow the author in liis bold flight over the icy desert of Greenland,
and still less can I conceive that he, in all this, only sees a confir-
mation of what he hatl already earlier foreseen in his own mind, if
he " should ever be fortunate enough to reach the northern coast of Green-

' '(iriniicll Expedition,' 1854, j). 53.

86 GLACIERS.

land,'' — that which he presumes to have discovered on this expe-
dition. The reality is, that wherever one attempts to proceed np
the fjords of Greenland, the interior appears covered with ice ; hut
there is no reason whatever to assume that this applies to the
central part of the country, in which one, on the contrary, just as
well may assume that there are liigh mountain-chains, which pro-
trude partly from the ice. A remarkable movement is found in this
ice-mass ; but this is so far from having a kind of main direction
after the central axis of the land towards the Humboldt glacier,
that this arm of the ice, on the contrary, seems to belong to those
that are in a less degree of motion, whereas the greatest agency
takes place around Jakobs-havn ice fjord, Omenak fjord, and others.
Farther, this movement can only be measured by the masses of ice
that pass annually out of these fjords, and of which one can only
obtain a tolerable conception by remaining for a long time at the
mouths of the fjords. These ice- fjords point out probably the rivers
of the original land, now buried under ice. Whereas no conclusion
can be drawn from the ice itself and the appearance of its branches
that go down to the sea, for it is almost quite uniform everywhere
from Julianehaab to Upernivik.

The author, in concluding his remarks, says it was first when he
saw Humboldt glacier that Forbes's and Studer's idea of the like-
ness between the glacier and the river began slowly to dawn on
him ; but the same species of glacier, which these celebrated natu-
ralists have examined on the Alps and in Norway, is found in many
places on outer-Greenland, or what I would call ice-free Greenland.
These Kane had seen at Disko, near Upernivik, and other places,
before he reached " Humboldt glacier." In order to examine its
significance in comparison with the rest of the branches of inland
ice, he must have made observations and calculations of how many
icebergs it annually yielded to the sea, as from its appearance he
could scarcely form any opinion. By seeing such a branch of in-
land ice, on -account of the uniform ice-plateau whence it issues, one
gets a smaller impression of its similarity with a river than by
seeing the Alpine glaciers and the glaciers on the outer coast of
Greenland, as these just fill up clifts which — to judge from their
form — must be beds of watercourses. Those arms of inland ice,
which send scarcely any ice into the sea, show, on the contrary,
about the same appearance as those that send out annually thousands
of millions of cubic feet of ice into the sea, and therefore must be
supposed to be maintained by river territories of many hundred
geographical square miles.

I now proceed to examine its signification us a sort of connecting

CRITICISM OF KANE'S RE-MARKS. 87

link between Greenland and the American continent. Dr. Kane
says " it was in full sight — the mighty crystal bridge which con-
nects the two continents of America and Greenland ;" and after-
wards, in a note, " I have spoken of Humboldt glacier as connecting
the two continents of America and Greenland. The expression
requires explanation," &c. Difficult as it is to understand. Dr.
Kane seems to mean that Greenland is separated fiom, and therefoio
half connected with, the Arctic- American Archipelago by a less broad
Sound, beyond Humboldt glacier.

Petersen says, that Kane himself would have undertaken an
excursion to the north in the middle of April 1855, but that he
could not get the Esquimaux to accompany him, as they would
only go bear-hunting around the ice cliifs near Humboldt glacier,
and thus Kane was only absent 24 hours on this tour. Kane
says that as he could not reach the Open Water, he sought compen-
sation in a closer examination of the great glacier, of which he now
again takes occasion to give a lively description, concluding with
the following allusion to the previously-mentioned idea of the con-
nection between Greenland and America : —

" Thus diversified in its aspect, it stretches to the north till it bounds uix)u
the new laud of Washington, cementing into one the Greenland of the Scandi-
navian Vikings and the America of Cokimbus."

In the earlier sections there is spoken of the extension and move-
ment of the inland ice; here is specially mentioned the manner in
which the floating icebergs tear themselves loose from that side
which goes out to the sea — the calvings as they are called in the
ice-fjords. None of those engaged in the expedition had had an
opportunity to make direct observations in these respects. In order
to obtain the necessary prospect, Kane climbed up "one of the
highest icebergs," whilst his fellow-travellers rested themselves.
From here he meant he could see that

" The indication of a great propelling agency seemed to be just commencing
at the time I was observing it."

It appeared to him as if the split-off lines of the fast land ice, which
signify the beginning of the loosening, were evidently about to
extend themselves. As the calving, however, did not follow, Kane
confines himself to remark respecting it —

" Regarded upon a large scale, I am satisfied that the iceberg is not disen-
gaged by debacle, as I once supi)osed. So far from falling into the sea, broken
by its weight from the parent glacier, it rises from the sea."

He next adds that

"The idea of icebergs being discharged, so universal among systematic

88 MORTON'S SLEDGE JOUKxNfE^.

writers aiul su recently admitted by himself, seems now to liim at variance with
the regulated and progressive actions of nature."

By this I conclude that Dr. Kane had not seen my work on North
Greenland, or, at all events, that part of it which treats of the ex-
tension of the land-ice and the origin of the floating icebergs, and
wherein it states —

" But from what has been already mentioned, it must be evident that the
icebergs must not be considered as breaking loose and falling down from
precipices ; one might rather say that they lift themselves," &c. &c.

That Kane did not know this is certainly very striking to me, as
the literature which treats of the glaciers of the Polar lands, and
especially those of Greenland and the origin of the icebergs, is not
great. Dr. Kane had sought information respecting the nature of
the country in our Danish colonies, and as my above-mentioned
work is cited in his own, if not by himself, still by his assistant,
Charles Schott, in the Appendix XIII., p. 426.\ He says also, at
page 150, that the height of the ice- wall at the nearest point was
about 300 feet, measured from the water's edge. As a consequence
thereof the floating icebergs, which lay before it and were detached
from this ice-wall, must have been, on the average, above 300 feet,
if they should be imagined as formed by an elevation during the
time of being detached.

I have accurately measured many frozen icebergs, particularly in
the winter, on Omenak fjord, and 1 have thereby come to the result
that the common height of the larger ones, and especially of those
that may be supposed to lie, in some measure, in the original position
which they had had after their breaking loose, was somewhat more
than 100 feet. I have also measured them as high as 160 feet, and
I have seen some that I should estimate at 200 feet high ; but this
was when there were points or edges that had come to jut upwards
by the mighty ice-block having turned and changed its position in
the water. That the whole of the collected mass of icebergs before
the Humboldt glacier should have been considerably more than
300 feet in height generally — the highest, consequently, even 600
feet- — I can certainly not disprove ; but I must strongly doubt.

We now come^ to the remarkable sledge expedition of Morton
and Hans, on which they first passed the whole exterior maigiu of
the great glacier, with the icebergs lying before, and those torn
from it and floating about ; they then drove farther towards the
north, found the ice more and more unsafe, and were at last inter-

' See also 'Journal of Royal Geographical Society,' vol. xxiii. p. 145. — Eu.
^ /See vol. i. pp. 280-310 of Kane's Work.

MORTON'S OBSERVATIONS. - 89

rupted by the Opeu Sea, when they drove some distauce along the
shore, and lastly Morton went alone on foot as far as he could to
obtain a survey of the navigable water farther towards the north.
The whole journey, from the moment they saw the Open ISea until
they were compelled to return, after a very difficult passage, during
which they were also bear-hunting, lasted only three days, or from
the 21st to the 24th of June.

^\ hat Morton saw in these three days is the foundation fur the
whole theory of Kane's Open Polar Sea, and whatever stands in
connection therewith. Kane gives us this account with his own
explanations, and in a separate Appendix he has communicated
Morton's own jouinal. It is stated that this man had instruments
with him to determine the geographical positions. As far as 1 can
judge from the chart, as laid down in the fiist volume, and from the
Appendix, No. VI., ^ more than 20 points of longitude and latitude
are determined by him on that toilsome journey beyond the Hum-
boldt glacier, besides the numerous points on the opposite coast, to
which they did not come, and which, therefore, appear to be laid
down only after bearings.

When 1 consider the great haste required to reach the farther-
most point towards the north, and to return before the ice broke up,
the very difficult and toilsome passage through deep snow, over
openings, the most trackless ice-walls, &c. &c., 1 cannot sufficiently
admire Morton's dexterity in attending at the same time to these
observations which require so much repose and accuracy.

The travellers drove past the floating icebergs that were torn
loose from the glacier and lay piled up before it. Several reasons
are adduced to show that it could be ascertained that they were
formed or torn loose very recently, as they had a fresh shining
surface and no projecting foot under the water. It is, however,
tspecially from the accounts given of this place that 1 conclude
that the Humboldt glacier does not belong to the most active of
the inland ice-streams of North Greenland. The icebergs lay only
a few Danish miles out from the fast land-ice, and one must con-
sider that they have perhaps taken several yeais to be filled up,
as all the navigable waters thereabout were frozen ; they could
scarcely come out any other way than towards the south, and this
passage perhaps opens only now and then in diiferent years. The
great ice-ljords that are known in North Greenland are annually
cleared of great masses of ice, that are driven to sea. If this wore
not the case, the inner navigable waters would soon be stopped up,

' Tho adrononiical obaervutioii.s obtuiiicLl ljy IMiirlun arc lluuo iiiuiitliuiial
altitudca ol' the auii. — liu.

90 DOUBTFUL CONCLUSIONS.

and the incessantly-propelled land-ice extend itself over the sur-
rounding land.

After having passed the icebergs, they came to the place where
the sea-ice on which they drove became thinner and thinner, so
that the dogs trembled, and at last they durst not drive farther on
it, but sought the land, or rather the firmer ice-edge that lay imme-
diately along the shore. At last the ice gave place for quite open
water, and here it is stated, at page 288, that —

" The tide was running very fast ; the ice-pieces of heaviest draught floated
by nearly as fast as the ordinary walk of a man, and the surface pieces passed
them much faster, at least four knots."

Kane has already given an excellent description of a stream-hole ;
but had it been the margin of the Open Sea moved by the swell,
the ice would have kept its thickness, at least to some extent, just
as one approached it, but it would have been broken, screwed up,
and thus more or less in drift. In short, such a margin of ice is
cut oif sharper, with respect to thickness, whereas a successive
transition from ice to water is found around a stream-hole, for which
reason it is so dangerous to approach such places. The above-mentioned
tide-stream of four knots is even so strong, that one (particularly as
it was in a pretty large sound, and not in a narrow pass of some few
yards in breadth) can already conclude that in such a place no ice
would be able to hold in the month of June, even to a con^^iderable
circumference. Even f^irther up Morton observed that the ice-pieces
drifted at the rate of four miles an hour, and that the stream varied
first from north to south and then from south to north, just as is
the case everywhere in the inner navigable waters along the coast
of Greenland, originating from the ebb and flood. (See vol. ii., p.
376.)

The last-mentioned observation was made by Morton on the 22nd
of June, consequently there was not until that moment the most
remote reason to suppose an Open Polar Sea. The Sound had like-
wise a direction north, and there was thus no sign whatever that
the coast under which they found themselves turned towards the
east, or that they found themselves at the end of Greenland. We
will now consider the adventures of the two following days, after
Morton's own description (vol. ii., pp. 377, 378). These adventures
form the main foundation for the ideas about the end of Greenland
— the Open Polar Sea— the Gulf-stream, which warms up the Pole
— the solution of that problem which has occupied the geographical
world since 1596, &c. &c. ; and with these must stand or fall the
whole of that splendid building, of which Kane has sketched a
drawing in vol. i., pp. 301 -309.

MORTON'S STATEMENT. 91

On the 23rd of June Morton and Hans started, but not before
noon, in consequence of a continued gale from iho north, but after
driving about G English miles they found the ice along the coast
quite broken up and impassable. They therefore made a lialt with
the sledge, and undertook a journey on foot, but returned and en-
camped by the sledge.

The following day, the 24th of June, they started on foot very
early in the morning ; their intention was to come past a high cape,
behind which there was still hope that they could get a free prospect
towards the east, and thus see the end of Greenland. After a very
toilsome wandering, as they wore sometimes obliged to crawl over
cliffs and sometimes to spring over loose floating pieces of ice, they
fell in with a she-bear and her cub, which they killed, and then
boiled a strengthening dish of the flesh on the spot, as they found
some plants and a piece of a sledge, whereof they made a fire. As
yet nothing was discovered that could lay the foundation to the
above-named theories, and nevertheless all was to be attained before
the following day. On account of the importance of the events that
occurred between, I will give Morton's statement, as it will be found
in the place cited : —

" After this delay (the bear-hunting) we started in the hope of being able
to reach the cape to the north of us. At the very lower end of the bay there
was still a little old fast ice over which we went without following the curve
of the bay up the fjord, which shortened our distance considerably. Hans
became tired, and I sent him more inland where the travelling was less
laborious. As I proceeded towards the cape ahead of me the water came again
close in-shore. I endeavoured to reach it, but found this extremely difficult,
as there were piles of broken rocks rising on the cliffs in many places to the
height of 100 feet. The cliffs above these were perpendicular, and nearly 2000
feet high. I climbed over the rubbish, but beyond it the sea was washing the
foot of the cliffs, and, as there were no ledges, it was impossible for me to
advance another foot. I was much disappointed, because one hour's travel
would have brought me round the cape. The knob to which I climbed was
(jver 500 feet in height, and from it there was not a speck of ice to be seen.
As far as I could discern the sea was open, a swell coming in from the north-
ward and running crosswise, as if with a small eastern set. The wind was
due north — enough of it to make white caps — and the surf broke in on the
rocks below in regular breakers. The sky to the north-west was of dark
rain-cloud, the first that I had seen since the brig was frozen up. Ivory
gulls were nesting in the rocks above me, and out to sea were mollemokc
and silver-backed gulls. The ducks had not been seen north of the first
island of the channel, but petrel and gulls hung about tiie waves near the
coast."

" Jane 25. — As it was impossible to get round the cape 1 retraced my
steps," &c. &c.

92 MORTON'S FARTHEST.

With this, the exploration of the open Polar Sea,' and the farthest
lands on our globe, was ended. Morton felt himself disappointed
in not being able to come past that terrible cape, which hid his
prospect towards the east. I, for my part, was not disappointed on
reading that such a hindrance arose before him. I know it from
sad experience, as I, during three consecutive winters, have followed
the winding coasts of North Greenland in dog sledges, in order to
lay them down on my chart. I know these bewitched points which
continue to shoot forth when one thinks one is at the end of an
island, these endless promontories which one must get past before
one can reach the right promontory, and can turn round ; these hills
— these eternal tops — that shoot up when one ascends the cliffs,
before one reaches the right top, whence one can have the wished-
fur prospect. I have passed half a day thus only to get the wished-for
general view over one single fjord-arm, and that even sometimes in
vain. What must it then not be, when one on an afternoon, and on
foot, seeks to reach the unknown end, to use Kane's own words, of
a " whole little Continent? "

We will now return to Kane's representation, and, on account of
its considerable extent, confine ourselves to inquire into the most
important conclusions, through which he comes to such great results
from the facts communicated above.

Dr. Kane remarks in several places, that although it blew a strong
and almost stormy north wind during those days when Morton tra-
velled along the open water, there came only some few half-dissolved
pieces of ice drifting from the north, and at last none at all. This
shows, if one will draw any conclusion whatever from it, that the
navigable water, a good way from the mouth of the narrow pass, in
which the stream was so extremely rapid, had been covered with
still good ivinter ice. For if it were really on the border of the open
sea one might expect to find much loose drift-ice between the
margin of the fast ice over which they had driven, and the quite
.open sea ; and there was a great probability that such drift-ice
must appear and press on during a continued north wind. A
sudden beginning of a perfectly ice-free sea is scarcely to be
imagined.

' With reference to the latitude of the northernmost point reached by Morton,
he states in his Journal, p. 378, vol. ii., "We arrived at our camp where we had
left the sledge at 5 p.m., having been absent 36 hours, during which time we hud
travelled twenty miles due north of it. June 2ijth. — Before starting I took a
meridian altitude of the sun." This observation is worked at page 388 in the
same volume, where the result appears as 80° 20' 2"

Add 20 miles according to the above remark . . . . 20 0

Latitude of the farthest point reached by Morton .. 80 40 2

ORTECTIOXS. 93

An important, criterion whereby to judge if one has opeii water,
is the ground swell of the sea. This is seen at Jiilianehaab, when
the ice from the east coast is expected in the spring. To look after
the ice itself from hills of some hundred feet in height is not of
much use, for if it be first in sight it is also very near, and in a
short time is on land. But in general one can know its proximity
by the cessation of the ground-swell several days beforehand. To
observe this with certainty the weather must be quite still, for the
swell which even a common wind produces makes the observation
uncertain. Kane adduces the swell and surge as proofs of the Open
Polar Sea ; but as it is expressly stated that it blew almost a storm
the loJiole time, the effects of such a storm on an open surface of the
sea, of possibly 20 or 30 miles in extent, are sufficient to make
the presumed observation perfectly invalid. Still more uncertain
does the observation of Morton appear to me, that the swell caused
by the wind from the north, which he pretends to have remarked
from the farthermost point of land, was acted on by another swell
from the east, behind that Cape which concealed the end of Green-
land and the beginning of the great Polar Sea from his view.

A third fact which Kane adduces in favour of his theory of the
Polar Sea, is the increasing abundance of animals and plants in
the district to the north of the glacier. It is mentioned in par-
ticular that seals and sea-fowl were seen in great numbers in, as well
as around the neighbourhood of, the open water. Passing over the
more cursorily touched observation, that the birds flew in an eastern
direction behind the oft-mentioned cape which Morton could not
come past, I shall only remark that I, on the contrary, regard that
flocking together of sea animals and birds as a sign of one single
opening in the sea, the rest of which was covered with ice. Such
openings are just characteristic gathering-places for seals and sea-
fowl. Nor do the plants which the Greenlander Hans is said to
have seen, but no specimens of which were collected, and which
from his bare description, are determined and inserted with Tjatin
names of their genera and species at page 462, appear to afford any
weighty proof of the Open Sea and an increasing mildness of climate
towards the North Pole.

I now come to the real question, the knob to which Morton climbed
when he could not come farther, and from which he, " as far as he
could discern," found the sea Open. lie says that it was over 500
feet in height, though ho likewise remarks that the cliffs around, to
a height of 100 feet, which were difficult to reach, were quite per-
pendicular. As far as I can make out, this is the same point to
which Kane, at page 299, gives a height of 300 feet ; at page 305,

94 OPEN POLAR SEA NOT FOUND.

of 480 feet ; and lastly, at page 307, where be compares it with the
points from which former expeditions are supposed to have seen
the open sea, of 580 feet. How this very doubtful height was
measured, is not mentioned, and yet it is from this position that the
size of the surveyed open space is to be given. Nor have I been
able to find due information of how clear the air was, nor where
the sun was at that time. Morton speaks of a dark rain-cloud in
the N.w. ; and a delineation of the open sea, with Morton in the
foreground, "/rom description" as it is called, is also given at page
307. But with the exception of a mysterious round body bathing
one half in the sea, but which cannot be the sun at this season of
the year, a long way above the horizon, even at midnight, one sees
nothing but the sea bounds bordering the horizon. Neither is it
quite clear in what direction the oft-mentioned Cape concealed the
prospect towards the east. We see the coast-line on the chart broken
abmptly off by the farthest point that Morton saw. We ought to
have the necessary information about all these questions in order
to judge of the correctness of the calculations by which Kane, at
page 302, came to the result, that Morton could see from his " look-
out " to a distance of 36 miles, and that he had consequently sur-
veyed an Open Sea of more than 4000 square miles. Every one
acquainted with the nature of " looJcing out " after ice will admit
the folly of determining with certainty, by sight alone, from a
height of some few hundred feet, that flat ice is not to be found on
the sea in the farthest margin of the horizon, or at a distance of
36 miles. If even, as I much doubt, it could be possible, under
very favourable circumstances, to discover it at such a distance if it
were there, it however becomes an impossibility to determine its
absence with certainty. If we now remember that the part of the
sea which Morton had already passed, after he left the Humboldt
glacier, was kept open by the strong current, that this stream-hole
must be regarded as one of the most unusual on account of its
breadth, and that it is not at all decided if this strong current did
not continue past Cape Jefferson, on which he stood, it appears
probable that such a stream could continue its thawing activity far
past this point ; and even if it were correct that there had not been
ice 36 miles out before this channel-opening, thei'e is, however, no
reason to seek such distant causes as those which the author has
assigned in order to explain this phenomenon in another manner.
Should there really be an open Polar basin in the summer, or at
certain other periods, there is at all events no reason to suppose
that this Open Sea had been reached by this expedition.

In conclusion, let me touch on the coasts discovered on this

FURTHER CRITICISMS. 95

expedition, as represented on the chart at the beginning of the first
volume. They who know how deceptive it is to look at the con-
figiiration of such high mountains at a distance from the sea, how
all melts together, islands are taken for continents, promontories for
islands, and deep spacious fjords and sounds quite disappear, will
certainly agree with me in admiring the boldness with which the
opposite coast, from Cape John Barrow to Mount Parry, an extent
of more than two degrees of latitude, which they approached at the
very nearest, at a distance of 25 to 40 miles, is found marked out
on the said map as a clearly defined connecting shaded line, making
only a little curve towards the east, in order to limit the Open l\)lar
Sea, and, as if to receive the Gulf-stream, said to flow from Nova
Zembla, and lead it down through Smith Strait to Baffin Bay. The
heights of the mountains, according to the guessed distances, are on
the other hand just as remarkable as determining the distances
without knowing the heights of the mountains. The farthest
mountain-top that Morton saw — " the most remote northern land hnown
upon our globe " — has been put at 2500 to 3000 feet, and 100 miles
fiom Morton's last station. Notwithstanding this great distance,
Morton saw however that the top was bare, and that it was striped,
vertically with projecting ledges. Beyond this ultima Tlmle, about
60 to 80 miles from Morton's farthest station, and as it seems partly
behind the Cape which stopped his view, is indicated " oj^ejt sea,"
Had i\Iorton only passed round his cape he would possibly have
seen fresh capes shooting forth incessantly until he reached Mount
Pany, which might have been thus connected by a neck of land with
Greenland, and again on the other side large bays and sounds might
have opened themselves on the American side and broken off the line
now so nicely laid down on his map.

I have thus exhausted the most important points respecting these
discoveries, which are represented as the crowning glories of the
expedition. 'J'liese Polar expeditions were dispatched for the dis-
covery of the North-Wcst Passage and of the remains of the Fianklin
Expedition, and both these problems have been solved by Biitish
enterprise. So far as they fall short of the finding the remains of
Franklin or of the North-West Passage, they do not promise any
advantages that can in any way answer to the moans and clTorts
they demand.

Dr. Kane has undeniably gone beyond what he promised in his
preface, namely, to give a simple narrative of the adventures of his
party ; and he has hereby, in my humble opinion, injured more
than benefited his work ; and the numerous really interesting and
remarkable elucidations concerning the nature of North Greenland,

96 CONCLUSION.

obtained by immense labour and rare efforts, are thereby in a
manner cast in the shade. Every one who interests himself for the
Arctic regions will, in Kane's work, find valuable contributions to
their description. Let me, among others, especially point out the
description of the mode of life of the inhabitants of those northern
regions ; the remarkable abundance of walruses, bears, and other
animal life ; the observations on the growth of plants, and on the
temperature, as well as those respecting the formations of ice on sea
and land, &c. &c.^

> See ' Proceedings R. G. S.,' vol. ii. pp. 195 and 359, also vol. iii.— Ed.

( ^7 )

IV.

THE ARCTIC CURRENT AROUND GREENLAND.

By Admiral E. Irminger, of the Danish Navy.'

Several hydrographers ^ assert that a current from the ocean
around Spitzbergen continues its course along the E. coast of
Greenland, and thence in a nearly straight line towards the banks
of Newfoundland. In this opinion I do not agree, and give my
reasons as follows.

Considerable quantities of ice are annually brought with the
current from the ocean around Spitzbergen to the s. and s,w. along
the E. coast of Greenland,^ around Cape Farewell, and into Davis
Strait.

These enormous masses of ice are frequently drifted so close to
the southern part of the coast of Greenland that navigation through
it is impossible. Experience has taught the captains who every
year navigate between Copenhagen and the Greenland colonies
(which all are situated on the w. side of Greenland) that, on going

' From the ' Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society,' vol. xxvi.

* Kerhallet, Berghaus, and others.

* See Graah, Scoresby, &c., as well as the ' Accounts of the Whalers in the year
1777, by Larens Hansen, Director of the School at Ribe,' in Doinnark. These
la.st-meiitiiined accounts of ten whalers, witli their captains, and printed letters
from several of these captains to the above-mentioned L. Hansen, give a striking
proof of the current and its rapidity from the ocean around Spitzbergen to the
s.w. along the e. coast of Greenland. The said ten vessels were enclosed in the
ice in June 1777, in about 76^ lat. N., between Sfjitzbergen and Jan-Mayeu island,
and were carried, constantly enclosed by the ire, in a south-westerly dircctiim.
between Iceland and Greenlaml, very often in sight of the Greenland coast. IJy
degrees all the vessels were Inst, being crushed by the ice ; the last vessel on the
11th of ( )ctober, in (jp lat. N , in sight of ( ireenland. Of the crews of these vessels,
which consisted of about 4o0 nnii, only 1 Hi (whose names I have before mo) were
so fortunate as to save tlieir lives, and get a^liore from the ice in the month of
October and beginning of November, on the coast around Cape Farewell. By
calculating the distance between Capo Farewell and the place where tho vessels
were enelo.sed in tlie ice lietwciii Sjjitzbergeu and Jan-Mnyen, it gives a distance
of about 1400 iiautic miles, and the time tiie ice oeeui)ied in drifting from the
above-mentioned pla(!e to Cape Farewell being about four months, tlie rapidity of
this current lias a mean of at least between 11 and 12 nautic miles per 21 iiour,-.

98 NOTES OP FIRST AND LAST ICE SEEN

to these colonies, in order to avoid being beset iu the ice, they are
obliged to pass a couple of degrees to the southward of Cape Fare-
well, as well as, after having crossed the meridian of this cape,
generally not to steer much to the northward before reaching
long. 50° or 52° w. of Greenwich, and sometimes even more
westerly. The amount of westing is dependent on the wind,
weather, or ice ; and b}' proceeding thus an open sea is reached,
either quite free from ice or else with it much more diffused than
near the coast, where the ships would be liable to be caught in the
drifting masses.

A similar caution is exercised on the homeward passage from
the colonies, the course being in the first place off the land, and
then in a more southerly direction in order to reach the open sea
free from the dangerous ice.

To be enabled to give an idea about the limits of the ice in these
regions, I examined a set of logbooks which were kindly given me
for perusal from the directors for the " Eoyal Greenland Com-
merce," viz., two logbooks for each of the last five years, which
gives two outward and two homeward voyages to the colonies every
year, consequently in all twenty voyages, which I found sufficient
without extending these researches to too great a length.

There are unquestionably great changes in the limits of the ice
in different seasons ; but still it is probable that the result of these
five years' observations will not be far from the mean.

From these logbooks I noted at what latitude the meridian of
Cape Farewell had been crossed on the passage to the colonies, and
at what place the first ice was seen, and on what latitude the
meridian of Cape Farewell was crossed on the homeward passage,
and where the last ice was seen.

In the ensuing Table these positions are inserted, and, to make
the subject still clearer, the places where the first and the last ice
was seen are marked in the subjoined Plan.

By examining this Table it will be seen that the meridian of
Cape Farewell is crossed on the outward passage in a mean lat.
of 57° 46', and on the homeward passage in 58° 2' n., which gives
123 m. and 107 m. s. of Cape Farewell ' respectively as the points
where the ocean, according to the logbooks, has been quite clear of
ice, and where, under ordinary circumstances, a safe passage can
be made to avoid the ice, which is usually carried round the coast
of Cape Farewell by the current coming from the ocean around
Spitzbergen.

' Accorditig to the observations of Captain Graah. Cape Farewell is situated in
59" 49' lat. N., and 43^ 54' w. of Greenwich.

FROM GREENLAND LOGBOOKS.

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100 EVIDENCE AS TO ICE-DRIFT.

On the voyages from tlie colonies to Copenhagen the course pur-
sued has "been somewhat nearer Cape Farewell (16 m.), the cause
of which is — 1, that the captains, in coming from Davis Strait,
have a better knowledge of the situation of the ice, and its dis-
tance from the land, than they can have on going up to Greenland
in coming from the Atlantic Ocean, where no ice is to be seen ;
and 2, because the home passages are made in a season in which
the ice generally is not quite so abundant as in spring, the season
for the voyages to the colonies.

The subjoined Table shows that the brig Lucinde fell in with
ice farthest to the e. (4th October, 1851, in 58° 30' n., and
39° '60' w. of Greenwich), which gives 79 nautic m. s., and about
135 nautic m. E. of Cape Farewell. This ice consisted only of a
single isolated iloe of very small extent ; and it is very rare to
meet ice in this latitude so far to the eastward.'

On the passage from Julianshaab to this place very little ice
had been in sight.

On these voyages the firxt and the last seen ice generally con-
sisted of isolated icebergs or floes, which no doubt formed the very
extremity of the ice which was coming from the n.e. around Cape
Farewell, and going into Davis Strait. Consequently the great
and more accumulated masses of ice carried by the current from
the ocean around Spitzbergen (whereby this current is really indi-
cated) are between these above-named outer limits and the coast of
Greenland.

The southerly and south-westerly coasts of Greenland are most
exposed to be blocked up with these ice-drifts in sp-ing ; whilst,
on the contrary, they are pretty clear of ice from September to
January ; but in the end of this month the ice generally begins to
come again in great abundance, passing around Cape Farewell.
(Captain Graah, p. 59.)

Still further to demonstrate the existence of this ice-drift, I may
mention the following extract from the logbook of the schooner
Activ, Captain J. Andersen. This vessel belongs to the colony of
Julianehaab, and is used as a transport in this district : —

7th of April, 1851, the Activ left Julianshaab, bound to the dif-
ferent establishments on the coast between Julianshaab and Cape
Farewell. The same day the captain was forced by the ice to take

' On the voj'age to Greenland in 1828, Captain Graah fell in with the first ice
in 58° 52' lat. n., and 41° 25' w. Greenwicli, which is only 57' s., and about 77
nautic miles to the eastward of Cape Farewell ; and he says, " Since 1817, I do
not know that the ice has been seen so tar to the eastward of the Cape.'' —
' Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland, by Copt. W. A. Graah,
Eoyal Danish Navy,' p. 21, Eng. Transl

EVIDENCE AS TO IC^-DRI^T. 101

refuge in a liarbour. Frequent snow-storms and frost. On account
of icebergs and great masses of floe-ice enclosing the coast, it was
impossible to proceed on the voj-age before the 23rd, when the ice
was found to be more open; but after a few hours' sailing the
ice again obliged the captain to. put into a harbour. Closed in by
the ice until the 27tli. The ice was now open, and the voyage pro-
ceeded until the 1st of May, when the ice compelled him to go into
a harbour.

In this month- violent storms, snow, and frost. From the most
elevated points ashore very often no extent of sea visible ; now and
then the ice open, but not sufficiently so for proceeding on the
voyage.

At last, on the Gth of June, in the morning, the voyage was con-
tinued ; but the same evening the ice enclosed the coast, and the
schooner was brought into " Bliesehullet," a port in the neighbour-
hood of Cape Farewell.

The following day the voyage was pursued through the openings
between the ice; and the 18th of June the schooner arrived again
at Julianshaab.

Whilst the masses of ice, as above mentioned, enclosed the coast
between Julianshaab and Cape Farewell, the brig Lucinde crossed
the meridian of Cape Farewell on the 26th of April, in lat.
68° 3' N. (101 nautic m. from shore), and no ice was seen from the
brig before the 2nd of May, in lat. 58° 26' n., and 50° 9' w. of
Greenwich.

Further, Captain Knudsen, commanding the Neptune bound from
Copenhagen to Julianshaab, was obliged on account of falling in
with much ice, to put into the harbour of Frederikshaab on the
8th of May, 1852, and was not able to co-ntinuo his voyage to
Julianshaab before the middle of June, because a continuous ice-
drift (icebergs as well as very extensive fields) was rapidly carried
along the coast to the northward.

Captain Knudsen mentions, that during the whole time he was
closed in at Frederikshaab ho did not a single day discover any
clear water even from the elevated points ashore, from which he
could see about 28 nautic miles seaward.

Whilst the Neptune was enclosed by the ice at Frederikshaab
the brig Baldur, on the home passage from Greenland to ( 'o})en-
hagen (see the foregoing Table), crossed the meridian of Cape
Farewell the 9th of June in lat. 58° 9' n, (100 m. from shore) in
clear water, and no ice in sight.

From the above it is evident that the cuirent from tlie ocean
around Spitzbergen, running along tlie e. coast of Greenland past

102 DIRECTION OF THE EAST GEEENLAND CURRENT.

Cape Farewell, continues its course along the western coast of Green-
land to the N., and transports in this manner the masses of ice
from the ocean around Spitzbergen into Davis Strait.

If the current existed, which the before-named writers state to
run in a direct line from East Greenland to the banks of New-
foundland, then the ice would likewise be carried with that current
from East Greenland : if it were a submarine current, the deeply-
immersed icebergs would be transported by it; if it were only a
surface-current, the immense extent of field-ice would indicate its
course,^ and vessels would consequently cross these ice-drifts at
whatever distance they passed to the southward of Cape Farewell.
But this is not the case : experience has taught that vessels coming
from the eastward, steering their course about 2° (120 nautic m.)
to the southward of Cape Farewell, seldom or ever fall in with ice
before they have rounded Cape Farewell and got into Davis Strait,
which is a certain proof that there does not exist even a branch of the
Arctic current tchich runs directly from East Greenland towards the
hanks of Neiofoundland.

Along the e. coast, and around the southern and south-western
coast of Greenland, the district of Julianshaab, there is generally a
much greater accumulation of ice ^ than is the case more northerly,
on the w, coast, or farther out in Davis Strait, where the ice generally
is found more spread, and consequently it frequently happens that
vessels bound to Julianshaab from Copenhagen are obliged first to
put into some harbour more to the northward, and wait there until
the ice is so much dispersed round the s. coast that they can continue
their voyage to Julianshaab.

In the warmer season, when the ice and snow melt ashore, the
waters from the different fiords or inlets move towards the sea, and
drive the ice off the coast in such a manner that there is clear
water close in shore, through which vessels may be navigated.
However, continuing gales, according to their direction to or from
shore, have an influence on the situation of the ice.

Another proof that the current from East Greenland does not

* An observation which it is interesting to mention here, and which gives a
proof of the very little diiference between the temperature of the surface and that
at some depth, is mentioned in the Voyage of Captain Graah, p. 21. He says,
" The ."ith of May, 1828, in lat. 57° 35' n", and 36° 36' w., Gr., tLe temperature of
the sm-face was found 6°-3 (46°-2 Fahr.), and at a depth of 660 feet 5°-5 + E. (■i4°-5
Fahr.V" This proves that there is no cold submarine current in the place alluded
to to the s.E. of Cape Farewell. A still more conclusive experiment is recorded
by Sir Edward Parry in the account of his first voyage, June 13, 1819 ; in lat.
57° 51' N., long. 41° 5', with a very slight southerly current, the surface tempera-
ture was 401° Yaht. ; and at 235 fathoms 39°, a difference of only li°.— Ed.

* Captain Graah, pp. 10, 12, 22, 57, &c., English translation.

DIRECTION OF THE EAST GREENLAND CURRENT. 103

run in a straight line towards the banks of Newfoundland, is also
derived from the observations of the temperature of the surface
made on many voyages to and from Greenland. I have noted the
observations of two voyages in the subjoined map ; ^ one voyage
by Captain Graah to Greenland, in May, 1828; and the other by
Captain Holbiill, from Greenland to Copenhagen, in September,
1844.

Captain Graah, who during his researches in Greenland, passed
two summers and one winter on its eastern coast, between Cape
Farewell and 65^° lat. N., says that he never found the temperature
of the sea here higher than 0°-9 + E. (34° Fahr.)'

Supposing that the Arctic current from East Greenland pursued
its coursie in a straight line towards the banks of Newfoundland, it
would be crossed, on the voyages from Copenhagen to the Danish
colonies in Greenland, between 88° and 45° w. Gr., and so high a
temperature in the surface of the ocean as from 4° to 6° E. (41° to
45°'5 Fahr.), as is found on this route and marked in the plan
would, according to my opinion, be impossible, only 1° or 2° to the
southward of the parallel of Cape Farewell ; as it is a well-known
fact that the principal ocean currents maintain their temperatures
through very considerable distances of their courses.

This comparatively high temperature of the surface of the ocean
so near to the limits of that current which carries enormous masses
of ice from the ocean near Spitzbergen round Cape Farewell, war-
rants my opinion that the waters of the Atlantic Ocean move in a
N -westerly or northerly direction, towards the eastern and southern
coasts of Greenland,^ and that this in-draught towards the land
is undoubtedly the cause of the ice being so closely pressed on to
these parts of the coast as it is so frequently on the s. coast, and
almost constantly on the E. coast, rendering the eastern coast
entirely inaccessible from seaward,*

' Tliis map is not found in the Society's ' Journal.'

^ (jtraah say«, " The temperature of the sea was frequently observed during
the whole voyaj^e, and was always found between 28"^ and 34" Fahrenheit.

3 Graah says in his Narrative (p. 23, English translation),-" In the mouth of
Davis Strait I found tlie temperature of the surface of the ocean from 4° to B°-I It.
(4F to 30° Fahr.y, though we were in the proximity of the ice. From this I
concluded that a current from tlie South predominated here, because I never before
in thr^ vicinity of ice had found the temperature of the water exceeding l°-8 R.^
(3(r Fahr.), and tlii.s eonclu.-ion was confirmed wlicn, coming to the northward of
the ice, I found the tcmperatun; of the water P-1 +R. (3t"-.") Fahr.)"

* Besides the evidence alfordc^l by the ice-drifts and the temperature! of the
water, as cited by the authoi-, conclusive proof (.f a northerly set is found in tiie
driftwood which lias been so frequently met with around (Uipe Farewell and oil'
tlie w. coast of Greenland. A few exam|)ies will mtticv. A plank of mahogany
was drifted to Disco, and formed into a table for the Danish governor at llolntein-
borg ('Quarterly Review,' No. xxxvi.). Admiral Lowenorn picked up a worm-

lUi COURSE OF THE EAST GREENLAND CURRENT.

The logbooks which I have examined afford no positive infor-
mation as to the direction and force of the current under con-
sideration— a circumstance which must be attributed to the fre-
quency of fogs and gales of wind, which prevent correct observations
being made.^

From the foregoing it seems to me to be demonstrated that the
current from the ocean around Spitzbergen, which carries so con-
siderable masses of ice, after it has passed along the e. coast of
Greenland, turns westward and northward round Cape Farewell,
without detaching any branch to the south-westward, directly towards
the banks of Newfoundland.

This current afterwards runs northward along the s.w. coast of
Greenland until about lat. 64° n., and at times even up to Hol-
steinborg, which is in about 67° n.

This current undoubtedly afterwards, by turning to the west-
ward, unites with the current coming from Baffin and Hudson
Bays, running to the southward on the western side of Davis Strait
along the coast of Labrador, and thus increases that enormous
quantity of ice which is brought towards the s, to Newfoundland
and further down in the Atlantic Ocean, frequently disturbing and
endangering the navigation between Europe and Northern America.

eaten mahogany log off the s.e. coast of Greenland. These in all probability were
transported from the s.w. by the Gulf-stream. Captain Sir Edward Parry, in his
second voyage, September 24th, 1823, picked up a piece of yellow pine quite
sound, in lat. 60" 30', long. 61° 30' w.; and on his tliird voyage seven pieces of
driftwood were found in the vicinity of Cape Farewell. Again, Captain Sir Jolni
Ross found much driftwood around Cape Farewell ; and Captain Sir George
Back saw in lat. 56° 50', long. 36° 30', a tree with the roots and bark on. These
instances might be multiplied, but their character indicates a southern origin. — Ed.

^ Sir John Ross, in his first voyage. May 23, found the current to run 6 m. per
day to the w.n.w. in lat. 57° 2' and long. 43° 21' w. (or about 168 m. s. of Cape
Farewell), and n.w. when 140 m. s. by w. of the Cape.

Sir Edward Parry, on June 19, 1819, when 130 m. due w. of Cape Farewell,
found its direction and velocity to be s. 50° w. 6 m. per diem. — Ed.

( lOo )

V.

NOTES ON THE STATE OF THE ICE

And on the Indications of Open Water, &c., from Beiiring to
Bellot Stkaits, along the Coasts of Arctic America and
Siberia, including the Accounts of Anjou and Weangell,

Introduction.

Ix undertaking that part of the Arctic manual which has been
assigned to me by the Council of the Royal Geographical Society, 1
feel that I am to a gi-eat extent occupying a portion of the Arctic
Sea which can be of little importance to the present expedition.
Yet there is no doubt that the influence which the Pacific Ocean
exercises on the motion of the ice should be considered in the present
attempt to reach, the Pole. I have, therefore, first endeavoured to
give an account of the diff'erent voyages by which the exploration
of this area has been carried forward, and then to summarise the
result. I then purpose to give a short account of the descent of
the Mackenzie, the Coppermine, and the Back Rivers, together
with the exploration of the coast in boats and birch-bark canoes
and the voyages of the Investigator and Enterprise. These, it is to
be hoped, will enable the reader to form a correct judgment respect-
ing the state and the movement of the ice in the Polar Sea from
New Siberia to Bellot Strait.

In 1725 the Russian Government dispatched an expedition
through Siberia to the sea of Ochotsk, which they occupied two
years in reaching. They there built and launched the vessels,
which, proceeding to the north, discovered St. Lawrence Island,
and eventually reached the latitude of 67° 18' n. How the Com-
mander, in attempting during a second expedition to carry his explo-
rations over to the American Continent, and how, by persevering
to his uttermost, he came by his death, cannot find a ]ilaco here ;
but we who are able to appreciate the diificnlties he had tu encounter,
glory to think that the title of Bohring is handed down to posterity
by the name so justly given to the sea and the strait which separate
the continents of Asia and America.

106 BEHRING STRAITS.

Beginning with a short resume of Cook's voyage in this vicinity,
I then take up the Eussian explorations, which, from their inte-
resting character, bearing as they do so directly on the important
question of the Polynia or open sea, I have found great difficulty in
comprising within a small compass. I then give a short account of
the valuable and instructive voyage of the Blossom, under Captain
Beechy. A general historical account of the expeditions in search
of Sir J. Franklin, by way of Behring's Strait, follows. These I
have endeavoured to render as short as possible, with the exception
of the part taken by the Enterprise, which has been given more at
large, under the impression that it may be the means of preserving
information that might (as has been the case in other voyages) pass
away without a knowledge of the value that notes daily made have
upon future researches.

Some observations have been collected from Mr, Whymper's
interesting narrative of his adventures in this sea, which I have little
doubt will prove useful.

Some extracts from the correspondence of the American whale-
fishers have been added, which will elucidate the change in the
position of the ice in different years.

In collating the general information with which I sum up this
portion of the work, I have had recourse to official documents as
well as publications by private individuals; but I am especially
indebted to two officers who have spent five seasons in this neigh-
bourhood. One I regret to say is no more; but the valuable
information collected by Dr. Simpson will leave a regret that he was
not spared to carry further the extent of his ability : the other is
Captain Hull, at present Assistant-Hydrographer, who, after three
summers spent in Behring Sea in the Herald, returned with Com-
mander Maguire and passed two winters in the Plover at Point
Barrow.

-BEHKING STKAITS.

In the instructions issued by the Admiralty to Captain Cook, when
proceeding on his third voyage in July, 1776, the following para-
graphs appear : — " Upon your arrival upon the coast of New Albion,
you are to put into the first convenient port to recruit your wood
and water and procure refreshments, and then to proceed north-
ward along the coast as far as latitude 65°, or farther, if you are

not obstructed by lands or ice When you get that length,

you are very carefully to search for and to explore such rivers or

BEHRING STRAITS— COOK'S VOYAGE. 107

iulets as may ai)pear to be of considerable extent, and pointing
towards Hudson or Baffin Bays."

" In case you shall be satisfied that there is no passage through
to the above-mentioned bays sufficient for the purpose of naviga-
tion, you are at the proper season of the year to repair to the port
of St. Peter and St. Paul, in Kamschatka, or wherever else you
shall judge more proper, in order to refresh your people and pass
the winter; and in the spring of the ensuing year, 1778, to proceed
from thence to the northward, as far as in your prudence you may
think proper, in search of a north-east or north-west passage froui
the Pacific into the Atlantic Ocean or North Sea."

In accordance with these instructions, the Resolution and Discovery
sailed from Oonalashka on July 2nd, 1778, and upon the 9th of
August reached Cape Prince of Wales, which was then pronounced
by Captain Cook (as it eventually has been proven to be) the
western extremity of all America hitherto known. The ships then
proceeded to the north, and reached the edge of the ice in lat.
70^ 41' on August 17th, naming the farthest point on the American
shore Icy Cape. They then visited the Asiatic side of the Straits
and discovered Cape North. The ships bore up on August 29th,
and after making farther explorations on the American shore south
of Cape Prince of Wales, returned to Oonolashka on October 2nd.
The following are Captain Cook's remarks after visiting the jmck
in a boat : — " I foimd it consisting of loose pieces of various extent,
and so close together that I could hardly enter the outer edge
with the boat, and it was as impossible for the ships to enter it as
if it had been so many rocks. I took particular notice that it was
all pure transparent ice, except the upper surface, Avhich was a little
porous. It appeared to be entirely composed of frozen snow, and to

have been all formed at sea The pieces of ice that formed the

outer edge of the field were from 40 to 50 yards in extent to 4 or 5,
and I judged the latter pieces reached 30 feet or more under the
surface of the water."

The following year the ships left the harbour of St. Peter and
St. Paul on June 13th. At noon on the 6th of July, in lat. 67°,
large masses of ice were fallen in with ; on the 8th, in lat. 69° 21',
they were close to what appeared from the deck solid ice. On
the 18th of July they reached 70^ 26' n., and were close to a firm
united field of ice. By stretching over towards the American
Continent they reached 70° 33', the farthest northern point attained
this season, when, finding it impracticable to get any farther.
Captain Clerke determined to expend the remainder of the season
in endeavouring to find an o[)ening on the Asiatic coast. Jn d(jing

108 RUSSIAN EXPLORATIONS EAST OF THE KOLYMA.

so the Discovety was beset in the ice in lat. 69°, when she was
drifted to the north-east at the rate of half a mile per hunr, and
was so much damaged, that after in vain attempting to get to the
north between the ice and the land, Captain Gierke, on Jtdy 23rd,
determined to proceed to the southward, and reached the harbour
of St. Peter and St. Paul on August 24th.

Bussian Explorations East of the Biver Kolyma. — In the year 1762-
the Eiver Kolyma was descended by Schalarov, and the coast ex-
plored as far as Cape Chelagskoi. In the same year Sergeant-
Andrejew discovered the Bear Islands.

Hedenstrom, who explored the coast of Siberia between the years
1808 and 1811, makes the following remarks : — " The shores of the
Polar Ocean from the Lena to Behring Strait are, for the most
part, low and flat, rising but little above the level of the sea, that
in winter it is difficult to tell where the land terminates. A few
wersts, however, inland a line of high ground runs parallel with
the present coast, and formerly, no doubt, constituted the boundary
of the ocean. This belief is strengthened by the quantity of
decayed wood found on the upper level, and also by the shoals
which run out far to sea, and are probably destined at some
future period to become dry land. On these shoals during the
winter lofty hummocks of ice fix themselves, forming a kind of
bulwark along the coast, and often remaining there during the
whole summer without melting. The nearer the Arctic shore is
approached, the more scanty and diminutive the trees become.
Beyond 70° neither trees nor shrubs are met with.

In the year 1786 Billings built two boats— one 45 feet and the
other 28 feet long— at Jassaschnaon the Kolyma, and left the
entrance of the river in them on June 27th. The ice frequently com-
pelled them to run into bays, and take shelter under headlands. On
July 1st they attempted to sail to the north, and were not able to
get more than 20 miles from the shore when " the whole sea, as far
as the eye could reach, being covered with immense masses of ice, on
which the waves broke with tremendous violence," they were obliged
to tm-n back. Constant ice and frequent fogs impeded them so
much, that they did not pass the Great Baranov Eock before July
19th. Eleven miles further they came to ice hummocks aground in
16 fathoms water, when, it being impossible to go further, they
returned to the mouth of the Kolyma on July 26th.

In 1788 Billings sailed from Avatska and put into St. Lawrence
Bay, where the Tchutskis told him the sea was covered with such
quantities of ice that its navigation was impracticable. He there-

BILLINGS' AND WRAXGELL'S VOYAGES. 109

fore relinquished his plan of sailing to Cape Chelagskoi, and de-
termined to proceed by land. Eeturning in the ship to Mctchigme
Bay, he commenced his journey on reindeer sledges to Koliutchen
Bay. Sending his companion Gilew in a Tchutski baidar with
orders to survey the coast from East Cape to Koliutchen Island,
Gilew followed the coast to East Cape, where the ice was pressed
so closely on the shore that he was compelled to drag the baidar
across a narrow neck of land. He then fullowed the coast until
within 90 miles of Koliutchen Island, when the Tchutski refused to
go any further. Fortunately he fell in with a tribe of reindeer
Tchutski, who conducted him to Koliutchen Bay, where he met
with Captain Billings. After surveying the shores of this bay,
Billings proceeded with the Tchutski to the first Eussian settle-
ment on the Aniui (a tributary of the Kolyma), where he arrived
on February 17th. Speaking of the Tchutski land as barren in the
extreme, he says, " before July there is no symptoms of summer,
and on the 20th of August the winter sets in."

Baron Wrangell reached the mouth of the Kolyma on February
21st, 1821, temperature 26°, loading of each sleigh 1000 lbs. Leaving
on the 22nd, the Great Baranika was reached on the 27th, where
great quantities of drift-wood were found. At Chelagskoi Kess on
March 5th ice hummocks were 90 feet high. They then proceeded
40 miles east of Cape Chelagskoi, and returned to Niznei Kolymsk
on March 14th, having been absent twenty-two days, and travelled
over 650 miles.

With eight men, besides dog-drivers, 240 dogs, and twenty-two
sledges, carrying thirty days' provisions, he left the mouth of the
Kolyma on March 26th, temperature -f- 21° F. At a mile from the
shore they came to a chain of ice hummocks, and a wide fissure
in the ice. After three hours' labour they got through the hum-
mocks, and came upon an extensive plain of ice, broken only by a
few scattered masses ; at noon on the 28th, in lat. 69° 58' n., numerous
traces of foxes going in the same direction as ourselves. March
29th, temperature -|- 14°, at 4 p.m., reached the Bear Islands: an
appearance of open water to the n.n.w. There was a much greater
quantity of drift-wood on the north tlian tlie south side of the
islands. March 31st, wind north-east, temperature -f- 7° a.m. -f- 14
P.M., came upon sharp grains of seasalt; snow more soft and damp;
fog so moist as to Avet our clothing. Camped under a wall of ico
30 feet high. Thickness of ice 3i feet ; lat. 70° 53' n.

April 1st. — Thermometer -j- 23 a.m. -|- 7 p.m. After pursuing a
N. by E. course for 14 miles tracks of foxes were seen, and the ice

110 WRANGELL'S JOURNEYS IN 1821-22.

hummocks contained earth and sand. Travelling difficult ; seven
hours in accomplishing 19 miles.

April 2nd. — Wind north-west; snow; temperature + 18; course
N. by w. Many hummocks ; ice 1 foot thick ; three seals seen ;
depth of water 12 fathoms; green mud. Camped in lat. 71° 31' N.

April 3rd. — Thermometer -j- 1 6°, fox-tracks from w.s.w. to e.n.e.
Ice onl}^ 5 inches thick, and very rotten. Felt the undulatory
motion under the ice; lat. 71° 37'.

April 4th. — A gale from the north; temperature -)- 16°. Pro-
ceeded northerly with two sleighs ; reached lat. 71° 43'; ice so rotten
that we were compelled to return. The hummocks are sometimes
80 feet in height.

April 5th. — Wind s.s.e. ; temperature -|- 9 a.m. -(- 7 p.m. ; in
lat. 70° 30'.

April 6th. — Wind south-east ; temperatiire -f- 1 8 a.m., and — 2 p.m. ;
ice agitated, and in the north-east loud noise of ice crushing
together; lat. 71° 15'.

April 7th. — Wind east ; temperature -(- 5 a.m. — 6 p.m. ; in
lat. 70° 56'. April 8th. — \\ ind south ; temperatuie 0. Came upon
a wide fissure ; ferried across on a floating block of ice. Current
half a knot in an e.s.e. direction; depth of water 12i^ fathoms; ice
violently agitated, opening in various directions ; lat. 70° 46'. On
April 13th reached lat. 71° 4', where eight dogs fell through the
ice into the water. Eeturned to Four Pillar Island on the 18th, and
to Niznei Kolymsk on the 28th, having been absent thirty-six days,
and have travelled 700 miles with the same dogs.

In 1822 Baron Wrangell left Niznei Kolymsk on the 10th of
March, with five travelling and nineteen provision sledges carrying
provision for forty days. The Baranov Eock was reached on the
14th, and on March 23rd the thermometer rose to -|- 35° in lat.
70° 42' and 1° 50' E. of Baranov Eock. On April 9th, in lat. 71° 51'
and 3° 20' B. of Baranov Eock several fissures were met with, in
which a depth of 1 4^ fathoms green mud was found. Here the
ice hummocks prevented the heavy-laden sleighs proceeding further ;
a light sleigh proceeded 6 miles to the north, when all progress was
stopped by the complete breaking up of the ice and a close approach
to the open sea. On the 19th, in lat. 71° 18' and 4° 36' e. of
Baranov, a depth of 21 fathoms was found, with a rather strong
current running to the e.s.e. On the 22nd Cape Chelagskoi was
sighted, and they returned, on May 5th, to Kiznei Kolj^msk, having
been absent 57 days and travelled over 782 miles.

In 1823 Baron Wrangell left Baranika on March 5th and reached

WRANGELL'S JOUKNEYS IN 1828— VON ANJOU. Ill

Cape Chelagskoi on the 8th. Here the first Tchutski were met, who
told them the native name for the cape was Erri, and the name of
Cape North Ir-kai pi, and " that between these capes, from the top
of some cliffs near the mouth of the river, one might, in a clear
summer's day, descry snow-covered mountains at a great distance to
the north, but that in winter it was impossible to see so far." (This
is the first notice of the land afterwards discovered by Capt. Kellett,
in the Herald.') He had been told by his father that a Tchutski had
once gone there in a ' baidar,' and he thought the northern land was
inhabited.

On the 10th the journey was continued; several large heaps of
whalebone were seen, but very little drift-wood ; on arrival at
Schalarov Island (which is called Amgaoton by the natives) an
attempt was made to go to the north, but on the 21st, in lat. 70° 20'
N. and long. 174° 13' e., they were compelled to return, "the hum-
mocks now becoming absolutely and entirely impassable," and a
break in the ice was fallen in with, extending east and west
farther than the eye could reach and 150 fathoms across at its
narrowest part. The current was running 1^ knot to the eastward,
depth of water 22^ fathoms, in lat. 70° 51', long. 175° 27' E. " Frag-
ments of ice of enormous size were thrown by the waves with awful
violence against the edge of the ice-field." The coast to the eastward
was then followed, and habitations of the Tchutski as well as drift-
wood found, " which, in all probability, is of American origin ;
eventually Cape Korth was reached on April 11th.

The shores of the Bay of Anadyr are inhabited by a people
distinct from the Tchutski in figure, countenance, clothing, and
language, called Onkilon or Sea People ; there are traditions that
two centuries ago the Onkilon occupied the whole coast from Cape
Chelagskoi to Behring Strait, ^\'hales are particularly abundant
in the neighbourhood of Koliutchen Island.

On May 1st Cape Chelagskoi was reached, and Baron
^Vrangell returned to Niznei Kolymsk, after an absence of 78
days, having accomplished a distance of 1327 miles, or 17 miles per
diem.

M. Von Anjou took his departure from the north-west end of
Kotelnoi (the west island of New Siberia), on April 5th ; at a short
distance from the shore it was found necessaiy to open a path
through the ice hummocks by crowbars; at 20 miles from tlic
island they had 15 fathoms mud; in lat. 76° 38' n. they found 17
fathoms, and " the near vicinity of the open sea forbid further pro-
gress." They then crossed over to Fadojevskoi Island, from whence
"dense vapours" are seen, indicating the vicinity of the open sea.

112 VON ANJOU'S JOURNEY— WRANGELL'S REMARKS.

The expedition then crossed to the eastern island of the group, which
they reached on the 18th, and saw "to the north the open sea with
drift-ice." At Cape Eaboi " the ice appeared unbroken."

In 1822 M. Von Anjou left Svatoi Ness on April 10th, reached
Leakhow Island on the 12th, and Kotelnoi on the 18th ; following
the east coast, the north extremity was rounded, from whence they
attempted to go north, but were stopped by thin ice ; proceeding
easterly along its edge, land was seen to the s.s.w., which proved
to be a low island to which the name of Figurin was given. On
its shores " were drift-wood of larch, traces of bears and grouse, and
old nests of geese were found." They afterwards went 15 miles n.w.
by N., across large hummocks, when their progress was again arrested
by thin ice ; here they had 10 fathoms sand ; at last they came to
open water, in which, *' though the wind was westerly," the pieces
of ice were drifting from east to west. The sledge drivers were of
opinion "that this current was the ebb tide, the regular six-
hourly return of which they had noted."

They then went 60 miles in a north-easterly direction from Cape
Kaimenoy, when the thinness of the ice stopped them, and they
had a depth of 15 fathoms mud.

They reached Niznei Kolymsk on May 5th.

Baron WrangelVs Bemarks. — The fur-hunters, who visit North
Siberia and Kotelnoi Island every year and pass the summer there,
have observed that the space between these islands and the con-
tinent is never completely frozen over before the last days in
October. In the spring the coasts are quite free by the end of
June. Winter hummocks are frequently 100 feet high. The great
Polynia, or that part of the Polar Ocean which is always an open
sea, is met with about 4 leagues north of New Siberia, and from
thence, in a more or less direct line, to about the same distance
off the continent between Cape Chelagskoi and Cape North.
During the summer the current between Svatoi Ness and Koliutchen
Island is from east to west, and in autumn from west to east. North-
west winds prevail in the spring. The inhabitants of the north coast
of Siberia generally believe that the land is gaining on the sea,
and this belief is chiefly founded on the quantity of long withered
drift-wood which is now to be met with on the tundras and in the
valleys 20 miles from the present sea-line, and decidedly above its
level.

The Biirik, under the command of Lieutenant Von Kotzebue,
arrived off Behring Island on June 20th, 1816. He landed on

K0TZ1i:BUE, LUTKE, BEECHEY—' blossom's ' VOYAGE. 113

St. Lawrence Island on the 27th, reached Cape Prince of Wales
on the 30th, and discovered Kotzebue Sound on August ls.t.
After exploring it he returned to the south on the 19th. An
account of this voyage, in three volumes, was published in London
in 1821.

Captain Lutke, in command of the corvette Le Seniavine, visited
Behriug Strait in the years 1828 and 1829. To him we are indebted
for some valuable charts of the coast of Asia between the 53''
and 65^ of lat. A narrative of this portion of the voyage will be
found at C^hap. XL vol. ii., and from pages 17 to 56 in vol. iii. of the
account of the voyage, which was published in Paris in 1835.

Voyage of the ' Blossom.' — The Blossom left the harbour of St. Peter
and St. Paul on July 5th, 1826. On the 18th, when off St. Lawrence
Island, a current was found to be setting to the north-east, three-
quarters of a mile per hour. On the 20th, the Diomede Isles were
reached, and Kotzebue Sound on the 22nd. Leaving that place on
the 30th, the current off Point Hope was found to be superficial,
i.e., not extending 12 feet below the surface; but at the surface it
attained a rate in a westerly direction of 3 miles per hour. In the
evening it slacked to 1^ miles. On the 8th of August Cape Lis-
burn was reached, and the edge of the pack was fallen in with in
lat. 71'' 8' X. on the 13th. The barge, under the charge of Mr. Elson
was sent to the northward on the 1 7th, and the Blossom returned to
Kotzebue Sound on the 28th. The barge arrived here on the lOth
of September, having reached Point Barrow in 71° 23.^'. In re-
turning she was driven on shore by the pack ; but the wind coming
round to the s.s.E., she made her escape with much difficulty. The
ice at Point Barrow was aground in 4 fathoms water, and was
14 feet above the level of the sea. On the 13th of October the
thermometer fell to 27°, and the edge of the sound began to freeze.
The Blossom proceeded to sea and reached the Aleutian Islands
on the 22nd.

In the year 1828 the Blossom left St. Peter and St. Paul Harbour
on July 18 th. In crossing over to the American shore the tempera-
ture was found to be 21° higher. The ship arrived at Kotzebue
Sound on the 5th of August. Leaving on the 16th, the pack-edge
was reached on the 18th in lat. 70° 6', or 24 miles south of its
position on the 1 3th of the same month last year. On October 4th
the thermometer fell to 25° in Kotzebue Sound. Tlie ship left on the
6th, and reached the Aleutian Islands on the 14th. The following
are Captain Beeehey's remarks on the currents in Behriug Strait : —
" It does not appear from oui- passages acro.ss the sea of Kanis-

1

114 BEECHEY'S REMARKS.

chatka that any great body of water flows towards Behring Strait. In
one year the whole amount of current from Petropaulowski to St.
Lawrence Island was s. 54°, w. 31 miles, and in the next N. 50°, w. 51
miles, and from Kotzebue Sound to Oonemak n, 79°, w. 79 miles.

" Approaching Behring Strait tbe first year with light southerly
winds, the current ran north 16 miles per diem; and in the next,
with strong south-west winds, north 5 miles ; and with a strong
north-east wind, N. 34°, w. 23 miles. By this it appears that near
the strait, with southerly and easterly winds, there is a current to
the northward, and with northerly and north-westerly winds there
is none to the southward; consequently the preponderance is in
favour of the former.

" To the north of Behring Strait the northerly current is more
apparent. It was first detected ofi" Schischmaroff Inlet ; it increased
to between 1 and 2 miles per hour off Cape Krusenstern, and arrived
at its maximum 3 miles per hour off Point Hope : this was with
the flood ; with the ebb it ran w.s.w. half a mile per hour.

" Off Icy Cape the current appeared to be influenced by the winds.
Near Point Barrow it ran at the rate of 3 miles per hour and
upwards to the north-east, and did not subside immediately with
the wind ; but the current here must have been accelerated by the
pack closing in on the beach.

" It is a curious fact that the margins of the ice between America
and Asia, Europe and Greenland, lie as nearly as possible in the same
direction, viz., south-west and north-east, and that the navigation on
the west shores is impeded in a much lower latitude than the eastern.

" Near Icy Cape, south and west winds occasioned high tides ;
north and east, low ebbs. The tide rises about 2 feet 6 inches at
F. and C, and the flood comes from the southward.

" From St. Lawrence Island there appears to be a current running
to the north of about three-quarters of a mile per hour."

Expeditions in Search of Sir John Franhlin. — H.M.S. Herald, Captain
Kellett, arrived at Petropaulski on August 14th, and at Kotzebu
Sound on the 1st of September, where she remained until the 29th.

The Plover, Commander Moore, left Honolulu on August 25th,
reached the island of St. Lawrence on October 13th, went into
harbour near Tchutski Ness in lat. 64° 20' and long. 173° 15' w.
on the 25th, and was permanently frozen in on November 18th.

On June 13th a clear lane of water enabled the ship to put to sea,
and she arrived at Chamisso Island, Kotzebue Sound, on July 14th.

The Herald joined the Plover in Kotzebue Sound on July 15th,
and in company with the Nancy Dawson (Captain Shedden's yacht).

'HERALD' AND 'PLOVER,' 'NANCY DAWSON.' 115

proceeded to sea on the 18tli. On arriving at Wainwiight Inlet
the boats were dispatched from the ships on the 2oth instant, and
Lieutenant Pullen, in command of them, reached Point Barrow on
August 4th, in company with the Nanci/ Daioson. After seeing the
boats fairly off on their route to the Mackenzie Eiver, Mr. Shedden
rejoined the Herald in Kotzebue Sound.

The Herald reached her northernmost lat. 72° 51' n., in long.
163^48' w., on July 29th, and on August 17th an island was dis-
covered, with a long range of high land beyond it. Captain Kellett
thus describes the landing on the island : — " We reached the island,
and found running on it a heavy sea. The First Lieutenant,
Maguire, landed, having backed his boat in until he could get foot-
hold. I followed his example ; others were anxious to do the same,
but the sea was so high I could not permit them. We hoisted the
jack and took possession in the name of Her Majesty." " The
extent we had to walk over was not more than 30 feet, from which
we collected eight different species of plants." " The island is
about 4^ miles in extent east and west and 2^ north and south, in
the shape of a triangle, with the west end as the apex." " It is
almost inaccessible on all sides, and a solid mass of granite." " In-
numerable black and white divers here found a safe place to deposit
their eggs : not a walrus or seal was seen either on the shore or the
adjoining ice, and none of the small land birds."

Speaking of the land to the north Captain Kellett says : — " It
becomes a nervous thing to report a discovery of land in these
regions without actually landing on it, after the unfortunate mistake
to the southward; but as far as a man can be certain, who has
130 pairs of eyes to assist him, and all agreeing, I am certain we have
discovered an extensive land." The Herald returned to Kotzebue
Sound on the 1st of September.

The Plover, Commander Moore, passed the winter of 1 849-50 in
Estcholtz Bay, Kotzebue Sovmd, and he thus describes the breaking
up of the ice in the spring : — " As the bay cleared a little, giving
the ice more play, the ship became much hampered, requiring the
utmost vigilance to prevent her being pushed high upon the beach
or overwhelmed with the pressure of floe upon floe, frequently
depending upon her safety upon anchors and cables ; and when the
former, losing their hold in the ground, allowed her to drive, they
still had the effect of keeping the stem to the pressure to which I
conceive her safety was owing. On the 25th of Juno the ebb-tide
of both morning and evening thus forced the ship on the ground.
The floes, 3 to 4 feet in thickness, rising along the inclined plain
of the cable, then splitting to the distance of several hundred feet

I 2

116 ' PLOVER,' ' herald; 'INVESTIGATOR,' 'ENTERPRISE,' 1850.

ahead, were crushed beneath the stem or thrown outwards off the
bows; then passing astern, piled in broken masses, 12 or 15 feet in
height, along the shore of the bay." The Plover left Kotzebue
Sound on July 17th and proceeded to the northward, leaving the
ship off Wainwright Inlet on the 23rd, in two boats. Captain
Moore reached Point Barrow on the 27th, and went round it as far
as Dease Inlet, and returned to Grantly Harbour, Port Clarence, on
the 30th, where she passed the third winter.

The Herald left Oahu on the 24th of May, 1850, and reached
Kotzebue Sound on the 16th of July; and upon the 31st fell in
with the Investigator off Cape Lisburne, and returned to Port Clarence
on the 4th of Septembei'.

The Investigator left Oahu on July 4th, passed through the Aleu-
tian chain of islands on the 20th, and reached Cape Lisburne on
the 29th. Entered the ice in lat. 72° 1' N., and long. 155° 12' w.,
and at midnight on August 5th rounded Point Barrow in 73 fathoms
water, 10 miles from the land. They got into open water on the
American shore on the 7th, and landed at Port Drew on the 8th.

The Enterprise left the Sandwich Islands on June 30th, and passed
through the Aleutian chain of islands on July 28th, East Cape
was reached on August 12th, the total set of the currents in the
intervening fifteen days being N. 49°, E. 127 miles.

Proceeding north, the following table will show the daily position
of the ship at noon, and the current experienced in each 24 hours : —

Date.

August 13

„ 11

„ 15

„ 16

„ IV

„ 18

.. 19

Latitude.

Longitude.

68-56
70-26
70-39
71-50
72-44
72-41
72-29

166
162
160
160
159
158
158

-19

-48

-6

-36

-03

-52

-49

Current.

N. 60° W. 19 miles.

N. 21° E. 35 „

S. 83° E. 7 „

N. 3° W. 13 „

N. 28° W. 8 „

W. 9-4 „

N. 10 „

Passing Point Hope, Cape Lisburne, and Wainwright Inlet with-
out seeing anything of the Herald, Investigator, or Plover, the Enterprise
got up to the ice on the 16th, and pushing through some brash ice
entered an open lane, trending north-east and south-west, 10 miles
wide, up which she proceeded until she had gained a position north-
east by north 100 miles from Point Barrow, and had 45 fathoms
depth of water-mud. Here her progress was barred, and after
searching in vain for any opening on the southern side, she was
on the 21st within 30 miles of the land, without a prospect of

' ENTERPRISE,' 1850-51. 117

reaching it. The ice hummocks here were frequently found to
be 25 feet above the sea, and on one or two instances as much as
30 feet was seen ; but this was the greatest height. Hero no
bottom with 60 fathoms was found, and the temperature of the sea
rose to 40^. Seeing there was no hope of progress in this lane, the
ship's head was turned to the southward, having traced the pack in
a south-easterly direction for 145 miles fi'om lat. 72° 45' and long.
159° 5' w., with no signs of opening to east or south-cast. Further
progress to the eastward was considered impracticable this season.

Eeturning to the south, the southern edge of the pack was found
on August 27th to be 20 miles to the southward of where it was
on the 16th. Eounding it a lane of open water was found trending
E.N.E. and W.S.W., up which we proceeded, reaching at length lat.
73"^ 23', in long. 164^ 4' w., where the pack-edge, both to the east and
west, trended southerly, leaving no hope of further progress to the
north or east.

Point Hope was reached on August 31st, and Port Clarence on the
2nd of September. On the 14th the Enterprise again proceeded to
the north, and remained cruising between Cape Lisburne and Icy
Cape until the 30th, when the thermometer fell to 18°, and the ice
formed so rapidly as to interfere with navigation. We returned
to Port Clarence on the 2nd, and visited Fort Michailowski, in
Korton Sound, on the 16tla of October, where Lieutenant Bernard,
Mr. Adams, assistant-surgeon, and Thomas Cousins, A.B., were
landed.

Leaving Hongkong on the 2nd of April, 1851, the Enterprise touched
at the Bonin Islands on the 28th, passed through the Aleutian chain
on May 24th, and fell in with the pack in lat. 62° and long. 179° E.
on June 1st. Boring through the pack. Cape Behring was seen
on the 11th. On the 18th three baidars came off to the ship from
Cape Atchene, which was 8 miles distant. Cape Prince of Wales
was sighted on the 25th, but owing to the quantity of ice in Behring
Strait, Port Clarence was not reached until July 4th. The whole
length of the passage was 41 days, of which 28 were passed in the
pack. The position by account differs from that by observation N.
54° E. 264 miles, or 6^ miles per day. Leaving Port Clarence on
July 12th, Wainwright Inlet was reached on tlie I'.lth, and on the
20th the ship was beset in the pack off the Seahorse Islands, when
the following currents were experienced : —

118

'ENTERPRISE; 1851.

Date.

Time.

Set of Current.

Depth.

per

hour.

( 1 A.M.

N. by E.

0

5

July 20th.

I Noon.

N.E. by E.

0

9

( 4 P.M.

N.N.E.

0

4

1 2 A.M.

N.E. by N.

0

6

17 fms.

July 21st.

j 8 A.M.

N.N.E.

0

5

IS fms.

j Noon.

N. tone.

0

6

15J fms.

( 10 P.M.

E.

0

4

July 22nd.

j Noon.

E.

0

6

Lat. 71°-1'.

} 4 P.M.

E. by N.

0

4

Long. 158^-03'.

( Midnight.

N.E. by E.

0

4

20 fms.

July 23rd.
Lat. 71° -09'.

' 4 A.M.

Noon.

E. by N.
N.E. by E.

0
0

7
3

Set of the cur-

Long. 157° -37'.

4 P.M.

N.E. by E. iE

.0

5

rent while round-

Midnight.

E.N.E.

0

6

ing Point Bar-
row in the pack.

July 24th.

2 A.M.

Noon.

E. by E.
S.E.

0
0

6
5

Lat. 71° -12'.

4 P.M.

E.

0

5

Long. 156°- 51'.

8 P.M.

N.N.E.

0

5

Midnight.

N.

0

5

( 2 A.M.

E.

0

8

16 fms.

8 A.M.

N.N.W.

3

25 fins.

July 25th.

Noon.

N.E. by E.

8

Lat. 71° -27'.

2 p.m.

E.N.E.

3

Long. 156°- 12'.

6 P.M.

N.E. by E.

1

14J fms., sand.

10 P.M.

E.N.E.

3

13 fms., sand.

^Midnight.

E.N.E.

5

July 26th.

, 10 A.M.

N.

3

Lat. 71° -31'.

Noon.

N.E. by E.

8

32 fms.

Long. 151° -50'

2 P.M.

E.N.E.

3

24 fms.

Drifting past

• 8 P.M.

N.E. by E.

1

lU fms.

Point Barrow

10 P.M.

N.N.E.

3

13 fms.

in the jjack.

Midnight.

E.N.E.

1-5

During the 27th, the ice opened at times, permitting us to make
a little progress, nor could we perceive any current.

Throughout the whole of the 28th, we remained immovable,
except for an hour about noon, when we managed to warp her
through one or two holes, the depth of water varied from 13 to 11
fathoms mud. On the ice which was much broken up were many
shells (Nymphacea), which at first were thought to have been
brought there by birds : but, eventually, we came alongside a floe,
on which were three large stones (greenstone, 30 to 50 lbs. weight) :
therefore the mass we were alongside of, and which was surrounded
by ice as far as the eye could reach from the crow's nest, had been
in contact with the shore this season : the nearest land was 10 miles
distant. The ship remained alongside the stones the whole of the
29th, In the afternoon the current, which for the last twenty-four
hours had been imperceptible, took a south-easterly trend. On the

'PLOVER,' 1852. 119

30th, Point Barrow boro south-west by south, and there was open
water to the south, not more than 3 or 4 miles distant, which we
succeeded in warping into at 3.40 p.m., and, working between the ice
and the shore, reached Port Tangent at noon on the 31st. The
length of the passage from Cape Prince of Wales to Point Barrow
is 13^ daj's, during which we were 4^ days beset in the pack. The
total amount of current in the same time is N. 73° E. 172 miles, or
12*7 miles per day.

H.M.S. Dcedalus, Captain Wellesley, after encountering much
difficulty with the ice in the neighbourhood of St. Lawrence Island,
reached Port Clarence on July 15th. The Plover, after receiving
supplies, proceeded north, but, finding the pack very far south,
returned to her winter-quarters in Port Clarence on the 28th of
August, the Dcedalus leaving for the south on the 1st of October.

The Amphitrite, Captain Frederick, with Comm''- Maguiro and a
fresh crew for the Plover, arrived at Port Clarence on the 30th of
June. Leaving on the 12th, Comm"^ Maguire proceeded to the
north, and went up to Point Barrow in the boats, when a rapid
survey of the harbour was made, and suflScient depth of water for
the Plover was found, he returned to that vessel, and succeeded
in placing her in winter-quarters at Point Barrow on the 21st
of August, and was frozen in on the 24th of September. Before
being frozen in he succeeded in his boats in searching the coast to
the eastward as far as the Eeturn Reef of Franklin,

The Plover did not get clear of her winter-quarters at Point
Barrow until the 7th of August, and on the 11th of the same
month fell in with the Amphitrite, Captain Frederick, and, after ■
replenishing her provisions, returned to Point Barrow on Septem-
ber 7th. In attempting to prosecute the search easterly, an armed
body of Indians of the Koyukun tribe were met with, and were so
hostile that he was compelled to return ; otherwise ho would, in all
probability, have reached the Enterprise, which vessel was stopped
by the ice in Camden Bay, about 80 miles from the furthest point
reached by him.

The Plover cleared her winter-quarters on July 19tb, and, having
received fresh supplies from H.M.S, TnncomaZee, returned to Point
Barrow on August 28th, being in no way impeded by the ice. The
same evening the Enterprise arrived from the southwaid. This
latter vessel, which had wintered in lat. 70"^ 8', long. 145° 29' w.,
245 miles to the eastward of Point Barrow, where she was beset on
September 16th, and frozen in on the 2Gth in the pack in Camden
Bay, 4 miles from the shore.

On the 10th of July the whale-boat of the Enletprise under the

120 ' ENTERPRISE,' 1854— WHYMPER, 1865-66.

command of Lieutenant Jago was despatched from her to Point
Barrow, at which spot she arrived on the 24th. The ice broke up
sufficiently to admit of the ship being moved on the 15th, and she
reached Point Barrow on the 8th of August : Point Hope on the
10th ; but, owing to the prevalence of southerly winds and a strong
northerly current, did not arrive at Port Clarence until the evening
of the 21st, when we communicated with the Battlesnake, and found
that the Plover had sailed for Point Barrow two days previously.
After receiving some supplies, the Enterprise left for Point Barrow
on the afternoon of the 22nd. On the 28th we made the ice in lat.
71°-0 and long. loO'-O w., and reached Point Barrow the same after-
noon, and, after communicating with the Plover, returned to Port
Clarence on September 8th, the Plover arriving on the following
day. Both vessels left for the south on the 16th.

In the course of the years 1865 and 1866 expeditions were
equipped by Americans at San Francisco with the view of laying
down a telegraph-cable across the continents of Asia and America.
Mr. Whymper, who accompanied the expedition, has published an
interesting account of his explorations, from which a few extracts
have been made, as they bear on the ice movement.

In 1865 soundings were taken across Behring Sea between the
64° and QQ° of latitude, when the bottom was found to be very
even, with an average depth of 19^ fathoms.

In 1866 Mr. Whymper left Petropaulowski on August 6th, and
reached Plover Bay on the 14th, where 14 men were left to pass
the winter. Leaving Plover Bay on the 20th, Norton Sound was
reached on the 24th. The ice in Norton Sound forms early in
October, but is frequently broken up and carried to sea. On
Christmas eve all the ice was blown out of the bay. In the spring
the bay was not clear of ice until the third week in June.

He then proceeded overland to the Kwipak or Yukon Eiver, and
spent the winter at Nulato (the Eussian fort where Lieut. Barnard
was killed in 1851). Nulato by the river is 600 miles from its
mouth ; opposite the Fort it is li mile wide, and occasionally opens
out into lagoons 4 and 5 miles across. The ice began to move on
the river opposite the fort on April 5th, and on May 19th was
rushing past at the rate of 5 or 6 miles per hour, bringing with it
a large quantity of drift-wood, and rising 14 feet above its usual
level. On the 26th Mr. Whymper left Nulato and, ascending the
river 600 miles, reached Fort Yukon on June 23rd, which he
estimates to be in latitude 66° N. This is the Hudson's Bay post to
which the Eat Indians brought a communication from Comm"^
Maguire, with whom they fell in with near the mouth of the

RIVER YUKON— WHALING FLEET. 121

Colville. They afterwards came on board the Enterprise just as she
was on the point of leaving her winter-quarters in Camden Bay in
1854. The fort was established in the year 1847. Mr. Whymper
left the fort on his return on July the 8th : the current sometimes
carryiug him 100 miles in 24 hours, they arrived at Nulato on the
loth, and on the 23rd entered the northern mouth of the river (the
Aphoon), and reached Behring Sea the same afternoon.

The Kwipak, or Yukon, empties itself into Behring's Sea through
five mouths, all of which are shoal, and extend from lat. 62^ to
63° 25'. The Eussian boats from Michaelowski usually occupy
35 days in ascending the river to Nulato; but that post can bo
reached in 5 days from the head of Norton Sound by travelling
overland.

Extract from a letter from Captain Long to H, M. Witney, Esq.,
dated Honolulu, November 5th, 1867 : —

" Wrangell Land was first seen on the evening of the 14th of August,
and the next day at 9.30 a.m. the ship was 18 miles distant from the
west point .... which was found to be in lat. 70° 46' and long.

178° 30' E The lower parts of the land were entirely free

from snow, and had a green appearance as if covered with vege-
tation Near the centre, or about long. 180°, there is a moun-
tain which has the appearance of an extinct volcano : by approxi-
mate measurement I found it to be 2480 feet high The

south-east cape, which he named Cape Hawaii, was found to be in

lat. 70° 40' N. and long. 178° 51' w From long. 175° to long.

170° E. there were no indications of animal life in the water. It
appeared almost as blue as it does in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean, though there was but from 15 to 18 fathoms in any place
within 40 miles of the land."

Captain Long thinks a propeller might readily have steamed up
north on the west or east side of this land ; and he believes it to be
inhabited. According to his track-chart he made Cape North on
August 2nd, sailed along the Asiatic continent, passing close to
Cape lakan on the 4th, and reached Cape Chelagskoi on the 9th.
On the 10th the furthermost western point was obtained in long.
170° 30' E. and lat, 70° 45' N.

Captain Eodgers, in 1855, reached the 72° of latitude in long.
174° 40' w,, afterwards, returning southerly, ho passed between
Wrangell Land and Capo Jakan, having a depth of 25 fathoms
water, and reached long. 176° 40' E. in lat. 70° 45' N.

Extract of a letter from Captain Craynor to Mr. Witney, dated
November 1, 1867:—

" On my last cniize I sailed along the south aud east side of

122 WHALING FLEET.

Wrangell Island for a considerable distance three separate times,
and once cruized along the entire shore I made the south-
west cape to be in n. lat. 75° 20' and b. long. 178° 15', and the
south-east cape in lat. 71° 10' and long 176° 40' w The cur-
rent runs to the north-west from 1 to 3 knots per hour. In long.
170° 10' w. we always find the ice-barrier from 50 to 80 miles

further south than we do between that and Herald Island

In such shoal water the currents are changed easily by the wind."

Captain Long, in a letter dated January 15th, 1868, thus sum-
marises his opinion of the currents in Behring Straits : —

" The currents here have been found variable : in the spring and
summer the current is always found setting towards the north;
in the autumn and winter months, from information derived from
natives of the coast and whalers that have wintered in Plover
and St. Lawrence Bays, the current is found setting towards the
south. The barque Gratitude was wrecked in lat. 82^° N." (? 72^° n.),
" long. 168°, about 40 miles from Cape Lisburn, in the early part
of July, 1865, was seen in the month of August near Herald Island,
170 miles in a n.n.w. direction from the position in which she was
wrecked.

" The Ontaria was wrecked in September, 1866, in lat. 70° 25',
and during the following winter was seen by the natives drifting
through Behring Strait to the south, and was afterwards seen on
shore in lat. 64° 50' n.

The following account of the wreck and abandonment of the
whaling fleet off Wainwright Inlet, in September 1871, is taken
from the ' Hawaiian Gazette : '

" The fleet passed through Behring Straits between the 18th
and 30th of June. In July the main body of the ice was found
about lat. 69° 10', with a clear strip of water running to the north-
east along the land. In the second week in August most of the
ships were north of the Blossom Shoals, and some as far as Wain-
wright Inlet. Here they remained fishing until August 29th,
when a south-west wind set the ice inshore very fast, and at length
the ships were all jammed close together. On September 7th the
barque Boman was crushed by the ice like an eggshell, in forty-five
minutes, and on the 8th the barque Awaslionks was crushed. On
the 9 th the weather was calm, and the water around the ships froze
over. Not having provisions to last over three or four months, a
meeting of the Masters was held on the 13th, when it was deter-
mined to abandon the ships, which was done at 4 p.m. on the 14th,
and reached the barques Arctic, Midas, and Progress, on the 16th ;
the distance traversed in the boats being about 70 miles. In all,

DR. SIMPSON'S REMARKS. 123

thirty-one vessels were either cnishod or abandoued, and seven
vessels were saved.

Dr. Simpson's BemarJcs. — " Through the large opening between the
American and Asiatic continents, occupied by the Aleutian Islands,
there is an almost imperceptible set from the Pacific Ocean north-
wards, the waters of which, retaining the impulse given them by the
earth's rotation in a lower' latitude, draw towards the American
shores, and throw themselves into Norton Bay. They are thence
driven with increasing force along the coast of America opposite the
island of St. Lawrence, diffusing themselves to the north of that
island to be carried with lessened speed through the Straits of
Behring, after receiving in the latter part of their course the fresh-
water stream falling through Grantly Harbour into Port Clarence.'
Spreading again over a larger space, they receive a further tribute
from Kotzebue Sound, which is very palpable off Port Hope.
Again in the latitude of Icy Cape the earth's rotation gives them
an easterly set, forming an almost constant current along the north
coast of America to Point Barrow, whence it pursues a direction
north-east. Throughout all this course the current is subject to
retardations, and even surface-drifts in an opposite direction, caused
by northerly and north-easterly winds, but it is also accelerated
by southerly and south-westerly gales."

" In the beginning of the summer the eastern side south of the
straits is free from ice, and Norton Bay itself is usually cleared as
early as April. After the middle of June not a particle of ice is
to be seen between Port Spencer and King's Island ; whilst the
comparatively still water north of St. Lawrence Island is hampered
with large floes until late in July."

" This can be satisfactorily accounted for by the existence of a
northerly current partly driving and partly throwing the ice down
from the American shores. There is scarcely a particle of drift-
wood to be had on the Asiatic coast from Kamschatka tq East Cape,
whilst abundance is to be found in Port Clarence and Kotzebue
Sound, as well as along the whole American shore from Norton
Bay to Port Barrow.

" Although it has been found that pine-trees 60 inches in girth
grow here on the banks of the American rivers, within the
67th parallel of latitude, yet from the frequently larger size of the
trunks and their great abundance, it is evident these northern
regions, including Norton Bay, cannot supply the quantity : and
more southern rivers, whether Asiatic or American, or both, must

' Dr. Simpson was not aware of tlio importance of the River Yukon.

124 DR. SIMPSON'S REMARKS.

be looked to for the numerous multitude of water-worn stems and
roots strewed almost everywhere along the beach. Their southern
origin would also seem to be indicated by the presence in many
of them of the remains of the Teredo navalis, which could hardly
retain life throughout the rigour of eight or nine months' frost every
year." It would seem that between St. Lawrence Island and the
coast of Asia the current is variable, and seldom entirely free
from ice until late in July ; hence the many disasters to whalers
in 1851, and the difficulties the Dcedalus and Enterprise encountered
the same season by taking the westward passage, whilst an open
boat from the Plover was able, between the 17th of June and the
1st of July, to make the run to Michaelowski in Norton Bay and
back without her crew seeing any ice."

" The Amphitrite in 1852 was able to reach Port Clarence on the
30 th June by the eastern passage without seeing but one floe,
which had probably been recentl}^ released from some of the nooks
in Norton Bay : although late in the same month the master of a
M^haling ship reported that the ice was still fast as low as lat.
58° and 60° between the longitude of Gore's Island and the coast of
Kamschatka."

" To the northward of Cape Prince of Wales the warm water is
always found on the American coast. From frequent observations
the temperature of the water near East Cape was found to be 35°,
while that near Cape Prince of Wales was 53°. The cold current
sets south along the coast of Asia."

" From recorded observations it appears that the coast from Icy
Cape to Point Barrow is frequently packed with ice in the end of
July and the beginning of August. The cause of this seems to
be the occasional prevalence of westerly and north-westerly winds,
which drive the pack upon the coast, again to be cleared away by
the north-east current along shore as soon as these winds have
spent their force : and southerly and south-east winds will have
the opposite effect of driving it in a more northerly direction, and
leave the navigation more open than usual. At Icy Cape the
current on Captain Beechy's chart is marked running both ways
along shore, but not, it is presumed, with the regularity of a regular
tidal ebb and flow. During the continuance of an easterly gale
from the 29th of July to the 5th of August, and a fresh breeze
following for two days at that cape, floating substances were
observed to drift slowly to leeward, whilst the waves were short,
irregular, and much more broken than usual, to a distance of 12
miles off, as if caused by a weather-current. This may, however,
be partly owing to the shoals extending 4 miles off the land. On

DR. SIMPSON'S REMARKS. 125

the 3rd, a whaling vessel stood within 6 miles of the shore, tacked,
and stood out again, making such progress to jj'indward as a sailing
vessel could only do when favoured by a strong weather-current."

" From Icy Cape to the Seahorse Islands, in addition to drift-wood,
there is strewed along the beach a quantity of coal, which, though
much water-worn, may, in some of the indentations, be collected in
sufficient abundance, and bituminous enough to make an excellent
fire for cooking. It is of the sort called candle-coal, and some of
the pieces are sound enough to be carved by the natives into lip
ornaments."

" At the Seahorse Islands it is found as fine as small gravel, and,
on digging into the beach, is seen to form alternate layers with the
sand ; but between Wainwright Inlet and Icy Cape it is gathered
in knots of a convenient size for fuel. This may be taken as a
farther evidence of the set of the current, as the nearest kno'svii
point whence the coal is brought is that marked on the chart as
Cape Beaufort. The whole extent of the coast from below Icy
Cape to Point Barrow is bordered by a beach of gravel, which has
likewise a southern origin, and determines the form of the con-
tinent, ofiering as it does an efiective barrier to the encroachment
of the sea, which would otherwise speedily undermine the earth-
cliffs behind. All that can be seen from the seaboard landward is
a flat, alluvial plane, seldom exceeding 20 feet in elevation, and
containing numerous pools and lagoons of fresh water, but without
a tree or bush to relieve the view."

" The tides are hardly appreciable and very irregular at Kotzebuo
Sound and Port Clarence ; there the sea usually retains a very low
level during the prevalence of northerly, north-easterly, and easterly
winds, and the highest levels occur with southerly and south-
westerly gales. During a stay of seven days at Icy Cape, with a
prevailing gale at east and e.x.e., the same low-water level obtained
as much as 4i feet below the highest surf-mark, the undeniable
effects of westerly and south-westerly winds. With the drifted
material left on those marks where the shore has a westerly aspect
were several varieties of dead shells, identical in species with those
previously dredged from the bottom of the sea in deep water, 25
to 30 fathoms in the straits and north of them."

It will be seen by the foregoing abstracts that the navigation of
the Arctic Sea between Behring Straits and Point Barrow is com-
paratively easy to vessels fitted for ice- navigation. The current of
warm water from the PaciBc sets continually to the north-east
throughout the summer months, and forms a lane between tlie pack
and the land which enabled the Blossom's barge, ou August 2l8t,

126 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

1826, to reach Point Barrow, Mr. Shedden, in a schooner-yacht
of 140 tons, rounded Ihe Point on August 4th, 1849.

The Investigator, Comm"'- McClure, on August 5th, 1850.

The Enterprise, Captain Collinson, on August 20th, 1850.
„ „ „ on July 25th, 1851.

The Plover, Comm'^- Maguire, on August 20th, 1852,

and wintered there, being frozen in on September 24th.

The Plover left her winter quarters on Aiigust 7th, 1853.

Eeturned to „ • „ on September 7th, 1853.

Left again her „ „ on July 19th, 1854.

Eeturning to her „ „ on August 28th, 1854.

Enterprise returning from the eastward,

Eounded the Point on August 8th, 1854.

And returned from Port Clarence on August 28th, 1854.

The season of 1854 was, undoubtedly, the most open, the ice
being so far from the Point that the whaling ships were enabled to
fish off it.

The season may be considered to be open from the beginning of
July to the middle of September. The pack is usually met with
off Icy Cape, and should westerly winds have prevailed and forced
the pack into the shore, a vessel will do well to wait until the
wind subsides, when the current will be sure to open the lane
between the land and the pack. Easterly winds check the current,
and, after a continuation of them, there is a set alongshore to the
southward. Some natives got adrift in the ice in 1853, and were
carried by this set to the southward of Icy Cape, the land being
always in sight.

In both years the Plover wintered at Point Barrow. The ice
round the Point was broken up, and swept to the northward by
south-westerly gales. At times no ice could be seen from the mast-
head. In 1853 this disruption occurred in December, and caused
the water to rise 3^ feet above the highest spring-tide. The tem-
perature at the same time rose to-|- 30^ F. In January, 1854, the
same thing occurred, the thermometer on this occasion rising to
-|- 27°. During both winters a water-sky to the north-west was
generally observed from the ship, unless after a long continuance of
north-westerly winds or calm weather. There is but little rise and
fall of the tide, 0'7 inches being the average. With fine weather
or easterly winds they were very regular, but a south-west gale
upset them altogether.

Eskimo whale-fishing commenced on May 7th, 1853, the open

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

127

water being 4 miles from Point Barrow, extending in an e.n.e.
and w.s.w. direction, with a depth of 10 fathoms water.

Between the 4th and 7th of Jul}' about thirty oomiaks, carrying
about 150 people, went to the eastward. The ship swung to her
anchor on July 25th, and the ice was in motion in the offing on
July oOth.

An abstract from the Plover s log, which I have to thank Staff-
Comm"' Hull for, shows the number of days in each month that open
water, as well as a water sky, was seen from that vessel during the
two winters spent at Point Barrow. In 18^2-53, open water was seen
on twenty-seven days between October and April, and in 1853-54
on seven days only, whilst the indication of open water occurred
during the same period in 1852-53 on fifty-seven days, and in 1853-54
on sixty-two days. December, January, and February appear to
be the months during ^which the ice is more frequently in motion.

It will be, perhaps, advisable here to introduce the tables of
monthly temperatures taken from Dr. Simpson's paper.

1852-53.

1853-54.

Month.

Max

Min.

Mean.

Max.

Min.

Mean.

Sept. .

+42-

+ 12-

+ 28-9

+ 41-

- 3-

+23-0

Oct. .

+27

-21-

+ 8-9

+ 14-

-22.

- 0-8

Nov. .

+ 25

-37-

- 7-8

+ 22-

-26-

- 7-4

Dec. .

+ 28

-37-

- 8-7

+ 7-

-40-

-lS-7

Jan. .

+ 10

-43-

-23-8

+27-

-37-

-13-7

Feb. .

+ 3

-3G-

-17-4

- 3-

-45-

-27-9

March

+24

-37-

-12-7

+23-

-42-

-17-8

April .

+ 33

-40-

+ 3-8

+ 26-

-17-

+ 1-6

May .

+44

- 6'

+ 18-5

+42-

- 3-

+ 20-5*

June .

+ 45

+ 17-

+ 32-1

+ 47-

+ 24-

+ 32-8

July .

+ 52

+ 26-

+ 35-4

+ 51-

+ 28-

+ 37-2

August

+49

• +31-

+38-7

+ 48-

+ 29-

+ 39-1

Means

+32

•3 -142

+ 7-2

+ 28-7

-12-8

+ 5-7

It is remarkable that, though the winter of 1852-53 was warmer
than the ensuing one, the Plover was detained by the ice in her
winter-quarters until August 7th; whereas in 1854 she made her
escape to the southward on July 23rd, and the ico during the
summer was so far off the Point, that the whale-ships fished olF it.
The temperatures observed on board the Enterjmse, which vessel
wintered in the pack 245 miles to the eastward, in 1853-54, are
given for the sake of comparison.

128

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.

Month.

Max.

Mean.

Thickness
of Ice on
the 1st.

October
November
December
January-
February
March
April . .
May ..
June . .
July ..

+24
+ 20

- 4
+27

- 5
+ 16
+ 19
+47
+ 46
+53

-20
-33
-51
-49
-51
-47
-26

+ 26

+27

+ 0-6

inch
0-

- 9-6

2-

-26-0

2-

-16-2

4-

-31-8

5-

-20-0

6-

-00-9

6-

+ 23-0

7-

+ 32-4

7-

+ 37-5

4-

•07

•02

•11

•00

•00

•00

•02

•00|

•02'

•11

On July 10th the water along the coast was sufficiently open to
send the whale-boat to Point Barrow. On the loth the ice broke
up, which was three days earlier than at Point Barrow. The ship
left Camden Bay on the 20th, but, owing to obstruction by the ice,
did not reach Point Barrow until the afternoon of August 7th.

In comparing the monthly temperatures of Camden Bay and
Point Barrow, the increased temperature at the latter place is very
perceptible, and is, no doubt, occasioned b}' the open water. Neither
open water nor water-sky was seen from Camden Bay. In the
month of April an attempt was made to go north from the Enter-
prise with three sleighs; but on the second day the hummocks
were found to be impassable. One sleigh utterly broke down, and
several accidents from severe falls rendered it necessary to give up
the attempt and return to the ship. The snow-drift on these hum-
mocks lay in continuous ridges east and west, indicating that no
dislocation of the ice had taken place during the winter.

The condition of the ice north of the American continent affords
a remarkable contrast with that on the Asiatic shore, where year
after year open water is found all the way fi-om Kotelnoi Island to
North Cape, a distance nearly 1000 miles. Here, instead of a
compact pack, which in the neighbourhood of Point Barrow is
occasionally moved off the shore and brought back by the force of
the wind, but which appears to remain perfectly quiescent along
the coast to the eastward, the water, for some reason or other, is pre-
vented from freezing, and the traveller is continually brought to a
stop by the thinness of the ice or open water itself. This water,
on referring to Baron \yrangeirs and M. Von Anjou's Journals,
will be found to be always in motion, and remarks such as follows

On the 15th, 6^3 inches.

NATIVE NAMES FOR PLACES, lli9

are found in their Journals : — " Current A a knot in an e.s.e. direc-
tion." " Strong current running E.S.E." *' Oft' Schalarov Island,
current running 1^ knot to the eastward." " Though the wind
was westerly the pieces of ice drifted from east to west ; the sledge-
drivers were of opinion that this was the ebb tide, the regular six-
hourly return of which they had noted."

It will be seen on reference to the meteorological register kept
on board the Enterprise, where the thickness of the ice was mea-
sured on the first of every month, that the thickness increased
up to June 1st, the mean temperature of the month of May
being -|- 23^. The change in the character of the ice cannot there-
fore be ascribed to the temperature of the atmosphere, but will
probably be found due to the motion of the water. These Polynias,
or open spaces of water, have since been fallen in with to the
north of Grinnell Land and in the upper portion of Smith Sound,
and they were seen by Lieutenant Payer in the recent voyage
of the Tegethoff, as far north as the 82° of latitude. It is to be
noted that the open water on the Siberian coast occurs in com-
paratively shallow water under 20 fathoms, whereas in the neigh-
bourhood of Point Barrow the water deepens with great rapidity.

Nativk Names for Some Places bktwee>j the Mackenzie R]ver
AND Point Hope.

The Mackenzie, Imna (?)

Village betweeu it and Point Kay, Pe-ock-cha.

Point Kay, Te-kee-ra.

Keef East of Herschel Island, Ke-yuk-ta-zia.

Herschel Island, Ke-yuk-ta-hue.

Barter Island, Koo-na-miaou.

Fisliing-station this side, Ac-hut.

Village visited hy us in tlie aiitunm, Noo-na-ma-luk.

Village about? miles s.e. by e. from 1 ^f,^,^,^^.^

ship, j

Komanzoff chain of hills, Chud-loo-o-sak.

Canning Kiver, Kook-Voak.

Flaxman Island, Kapa-gill-lok.
Between Point Barrow and Flax-1 ^, „

rii;iii Island, ) "^

I'oint Barrow, Noo-wook.

Beyond Point Barrow, Ot-kia-mik-miot.

Northern stream between Refuge"! /i^./-, 7,,

Inlet and Cape Smyth, / ^'^'

Cape Smyth, Noo-oo.

Kefuge Inlet, Noo-nahoo or Jl-lip-»u.

Inlet south of it, Too-na-mut.

Cape Lisburn, Te-ga.

K

130 EX'I'RAC'I'S FROM 'PLOVER'S' LOG.

Village between Cape Dyei- andi ri'„^_^f

Gape Lisburn, /

Village north of Asses' Eais, Ka-vm-due.

Point Hope, Noo-na.

Icy Cape, Vl-ron-nu.

Wainwright Ink t, Kvrj-ru-ah.

EXTRACTS FROM THE LOG OF H.M.S. Plover, 1S52.

On passage from Poit Clarence to Point 1 '.arrow, encountered the ice off
Icy Cape, but found no difficulty in reaching Point Barrow, where we anchored
on the 3rd September.

Septernher.

4. A heavy N.W. gale brought in the pack.
9. An easterly wind cleared off the same.
13. Pack returns with a N.W. wind.
15. Pack cleared out by a southerly wind.
20. N.W. winds bring the pack in.

22. Open sea beyond the ground hummocks at 5 miles N.W., true, of Point
Bairow.

26. Frozen in.

Octoher.
21. Open water 5 miles from Point Barrow,
26.

27. [Water Skv.— S.W. to N.N.E.
28.

Novemher.

Hwater Sky.— S.W. to N.N.E.

7. Open water within 3 mile of Point Barrow.

8. Water Sky.— W. S.W. to N.E.
10. Water Sky.— S.W. to N.

!;!• IWater Sky to the N.W.

30.)

Water Sky seen for 9 days in November.

December.

JHwater Sky.— W.S.W. to E.

13.

15. [Water Sky.— S.W. to N.W. and N.

16.)

17. Break up of the ice with a heavy S.W. gale. Thermometer + 30° Fahr.

From this date until the 1st of January the sea may be said to have been
open for another southerly gale. On the 28th took all the young ice out
to sea.

5 days Water Sky, and ojien watei- on IG days in December.

EXTitACTS FROM 'PLOVER'S' LOG. 131

1853.

Jatiuary.

1. A few hummocks in sight.

2. Sea freezino; a^aiu.
5. Water Skv^— W. to N.E.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19./

24.]

^g [water Sky.— S.W. to N.E.

29 J

Water Sky seen on 16 days in January.

• Water Sky.— W. to N.E.

February.

4. Water Sky.— N.W. to E.

q' [Open water seen from Point Barrow.

9. Water Sky.— W.N. W. to N.N.E.
12. Ice packed heavily oa W. side of Point Barrow, piled to the height of
20 feet.

^Hwater Sky.— W.S.W. to N.N.E.

19.

20.[0pen water again seen from Point Barrow, after a strong easterly gale.

21.)

23. 1

^g- Water Sky.— W. to N.

27.'

Water Sky seen on 9 days, and open water on 5 days in February.

March.

1. Water Sky.— W. to N.
7. \

8.

9.
13.
14.
25.
26.

Water Sky.— W. to N.E.

Water Sky seen on 8 days in March.

Aijril.

3. Water Sky.— W.S.W. to N.E.
7. Water Sky.— N. to N.E.

K 2

132 EXTRACTS FROM 'PLOVER'S' LOG.

April
18.
23.

24.

25.

26. ) Water Sky.— W. to N.E.

27.

28.

29.

30.^

Water Sky seen on 11 days in A])ril

May.

HWater Sky.— N.W. to N.E.

^■[Open water seen from Point Barrow after strong easterly winds.

8!)
to [Water Sky continuous. — N.W. to E.
31.J

Water Sky seen on 25 days in May.

June.

2 J Water Sky.— W.N.W. to N.E.

12.)

to Water Sky.— W. to N.E.
19.J

Water Sky seen on 11 days in June.

July.

9. Boats left for the open water.
10. Open water seen from ship.
24. Sbip free from ice, but pack close in to the Point.

30. The grounded hummocks off Point Barrow moved to the N.E.

31. Open water off Cape Smyth, south of Point Barrow.

August.

7. Pack left the land : Plover left Point Barrow.

8. Beset in Peard Bay ; current running N.E.

9. Cleared the pack off Cape Franklin.

August.

31. On return to Point Barrow met the pack 15 miles north off Icy Cape
current setting N.E.

EXTRACTS FROM 'PLOVER'S' LOG. 133

September.
2.)
to > Beset ofi Refuge Inlet.

5.)
6. Cleared the pack, but again beset off Point Barrow, and carried to the
N.E. at the rate of 2 miles an hour. Succeeded in getting alongside of a
grounded hummock.

7. Cleared pack, and anchored in Point Barrow.
16. Frozen in.
25. Inshore waters frozen ; but open sea from Point Barrow.

October.
B.\
4.
6.

J J* ]; Water Sky.— W. to N.E.

12.
13.
14. '

Water Sky seen on 8 days in October.

November.
3.)
22. [Water Sky.— N.AV. to N.E.
23.)

Water Sky seen on 3 days in November.

December.

7. Water Sky.— W.N. W. to N.E.

8. Great pressure of ice on outer spit ; ice forced up 22 feet. No appa-
rent cause. Wind S.W. and calm.

9.1

> Water Sky.— N.W. to N.E.

10.
11.
12.
13.
21.

r'y' [Water Sky.— N.W. to E.N.E.

27.1

Water Sky seen on II days in December.

1854.
Januarij.

3. [Water Sky.— N.W. and N.

12. Heavy S.W. gale taken out tlie ice from the Point.

13. Open water from ina:;t-head as far as C"uld he seen.

14. Ditto (lu. Temperature + 28" Fahr.

15. Sea freezing.

134 EXTRACTS FROM 'PLOVER'S' LOG.

January.
•16. Open water off Point Barrow.

Jglwater Sky.— N.W. to E.

■>[ce piled to the height of 30 feet on the spits S. of Point Barrow.
Water Sky seen on 12 days in January, and open water on 4 days.

19.
20.

February.
23.)

24. [Water Sky.— N.W. to E.
• 25.

27.' pP™

water seen from the grounded hummocks near Point Barrow.
Water Sky seen on 5 days in February.

March.

^•IWater Sky.— N. toE.

e.JWaterSky.- W. toE.

12. Captain Maguire walked to the edge of the shore floe, about 10 miles to
the N.W. of Point Barrow; found the ice in the open water to be setting
slowly to the eastward.

20. '

21.
23.

25.
26.
27.
28.

I Water Sky from N. to E.

Water Sky seen on 13 days in March.

April.

9.
10.

12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
19.
20.
22.
23.
26.
27.
29.

30.;

) Water Sky— N.W. to N.E.

Water Sky seen on 17 days in April.
Water Sky was seen all May. Officers away with natives whaling.

MACKENZIE— FRANKLIN. ISo

May.

13. Water only 2^ miles from Point Barrow. Loose ice on that day
moving slowly to the southward. Water Sky seen all the month.

June.

All June a Water Sky observed.

July.

10. Open water at Point Barrow.

15. Ship free from ice.

18. General break up.

23. Plover cleared the pack-ice off Wainwright Inlet.

August.

19. Plover saileil from Port Clarence to Point Barrow without being in any
way impeded by the ice.

30. Sailed South from Point Barrow.

The above notes, which show the prevalence of open water in the vicinity
of Point Barrow, where H.M.S. Plover, Commander Rochfort Maguire,
wintered in 1852-3-4, are copied from that vessel's log-book.

Uh March, 1875. Thomas A. Hull.

2.— A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE EXPLORATION OF THE

POLAR SEA

Between Point Barrow and the River Mackenzie, including the A^oyages
of the Investiyator and Enterprise to Banks Land.

Voyage of Mackenzie to the Polar Sea, 1789. — Sir A. Mackenzie,
attended by a German, four Canadians, and three Indians, together
with two Canadian and two Indian women, left Fort Chipewyati
on June 3rd, 1789, in four birch-bark canoes. The Slave Lake
was reached on the 9th, where they had to remain six days to
enable the ice to give way. They then entered at the west end of
the lake the river which now bears tlic name of Mackenzie, and
eventually reached the Great Northern Ocean on the 15th of July.
Returning by the same route, the party regained Fort Chipewyan
on September 12th.

Captain Franldin^s Second Voyaye, 1825-2(j. — Three boats were
built at Woolwich for tliis expedition, one of whicli was 20 feet,
and the two others 24 feet long, and a small vessel, 0 feet loTig,
4 feet 4 inches wide, wliich weighed only 85 lbs,, and could bo
made up in five or six parcels. These were forwarded lo York
Factory in 1824.

136 CAPTAIN FRANKLIN, 1826— DEASE AND SIMPSON, 1837.

The expedition, consisting of Captain Franklin, Lieutenant Back,
Dr. Richardson, Mr. Kendall, and Mr. Drummond, witii four marines,
left Liverpool in February, 1825. Passing tlirough the United
States and Upper Canada, Fort William, on Lake Superior, was
reached on May 10th, and the Methye Eiver on June 29th, where
they joined the boats which had been forwarded from Hudson Bay,
and arrived at Fort Chipewyan on the 15th of July. Leaving it
on the 25th, Fort Eesolution was reached on the 29th, and the
Mackenzie Kiver on the 3rd of August. Quitting Fort Simpson
on the 5th, they arrived at Fort Norman on the 8th, and Fort Good
Hope on the 10th, and the Polar Sea on the 16th, and returned to
Fort Good Hope on the 23rd; arrived at Great Bear Lake on Sep-
tember 1st: the total distance travelled over from New York being
5803 miles.

Passing the winter at Fort Franklin, in lat. 65° 12', long. 123° 13',
Captain Franklin, accompanied by Lieutenant Back, in the two
boats which were named the Lion and Beliance, left the Fort on
June 22nd, 1826, arrived at Fort Norman on the 25th, Fort Good
Hope on July 1st. The month of the river was reached on the
7ih. The Eskimo Avere met with, who attempted to pillage the
boats.

Detained b}' the ice, being pressed close on the shore, but little
progress was made. The rise and fall of the tide was found to be
about 2 feet. Point Kay was reached on the 15th, Herschel Island
on the 17th, and Point Demai'cation on the 31st. A black whale
and several seals weie seen, and the ice was driving with great
lapidity to the westward. Barter Island was arrived at on the 4th
of August, and here a musket was left by accident on the beach ;
this musket was seen at Point Beiens in 1850, by Lieutenant Pullen.
On the 6th they got to Flaxman Island ; on the 7th and 8th, at Lion
Eeef, the tide was found to be regular, rising 16 inches. After
great obstiuction. Point Anxiety was passed on the 16th, when
iurther progress to the west was found to be impracticable this
season. Eeturning to the east, Flaxman Island was gained on the
same day that Mr. Elson, in the barge of the Blossom, leached Point
P.arrow from Behring Straits, August 22nd, being 160 miles distant
from Captain Franklin's furthest point. Demarcation Point on the
24th, Herschel Island on the 26th, and Garry Island, at the mouth
of the Mackenzie, oh the 29th ; and by aid of the tracking-line,
Fort Good Hope on September 7th, and Fort Franklin on the
21st.

The distances traversed are as follows ; —

DEASE AND SIMPSON, 1837. 137

Miles.

From Fort Franklin to Point Separation .. ,. 525

„ Point Separation to Pillage Point .. .. 129

„ Pillage Point to Eeturn Eeef 374

„ Eeturn Eeef to Fort Franklin 1020

Total 2048

Boat Voyage of Messrs. Lease and Simpson from the Biver Mackenzie
to Point Barrow in 1837.— Leaving Fort Chipewyan in two clinker-
built boats of 6 feet beam and 24 feet keel on June Ist, Messrs,
Dease and Simpson were detained prisoners by the ice at Fort
Eesolution from the 10th to the 21st; they passed the Hay h'iver
un the 23rd, and arrived at Fort Simpson on the 28th, and at Fort
Norman at 10 p.m. on July 1st, having travelled 250 miles in 48
hours ; and reached Fort Good Hope on the evening of the 4th.
Starting again on the 5th, Eskimo caches were reached on the 8tl),
and on the following day the natives themselves were met with,
and the Arctic Ocean reached. Detained by a north-west gale at
Shingle Point, Point Kay was passed on the afternoon of the II th.
The violence of the wind prevented their moving until the 14th,
when the first regular flow and ebb was observed, and taking
advantage of the opening in the ice, they passed inside Herschel
Island. Some bones of an enormous whale were found here. On
the I5th Demarcation Point was reached. The tide, though insigni-
ticant, did us good service. Flaxman Island was gained on the
moruing of the 20th; detained by a gale on the 2Ist and 22nd,
they reached Eeturn Eeef on the evening of the 23rd. Strong
gales delayed them at Point Comfort until the 2Gth, when Harrison
Bay was crossed. At Cape Simpson the tide rose 10 inches. On
August 1st Mr. Simpson started on foot with five men, each
caiTying from 40 to 50 lbs. After passing Port Tangent 10 miles,
they obtained an oomiak from the Eskimo, in which they crossed
Dease Inlet and gut to Point Christie on the 3rd, and gained Point
Barrow on the 4th ; thus connecting the discoveries of Beechey with
those of Franklin, and perfecting the outline of the American con-
tinent from the 15Gth to the 108th meridian. Eeturning easterly',
the boats were reached on the Gth. Mr. Dease had ascertained the
rise and fall of the tide to be 15 inches, and that the flood came from
the north-west. Demarcation Point was reached on the Ilth, where
an easterly wind detained them until the 15th ; and it was not until
the evening of the I7th that Tent Island was reached, 'i'he ascent
of the Mackenzie was performed almost exclusively by towing, at

138 rULLEN, 1850-51- 'INVESTIGATOR; 1850.

the rate of from 30 to 40 miles per day, and Furt Good Hope arrived

at on tbe 28tli.

Lieutenant Pullens Boat Voyage from Point Barrow to the Mackenzie
Biver. — Lieutenant Fallen left the Plover oif Wainwright Inlet on
the 25th of Jul}", 1850 ; and in company with two other boats, and
Mr. Shedden's yacht, the Nanci/ Dawson, reached Point Barrow on
August 2nd. Here the escort left them, and the two boats pro-
ceeded along the coast.

Point Fitt was passed on the 7th.

Cape Halkett „ 9th.

Point Berens ,, 11th.

Lion Reef on the 14th. Many seals; rise and fall of the tide
18 inches; current strong to the west; wind fresh, north-east.

Flaxman Island on the 16th.

Manning Point ,, 18th.

Humphrey Point ,, 20th. Two whales seen.

Herschel Island „ 22nd. Yellow water.

Entered the Mackenzie River on the 27th. Tracks of bears, moose,
and reindeer frequent.

At Fort Macphevson, September 5th. Arrived at Fort Norman,
October 6th. The ice in the Mackenzie set fast on November ]2tli.
Snow-birds arrived on the 24th of Apiil, 1851 ; ducks, May 4th. Ice
began to break up on May 14th. Left Fort Simpson, July 11th;
at Fort Good Hope, 16th; Port Separation on the 20th; and the
Arctic Sea on the 22nd ; Eichard Island, 24t.h ; Cape Dalhousie,
August 3i d ; and Cape Bathurst, August 10th. Found the ice
packed close on the shore ; small whales seen. The boats remained
here imtil the 15th, and on the 30th Captain M'Clure landed here
from the Investigator.

Garry Island v/as reached on the 20th.

Fort Macpherson „ 7th of September.

Fort Good Hope „ 1 7th

Fort Simpson ,, 5th of October.

Voyage of H.M.S. ' Investigator ' from Point Barrow to the Bay of
Mercy. — The Investigator rounded Point Barrow at midnight on
August 5th. Reached Point Hrew on the 8th ; Jones Island on the
11th. Ran on a shoal 8 miles north of Yarboi'ough Inlet on the 14th.
On the 15th the ice closed in from the north ; anchoied to await some
favourable change. The ice eased off on the following morning,
and the ship was warped through a lane 150 yards wide. The
Pelly Islands were reached on the 21st. The temperatui-e of the

'INVESTIGATOR,' lS51-r)2. 139

sea on reacliiiig the coloured water of the Mackenzie rose from
28° to 39^. On the 30th reached Cape Bathurst, and communicated
with the natives. On September 6th discovered Baring Land.
Landed and took possession on the 7th. On the 1 1th the ship was
beset in lat. 72^ 52', and long. 117° 3'; but the ice continued iu
motion until October 8th, and the ship narrowly escaped destruc-
tion several times; on one occasion listing the ship 34°, when
they were firmly fixed for the space of nine months in lat. 72° 47' x.,
and long. 117' 34' w., 4 miles from the Piincess Royal Isles. Here
three months' provision and a boat were deposited. On the 21st
Captain M'Clure started with sleighs, and reached the entrance
into Barrow Strait, in lat. 73° 30'. and long. 114° 14' w., and thus
established the existence of a north-west passage. On July 14th,
1851, the ice opened without any pressure; but the ship was so
surrounded by it that they were only able to use their sails twice
until August 14th, when they attained the furthest northern position
in Prince of Wales Strait, viz., lat. 73° 14' n., long. 115° 32' 30". w.
Finding the passage into Barrow Strait obstructed by north-east
winds setting large masses of ice to the southward, which had
drifted the ship 15 .uiles in that direction during the last 12 hours,
bore up and passed to the southward of Baring Island.

August 20th, lat. 74° 27' x., long. 122° 32' 15" w. Have had
clear water to reach thus far, running within a mile of the coaht
the whole distance, when progress was impeded by the ice resting
upon the shore : secured the ship to a large grounded floe-piece in
12 fathoms.

August 29th, ship in great danger of being crushed or driven
ashore by the ice coming in with heavy pressure from the Polar
Sea, driving her along within 100 yards of, the land for half a
mile, heeling her 15°, and raising her bodily 1 foot 8 inches, when
we again became stationary and the ice quiet.

September 10th. Ice again in motion, and ship driven from the
land into the main pack, with a heavy gale from south-west. On
the following day they succeeded in getting clear of the pack, and
secured the ship to a grounded floe in 74° 29' n., lung. 122° 20' w.

September 12th. Clear water along shore to the eastward.
Worked the ship in that direction, with several obstructions and
narrow escapes from the stupendous Polar ice, until the evening of the
23rd, when they ran upon a mudbank, having G feet water under the
bow and 5 fathoms astern ; hove olT without any damage. Finding
a well-sheltered spot upon the south side of this shoal, ran in, and
anchored in 4 fathoms, in lat. 74° ('»', long. 117° 54', on the 21l]i,
and were frozen-in the same evening.

140 'INVESTIGATOR,' 1852-531.

On October 4th, Mr. Court was sent to connect the position of
the ship with the Point reached by Lieutenant Cresswell in May,
which was distant only 18 miles. He reported open water a few
miles from the shore.

On April 11th, 1852, Sir K. M'Clure proceeded to Melville Island,
and reached Winter Harbour on the 28th, and returned to the ship
on the 9th of May.

On Aug-nst 10th, lanes of water were observed to seaward, and
along the cliffs of Banks Land there was a clear space of 6 miles
in width, extending along them as far as the eye could reach. On
the 12th the wind, which had been for some time to the north,
veered to the south, which had the effect of separating the sea-ice
from that of the bay entirely across the entrance, but shortly shift-
ing to the north, it closed again, and never after moved. On
the 20th the temperature fell to 27°, when the entire bay was
completely frozen over. During this summer the sun was scarcely
seen, and Captain M'Clure states in his Journal: "nor do I imagine
that the Polar Sea has broken up this season." On the 24th of
September, the anniversary of their arrival in Mercy Bay, the
thermometer stood at 2°, with no water in sight, whereas they
entered the bay with the thermometer at 33°, and not a particle of
ice in it.

> On April 7th, 1853, Lieutenant Pim reached the Investigator from
the Besolute ; Captain M'Clure left that vessel on the same day,
and reached the Resolute on the 19th.

Lieutenant Cresswell left the Investigator on April 15th, and
reached the Besolute on May 2nd, and the North Star at Beechey
Island on June 2nd.

Sir B. M'Clure's Bemarlcs. — The currents along the coasts of the
Polar Sea appear to be influenced in their direction more or less
by the winds, but certainly on the west side of Baring Island there
is a permanent set to the eastward, at one time we found it as
much as two knots during a perfect calm ; and that the flood-tide
sets from the westward we have ascertained beyond a 'doubt, as
the opportunities afforded during our detention along the western
shore of this island gave ample proof.

The prevailing winds along the American shore and in the
Prince of Wales Strait we found to be north-east, but upon this
coast from south-south-west to north-west. A ship stands no
chance of getting to the westward by entering the Polar Sea, the
water alongshore being very narrow and wind contrary, and
the pack impenetrable, but through Prince of Wales Strait,

'enterprise; issi. i4i

and by keeping along the American coasf, I conceive it prac-
ticable.

Voyage of the ' Enterprise.' — After rounding Point Barrow in the
pack, the Enterprise got into the land-water on July 31st, 1851, tlie
edge of the pack was foxmd to be in 7|- fathoms of water ; the tem-
perature of the sea rose immediately from 32'^ to 37°, and reached
as high as 46^ during the day. Working to the eastward between
the pack and the shore, whicli was sometimes as little as 3 and
occasionally as much as 8 or 9 miles wide, as the River Colville
was approached the colour of the water changed, and the main
body of the ice was as far as 10 and 12 miles from the land.
After passing the mouth of the Colville the land-water became
strewed with large floe-pieces, rendering it difficult to beat to
windward, and at length on August 5th we were compelled to make
fast to a floe.

On reaching Lion Eeef drift-wood was seen on the beach in
great abundance, the current was here found to run w. by n. (true)
0*5 per hour.

Barter Island was passed on the 7th. The main body of the
ice was found to be pretty close to Point Manning.

On August 8th the current ran to the n.n.k. 0*5 per hour; great
difficulty was experienced in steering the ship even with the boats
ahead. The ice was much farther from the shore, and on the after-
noon of the 9th we were in 17 fathoms water, and passed through
a stream of drift-wood trending n.n.av. and s.s.E. The current at
the surface ran e. by s. (true) 0-5, and at 10 fathoms n.n.e. 0*2 per
hour. The temperature of the sea rose to 49''. On the 10th, at a
distance of 28 miles from the land, a depth of 28 fathoms was
obtained, and the current was found to set w.s.w. 0*7 per hour.

On the 13th of August Ilerschel Island was seen. Standing off
shore on the 16th no bottom was obtained with 140 fathoms of line.
On the 18th several streams of drift-wood were passed through,
and one tree, 68 feet long, picked up. The edge of the ice trended
N.N.K. and s.s.w. The current was found as follows : —

At 2.30 A.M., E. by n. (true) I'O knot per hour.
At noon, n. by e. ,, 05 „ ,,
At 5 r.M , s. by w. „ 0-7 „ „

On the 20Lh the Pelly Lsles were seen, and two islands to the
E.N.E., in lat. 69^^ 37', and long. i:;4'' 32', and in lat. 69^ 39', and
long. 134° 10'.

142 ' ENTERPKISE,' 1851-52.

At 6.30 P.M. the current set w. by s. ^ s. 0-6 knot per hour.

At 11.0 P.M. „ „ w. by s. 0-4 „

At 2.0 a.m. 21st „ „ w. by N. 0-3 „ „

On the 24th we stood in towards Cape Brown, getting 5 fathoms
water 2 miles from the beach ; on reaching off 34 miles we could
trace the pack from e.n e. round by north to s.w.

On AugiLst 25th' land was seen to the north, and at noon on the
27th, in lat. 71° 27', and long. 120° 3', land was discovered to the
eastward. The gulf or strait between the two lands was found to
be 25 miles wide, with 90 fathoms in mid-channel.

At 2 A.M. on the 29th we came in sight of islands, and on land-
ing found a boat and depot of provisions which had been de-
posited there the previous year by the Investigator. The strait is
here 4 or 5 leagues wide, with a depth of 50 and 60 fathoms in mid-
channel.

At 2 P.M. ice was seen on either shore of the channel. At mid-
night we worked up to the edge of the pack and could see round
both points, but further progress was blocked by floes of ice resting
on both shores. Our furthest point reached in that direction was
lat. 73'' oO'-, and long. 114° 35, and to the eastward, 73° 25', and
114° 14'. The ice was found to be streaming in on both sides of
the strait. In returning to the southward, the current which had
aided us in our progress northerl}' through the straits at an average
of 2 knots per hour, now assisted our return, and is therefore caused
by the wind.

On September 3rd Nelson Head was reached ; the cliffs here rise
very abruptly from the sea to the height of 800 feet, being streaked
red horizontally, which on landing was found to be occasioned by
iron ore. At 2i miles from the shore a depth of 117 fathoms was
found.

On the 7th the packed ice extended from n. by w. to w.s.w., and
the open water between it and the land so strewed with floes as to
render navigation difficult. A cairn was erected on an islet in lat.
72° 52', and long. 125° 24', and we returned to the south, searching
the coast as we went along for any harbour fit to winter in without
success, until we reached the entrance of Prince of Wales Strait,
where a secure position was found in Walker's Bay in lat. 71° 35',
long. 117° 35', on September 15th. Bay ice made the first week in
October, but the ship was not finally frozen-in until the 21st. The

' The Investigator was here on the 14th.

^ This position is 57 miles from the furthest western point reached by the
Recta, and is the nearest approach to the accomplishment of the n.w. passage by
ships.

'ENTERPRISE; 1853-54. 143

Eskimo left us in November aud returned on May 25th. In the
sledge travelling along the coast of Prince Albert Land drift-wood
was fallen in with in small quantities until Peel Point was reached.
On this point tlie ice was piled 30 feet high. The beach, which
had hitherto been gravel, now became mud intermixed with sharp
stones, and was upturned by the pressure of the ice.

The Besolution sleigh. Lieutenant Parkes, started from the head
of Prince of Wales Sound on May 7th fur Melville Island, and
upon the following day got among hummocks that rendered
travelling with the sleigh ver}' difficult ; on the 9th, not being able
to find a passage for the sleigh, it was left behind in lat. 73° 31'.
Melville Island was sighted on May 12th, and they landed under
Cape Providence on May 16th. Lieutenant Parkes travelled along
the coast towards Cape Hearne, coming across sleigh tracks which
we now know to have been those of Captain M'Clure, who passed
along here a fortnight previous.

On the 17th they left Melville Island, and readied the tent on
the 21st.

The ship moved in the ice on July 19th, but was not able to
leave Winter Cove until A^^gust 5th; and in consequence of the ice
lesting on both shores we did not lose sight of our winter-quarters
until the 30tb. After running up to the head of Prince Albert
Sound, and pruviug it to be a gulf and not a strait, on September
12th, the Dolphin and Union Strait was entered on the 17th.

On August 29th, 1853, the Enterprise (having left Cambridge
Bay on the 9th) arrived at Cape Batliurst.' In passing the entrance
of the Mackenzie, a much larger quantity of ice was observed
than had been met with in 1851. On the 2nd it was calm, and
an easterly set of 1*2 knots per hour was observed. The Pelly
Islands were passed on the 3rd, and Herschel Island on the oth
of September. Here we found our progress to the westward
barred by a close pack resting on the shore. On the 8th, the wind
changing to the north-east, caused the ice to slacken, and when the
fug cleared off we found we had been driven back to Point Kay,
40 miles to the eastward, since midnight of the 5th. After blasting
a passage through the pack with gunpowder, we succeeded in reach-
ing Herschel Island a second time on the evening of the 9th. The
ice resting on the shore caused gieat delay, and we did not pass
Flaxman Island until the loth, and made fast to a grounded floe
in 7h fathoms in Camden Bay, lat. 70^ 5', long. 144° 50', on the
16th, the easterly wind having packed the ice close on Brownlow

' For the vnjago of tbc; E/f^^ryj/vxe throiii^h t.lif Dolpliin iiiul Fiiion Stmit, sco
page 1.53.

144 ' enterprise; 1854.

Point. On the 2Gth, young ice began to make, and on the 29th it
was 2 inches thick, and, owing to pressure, cracked. On October
3rd, the land-water being completely frozen over, sleighs left the
ship, and found abundance of drift-wood on the beach.

On May 21st, 1854, pools of water began to make on the flow, and
on June 19th the communication with the shore was cut oif, except
by boat. On July 1st, a large party of Barter Island Eskimo, forty-
one in number, came otf in tlieir kayaks, from whom a paper, printed
on board the Plover at Point Barrow, was obtained, by which we
learnt that the Investigator had not been heard of. The ice being
sufficiently open alongshore on the 10th, the whale-boat under the
command of Lieutenant Jago was despatched to Point Barrow to
communicate with the Plover, and instruct Captain Maguire to
obtain supplies sufficient to enable the Enterprise to return to the
eastward to look after our consort.

The whale-boat was obliged to be launched across the ice
frequently, so much so that on her arrival at Point Barrow her
garboard stieaks were nearly worn through. She arrived at Point
Anxiety, July 12th; Point Milne, July 15th; Point Tangent on
the 22nd, and at Point Barrow on the 24th. The Plover had
left on the 20th. On July 30th, a sail was seen about 5 miles to
the south-west, which afterwards pioved to be H.M.S. Battlesnake.

The ice broke up at the ship on July 15th, and enabled her
to be moved as far as Point Brownlow, but the ice prevented farther
piogress, and she was driven back to her winter-quarters on the
18th by a westerly wind. This was, so far, fortunate, as it enabled
the Barter Island Eskimo to bring the liat Indians on board, the
Chief of whom produced a paper, on which was written as fol-
lows : —

" Fort Youeon, June 27th, 1854.
" The printed slips of paper delivered by the officeis of H.M.S. Plover on
the 25th of April, 1854, to the Eat Indians were received on the 27th of June,
1854, at the Hudson Bay Company's establishment, Fort Yoiicon. The Rat
Indians are in the habit of making periodical trading excursions to the
Esquimaux along the coast. They are a harmless, inoffensive set of Indians,
ever ready and willing to render every assistance they can to the whites.

" Wm. Lucas Hardisty,

" Clerk in Charge."

The ice prevented the ship making much progress, and it was
the 26th before Eeturn Eeef was reached. At noon, on the 29th,
the Point Bariow natives met us. On the 6th, Harrison Bay
was reached, and the ship arrived at Point Barrow on the 8th
of August.

HEARNE'S JOURNEY— C APT. FRANKLIN, 1819-20. 145

Exploration of the Coast between the Mackenzie and the
Back Rivers.

Journey of Samuel Hearne to the Northern Ocean in 1769-70-71-72. —
After two attempts to get to the northward, in the first of which
the guides failed him, and in the second he had the misfortune to
break his quadrant and to be plundered by the Indians, Mr. Hearne
set out for a third time on December 7th, 1771, with an Indian,
named Matonabba, as his guide, and on April 8th arrived at a river,
called by the natives Thelewey-aza-yeth. Here they collected bark
and wood for the canoes. On May 3rd they arrived at Clowey
Lake, where the canoes were built, and a large number of Indians
joined the party to make war on the Eskimo, which Hearne
endeavoured to dissuade them from. On July 14th, 1771, the
Coppermine Eiver was reached. On the 17th the Eskimo were
fallen in with, and being surprised at night, were put to death
unmercifully, notwithstanding all Mr. Hearne's endeavour to check
the carnage. On the 18th the mouth of the river was reached.
After leaving the Coppermine Eiver, a route further to the west
was taken in order to obtain provisions. On September 3rd they
arrived at Point Lake, where they camped in the neighbourhood
of Scrubby Wood. Continuing their course to the south-west by
slow marches, Athapusco Lake was reached on December 24th.
After expending some days in hunting beaver and deer, the lake
was crossed on January 9th, 1772, and Lake Clowey, where the
canoes were built, on the 15th of February; and upon June 30th
they returned to Prince of Wales Fort, having been absent 18
months and 23 days on this last expedition.

Captain Franklins First Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in
1819-20-21-22. — Captain Franklin, accompanied by Dr. Richardson.
Mr. George Back, and Mr. Robert Hood, embarked on board Hudson
Bay ship Prince of Wales, on May 23rd, 1819, and arrived at York
Factory on August 30th. Taking their departure on September
9th, Norway Point was reached on October 6th, and Cumberland
House on the 23rd, where they passed the winter.

On January 19, 1820, Captain Franklin and Mr. Back proceeded
to the northward on two carioles and two sledges, drawn by dogs,
and arrived at Fort Carlton on February 1st. Leaving on the 8th,
on the IGth they reached Fort MacFarlane, which they left again on
the 20th, and got to Hudson Bay House on the 23rd. Starting again
on March 5t,h, N. W. Company's House was visited on the 9th, and

h

146 CAPTAIN FRANKLIN, 1821.

Pierre au Calumet on the 19tli, and Fort Chipewj^an on the 27th ;
having accomplished the following distances in miles : —

Miles.

Cumberland House to Carlton House .. 263

Carlton House to Isle a la Crosse .. .. 230

Isle a la Crosse to Methye Portage .. .. 124

Methye Portage to Fort Chipewyan .. ,. 240

Total 857

Here a canoe was built for the expedition — length, 32 feet 6 inches ;
extreme breadth, 4 feet 10 inches ; depth, 1 foot 11 inches ; 73 hoops
of thin cedar, and will carry about 3300 lbs. weight. The weight
of the canoe is about 300 lbs. On July 13, Dr. Richardson and Mr,
Hood arrived.

Leaving Port Chipewyan in three canoes, containing five officers,
one seaman, eighteen Canadians, and three interpreters, on July 18,
1820, after several portages. Moose Deer Island was reached on
the 24th, and Fort Providence on the 28th. Leaving it on the 2nd,
they arrived at their winter-quarters. Fort Enterprise, in lat.
64° 28', long. 118° 6', on August 19th. The length of the portages
traversed was 21J miles, and the total length of the voyage from
Chipewyan 653 miles.

On September 9th, Sir John, accompanied b}^ Dr. Piichardson, set
out on a pedestrian journey to the Coppermine Eiver, which was
reached on the 12th, the distance travelled to and fro being 110
miles. Mr. Back, in the meantime, went to Fort Chipewyan, and
returned, performing the journey (upwards of 1000 miles) on foot.

On June 14th, 1821, the expedition left Fort Enterprise, and
reached the head waters of the Coppermine on the 28th. Pursuing
their journey, partly on the water and partly on the ice, they em-
barked, finally, on the 2nd of July, and met the Eskimo on the 15th,
and encamped at the Bloody Falls on the 17th. Here Mr. Wentzel
left them; and the remainder of the party, consisting of twenty
persons, proceeded to sea. The distance hitherto travelled over was
334 miles, of which the canoes and baggage were dragged over
snow and ice for 117 miles. The Coppermine Eiver brings down
no drift-wood. Berens Isle was reached on the 21st, where small
drift-wood was found. 24th. " During the last two days the water
rose and fell about 9 inches ; the tides, however, were very irregular,
and we could not determine the direction of the ebb or flood. A
current set to the eastward, 2 miles per hour, during our stay."
Point Barrow was rounded on the 26th. Arriving at Back Eiver,
shoals of capelin were seen, and small pieces of willow, which

Dn. RICHARDSON, 182G. U7

enabled them to make a fire. At Bathurst Inlet, on August 3 and
4, a fall of more than 2 feet water during the night was observed.
Melville Sound was discovered on the 12th. Here the canoes were
found to be much damaged by the heavy seas they had been exposed
to. Point Turnagain was reached on the 21st, having traced
555 miles of coast-line since leaving the Coppermine.

Setting out on their return on the 22nd, Hood Kiver was gained
on the 25th ; and here it was determined to abandon the canoes
and cross the Barren Grounds. Obtaining a deer now and then,
but feeding chiefly on tri})e de rode, after undergoing great privation,
the Coppermine Eiver was reached on the 26th, and Mr. Back sent
forward, who returned to them on October 1st ; reporting barren
country on this side, it was determined to make an effort to cross the
river, which was dene with great difficulty on the 4th in a coracle
made by Mr. Back out of an old painted cover and willows,
when Mr. Back was directed to go to Fort Enterprise. On the 6th,
Mr. Hood being very weak. Dr. Eichardson, with Hepburn, pro-
posed to remain by him, while Sir John and the remainder of the
party were to endeavour to reach Fort Enterprise ; but on reaching
it it was found to be peifectly desolate. A note from Mr. Back
stated he had gone in search of succour. Feeding on deerskins, old
bones, and tri^pe de roche, they passed a terrible existence, and were
joined by Dr. Richardson and Hepburn on the 29th. Dr. Eichardson
then acquainted Sir John with the fate of poor Hood, and the
necessity he was under of putting Michel to death. At length, on
November 7th, relief, dispatched by Mr. Back, reached the party
The Fort was left on the 12th, and Fort Providence reached on
December 11th, and Moose Deer Island on the 17th.

Dr. Eichardson and 3Ir. Kendall in the two Boats, ' Dolphin ' and
' Union,' from the Mackenzie to the Coppermine Bivers.— The instruc-
tions received were to trace the coast between the Mackenzie and the
Coppermine Rivers, and to return from the latter overland to Great
Bear Lake. Leaving Fort Franklin on the 4th of July, 1826,
Richards Island was reached on the 7 th, Refuge Cove on the 8th, Cape
Dalhousie on the 15th, Cape Bathurst on the 18th ; a strong flood-
tide setting to the westward ; several whales seen. Franklin Bay
was crossed on the 22nd, Cape Lyon on the 25th, when they were
detained two days by a gale of wind. The tides were found to be
regular, and the rise and fall 20 inches. Point Do Witt Clinton
was reached on the 29th, where tliey were stopped by the closeness
of the ice. On August 4th land was discovered to the north, to
which the name of Wollaston was given; and to Iho straits the

h 2

148

SIR GEORGE BACK, 1833.

name of the two boats, Dolphin and Union. Near Manners Sutton
Island the tide indicated a stronger current of both flood and ebb
than we had hitherto seen; sometimes it attained a velocity of
3 knots per hour. Cape Krusentern was reached on the 7th, and
the mouth of the Coppermine Eiver on the 9 th. The boats were
abandoned at the Bloody Falls. The loads amounted to 72 lbs. per
man, and the pace averaged 2 miles per hour. On the 13th the
banks of the river were left, and a direct course made for the Great
Bear Lake, which was reached on the 17th. Indians were met with
on the 15th. On the 24th Beulim arrived in a boat and several
canoes from Fort Franklin, which they reached on September 1st.

Table of High Watek reduced to full and change, compiled by Lieut. Kendall, E.N.,
on the Boat Voyage between the Mackenzie and the Coppermine Eivers in 1826.

Date.

Name of Place.

Lati-
tude.

Longi-
tude.

Time of High

Water reduced

to full and

change.

Wind, Direc-
tion, and
Force.

Remarks.

1825.
Aug. 16

1826.
July 9

Garry Island .. ..

69°29

,0
135-41

10-19

N.E. 6.

No ice in sight.

Point Toker . . . .

69-38

132-18

1-45

N.E. by E. 5.

Rise 20 inches.

.. 12

:: ;: }

69-43

131-58

C 0-56
I 1-48

E. 8.
E. 5.

Heavy ice.
Little ice.

,, 13

Atkinson Island

68-55

130-43

0-32

S.E. 1.

Rise 18 inches.

.. 14

Boswell Cove . . . .

70-00

130-20

1-12

W. 6.

(Very little rise and
1 fall.
In Harrowby Bay.

,, 18

Point Sir P. Maitland

70-08

127-45

3-47

Calm.

,, 19

Near Cape Bathurst. .

70-33

127-21

1-28

E.S.E. 6.

Flood from eastward.

,, 20

Point Fetton .. ..

70-11

126-14

3-18

N.W. e.

Rise 18 inches.

> > . .

W. Horton River . .

69-50

125-55

3-15

W.N.W. 9.

.. 21

349

W.N.W. 7.

., 27

Cape Lyon

69-46

122-51

6-33

E.N.E. 8.

Flood from eastward.

,, 30

(Smiles I'rom Buchan")

( River 5

Point Wise

69-24

120-03

8-20

N.N.W. 8.

Rise and fall 9 inches.

Aug. 1

69-03

119T0

7-04

W. 4.

Compact ice.

.. 3

Stapylton Bay . . . .

68-52

116-03

8-22

E. 2.

Bay filled with ice.

.. 4

f Between Cape Hope >
1 and Cape Bexley . . /

68-57

115'48

8-25

E.S.E. 4.

,. 5

Chantry Island. . . .

68-45

114-23

7-22

W.S.W. 3.

,. 6

( Seven miles from Cape '^
I Krusenstern . . .3

68-32

113-53

7-13

Variable.

C Flood from S.E.
\ Velocity 3 miles.

Distances travelled by Dr. Richardson and Mb. Kendall.

MILES.

From Port Franklin to Point Separation 525

„ Point Separation to Point Encounter 159

„ Point Encounter to Coppermine River . . . , 863

„ Coppermine River to Fort Franklin 433

Sir G. Bach's Voyage down the Great Fish River. — In the year
1832 grave apprehensions arose for the fate of Sir J, Eoss and
his companions, who had left England in 1829. Sir George Back,
than whom no person was better qualified, undertook to command
an expedition down the Great River Thlew-ee-chow-dezeth. This

SIR GEORGE BACK, 1833. 149

river, hitherto unvisited by any European, Sir George had be-
come in some measure acquainted with by the accounts of the
Indians ; and froni their report it exceeded the Coppermine
both in extent and volume. As it was known Sir John Ross had
determined to effect the North' West Passage by Prince Regent
Inlet, the Thlew-ee-chow-dezeth (which has now received appro-
priately the name of Back) was thought to be the best route for
affording assistance to the missing expedition.

Accompanied by Dr. King and three men, Sir G. Back left
England on February 7, 1833, and passing through the United
States and Canada, they reached Fort William, on Lake Superior,
on May 20th, and left Norway House on June 28th, and arrived at
Fort Resolution on the Great Slave Lake on August 8th. Passing
through Artillery, Clinton Colden, and Aylmer Lakes by a short
portages, the river which was to conduct them to the Arctic Ocean
was gained ; but the season was too far advanced to admit of their
reaching the Polar Sea this season ; the farthest point reached was
found to be in lat. 64^ 41', long. 108° 8', and they returned to Fort
Reliance on September 7th.

Second Voyage. — Leaving Fort Reliance on the 7th of June, 1833,
they reached the boats, which had been built on Artillery Lake, on
the 10th, Lake Aylmer on the 24th, and the portage on the 28th;
and at 1 p.m. on the same day the boat was launched on the Back
River, which was still encumbered with ice. On the 4th of July
Mr. McLeod, who had hitherto accompanied them with a hunting
party, left ; and on July 8th, the ice having broken up, the boat
was launched on the river. Lake Beechey was reached on the l5th,
Lake Garry on the 21st, Lake Franklin on the 28th, at the noithcrn
end of which they met the Eskimo. On the following day the
mouth of the river was reached. Arriving at Montreal Island on
August 2nd, a rise and fall of tide was found amounting to
12 inches, high-water being at 11.40 a.m. Parties wci-o dispatched
in all directions to see if there was any possibility of creeping
alongshore among the grounded pieces of ice, but without success.
On the 5th the ice moved off a little, and enabled them to launch
the boat; Point Duncan was reached on the Gth, by watching their
opportunity; Point Ogle on the 10th; here a log of wood, 9 feet
long and 9 inches diameter, was found, which was considered un-
doubted proof of the sea being open to the westward, and that the
main line of the land had been reached, in fact, Point Turnagain,
which had been n^ached by Franklin on August 21st, was only 4
miles north of this position. Setting out on their return on

150 DBASE AND SIMPSON, 1838.

the 16th, ascending the long and dangerous line of rapids, Lake
Garry was reached on August 31st, Traces of Eskimo were
found as high as Baillies Eiver. On September 17th Mr. McLeod
was met with near Icy Eiver, crossing the portage to Lake Aylmer ;
the boat was navigated through Clinton Golden and Artillery
Lakes as far as Anderson's Fall, where it was left on the 25th ;
and crossing over the mountains, Fort Eeliance was reached on
September 27th.

Voyage of Messrs. Bease and Simpson from the Coppermine to the
Great Fish Biver in 1838. — Leaving Fort Confidence at the north-east
end of the Great Bear Lake on June 7th, the ascent of the Dease
Kiver was began. On reaching its summit the boats were placed
on stout iron-shod sledges, and by dint of sailing and dragging
they were propelled across the Dismal Lakes on the ice, and were
launched on the Kendall Eiver on the 19th. Waiting the dis-
ruption of the ice, the Coppermine Eiver was gained on the 22nd,
the floods rendering the navigation very hazardous, and they were
arrested about a mile above the Bloody Fall on the 26th by the
ice. After a halt of five days, the Fall was descended on July
1st, the portage occupying six or seven hours ; the boats had to be
carried half a mile. On July 2nd they met the Eskimo. Detained by
the close condition of the ice until the 17th, they obtained by their
nets 140 fish. Leaving the mouth of the Coppermine on that day,
they had great difiiculty in forcing their way through the ice, and
did not reach Point Barrow until the 29th, and even then new ice
of considerable thickness formed during the night. The tides and
currents are very irregular, depending on the wind and ice, but
on no occasion was a change of more than 1 foot in the level
noticed. Cape Flinders was reached on August 9th; here they
were detained ten days by violent gales from the north and west,
in lat. 68° 16', long. 109° 21', Mr. Simpson proceeding to the east-
ward on foot with five of the company's servants and two Indians,
each man carrying half a cwt. Beaching Cape Alexander on the
23rd, he found an open sea to the east, and discovered land to the
north, to which he gave the name of Victoria. Eeturning westerly,
Boathaven was reached on the 29th. A furious gale from the west
detained them until the 31st; but they were enabled to regain
the Coppermine Eiver on September 3rd. The boats were passed
up the Bloody Falls on the 5th with some damage. Nothing but
the skill and dexterity of the guides long practised like ours in
all the intricacies of river navigation could have overcome so many
obstacles. The boats were deposited 6 miles below the junction of

DEASE AND SIMPSON, 1839. 161

the Kendall with the Coppermine on the 10th. Striking straight
out for the Kendall River they came upon it half a league below
their Spring Provision Station. On the 12th the Hare Indians
were met with, and on the 14th Fort Confidence was reached.

Second Journey. — Leaving Fort Confidence on June 15th, 1839, the
Kendall Eiver was reached on the 19th, and they learnt that the ice
had cleared out of the Coppermine Eiver ten days earlier than last
year. On the 22nd the Bloody Fall was run in eleven hours ; but
the sea-ice was still solid. Leaving the mouth of the Coppermine
on July 3rd, they did not reach Cape Barrow until the 18th ; and to
their great delight found Coronation Gulf open, and reached Boat-
haven on the 20th, and Cape Alexander on the 26th, where a rapid
tideway was experienced. It was high-Avater at noon. Full moon,
the flood came from the westward, and did not exceed 2 feet. The
temperature of the water 4 feet below the surface was 35°, and the
air 56°. By attending to the tide Trap Cape was rounded; and on
the last day in July a river was discovered, which was named the
Ellice, and which is much larger than the Coppermine, and here no
drift-wood comes down. Detained by the ice until the 5th of
August, Point Seaforth was gained on the 11th, and upon the 13th
they reached Sir George Back's Point, Sir C. Ogle thus connecting
the Coppermine with Back Eiver. On the 16th Montreal Island
was visited. Having thus completed their instructions, these enter-
prisiug men, taking advantage of the open season, crossed over to
the land seen to the eastward, and reached their farthest point in
this direction on the 19th, in lat. 68° 28', and long. 94° 14'. Cross-
ing over on the 24th to what they conjectured to be part of Boothia,
but which now proves to be King AV^illiam Island the coast was
traced for nearly 60 miles, until it turned up north, in lat. 68° 41',
long. 98° 22', only 57 miles from Sir James Ross's Pillar. This
cape was named Herschel ; and as the remains of one of the crew
of either the Erebus or Terror was found by Sir L. McClintock to
the southward and eastward of this cape, the first discovery of the
Korth-West Passage, that is to say, a continuous sea from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, rests with Messrs. Deaso and Simpson, and
with the expedition under Sir John Franklin.

Keeping to the northward, they crossed the Victoria Straits and
reached Cape Colborne on the 6th, and coasting along the shoie,
discovered two bays, to which the names of Cambridge and Welling-
ton were given : they crossed over to the southern shore on the
10th, and reached Wontzcl River, where drift-wood was found, and
on the 16th of September reached the entrance of the <'opperniine,

152 SIR J. RICHAKDSON, 1818— DR. RAE, 1851.

after the longest voyage ever performed in boats on the Polar Sea,
viz., 1408 geographical miles. The boats were left at the Bloody
Ealls, and the land journey to the Great Bear Lake commenced.
On the 24th the Dease Eiver was reached, where they found
a boat awaiting them, and Fort Confidence was reached the same
afternoon.

Sir John Richardson and Dr. Baes Voyage down the Mackenzie
and along the Coast to the Coppermine Biver in 1848. — Leaving
Liverpool on March 25th, they reached New York in a fortnight,
and proceeded to Montreal ; and from thence to the Sault St.
Marie, where they were detained some days, awaiting the breaking
up of the ice on Lake Superior. Cumberland House was reached
on June 15th, and the Mackenzie on the 15th of July. The
sea was reached on the 4th of August. On the 22nd they were
detained by the ice at Point Cockburn ; and it was only at the end
of the month that they reached a bay between Capes Hearne and
Kendall, where the boats were abandoned. Setting out on foot on
September 3rd, and upon the 13th day reached Fort Confidence.

Dr. Baes Journey to the Coast in 1851. — Leaving Fort Confidence
on April 25th, with two men, on May 1st he reached the Polar
Sea, near the mouth of the Coppermine. On the 4th they gained
Port Lockyer, where they found some wood for cooking. On the
9th they reached lat. 6S° 38', and long. 110^ 2'. Eeturning to the
west, Douglas Island was gained on the 15th, and drift-wood found.
Crossing over to Wollaston Land on the 16th, Eskimo were fallen
in with near Cape Hamilton ; they had abundance of seals' flesh.
On the 22nd, lat. 70° 0' and long. 117° 17' was gained, and called Cape
Baring. Eeturning to the eastward on the 24th, on the 30th the
Dolphin and Union Strait was crossed to Cape Krusentern in as
direct a line as the rough ice would admit. On June 4th Eichard-
Bon Bay was reached. The consumption of food in 33 days was
54 lbs. of flour, 128 lbs. of pemmican, 1^ lb. of tea, 2 lbs. of chocolate,
and 10 lbs. of sugar : no tent was carried. Leaving the coast on the
5th, the Kendall was reached on the 10th. The total distance
travelled over from Fort Confidence is 942 miles.^

Second Journey, — On June 13th, three days after his arrival, the
boats joined him at the Kendall Eiver from Fort Confidence, having
occupied 6^ days in the voyage. On the 15th the Coppermine was
reached ; but the ice did not clear away until the 28th, and the sea

' On recomputing the distance, I make it 1100 miles, or about 25 miles per day,
including three days' detention. — J. R.

DR. RAE, 1851— ' ENTERPRISE,' 1852. 163

was reached on July 5th. Point Barrow was rounded on July 16tb,
and Cape Alexander on the 24th. The ice breaking up on the 27th,
the strait was crossed to the Finlayson Islands on the 27tli, and
Cape Colborne reached on August 1st.

At Parker Bay the flood tide came from the eastward. Reaching
the south end of Taylor Island, they found very heavy, closely-
packed ice ; but the ebb tide being in their favour, they made
way, but with considerable risk.

On the 6th Cape Princess Royal was discovered, and some drift-
wood (poplar) was seen. In lat. 69° 56', long. 102° 31', a piece of
pine, 18 feet long by 10 inches diameter, was found. On the 9th of
August the ice was foiind close in to the shore.

After waiting until the 12th without the ice opening. Dr. Rae
started on a foot journey, and eventually reached lat. 70° 3', long.
101° 25'\ Returning, the boats were reached in 8^ hours. The dis-
tance of the boat from the position of the Erebus and Terror, where
they were abandoned on April 12th, 1848, is only 50 miles, being
the nearest approach to the accomplishment of the North- West
Passage by sea.^ After attempting to cross over to King William
Land, he set out on his return on the 16th.

Parker Bay was reached on the 20th, and Eskimo met with ;
here a piece of pine-wood, 5 feet 9 inches long, and round, resem-
bling the butt end of a small flagstaff, was found ; a bit of white line
was nailed on to it with two copper tacks ; both line and tacks had
the Government mark. On the 22nd Point Back was gained, and
on the 28th the Bloody Falls were reached, not having seen a bit
of ice since leaving Point Back : 21 deer had been shot on the
coast. Leaving one boat behind, the rapids were passed with great
difficulty, and the Kendall River reached on the 5th day, and Fort
Confidence was reached in the boat on September lOth.^

Voyage of the ' Enterprise ' from Winter Cove, through the Dolphin
and Union Strait, to Cambridge Bay. — The thickness of the ice in
our winter-quarters, in lat. 71° 36' and long. 117° 40', attained its
maximum, 5 feet 7^ inches, on April 1st, 1852. On May 1st it was
5 feet 3 inches; on June 1st, 5 feet 1 inch; on May 1st, 4 feet 10
inches. The ship forged ahead in her icy cradle on July 16th, the
thickness of the ice then being 3 feet 4^ inches, and on the 19 th

' Two of Dr. Rae's men reached 70° 13', and saw coast 7° further.

^ The nearest ai)prnach of two whips is the Hecla and Knterprise, f)? miles.

^ On the coast of Victoria I.anil tiie Hootl-tide comes from the coast to lony;.
104"^ or 10;")°, where it is met witli the flood coming from N.E. down the Victoria
Channel. — J. R.

154 'ENTERPRISE,' 1852.

she swung to the wind ; on the 28th the temperature of sea at
surface was 34-5°, but it was not until August 5th the ship was
able to proceed to sea. The ice resting on the shore on either side,
detained her within sight of Winter "Harbour imtil the 8th of
September, during which time whales were seen and seals were
numerous. Entering Prince Albert Sound, it was on the 13th
found to be a gulf and not a strait. Having now discovered that
WoUaston, Victoria, and Prince Albert Land are all one, it was
determined to enter the Dolphin and Union Strait, which was done
on September 17th. Sutton and Listen Islands were reached on the
20th with very little obstruction from the ice, and on the following
day Cape Krusentern was passed. On the 22nd, by a slant of wind,
72 miles were made ; and when the ship was anchored the current
was found to set to the eastward, at one time as much as 1 knot
per hour. On the 23rd Cape Franklin was seen ; and in the evening
we unfortunately got agiound in Byron Bay. On the following
morning, on opening Wellington Bay, the wind freshened ; and in-
creasing to a gale, we ran back to the westward, where there was
more room, and underwent an equinoctial gale under close-reefed
topsails, with the thermometer at 11°. The sea froze as it lodged ;
and it was late in the forenoon of the next day before the ice that
had made on board the ship during the night was cleared away.
Passing through the Finlayson group on the 26th, Cambridge Bay
was gained on the 27th; but the water shoaling suddenly, we
struck the ground, and remained fast until the ice set sufficiently
firm to allow of our removing everything out of the ship to the
shore; and the tides taking off, it was not until October 15th
that we got the ship afloat.

On crossing over to the Continent with a sleigh, in October, the
ice was found so rotten in the neighbourhood of Cape Trap that we
could not land. The mean temperature of the quarter ending
December 1852 was found to be 5° lower than that experienced
last year, though we were 2^° further south. The sleighs left the
ship on the 12th of April, and crossing over the Colborne Peninsula
came upon the sea-ice near Kae Inlet the following day. On the
23rd, in lat. 69° 10', long. 121° 20', came upon the junction of the
old and the new ice ; the former being so hummocky as to be im-
practicable for sleighs. After exploring to the north, north-east, and
north-west, and finding nothing but a confused jumble of angular
pieces, some of which were upwards of 20 feet high, and between
which the snow was so loose that you frequently sunk up to your
middle, it was determined to strike in for the Victoria shore. By
unlading the sleighs, and carrying half-loads, Drift-wood Point (so

'ENTERPRISE,' 1853. loo

called from a small piece of mncU decayed wood being found on
it) was reached. This point is 30 miles from Cape Crozior on King
William Land, near which Sir L. M'Clintock found the boat. So
had we gone up the eastern instead of the western side of the
strait we should have discovered the relics. On the 8th of May
a cairn was reached, in which was contained a notice from Dr.
Eae, dated August 13th, 1851. Thus we learnt that our field of
search had been previously examined. On the 10th an island was
reached from which no land was visible, except in the direction we
had come from, and the appearance of the pack forbid all hope of
penetration even with a light load. During this portion of the
journey sludge ice and sometimes pools of water were found in the
neighbourhood of large hummocks, which at first I thought might
be caused by the increased weight of drifted snow causing the
hummock to break through the ice, but now I am of opinion that
it is occasioned by the set of the tide round these hummocks,
which are aground ; the furthest point attained being in lat. 70'' 35',
long. 101°. In returning to the ship several cracks in the ice
were seen, which, were not there when we passed up. The ship
was reached on May 2lsf, after an absence of forty -nine days,
and the accomplishment of 753 miles, which does not include the
previous journeys laying out the depots. In July the ice along the
shore began to melt, and large quantities of salmon were caught
by the seine. The result of our observations on the tides is as
follows. It is high-water on F. and C. days at 11.30, and the
rise and fall varied from 2 feet 4 inches to 7 inches. The set of
the tide was so irregular, and so dependent on the wind, that I
cannot say whether the flood comes from the east or the west.
On the 25th the ice began to move, but did not open sufficiently
to allow the ship to leave the bay until the 10th August; the
wind being light, we were driven by the current to the eastward,
and sighted Cape Colborne ^ the next day. Capo Alexander was
doubled at 1 a.m. on the 13th. At Douglas Island tlio ice was
found closely packed. On the 20th the ship was curried away in
the pack to the eastward at the rato of 1 mile per hoiir. (,'apo
Krusentern was passed on the 23rd,

In the afternoon of the 27th, the wind drew round to the south-
west, and we made all sail out of the straits, but, the weather
being thick, ran close past Clerks Island without seeing it.
The wind drawing to the west, we were coinpelied to stand over
to Baring Land, and ilio next morning found ourselves off Daraley

' Tho on.storniiiDst position reached wan in low^. 105 ', making G3i° of longitiule
Bailed over after entering the Arctic circle.

156 DR. RAE, 1853-54— ANDERSON, 1855.

Bay. Cape Parry was passed at midnight, and we came across
some heavy ice, being the first met with since leaving the straits.
On the 30th it was so close as to compel us to haul in shore,
affording a great contrast with the state of the ice at the same
period two years ago, when the pack was 30 miles from the land.
Cape Bathnrst was passed on September 1st. On the 2nd, the
temperature of the sea rose to 36"", and several whales were seen.
The current was found to set to the eastward, at the rate of 1-2
miles per hour, which so delayed our progress that Herschel
Island was not passed until the 4th.

Dr. Bae's Journey from Bepulse Bay across Bae Isthmus and Simpson
Peninsula to the West Coast of Boothia Felix.— Vassmg the winter of
1853-54 on the head of Eepulse Bay, where he maintained himself
almost entirely by his own resources, on March 31st, he set off,
accompanied by four men. Felly Bay was reached on April 16th,
and the Eskimo met with on the 20th, and on the 29th the mouth
of the Murchison Eiver : continuing his course along the shore of
Boothia Felix, Cape Forter (so named by Sir John Fioss) was reached
on May 6th. After obtaining numerous articles from the Eskimo
belonging to the Erehus and Terror, and receiving from them an
account of the crews having perished by starvation, Dr. Eae re-
turned to Eepulse Bay, which was reached on May 26th. Leaving
Eepulse Bay on August 6th in the boats (the summer being ex-
tremely cold and backward), Churchill Eiver was reached on
August 28th, and York Factory on the 31st.

Voyage of Mr. J. Anderson down Bach Biver. — Leaving Fort Eeso-
lution in three bark-canoes on June 22nd, 1855, on the 28th the
ice was fallen in with at the Tal-thal-leh Lake ; and it was not
until July 2nd that the mountain was reached. Carrying every-
thing across the portages. Lake Aylmer was gained on the 8th, and
Sand Hill Bay on the 11th. Availing himself now of the in-
formation supplied by Sir G. Back, the river was descended, and
notwithstanding the exquisite skill of our Iroquois bowmen, the
canoes were repeatedly broken and much strained. On the 20th
the Eskimo were met with below the Mackinlay Eiver. On Lake
Garry the ice still delayed their progress. On arriving at the
rapids below Lake Franklin several articles belonging to the
missing expedition were found among the Eskimo. On August 1st,
Montreal Island was reached with considerable difficulty, and the
remains of a boat and other things belonging to the ships were
found. Crossing over to Elliot Bay on the 5th, the inlet was full
of ice, and they could only proceed along shore at high-water.

FRANKLIN, 18-1G-47— M'CLINTOCK, 1858. 157

The canoes were so leaky, tliat Mr. Anderson determined upon
settino- out on foot, and reaclaed Maconochie Island on the 8th.
" It was impossible to cross over to Point Eichardson as I wished,
the ice driving through the strait between it and Maconochie
Island at a fearful rate." " No party could winter on this coast.
In the first place, there is not enough fuel, and secondly, no deer
pass." Eeturning up the river, Lake Aylmer was reached on the
31st, and Old Fort Eeliance on September 11th.

Victoria Strait and Franklin Channel— The record brought back
by Sir Leopold M'Clintock informs us that H.M. ships Erebus and
Terror wintered in the ice in lat. 70° 5' N., and long. 98° 23' w.,
apd that the vessels reached this position in one season from
Beechey Island: whether by Franklin or M'Clintock Channel
is not known, but most probably by the former. The ships,
it appears, were beset on September 12th, 184G, and during the
following eighteen months were drifted only 12 miles to the
south-west, when they were finally abandoned on April 12th, 1848.
The following are a few extracts respecting the state of the ice
in Franklin and Victoria Channel, from Sir Leopold M'Clintock's
interesting journal. On August 21st, 1858, the Fox reached a
position half-through Bellot Strait, which is scarcely one mile wide
at its narrowest part. At the turn of the tide the vessel was cariied
back to the eastward at the rate of 6 miles per hour. " The tide
runs through to the west from two hours before high- water to four
hours after it : that is to say, the tide comes from the west, as is the
case in Fury and Hecla Strait : the rise and fall is less on the west
side than upon the east. On September 29th, the view from Cape
Bird is thus described : — " There is now much water in the offing,
only separated from us by the belt of islet-girt ice scarcely 4 miles
in width." " The water runs parallel to the coast, and is 4 or 5
miles broad." On the 28th, the Fox was compelled, by the freezing
of the ice, to take up her winter-quarters in Fort Kennedy. Lieu-
tenant Hobson, who had left the ship with sleighs on the 25th
instant, returned to the ship on October Gth, having been stojipcd
by the sea washing against the cliffs, in lat. 71^°. On the 19th,
Lieutenant Hobson started again, and returned on November 0th.
On the 25th, they camped on the ice; a north-east gale sprang
up, and, detaching the ice, blew them off" shore, and they were m.t
able to regain the land for two days.

The following records are made of the state of the ice in Bellot
Strait during the winter:— October 7th.— "The weather is mild;
Bellot Strait is almost covered with ice, which drifts freely with

158 M'CLINTOCK, 1858-59.

every tide." November 1st. — " Whenever we have a calm night
we can hear the crushing sound of the drift-ice in Bellot Strait,
which continues to open within 500 yards of the Fox Islands, and
emits dark chilling clouds of hateful, pestilent, and abominable
mist.

On February 17th, 1859, the sledge-parties started to carry out
the depots. Advancing to the southward, the condition of the ice
is thus described : — " ThroxTghout the whole distance we found a
mixture of heavy old ice and light ice of last autumn, in many
places squeezed up into the pack ; but as we advanced southward
aged floes were less frequently seen." On March 1st the neigh-
bourhood of the Magnetic Pole was reached, and the Eskimo seen.
The ship was reached on March 14th, having travelled 420 miles
in 25 days. Mr. Young and his party returned on board on March
3rd, having placed their depot on the shore of Prince of VV^ales
Land, about 70 miles south-west of the ship, the shore of which
was found to be " fringed for a distance of 10 miles to seaward with
an ancient land-floe." The remaining width of the strait was about
15 miles, and this space was composed of ice fm-med since
September last. This was the water we looked at so anxiously
last autumn from Cape Bird and Pemmican Eock. On April 2nd
Sir Leopold and Lieut. Hobson started : the load for each man to
drag was 200 lbs., and for each dog 100. On April 20th, in lat.
70^° N., the Eskimo were met with. They had been as far north
as lat. 71t° hunting seals. Crossing a wide bay upon level ice,
indicating much open water here late last autumn, the neighbour-
hood of the Magnetic Pole was reached on the 24th, and a detention
of three days on account of a heavy north-east gale was incurred.
At Cape Victoria, Lieut. Hobson parted company, going direct to
Cape Felix. Sir Leopold struck across this strait for Port Parry ;
finding a rough pack it took him three daA'S to traverse the strait.
Matty Island was reached on the 4th of May, and Point Booth on
May 10th, where a number of articles from the missing ships were
found. Crossing over to Point Ogle on May 12th, and Montreal
Island on the loth. " Since our first landing on King William
Land we have not met with any heavy ice; all along its eastern and
southern shore, together with the estuary of this great river, is one
vast, unbroken sheet, formed in the early part of last winter
where no ice previously existed." Crossing over to the mainland,
near Point Duncan, on the 18th of May, they followed the coast
as far as Barrow Inlet, from whence they returned to King-
William Land. On May 25th, a short distance to the east of Cape
Herschel, a skeleton was discovered, which, from the documents

SIH LEOPOLD M'CLINTOCK'S REMAEKS. 159

and the clothing found on it, proved that one of the crew of the
Erebus and Terror had certainly passed Cape Herschel, which had
been previously reached from the westward by Dease and Simpson.
Advancing along the west to the north, hummocks of unusually
heavy ice were met with. On the coast from Point Victoiy north-
ward the sea is not so shallow, and the ice comes close in ; to sea-
ward all was heavy, close pack, consisting of all descriptions of ice,
but for the most part old and heavy. Crossing over land to Port
Parry, Sir Leopold reached his depot there on June 4th, and Cape
Victoria, on Boothia Felix, on the 8th, and reached the Fox on
June 19th. With respect to a navigable North- West Passage, and
io the probability of our having been able last season to make any
considerable advance to the southward, had the barrier of ice across
the western outlet of Bellot Strait permitted us to reach the open
water beyond, Sir Leopold thus expresses himself:—" 1 think,
judging from what I have since seen of the ice in Franklin Strait,
that the chances were greatly in favour of our reaching Cape
Herschel on the south side of King William Land, by passing, as
I intended to do, eastward of that island. From Bellot Strait
to Cape Victoria we found a mixture of old and new ice, showing
the exact proportion of pack and of clear water at the setting in of
winter. Once to the southward of the 1'asmania Group, I think our
chief difficulty would have been overcome, and south of Cape
Victoria I doubt whether any further obstruction would have been
experienced, as but little, if any ice remained. The natives told us
the ice went away and left a clear sea every year." " No one who
sees that portion of Victoria Strait which lies between King William
Land and Victoria Land as we saw it, could doubt of there being
but one way of getting a ship through it, that way being the
extremely hazardous one of driiting through in the pack. The
wide channel " (M'Clintock Channel) " between Prince of Wales
and Victoria admits a vast and continuous stream of very heavy
ocean-formed ice from the north-west, which presses upon the
western face of King William Island, and chokes up Victoria Strait
in the manner I have just described. 1 do not think the North-
West Passage could ever be sailed through by passing westward,
that is, to windward of King William Island." "Had Sir John
Franklin known that a channel existed eastward of King William
Land (so named by Sir John Koss), 1 do not think he would have*
risked the besetmcnt of his ships in such veiy heavy ice to the west-
ward of it ; but had he attempted the North-West Passage by the
eastern route, he would probably have carried his ships safely
through to Behring Straits." " Perhaps some CutuiTr voyager, proiil-

160 GENEKAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE ICE.

ing by the experience so fearfully and fatally acquired by the
Franklin Expedition, and the observations of Eae, Collinson, and
myself, may succeed in carrying his ship through from sea to sea."
" In the meantime to Franklin must be assigned the earliest dis-
covery of the North- West Passage, though not the actual accom-
plishment of it in his ships."

" The extent of coast-line explored by Captain Young (on Prince
of Wales Land) amounts to 380 miles, whilst that discovered by
Hobson and myself amounts to nearly 420 miles, making a total
of 800 geographical miles of new coast-line, which we have laid
down."

Lieut. Hobson, after parting with Sir Leopold at Cape Victoria,
thus describes the condition of the ice between Boothia Felix and
King William Island : — " No difficulty was experienced in crossing
James Eoss Strait. The ice appeared to be of but one year's
growth, and although it was in many places much crushed up, we
easily found smooth leads through the line of hummocks. Many
very heavy masses of ice, evidently of foreign formation, have been
here arrested in their drift ; so large are they that, in the gloomy
weather we experienced, they were often taken for islands." At
Cape Felix he observes : — " The pressure of the ice is severe, but
the ice itself is not remarkably heavy in character ; the shoalness
of the coast keeps the line of pressure at a considerable distance
from the beach : to the northward of the island the ice, as far as I
could see, was very rough, and crushed up into large masses."

Having laid before you extracts from the journals of the ditferent
expeditions which have reached the Arctic Sea from the Pacific
Ocean, the rivers of America, and that portion of Asia which is
in the immediate neighbourhood of Behring Straits, we are now in
a condition to comprehend fully the effect which the currents of
the Pacific have upon the motion of the ice to the north of Behring

Straits.

The first, and a very important point it is, which presents itself
is the contrast between the configuration of the two continents after
the narrow shallow strait has been passed which separates them. On
the western side the trend of the coast is gradual, affording immediate
access for the current to or from the strait along the shore of the
north face of the Asiatic continent. On the opposite side of the strait
the turn of the shore is abrupt and rectangular. On the Asiatic
side we have indisputable records of open water continuously met
with during the period of lowest temperature for a distance of
upwards of 1000 miles. On the opposite shore the ice is driven
frequently during the winter by the force of the wind from the

GEXEIiAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE ICE. 1(31

coast at Point Barrow, but along the American cuntiueut to tbo
eastward the ice, as far as we are capable of judging from one
winter's experience, it remains quiet and immovable. Hence comes
the question, Does the effect of the Pacific current lose itself in the
expanse of the Polar Sea, or does it take an easterly trend ? So far
as experience guides us, the positions reached by the Enterprise in
1850 prove the existence of a loose pack 100 miles to the north-
east of Point Barrow ; beyond this, until we come to the records
given by Sir R. M'Clure, nothing is known, but we have undoubted
testimony that the pressure on the north face of Banks Land comes
from the westward : and here in this strait, between Melville
Island and Banks Land, occurs one of those dead locks in the
motion of the ice that are remarkably instructive. \\e find the
Hecla prevented going to the westward along Melville Island by
the pressure of the ice on the land from the westward ; and on the
opposite shore it became necessary to leave the Investigator to her
fate in Mercy Bay from the same cause. Though mention is
made in the first autumn of her incarceration ot open water having
been seen along the coast to the eastward, yet in all the transits
across the straits on the ice in 1851, 1852, and 1853, we have no
record of any ice movement ; whereas directly the channel east of
Melville Island is opeued, the Resolute experiences an easterh^ drift.
I forbear to trespass upon the ground so ably and so laboriously
explored by the eastern expeditions, knowing that from some of
the officers engaged in the exploration from that side a much fuller
and more comprehensive account of the movement of the ice north
of the Parry Islands, and through Barrow Strait and Lancaster
Sound into Baffin Bay, can be given than it is possible for me to
do ; but so far as can be gathered from the accounts given, it
may, I think, be assumed that the pack is looser, and open spaces
of water are more frequent to the north than they are to the south
of the Parry Group; and the effect of this current from tlie
Northern Sea, after checking the easterly set through M'Clure
Strait, assisted the passage of the Erebus and Terror from Barrow
Strait to King William Land. Though the Pacific current is in a
great measure turned aside from the face of the American con-
tinent by the abrupt change in the direction of the coast at Point
Barrow, the testimony of all navigators is conclusive that it is
felt, and that an easterly set pervades to a greater extent than a
westerly one, and that this set is more noticeable to the cast of the
Mackenzie. The latter river, the Coppermine, the Ellice, and tlio
Back, no doubt contribute to the arrest of the pack in Victoria

162 GENERAL OBSEHVATIONS ON THE ICE.

Strait, and lliiis prevented the escape of the Erebus and Terror ;
but it is more than probable that the detention of those two vessels
in a position which ditfered only 12 miles in 18 months was mainly
owing to the meeting of the currents which originally had but one
origin, and that the Pacific.

u^-

ETHNOLOGY.

I.

PAPERS ON THE GREENLAND ESKIMOS.

BY

CLEMENTS K. MARK HAM.

1.

On the Origin and Migrations of the Greenland Eskimos.

An expedition to the region romid the North Pole will advance
every branch of science, and will enrich the store of human
knowledge generally. Its geographical discoveries will only be one
out of the many valuable results that will be derived from it ; but,
as geogi'aphers, we may well look forward with deep interest to the
rich harvest that will be reaped by our science, and take a prelimi-
nary survey of the additional knowledge that may be in store for us.
It should be remembered that, thoi'.gh only one-half of the Arctic
regions has been explored, yet that throughout its most desert wastes
there are found abundant traces of former inhabitants where now
all is a silent solitude. Those cheerless wilds have not been inha-
bited for centuries, yet they are covered with traces of the wanderers
or sojourners of a by-goue age ; and thfe unexplored region far to the
north, even up to the very Pole itself, may not improbably be at
tliis moment supporting a small and scattered population. The
wanderings of these mysterious people, the scanty notices of their
origin and migraticms that are scattered through history, and the
requirements of their existence, are all so many clues which, when
carefully gathered together, will assuredly tend to throw some
light on a most interesting subject. The migrations of man within
the Arctic zone give rise to (piestions which are closely connected
with the geograpliy of tlie undiscovered ])ortions of the Arcti*;
regions — (piostions which can only be solved by a scientific Arctic ex-
pedition. The origin and history of the Eskimo of Greenland, and

N

164 THE NORMANS IX GREENLAND.

especially of those interesting people on the northern shores of
Baffin's Bay, who were named by Sir John Boss the " Arctic High-
landers," are topics serving to illustrate one of the nnmerons points
which will engage the attention of the Arctic Expedition, and, at
the same time they may throw some passing light on questions
in Arctic physical geography which still remain unsolved.

Until within the last nine centuries the great continent of Green-
land was, so far as our knowledge extends, untenanted by a single
human being — the bears and reindeer held undisputed possession.
There was a still more remote period when fine forests of exogenous
trees clothed the hill-sides of Disco, when groves waved, in a
milder climate, over Banks Island and Melville Island, and when
corals and sponges flourished in the now frozen waters of Barrow's
Strait. Of this jieriod we know^ nothing ; but it is at least certain
that when Erik the Bed planted his little colony of hardy Norse-
men at the mouth of one of the Gieeuland fiords, in the end of the
tenth century, he apparently found the land far more habitable
than it is to-day.

For three centuries and a half the Norman colonies of Greenland
continued to flourish ; upwards of 300 small farms and villages
were built along the shores of the fiords from the island of Disco to
Cape Farewell ^ (for the persevering Danish explorer Graah has
truly conjectured and Mr. Major has clearly proved that the East
and West Bygds were both on the west coast),'' and Greenland
became the see of a Bishop. The ancient Icelandic and Danish
accounts of thes^e transactions are corroborated by the interesting
remains which may be seen in the Scandinavian museum at Copen-
hagen. During the whole of this period no indigenons race was
seen in that land, and no one appeared to dispute the possession of
Greenland with the Norman colony.'^ A curious account of a
voyage is extant, during which the Normans reached a latitude
north of Cape York; yet there is no mention of any signs of a
strange race. The Normans continued to be the sole tenants of
Greenland, at least until the middle of the fourteenth century.

But Thorwald, the boastful Viking, who sailed away we-t from
Greenland and discovered America,* did meet with a strange race
on the shorts of Vinland and Markland, which probably correspond
with modern Labrador. Here he found men of short stature, w^honi
he contemptuously called Skrcellings (chips or parings), and sonie
of whom he wantonly killed. Here, then, is the first mention of

> Egede. * Graah's ' Greenland,' Infrod. and p. 1G3.

2 Crantz, i. p. 257. * Ibid.

APPEARANCE OF THE SKliCELLIXGS. 165

J;lie Eskimo. At this period (the eleventh century) they had pro-
bably spread themselves from Northern Siberia, across Behring
Strait, along the whole coast of Arctic America, until they were
stopped by the waves of the Atlantic. The hostility of the Red
Indians was an effectual barrier to their seeking a more genial home
to the south. They were not likely to wander towards the barren
and inhospitable north any more than their descendants do to-day ;
and they had no inducement to trust themselves in their frail
Jcayals, or umiaks, on the waves of the Atlantic. They assuredly
never crossed over to Greenland bj' navigating Davis Strait or
Baffin's Bay. This, as I believe, is the southern belt of Eskimo
migiation ; but it is with the Greenland Eskimo that we have now
to do, who had had no communication with their southern brethren
since their ancestors hunted together on the frozen tundra of
Siberia, and who, after centuries of wanderings along wild Arctic
chores and in regions still unknown, first make their appearance in
Greenland, coming down from the north.

Our last historical glimpse of the Norsemen of Greenland shows
them living in two districts, in villages along the shores, with
small herds of cattle finding pasturage round their houses, with
outlying colonies on the opposite, shores of America, and occasional
vessels trading with Iceland and Norway ; but no grain would
ripen in their fields. They seem to have been a wild turbulent
race of hardy pirates, and their history, short as it is, is filled with
accounts of bloody feuds. All at once, in the middle of the four-
teenth century, a horde of Skroellings, resembling the small men of
Vinland and jMarkland, appeared on the extreme northern frontier
of the Norman settlements of Greenland, at a place called Kindel-
fjord.. Eighteen Norsemen were killed in an encounter with
them; the news of the invasion travelled south to the East Bygd;
one Ivar Bardsen came to the rescue in 1349, and he found that all
the Norsemen of the West Bygd had disappeared, and that the
bkradlings were in possession. Here the record abruptly ceases,
and we hear nothing more of Greenland until the time of the Eliza-
bethan navigators, and nothing authentic of either Norsemen or
Skrallings until the mission of Hans Egede, in the middle of the
last centur}'.

When the curtain rises again all traces of the Norsemen have
disappeared save a few Runic inscriptions, extending as far north

' Crantz, i. p. 258, quoting from La Peyr^re, who repeats from Worniiiis.
After fi careful coiisidcration of tlie evidence, Mr. Major lias roncludctl tliat
Kindolfjord is the inlet where the present Danisli yettlcnieDt of Onuniak is
situated, nortii of the i^iiand of Disco.

N 2

160 PRESSURE ON SIBERIAN TRIBES.

asllie present settlement of Upernivik, some ruins and the broken
chnrch -bells of Gardar. The Skroellings or Eskimos, are in sole
possession from Kingitok to Cape Farewell. And the ancient
Norse records are fully conoborated by the traditions of the Es-
kimos, in the statement that they originally came from the north.
Like the Mongolian races, the Eskimos are careful genealogists ;
Crantz tells us that they could trace back for ten generations ;' and
the story handed down from their forefathers is that they reached
Southern Greenland by journeys from the head of Baffin's ^aj.

The interesting question now arises — whence came these Green-
land Eskimos, these Innuit, or men, as they call themselves. They
are not descendants of the Skroellings of the opposite Aineiican coast,
as has already been seen. It is clear that they cannot have come
from the eastward, over the ocean which intervenes between Lapland
and Greenland, for no Eskimo traces have ever been found on
Spitzbergen, Iceland, or Jan Mayen. We look at them and see
at once that they have no, or only very remote, kinship with the
red race of America ; but a glance suffices to convince us of their
relationship with the Tuski or northern tribes of Siberia. It is in
Asia, then, that we must seek their origin, that cradle of so many
races, and the search for some clue is not altogether without result.

During the centuries preceding the first reported appearance of
Skroellings in Gieenland, and for some time previoiisly, there was
a great movement among the people of Central Asia. Tugrul
Beg, Jingiz Khan, and other chiefs of less celebrity, led vast
armies to the conquest of the whole earth, as they proudly boasted.
The land of the Turk and the Mongol sent forth a mighty series
of inundations which flooded the rest of Asia during several cen-
turies, and the effects of which were felt from the plains of Silesia
to the shores of the Yellow Sea, and from the valley of the Ganges
to the frozen tundra of Siberia. The pressure caused by these in-
vading waves on the tribes of Northern Siberia drove them still
farther to the north. Year after year the intruding Tatars con-
tinued to press on. Shaibani Khan, a grandso'n of the might}'
Jingiz, led fifteen thousand fiimilies into these northern wilds, and
their descendants, the lakhuts, pressed on until they are now found
at the mouths of rivers falling into the Polar Ocean. But these
regions were formerly inhabited by numerous tribes which were
driven away still farther north, over the frozen sea. Wrangell has
preserved traditions of their disappearance, and in them, I think,
we may find a clue to the origin of the Greenland Eskimos.

' Crantz, i. p. 229.

MIGrxATIONS FROM SIBERIA. 1G7

The lakliuts, it is naid, were not the first inhabitants of the
country along the banks of the river Kolyma.' The Oruoki, a tribe
of fishermen, the Chelaki, a nomadic race possessing reindeer, the
Tunguses, and the Iiikahirs were their predecessors, 'i hese tribes
have so wholly disappeared that even their names are hardly re-
membered. An obscure tradition tells how " there were once more
hearths of the Omoki on the sliures of the Kolyma than there are
stars in an Arctic sky." - The Onkilun, too, once a numerous race
of fishers on the shores of the Gulf of Anadyr, are now gone no
man knows whither. Some centuries ago they are said to have
occupied all the coast from Cape Chelagskoi to Behring Strait, and
the remains of their huts of stone, earth, and bones of whales are
still seen along the shores.^ The Omoki arc said to have departed
fiom the banks of the Kolyma in two large divisions, with their
reindeer, and to have gone northward over the Polar Sea.*
Numerous traces of their yourts are to be seen near the motith of
the Indigirka. The Onkilon, too, fled away north, to the land
whose mountains are said to be visible from Cape Jakan.

Here we probably have the connuencement of the exodtts of the
Greenland Eskimo. It did not take place at one time, but spread
over a period of one or two centuries. The age of Mongol invasion
and conquest was doubtless the age of tribulation and flight for the
tribes of Northern Siberia. The Khivan genealogist Abu-'l Ghazi
tells us that when Ogus Khan, a chief belonging to the conquer-
ing familj' of Zingiz, made an inroad into the south, some of his
tribes could not follow him on account of the deep snow.*^ 'J'hey
were called in reproach Karlih, and this very word, in its plural
form of Karalit, is the name which the Eskimos of Greenland
give themselves ; but I do not attach much weight to this coin-
cidence.

The ruined yuiiris on Cape Chelagskoi mark the commfncement
of a long march ; the same ruined yourts again appear on the shores
of the Parry group — a wide space of 1140 miles intervenes, which
is as yet entirely unknown. If my theory be correct, it should bo
occupied either by a continent or by a chain of islands ; for 1 do
not believe that the wanderers attempted any navigation, or indeed
that they possessed canoes at all. They kept moving on in search
of better hunting and fishing grounds along unknown shores, and
across frozen straits, and the march from the capes of Siberia to
Melville Island doubtless occupied more than one generation <U"
wanderers. /

Wrangell, p. 171. 2 Ibid., p. W. » Ilnd., ii. 3iS.

* Ibid, !>. 181. ' SlralilcubLTg.

168 LAND NORTH OF SIBERIA.

There is some evidence, both historical and geographical, that
the unknown tract in question is occupied by land, A chief of the
Tu.ski nation told Wrangell that from the"* cliifs between Cape
Chelagskoi and Cape North, on a clear summer day, snow-covered
mountains might be descried at a great distance to the north.' He
maintained that this distant northern land was inhabited, and
added that herds of reindeer had been seen to come across the
frozen sea, and return again to the north. The Tuskis also spoke
of a much more northern land, the lofty mountains of which were
visible on very clear days from Cape Jakan.'' Wrangell himself
never saw this mysterious land, and the Tuskis were hardly
believed until it was actually re-discovered by Captain Kellett, in
the Herald, in 1850. In August of that year he sighted an exten-
sive and high land to the north and north-west of Behring Strait,
with very Lifty peaks, which is believed to be a continuation of the
range of mountains seen by the natives off Cape Jakan.* There
are geographical reasons, which have been pointed out by Admiral
Sherard Osboru, fur the supposition that land, either as a continent
or as a chain of islands, extends to the neighbourhood of the
westernmost of the Parry group. The nature of the ice-floes
between the north coast of America, off the mouths of the Colville
and Mackenzie, and Banks Island, leads to the conclusion that
the sea in which such ice is formed must be, with the exception of
some narrow straits, land-locked. The Eskimos of this part of
the coast of North America are never able to advance more than
30 miles to seaward.^ The ice is aground in 7 fathoms of water,
and the floes, even at the outer edge, which are of course lighter
than the rest, are 35 to 40 feet thick. The natnre of the ice is the
same along the west coast of Banks Island. When the Investigator
made her perilous voyage along this coast, the channel between the
ice and the cliffs was so narrow that her quarter-boats had to bo
topped up to prevent their toxiching the lofty ice on one side and
the cliffs on the other. The pack drew 40 or 50 feet of water ; it
rose in rolling hills upon the surface, some of which were 100 feet
high from base to summit, and when it was forced against the
cliffs it rose at once to a level with the Investigator's fore yard-
arm.* McClintock also mentions the very heavy polar ice which
is pressed up on the north-western shore of Prince Patrick Island.''

Such awful ice as this was never seen before in the Arctic regions.
The only way of accounting for its formation, which must have

' Wrangell, p. 32G. ^ Ibid., p. 342.

3 Osborn's ' North- West Passage,' p. 49. ■* Ibid., p. 70.

* Ibid., p. 204. « 'Blue Book,' p. 569. (Further papers, 1855.)

r.OUTE OF SIBERIAN EMIGRANTS. 169

taken a long course of years, is that it lias no suflieient otitlet, and
that it goes on accumulating from year to year. It must therefore
be in a virtually land-locked sea, and this of course implies land to
the north, as well as to the east, south, and west. Captain Cook
supposed there must bo land to the north, from having observed
great flocks of ducks and geese flying south in September. Dr.
Simpson tells us that the natives of Point Barrow have a tradition
that there is land far away to the northward, and that some of
their people once reached it. It was a hilly country, inhabited by__
men like themselves, and called Ifjlnn-mina} Here, then, is my
bridge by which the Omoki, Tunguses, and Onkilon passed over
from the frozen tundra of Siberia to the no less inhospitable
shores of Prince Patrick's Island, to those of the head of Wellington
Channel and Baffin's Ba}', and far into the unknown region. The
theory of Eskimo migration is thus illustrated hy facts in physical
geography.

On Melville and Banks Islands, and near Xorthumberland Sound,
we meet with the same ruined yourts of stone and earth, the same
stone fox-traps, and the same bones of whales and other animals as V
were seen "By ^Yrangell at the mouth of the Indigirka. These traces '
were met with by the Arctic expeditions all along the shores of the
Parry group, from Prince Patrick's Island to Lancaster Sound, a
distance of 540 miles. They were of great antiquity, and had evi-
dently not been occupied for centuries. McClintock found the ruts
made by Parry's cart, and was led by their appearance, after more
than forty years, to assign a very high antiquity to the Eskimo
remains. He says, "No lichens have grown upon the upturned
stones, and even their deep beds in the soil where they had rested
ere Parry's men removed them are generally distinct. The astonish-
ing freshness of these traces compels us to assign a very considerable
antiquity to the Eskimo remains which we find scattered along the
shores of the Parr}^ group, since the}' are always moss-covered, and
often indistinct." '^ I myself carefully examined several of these
traces of the wanderers, and was equally impressed with their great
age. I have here collected a list of the principal remains that have
been observed along this weary line of march :' —

1. The remains of huts were found byM'Clure on the north-west
coast of Banks Island.

2. On Melville Island Parry found tho ruins of six huts, 6 feet
in diameter by 2 feet high, on the south shore of Liddon's Gulf.
Similar remains were found un Dealy Island, and at the entrance

' 'Blue Book,' p. 917. « n,;,!^ j, r^^^y (Furtlicr papcrd, 1855.)

^ Muikham's ' Fr(iiikliir« Fi if)tHteps,' p. 11").

170 VESTIGES ON THE PARKY ISLANDS.

of Bridport Inlet/ Near Point Roche, a piece of drift timber was
seen by Ve.sey Hamilton, standing upright on the summit of a low,
flat-topped hill, about 300 yards from the sea, and 60 feet above its
level, but no signs of an Eskimo encampment were found near it.
The ground was covered with snow. The drift timber was 6 inches
in diameter, and was sticking up about 4 feet out of the ground,
being conspicuously placed, as if for a mark.^

3. Byam Martin Island. — Near Cape Gillman there were bones
of an ox, and jaws of a bear, and on the east shore General Sabine
saw six ruined huts and an antler.^

4. Bathurst Island. — To the eastward of Allison Inlet there
were seven huts, some circles of moss-covered stones, and, a few
miles to the west, another hut. On the west side of Bedford Bay
there were six huts, and some circles of stones, of great age. On
Cape Capel McClintock examined ten winter habitations, and the
bunes of bears and seals, some of them cut with a sharp instrument.
From various circumstances he was led to believe that none of these
huts have been inhabited within the last 200 years. The general
form of the huts is oval, with an extended opening atone end. They
ai-e 7 feet long by 10, and are roofed over with stones and earth,
supported hy bones of whales.*

5. CoRNWALLis Island. — At the western entrance of McDougall
Bay there are some very ancient Eskimo encampments.* On an
islet in Becher Bay I found three moss-covered circles of stones,
the sites of summer tents, and a portion of the runner of a sledge.
A\'est of Cape Martyr there are numerous sites of summer tents,
Avith heaps of bones of birds, and some very perfect stone fox-traps.
On the eastern side of Cape Martyr, Osborn carefully examined a
winter hut. Its circumference was 20 feet, and the height of the
remaining wall 5 feet G inches.*^ The walls were overgrown with
moss, and much skill w^as displayed in the arrangement of the slabs
of slaty limestone. Farther to the eastward I found traces of an
extensive winter settlement, a neat grave of limestone, and many
heaps of bones. The whole coast is strewn with remains from
Cape Martyr to Cape Hotham, and there are several on Cape Hotham
itself.

6. Wellington Channel. — Extensive Eskimo remains, of com-
paratively modern date, as compared with those at Melville Island,
were found on the extreme eastern shore, beyond Northumberland
Sound ; and an Eskimo lamj) was lying on the beach near Cape

* Parry's first voyage. * ' Blue Book,' p. (i25. (Further papers, 1855.)

^ Parry's 13rst voyage. ■* ' Blue Book,' p. 188. (Additional papers, 185'^.)

* Ibid., p. 278. ^ Osboru's ' Stray Leaves,' p. 143.

VESTIGES ON THE PAliPtY ISLANDS. 171

Lady Frauklin. On the western shore of Wellington Channel,
10 miles north of Barlow Inlet, the remains of three huts were
found.

7. Griffith Island. — I found the sites of four summer huts on
the western beach, with bones of birds in and around them, also
part of the runner of a sledge, a willow switch 2 feet o inches long,
and a piece of the bone of a whale, a foot long, marked with cuts
from some sharp instrument. Farther on, there were ruins of two
huts, and some fox-lraps.^

8. Pr.ixcE OF Wales Island. — On the shores of the channel,
between Eussell and Prince of Wales Island, there are ruins of
huts, with many bones, and on the shore of a deep inlet fiirther
west, there was an old Eskimo cache, containing bones of seals and
bears."

9. North Someeset. — Euined huts Avere found at Leopold Sound,
and still farther south by Allen Young, who also saw semicircular
walls of very ancient date, used for watching reindeer. There are
now no inhabitants on North Somerset.

10. North Devon. — Remains of Eskimo huts were found on Cape
Spenser, Cape Eiley, and in Eadstock Bay. On a peninsula at the
entrance of Dundas Harbour, I found several huts with moss-
covered walls three feet high, a small recess on one side, and a space
for the entrance on the other. I also examined twelve tombs built
of limestone slabs, containing skeletons.^ I am aware that Eskimos
belonging to the Pond's Bay tribe were afterwards met with at this
place by Captain Inglefield. They had come upon the depot which
was landed at Navy Board Inlet, on the opposite coast, by ]\Ir.
Saunders, and had thence crossed over to Dundas Harbour, and
finding good hunting and fishing there, they had continued to visit
it in the summer. But I still think that the stone hiits and tombs
are the remains of a more ancient race. The Pond's Ba}' Eskimos,
like those of Boothia and Igloolik, farther south, pass the winter in
snow huts, and not in yourts of stone and earth.*

11. Jones Sound. — An Eskimo skull was picked up.

12. Carey Islands. — Several Eskimo caches of provisions were
found, in 1851, on one of the islands.

We have thus been enabled to trace the routes taken by these
ancient wanderers in search of the means of sustaining life, step by

' ' Blue Book,' p. 266. (Additional papers, 1852.)

- Allori Young lound roinains of btones for kcepiug dowu suiuniLr huts all
round tli<; boiithurn siiU; of Princc! of Wales Island.
3 Maikhiim's 'Franklin's lAiolslops,' p. 61.
* Fairy's second voyajjo. Kobb's second voyage.

ADVANCE OF EMIGRANTS TOWARDS GREENLAND.

step, along the whole length of the Pany group, from Banks Island
to Bafi&n's Bay. This- region does not afford the necessary con-
ditions for a permanent abode of human beings. Constant open
water during the winter, — at all events in pools and lanes, — appears
to be an absolute essential for the continued existence of man in
any part of the Arctic Eegions, when without bows and arrows, or
other means of catching large game on land. This essential is not
to be found in the frozen sea, whose icy waves are piled up in mighty
heaps on the shores of the Parry Islands. Eeindeer, musk oxen,
and hares are in abundance on Melville and Banks Islands through-
out the winter, but the emigrants, whose course we are endeavouring
to trace, were no more able to catch them than are the modern
" Arctic Highlanders." There animal food, too, without blubber of
seal or walrus for fuel with which to melt water for drinking pur-
poses, would be insufficient to maintain human life in the Arctic
zone. As they advanced farther east they would come to the
barren limestone shores of Bathurst and Cornwallis Islands, where
the club moss ceases to grow, where all vegetation is still more
scarce, and where animal life is not so abundant. A few years of
desperate struggling for existence must have shown them that their
journey half round the world was not yet ended. Again they had
to wander in search of some less inhospitable shore, leaving behind
them the ruined huts and fox-traps which have marked their route,
and helped to identify them with the fugitives who left their yourts
at the mouths of the Indigirka and the Kolyma. We have every
reason to believe that no Eskimos have since visited the Parry
Islands.

The emigrants probably kept marching steadily to the eastward
along and north of Barrow Straits. They doubtless arrived in
small parties throughout the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries. They seem to have been without canoes, but to have
been provided with dogs and sledges, and on reaching the mouth of
Lancaster Sound they appear to have kept along the shore, leaving
traces in the shape of ruined huts at the entrance of Jones Sound,
and finally to have arrived in Greenland, on some part of the eastern
shore of Smith Sound, not improbably at the " wind-loved " point of
Anoritok. Thence, as new relays of emigrants arrived, they may
be supposed to have separated in parties to the north and south, the
former wandering whither we know not, the latter crossing Melville
Bay, appearing suddenly among the Norman settlements, and even-
tually peopling the isles and fiords of South Greenland. Some of
the wanderers remained at the "wind-loved" point, established
their hunting-grounds between the Humboldt and Melville Bay

TRIBE AT THE HEAD OF BAFFIN'S BAY. 173

glaciers, and became the ancestors of that very curious and in-
teresting race of men, the "Arctic Highlanders."

Unlike the Parry Islands, the coast of Greenland was found to be
suited for the home of the hardy Asiatic wanderers, and here at
length they fuund a resting place. Its granite cliffs are more covered
with vegetation than are the bare limestone ridges to the westward.
The currents and drifting bergs keep pools and lanes of water open
throughout the winter, to which walrus, seals, and bears resort.
Without bows and arrows, without canoes, and without wood, the
" Arctic Highlanders " could still secure abundance of food with
their bone spears and darts. For generations they have been com-
pletely isolated by the Humboldt glacier to the north, and the glacier
near Cape Melville to the south. Thus their range extends along
600 miles of coast-line, while inland they are hemmed in by the
Sernik-soak, or great ice-wall. Dr. Kane tells us that they number
about 140 souls,^ powerful, well-built fellows, thick-set, and muscu-
lar, with round chubby faces,^ and the true warm hearts of genuine
hunters ; ready to close with a bear twice their size, and to enter
into a conflict with a fierce walrus of four hours' duration on weak
ice. Their iglii, or winter habitation, is a circular stone hut, about
8 feet long by 7 broad, and is identical in all respects with the
ruins which we found on the shores of the Parry Islands. It should
be observed also that on comparing the vocabulary of the language
of the Greenland Eskimo with that of the Tuski of Northern
Siberia, it will be seen that both are dialects of the same mother-
tongiie.

The discoveries of geologists have recently brought to light the
existence of a race of people who lived soon after the remote glacial
epoch of Europe, and who were unacquainted with the use of metals.
Their history is that of the earliest family of man of which we yet
have any trace ; while here, in the far north, there are tribes still
living under exactly similar conditions, in a glacial country, and in
a stone age. A close and careful study of this race, therefore, and
more especially of any part of it which may bo discovered in hitherto
unexplored regions, assumes great importance, and becomes a subject
of universal interest.

I ventured to hint that, after the arrival of the Asiatic emigrants
at the " wind-loved " point, while some went south, and, driving out
the Norsemen, peopled Greenland ; and while others remained be-
tween the forks of the great glacier, a third lino may have been
taken far to the nortli, towards the Pole itself. I believe this to bo

' Kuuc, ii. p. lOS. ^ Ibid., p. 230.

174 INHABITANTS IN THE FAR NORTH.

far from improbable. It is true that the" Arctic Highlanders" told
Dr. Kane that they knew of no inhabitant beyond the Humboldt
glacier, and this is the farthest point which was indicated by Kalli-
hii'ua — Erasmus Yorh (the native lad who was on board the Assistance
for more tlian a year), on his wonderfully accurate chart. In like
manner the Eskimo of Uperuivik knew nothing of natives north of
Melville Bay until the first vo^'age of Sir John Eoss. Yet we know
that there either are or have been inhabitants north of Humboldt
glacier, for Morton (Dr. Kane's steward) found the runner of a
sledge, made of bone, lying on the beach on the northein side of'
it.' There is a tradition, too, among the " Arctic Highlanders," that
there are herds of musk oxen far to the north on an island in an
iceless sea,'^ In 1871, during the voyage of the Polaris, Dr. Bessels
saw traces of Eskimos as far noith as 82°, in which parallel he
picked up, lying on the beach, a couple of ribs of the walrus which
had been used as sledge-runners, and a small piece of wood that had
formed part of the back of a sledge. An old bone knife-handle
was also found, and circles of stones showing the positions of three
tents of a summer encampment. Assuredly the greater abundance
of game far up Smith Sound, as described by Dr. Bessels, shows
that the Eskimos who wandered towards the Pole would have no
inducement to go south again. Open water means to them life.
It means bears, seals, walrus, ducks, and rotches. It means health,
comfoit, and abundance.

In the belief of some geographers there is a great Polynia, or
basin of open water round the Pole." Wrangell says that open
water is met with north of Kew Siberia and Kotelnoi, and thence
to the same distance otf the coast between Cape Chelagvkoi and
Cape North.* If this be the case the Omoki and Onkilon, who fled
before Tartar or Eussian invasion, had no reason to regret their
change of residence. A land washed by the waves of a Polar Sea
would be a good exchange for the dreary tundra of Arctic Siberia,
where the earth is frozen for 70 feet below the surface. Wherever
a Polynia, be it large or small, really exists, there men who sustain
life by hunting seals and walrus may be expected to be found upon
its shores. We may reasonably conclude then, if the region
between Hall's farthest and the Pole bears any resemblance to
the coast of Greenland, if there is a continent or a chain of islands
with patches of open water near the shores, caused by ocean cur-
rents, that tribes will be found resembling the "Arctic High-

' Kane, i. p. 309. " Petermann's ' Search for Franklia.'

= Hayes, p. 35. ' Wrangell, p. 504.

THE AECTIC IITGnLAXDEnS. 175

landers," who extend tlieir wanderings to the very Pole itself. Such
a people will be completely isolated, ihey will he living entirely
on their own resonrcos — far more so even than the " Arctic Ilio-h-
landers," since the Korth Water has been for the last forty years
visited by whalers and explorers : and a full account of the habits,
the mode of life, and the language of so isolated a people will be
to many of us among the most valuable results of the contemplated
Arctic Expedition.

I have thus endeavoured to point out the routes which were
probably taken by the ancestors of the Greenlanders, and of the
supposed denizens of the Pole, in their long march from the Siberian
coast.

On the Arctic Highlanders.

The country of the Arctic Highlanders, the most northern known
])eople in the world, is that strip of land on the eastern side of RaflBn's
Bay and Smith Sound, which is bounded on the south by the
]\Ielville and on the north by the great Humboldt glacier ; and in
describing a strange and very inteiesting tribe, it will be well, in the
first place, to enumerate the voyages which have brought this region
to our knowledge, and to examine what manner of country it is
which supplies a home for this outlying piquet of humanity.

On the 1st of Jul}', 1<316, Baffin steered the little Bhcovery, of
fifty-five tons, into the open water at the head of Baffin's Bay,
which " anew revived the hope of a passage." The old navigator
refrained from scattering the names of all the great men of his
da}' and of all his friends and acquaintances round the head of
the bay. He only gave names to nine of the most prominent
features — namely. Cape Dudley Digges, WoLstenholme Sound and
Island, Whale Sound, Hakluyt Island, the Carey Islands, and Smith,
Jones, and Lancaster Sounds. He anchored in Wolstenholmo and
Whale Sounds ; but it is not stated that he landed, and as the weather
was bad, he probably did not, but he communicated with the in-
habitants. No doubt, too, they were watching him with extreme
astimi.shment, from behind rocks, as is their wont, and the ap-
pearance of this stiange apparition in those silent seas may have
been the subject of a tradition in the tribe.

Baffin, then, was the first navigator who forced his way through the
ice-barrier drifting south, and entered the "North Water;" but it
was left to Sir Jcjhn IJoss to di^C'iver the existence of inhabitants on

176 INTEECOURSE WITH AliCTIC HIGHLAXDEES.

its shores. His account of them, though containing several errors,
is given in perfect good faith, and due allowance must of course be
made for mistakes of interpretation.

After an interval of just two centuries, Captain John Boss fol-
lowed Baffin into the " North Water," and was the first European
who had intercourse with the inhabitants of its shores — whom
he called " Arctic Highlanders." They came off to his ships over
the ice, in small parties, between the 9th and 16th of August,
1818, and he took much pains to obtain all possible information
from them, through his Eskimo interpreter, John Sackheuse ;
but he did not land to examine their huts. Sackheuse evidently
understood their dialect very imperfectly, and he told Eoss strange
stories about a mountain of iron, a king called TulooioaJi, who
lived in a large stone house, and other marvels. But all that
Sir John saw with his own eyes, respecting the dress and appear-
ance of his visitors, their sledges and implements, he describes
with truth and accuracy.

Sir John Koss led the way into the " North Water," and he
was followed during many years by a fleet of whalers who, doubt-
less, occasionally communicated with the " Arctic Highlanders ; "
but we have no record of these visits, if any such took place. In
1849-50 the North Star (store-ship) wintered in Wolstenholme
Sound, and her crew had most friendly relations with the natives
throughout the period of their stay; and in August, 1850, H.M.S.
Assistance (Captain Ommanney), with her tender, the Intrepid,
communicated with the natives at Cape York. The Intrepid also
went into Wolstenholme Sound ; and we took on board a young
Arctic Highlander, of whom I shall have more to say presently,
as he afforded an excellent opportunity of forming a judgment of
the characteristics of this interesting people. The other discovery
ships of 1850-51 {Lady Franklin and Sophia, under Captain
Penny' ; Prince Albert, under Captain Fors^'th ; and Felix, com-
manded by Sir John Eoss) also had intercourse with the natives
at Cape York, In August, 1852, H.M.S. Resolute (Captain Kellett)
touched at Cape York; and in the same year Captain Inglefield,
in the Isabella, visited the natives of the Petowak glacier, and at
a settlement about twenty miles from Cape Parry. Dr. Kane did
not see them until his schooner was frozen in for the winter on
the eastern shore of Smith Sound, but he afterwards formed most
intimate relations with them during 1853-54-55. One of his
officers. Dr. Hayes, was living amongst them for several months,
and ihej saved the lives of Kane and his whule crew. Sir Leopold
McClintock, in the Fox, communicated with eight natives off Cape

COUNTRY OF THE ARCTIC HIGHLANDERS. 177

York, on Juue 27th, 1858. They asked after Dr. Kane, and immedi-
ately recognised the Danish interpreter, Petersen, who served both in
the expeditions of Kane and McClintock. At Godhavn Sir Leopohl
received a request from the Eoyal Danish Greenland Company,
through the Inspector of North Greenland, to convey the tribe of
"Arctic Highlanders " to the Danish settlements in Greenland ; and,
he says, " had the objects and circumstances of my voyage permitted
me to turn aside for this purpose, it would have afforded me very
sincere satisfaction to carry out so humane a project." ' Dr. Hayes
saw much of them again during his voyage in 1860, as did Dr.
Bessels and the crew of the Polaris, when they wintered off Etah in
1872-73.

It is from the accounts of writers and other observers who have
served in these dift'erent voyages, and more particularly from the
works of Dr. Kane and Di-. Hayes, that our knowledge of tlie
" Arctic Highlanders " is derived.^

The home of these people of the far north is between latitudes
70^ and .79^, just on the verge of the unknown Polar Eegion. It
is a deeply indented coast-line of granitic cliffs, broken by bays
and sounds, with numerous rock sand islands, and glaciers stream-
ing down the ravines into the sea. To the south it is bounded
by the glaciers of Melville Bay, which now bar all progress in
that direction, insomuch that when John Sackheuse tokl Captain
Ross's visitors that he came from the south, they replied — " that
cannot be, there is nothing but ice there." ^ To the northward,
in like manner, a glacier bounds their hunting-ground ; while in-
land the mighty SerniJc-soah, or great glacier of the interior, con-
fines them to the sea-coast, and to the shores of fiords and islands.
The vast interior glacier sends down numerous branches to the
sea, the ends of which break of and form a great annual harvest
of icebergs. The rocky coast, between these streams of ice, is for
the most part of granite formation, and in many places is richly

» Fate of Franklin, p. 13S.

2 1. Sir John Iloss'.s First Voyage. 1818 ; 2 Farkcr Snow's Arctic Voyage,
1851; ?>. Osliorn's Stray Leaves, 1852; 4. M;irkliaiii's I'rankliu's Footsteps,
J 853; 5. Sutlirrlnnd's Journal, etc., 1852; G. Infjlefiuld's Summer Search, 1853;
7. Arctic Miftcellanies, 1853 ; 8. McDoniijaH's Voya,;;e of the Resohite, 1855 ;
9. Kane's Arctic Explorations, 185G; 10. Haye.V Boat Voyage, 1857 ; 11. 'Rev.
J. 1>. Murray's Accfiunt of Erasmus York ; 12. McClintock's Fate of Franklin,
I8.;0; 1;-!. llay(;s' Narrative of a Voyiige towards tiie North Pelf in the schooner
United States, 18tJ7. Vocahulariis—l. Halhi, Atliis Ethiiogra]ihi<ine ; 2. Wash-
ington, Eskimo Vocabularies; 3. Faljricius, CJreenland Diclioiiary; 1. Ross's
Second Voyage : 5. Parry's Scicond Voyage ; 0. Craiilz's (irccnl.md ; 7. Mgi de's
(Greenland and Janssen's Vocubuiaries. Siberia — 't>iv;ih\tiuh\w\:^\ Wrangdl ;
Hooper's Tciits of the Tuski; Dr. Simpson's Report.

•* The distance from Cape York to Upernivik, the nearest iiilialiitc<l Imd to
the south, is about two hundred and fifty miles.

178 , FLORA AND FAUNA OF NORTH GREEXLAND.

covered with soft moss, and mimerons wild flowers, liesides dwarf
willow. The flora of this land consists of forty-four genera and
seventj'-six species as yet discovered, among which there are four
kinds of ranunculus, fourteen crucifers, including three kinds of
scurvy grass, several pretty little stellarias, potentillas, and saxi-
frages, seven of the heath tribe, a dwarf willow, a fern (Cysto-
pteris), and numerous mosses and grasses. Dr. Donne t speaks of
the fertile valleys of Wolstenholme Sound, covered with moss,
over which, as he walked, he felt as if Persia had sent her softest
material to give comfort to the "Arctic Highlander." It is fair to
add that he wrote this sentence when frozen in off the more
barren shores of Griffith Island.

But it is on the condition of the sea, much more than of the
land, that the suitability of a region for human habitation dej)ends
within the Arctic Zone ; and although Greenland is infinitely richer
in vegetation, and abounds more in animal life, than the dreary
archipelago to the westward, 3-et without open water in the
winter it would be uninhabitable. The ice drifting south in the
spiing leaves a large extent of navigable sea at the head of Baf-
fin's Bay during the summer — known as the " Korth ^^"ater";
while the currents and the innumerable icebergs, always in mo-
tion and ploughing up the floes, keep up open pools and lanes
of water throughout the winter.

Such is the country which supports a multitude of living creatures,
in a temperature where the mean of the warmest month is -f- 38, and
of the coldest — 38, in a climate where there are furious gales of wind,
where the year is divided into one long day and one long night, but
where, in the glorious summer, in the calm and silent sunny nights,
maybe seen some of the most lovely scenery on this earth. No lich
woodland tints, little diversity of colouring ; all its beauty dependent
upon ice and water, and beetling crags, and strange atmospheric
effects, but still most beautiful. The land between the shore and
the glacier is the abode of reindeer, bears, foxes, and hares ; of ravens,
falcons, owls, ptarmigan, willow-grouse, f-now-bunting, dotterels,
und phalaropes; while the aquatic birds come in tens of thousands
to breed on the crags and islands — king ducks, eider ducks, long-
tailed ducks, and brent geese ; looms, dovekeys, and rotches in
millions ; skuas, ivory and silver gulls ; burgomasters, niullemukkes,
kittiwakes, and Arctic terns. Above all, so far as man's existence
is concerned, the open pools and lanes of water are crowded with
seals (hispid and bearded), walrus, white whales, and narwhals,
and these again betoken the existence of fish, molluscs, and minute
marine creatures in myriads.

SETTLEMENTS— APPEARANCE OF THE MEN. 17i'

Here, then, is a region where man too might fiiul subsistence,
and here accordingly we meet with a hdrdy tribe of men, num-
bering, according to Dr. Kane's calculation, about 140 souls,
reduced, according to Hayes, to 100 in 1860. They ai-e separated
in eight or more settlements, scattered along the coast from the
Humboldt to the Melville glacier. The names of the settlements,
according to York, who marked all their positions on his chart,
are AnoritoJc, in Smith Sound ; EtaJi, near Cape Alexander ; Pikierlu,
Ekalah, Pitorak, Natsilik, in Whale Sound ; Umenak, where the North
Star wintered ; Aliipa and Imnagen, at Cape York. These are the
permanent winter settlements, but in summer they pitch their tents
wherever they are likely to find the best hunting-ground.

This remarkable tribe is decidedly of Asiatic afiinities so far as
the outer man is concerned. The men we saw at Cape York
averaged about five feet five inches in height ; but Dr. Kane de-
scribes the firtet native he met with as a head taller than himself,
and extremely powerful and well built. They are generally cor-
pulent and fleshy, and so heavy that it is difficult to lift a full-
grown man. The forehead is narrow ami low ; nose very small ;
cheeks full and chubby ; mouth large, lips thick ; eyes small,
black and very bright; beard scanty, and hair black and coarse.
The hands and feet are small and thick. They are possessed of
great strength, endurance, and activit}^ ; and are on the whole in-
telligent. This description, most of which I have copied from my
journal, would answer as well for some of the northern tribes of
Siberia as for the Arctic Highlanders ; and I may add that when
poor Y'ork went to the Great Exhibition, everybody thought he
was a Chinese.^

Their winter habitations mark them as a peculiar people, in
some respects distinct from the Eskimo of America ; for while the
latter live in snow huts, the Arctic Highlanders build structures
of stone. These stone iglus, though quite unlike the winter
homes of the American Eskimo, are precisely the same as the
ruined yourfs on the northei'n !^hure8 of Siberia, and as the ruins
found in all parts of the Parry Islands. They thus furnish one
of several clues which point to Siberia as the original home of
these people.

The i'jlu of the Arctic Highlander is built of large stones,
carefully and artistically arranged in an elliptical form. The
sides gradually approach each other, and the roof is covered over

' The descriptions givt n by Dr. Simpson of the tribes in Kotzcbuo Sound, and
by Lieut. Hooper of the Tuski on the Asiatic coast, show that these jwople
closely resemble the Arctic Highlanders in outward appeanince.

180 HABITATIONS— DRESS.

with long slabs, at a height of about five feet eight inches from the
ground, the outside "being lined with sods. The entrance is by a
tunnel about ten feet long, with barely room enough for a man
to crawl through — called tossut ; and just above there is a small
window with dried seals' entrails stretched over it. The dimen-
sions of the interior are about twelve feet by ten, and half of it
is taken up by a raised platform which is covered with dried
moss and bear-skins, and serves as a bed for the whole family.
On the walls hang skins, fowl-nets, whips, and harpoon-lines ; and
the furniture consists of shallow cups of seal-skin, the soap-stone
lamp (JeotluF) with its supply of oil and moss-wicks, and racks of
rib-bones lashed together crosswise, on which the clothes are
dried. The cups are for receiving the water as it melts from a
lump of snow, and flows down the shoulder-blade of a walrus,
placed on stones. This is their sole cooking operation; for the
boiling of soup made of blood, oil, ard intestines is only done as
an occasional delicacy ; and as a rule they devour their food raw,
be it flesh, blubber, or intestines, and in enormous quantities.
Kane calculates one man's consumption at eight or ten pounds of
flesh and blubber, and half a gallon of water and soup. This diet
is no doubt wholesome and natural, and, so long as it can be had
in sufficient quantity, it preserves the Arctic Highlander in the
fine plump condition which characterises him. The heat of the
iglu is intense when the ordinary number of a dozen inmates is
collected, and it is the usual habit to adopt a complete dress of
nature as the indoor attire. It is not, therefore, until the Arctic
Highlanders come forth for the chase that they may be seen in a
dress suited to the outer climate. Next the skin they wear a
shirt of bird-skins neatly sewn together, with the soft down in-
wards ; over which comes the l-apetah, a loose jumper of fox-
skin, which is, however, tight round the neck, where the nessak
or hood is attached to it. The nessak is lined with bird-skins
and trimmed with fox-fur. l^be breeches, called nannuh, of bear-
skin come down to the knees, and up so as just to be in contact
with the Tcapetah when the wearer is standing upright. If he
stoops the whole of his person between the nannuh and hapetah
is exposed. On the feet bird-skin socks are worn with a padding
of grass, over which come bear-skin boots. By means of their sledges
drawn by dogs they can move swiftly to the best hunting-grounds,
which are of course well known, and secure the mighty game, the
huge walrus and formidable bears, which are their necessaries of
life. No hunters in the world display more indomitable courage
and presence of mind, nor more skill and judgment in the exercise

IMPLEMENTS OF THE CHASE— ABSENCE OF CANOES. 181

of their craft. Their weapons are a lance of narwhal ivory, or
sometimes of two bear thigh-bones lashed together, tipped with
steel since their intercourse with whalers, and a harpoon. They
also have a knife made from some old drifted cask hoop, which
they conceal in the boot. The lance is nsed in their gallant en-
counters with bears, and in securing a walrus or seal on the ice,
when its retreat has been cut off; the harpoon for the far more
dangerous battles with the walrus in his own element. They
have bird-nets, with which they catch the little auks and guil-
lemots that breed in myriads on the perpendicular crags; and
this employment is also attended with great risk. In the year
we visited Cape York, a native told us that several men had lost
their lives in netting guillemots on the steep cliffs of Akpa Island.
York also told us that his people occasionally, but very rarely,
succeeded in killing a reindeer ; and Petersen says that the twenty
decayed skulls, without lower jaws, that were found in the north-
ward of 79^ N., had been killed by native hunters.^

They have no canoes, either Tcayak or umiaJc, and are thus con-
fined to the land and ice; and they probably first obtained the
word uviiak for a ship, from John Sackheuse when he pointed
to the Alexander and Isabella. This ignorance of an appliance
which is known to nearly all the Eskimo tribes is remarkable.
The Arctic Highlanders certainly do not show themselves to be
less intelligent than other Eskimo tribes in contrivances for pro-
curing food and providing for their comfort. I am inclined, there-
fore, to account for their want of kayaks from the circumstances of
their position. In the south, from the absence of ice duiing a great
part of the year, the Greenlander is obliged to seek his food on
the sea ; while in the north there is a land-floe thioughout the
year, and the Arctic Highlander can harpoon the walrus, narwhal,
and white whale from the ice.. The necessity which led to the
invention of a kayak in the one case, does not exist, in so urgent
a form, in the other. Hans, the Holsteinborg Eskimo, who was
left behind by Dr. Kane (having fallen in love with a fair
daughter of the far north), had a kayak with him; but in the
winter of 1857-58, being pressed by famine, ho and his family
were obliged to eat it.

It is more remarkable that the Arctic Highlanders have no
bows and arrows, and this is one of the circrnnstances which con-
clusively prove that they are not the same people as the Eskimo
of Boothia and Pond's Bay. The great superiority of the sledges

McCliut(K!k, p. 7(j.

0 2

182 OCCUPATIONS— LANGUAGE.

of the Arctic Highlanders, compared with those of the Boothia
people,^ must weigh on their credit side, against the bone hows
and arrows, in deciding the comparative ingenuity and intelligence
of these tribes.

The hunting season of summer and autumn enables the Arctic
Highlanders to accumulate large stores of flesh and blubber wliich
last them until December, but their enormous consumption soon
diminishes the stock, and in January and February they begin to
feel the pinchings of hunger. Then these indomitable hunters
have to come out in the intense cold and contend with the huge
walrus on the edge of treacherous ice ; while, in very bad seasons,
the}' are reduced to eating their dogs. During the long night
they are engaged in mending sledge-harness and preparing har-
poon-lines and bird-nets; and the women chew the boot-soles
and bird-skins, and make clothes with ivory needles and thread of
split seal sinew. Summer brings a bright and happy time of
sunshine and plenty. The children drive the babies along in
miniature sledges, the boys play at hockey with rib-bones and
leathern balls, or catch the rotches with nets attached to long
narwhal horns, and the hunters are busy in their attacks upon
larger game. All emerge from the dismal iglus, and exchange
their darkness and filth for the well- ventilated seal-skin tents ;
and thus they move from place to place along the coast.

We now come to the consideration of the important question
of language as an element in the discussion of the origin of these
people. That of the Gieenland Eskimo belongs to the American
type of languages, which Du Ponceau has called polysynthetic,
and William von Humboldt agglutinative, from their peculiarity
of forming all compound words and phrases by adding particles
to the root in a certain way. The Eskimo language certainly does
exhibit this peculiarity. It indulges in very long words, such, for
instance, as Aulisariartorasuarpok (he made haste to go out fishing),
which is composed of the three words, aMZi'sarpoit '(he fishes), pear-
torpok (he went), and pivesuarpok (he made haste). Aglekkigiarto-
rasuamiarpok is not short. But agglutination is by no means
peculiar to the American languages ; and Profesf^or Max Miiller
groups the American with many other languages in Asia and
Africa, which he calls agglutinative, not because there is the
remotest indication of a common origin, but from the absence of
any organic differences of grammatical structure.^ This is, there-

> McClintock., p. 236.

" These languages are called agglutinative, to distinguish them from the in-
flexion of tlie Aryan and Semitic tongues, and from the roots of the Chinese.

LAN li u AG i:— n v: li c; lox.

183

fore, not a conclusive reason for supposing that tLo Eskimo is an
American language. The vocabulary of the Greenland language
and that of the Tuski tribes of Siberia contain so many important
^\ords alike that their comparison supplies a strong argument in
favour of common origin. 'I'he following list contains some words
which are identical in the languages of the Greenlandcrs and uf
the Siberian tribes near tbe Gulf of Anadyr : —

English.

Green LANDERS.

Siberian.

Sun

Sekkhiek

Shekenek.

Earth

Nuna

Nuna.

Water

Imak

Imak.

Fire

Itig-nek

Eknok.

Father

Atatak

Atoka.

Eye

Ise

Ilk.

Head

Niakok

Naskok.

1

Atausek

Atashek.

2

Marluk

Makukh.

3

Fingasut

Pingayu.

4

Sisamet

Ishtamat.

5

Tedlimet

TatUmai.

But neither the Arctic Highlanders' vocabulary nor that of the
Tuskis and Anadyr tribes are before us in a complete shape.^
It may be understood generally that the lauguages spoken by all
the tribes from Humboldt Glacier to Cape Farewell, are but
dialects of the same mother-tongue ; while they are dialects of
the languages of Labrador, Igloolik, Boothia, Kotzebue Sound, and
some parts of Siberia.

The Arctic Highlanders only have words for the first five nu-
merals, although they make shift to count a little higher, up to
twenty; but otherwise their language, though wanting all words
to express abstract ideas, is very precise and exact, and few lan-
guages are richer in pronominal forms of speech. Their songs
are for the most part iuipromptu, and in the long winter night,
while one recites a catalogue of recent events and possibly some
traditions, the rest join, with a certain time and cadence, in the
ancient chorus — Amna ajah ajah ah-hu. Dr. Kane heard this
chorus in the igliis in Smith Sound, and Crantz records the same
words as used by the people of South Greenland. Their religion
is very simple. They believe in supernatural beings presiding
over the elements, who are the familiar spirits of their angeJcoJcs or
magicians; and that the angeJcoJcs can converse with them, and thus
prophecy the prospects of the hunting season and similar matters.

' It must be remembered, too, that the Omoki and otlicr Siberian tribes have
di.sappeared altogether, taking their hinguage with tlieni ; and, according to my
tlieory, these arc the anccators of the Arctic Higldaiidcrsi.

184 SKILL AS TOPOGRAPHERS— CHARACTER.

These angekohs are not hereditary office-bearers ; but, for the most
part, they are the cleverest and laziest fellows in the community.
They have a few proverbs and figurative sayings, they perform
incantations over the sick, prescribe the nature and amount of
mourning for the dead (who are buried under heaps of stones, or
sometimes an iglu is abandoned and closed up as a tomb), and
exercise that general influence which they obtain from their own
cunning, and from the traditional respect in which their profession
is held. This angekoh superstition is exactly the same as the
Shamanism of the Siberian tribes, as described by Wrangell. Thei'e
is very little crime amongst these good-natured savages, though
the punishments they inflicted on criminals were formerly
severe. But, in 1858, the people at Cape York told McClintock
that they had abolished their ancient custom of punishing
theft capitally, because their best hunters were often the greatest
thieves.

One of the most striking points in the intellectual development
of all the Eskimo tribes is their wonderful talent for topography.
The cases of the woman of Igloolik who drew a map for Parry,
and of the Boothians who did the same for Eoss, and the interest-
ing account of the old lady who " conned " the Fox up Pond's Inlet
as if she had been a certified pilot from the Trinity House, are
familiar to the readers of Arctic voyages. The same talent was
displayed by our shipmate, Erasmus York, on board the Assist-
ance. When asked by Captain Ommanney to sketch the coast,
he took up a pencil, a thing he had never seen before, and deli-
neated the coast-line from PiJcierlu to Cape York, with astonish-
ing accuracy, making marks to indicate all the islands, remarkable
cliffs, glaciers, and hills, and giving all their native names. " Every
rock," says Dr. Kane, " has its name, every hill its significance."
-^ The visitor who first sees a party of Arctic Highlanders will be
at once struck by their merry, good-natured countenances, their
noisy fun, and boisterous laughter. They have a true love of inde-
pendence and liberty, and their mode of life has bred in them great
powejs ^f endurance, cool presence of mind, and indomitable
courage. Their ingenuity and skill are by no means contemptible,
and their intellectual capacity, though inferior to that of many
other savage people, is not altogether despicable. They do not
hesitate to steal from the stranger, for whom they cannot be
expected to have any fellow-feeling ; but when confidence is once
established, they have proved themselves to be good men and true ;
they undoubtedly saved the crew of the Advance from death, which
was staring them in the face ; and Dr. Kane gives his testimony that

r<^

\r-^

I

"1"

ERASMUS YORK— INDICATIONS OF ORIGIN. 185

" when troubles came upon biiu and his people, never have friends
been more true than these Arctic Highlanders."

We, of the old Assistance, can bear witness with regard to one of
the members of this northern race, who, by his constant cheerful-
ness and good humour, and his readiness to make himself useful,
became a great favourite on board. Through the kindness of
Admiral Ommanney he received an education in England, and
went afterwards to Newfoundland, where he died in 1856. A lady,
who wrote to announce his death, thus speaks of poor Erasmus
York (Kallihirua) : " During his illness he was as patient and
gentle as ever, and thankful for all that was done to relieve him.
We all loved him for his true-heartedness, obedience, and kind-
ness of disposition ; and I trust that we may not forget the example
he gave us of forgiveness and forbearance under injury." The
Arctic Highlanders are savages, but they are ingenious and intelli-
gent— courageous as hunters, true and loyal to fiiends in distress,
and capable, after instruction, of the highest virtues of civilised men.

In conclusion, I will sum up the points which, after an examin-
ation of the ethnology of the Arctic Highlanders, tend to corro-
borate my theory of their origin and migrations. First, then, there
is the evidence that they are not branches of any Eskimo tribe of
America or its islands. The American Eskimos never go from
their own hunting range for any distance to the inhospitable north.
Except in the case of the Pond's Bay natives, who followed up the
whalers for a specific reason in modern times, there is no instance
of their having gone north ; and it is unreasonable to suppose that
they would do so. The American Eskimos live in snow huts, the
Arctic Highlanders in iglus built of stone ; the former have kayaks
and bows and arrows, the latter have none; the Boothians use
sledges of rolled-up seal- skin ; the Arctic Highlanders have sledges
of bone. We have proofs, also, that the ancient wanderers who
left traces along the Parry Islands, were the same tribe as the
Arctic Highlanders, and distinct from the American Eskimos.
The i-uins on the shores of the Parry Islands are identical with the
stone iglus of the Arctic Highlanders, and unlike the habitations
of the American Eskimos. The pieces of bone sledge-runners
that were found among these ruins, are the same as those used by
the former tiibe, while the Boothians (the nearest American
Eskimos) use seal-skin runners. The bone which had been cut to
form a duct for conducting melted snow into a cup, found by
myself on Griffith Island, and the lamp picked up by Osborn on
Cape Lady Franklin, are precisely similar articles to those now
used by the. Arctic Ilighlaudcrs.

186 SIBERIAN ORIGIN OF THE GREENLAND ESKIMO.

We now come to the points of resemblance between the Arctic
Highlanders and some Siberian tribes. In physiognomy and
general appearance the Eskimos are unlike any other American
people. The Eskimo language in vocabulary and grammatical
construction is but a dialect of the language spoken by the Tuski,
the joeople in the Gulf of Anadyr in Siberia. The angekoh super-
stition of the Eskimo resembles, even in minute particulars, the
Shamanism of Siberia. These points apply to the whole Eskimo
race ; and, in proving that the Arctic Highlanders are distinct
from the American Eskimo, I do not mean that they are not all the
same race, speaking dialects of the same language, but that they
have had no communication since tlieir ancestors left Siberia, and,
crossing tho meridian of Behring Straits, wandered to the north-
ward and eastward. The American Eskimo migrated at souie very
remote period, from Siberia by way of Behring Strait ; and the
Yiking Thorwald found them on the coast of Labrador in the tenth
century. The migrations fi'om the northern coast of Siberia were
later, and were caused by Central Asiatic encroachments from the
eleventh to the fourteenth centuries. This exodus took a distinct
and more northern route, along the coast of the Parry Islands, to
Greenland. Such are the proofs that have convinced me that
the cradle of the Eskimo race is to be found on the frozen tnndia
of Siberia.

Only a small rertinant of these ancient wanderers is represented
by the Arctic Highlanders ; and, as I have already suggested, many
parties as they arrived, continued their journey to the south, where
they peopled Greenland. Others .probably took a more northern
course. As to the Greenland population, the historical testimony
of the Norsemen, and the universal tradition of the Greenlanders
themselves, unite in affirming that the first Skroellings came from
the north. ^ This is not the place for critically discussing the value
of ancient Icelandic records, which have been most ably edited by
learned Danes. Erom them we learn that the Norsemen were the
first inhabitants of Gieenland, and that the present population first
appeared, coming from the north, in the fourteenth century. How
it was that the diminutive, though muscular and courageous,
Skroellings overcame and annihilated their gigantic Scandinavian
foes, must for ever remain a m3'stery. It may be that the Normans
were first thinned down by disease, and greatly reduced in num-
bers. One thing is certain : the Normans disappeared, leaving

' John Sackheuse, when he first saw the Arctic Highlanders, immediately
mentioned the universal tradition of his people that they originally came from
the uortli,

NATIVES OX THE EAST COAST OF GREKXEAXD. 187

many ruins and runic inscriptions behind them, and the SkraOlings
have taken their place. The modern Danish Eskimos have detailed
traditions of the wars between their ancestors and the Kahhtna,
which are represented in the curious woodcuts brought home by
Sir Leopold McClintock, and have since been published by Di-.
Eink, who, I understand, is of opinion that these Eskimo traditions
are founded on historical facts.

But it is the northern, and not the southern, migration of the
Arctic Highlanders that now demands our attentive consideration.
We here approach the very confines of the great unknown polar
region, and we can discover indications of the existence of a polar
l)opulation up to the very threshold of the Terra Incognita. Petersen
tells us that he saw ruins of stone iglus to the northward of lati-
tude 79' X., which were evidently upwards of two centuries old ;
and the runner of a sledge was picked up beyond the Humboldt
Glacier. Dr. Bessels found Eskimo remains still further north.
Here, then, are the traces of wanderers coming south from the Polar
region. Clavering, in 1823, met with two families in the most
northern part of East Greenland, who must have come from the
north, and have wandered completely round the still unknown
northern shures of the great glacier-bearing continent of Greenland.^

These people had wandered away, or died out, when the Ger-
man Expedition visited the same part of the coast in 1869-70,
but numerous remains of their sojourn were found, consisting of
graves, and iglus or huts.^ Much farther south, on the east coast
of Greenland, Captain Graah, in 1829, found several places in-
habited; and he gives a very interesting account,^ of these East-
landers, as he called them, who in 1830 numbered not more than
480 souls, in twelve different localities along the coast, from the
Danebiog Islands to Cape Farewell. The Eastlanders also came
from the north, and not from the west side rotxnd Cape Farewell.

There is thus sufficient proof that people have reached the east
coast of Greenland from the north, and, consequently, that they
have wandered for many hundreds of miles over the unknown area,
it is certain that their lemains will be found, and if there are
polynias of open water, as at the north end of Baffin Bay, it is pro-
bable that there are still inhabitants at the Xorth I'ole or near it.

' We may infer that tliey did not come from the south, for the same reason
that tlic American Eskim*; have never g(mo nortli to the Parry Islands. The
East Greenland coast, from the Danebrog Islands to Hudson's " Hold with Hope,"
is so blocked iij) with eternal ice that no human being could exi.st there, certainly
none would wamkr there, from tlu; morn g('iiial soutli.

" See '(ierman Arctic E.\j)edilioii ' (,r 18(Ji)-70, chuj)tcr xiv.

^ See 'Narrative of an Exiicdition tu the East Coast of Greenland,' by (Japt.
W. A. Graah (Murray, l.S:}7), p[i. 114-121.

188 POSSIBLE EXISTENCE OF A TRIBE IN THE FAR NORTH.

They will have taken a route from Siberia to the Borth of the
Parry Islands ; while another division of the wanderers passed
along the southern shores, to the region between the Melville and
Humboldt glaciers. But man is not the only animal that has
journeyed round the northern side of Greenland. The musk-ox is
not known in the inhabited parts of that region. It is a peculiarly
American form. Yet the crew of the Polaris found it up Smith
Sound, and the Germans met with it on the east coast. The little
Mus Hudsonicus is also American, and unknown in West Greenland,
and it also was found by Dr. Bessels. These are direct and posi-
tive proofs of migrations along the northern face of Greenland from
the American side, and of an inhabitable region, capable of sup-
porting very large ruminants, within the unknown area.

The problems thus indicated are among the most interesting that
will occupy the attention of the Arctic Expedition. In the possible,
if not probable, event of a new people being discovered, a list of
words in ordinary use among their distant kindred in West Green-
land will be needed for comparison. A sketch of the grammar
from Crantz and Janssen, and some vocabularies, have therefore
been prepared. The vocabularies have been collected from Admiral
Washington's little book,^ with additions from Ciantz, Kane,
Janssen,^ and Kleinschmidt.^

Names of Arctic Highlanders.
{From Kane, Hayes, and Bessels.')

Akomodah (K.), a fat boy in 1854, son of Metek.

Alatah (H.).

Amalatoh (K.), half-brother of Metek.

Anak (K.), wife of Nessak.

Amjeit (H.), "the catclier." Son o{ Kahlunet. Brother of Mrs. Hans.

Aiiinguak (K.), wife of Marsumah.

Arko (H.), " spear thrower." A boy of 12 in 1860.

Aumanelik (K.), wife of Tellerk.

Awahtok (K.). ,

Cheichenguak (H.).

Irki{K.).

Itukichii (B.), a good hunter.

Ivdllu (B.% wife of Itiikiehu.

* Admiral Washington's vocabulary of Greenland Eskimo was drawn up for
him by Mr. Nosted, a Danish Missionary, in 1852 ; and every word was gone
over and revised by Erasmus York (Kalli-hirua), londer the supervision of the
Eev. Henry Bailey, Warden of St. Augustine's College at Canterbury, and of Dr.
Kost, then Professor of Sanscrit at that college.

- ' Elementarbog i Eskimoernes Sprog til brug for Europseerne ved Colonierne
i Gronland, bed,' E. C. Janssen. (Kjobenhavn, 1862.)

^ ' Grammatik der Groul'andischen Sprache mit theilweisem Einschluss des
Labradordialects,' von S. Kleinschmidt. (Berlin, 1851.)

NAMES OF ARCTIC HiaHLANDERS. 189

Kablunet (H.), " white skin." Wife of Tcheitchengmk. Died in 18G0. Mother of
Mrs. Hans.

Knhdah (,K.).

KalU-hirua, or "Erasmus York." Came on board H.M.S. Assistance, 1850, at
Cape York. At St. Augustine's, Canterbury. Died at St. John's, New-
foundland, in 1S56.

Kalutunah (K. and H.), the Angekok, aud, in 1860, Nalcgak of the tribe. The
best hunter.

Kartak H.), a girl engaged to Arko in 1860.

Kesarsoak (H.), " white hairs." The oldest hunter in the tribe in 1860.

Kresut (K.i, " driftwood." A blind old man.

Marsumah (K.).

Merkut (K.), wife of Hans. Daughter of Shang-hu.

Metek (K.), " cider duck." Chief of Etah in IS;)!.

Myuk (K. and H.), son of Metek. A loafer. One of Satan's light mfantry.

Nessak (K.), "jumper huotl."

Ntialik, ue' Eguok (K.), wife of Metek.

Faulik (K.), nephew of Metek.

Fingasuk [ H.), " the pretty one." Child of Hans.

Sluin<]-hu (K.).

Sip-s'u (K. and H.), " the handsome boy," murdered by Kalutunah.

Tattcrut (K. and H.), " Kittiwake." Always out at elbows. A loafer.

Tellerk CK.), " right arm."

" Vtuniah (K. and H.)

Note on the Orthography.

A is to be sounded as in father when long, as the ti in but when short,
E as in there, i as in ravme, o as in more, u as in fl«<te, ai as i in t«me, au as
oiv in how, ok as oak. Ch as in church, g as in get, kh as ch in loch.

The word Esquimaux is a term of the Do.s-rib Indians, meaning " flesh
eaters," aud was first given to the Innuit by the French Canadians, whence
the strange orthography. The simpler aud proper form, adopted by the
Danes and by Admiral Washington, is Eskimo.

LANGUAGE OF THE ESKIMO OF GKEENLAND.

Sketch of the Grammar.

Tho first Eskimo grammar was by Hans Egedo, published in
1760. The second, written by Konigseer, in 1780, is still in
manuscript. That of Fabricius, who long resided in Greenland as
a missionary, appeared in 1791. Kleinschmidt published his
Eskimo grammar at Berlin, in 1850; and the vocabularies of
Janssen appeared at Copenhagen in 1802.

The Eskimo language belongs to the American group ; the nouns
are declined by the addition of terminations to the roots, and tho
adjective follows the substantive. There is a great abundance
of modes of expression effected by processes of agglutination,
the particles conveying various meanings, and moditicatious of
meanings.

190

PllK POSITIONS— PARTICLES.

There is no article, and the dual and phiral nouns are formed by
the addition of particles ; thus : —

Singular.

Dual.

Plural.

Nuna

Nuneik

Nimeit, land.

. Uyarak

Uyarkak

U}-arket, stone

Iglu

Ighik

Ighit, house.

Innuk

Innuk

Innuit, num.

Collective nouns have only the plural, and end in " it," as Iglu-
perhsuit, a collection of houses.

The genitive is formed by the addition of h, or of m if a vowel
follows. ' The other cases are formed by adding the following par-
ticles, acting as prepositions : —

Mik, with, at, through.

Mil, from.

Mut, to.

Mi, in, on.

Kut, through, over.

Agut, round.

At, underneath.

Kut, above.

Suh, beyond.

luito, behind.

(Where ?)
(Whence ?)
(Whence ?)
(Where?)
(How ?)
(Time)
(Time)
(Mode)

Kingo,

Ake,

Iluk,

Silat,

Avut,

Kit,

Range,

Kujat,

further end.

opposite.

inner.

outer.

farthest.

seaside.

landside.

south side.

Avanguek, north side.

Nunama,

Ntmamit,

Nunakut,

Nunamut,

Nunamik,

Ukiume,

Unukut,

Okautsimik,

on land,
from land,
over land,
to land,
with land,
in winter,
in evening,
with words.

Particles.
The meanings of nouns are also varied in numerous ways by the
addition of particles. Of these the most common are the augmenta-
tives and diminutives. SuaJc or suit means great ; as Nuna, land ;
NunarsuaJc, great land. Kingmek, a dog ; Kingmersuah, a great dog.
NguaJc, is small ; as, Kingminguak, a small dog. Gasalc denotes what
belongs to or is part of anything ; as, TJmiak, a boat ; Uwiagasalc,
what belongs to a boat. Inah and tuah are only, as Iglu, a
house ; Igluinak, one house only. Ernek, a son ; Ernituak, an only
son. Siat denotes ordinary size, neither large nor small ; as, Kakalc-
siat, a middle-sized bill. Liah is a particle which denotes that the
thing indicated by the noun to which it is attached was made by
its owner as Iglerfik, a box ; Igerfilialc, his box made by him-
self. Siah implies that the thing was bought as Savih, a knife ;
Savihsiak, a purchased knife. Kasik, piluk, and rujuk, are adjectival
particles, denoting respectively, folly, meanness, and depreciation,
as Innuh, a man ; Innuhasik, a foolish man ; Innukfiluk, a mean man ;

PRONOUNS.

191

and Inmirujul; a contemptible man. Pait is a particle of multitude,
as Ujarak, a stone ; UJararpait, many stones ; and Ujararpagsuit, a
great many stones. Ngajah is a particle denoting mixture, as
Kablunak, a Dane ; Kablunarigajak, a half-caste. Tdk and Tokdk are
respectively old and new, as Anorak, clothes ; Anorartak, new
clothes; Anorartokak, old clothes. M'lo means an inhabitant, as
Narsak, a valley ; Narsarmio, a dweller in the valley. Minek is a
piece of anything, as Kissiik, wood ; Kissuminek, a piece of wood.
Nek is a participle termination, as Sinigpok, a sleeper ; Sinignek,
sleeping ; while Fik forms a noun, as Igsiavhok, a sitter ; Igsiav-
fik, a stool. Usek has a similar office, as Okarpok, a speaker ; Okar-
usek, a word.

The personal pronouns are : —

Uanga, I.
TJagut, we.
Illit, thou.

lllipsi, ye.
Oma, he.
Okkoa, they.

The possessive pronouns are formed by the addition of particles
to the root, as : —

Nuna, land.

Nunaga, my land.
NunarpiU, our land.
Nunat, thy land.

Igluga, my house.
Iglut, thy house.

Iglu, house.

Nunarse, your land.

Nund Ntina7iga, his land.
Nunartili, their land.

Ighia, his house.
Iglutit, thy house.

When the signification is transitive, passing from one to another,
the pronoun is declined differently, the endings being ama, my;
auit, thy. As Nalegak, a chief; Nalegama, my chief; Nalegauit,
thy chief does so and so to me, you, or him.

The interrogatives are as follows : —

What, suna.
"VVheu, hakugo.
Where, sumd.

The relative pronouns are :-
Those, Ivko.

Which, snt.
Who, kind.
Whose, kid.

That, ivna.

The Vkrb.
The veibs have been divided into five conjugations, according to
their terminations : —

1. Kj)ok as ermikpok, he washes himself.

2. Kjjok „ matarpok, he, undresses.

3. Pok „ egipok, lie casts away.

4. Ok „ pyok, he gets.

5. Au „ irsigau, he beholds.

192

THE VERB.

The negative goes through every mood and tense of every verb.
It is expressed by ngilak, as ermingilaJc, he does not wash himself.

The third person singular indicative is the root from whence all
the other persons a reformed, by affixing the pronoun, as Ermik-
poJc, he washes ; Ermikpotit, you wash.

There are three tenses, present, preterite, and future. The pre-
sent is indicated hj ap; the perfect by a, t or s ; and the future, in
two forms, sav and goma ; as —

JErmHipoh, he washes.

Ermiksok, he has washed.

Ermisavok, he will wash.

Ermigomarpoh, he will wash sometime hence.

The moods are six in number. The indicative in kpok ; the
interrogative in kpa ; the imperative in two forms, one persuasive
in na, the other more imperative in git ; the permissive also in two
forms, one exacting, the other requesting, in gle and naunga; the
causal in kame ; the conditional in kune ; and the infinitive in three
forms. As : —

Indicative.

Interrogative.

Imperative.

Permissive.

Causal.

Conditional.

Infinitive.

Ermikpok,
Ermikpa,

1. Erinina,

2, Ermigit,

1. Ermigle,

2. Erminaunga,
Erniikame,
Ermikune,
Ermiklune,

he washes.

does he wash ?

please to wash.

wash.

let me wash.

because lie has washed,
if he washes,
to wash.

Takuvci,

Takuvaiik,

Takuliuk,

Takurujmago,

Takugpago,

Takuvdlugo,

Tdkugd,

he sees or saw him.

did he see him V

may he see him ?

because he saw him.

when he saw him.

seeing.

that he saw him.

The verb pyoh, to do or get, is used in many cases in conjunc-
tion with the infinitive of other verbs.

The present indicative of the active verb is thus conjugated : — -

He travels,

mddlarpok.

He knows,

ilipok.

You travel,

autdlarputit.

You know,

iliputit.

I travel,

aufdlarpimga.

I know.

ilipunga.

They travel,

autdlarput.

They know.

iliput.

Ye travel,

autdlarpuse.

Ye know,

ilipuse.

We travel,

autdlarpugut.

We know,

ilipugut.

He loves,

asavok.

He sleeps,

simngpok.

You love,

asavutit.

Yon sleep,

siningputit.

I love,

asavunga.

I sleep,

siningpunga

They love.

asaruf.

They suffer.

mikekaut.

Ye love.

asavuse.

Ye sufter,

mikekause.

We love,

a)<avugat.

We suffer,

mikekaugut.

THE VERB.

103

He comes.
You come,
I come,

aggerpok.

aijijerputit.

a<j(jtrpunga.

They come, aggerpiit.
Ye come, aggi-rpuse.
We come, aggerpugut.

The conjugations, tbroiigh all moods and tenses, are effected by
the use of the personal pronouns ; and there are transitions, when
the action passes from one person to another, as in several American
languages : as —

He washes himself, ermiTipok.

You wash yourself, ermihputit.

1 wash myself, ermilipunga.

They wash themselves, ermihput.

They two wash themselves, ermikjmk.

Ye wash yourselves, ermikpuse.

We wash ourselves, ermikpugut.

W^e two wash ourselves, ermikpuguk.

Every mood and tense is thus inflected with the suffixes of the
persons, ringing the changes in each transition ; as, he washes
himself, he washes you, he washes me, he washes them, he washes
us ; and so with all the other persons. For example, to conjugate
through all the persons washing a third person we have —

He washes him, ermikpa.
You wash him, ermikpet.
I wash him, ermikpara.

They wash him, ermikpcet.
Ye wash him, erinikjiarse.
We wash him, ermikparput.

He sees it.

takuvd.

He sees me, takuvdnga

You see it,

takiivat.

You see her, takuvatk.

I see it.

takuvara.

The fox sees it, terianiak takuvd.
The fox saw him, terianiap takuvd.

The participle, which supplies the place of an adjective, is the
same as the preterite, ErmiJcsoJc, washed. The future is Ermissirsoh,
he will wash.

The principal auxiliary verb is pyoh ; with which, or with
various particles, an infinity of words are formed into one, the last
only being conjugated. Crantz gives an instance of this, where a
single word expresses what in English requires seventeen : — " He
says that you also will go away quickly in like manner and buy a
pretty knife." In Eskimo this is — Savigihsiniariartohamaromary-
ot'iUogog — composed as follows : —

Savig,

a knife.

Ik,

pretty.

Siui,

buy.

Ariarfok,

go uwuy

Afiiur,

huston.

Omar,

wilt.

Y,

in like manner

(Hit,

thou.

Tog,

also.

<>'.!•

lie suys.

194

NEGATIVE AND AFFIRMATIVE.

The Eskimo language is peculiar in the use of the affirmative
and negative conjunctions, aj) and iiagga. To the question, Pioma-
ngilatit, "Wilt thou not have this?" if the questioned person will
have it, he must answer, nagga, " No." If he will not have it, he
must say, ap, " Yes," — -piomangilanga, " I will not have it."

VOCABULAEIES.

Mammals.

Cetaceans.

Male, angut. Female, arnat.

Whale, magtagdlit, arwek.

Sperm whale, kegutilik.
Bottle-nose, Mporhak, nisarnah,

anarnak.
White whale, kilakak.
Narwhal, tugalik, kernertok.

Fin fish,
Little finner
Porpoise,
Grampus,

funulik.

tikagutlik.

piglatok.

ardluik.

ardluarsuk.

Seals.

Walrus auvek, aruek.

Bearded seal, ugsuk, usuk.
Hooded seal, kakortak, ndtsiersuak.

Harp seal, atak, atarsuak, atarneit-

suak.
Hispid seal, natsek, natsidlak.

Parts of Whalis and Seals, cp-c.

Whale bone, sorkak.

Blubber, ossuk.

Walrus tusk, togak.

Seal's fore-tlipper, tellerok tallik

Bear, nanuk.

Wolf, amaruk.

Fox, terianiak.

Seal's hind-flipper, okfotik.
Ivory, saunek.

Seal hole, atlick {agio ?)

Carnivora.

Blue fox, terianiak kernetok.
White fox, terianiak kakortak.
Dog, kingmek.

raaninants.

Keindeer, tuktu.

Great reindeer, angisok, panguek,

nugatugak.
Doe, kulavak.

Hare, ukalek, tulukat.
Eat, kitsuk.

Young deer, noraitsok.
Fawn, norkak.

Musk ox, uming-mak.

Iiodents.

I Mouse, teriak.

VOCABULARIES.

105

Antler,

Fur,

Tail,

naksuk, agiak.
mituk, illupakot.
pamiok.

Parts of Reindeer.

Venison, nekke.
Liver, tinguk.

BiBDS.

Birds of Prey.

Bird, tingmiak.

Cinereous eagle, nngtoralik.
Gyi* falcon, kingsaviarsuk,

kigavik.

Great snowy owl, ugpik or opik.

opiksoak.
Raven, tuluvak.

Divers and Guillemots.

Great auk, isarukitsok.

Cormorant, okaitsok.

Great northern diver, tugdlik.

Ked-throated diver, karsak.

Loom,
Dovekey,
Little auk.

agpa.

serfak.
agpaliarsuk.

Gulls.

Glaucous gull, nayak.
Kittiwake, taterak.
Fulmar petrel, kakugdluk.

Ivory gull, najuarssuk.
Skua, isargak.
Tern, imerkutailak.

Ducks and Geese.

Swan, kugsuk.
Brent goose, nerdlek.
King duck, kingalik.

Eider duck, metek.
Long-tailed duck, agdlek.
Harlequin duck, tornaviasuk.

Ptarmigan, Snipe, &c

Ptarmigan, akigsek.
Plover, kajordlak.
Snipe, taluifak.
Phalarope, sarforsuk.

Sandpip
Finches, &c.

er, kayungoak.
tufjagvorjok.
nalumasortok.

Snow bunting, korpanuk.
„ „ korpaluMrmk.
„ „ koparnarsuk.
„ „ kapiarak.

Snow bunting, tirgivok, agdlorpol
mitmruiput.
„ „ mipok, pikiarpok,
iravok.

Parts of Birds,

Quill, gullok.
Feather, initkut.
Wing, ixarkok.
Tail, papink.

Beak,
Talon,
Egg,
Nest.

sigguk.
ixigak.
niannik.
uvlo.

196

VOCABULARIES.

Fish.

Fish,

akalua.

Salmon,

erkaluit.

Cai^elin,

Char,

Shark,

augmaksak.

auUsogik.

ekellurksoak.

Hallibut,
Perch,

kalleraglik.
sullupaugak.

Crustacea,

Shrimp,

Crab,

Louse,

kinguk.

aksegiak.

komak.

Worm,

koglumiak.

Insi

Fly,

Mosquito,

Bee,

niviugak.
ippernak.
egitsak.

Bull head.

kanidk.

Red char,

ekelluk.

Herring,

5)

augmaset.
saraudlit.

Eel,

ogak.
puttorotok

Snail,
Mussel,
Oyster,
Star fish,

sinterok.
sigguk.
kiksauausak.
aksogiarsoit.

Flea,

Butterfly,

Spider,

Plants.

Wood, kissuk (kresut of Kane).

Tree, orpik.

Bush, netarkok.

Dwarf willow, sersut, nunangiait.

Dwarf birch, avalakissat.

Crowberry, paurnak.

Bilberry, kigulernek.

WhortlelDerry, kingmernset.

Scurvy grass, kungordlet.

Grass, ivik.

Reed, ivuikot.

Sorrel,

Saxifrage,

Cress,

Chib moss,

Moss,

Lichen,

Root,
Bark,
Leaf,

pigleitok.

tarka-larkisak.

ausiek.

kupeklusait.

kakilarneliot.

ivigkat.

irsutit.

maunek, tingauset.

kod yutit, ti-rauyat, o-ka-

yilt.
sordlait, sorilak.
kallipek.
karke, nuni-verset.

Men and Spirits.

Human being, innuk.

Mankind, innuit.

Man of Greenland, karalit.
Man not of Greenland, innuit tekornartet.
Dane, Kahlunah.

Englishman, Tulluk.

Dutchman, Arseniak.

Chief, jialegak.

Priest (" He is very angekok.

great"),
Wizard, issuitok, ilUoitsok.

" He that is above," pirksoma (Egede).
Good spirit, torngarsuk (Crantz,

i. p. 206).

A spirit, familiar.

Inhabitant of the air,

Evil spirit of the air.

Sea spirits,

Fire spirits.

Mountain spirit,

Evil si^irits,

Genius of the winds.

Genius of food,

Ghost,

The famous wise one.

Heaven,

Hell,

A tribunal of redress,

torngak,

innerterviosok,

erloersortok.

kongeusetokit,

inguersoit.

tunuersoit.

erkiglit.

sillagiksartok.

nerrim-innuet.

anersak,angiak.

angehut poglit.

killak.

tornarsivik.

imnapok.

Human Beings.

Man,

Woman,

Boy.

Girl,

Child.

anguk.

arnak.
nukakpiak.
niviarsiak.
vieruk, kittornak.

Children
Baby,
Old man.
Old woman,

merdlukit.
naulungiak.
ittok, angutokak.
arnatokak.

VOCABULARIES.

19;

Relationships, Ceremonies, &c.

Ancestors, angejokait.

Father, atatak.

Mother, annanak. '

Father or mother-in-law, sekke.
Husband, wr/a, uinga.

Wife, nuklia, nulli-

anga.
Son, erninga.

Daughter, pannik.

Brother, kattangut.

Sister, kattangut-ar-

7mk.
Uncle, akkek, angak.

Aunt, ayak, aitsak.

Nephew,
Friend,
Companion,
Guide,

katteng-utiksiak
illet, ikingut.
tessiorpok.
tessiosiok.

Custom,

illerkok.

Song,

Dance,

Feast,

innernek.
ketingnek.
nerkanek.

Birth,

innung-ornek.

Pregnant,

nartavok.

Life,

innunek.

Death,

toko.

Corpse,
Grave,

tokossok.
illivik.

Parts of the Body.

Body, time. \

Wrist,

Skin, Innuh amid'? (W.) amek.

Hand,

Head, niakok.

Left hand.

Brains, karresak.

Right hand,

Forehead, ka-uk.

Knuckle,

Face, kenak.

Forefinger,

Hair, nutsak.

Middle finger

Beard, umik, ersarutit.

Little finger.

Eye (Irse, HansEgede), ise.

Thumb,

Eyelash, kemeriak.

Nail,

Tears, kohlit.

Liver,

Nose, kinyak.

Waist,

Mouth, kanek.

Belly,

Teeth, kigutit.

Stomach,

Tongue, okak.

Navel,

Gums, itkiika.

Bowels,

Breath, annernek.

Buttocks,

Lip, kartlo.

Kidney,

Cheek, ulluak.

Thigh,

Chin, tajilo.

Hip,

Ear, siut.

Knee,

Neck, koiigesek.

Leg,

Windpipe, kingak, tortluk.

Shoulder, tu^.

Ankle,

Back, kattigok.

Backbone, kemerluk.

Foot,

Side, sennarak.

Step,

Breast, sekkiok.

Foot print.

Lungs, puak.

Heel,

Heart, umat.

Toe,

Bosom, inengek.

Blood,

Milk, imuk.

Vein,

Arm (right), tellerk.

Bone,

„ above the elbow, aksaut.

Wound

„ below the elbow, aksarkok.

Bruise

Elbow, ikusik.

pavsik.

aksait.

sacemik.

tellerpik.

kangmak.

tikek.

keterlek.

erketkok.

kuhlo.

kukkik.

tinguk.

timme.

nak, neksek.

akyorok.

kallasek.

inuello-lut.

nullok.

tarto.

ukpet, koktorak.

sivixk.

siskok, serkok.

kannah (Hans

Egoile), niu.
7iappamrfak,

kanginak.
isiket.
ablornek.
tumme,
kimik.
puttogok.
auk.
tarkak.
saunek.
ik€.
ajuak.

p 2

198

VOCABULARIES.

House and Furniture.

House,

Winter entrance.

Door,

Window,

Seat,

Bed,

Blanket,

Stove,

Smoke,

iglu.

tossut.

matto.

igalcik.

igsiavik.

sinik-vik, sinik-

tarpik.
kepiksoak.
kissarsuat.
puyok, iseriek.

Lamp,
Water-kid,

kotluk, kollfik
imertaut.

Cooking-pot,

Caldi-on,

Cup,

Jar,

Ladle,

koJupsut.
utak (Kane).
imertarfik.
kongmuetak.
alluksuat.

Food,

nerriseksak.

Soup,
Broom,

kayok.
senniut.

Tent,

Hoop for tent,

tupek.
tupekarjiksak.

Tent.

Tent pole,

kannak.

Clothes.

Clothes,

Dressed leather.

Fox-skin jumper.

Under jacket,

Hood,

Cloak,

Mitten,

Breeches,
Button,

auorak, auorakset.

amersoak.

kapetah.

attigek.

nessak.

kavoyak, uUksoak.

arkdt merkusalik,

aket.
karlik, nannuk.
athet.

Boot,
Stocking,
Gaiter,

Band for a wo-
man's hair.
Shirt,
Skin shirt,
Beads,
Ring,

kamik.

allerse (Crantz).

suiget.

kelerutlk.

illupak.
uwinerok.

sapang-at, tuglautit.
akoangmio.

Implements.

Sledge,

Dog harness.

Whip,

Trap,

Canoe,

Woman's boat,

Paildle,

Harpoon,

Seal-bladder float,

Moveable lance-head.

Spear for large seal.

Spear for small seal.

Whale spear.

Deer spear,

Line of seal -skin,

Harpoon-line,

Rope,

Bow,

Arrow,

Quiver and bow-case

Bowstring,

kammutik.
annul,
ipperautik.
pudlet. tutdet.
kayak,
umiak. ■
paufik, eput.
tuiaJi, naligelt.
awdletok.
nungkak.
agligalik.
agliak.
kallugiah.
na.rkok, karsok.
aUuiiak.
aJak ardlet.
aklunak (■^).

karsok.
pok, pisiksek.
narkukte.

Stone arrow-head,

karkovit, ullugsak,
uyarak.

nugpit.

egeniak.

savik.

pillautak.

okutartok.

pillektaut.

idlo.

ullimout, sennin-
gasok.

pillektok.

keolerut.

tdk tona.

mitkut.

tikek.

okommersak, kar-
saksak.
Bone instrument fori

discovering seals > sekko, saumermit.
under the ice, )

Dart for birds.
Three -pronged dart,
Knife,

Stone knife,
Woman's knife,
Adze,

Saw,

Drill,

Priciier,

Needle,

Thimble,

Fish-hook,

VOCABULAEIES.

199

Times aki

Seasons.

Time,

nelliune]:.

,

Spring,

upernik.

Day,

uvtiok.

Autumn,

ukiak.

Daylight,

haumanek.

Winter,

ukipok, iiklok.

Night,

unuak.

Weather,

silla.

Evening,

tiniik.

Sky (cloudy),

nuia.

Midnight,

itiiuk, ketka.

Sky,

killek.

Morning,

tilAami, utlakut.

Fog,

puyorpok.

Summer,

ausak.

1

Weathek.

!Sun,

sekkinnek.

Aurora Borealis,

arksaonerit.

Moon,

kaumot, annin

jat.

Rain,

sialluk.

Sunrise,

sekkernuh-pull

nek.

Snow,

kannik.

Sunset,

sekkernvh-tarksetsek. |

Dew,

isugutanek.

Eclipse,

sekkernub.

Rainbow,

7neriusak, pusisak.

Shadow,

tarkak.

Lightning,

inguek-perlenguek.

Star,

ubloriak.

Wi

It thunders,
ND.

kutlekpok.

Wind,

annore.

North-west

wind

tamake.

North wind,

avanguak, awawjuek.

South-east wind,

nunasarnek.

South wind,

kiengak.

North-east wind.

avangnasik.

East wind,

agsarnek.

It is calm,

kaitsorpuk.

West wind.

kavangnak.

Open air.

sillamepok.

South-west w

ind, kigek.

Elem

ENTS.

Earth,

nuna.

Flame,

iknellanek.

Air,

silla.

Water,

i

nak.

Fire,

ingnek.

La

ND.

Boundary,

kigdlik.

Chalk,

aglaut, kakorlok.

Mountain,

kakak.

Salt,

tarraitsut.

Valley, level land, narsak.

Quartz,

usugiak.

Island,

kikertak.

Felspar,

augmak.

Cape,

kangek.

Granite,

aumaussat.

Coast,

siksak.

Coal,

aumarutikset, au

Cliff,

imiiak, imnarsak.

marsuit.

Reef of rock.

ikarlok.

Limestone,

kerchok, kerchur

Shoal,

siorarsoak.

siak.

Eock,

kingiktok.

Iron,

savik.

Stone,

uyarak.

Cryolite,

aussap-ujard.

Heap,

peksoit.

Graphite,

akcrdlusak.

Hole,

kidluk.

Steatite,

uvkusigssak.

Cave,

karomk.

Flint,

aut-dhvit.

Gravel,

siorak.

Schist,

htlrkl(li<ixint.

Clay,

markhak.

I(

Sand,
3E.

siorkct, siorak.

Snow,

kannik, aput.

Ice,

Hikk

0.

Snow-drift,

anniijo.

Iceberg,

piku

luijak, illuliak.

Hummock,

kagtvalwaluk.

Glacier,

gent

ik-suak.

200

VOCABULARIES.

Sea.

Sea,

Salt-water

Wave,

imarpiksoak, imaksoak.

imak.

malik.

Ebb-tide,
Flood-tide

tinne.
, ulle.

J

Water.

Water, imak, ermit.
Bay, lake, kangerluk.
Fiord, inlet, kangerlersuk, tessek.
Stream, sarwak, kogeisiak.

River,
Pond,
Strait,
Ford,

kouk, kouksoak.
tasek.
ikarasek.
ikarut.

Colours.

White,
Black,
Brown,
Blue,

kakortek.
kernerpok.
kayoapok.
tung-iyorpok.

NUME

Red,

YeUow,

Green,

Grey,

RALS.

aukpallartok.
korsorpallukpok.
tungyoktok.
kernaluartok.

1,
2,

3,
4,
5,

6,

7,

atausek.

marluk.

pingasut.

sisamet.

tedlimet.

anvenguet-orpenek.

arwenguet-marluk.

SENSi

8,

9,
10,
First,
Second,
Half,
All,

ITION.

arwenguet-pingasut. ■^

kolingiluet.

kolit.

siudlek.

atla.

auwiktok, keterkot.

tamat.

Cold,

Frost-bite
Frozen,

olikpok, heyulerpok.

kenaersinek.

kerivok.

Warm,
Hot,

1

kiek.
kiekpok.

Size a

ND Form.

Great,

Little,

Broad,

Narrow,

Fat,

angisok.

mikisok.

sillikpok.

amitsok.

puellawok, kuiniwok.

Ta

Thin,

Flat,

Round,

Square,

All,

3TE.

amitsok, sellusok.
saitok.

augmalortok.
ter'kerkolik, to-artok.
tamarmik.

Sweet,
Sour,

mamarkauk.
sernarpok.

Adjec

Bitter,

TIVES.

kassilipok.

Blind, takpepok.

Deaf, tusilarpok, tusianipok.--^

Dumb, okauitsoh.

Be silent ! nipang-erniarit.

Beauty, pinnersusek.

Very beautiful, pirivigpok.

Handsome, pinnersok.
Pretty, innekonak:
Strong, nekoarpok, pisuk
. Weak, kayerguartok.
True ilumut.

VOCABULARIES.

201

Adverbs of Place.

Here,

ma.

East,

pav.

There,'

tas.

West,

som.

North or right

d). }-'•

Above (landwards), pik.

(looking seawar

Seawards or wes

;, kan.

South or left

d), !^"«^-

South, where tht

sun goes, kig.

(looking seawar

Within,

kum.

Where,

Slime.

^\''hence,

sumit.

Verbs (ulphabeticaiy

He is able,

pikJcorik-pok, sinna-

He counts,

kissipok.

wok.

He is courageous

, erksing-ilak.

He accepts.

ticiuwok.

He covers.

talitserpok.

He accompanies

, ai/paru-ok.

He is cowardly.

iktorpok.

He is alive.

inguicok, umasok.

He creeps.

paung-orpok.

He alters.

adlatigortipok.

He crosses over,

ikarpok.

He is angry.

niugekpok.

He is cruel,

anniar-titsiok, erksi

He answers,

akhiniarpok.

narfok.

He approaches,

kannining-orpok.

He cries,

kiyavok.

He is arrived,

tikipok.

He cuts,

kijjpiluk.

He asks,

aperaok, apersorpok.

It is damp,

kauseipok.

He is awake,

iterpok, erkomaicok.

He dances,

ketinguek.

He is away.

tamak, aularpok.

He dares,

iktungilak.

He is bad,

ajorpok.

It is dangerous,

nauvicnarpok.

He is bald.

niyakang-ilak.

It is dark,

tarpok.

She is bashful.

kangusak-pok, tessit-

He is dead.

tokovok.

siok.

It is deep,

itiivok.

He beats.

unatarpok.

He defends.

sernigauk.

He be.irs,

kenuwok, tuksiapok.

He denies.

mhsicirpok.

He beholds,

irsigau.

He destroys.

asserorpok.

He believes,

operpok, isamaivok.

He dies,

tokovok.

He bellows,

miagorpok.

It is difficult,

ayornarpok.

It bends,

perikpok.

He is dirty.

ippertok.

It blazes,

ikuellapok.

It is distant,

ung-eitikpok.

It bleeds,

aunarpok.

He disputes,

ulisortriok.

It blocks up.

■illuicok.

He dives.

akarpok.

He blows,

supporpok.

He dives as a seal

, pullavok.

He blows (as a auuersarpok.

He divides,

avipok.

whale).

He doctors.

nakkursak.

It boils.

Jcallapok.

He does.

piyok, illiorpok.

He is born,

innu-simawok.

He drags.

imiarpok.

He bows,

sikkipok.

He ilreams,

sinektorpok.

He brings.

apok.

He dresses.

Himerpok.

It is broken,

nappiicok.

He drinks.

imerpok.

It bums,

■ikuviawok.

He drives,

kemuknerpok.

He buys,

pisiniarpok.

It drops.

kusserpok.

He carries,

nangmakpok.

He drowns.

epivok.

He casts away.

egipok.

He is drunk,

puUorknvok.

He cheats.

mitekpok.

It is dry.

pauui ipok.

He is cheerful,

nucnnarpok.

He eats.

iicrriok.

He chews,

tamorpok.

It is empty.

Imakang-ilak.

He chooses,

kennerpok.

He eml)arks.

ikiivok.

He chops.

serkomipok.

Ho exchanges.

tauserpok.

He climbs,

kakkiwok.

He faints.

ivsang-uwok.

He comes.

aggarpok.

It falls,

nakkartok.

He comniaudb,

pikovok.

He is far off.

ung-cxikpok.

He cooks,

igoiicok.

He makes fast.

anleycng-crxdhpiik.

He coughs,

koermrpok.

He is fat,

pueUawok, kidn iirok.

202

VOCABULAEIES.

Verbs — continued.

He is fatigued,
He is feeble,
He feeds,
He feels.
He fetches.
They are few.
He finds,
It is finished.
He fishes.
He flies,
It floats.
He follows,
He forbids,
He forgives,
It freezes.
He gets,
Give me.
He is glad,
He gnaws,
He goes,
Go down !
Go in!
Go out !
He is gone,
I am good.
He is great.
It grazes (deer),
He is greedy,
He groans,
It grows,
He hangs.
It is hard.
He made haste,
He hears.
He is healthy,
It is heavy.

He is tall,
It is high.
Hold fast,
He is honest.
He hopes,
How do you do ?
He is hungry.
He is idle.
He jumps,
He kicks,
He kills,
He is kind.
He kisses.
He kneels,
He ties a knot,
He unties a knot.
He knows,
He laughs.
He leads,
He learns.
He lends.
He licks.
He lius down.

kassuwok, nungawok.

nukingiarpok.

nerrisipok.

serptikpok.

aiokpok.

ikitput.

nenniuk.

enerpok.

aulisarpok.

kemavok.

puktavok.

mallikpa.

innert-itpok.

salmdupoik.

kerivuk.

pyok.

tunniiig-a.

tip^i-su];ji(ik.

inikarsiyaiik.

pisugpok.

atterpok.

iserpok.

annipok.

aularpok.

ayimg-ilatiga.

augisok.

viktorpok.

nerkersok.

auner-saumiwok.

nauvok.

incing-arpok.

arhhnndrjink.

pivtsiiarpuk.

tussarpok.

ke avok, atsuilivok.

okemeipuk, arktoruer-

pok.
angisoak.
portuvok.
tiguk.

petkoser-suitpok.
nerrikupok.
kannong-illettit ?
pertlillerpok
innalyn-ivya.
pissikpok.
tungmarpok.
tokopok.

innuksi-arnerpok.
kunnikpok.
dskomiartok.
kelersorpok.
kelerusaerpok.
ilipok.
iglarpok.
tessiorpok.
ilitpok.
attartorpok.
alluktorpok.
nellersok.

He lifts.
He is living.
He looks,
He loosens.
He loves.
She loves him.
Married,
He meets him,
He is merry,
It melts.
He mourns,
He murders.
He is naked,
He nods.
He obeys.
Ho is old,
It oversets.
He paddles.
He pants,
He plucks off.
He plugs up.
He pours,
He pricks.
He pulls.

kivikpok.

umavok.

tekovok.

porpok, pellukpok.

asavok.

assavd.

nullialik.

napipok.

kemavok.

aupok.

alUyi-sukpok,

innuorpok.

maftang-asuk.

angerpok

nalekpok.

utokavok.

kinguvok.

pautakpok.

annersertarpok.

nuniokpok.

simiksok.

koisiok.

kapivok.

oniarpok.

H e pulls one's hair, nutsukpok.
He punishes, pitlai-pok.

pisiniarpok.

ayekpok.

tipitovok.

allianarpok.

s'ial-lukpok.

koblarpok.
piok, tiguvok.

erkai-niarit.

utertok.

illuarpok.
the ullitsar-torpok.

tigliktok.

aksakartok.

manning-itsok.

angmalortok.

aggiarpok.

arkpatok.

alley en-orpok. ,

aulautpa.

okarpok.

ketsukpok, kumiptok.

tortlorpok, nippanotit.

He purchases.
He pushes,
It is putrid,
He is quiet,
It rains,
He raises,
He receives !
Remember !
He returns,
That is right,
It rises (as

tide),
He is a rogue,
It rolls,
It is rough,
It is round.
He rubs,
He runs,
He is sad,
He saves,
He says,
He scratches.
He screams,
He is gone seal- auguni-arpok, arkij-

He sees him,
He sells it,
He sends,
She sews.
It shines,
He shovels,
He shouts.
He is sick.
He sighs.

isok.
talmvd.
pissiniutiga,
neksiupa.
mersortok.
heblerpok.
nivagpok.
tortlu-lortok.
napparpok.
aunersartopok.

VOCABULARIES.

203

Verbs — continued.

He sings,

It sinks.
Sit down,
He slaps.
He sleeps,
It slides down.
He is slow.
He is small.
He smells.
He smiles.
It smokes,
It is smooth,
He sneezes.
He snores,
It snows,
It is soft.
It is sore,
He speaks,
He spits,
He splits it,
He squeezes.
He stabs,
He steals.
Stop!

He stretches,
He strikes him.

He is strong,
She suckles,
He suffers.
He is surprised,

illerkorsorpok, imner-

tok.
kiwisok.
ingitit.
unatarpok.
siningpok.^
siststtsuk.
inijarleng-itsok.
iiiikisuiig-uwok.
namai'ok.
kongiularpok.
pu-yortok.
manigpok,
tagiokfnk.
sin'lijJuUiikpok.
ka n lie rpok, n iptarpok.
ketuktok.
annernartok.
okalluktok.
kesersok.
koppisok.
erkiterpok.
kapjnsdk.
tiglikpok.
unikpit, tessd !
isuilukpok.
unartarpa, tigluksak-

pa.
nekoarpok.
miluk-titsiok.
mikekaok.
tettamiok, tupigosuk-

pok.

He swallows.
He sweats,
It swells.
He swims,
Take away !
Take care !
Take it !
He talks.
He teaches.
He tears,
I am thirsty,

It thaws,
He throws a spear,
He tickles.
He tit'S,
I am tired.
He travels.
He trembles.
He twists,
He undresses,
He vomits.
He walks,
He washes.
He watches,
He is well.
Well done 1
He went.
It is wet,
He whips.
He whistles.
He is young,

iwok.

allarpok,

poiciicok.

nelluktok.

pi-uk!

mianifrsorpit.

tiguk.

okalluktok.

ayorker-nakpa.

alliktorpok.

imeruktunga, killaler-

puk.
aunatok (Kane).
naulikpok.
koiiiekpok.
kerlerpok.
kassuwonga.
ingerlesok-autdla rpok .
saijukpok.
kaipsiok.
matarpok.
meriarpok.
pissuktok.
ermikpok.
pigorpok.
somangilak.
mjung-ilak.
peartorpok.
kausersok.
ipperartorpd.
uingiartok.
innuo-suktok.

• Washington h is sinniktok.

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( 230 )

II.

ON THE DESCENT OF THE ESKIMO.
By Henry Eink, Director of the Danish Colonies in Greenland.^

The author, who has travelled and resided in Greenland for twenty-
years, and has studied the native traditions, of which he has preserved
a collection, considers the Eskimo as deserving particular attention
in regard to the question how America has been originally peopled.
He desires to draw the attention of ethnologists to the necessity of
explaining, by means of the mysterious early history of the Eskimo,
the apparently abrupt step by which these people have been changed
from probably inland or river-side inhabitants into a decidedly
littoral people, depending entirely on the products of the Arctic
Sea ; and he arrives at the conclusion that, although the question
must still remain doubtful, and dependent chiefly on further inves-
tigations into the traditions of the natives occupying adjacent
countries, yet, as far as can now be judged, the Eskimo appear to
have been the last wave of an aboriginal American race, which has
spread over the continent from more genial regions, following prin-
cipally the rivers and water- courses, and continually yielding to the
pressure of the tribes behind them, until at last they have peopled
the sea-coast.

In the higher latitudes, the contrast between sea and land, as
affording the means of subsistence, would be sufficient to produce a
corresponding abrupt change in the habits of the people, while
further to the south the change would be moie gradual. The water-
courses which may have led the original inland Eskimo down to the
sea-coast might probably have been the rivers draining the country
between the Mackenzie and the Athna rivers (? Athabasca).

The same country also seems to afford the most probable means
of explaining the uniformity observable in the development of
Eskimo civilisation, which to some extent is still maintained amongst

' An article in the 'Me'moires de la Societe Royale des Antiquaires du
Nord.' (From tlie 'Journal of ttie Anthropological Institute,' April 1872.)

ESKIMO TRADITIONS. 231

them upon the rivers and lakes in that part of America. This de-
velopment must have been promoted by the necessity of co-operatin"-
for mutual defence against the inland people ; but as soon as a certain
stage of development was attained, and the tribes spread over the
Arctic coasts towards Asia on the one side and Greenland on the
other, the further improvement of the race appears to have ceased,
or to have been considerably checked.

The author draws a comparison between the Eskimo and the
nations adjoining them, both in Asia and America, in regard to their
ai't^ of subsistence, language, social laws, customs, traditions, and
other branches of culture, particularly dwelling on their traditions,
of which he has collected a great number from all the inhal>ited
places on the east side of Davis Straits, together with some from
East Greenland and Labrador. He shows that an astonishing re-
semblance exists between the stories received from the most distant
places, as, for instance, between those of Cape Farewell and Labra-
dor, the iiihabitants of which appear to have had no intercourse with
each other for upwards of a thousand years. As the distance from
Cape Farewell to Labrador, by the ordinaiy cbannels of Eskimo
communication, is as far as from either of those two places to tlie
most western limit of the Eskimo region, it may bo assumed that a
certain stock of traditions is more or less common to all the tribes of
Eskimo. The author's studies have led him to the following con-
clusions: 1. That the principal stock of traditions were not invented
from time to time, but originated duiing the same stage of their
migrations, in which the nation developed itself in other branches
of culture ; viz., the period during which they made the great step
from an inland to a coast people. The traditions invented subse-
quent to this are more or less composed of elements taken from the
older stories, and have only had a more or less temporary existence,
passing into oblivion during the lapse of one or two centuries.
2. That the real historical events upon which some of the principal
of the oldest tales are founded, consisted of wars conducted against
the same hostile nations, or of journeys to the same distant countries ;
and that tlie original tales were subsequently localised, the piesent
narrators pretending that the events took place each in the country
in which they now reside — as, for instance, in Greenland, or even
in special disiricts of it. By this means it has come to pass that
the men and animals of the original tales, which are wanting in tho
localities in which the several tribes have now settled, have been
converted into supernatural beings, many of vvhich are now sup-
posed to be occupying tho unknown regions in the interior of
Greeiihin<l.

232 ESKIMO TRADITIONS.

In accordance with these views, the author explains some of the
most common traditions from Greenland as simply mythical narra-
tions of events occurring in the far north-west corner of America,
thereby pointing to the great probability of that district having been
the original home of the nation, in which they first assumed the
peculiarities of their present culture. The Greenlander's tales about
" inland people " are compared with what is known about the present
intercourse of the Eskimo with the interior of that part of America,
such as instances of relationship between the people of the coast and
the interior, sudden and murderous attacks of the latter, and a very
remarkable story about an expedition to the interior for the purpose
of getting copper knives from the inland people. Lastly, there are
some tales about the country beyond the sea called Akilinek, and
about the training of wild animals for sledge expeditions to this
country, in order to recover a woman carried off by some inhabitants
of that country. When we consider the existing intercourse between
the inhabitants on both sides of Behring Straits, we find many cir-
cumstances to justify the conclusion that those traditions of the
Greenland Eskimo refer to the origin of the Eskimo sledge-dog
from the training of the Arctic wolf, to the first journeys upon the
frozen sea, and to intercourse between the aboriginal Eskimo and
the Asiatic coast.

( 233 )

m.

THE WESTERN ESKIMO.

Observations on the Western Eskimo, and the Country they inhabit ;
from Notes taken during tivo years at Point Barrow. By Mr. John
Simpson, Surgeon, r.n., Her Majesty's Discovery Ship, Flover}

The term Western Eskimo is usually understood to apply to
all the people of that race who are found to the west of the
Mackenzie Kiver, but as they form two distinct communities, whose
nearest respective settlements are separated by an interval of three
hundred miles of coast, it is proper to state that the term is at
present restricted to the more western branch. The tract of
country exclusively inhabited by them is that small portion of the
north-western extreme of the American continent included by a
line extended between the mouth of the Colville Kiver and the
deepest angle of Norton Sound, and the coast-line from the latter
through Behring Straits and the Arctic 'Sea back to the Colville.
The seaboard for a little way to the south of Norton Sound is also
occupied by a few scattered families of the same race. As these
people divide themselves into numerous sections, named after the
portions of land they inhabit or the rivers flowing througli them, it
will be convenient, before speaking more particularly of themselves,
to give some account of the country as described by them. The
information is principally derived from the people of Point Barrow,
some of whom have travelled and lived for a time in ditfercnt
localities, and from strangers who came to visit them during the
time of the Plover's stay at that place.

By Captain Beechey's survey, the south and western part of this
district will be seen to be mountainous and deeply indented by
arms of the t^ea, but the northern and more inland portions have
been examined to only a short distance from the coast. The natives
of Point Barrow describe the latter as uniformly low, and full of
small lakes or pools of fresh water to a distance of about fifty miles

> From ' Further Papers relative to the Kcceiit Arctic Expeditions in Boarrh of
Sir John Franklin.' rariiiujicnttiry Keports, 18.j.').

234 EIVERS OF ARCTIC AMERICA.

from the north shore, where the surface becomes undulating and
hilly, and, farther south, mountainous. The level part is a peat-
like soil covered with moss and tufty grass, interspersed with
brushwood, perfectly free from rocks or stones, and only a little
gravel is seen occasionally in the beds of rivers. The bones of
the fossil elephant and other animals are found in many localities,
and the tusks of the former are used for some purposes. Small
pieces of amber are also frequently found in the pools inland, or
floating on the sea, to which they have been carried in the summer
by the floods. The whole is intersected in various directions by
rivers, which are traversed by boats in the summer and by sledges
in the winter. Many of the streams seen from the coast become
united, or have a common origin in some pool in the interior, and
sometimes offer a short channel from bay to bay, deep enough for
boats, which thus avoid a more circuitous and inconvenient passage
round the coast.

The largest and best known rivers are four, all of which take their
rise far to the south-east in a mountainous country, inhabited by
Indians. The most northerly of these is the Kang'-e-a-nok, which
flows some distance westward, then turns northward, receiving on
its right bank two tributaries, called the A'-nak-tok and Kil'-lek,
At a distance of probably one hundred miles from the coast it
divides into two streams, the eastern of which follows a nearly
north course to the Arctic Sea, one hundred and forty miles east of
Point Barrow, where it has been identified with the Colville. It
bears the native name of Nig'-a-lek Kok, or Goose Kiver, and is
said to receive a large tributary at thirty miles from its mouth,
called the It'-ka-ling Kok, or Indian River, coming in from the
mountains in the east. The other division flows through the level
country nearly due west to fall into Wainwright Inlet, ninety miles
S.W. of Point Barrow, when it is named Tu-tu-a-ling, but is more
generally known as Kok or Kong, " the River." The next is called
the Nu-na-tak', also a large river, whose source is very close to that
of the Colville ; but instead of turning, like the latter, northward,
it pursues a westerly course through the heart of the country ;
then, bending to the south and a little east, falls into Hotham Inlet,
near its opening into Kotzebue Sound, This certainly, in the
estimation of the Point Barrow people, is the most important river
in their country, and gives its name to by far the larger portion of
the inhabitants of the interior. At one point of its course it
approaches so near a bend of the Colville that boats can be trans-
ported in less than two days from one river to the other. The K6-
wak is the next in order as well as in size and importance, chiefly

ESKIMO SETTLEMENTS AND SOURCES OF FOOD SUPPLY. 235

on account of a few mineral substances procured in its neigbbour-
bood, and beld in esteem by tbe natives of tbe coast. It also flows
westward, and tben bends southward to join Hotbam Inlet near its
eastern end. The fourth is the Si'-la-wik, which, having a more
southerly origin, follows a more direct westerly course, and empties
itself into a large lake, communicating with tbe eastern extreme of
tbe same inlet near the mouth of the K6-wak. All these rivers
have been identified by different ofiiceinj from tbe Plover having
A'isited their embouchures, and those falling into Hotbam Inlet were
found bordered with large pine trees. Tbe natives add, that trees
also grow on the banks of the rivers in some parts of the interior.
The other rivers along the north and north-west coast are small and
baldly known, except to persons who have visited them ; and the
Buckland and others to the southward are but little spoken of by tbe
people generally, although aware of their existence.

The largest settlements are at Point Barrow, Cape Smyth, Point
Hope, and Cape Prince of Wales, which are never altogether deserted
in the summer; but besides these, there are numerous points along
the coast, as at Wainwrigbt Inlet, Icy Cape, the shores of Kotzebue
Sound, i'ort Clarence, and Norton Sound, where there are smaller
settlements or single huts, occupied in the winter but generally
abandoned in tbe summer.

The inhabitants state, that the sea affords them several varieties
of whale, only one of which is usually pursued, the narwhal (occa-
sionally), the walrus, four different sorts of seal, the polar bear, and
some small fish ; the inlets and rivers yield them the salmon, the
heiTing, and the smelt, besides other kinds of large and small fish;
and on the land, besides abundance of berries and a few edible roots,
are obtained the reindeer, the imna (an animal which nearly answers
to the description of the argali or Siberian sheep), the hare, the
brown or black bear, a few wolverines and martens, the wolf, the
lynx, blue and black foxes, the beaver, musk-rats and lemmings.
In summer, birds are very numerous, particularly geese in the
interior and ducks on the coast. The ptitrniigan and raven remain
throughout the winter, and the latter is the only living thing wo
know to be rejected as food. Black-lead, and several varieties of
stones for making whet-stones, arrow-heads, and labrets, and for
striking fire, are also enumerated as the produce of the land and
articles of barter. The articles in common use, fur which they
are indebted to strangers, are kettles, knives, tobacco, beads, and tin
for making pipes, almost all of which come from Asia. English
knives and beads are also in use, and within these few years, at
Point Barrow, the Hudson's Buy musket and ammunition. Tbe

236 ESKIMO TRADE ROUTES.

skin of tho wolverine is held in liigh esteem, and is, like the
English goods, procured from the Indians, occasionally directly, but
most commonly through their more eastern brethren at Barter
Point. The latter also supply narwhal-skins, large lamps or oil-
burners, made of stone, which form part of the furniture of every
hut.

The great trading places are King-ing, at Cape Prince of Wales,
Se-en'-a-ling, at the mouth of the Nu-na-tak, Nig'-a-lek, at the
mouth of the Colville, within their own country ; and Nu-wu-ak,
at Point Barter, to the eastward, between all of which there is a
yearly communication. It might be expected that the Eussian ports
near Norton Sound would supply the Russian goods, but such is not
the case, as they are all, or nearly all, brought from the Kokh'-lit
Nuna, as they call Asia. They say four or five Asiatic boats cross
the Straits after midsummer, proceeding from East Cape to the
Diomede Islands, and thence to Cape Prince of Wales, where trade
is carried on with people belonging to the neighbourhood of Norton
Sound, Port Clarence, &c. The boats then proceed along the shore
of Kotzebue Sound until the high land, near Cape Krusenstern
comes into view, when they steer by it for Hotham Inlet, and
encamp at Se-su-a-ling. At this place, towards the latter end of
July, people from all the coast and rivers to a great distance meet,
and an extensive barter takes place among the Esquimaux them-
selves, as well as with the Asiatics, amid feasting, dancing, and
other enjoyments. A large proportion of the goods falls into the
hands of the people living on the Nu-na-tak, who carry it into the
interior, and either transfer it to others, or descend the Colville
with it themselves the following year, to meet their friends from
Point Barrow. At the Colville the same scene of b9,rter and
amusement takes place in the latter part of July, and early in
August the goods are carried to Point Barter by the Point Barrow
traders, to be exchanged for the English and other produce of the
east. The Nu-na-tung'-meun, or Nu-na-tak people, thus become
the carriers of the Eussian kettles, knives, &c., to be found along
the north coast, and being known only by name to the inhabitants
east of the Colville as the people from whom these articles are pro-
cured, it is easy to perceive how Sir J. Franklin and Mr. Simpson
were led to conjecture that a Eussian port existed upon that river,
and that the agents residing there were called Nu-na-tang'-meun.
The word Nu-na-tak appears to signify " inland," from its being
commonly applied to persons coming fi-om any part of the interior ;
but they do not use any corresponding word to comprehend the
different tribes on the coast.

SETTLEMENT AT TOINT BARP.OW. 237

The number of inhalntants within the first-named boundaries
does not, from all we can learn, exceed 2o00 souls, and is probably
little more than 2000, all of whom have the same characteristics of
form, feature, language, and dress, and follow, with little variation,
according to the locality, whether on the coast or in the interior,
the same habits and pursuits. The remarks which follow, therefore,
though more particularly referring to the people of Point Barrow,
will be equally applicable to them all.

Point Barrow is the northern extreme of this part of the American
continent, consisting of a low spit of sand and gravel projecting to
the north-east. Its length is about four miles, and it is little more
than a quarter of a mile in average breadth, but expands consider-
ably at the extremity, where it rises to about sixteen feet in height,
and sends out to the E.S.E. a low narrow ridge of gravel to a
distance of more than two miles, succeeded in the same direction by
a row of sandy islets, enclosing a shallow bay of considerable
extent. The assemblage of winter huts is placed on the expanded
and more elevated extremity, where there is a thin layer of grassy
turf. It is called Nu-wuk, or Noo-wook, which signifies emphati-
cally "The Point." No doubt the settlement owes its existence
to the proximity of the deep sea, in which the whale can be success-
fully pursued in the summer and autumn, and to the great extent
of shallow waters around, where the seal may be taken at any season
of the year. The number of inhabited huts in the winter of
1852-3 was fifty-four, reduced to forty-eight in the succeeding year
in consequence of the scarcity of oil to supply so many fires, besides
a few others which do not seem to have been tenanted for several
years, and two dance-houses. The total population at the end of
1853 was 309, of whom 166 were males and 143 females. The older
people say their numbers are much diminished of late yeais, a
statement to the truth of which the remains of a third dance-house
and the number of unoccupied huts bear silent testimony. The
latter are in some degree taken care of as if to preserve the right of
OAvnership, and to prevent their being pulled down. Further, a
disease, which from description seems to have been influenza, is said
to have carried ofi" no less than forty people in the commencement
of the winter of 1851-2. In 1852-3 the births we heard of were
four or five, and the deaths about ten ; and within the last twelve-
month, when our information was more accurate, we noted only
four births, but no fewer than twenty-seven deaths, most of which
occurred from famine, reducing the population at the present time
to 286. The settlement at Tape Smyth, about tun miles distant, con-
sisting of forty huts, and having about three-fourths tlio inhabitants.

238 PHYSICAL CONFORMATION OF ESKIMOS.

has been reduced in a more than proportionate degree, having lost
forty people since July 1853. Some of these had fled in the depth
of winter from their own cold hearths to seek food and warmth at
Nu-wuk, where, finding no relief, they perished miserably on the
snow. These people are by no means the dwarfish race they were
formerly supposed to be. In stature they are not inferior to many
other races, and are robust, muscular, and active, inclining rather to
spareness than corpulence. The tallest individual was found to be
5 feet 10^ inches, and the shortest 5 feet 1 inch. The heaviest
man weighed 195 lbs., and the lightest 125 lbs. The individuals
weighed and measured were taken indiscriminately as they visited the
ship, and were all supposed to have attained their full stature. Their
chief muscular strength is in the back, which is best displayed in
their games of wrestling. The shoulders are square, or rather
raised, making the neck appear shorter than it really is, and the
chest is deep ; but in strength of arm they cannot compete with our
sailors. The hand is small, short, broad, and rather thick, and the
thumb appears short, giving an air of clumsiness in handling any-
thing ; and the power of grasping is not great. The lower limbs
are in good proportion to the body, and the feet, like the hands, are
short and broad, with a high instep. Considering their frequeut
occupations as hunters they do not excel in speed, nor in jumping
over a height or a level space, but they display great agility in
leaping to kick with both feet together an object hanging as high
as the chin, or even above the head. In walking, their tread is firm
and elastic, the step short and quick ; and the toes being turned
outwards and the knee at each advance inclining in the same
direction, give a certain peculiarity to their gait difiicult to
describe.

The hair is sooty black, without gloss, and coarse, cut in an even
line across the forehead, but allowed to grow long at the back of
the head and about the ears, whilst the crown is cropped close or
shaven. The colour of the skin is a light yellowish brown, but
variable in shade, and in a few instances was observed to be very
dark. In the young, the complexion is comparatively fair, pre-
senting a remarkably healthy sunburnt appearance, through which
the rosy hue of the cheeks is visible ; before middle life, however,
this, from exposure, gives place to a weather-beaten appearance, so
that it is difficult to guess their ages.

The face is flat, broad, rounded, and commonly plump, the cheek-
bones high, the forehead low, but broad across the eyebrows, and
narrowing upwards ; the whole head becomes somewhat pointed
towards the crown. The nose is short and flat, giving an appear-

PHYSICAL CONFORMATION OF ESKIMOS. 230

ance of considerable space between the eyes. The eyes arc brown,
of different shades, usually dark, seldom if ever altogether black,
and generally have a soft expression ; some have a peculiar glitter,
which we call gipsy-like. They slope slightly upwards from the
nose, and have a fold of skin stretching across the inner angle to
the upper eyelid, most perceptible in childhood, which gives to
some individuals a cast of countenance almost perfectly Chinese.
The eyelids seem tumid, opening to only a moderate extent, and
the slightly arched eyebrows scarcely project beyond them. The
ears are by no means large, but frequently stand out sideways.
The mouth is prominent and large, and the lips, especially the
lower one, rather thick and protruding. The jaw-bones are strong,
supporting remarkably firm and commonly regular teeth. In
the youthful these are in general white, but towards middle ago
they have lost their enamel and become black, or are worn down
to the gums. The incisors of the lower jaw do not pass behind
those of the upper, but meet edge to edge, so that by the time an
individual arrives at maturity, the opposing surfaces of the eye and
front teeth are perfectly flat, independently of the wear they are
subjected to in every possible way to assist the hands. The expres-
sion of the countenance is one of habitual good -humour in the great
majority of both sexes, but is a good deal marred in the men by
wearing heavy lip ornaments.

The lower lip in early youth is perforated at each side opposite
the eye-tooth ; and a slender piece of ivory, smaller than a crow-
quill, having one end broad and flat like the head of a nail or tack
to rest against the gum, is inserted from within, to prevent the
wound healing up. This is followed by others successively larger
during a period of six months or longer, until the openings are
sufficiently dilated to admit the lip ornaments or labrets. As the
dilatation takes place in the direction of the fibres of the muscle
surrounding the mouth, the incisions ai)pears so ver^' uniform as to
lead one to suppose each tribe had a skilful operator for the pur-
pose ; this, however, is not the case, neither is there any ceremony
attending the operation.

The labrets worn by the men are made of many difTcront kinds
of stone and even of coal, but the largest, most expensive, and most
coveted, are each made of a flat circular piece of white stone, an
inch and a half in diameter, the front surface of which is flat, and
has cemented to it half of a large blue bead. The back surface is
also flat, except at the centre, where a projection is left to fit the
hole in the lip, with a broad expanded end to prevent it falling out,
and so shaped as to lie in contact with the gum. It is surprising

240 PHYSICAL CONFOEMATION OF ESKIMOS.

how a man can face a breeze, however light, at 30° or 40° below
zero, with pieces of stone in contact with his face, yet it seems from
habit the unoccupied openings would be a greater inconvenience
than the labrets which fill them.

Their sight is remarkably acute, and seemed particularly so to us,
who often experienced a difficulty in estimating the true distance
and size of objects on the snow. Their hearing also is good, but we
doubt if it possesses the same degree of acuteness. Of the other
senses we have not been able to form an opinion.

While young the women are generally well-formed and good-loot-
ing, having good eyes and teeth. To a few, who besides possessed
something of the Circassian cast of features, was attributed a certain
degree of brunette beauty. Their hands and feet are small, and
the former delicate in the young, but soon become rough and
coarse when the household cares devolve upon them. Their move-
ments are awkward and ungainly, and though capable of making
long journeys on foot, it is almost painful to see many of them walk.
Unlike the men, they shuffle along commonly a little sideways,
with the toes turned inwards, stooping slightly forward as if carry-
ing a burden ; and their general appearance is not enhanced by the
coat being made large enough to accommodate a child on the back,
whilst the tight-fitting nether garment only serves to display the
deformity of their bow legs. Beyond the front view of the face,
they seem utterly regardless of cleanliness ; and though careful in
arranging the beads in their hair, they seldom use a comb either for
comfort or tidiness. A sort of cleansing of the body generally is
occasionally practised, but it is far from deserving the name of
ablution. It is but fair to state that we believe they might be
easily taught habits of cleanliness, but these could be attended to
with the greatest difficulty, as they have no more water in the long
winter than is just sufficient for their drinking and cooking.
Around Michselowski, in Norton Sound, some of the women wear
cotton garments next the skin ; and on bath days, after the people
of the Fort had done, they eagerly availed themselves of the
opportunity, when allowed, to wash both themselves and their
clothes.

The hair is worn parted in the middle from the back to the front,
and plaited on each side behind the ear into a roll, which hangs
down to the bosom and is wrapped round with small beads of
various colours. Length of hair generally accompanies softness of
its texture, and is considered a point of female beauty. The ears are,
with very few exceptions, pierced to support, with ivory or copper
hooks, foiir or five long strings of small beads suspended at a dis-

PEEFORATION OF LIPS. TATTOOING. DRESS. 241

tance from the ends, wliicli hang free, leaving the middle part to
fall loosely across the breast. Not nnfrequently the ends are long
enough to be each fastened back in another loop to the hair behind
the ears.

Fortunately for the appearance of the countenance it is not
deformed by the perforations in the lip, but instead it is marked
with three tattooed lines from the margin of the lower lip to the
under surface of the chin. The middle one of these is rather more
than half an inch broad, with a narrower one at a little distance on
either side, diverging slightly downwards. The manner in which
tattooing is performed is by pinching up the skin in the direction
of the line required, and passing through it at short intervals a
fine needle, in the eye of which is a small thread of sinew blackened
with soot, as in ordinar}^ sewing, except that the thread is pulled
through at each stitch. The narrow line on each side is the result
of one seam or series of stitches, but the middle one requires three
or four such close together. It has been supposed that this opera-
tion is performed at a particular period when the girl verges into
womanhood, and some of the natives profess that this is the case,
but inquiry does not substantiate the supposition. A single line is
frequently seen in mere children, and the three in very young
girls, whilst a few are not marked until they seem almost full
grown women, and have been called wives for a considerable time.
The same irregularity exists with regard to the age at which the lip
is perforated for labrets in boys, who as soon as they can take a seal
or kill a wolf are entitled to have the operation performed. But,
in truth, no rule obtains in either case ; some, led by the force of
example, submit to it early, and others delay it from shyness or
timidity. A man is met with occasionally without holes for labrets,
but a woman without the chin-marks w-e have never seen.

The men's dress is simple and convenient, consisting of a frock
reacliing nearly half-way to the knee, with a hood, and confined at
the waist by a loose belt, having the tail of some animal attached
to it behind, and breeches tying below the knee over long boots or
mocassins, which also tie at the ankle. These garments are double,
the inner being generally made of fawn-skin, and worn with the
fur inw^ards, and the outer of the skin of the half or full-grown
animal with the hair outwards. To make the hood set well to the
face, a triangular slip of skin is necessary to bo inserted on each
side of the neck, with long points extending down the breast ; and
these pieces being usually white, form witli the darker skin of tho
coat a contrast which readily catches tho eye. Around the face is
a fringe, frequently of wolf or wolverine-skin, on good coats, and the

242 DEESS OF THE WESTERN ESKIMOS.

skirt is hemmed with a narrow edging of a similar kind ; some have
also a border of white, with straps of the same colour on the arm
near the shoulder. There is commonly an ermine-skin, a feather,
or some such thing, which acts as a charm, attached to the back.
The skins of various other animals besides the deer, as the fox,
musk-rat, marten, dressed bird-skins, &c., are also used in making
coats. The breeches are also of deer-skin, or sometimes dog or seal-
skin, occasionally ornamented with a stripe of white down the out-
side or front of the thigh. The boots are most frequently of the
dark skin of the reindeer's legs, or this in alternate stripes with the
white skin of the belly, extending from below the knee to the ankle,
with soles of white dressed seal-skin, gathered in neatly around the
toes and heels, having within a cushion of whalebone scrapings or
dried grass, between them and the reindeer stockings, which are
next the feet. They are particular in the arrangement of the skins ;
thus the round spot of indurated skin on which the hair is stiffer
and whiter than that around it just below the hock of the animal is
always placed over the inside of the ankle-bone in men's mocassins
at Point Barrow, and over the outer in women's ; but they say the
reverse is the custom at Point Hope. Over these a pair of ankle-
boots of black seal-skin, dressed only so far as to remove the hair,
with soles of narwhal-skin, is worn on the ice. The hands are
protected by deer-skin mittens, with the hair inwards ; but for cold
weather and working on the ice, the thicker skin of the polar bear,
with the hair outwards, is preferred, as it is warmer and less liable
to injury from getting wet. The whole dress is roomy, particularly
the coat, which has the sleeves large enough to allow the hands to
be withdrawn, one of the greatest comforts that can be imagined in
cold weather. In winter a cloak of dark and white deer-skins is
worn over the shoulders, held on by a thong across the throat, and
gives the whole figure a very gay appearance. According as the
wind is in from or on one side, the cloak can be turned as a pro-
tection against it. The usual belt is made of the smaller wing-
feathers of ducks, after the plumes are torn off, partly sewed and
partly woven with small plaited cords of sinew, taking care to keep
the glossy back surface of the feathers outwards, and their ends,
which form the edges of the belt, are confined by a narrow binding
of skin. In some of these there is a checkered appearance, produced
by alternate rows of black and white feathers ; but the white tapsi,
or belt, is certainly the gayest. The pipe-bag on one side, and the
knife on the other, suspended to the girdle supporting the breeches,
may be considered part of the usual dress. For procuring fire, the
flint and steel is used in the North, and kept in a little bag hanging

DRESS OF THE \YESTERN ESKIMOS. 243

round the neck; and in Kotzebue Sound the pipe-bag contains two
pieces of dry wood, with a small bow for rotating the one rapidly
while firmly pressed against the other until fire is produced. In
the absence of these, two lumps of iron pyrites are used to strike fire
upon tinder, made by rubbing the down taken from the seeds of
plants with charcoal. The tobacco-bag, or " del-la-mai'-yu," is the
constant companion of men, women, and even children, and is kept
also at the inner belt.

In summer, as their occupations are more in boats, the dress is
somewhat different. The feet and legs are incased in watertight
sealskin boots, and an outside coat of the same material,or of whale-
gut, covers the body ; or these are made all in one, with a drawing-
string round the face. The least valuable skins are also xised at
this time, as they soon become soiled and filtli}- with blubber,
becoming quite unfit for a second season.

It would be impossible to enumerate the varieties of dress we
witnessed at the grand summer dance, when, among new skin coats,
might be seen the clean white-cotton shirt and the greasy and
tattered Guernsey frock, besides others made up of odds and ends,
such as cotton or silk handkerchiefs procured at the ship, showing
that they were bound by no rule as to dress on the occasion. On
the head of every dancer, however, was a band supporting one, two,
or three large eagle's feathei s, which, together with a streak of black-
lead, either in a diagonal line across or down one side of the face,
gave them a more savage appearance than they usually exhibit.
Many of these head-bands were made of the skin of the head and
neck of some animal or bird, of which the nose or beak was retained
to project from the middle of the forehead. The long beak of the
great northern diver formed the most conspicuous of these ornaments.
Another head-dress, which is looked upon with superstitious regard,
and only worn when engaged in whaling, consists of a band of deer-
skin ornamented with needlework, fi om which are suspended around
the forehead and temples, in the form of a fringe, the front teeth of
the im'-na, a sort of deer, which has been before mentioned as
inhabiting the interior.

Snow-shoes are so seldom used in the North when the drifted
snow presents a hard frozen surface to walk upon, that certainly
not half a dozen pairs were in existence at Point IJarrow at the time
of our arrival, and those were of an inferior sort. Inland, and near
Kotzebue Sound, where trees and underwood grow, the snow remains
so soft it would be impossible to travel any distance in the winttsr
without them. The most common one is two jiieces of alder, about
two feet find a half long, curved towards each other at the <'n»ls,

244 DRESS OF ESKIMO WOMEN.

where the}' are bound together, and kept apart in the middle by
two cross-pieces, each end of which is held in a mortice. Between
the cross-pieces is stretched a stout thong, lengthwise and across,
for the foot to rest upon, with another which first forms a loop to
allow the toes to pass beneath ; this is carried round the back of the
ankle to the opposite side of the foot, so as to sling the snow-shoe
under the joint of the great toe. As the shoe is thus suspended at
a point a little before its centre, the heel end trails lightly over
the snow at each step, whilst the toe is raised over any slight
unevenness in the way. Some are five feet long by fourteen inches
wide, rounded and turned up at the toe, and pointed at the heel,
neatly filled in before and behind the cross-bars with a network of
sinew, or of a very small thong made from the skin of the small seal,
nat'-sik.

The women's dress differs from the men's in the mocassins and
breeches forming a single close-fitting garment tied round the waist,
as well as in being more uniformly striped, and the coat in being
longer, reaching to below the knees in a rounded flap before and
behind. The back of the coat and the hood are also made large
enough to contain a child, whose weight is chiefly sustained by the
belt. For common use, and among the poorer people, the inner one is
made of bird-skins, and among those who are better off, of deer-skin,
and is plain. In winter, when out of doors, an outer coat of thick
deer-skin is worn, and in summer a light one of the skins procured
during the summer when the animal is changing its hair. For
dress occasions, one is worn by those who can afford it which is
made of patchwork, always according to one invariable plan as to
the shape and principal seams ; but there is considerable variety
allowed in the arrangement of the white and different shades of
fawn-skins of which it is made, besides a countless multitude of
strips and tufts of fir sewed to the back, shoulders, and front of the
garment, producing always a pleasing effect, and indicating con-
siderable industry on the part of the seamstress.

The woman's tapsi or belt is made from the skin of the wolverine's
feet, with the claws directed downwards and placed at regular inter-
vals. Near Kotzebue Sound a belt of a different kind is much in
use, consisting of a piece of skin, of proper length, having the front
teeth of the reindeer, adhering to the dried gum of the animal,
stitched to it ; so that the second row of teeth overlies the sewing
on the first, and so on, beginning at each end and joining at the
middle. A belt of this description is about two and a half inches
broad, and has from fifty to sixty rows of teeth. The other personal
ornaments, besides the beads in the hair and ears, are rings of iron

DEESS OF WOMEN. LONGEVITY. 245

and copper for the wrists, and on dancing occasions their wealth is
displayed in broad bands of small beads of ditfercnt colours, arranged
according to the taste of the wearer, attached by one end to the
coat at the neck, and by the other to the middle of the front skirt.
Large beads seem to be \ised only by the men, some of whom were
vain enough to display them in strings round the liead or hanging
in front of the coat, and we remarked that no part of the materials
procured from the ship was used as clothing by the women.
Buttons were the only ornaments they seemed to adopt for the belt,
and to fasten the beads in their hair.

Instead of a knife the women wear at the inner belt a needle-case,
which is merely a narrow strip of skin in which the needles are
stuck, with a tube of bone, ivory, or iron to slide down over them,
and kept from slipping off the lower end by a knot or large bead.
Their pipe is commonly smaller and lighter than V.m men's, and
they do not carry it in a bag, but in the hand or inside the
coat at the back ; and the flint and steel is not so general
with them, as their work is seldom out of doors except in com-
pany with the men. They have a singular habit of wearing
only one mitten, protecting the other hand under the flap of the
coat, or drawing it inside the sleeve, in preference to carrying a
second.

Tlie shape of the coat serves to distinguish the sex of child I'en as
soon as they are able to walk alone, but the woman's form of
mocassins is used by boys until they are well grown.

The physical constitution of both sexes is strong, and they bear
exposure during the coldest weather for many hours together with-
out appearing inconvenienced, further than occasional frost-bites on
the cheeks. They also show great endurance of fatigue during
their journeys in the summer, particularly that part in which they
require to drag the family boat, laden with their summer tent and
all their moveables, on a sledge over the ice.

Extreme longevity is probably not unknown among Ihcm ; but as
they take no heed to number the years as they pass, they can form
no guess of their own ages, invariably stating " they have many
years." Judging altogether from appearance, a man whom we saw
in the neighbourhood of Kotzebue Sound could not be less than
eighty years of age. He had long been conflned to his bed, and
ap{)eared quite in his dotage. There was another at Point Barrow,
whose wrinkled face, silvery hair, toothless gums, and shrunk limbs
indicated an age nothing short of seventy-five. This man died in
the month of April 1853, and had paid a visit to the ship only a few
days before, when his intellect seemed unimpaired, ajid his vision

s 2

246 DISPOSITION OF WESTEEN ESKIMOS.

wonderfully acute for his time of life. There is another still alive,
who is said to be a few years older.

Before offering aijy remarks on the character of these people, it
should be premised that the subject is approached with great
diffidence, lest we should give erroneous views respecting them ; for
although we have resided two years within three miles of their
largest settlement, we could never wholly divest ourselves of the
feeling that we were looked upon by them as foreigners, if not
intruders, who were more feared than trusted; the more favourable
points of their character were not therefore brought prominently
before us ; whilst from being frequently annoyed by petty thefts,
false reports, broken promises, and evasions, we perhaps too hastily
concluded that thieving and lying were their natural characteristics,
without attributing to them a single redeeming quality. Yet, as
we became l;:^tter acquainted, we found individuals of weight and
influence among them, whose conduct seemed guided by a rude
inward sense of honesty and truth, and whom it would be unfair to
judge by a civilized standard, or to blame for yielding to temptations
to them greater than we can conceive. Aleaf of tobacco is a matter
of small value, yet the end of it sticking from one's pocket amid a
knot of natives at Nu-wuk, would be a greater temptation there,
and would more surely be stolen than a handkerchief or a purse
seen dangling from one's skirt in a London mob. And when the
parental and filial duties are so carefully performed, it \vould be
hard to deny the existence of even a spark of generosity.

In disposition they are good-humoured and cheerful, seemingly
burdened by no care. Their feelings are lively but not lasting, and
the temper frequently quick, but placable. Of their placable temper,
an instance occurred in September 1852. An old man, of some con-
sideration at Nu-wuk, had with his wife been alongside the ship,
and in the crowd were refused admittance ; the woman also, by
some accident, had received a blow on the head from an oar. By
way of retaliation, a day or two afterwards he tried to send away
our watering-party from a pond near the village; and finding our
men took little heed of him, he set about persuading his countrymen
to expel the strangers " for stealing the water." Captain Maguire
seeing the disturbed state of his feelings depicted in his countenance,
advanced to meet him, and at once presented him with a needle.
The man's embarrassment was extreme. Trifling as the present
was, it flattered him out of more than half of his anger, and he dis-
sipated the rest in a long talk, the people seating themselves in a
ring, and requesting the captain and his companions to take a place
in the centre, when the old man and his wife — his better half —

DISPOSITION OF WESTERN ESKIMOS. 247

explained the bad treatment they had received at the ship. In tlie
meantime the boat was hulen, and the distribution of a little tobacco
left a momentary impression that we were angels.

Their conjiigal and parental afiections are strong, the latter
especially, whilst the children are still young; but beyond the
sphere of their own family or hut they appear to have no regard.
The loss of a husband, a wife, or a child, makes no permanent deep
impression, unless the bereavement leaves them destitute of the
comforts they have been accustomed to ; indeed, it is not rare to
find a woman unable to give an accurate account of her children, in-
cluding the dead ; yet when their afflictions are brought to mind by
inquiry, the cheerful smile leaves the face to be rejilaced by a look
of sadness, and the tone of the voice becomes doleful. Under the
real or pretended influence of grief, acts of violence are sometimes
committed by the men, and thefts at the ship were occasionally said
to be prom])ted by domestic sorrows. Though thankful at times for
favours, they seldom ofiered any return, and gratitude beyond the
hour is not to be looked for. Perhaps it is not too much to say that
a free and disinterested gift is totally unknown among them. On
making a present to a stranger, it was not uncommon to see him
put on a look of incredulity, and repeatedly ask if it were really a

gift.

They vied with each other for a long time in pilfering from the
ship, whilst among themselves honesty seemed to prevail ; but as
we came to know them better, and were able to detect delinquents,
our losses became fewer, and we learned that thefts fiom each
other were not unfrequent, so that we arrived at the very unsatis-
factory conclusion that it is the certainty of detection that prevents
theft. Many articles, such as spears and other implements, are left
exposed, and run no risk, as they would certainly bo recognized by
many others besides the owner ; but when food, oil, tobacco, or such
other things as would bo difficult to identify, are concerned, the
case is different. In the long passage leading to the winter hut,
many articles are kept which could be easily taken unknown to the
inmates; but during the day some neighbour would be sure to see
the thief, or, if the deed were done in the night, his focjtmarks on
the snow would tell the tale. It is in the stormy, dark nights the
Nu-wuk burglar goes his rounds, trusting to the snow-drift to ob-
literate his footsteps. His visits are not unprovided against, for a
trap is laid in most huts, not to catch the marauder, but to alarm
and drive him away. This is affected by placing a board with a
large wooden vessel on it in such a position, tliat both may fall on
the slightest touch, thereby making sufficient noise to arouse the

248 CHARACTER OF THE ESKIMOS.

household, some of whom get up, re-adjust the trap, and retire
again. We were also informed of instances as they occurred of
stealing from each other seals left on the ice, and in one case a net
was taken up and carried off to Cape Smyth.

It is almost natural to expect that falsehood should follow to
conceal theft, and we found it here accordingly. To invent stories
disparaging to others was a practice some addicted themselves to
without any conceivable motive, and the women backbite each other
and talk scandal very freely. Their confidence in our honesty
soon became unbounded, and goods brought to the ship and not
disposed of were frequently left behind ;■ yet though they knew
our engagetaents would be fulfilled, when a bargain was made they
appeared uneasy until the payment was effected. Selfish gratification
at the present moment is all they seem to live for, and no promise
of a I'eward, however great, would induce them to deviate from their
usual life for any continued period.

If they do not possess courage of a daring character, the)'- have
given us no reason to look upon them as cowards. When the crew
of Mr. Shedden's vessel, the Nancy Dawson, landed on the ice to
shoot birds, the handful of men whose tents were in the neighbour-
hood advanced, bow in hand, to meet them and drive them back.
Some of these men have since explained, that fearing the guns,
they thought it better to oppose the landing of the strangers than
trust them on shore, before knowing them to be friends ; adding,
that " Mr. Martin was a good man, who said they were friends, and
made the ship's people put away their guns." After committing a
robbery at our storehouse, they attempted to direct attention to
the Cape Smyth people as the thieves, although the track left by
dragging some sails had been followed to near Nu-wuk. When this
was pointed out, and a threat made to send an armed force to
recover the stolen property, they turned out to the number of
eighty men, with bows and spears, and advanced within musket
shot of the ship, rather than stand a siege in their own dwellings.
We have learned enough from them to believe they at first looked
upon us as a contemptible few whom they could easily overcome,
and certainly would have attempted it but for fear of the firearms ;
but since then, they have gone to the opposite extreme, and invested
us with greater powers than we really possess. On trifling occa-
sions some of them have shown a degree of obstinacy which renders
it probable, that if once engaged in a fight they would not readily
give in, at least if there was anything like equality of weapons ; and,
under any circumstances, they might be expected to defend their
homes to the last extremity.

TREA'niENT OK CHILDUEX AND OLD PEOPLE. 249

Being in the habit of making frequent jounieys of four or five
days without taking more than two days' provisions, they appear
to rely on the kindness of others as they pass ; and as this is perhaps
never denied, hospitality to strangers may be esteemed a duty. We
aie of opinion, however, this has its limits, A man of good name
would have no difficulty in procuring food and shelter while
travelling through any part of his country, as, where he ceased to
be known by his own reputation, he would be accepted as a guest
on mentioning the name of his last entertainer ; and we have never
entered a strange hut without inquiry being made as to what sort
of food we used, and generally some of their best was set before
us, or an apology made that they had nothing to oH'er which we
would relish. But an Eskimo never undertakes a distant journey
unless he well knows the people he is going among, or he goes in
company with others on whom he can depend for a welcome. In
a society so large as that at Point Barrow, it is impossible that
different families should be at all times totally independent of each
other, and the successful hunter of to-day lends to his neighbour,
who, when the luck turns, repays the favour ; but dealings of this
kind are practised no more than necessity requires. A man
returned during the hunting-time to the village, and his own hut
being closed, he lived with a relative for four or five days ; in
return for which, when the season was over, that relative and some
of his family spent a whole day in the other's hut, where they were
entertained with reindeer-flesh, which was then very scarce.

For the tender solicitude with which their own infancy and
childhood have been tended, in the treatment of their aged and
infirm parents they make a return which redounds to their credit,
for they not only give them food and clothing, sharing with
them every comfort they possess, but on their longest and most
fatiguing journeys make provision for their easy conveyance. In
this way we witnessed among the people of fourteen summer tents
and as many boats, one crippled old man, a blind and helpless old
woman, two grown-up women with sprained ankles, and one other
old invalid, besides children of various ages, carried b}' their re-
spective families, who had done the same for the two first during
many successive summers. Here, again, the tic of kindred dictates
the duty, and we fear it would go hard with the childless. "When
a man dies, his next of kin sup})orts his widow ; or if unprovided
already, he may make her his wife, unless ho allows her to bo tjikeu
by a stranger. Oiphan children are provided fur in the same way,
and adoption is so frequent among them that it becomes almost im-
possible to trace relationship ; this is, however, of no importance,

250 TRP'.ATMENT OF CHILDREN AND AGED PERSONS.

as the adopted takes the place of a real child, and performs his
duties towards his benefactors as if for his own parents. Grief is
sometimes made the excuse for violence, but it is also assuaged in a
nobler manner by adopting the children of the deceased ; or a
stranger's orphan, to whom the name of the lost one is given. In
this manner 0-mig-a-loon, the principal man at Point Barrow, the
same who followed and annoyed Captain Pullen at Point Berens,
adopted an Indian infant which fell into his hands by accident
while grieving for his father, then recently dead, whose name the
youth now bears. We have never heard of the sick or aged being
left to perish, though at Icy Cape we saw a woman lying dead,
in a hut, who had been subject to bad treatment, as evidenced by
the bruises on her face. Within her reach were placed food and
water, which we are willing to look upon as proofs that it was not
intended she should die of starvation. One instance of infanticide
came within our knowledge during the last winter ; but a child,
they say, is only destroyed when afflicted with disease of a fatal
tendency, or, in scarce seasons, when one or both parents die. In
the case alluded to both these conditions were present. They state
that children are rarely put to death at Nu-wuk, though frequently
in the inland regions ; as if by pointing out its greater frequency
there they palliated the crime among themselves.

Having but little food of a nature adapted to supply the place of
milk, it is no unusual thing to see a boy of four or five years old
take the breast ; and the indulgence with which children are
treated is attributable in some degree to the difficulty in rearing
them. We have seen a child of four years old demand a chew of
tobacco from his father, and, not receiving it immediately, strike
him a severe blow on the face with a piece of wood, without giving
offence. It is not improbable that such indulgence should have a
permanent effect on the temper and character of the people. The
children fight with and bully each other in their play, but among
the grown-up men or womeu we have never seen anything approach-
ing a quarrel ; and, as a general rule, they are particularly careful
not to say anything displeasing in each other's presence. If a man
gets angry or out of temper, the others, even his nearest friends,
keep out of his way, trusting to his recovery in a short time.
Whenever we have met them at a distance from the ship in small
parties, they have proved tractable and willing to assist when re-
quired ; but when the numbers were large they were mischievous
bullies, threatened to use their knives on the slightest provocation,
and, instead of giving assistance, would rather throw impediments
in our way. We hardly think them likely to commit wanton cruelty,

INTELLIGENCE OF ESKIMOS. 251

or to shed human blood without a strong motive, yet we would be
unwilling to trust to the humanity of a people whose ciipidity is
easily excited, and who are accustomed to no restraint siivo their
own free will. When murder is committed, as it sometimes is. it is
in retaliation for injury, real or fancied ; and then the victim is
stolen upon while asleep and overpowered by numbers, or he receives
his death-wound unawares from some one behind him.

In point of intelligence, some exhibit considerable capacity, and
in general they are observant and shrewd. As a people, they are
very communicative, those of most consideration being generally
most silent ; and wisdom is commonly imputed to those wlio talk
least. They possess great curiosity, and are chiefly attracted by
M'hatever might be useful to themselves. In this wa}' a gun would
be a study they seemed never to tire of, particularly the lock ; and
the blacksmith when working at the forge was, perhaps, as great
an attraction as there was on board the ship. They soon began to
appreciate prints and drawings, and latterly often borrowed books
of plates to amuse them at home, always taking great care of them
and returning them in good order. When shown the construction
of a pair of bellows, a few appeai'ed to perceive and admire the
mechanism at once, whilst to many it remained quite a mysteiy to
the end. They were totally unable to comprehend how the sounds
were produced from a flute, and it was highly amusing to see one
of the most intelligent amongst them, who fancied there was some
trick practised, examine the fingers and lips of the musician to find
out the deceit. Every article that fell under their notice became
the subject of inquiry as to what were its uses, the material it was
made from, how it was manufactured, and if it pleased them much,
the name of the maker. At first they exhibited some caution in
receiving information, and went slyly from one to another asking
the same questions ; but latterly they ceased to do so, A perfect
stranger, especially if young, and allowed to roam at large about
the ship, woidd in a short time be able to name almost every one
on board, but in a way hardly recognisable. One boy at the end of
six months could count on his fingers as far as ten, mastering the
letter / in four and five tolerably, but still with great eflfort ; and
learned a few other words. A number of other's tried at first to
follow his example, without success ; and it was remarked that
'' pease-soup " was the only English word generally known and
distinctly pronounced. The majority have a strong sense of the
ludicrous, and readily observe personal peculiarities, which they
will afterwards describe with great zest. Some of them are tolerable
mimics, and their cftorts arc sure to meet with applause, especially

252 OCCUPATIONS OF AVOMEK

when the subject is u stranger ; but among themselves tliey are
very discreet in the exercise of this faculty. A few of the men
showed some quickness in interpreting the drift of our inquiries
respecting their superstitions and usages ; but for the insight we
gained of these we were usually indebted to the women — especially
the younger ones, who, besides being more communicative, displayed
more readiness in this respect — for the first information, which,
being afterwards confirmed by the older men, served as a clue to
guide farther inquiry.
\y A man seems to have unlimited authority in his own hut, but as,
with few exceptions, his rule is mild, the domestic and social posi-
tion of the women is one of comfort and enjoyment. As there is no
aifected dignity or importance in the men, they do not make mere
slaves and drudges of the women; on the contrary, they endure
their full share of fatigue and hardship in the coldest season of the
year, only calling in the as^istance of the women if too wearied
themselves to bring in the fruits of their own industry and patience ;
and at other seasons the women appear to think it a privation not
to share the labours of the men. A woman's ordinary occupations
are sewing, the preparation of skins for making and mending,
cooking, and the general care of the supplies of provisions. Occa-
sionally in the winter she is sent out on the ice for a- seal which her
husband has taken, to which she is guided by his foot-marks ; and
in spring and summer she takes her place in the boat, if required.
Seniority gives precedence when there are several women in one
hut, and the sway of the elder in the direction of everything con-
nected with her duties seems never disputed. In the superinten-
dence of household affairs the active mother of the master of a hut
or of his wife must be a great acquisition to his family, from her expe-
rience and from the care and interest she displays in their manage-
ment ; and, as her natural desire is to see her children happy around
her, she exerts herself to promote their well-being and harmony.

It is said by themselves that the women are very continent before
marriage, as well as faithful afterwards to their husbands ; and this
seems to a certain extent true. In their conduct towards strangers,
the elderly women frequently exhibit a shameless want of modesty,
and the men an equally shameless indiiference, except for the re-
ward of their partner's frailty. In the neighbourhood of Port
Clarence this is less the case than farther north, whilst on the Island
of St. Lawrence it is, perhaps, more so than on any part of the coast.
The state of wedlock is entered at a variable time, but seldom in
extreme youth, unless as a convenience to the elders, who desire
an addition to the household. The usual case, is, that as soon as the

MARE I AGE. 253

young man desires a partner, and is able to support one, his mother
selects a girl according to her judgment or fancy, and invites her
to the hut, where she first takes the part of a " kir-gak " or servant,
having all the cooking and other kitchen duties to perform during
the day, and returns to her home at night. If her conduct prove
satisfactory, she is further invited to become a member of the family,
and this being agreed to, the old people present her with a new
suit of clothes. The intimacy between the young couple appears to
.spring up very gradually, and a great many changes take place before
a permanent choice is made. Obedience seems to be the great
virtue required, and is enforced by blows when necessary, until the
man's authority is established. In the ordinary course of events
life runs smoothly enough, and is only checked by a few lover's
quarrels or fits of sulkiness ; but it occasionally happens that the
husband finds his regard unrequited, and he either trusts to time to
overcome her indifference, keeping a strict watch over her conduct,
or he treats her with severity. The consequence of this is her re-
tuni to her friends, whither he may follow and drag her back to his
hut. Eepeated occurrences of this kind may take place and end in
permanent harmony ; but if his treatment has been cruel, which it
seldom is to their view, and her relatives not interested in enforcing
the union, she is taken back and protected from his farther violence.
We have been assured it sometimes happens that several men
entertain a passion for the same woman, the result of which is a
fight with bows and arrows, end.ing in the death of some of the
aspirants, and she falls to the lot of the victor. A man of mature
years chooses a wife for himself, and fetches her home, frequently, to
all appearance, much against her will ; but she manages in a wonder-
fully short time to get reconciled to her lot. A union once appa-
rently settled between parties grown-up is rarely dissolved ; though
we have seen a woman and her child residing with her relatives,
having been deserted by her husband, for what reason could not be
ascertained. The woman's property, consisting of her beads and
other ornaments, her needle-case, knife, &c., are considered her own ;
and if a separation takes place, the clothes and presents are returned,
and she merely takes away with her whatever she has brought.
Unless she has proved an untameable shrew she need not be appre-
hensive of remaining long single, as the proportion of males to
females in the popuhition is more than eight to seven, besides
which several of the leading men have each two wives.

Bigamy is evidently looked upon as a sign of wealth, and is in
many instances analogous to the adoption of children. Thus, if a
man is a trader and well oil', he may require the assistance of

25-i MARRIAGE.

another woman to work up his peltry into coats for the next market ;
or his wife may be nursing, and cannot well perform all the duties
that usually devolve upon the mistress of a large establishment.
Under such circumstances he may take home as an additional help-
mate some elderly widow, and both parties will be benefited by the
arrangement. This is, however, not always the motive, and no little
jealousy is sometimes excited by the introduction of a younger and
better-looking woman to the establishment. The practice is, after all,
not very common, as only four men out of a population of near 290
at Point Barrow had each two wives. There were four also at Cape
Smyth, where the population is smaller, and several at Point Hope.
At the latter place one was particularly mentioned as having no
less than five wives ; and although it is the only instance of polygamy
we heard of, it serves to show that custom has put no limit to the
number of wives a native of this country may have.

The age at which the women are married is probably in general
fifteen to sixteen. They do not commonly bear children before
twenty ; and there is usually an interval of four years or more
between the births. They relate, apparently with little hope of
being believed, that some years ago a woman at Cape Smyth had
two children at one birth. For one woman to have borne seven
children is a rare case, and for five to live to maturity still more
rare. If any one in the ship were stated to be the ninth or tenth
child of one family it excited their astonishment, and if to this it
were added that seven or eight of them were still alive, they
became incredulous. A couple is seldom met with more than three
of a family, though inquiry may elicit the information that one or
several " sleep on the earth." From this, and the great care and in-
dulgence with which those of tender years are treated, it may be
inferred that the greatest mortality takes place under the fifth year,
but it does not appear that there is any particular form of disease
to which they are, before this age, peculiarly liable ; the condition
of the mother, however, according as the season is one of abundance
or scarcity, has by their own account a material influence on the
health of the offspring. During first pregnancy great solicitude has
been observed on the part of the husband for his wife, although
there is no reason to believe childbirth anything but easy. In the
particular instance alluded to, from the delicate appearance of the
woman it was fancied that every precaution was taken to guard
against premature labour, three cases of which came under notice in
the last winter.

Previous to proceeding farther with the usages and occupations of
these people, it will be well to give some idea of their habitations.

ESKIMO WINTER-HUT AT HOTHAM INLET.

255

A. Upright pillars sup-

IKirting roof.

B. Entranc- hole in floor.

C. Central space for cook-

ing-fire.

D. Underground passage.
^ E. Sleeping-places.

.■^tono lamps
Iv<jgs for I II Hows.
Walls of i)latik.
Earth embankment.
Hole in roof.
l.«vel of tlie surround-
ing ground.

GrOIXU-PiaN AM> IxTKUIOU of EsKI.\I() \VlNTEi;-IIlT AT HorilAM I.NLET.

256 ESKIMO HUTS AT POINT BAKEOW.

The winter huts at Point Barrow are not placed with any regard
to order or regularity, but foi'm a scattered and confused group of
grassy mounds, each of which generally covers two separate dwel-
lings, with separate entrances ; some, however, are single, and a
few are threefold. Behind each are placed a number of tall posts
of driftwood, with others fastened across them, to form a stage on
which are kept small boats or kaiaks, skins, food, &c., above the
height to which the snow may be expected to bank up in the
winter, and beyond the reach of dogs. These posts show out very
plainly against the horizon in the winter, when everything beneath
is covered with snow, and in all seasons may be seen at a con-
siderable distance, long before the huts themselves become visible.
The entrance to each hut is from the south by a square opening at
one end of the roof of a passage twenty-five feet long, and has a
slab of ice or other substance of convenient shape to close it at
pleasure. The passage, which is at first six feet high, descends
gradually until about five feet below the surface of the ground,
becoming low and narrow before it terminates beneath the floor of
the hut. Near its middle on one side branches off a recess, ten to
twelve feet long, with a conical roof open at the top, forming an
apartment which serves as a cook-house, and on the other is com-
monly enough a similar place, used as a store or clothes' room.
The " iglu " or dwelling-place is entered by a round aperture in the
floor on the side next the passage, and is a single chamber of a
square form, varying in size from twelve to fourteen feet from
north to south, by eight to ten from east to west. The roof has a
double slope of unequal extent, that on the south side being the
larger, with a square opening or window, covered with a transparent
membrane stretched into a dome-shape by two pieces of whalebone
arched from corner to comer, and is generally a little more than
five feet high under the ridge. The smaller part of the roof has
between it and the floor a bench, on which a part of the family sleep
at night, and sit or lounge during the day. The walls are of stout
planks, placed perpendicularly, close at the seams and carefully
smoothed on the inside ; the floor and sleeping-bench are the
same, whilst overhead are small rounded beams, also smoothed
and scraped, sustaining the weight of the earth heaped on top.
As the bench and the sleeping-place beneath do not in many in-
stances exceed four feet from the wall to the cross-beam at the
edge, which serves as a pillow, the occupants cannot be supposed
to lie at full length, but this limited extent of the bed-place gives
greater space in the other part of the hut, which is thus left nearly
square, and is generally occupied by the women sewing or perform-

FURNITURE AND UTENSILS. 257

ing other household duties. The entrance and bed-pLice are at
opposite ends ; and on either hand is an oil-burner or fireplace,
having a slender rack of wood suspended over it, on which articles
of clothing are placed to dry, also a block of snow to melt and drip
into a large wooden vessel. Beneath the last again are other vessels
for diflfereut purposes, some of them frequently containing skins to
undergo preparation for being dressed. These vessels are each
made of a thin board of the breadth required, bent into the form of a
hoop, and the ends sewed together neatly with strips of whalebone,
the bottom being retained in its place by a score like the end of an
ordinary cask. The oil-burner is the most curious, if not the most
important piece of furniture in the establishment. It is purchased
ready made from the eastern Eskimo, %vho procure it from a more
distant people. It is a flat stone of peculiar shape, three to
four and a half feet long, and four inches thick, pointed at tlie ends
by the union of the two unequally convex sides somewhat like the
gibbous moon. The upper surface is hollowed to the deptli of three-
quarters of an inch to contain the oil, leaving merely a thin lip all
round, and several narrow ridges dividing the hollow part both
lengthwise and transversely. It is placed on two horizontal pieces
of wood fixed in the side of the hut, about a foot from the floor, with
the most c(jnvex side towards the wall, the other being that where
a broad flame of any extent required is sustained from whale or
seal-oil by means of dry moss for wicks. When the length of one
side of a lamp of this description is considered, it will readily be
conceived that not only a good light but also a great deal of heat
may be produced, so that the temperature of a hut is seldom below
70^ of Fahr., though we have hardly ever seen a flame of more than
a foot in extent ; and as great care is taken to keep it trimmed, no
offensive degree of smoke arises, though the olfactories are saluted
on first entering by a combination of scents anything but agreeable.
Ventilation is not altogether neglected, as there is near the middle
of the roof a hole in which a funnel of stiff" hide is inserted to carry
off the vitiated air from the interior of the hut. When the place is
much crowded or the temperature too high, a corner of the mem-
brane can be raised; but we have seen it more speedily effected by
the master of a house at Nu-wuk, in his impatience to contribute to
our comfort, by making an incision with his knife through the
middle of it — a proceeding which did not seem to bo entirely
approved of by his wife, to whose lot it would doubtless fill to
repair it.

Such are the usual habitations on the coast of the Arctic Sea ; but
there are also others of a greater extent and different form, one of

258 HUTS IN KOTZEBUE SOUND.

which near the entrance of Hotham Inlet, Kotzebue Sound, is worth
mentioning, more particularly as it bears some resemblance to one
described by Sir John Eichardson, on the east side of the Mackenzie
Eiver. The outside did not differ . in appearance from the others,
except in size, as indeed they were all pretty well covered with
snow, but the interior was in shape something like three sides of a
cross, twenty feet by sixteen, with a roof sloping down on all sides,
like that of a verandah, from a square framework in the centre,
supported by four straight pillars, one at each corner, seven feet
high and eight feet apart. The quadrangular space in the centre was
covered with loose boards, which were removed when the fire was
required for cooking. It was bounded by logs stretching between
the bases of the pillars, and rounded on the upper surface to rest
the head upon during sleep, and had above it the usual square
aperture answering alternately the purpose of a chimney and a
window. Three sides of the house formed as many recesses, five
and a half feet from the log stretching between the pillars to the
walls, and were occupied at the time of our visit by six families,
each family having their own lamp in the intervals between the
recesses. The fourth side was only two feet deep, and left
space for little more than the entrance-hole in the floor and a
few household utensils. The walls were onl}^ three feet high,
and inclined slightly inwards the better to support the sloping roof,
which, like them and the flooring of the recesses, was made of
boards nearly two feet broad, quite smooth and neatly joined.
The whole building was remarkable for the regularity of the form
of the interior, and for the mechanical skill displayed in the work-
manship. Huts of this description may be looked upon as a com-
bination of several, each recess representing a separate establish-
ment, united in this form for mutual convenience, and are used
where driftwood, is abundant, the large cooking-fire in the middle
of the building imparting its warmth to all around. But the
rushing down of cold air, and the smoke not always ascending,
proved sources of greater discomfort to us whenever we visited
them than the close atmosphere of those in which oil only is
burned.

A modification of the last form, built of undressed timber, and
sometimes of very small dimensions, with two recesses opposite
each other, and raised about a foot above the middle space, is very
common on the shores of Kotzebue Sound ; but on the rivers, where
trees grow, structures of a less permanent kind are erected. Then
the smaller trees are felled, cut to the length required, and split ;
then laid inclining inwards in a pyramidal form, towards a rude

SNOW HUTS. OTHER BUILDINGS. 250

square frame in the centre, supported by two or more upright
posts. Upon these the smaller branches of the felled trees are
placed, and the whole, except the aperture at the top and a small
opening on one side, is covered with earth or only snow. The
entrance is formed of a low porcb, having a black bear-skin
hanging in front, leading to a hole close to the ground, through
which an unpractised person can hardly creep, farther protected
from the breeze by a flap of deer-skin on the inside. In the hilly
districts, near the source of the Spafareif Eivcr, this sort of snow-
covered hut was in use, and the inland tribes on the Nu-na-tak, are
described as living in dwellings of a similar kind, constructed of
small wood, probably built afresh every year, and not always in the
same localit}'. A stranger approaching a village of this description,
if the numerous footmarks happened to be obliterated by a recent
drift or fall of snow, might readily pass by unconscious of its
existence, unless he happened to catch a glimpse of the black bear-
skin doors, which are all turned in the one direction.

Snow or ice huts are seldom used except for short intervals, and
they are then made very small, consisting of two chambers, the
outer one of which serves as a cook-house, and is entered from
above by an opening closed at pleasure by a slab of snow. The
communication between this and the inner one is by a passage
close to the floor, no larger than necessary for one person to creep
through. The roof of the inner apartment is about five feet high,
with a window facing the south, having beneath it a small lamp
and rack for drying clothes ; and on one side the snow is raised
two feet from the ground, and covered with boards, on which the
skins are laid to form the bed.

In fixed settlements, like those of Point Barrow or Cape Smyth,
there are other buildings which seem public, though nominally the
property of some of the more wealthy men. In the former of these
places there are two still in existence, and in the latter three. The
largest is at Nu-wuk, and is eighteen feet by fourteen, built oi"
planks stuck upright in the ground, and the crevices filled up with
moss. The roof is similar to that of the other huts, only higher,
and there is no sleeping bench within, but a low seat all round
the f(jur walls. It has the usual subterranciin passage for entrance,
but the window in the roof is often used as a door. Unlike the
other huts, they are placed on the highest ground, and are readily
distinguished by not being built around, or covered with earth.
They are altogether constructed with little care, and evidently' for
only occasional use. A house of this description is called a Kar-
ri-gi, and used l^y tlie men to assemble in for the purpose of

T

260 SUMMER TENTS. SEASONS.

dancing, in whicli the women join, for working, conversing and
idling, whilst the boys are nnconsciously learning the customs and
imbibing the sentiments of their elders.

In summer they live in conical shaped tents of deer or seal-skins,
according as they are inland or coast people. Four or five poles,
from twelve to thirteen feet long, slung together by a stout thong
passing through holes in their tops, are spread out to the proper
size, and within them, at a mark on each, about six feet from the
ground, a large hoop is fastened. Smaller poles are then placed
between the others in a circle on the ground, and leaning against
the hoop to complete the frame of the tent. The skins are in two
parts, each having a long corner sewed into a sort of pocket to fit
the top of the long poles, over which one is placed above the other
from opposite sides, so as to surround the whole framework, and
allow the edges of one set of skins to overlap those of the other,
and be secured by a few thongs. A large flap is sometimes cut in
one side to form a window, fitted with a transparent membrane,
over which the flap of skin may be replaced as a blind during
sleeping-time. A tent of this kind is called a " tu'-pak," and makes
a very comfortable summer abode, one side of which can be kept
open to any extent, according to the weather : it is easily trans-
ported, and maj' be set up or taken down in an incredibly short
time.

Commencing with the first new moon after the freezing-over of
Elson Bay, which took place on the 24th of September, 1852, and
on the IGth of September, 1853, the Point Barrow people divide the
3'ear into four seasons, which they call O'-ki-ak, including October,
November, and December ; O'-ki-ok, January, February, and March;
O-pen-rak'-sak, April, May, and part of June ; and 0-pen-rak', the
remaining part of June, together with July, August, and Septem-
ber. The successive moons, to the number of twelve, are
also named by them, evidently in reference to their own occu-
pations, to the phenomena observable in the season itself, or in
animals, such as their migrations, &c., though we have been able to
make out the precise meaning of only a few of them. These vary a
little in different localities; but the setting-in of the winter being
taken as the beginning of the year in all parts of the country, and
the summer moons being but little noticed, no confusion seems to
result. Taking them as they occurred in the last season, 1853-4
each tad'-kak or moon was given us as follows.

I. 1853, Oct. 2, Shud'-le-wing, sewing.
II. „ Nov. 1, Shud'-le-wing ai-pa, sewing.
III. „ Nov. 30, Kai-wig'-win, rejoicing.

SEASONS. TIME. 2CA

IV. „ Dec. 30, Aii-lak'-to-win, departing (to Inmt the

reindeer).
V. 1854, Jan. 28. Ir'-ra slm'-ga-run sba-ke-nat'-si-a, great

cold (and) new sun.
VI. „ Feb. 27, E-sek-si-la' wing.

VII. „ Mar. 28, Kat-tet-a'-wak, returning for whale (from
hunting ground).
VIII. „ April 27, Ka-wait-piv'-i-en, birds arrive.
IX. „ May 26, Ka-wai-a-niv'-i-en, birds hatched.
X. „ June 25, Ka-wai'-lan pa-yan-ra'-wi-en, (young) birds
fledged.
XI. ,, July 25, A-mi-rak'-si-vvin.
XII. „ Aug. 23, It-ko-wak'-to-win.

As the new moon of September falls on the 21st of the month, it
will require an early setting-in of the winter to make that the first
moon of the next year.

For denoting time they also have expressions equivalent to yes-
terday, to-day, to-morrow, morning, afternoon, evening, &c., but
these are not by any means precise ; and in speaking of events a
year or more past, they use two terms, ai-pa'-ne, which seems
properly to mean two years ago (ai'-pa, two), but may be as readily
applied to twenty ; and al-ra'-ne, in the olden time, which is exceed-
ingly indefinite. They have frequently declared that they keep
no account of the years as they roll, and " never number them, as
they do not write like us," so that it is next to impossible to get any-
thing like exact dates from them. In describing the direction of
any distant place they are equally vague, using the term a-wa'-ne,
westward, or along the coast towards Icy Cape or Point Hope ;
ka-wa'-ne, eastward, or towards the Colville or Mackenzie rivers ;
pa-ne, south, or landward ; and u-na'-ne, north or seaward.

The seasons, as mentioned above, seem to guide them almost
instinctively in their different occupations ; and it will not perhaps
be amiss to enumerate the principal ones which employ their time
throughout the year.

In the month of September they have almost all assembled at
the winter huts, amongst which they pitch their seal-skin tents,
living in them in preference to the yet damp underground ig-lu's,
and are constantly on the look-out for whales, killing also a few
walrus, bears, and seals, until the winter has fairly sot in, and tho
sea become shut up with ice, which generally takes place about
tho middle of October. During this time most of the women
remain in comparative idleness at homo, "as it is not good for them
to sew while the men are out in the boats ;" but so soon are these are

T 2

262 EMPLOYMENT OF TIME.

laid-iip for tbe winter, the sewing, together with cleaniDg the skins,
commences, and is most industriously carried on for two months
following. The men are now also engaged in setting nets nnder
the ice for seals, in catching small fish with hook and line through
holes in the ice, or in preparing implements used at other seasons. As
midwinter approaches, the new dresses are completed, and about ten
days at this season are spent in enjoyments, chiefly dancing in the
kar-ri-gi, every one appearing in his or her best attire. This time
of the year being one in which hunting or fishing cannot well be
attended to, and no indoor work remaining to be performed, is
perhaps sufficient reason why it should be chosen for festivities in
the high latitude of Point Barrow, when the sun is not visible for
about seventy days ; but it may not equally explain the prevalence
of the same custom about the same period in Kotzebue Sound,
lat. 66°, when the reindeer might be successfully pursued through-
out the winter, the people then collecting from many miles around,
to hold a festival in the neighbourhood of Cape Kruzenstern. The
amusements being concluded, a few set out early in January ; but it
is later'when the larger parties take their departure for the land in
search of deer, scattering themselves over the flat ground at a
variable distance of three to eight or ten days' journey from the
villao-e, and hollowing out dwellings in the deep snow-drift under
the banks of the rivers, through the ice of which they make holes
for catching fish by nets and for obtaining a supply of water. This
occupies the majority of the people until April, the few who remain
at home receiving supplies from time to time, besides spearing a
few seals by watching for them as they come to breathe through
the cracks in the ice ; or, if it is not in a favourable state for this
near the shore, they make snow-houses to live in among the
grounded masses in the offing. Having brought home the spoils of
the chase, in the end of April they commence preparing their boats
for launching and the implements used in capturing the whale,
which gives employment for the men. The women are now also
busily engaged in making watertight seal-skin boots and other
articles of dress appropriate for summer wear. Towards the end of
May, birds, chiefly eider and king-ducks, engage much attention
from the whole population as they pass over the village northward,
in rapidly succeeding flights of one to two hundred birds, alter-
nately male and female. The whales having disappeared and the
birds passed, a short interval is allowed to prepare dresses for
another festival, which takes place in the end of June, and occupies
six or eight days, when the dancing is performed in the open air.
Early in July more than one-third of the community take their

DEPENDENCE ON SUCCESSFUL FISHING. 26 3

departure in a body to the eastward, to make tlie long journey to
Colville Eiver, and to Barter Point, many of the others following in
small parties to scatter themselves over the land in search of deer,
and over the lakes and rivers for birds and fish. About one-fourth
of the population remains at the village, oatcbing abundance of
small seals, but chiefly looking out for those of a larger size, and
walrus, until the whales re-appear in the end of August, soon after
which, most of the travellers return from their wanderings to com-
mence another year. At midsummer, when the sun has been some
time above the horizon, the snow becomes soft and the rivers begin
to flow, so that travelling or the pursuit of game is too fitiguing to
be successfully carried on ; this season, therefore, like midwintei',
becomes necessarily one of comparative idleness, or is only spent iiy
amusement.

Such is a brief sketch of the ordinary annual routine of the occu-
pations of the Eskimo of Point Barrow ; but it is to be remarked
that unusual success or the reverse in hunting or fishing, more
especially as regards the whale, must always modify it in a great
degree. Thus, in 1852, no less than seventeen whales were said to
have been taken, sufficient to afford the poorest and. most im-
provident abundance of food and fuel for the winter ; and in the
succeeding spring, out of their superabundance of deer, a very con- .
siderable number was brought to the ship for barter ; whilst, in 1853,
only seven whales, and those mostly small ones, were killed, giving
rise to such want of the necessaries of life in the last winter that
many families were obliged to use the decayed flesh and bhibber of
a dead whale which had been stranded on Cooper's Island, about
twenty-five miles distant, more than two years before, and had
remained up to this time neglected. But even this resource failed
them, and many, as has been before mentioned, perished of famine.
In the former year, at midwinter, feasting and dancing were constant
for nearly a fortnight, and during October, November and December,
the number of seals ofl'ered for sale at the Plover was very great ;
but in the latter they had none of the.se amusements, at least in
public, as they had not oil enough to spare for warming and lighting
up the dance-huts, and up to July only a few scraps of seal were
brought to the ship. The want of oil also prevented some of the
most wealthy men from going to hunt the deer in the winter ; and
consecpiently none but a few pounds of venison were biought to
the ship for barter, the supply being hardly adequate to their own
wants.

From some of the more intelligent men, it a])pears that they
consider the last season one of uncommon privation, and that of

264 TRAVELLING.

1852-3 was one of unusual abundance. Tracing back the years on
the fingers, with some patience, it could be made out that in 1851-2
whales abounded, in 1850-1 the narwhal supplied the place of
whale, giving them plenty of food and skins for covering their
boats. 1848-9 was one of scarcity, as was also 1843-4. This, so
far as it may be depended on, makes three successive fifth years to
be seasons of unusual hardship. In 1837, Mr. T. Simpson remarked
the niimber of fresh graves on Point Barrow, but no satisfactory
account of the season preceding that could be obtained, and it was
too remote to be recalled with anything approaching certainty by
even those who remembered that gentleman's visit.

Having cleared out most of the furniture from the ig'-lu, and
filled up the window with pieces of timber and other lumber placed
on their ends, so as also to obstruct the entrance-hole in the floor,
the um'-i-ak or large boat is put upon a sledge, u'-ni-ek, when it is
secured by a few cords or thongs, and in it are stowed tlie summer
tent with all its furniture, the baggage of the whole family, the
children and old people, together with the kayaks or canoes, and
all their fittings belonging to the men and boys of the party,
making a very considerable weight to drag. On a low sledge,
ka-mo-tik, of a stouter structure, are generally carried their seal-
skins, filled with oil for barter. The party consists on the average
of six persons, four of whom are generally all who can drag, and
are distributed, three to the large sledge, and one to the ka-mo-tik.
If they possess dogs, these are distributed also to assist where most
required, and there appears to be as much care taken as possible to
adapt the load to the strength of each individual. The ice at this
season is much decayed and uneven from the formation of pools on
its surface, and the labour of dragging a heavy load on a sledge is
very great ; but, fortunately for them, it seldom lasts more than
four or five days, during which they appear to travel at the rate of
ten miles a day. Fourteen parties, with as many boats (the aggre-
gate number of souls being seventy-four), passed the ship in this
way on the 3d of July last, which is four days earlier than in the
preceding summer. On the fourth day they arrive at Dease Inlet,
which, from the rivers flowing into it, is then a sheet of water, and
the mode of transport is reversed, the sledge being now carried in
the u-mi-ak, and the small boats towed. In favourable seasons the
journey may be continued by paddling or tracking the boat along
the shore, between which and the ice there is generally a narrow
lane of water, imtil they anivo at Smith's Bay. Here the laborious
part of their journey is suie to end ; the sledges are left behind,
and to make room in the large boat for the oil-skins, the men get

TRAVELLING. 265

into their kayaks. They enter a river which conducts them to a
lake, or rather series of h\kes, and descend another stream which
joins the sea in Harrison Bay, within a day's journey and a half
of the Colville. Whilst passing these streams and lakes they are
enabled to supply themselves abundantly with fish of large size by
nets ; a few birds are also taken, and occasionally a deer. About
the eleventh day they encamp on a small island, within half a day's
journey of the bartering place, and the different parties probably
wait for each other there to enter the river in company.

The Colville River is described as having four mouths, the
western of which is very shallow, but the second is a good deep
channel, and is therefore followed until they get into the un-
divided stream, on the left or west bank of which they see the tents
of their friends, the Nu-na-tang'-meun. Six, eight, or ten days,
for precise numbers could not be obtained, are spent in bartering,
dancing, and revelry on a flat piece of ground on which the tents
of the two parties are ranged opposite each other between two
slight eminences, about a bow-shot apart. The scene is looked
forward to by every one with pleasant anticipations, and is spoken
of as one of such great excitement that they hardly sleep during
the time it lasts.

About the 26th of July this friendly meeting is dissolved, the
Nu-na-tang'-meun ascending the Colville homewards, and the others
descending its eastern mouth to pursue their journey to O-lik'-to,
Point Berens. In consequence of their occupying a great deal of
time in hunting to provide supplies for the remainder of the journey,
they spend four or five days in this short distance, which does not
exceed twenty miles. Proceeding from Point Berens they travel
four sleeps, as marked in red ink on the chart, to a place called
Ting-o-wai'-ak (Boulder Islatid of Franklin), where the tents are
pitched and the women and children left. Three boats are then
selected, and additional benches placed in each for the accommo-
dation of its crew, now increased to fifteen, including ono or two
women. The fifth sleep is within a short distance of Barter Point,
from which they start prepared for a hostile or a friendly meeting,
as the case may be, but it is uniformly the latter, at least of late
years. The conduct of the Point Barrow people in their inter-
course with those of the Mackenzie, or rather Demarcation I'uint,
seems to be very waiy, as if they constantly kept in mind that they
were the weaker party, and in the country of strangers. They
describe themselves as taking up a position opposite the place of
barter on a small island to which they can retreat on any alaiiu,
and cautiously advance from it making signs of friendship. They

266 ESKIMO TRADING.

say that great distrust was formerly manifested on both sides by
the way in which goods were snatched and concealed when a
bargain was made ; but in later years more women go, and they
have dancing and amusements, though they never remain long
enough to sleep there. They state that on leaving Barter Point
the wind is always easterly, and making sail on their boats, they
can go to sleep. On the first day they pick up the women and
children with their tents, and return to Point Berens on the second.
They now cross Harrison Bay in a direct line before the breeze to
Cape Halkett, about the 10th of August, some taking the route through
the rivers by which they had gone eastward, and others proceeding
along the sea coast. Should the previous whaling season have been
successful, they spend the time until September in fishing and
catching deer ; but should the opposite have been the case, they
make no delay beyond what is necessary for procuring supplies to
bring them back to Ku-wiik, in order to make up in the autumn
for the deficiency of the summer.

The traific, which is the main object of this yearly journey, has
been already alluded to, but some more details of it may not prove
uninteresting. At the Colville, the Nu-na-tang'-meun offered the
goods procured at Se-su'-a-ling on Kotzebue Sound from the
Asiatics, Kokh-lit' en'-yu-in, in the previous summer, consisting of
iron and copper kettles, women's knives (o-lu'), double-edged
knives (pan'-na), tobacco, beads, and tin for making pipes; and
from their own countrymen on the Ko'-wak Eiver, stones fur
making labrets, and whetstones, or these ready made, arrow-heads,
and phmibago. Besides these are enumerated deer and fawn-skins,
and coats made of them, the skin, teeth, and horns of the im'-na
(argali ?), black fox, marten, and ermine-skins, and feathers for
arrows and head-dresses. In exchange for these, the Point Barrow
people (Nu-wung'-meun) give the goods procured to the eastwai'd
the year before, and their own sea-produce, namely, whale or seal-
oil, whalebone, walrus-tusks, stout thong made from walrus-hide,
seal-skins, &c., and proceed with their new stock to Point Barter.
Here they ofi'er it to the Kan'g-ma-li en'-yu-in, who may be
called for distinction Western Mackenzie Eskimo, and receive in
return, wolverine, wolf, imna, and narwhal skins (Kil-lel'-lu-a),
thong of deer-skin, oil-burners, English knives, small white beads,
and latterly guns and ammunition. In the course of the winter
occasional trade takes place in these with the people of Point Hope,
but most of the knives, beads, oil-burners, and wolverine-skins, are
taken to the Colville the following year, and, in the next after,
make their appearance at Kotzebue Sound and on the coast of Asia.

ESKIMO TRADING. -^<57

From what we know positively of the trade thus far, we aie
inclined to believe there is a tolerably regular yearly communica-
tion between each Eskimo tribe and their neighbours of the same
race on either side. It seems highly probable the pan'-na, or
double-edged knife, described by Sir W. E. Parry as in use among
the tribe he met at Winter Island, may have been of Siberian
origin, from being of the same form and identical in name with
that brought by the Asiatics to Hotham Inlet, where they receive
in return oil-burners, or stone lamps, which we have often seen
in their tents in 1848-9, of a shape corresponding exactly with the
drawing in that gentleman's journal of his second voyage ; they
bear also a similar name, kod'-lan, and are said to be brought from
a very distant eastern country. Supposing a knife of this kind
made in Siberia, to be carried at the usual rate, we compute it
would not arrive at Winter Island before the sixth year, and,
having been exchanged the year before for a stone lamp, this might
come into the hands of the Asiatics on the ninth. The knife would
remain the first winter in the possession of the Eeindeer Tuski
(or Tsau'-chu), the second with the inland Eskimo, Nu-na-tang'-
meun, the third at Demarcation Point with the Kang'-ma-li-meun,
the fourth with the East Mackenzie or the Cape Bathurst tribes,
and on the fiifth possibly fall into the hands of the people who make
the lamps. The lamp, returning the same way, would remain the
sixth winter at Cape Bathurst, the seventh at Demarcation Point,
the eighth at Point Barrow, the ninth in the interior, and be
received by the Asiatics on the following summer.

For a very large portion of our information, we have been in-
debted to a man called Erk-sin'-ra, who has sustained a most ex-
cellent character throughout the whole time the Plover remained
at Point Barrow. He drew the coast-line eastward as far as he
knew it, giving the names of many places, some of which ho
described so minutely as to be undeniably identified with those
mentioned in Sir J. Franklin's journal, and laid down in his chart.
Erk-sin'-ra's coast-line has been drawn in red, parallel to that copied
from the Admiralty chart, and a dotted line marks each place where
the two were made out clearly to correspond. What seemed to us
most singular was, that whilst his description of the coast agreed
so minutely in many particulars with the narrative and chart of
Messrs. Dease and Simpson, he denied the existence of the Pelly
Mountains, and maintained most positively that there are no hills
on the wett side of the Colville visible from the sea ; and at length
said, " We never saw them, but perhaps you might with your long
spy-glasses." lie was the head man of the first party Couimauder

268 EXTENT OF TKAVELLING.

Tullen met at Point Berens on the 11 th of August, 1849, and gave
O'-lik-to as the name of the place where the post was erected. By
a letter dated H.M.S, Investigator, 8th of Atigust, 1850, received
from a native of Point Barrow, to whom it had been given at Point
Drew, that ship must have passed Point Berens on the 9th or 10th
of August, when she also was seen by Erk-sin'-ra. As he was on
both these occasions on his return from that bartering-place, the
first week in August may be confidently assumed as the usual time
of the two tribes meeting at Barter Point.

Among the few remarkable features of this dreary coast is a large
stone, about four sleeps from Point Barrow, near Point Tangent,
giving the name of Black Eock Point to the projecting land off"
which it lies. It is mentioned by Mr. J. Simpson as the only stone
of large size he met with on this part of his journey. The natives
assert it is a " fire stone," and fell from the sky within the memory
of people now living. No one saw it fall ; but one woman, about
sixty years of age, said she travelled that way yearly as a girl,
when there was no stone there, and that in retuining one summer,
lier people were much surprised to see it, and believed it had fallen
from the sky. Should it prove a meteoric stone, the story of its
age might be true enough ; but at present it is doubtful. It is
said to enlarge and present a full rounded appearance at times,
when deer are plentiful in the neighbourhood, as it feeds upon them,
killing and devouring a great many at a time. No doubt those
animals are instinctively guided in their migrations by particular
states of the atmosphere ; ahd as the tides are much influenced by
the winds, it is not impossible that they should most abound in that
locality when the tide is low, giving an apparent increase to the
size of the stone.

We were anxious to get the history of the " Old Huts," marked
by Sir J. Franklin in longitude 14(3° 20' w., but could ascertain
distinctly no more than that they were the remains of an ancient
Kaug'-ma-li settlement. In connection with this, our informants
gave an account of the modern origin of the trade at Barter Point,
agreeing with that given by Sir J. Franklin, to the effect that it
was established within the memory of people recently dead, whilst
their intercourse with the inland people by the Colville is of ancient
date. But from their having traditions of the Eastern people
relating to a remote period, we think it probable that it was only
renewed in recent times, having been previously kept up by a tribe
inhabiting the " Old Huts," whose parties visited the Colville on
the west, and met the Mackenzie people on the cast of their own
country. From the wcll-kuown hostility of the Ked Indians to the

EXTENT OF GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE. 260

Eskimos, it may be conjectured that the settlement was destroyed
by them and the inhabitants put to death ; and that after some
time had elapsed, the people of Point Barrow would be induced to
extend their journeys eastward ftirther in search of those whose
goods they had been accustomed to receive, and at length meeting
with other people, none of whom they had ever before seen, the
establishment of a regular trade, as at present existing at Bai'ter
Point, would be the result.

Point Hope is generally visited by parties in the winter, who
perform the journey in fifteen to twenty days, returning to Nu-wiik
at the end of two moons. From that Cape, therefore, to a littlo
beyond Barter Point, a distance of about 600 miles, is the extent
of coast with which the Point Barrow people are actually acquainted,
and their personal knowledge of the interior may be said to extend
to fifty miles. But besides this they also know, by report, the
names of more distant countries and their inhabitants ; thus the
people they trade with at Barter Point are called Ka'ng-ma-li en'-
gu-in, whose winter huts are probably at Demarcation Point ; among
them they have occasionally seen a few Ko-pan'g-meun, Great
River (Mackenzie) people, whom they distinguish by having a
tattooed band across the face. Beyond the Mackenzie is a country
called Kit-te-ga'-ru, and farther still, but very distant, one inhabited
by the people who make the stone lamps before spoken of. So far
they speak with confidence ; and then relate the story of a singular
race of men living somewhere in that direction, who have two faces,
one in front and the other at the back of the head. In each face is
one large eye in the centre of the forehead, and a large mouth
armed with formidable teeth. Their dogs, wliicli are their constant
companions, are similarly provided with a single eye in each.
This fable seems to refer to the tribe of Indians who are said by
their neighbours to see the arrows of their enemies behind them.

Of the Indians they know but little personally, having only seen
a few on rare occasions; but they appear to know them well' by
report, both from the Ka'ng-ma-li-meun and Nu-na-tan'g-meun.
Under the general term It'-ka-lyi, they describe them as a dan-
gerous people, well armed with guns, who reside in the moun-
tainous districts far away to the south and east of the Colville.
The inland Eskimo also call them Ko'-yu-kan, and divide them
into three sections or tribes, two of which they know, and say they
have different modes of dancing. One is called It'-ka-lyi, and
inhabits the It'-ka-ling Kiver, cast of the Colville ; the second,
It-kal-ya'-ru-in, whose country is farther soutli ; and the third,
whom they have never seen, but only heard of as the people who

270 EXTENT OF GEOGEAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE.

barter wolverine-skins, knives, gnus, and ammunition to the
Eskimo at Herschel Island, for Enssian kettles, beads, &c.,
too-ether with whalebone and other sea-produce. These three
tribes, they further say, are all dressed alike, and are fierce and
warlike, but not cannibals like other Indians they have heard of.
They are, without doubt, the mountain Indians to whom Sir J.
Franklin makes frequent allusion in his narrative of his journey
westward from the Mackenzie Kiver, a tribe who have had but
little intercourse with the Hudson's Bay Company ; and Mr. J.
Simpson, travelling the same coast in 1837, also mentions them as
but little known. As the name Ko'-yu-kan, by which they are
known at Point Barrow, is the same as that given to the tribe in
whose treacherous attack on the Eussian post at Davabin Lieu-
tenant Barnard lost his life in 1851, and as some of their coasts and
other portions of dress offered for sale at the Plover, in 1852, were
of the same make and material as the suit in the possession of Mr.
Edward Adams of the Enterprise, the companion of Lieutenant
Barnard, there can be little doubt they are one and the same
people. If, as seems probable, they are also the same who destroyed
the Hudson's Bay post in 1839, in latitude 58", they occupy a great
extent of country between the Oolville and Mackenzie Elvers, and
rano-e from near Sitka to the Arctic Sea. It is at all times desirable
that great caution should be used in drawing inferences from mere
sounds in an unwritten language which is but partially known, yet
it seems worthy of remark, that the Eskimo word Kok, a river,
if prefixed to the name Yu-kon, will bear a strong resemblance to
the name Ko'-yu-kan, given b}^ them to the Indians inhabiting the
country through which the You-kon flows. They also know by
report the people of Cape Prince of Wales, Kin'g-a-meun, and the
Kokh-lit' en'-yu-in, Asiatics, who come to Kotzebue Sound yearly.
Some traditions they have besides which refer to a land named
I<'-'-lu, far away to the north or north-east of Point Barrow. The
story is, that several men, who were carried away in the olden
time by the ice breaking under the influence of a southerly wind,
after many sleeps arrived at a hilly country inhabited by a people
like themselves who spoke the same language. They were well
received and had whales'-flesh given them to eat. Some of thes-e
wanderers fuund their way back to Point Barrow, and told the tale
of their adventures. After some time, during a spring when there
was no movement in the sea-ice, three men set out to visit this
unknown country, taking provisions on their backs; and having
performed their jouiney without mishap, brought home confirma-
tion of the previous accounts. Kothiug further could be learned

IDEAS RESPECTING ^lOON AND STARS. 27 1

conceraing this northern expedition except that each man wore out
three pair of mocassin soles in the journej' ; and since then there
has been no commimication with the Ig'-lun Xu'-na, but they
believe some others who have been carried away on the ice may
have reached it in safety.

We conld never find any who remembered liaving seen Euro-
peans before Mr. J. Simpson's visit in 1837, but had heard of
them as Ka-blu'-nan from their eastern friends ; more recently they
heard a good deal of them from the inland tribes as Tan-ning or
Tan'-gin. This probably refers to the Eussians, who have regular
bath days at their posts, and is derived from tan-ni'kh-lu-go,
to wash or cleanse the person. They also apply other names to us,
apparently of their own invention ; one is E-ma'kh-lin, sea men
(this is the name of the largest of the Diomede Islands) ; another
is Sha-ke-na-ta'-na-meun, people from beneath the sun (en'-gu-in
a-ta'-ne Sha-ke'-nik) ; but the most common one is Xel-lu-an'g-
meun, unknown people (nel-lu-a'-ga, I do not know).

To themselves they apply the w^ord En-yn-in, people, the plural
of e-nyn'k, a person of any nation, prefixing, when necessary, the
name of their nu-na or country, as, Nu-wu'ng-meun, that is,
Ku-wu'k En'-Tu-in, Xoo-wook or Point Barrow people; Jng-ga-lan'-
da-meun, Englishmen. Lately those met with in Grantley Harbour
and Port Clarence have adopted the epithet Es-ki-mo'.

In addition to the notice of the phases of the moon, they possess
sufficient knowledge of the stars to point out their position in the
heavens at particular seasons, and we believe use them as guides
sometimes in travelling. They look upon them as fiery bodies,
as proved in their estimation by the shooting stars, which they
look upon as portions thrown off by the fixed ones. They form
them into groups, and give them names, many of which they
explain. The star Aldebaian, with the cluster of the Hyades,
and other smaller ones around, are called Pa-chukh-lu-rin, " the
sharing-out " of food, the chief star representing a polar bear just
killed, and the others the hunters around, preparing to cut up their
prize, and give each hunter his portion. The three stars in Orion's
Belt are three men who were carried away on the ice to the south-
ward in the dark winter. They were for a long time coveied with
snow, but at length perceiving an opening above them, they
ascended farther and farther until they became fixed among the
stars. Another group is called the " house building," and represents
a few people engaged in constructing an ig-lu, or winter hut.
But perhaps their most complete myth refers to the sun and moon,
who, they say, are sister and brother. Given as wo received it,

272 MYTH TOUCHING THE SUN AND MOON.

it runs as follows: — "A long time ago, in a country far away to
the eastward, called Pin'g-o, the people held a winter festival, when
one of the women, tired of dancing, left the company and retired to
rest in her own hut. Before she had gone to sleep, she perceived
some one enter, who blew out the light, and lay down beside her.
Being desirous to know who her stealthy visitor was, she smeared
her hands with soot from the lamp within her reach, and secretly
blackened his body, that she might know him again among the
dancers. After he had gone, she returned to the dance-house, and
peeping in, saw to her horror that the man whose person she had
marked was her own brother. She retired in great grief to the
open air; but soon returning to the dance-house, she went into the
middle of the assembly, and with a woman's knife (o-lii) cut ofi" her
left breast, which she gave her brother, saying, 'All this it is good
that you should eat.'^ They then went out, and both ascended
slowly towards the heavens in a circular path, he with his dog going
first and she following, and when nearly out of sight separated, the
man, by name Nel-lu-kat'-si-a Tad-kak, to become the moon, and his
sister, Sigh-ra-a-na, to become the sun, still dripping with her own
gore, as may be seen occasionally in cloudy weather, when she looks
red and angry." The moon is considered cold and covered with
snow, on the white surface of which may be traced at the full the
figure of the man perpetually travelling with his dog, whilst the lady
sun enjoj's the warmth of an eternal summer."

In some of their pursuits necessity compels the men of different
establishments to combine their strength, as in taking the whale,
and in such circumstances, some must take the lead. It would
seem an easy step from this to the permanent ascendency of indi-
viduals over the others, and some have accordingly considerable
weight in the community ; but there is nothing among them
resembling acknowledged authority or chieftainship. A man who
has a boat out in the whaling season, engages a crew for the time ;
but while in the boat he does not appear to have any control over
them, and asks their opinion as to where they should direct their
course, which, however, they generally leave him to determine, as
well as to keep the principal look-out for whales. The chief men
are called Ome'liks (wealthy), and have acquired their position by
being more thrifty and intelligent, better traders, and usually better
hunters, as well as physically stronger and more daring. At the
winter and summer festivals, when the people draw together for

* This is not given as a literal translation, but we believe it convej's the
meaning. The Eskimo words are " ta-man'g-ma mam-mang-mang-an'g-ma
uigh'-e-ro."

BELIEF IN SPIRITS. 273

enjoyraents, proficiency in music, with general knowledge of the
customs and superstitions of their tribe, give to the most intelligent
a further ascendancy over the multitude ; and this sort of ascen-
dancy once established, is retained without much eifort. As they
combine to form a boat's crew to pursue a common prey, so will
they unite to repel a common enemy, but it is only when danger
is common they will so unite ; their habits of life leaving them per-
fectly free from the control of others, and making them dependent
solely on their own individual exertions for a livelihood ; they are
bound together as a society only by ties of relationship and a few
superstitious observances, and have no laws or rules excepting
what custom has established in reference to the spoils of the chase.
It cannot be doubted that their Ome'liks have considerable in-
tiuence, more especially over their numerous relations and family
connections, and may use some art to maintain and extend it; yet
O-mig'-a-loon, the most influential man at Ku-wu'k, the same who
headed the party against Commander Pullen at Point Berens, after
informing us that a lad of eighteen had deceived us, and got food
by telling a false tale of distress, would not for some time repeat
his statement in the presence of the youth.

Invisible spirits (^sing. turn'-gak ; plural, tum'-gain) people the
eai-th, the air, and the sea ; and to them they apply similar notions
of equality, attributing to none superior power, nor have they even
a special name for any that we could learn. These turn'-gain are
very numerous, some good, some bad ; they are sometimes seen, and
then usually resemble the upper half of a man, but are likewise of
every conceivable form. Their belief in ghosts seemed proved by the
circumstance that two young girls who left the ship in the twilight of
a short winter's day, turned back in breathless haste on seeing a
sledge set up on end near the path to the village. They told the
story of themselves next day, saying they were fi-ightened, having
mistaken the sledge, which was not there in tlie daytime when they
had passed, for a turn'-gak. They are concerned in the production
of all the evils of life, and whatever seems inexplicable is said to be
caused by one of them. One causes a bad wind to blow, so that the
ice becomes unsafe ; another packs the ico so close on the surface of
the sea, that tliu whales are smothered ; and a third strikes a man
dead in the open air, without leaving any mark on his body ; or a
fourth draws him by the feet into the bowels of the earth. These
are evil genii ; and the good ones are little better, as they are very
liable to got offended and turn their backs on suflbriug humanity,
leaving it at the mercy of the worse disposed. Their dances and
ceremonies are all intended to please, to cajole, or to frighten these

274 • BELIEF IN SPIRITS.

spirits. The most curious ceremony that came under ohservation
was performed at the village in the course of the last winter, when
food had become very scarce in consequence of the ice continuing
very close from a long continuance of north-westerly winds. On
the sea beach, close to one of the dance-houses, a small space was
cleared, and a fire of wood made, round which the men formed a
ring and chanted for some time, without dancing or the usual accom-
paniment of the tambourine. One of the old men then stepped
towards the fire, and in a coaxing voice tried to persuade the evil
genius, from whose baleful influence the people were suffering, to
come under the fire to warm himself. When he was supposed to
have arrived, a vessel of water, to which each man present had
contributed, was thrown upon the fire by the old man, and im-
mediately a number of arrows sped from the bows of the others into
the earth where the fire had been, in the full belief that no turn'-
gak would stop at a place where he received such bad treatment,
but would soon depart to some other region, from which, on being
detected, he would be driven away in a similar manner. To render
the effect still greater, three guns were fired in diflierent directions,
to alarm the spirits of the air, and make them change the wind.
For the same object they several times requested the ship's guns,
eigh teen-pounders, to be fired against the wind.

When our poor friend O-mis-yu-a'-a-run, commonly called the
water-chief, fiom having accused us of stealing the water from the
village, was carried away with two others on the ice to near Cape
Lisburne, in the beginning of the winter, his wife had a thin thong
of seal-skin stretched in four or five turns round the walls of the
ig-lu, and anxiously watched it night and day until she heard of her
husband's fate. They believe that so long as the person watched for
is alive and moves about, his turn'-gak causes the cord to vibrate,
and when at length it hangs slack and vibrates no longer, he
is supposed to be dead. Having heard something of the hourly
observations of the movements of a magnet suspended by a thread
in the observatorj', the old dame sent Erk-sin'-ra to see if its move-
ments had any connection with her husband's case.

Thunder is a rare occurrence at Point Barrow, but not altogether
unknown to its inhabitants, and they say the sound of it is caused by
a man spirit, who dwells with his family in a tent far away to the
north. This Eskimo representative of Jupiter Tonans is an ill-
natured fellow who sleeps most of his time ; and when he wakes up
he calls to his children to go out and make thunder and lightning
by shaking inflated seal-skins and waving torches, which they do
with great glee until he goes to sleep again.

BELIEF IN SPIRITS. 275

They do not entertain any clear idea of a future state of existence,
nor can they apparently imagine that a person altogether dies.
Although death is a subject they dislike to talk of, we have heard
the sentiments of several upon this, and the nature of the soul.
About the last they differ a good deal, but they all agree in looking
upon death as the greatest of human evils, and would invariably
" rather bear the ills they have, than fly to others that they know not
of." The soul is a turn'-gak, they say, seated in the breast, or rather
in the lungs, and seems closely allied to the breath ; from it
emanate all thoughts, which as they rise the tongue gives utterance
to. Even as to its unity they hold diiJerent notions, for one person
told us a man had four turn' -gain in his breast; and another, that
wherever a man went there was in the ground beneath him his
'• familiar spirit," which moved as he moved, and was only severed
from him in death. However this may be, in death the body sleeps
and the spirit descends into the earth to associate with those which
have gone before, and subsists on bad food, such as roots, stones,
and mosquitoes.

In order not to offend the spirits of the departed, their bodies are
wrapped in skins and laid on the earth beside others already there,
with the head to the east at Point Barrow ; but for this direction
there is no general rule. As his clothes and other portions of
property he habitually used, including the sledge on which he was
carried, would bring ill-luck to any one else who took them, they
are left with the body in a torn or broken state, and the family to
which he belonged keep within the hut for five days, not daring to
work lest the spirits should be offended; and instances can bo
readily adduced where they believe death to have happened to
persons who infringed the custom of mourning five days. Diseases
are also considered to be turn'-gaks ; and so hurtful do they think
the touch of a corpse, that it is unwholesome to smoke from the same
pipe or drink out of the same cup with any one who was the wife,
mother, or other near relative of a deceased person ; this, they say,
is because these relatives from tending the sick person become
tainted by his breath, and another by using the same pipe or cup
might acquire the disease.

Joiix SiMi'SON, Surgeon, R.N.

( 276 )

IV.
KEPORT OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.

To the Council of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain
and Ireland.

Your Committee, to wliom was referred the annexed letter from

tlie Eoyal Geographical Society, have agreed to the following

Report : —

24th May, 1872.

Sir, — The President and Council of the Eoyal Geographical
Society, after a careful consideration of a Eeport drawn up by a
Committee of Arctic Officers ^ belonging to their body, having
come to the conclusion that the time has arrived for once more
representing the important results to be derived from Arctic explo-
ration to Her Majesty's Government ; 1 have been directed to request
that the following remarks may be laid before the President and
Council of the Anthropological Institute.

In a letter to me signed by the late Mr. George E. Eoberts, and
dated May 8th, 1865, he was instructed to say that the Council of
the Anthropological Society viewed with the deepest interest the
prospect of an Arctic exploring expedition ; believing that great
advantage to their science would ensue from such an undertaking.

Strengthened by the willingness expressed by the Council of the
Anthropological Institute to co-operate with the Eoyal Geogi'aphical
Society in adopting such measures as might be considered advisable
to induce Her Majesty's Government to accede to the proposal of
fitting out an Arctic expedition, and by other expressions of cordial
approval received from kindred scientific Societies, Sir Eoderick
Murchison brought the subject of North Polar exploration to the
notice of the Duke of Somerset, then First Lord of the Admiralty,
in a letter dated 19th of May, 1865 ; and the subject was discussed
between his Grace and a deputation from the Council of the Eoyal

1 Sir George Back, Admiral Collinsou, Admiral Ommanney, Admiral Sir
L. McClintock, Admiral Richards, Captaiu Sherard OsborD, Mr. A. G. Findlay,
Mr. Clements Mai kham (Sec).

ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS OF AN AECTIC EXPEDITION. 277

Geographical Society, in an inter\-iew which took place on the 20th
of J line in the same year.

But at that time there "was some dijBference of opinion among
Arctic authorities on the subject of the best route to be adopted,
and the Duke said that he would wish to be in possession of the
results of the Swedish Expedition then engaged in exploring
Spitzbergen, and of other information, before ho could recommend
an Arctic exploring expedition to the consideration of the Govern-
ment.

In consequence of the view taken by his Grace, the Council of
the Eoj'al Geographical Society have carefully watched tho results
of expeditions undertaken by foreign countries, in order to be in a
positi(m to recommend one route as undoubtedly the best, before
again pressing the subject upon the attention of the Government.
Seven years have now passed, and during that time additional
experience has been accvimulated by the Swedes and Germans,
which has enabled the Council to form an opinion that justifies
a renewal of their representation made in 1865. The distinguished
Arctic officers who are Members of the Geographical Council, and
who have carefulty considered the evidence accumulated since 1806
in a special Committee, are now unanimously of opinion that the
route by Smith Sound is the one which should bo adopted with a
view to exploring the greatest extent of coast-line, and of securing
the most valuable scientific results. The conclusion thus arrived at
by authorities of such eminence has placed the Royal Geographical
Society in a position which will enable its Council to represent to
the Government that the conditions are now fulfilled which the First
Lord of the Admiralty deemed essential in 1865, before he cuuld
entertain the project of North Polar Exploration.

I am, therefore, instructed to represent the very great importance
of stating the scientific results to be derived from the exploration of
the unknown Korth Polar Region in full detail, even in a first pre-
liminary communication to the Government. It is believed that the
success of any representation will depend to a considerable extent
on the force and authority with which that portion of it is prepared,
which enumerates tho scientific results to be derived from the pro-
posed expedition. I am to request that you will submit these views
to tho President and Council of the Anthropological Institute, and
that they will be so good as to cause a statement to be diawn up
and furnished to tho Council of the Roj'al Geograjihical Society,
embodying their views, in detail, of the various ways in which the
Science of Anthropology would be advanced by Arctic exploration.

I enclose, for the information of the President and Council of the

u 2

278 ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS

Institute, copies of a Memorandum which has been prepared upon
the subject, and of the i:)apers which were read by Captain Sherard
Osborn in 1865 and 1872, advocating a renewal of Arctic explo-
ration.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,

Clemknts E. Markham.

To the Secretary of the Anthropological Institute.

Eeport of the Arctic Committee ' of the Anthropological Institute.

The knoMdedge already acquired of the Arctic Eegions, leads to the
conclusion that the discovery of the unknown portion of the Green-
land coasts will 3'^ield very important results in the science of
Anthropology. Although barely one-half of the Arctic Eegions has
been explored, yet abundant traces of former inhabitants are found
throughout their most desert wastes, where now there is absolute
solitude. These wilds have not been inhabited for centuries, yet
they are covered with traces of wanderers or of sojourners of a by-
gone age. Here and there, in Greenland, in Boothia, on the shores
of America, where existence is possible, the^ descendants of former
wanderers are still to be found. The migrations of these people,
the scanty notices of their origin and movements that are scattered
through history, and the requirements of their existence, are all so
many clues which, when carefully gathered together, throw light
upon a most interesting subject. The migrations of man within
the Arctic zone give rise to questions which are closely connected
with the geography of the undiscovered portions of the Arctic
Eegions.

The extreme points which exploration has yet reached on the
shore of Greenland, are in about SC on the west, and in 76° on
the eastern side ; and these two points are about 600 miles apart.
As there are inhabitants at both these points, and they are separated
by an uninhabitable interval from the settlements further south, it
may be inferied that the unknown interval further north is or has
been inhabited. On the western side of Greenland it was dis-
covered, in 1818, that a small tribe inhabited the rugged coast,
between 76^ and 79" n. ; their range being bounded on the south
by the glaciers of Melville Bay, which bar all progress in that
direction ; and on the north by the Humboldt glacier ; while the

1 This Committee consiste'l of Sir John Lubbock (President), Professor Busk,
Captain Sherard Osborn, Captain Bedford Pirn, Col. Lane Fox, Mr. Clements
Markham, Mr. Flower, and Mr. Brabrook.

OF AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 279

Sernik-soal; or great glacier of the interior, contines them to tlie
sea-coast. These " Arctic Highlanders " number about 140 souls,
and their existence depends on open pools ami lanes of water
tiiroughont the Avinter, which attract animal life. Hence, it is
certain that w'here such conditions exist man may bo found. The
question wliether the unexplored coast of Greenland is inhabited,
therefore, depends upon the existence of currents and other con-
ditions such as prevail in the northern part of Baffin's Bay. But
this question is not even now left entirely to conjecture. It is true
that the " Arctic Highlanders." told Dr. Kane that they knew of no
inhabitants beyond the Humboldt glacier, and this is the furthest
point which was indicated by Kalli-hirua (the native lad who was
on board the Assistance) on his wonderfully accurate chart. But
neither did the Eskimo of Upernivik knoAV anything of natives
north of Melville Bay until the first voyage of Sir John Boss. Yet
now we know that there either are or have been inhabitants north
of the Humboldt glacier, on the extreme verge of the unknown
region ; for Morton (Dr. Kane's steward) found the runner of a
sledge made of bone lying on the beach on the northern side of it.
There is a tradition, too, among the " Arctic Highlanders," that
there are herds of musk-oxen far to the north, on an island in an
iceless sea. On the easteni side of Greenland there are similar in-
dications. In 1823, Captain Clavering found twelve natives at Cape
Borlase Warren in 76^ n. ; but when Captain Koldewey wintered in
the same neighbourhood in 1869 none were to be found, though
there were abundant traces of them and ample means of subsistence.
As the Melville Bay glaciers form an impassable barrier, preventing
the " Arctic Highlanders " from wandering southwards on the west
side ; so the ice-bound coast on the east side, between Scoresby's
discoveries and the Danebrog Isles, would prevent the people seen
by Clavering from taking a southern coTirse. The alternative is
that, as they were gone at the time of Koldewey's visit, they must
have gone north.

These considerations lead to the conclusion that there are or
have been inhabitants in the unexplored region to the north of
the known parts of Greenland. If this bo the case, the study of all
the characteristics of a people who have lived for generations in a
state of complete isolation, would be an investigation of the highest
scientific interest.

Light may not improbably be thrown upon the mysterious
wanderings of these northern tribes, traces of which are found in
every bay and on every cape in the cheerless Barry group ; and
these wanderings may be found to bo the most distant waves of

280 ETHNOLOGICAL RESULTS

storms raised in far off centres, and among other races. Many
circumstances connected with the still unknown northern tribes
may tend to elucidate such inquiries. Thus, if they use the iglu
they may be supposed to be kindred of the Greenlanders ; snow-
huts will point to some devious wanderings from Boothian or
American shores ; while stone yourts would iodicate a march from
the coast of Siberia, across a wholly unknown region. The method
of constructing sledges would be another indication of origin, as
would also be the weapons, clothes, and utensils. The study of the
language of a long isolated tribe will also tend to elucidate questions
of considerable interest ; and its points of coincidence and diver-
gence, when compared with Greenland, Labrador, Boothian, and
Siberian dialects, will lead to discoveries which, probably, could not
otherwise be made. Dr. Hooker has pointed out that the problem
connected with the Arctic flora can probably be solved only by a
study of the physical conditions of much higher latitudes than have
hitherto been explored. In like manner, the unsolved puzzles con-
nected with the wanderings of man within the Arctic zone may
depend for their explanation upon the clues to be found in the
conditions of a tribe or tribes in the far north.

These are speculations which the results gained by Polar discovery
would probably, but not certainly, show to be well founded. But
there are other investigations which would undoubtedly yield valu-
able materials for the student of man. Such wovild be carefully
prepared notes on the skidls, the features, the stature, the dimen-
sions of limbs, the intellectual and moral state of individuals
belonging to a hitherto isolated and unknown tribe ; also on their
religious ideas, on their superstitions, laws, language, songs, and
traditions ; on their weapons and methods of hunting ; and on their
skill in delineating the topography of the region within the range
of their wanderings. There are also several questions which need
investigation, having reference to marks and notches upon arrows
and other weapons, and to their signification. A series of questions
has been prepared by Dr. Barnard Davis, Mr. Tylor, Col. Lane Fox,
and others, on these and other points,^ attention to which would

• 1. Instructions of Dr. Barnard Davis.

2. Enquiries as to Religion, Mythology, and Sociology of Eskimo Tribes, by
E. B. Tylor, Esq., f.r.s.

3. Enquiries relating to Mammalia, Vegetation, &c., by W. Boyd Dawkins,
Esq., F.K.s.

4. Enquiries into Customs relating to War, by Col. A. Lane Fox.

4a. Enquiries relating to certain Arrow-marks and other Signs in use among
tlie Eskimos.

46. Enquii'ics relating to Drawing, Carving, &c., by Col. A. Lane Fox.

5. Enquiries as to Ethnology, by A. W. Franks, Esq.

6. Enquiries

OF AN ARCTIC EXPEDITION. 281

undoubtedly result in the collection of mucli exceedingly valuable
information.

The condition of an isolated tribe, deprived of the \ise of wood or
metals, and dependent entirely upon bone and stone for the con-
struction of all implements and utensils, is also a subject of study
■with reference to the condition of mankind in the stone age of the
world ; and a careful comparison of the former, as reported by
explorers, with the latter, as deduced from the contents of tumuli
and caves, will probably be of great importance in the advancement
of the science of man.

For the above reasons there cannot be a doubt that the despatch
of an expedition to discover the northern shores of Greenland would
lead to the collection of many important facts, and to the elucidation
of deeply interesting questions connected with anthropology.

APPENDIX.

QUESTIONS FOE EXPLOEERS.
(^With Special Reference to Arctic Exploration.)

1. General. By J. Barnard Davis, m.d., f.r.s.

1. Navies of Tribes, indicating their divisions, and at the same
time marking any peculiarities of any kind which distinguish them.
This will embrace Tribal marks.

2. Stature of Men and Women. — For this purpose the traveller
should be provided with a measuring-tape or other instrument.
Measure twenty-five of each, if he can.

3. Colours of Skin, Eyes, and Hair. — These are easily determined
by Broca's Tables.

4. Hair, Texture of and Mode of Wearing. — Specimen locks, tied
up separately and accv;rately labelled, if possible.

5. Deformations carefully observed and accurately described.
Those of the heads of infants impressed in nursing, if any ; those
of the teeth produced by chipping, filing, &c. ; those of the skin
done by fcittooing, incisions, scars, wheals, &c., correctly described.

G. Crania diligently collected. These should always be procured
as perfect as possible, never leaving anything behind, particularly

G. Enquiries relating to tlie Physical Characteristics of tlio Eskimo, by Dr.
J. DciMoc.

7. Further Ethiiolojjiciil Enfiuiri< h, hy Piofcssiir W. Turner.

8. lutitructions suggested by Caiitaiii BetH'ord i'iiii, n.N.

282 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS

not lower jaws and teeth. On collection, they should be at once
marked with tribal name, in ink if possible, to prevent confusion.

7. Diseases. — Careful observations upon their names, natures,
peculiarities, &c., and their modes of treatment, if they can be
ascertained.

8. Careful Observations of the habits and modes of life of the
people : their social, intellectual, and moral state.

9. Portraits, by drawing or photography, should not on any
account be omitted, if attainable.

10. Articles of dress, implements, &c., should be collected.

11. Systems of Belationship. — (See ' Journal of Anthropological
Institute ' (vol. i. p. 1), paper by Sir J. Lubbock, President.)

12. Language. — As complete a vocabulary as circumstances will
allow should be recorded.

2. — Enquiries as to Eeliqion, Mythology, and Sociology of
Eskimo Tribes. By E. B. Tylor, Esq., f.r.s.

1. What ideas have they as to souls and other spirits ? AVhat do
they think of dreams and visions ? are they appearances of spirits ?
Are trances, &c., set down to exit of soul? Are hysterics, convul-
sions, &c., ascribed to demoniacal possession?

2. Does the soul continue to exist after death ? is there any dif-
ference made in the fate of souls ? and, if so, is the difference due
to their conduct in life ? Is there any transmigration of souls ?

3. Are there spirits in rocks, springs, mountains, &c. ? if so, what
are their appearance, functions, and names ?

4. Are there any great gods believed in {e.g., a sun god), &c. ?
Especially is there one called Torngarsuk, or Great Spirit ?

6. AYhat prayers, sacrifices, fasts, ceremonial dances, religious
festivals, &c., have they ?

6. What sorcerers or seers have they ? how brought up, and prac-
tising what crafts ? What necromancy, divinations, and other magic
arts have they ?

7. What legends of gods and heroes have they ? What stories
which seem to relate to personified natural phenomena, sun,
moon, &c. ?

8. What actions and dispositions are considered good and bad,
virtuous and vicious ? Does public opinion make much difference in
treatment of virtuous and vicious? Are there any set laws and
penalties ? what restraint is there on theft, murder, adultery, &c. ?
Do acts count as criminal differently when done on a member of
the tribe or foreigners ? What is the native law or custom as to

FOR ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 283

vengeance ? What are the laws or customs as to marriage, inherit-
ance, and clanship?

9. "WTiat recognition of chiefship and what form of civil govern-
ment can be traced ? Are the old men rulers, and do the strong
men displace them ? What is the treatment of women and children,
and of the sick and ajred ?

3. — QuKSTioxs relating to the Majimalia, the Vegetation, and the
Eemaixs of AxciExr Eaces. By W. Boyd Dawkins, ji.a., f.r.s.

Where do the Eskimos obtain the ivory which they use for handles
to their scrapers and for other purposes? Besides the walrus ivory
they use the tusks of the mammoth : how do they know wheie
to seek for these, and have they any legends in connection with
them ? The conditions under which these tusks occur in the regions
bordering on the great Arctic Sea are of the highest importance as
throwing light on similar remains in Northern and Central Europe.
The bones and teeth of the smaller animals, which most probably
occur in the same strata as the mammoth ivory, should be preserved,
fur there is reason to believe that at a time comparatively recent,
zoologically speaking, the climate of the extreme north was far less
severe than now.

The sources from which the Eskimos obtained their wooel should
be carefully ascertained. Is it drift-wood brought down by great
rivers, like the Obi or the Mackenzie, from more southern latitudes ?
or is it derived from ancient foiests which once flourished where at
the present time no trees will grow?

Have the Eskimos any legends relating to other lands than
those in which they now live ; in other words, what was their golden
age ?

Have the Eskimos any legends relating to the musk-sheep,
Oclhos moschalus ?

4. — Enquiries into Customs Eelating to War. By Col. Lane Fox.

1. Tactics — Have thetiibesany disposition or order of battle? aie
the young or the weak placed in front? are they courageous? have
f hey any war cries, war songs, or war dances, and if so give a detailed
account of them ? Do they employ noise as a means of encourage-
ment, or do they preserve silence in conflict ? Do they stand and
abuse each other before fighting, or boa^t of their warlike achieve-
ments ? Do they rely on tlio use of missile-weapons or hand -weapons?
have they any special disposition f(jr tlioe in battle ? have they any
knowledge of the advantages of ground or position in battle, as sug-

284 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS

gested by Capt. Beechey ? have they any sham fights with blunt and
pointless weapons, such as are described by Vancouver in Hawaii
and amongst the Hottentots ? How is the march, of a party con-
ducted ? do they move in a body with a broad front or in file, and
do they send forward advanced parties ? do they make night attacks ?
have they any stratagems for concealing their trail from the enemy ?
Have they any superstitious customs or omens in connection with
war, and if so give an account of them? What is the meaning of
the custom of shooting an arrow with a tuft of feathers attached,
mentioned by Capt. Beechey, and supposed to be a declaration of war?
(the custom of shooting an arrow towards an enemy as a declaration
of war formerly existed in Persia.) Do they employ treachery,
concealment, or ambush, and if so, what is their usual mode of pro-
ceeding? Are their dogs employed in war? Are their treaties
with other tribes binding? Do they form alliances with other
tribes, and if so, to what extent do they act in concert, and under
what leadership ? Are personal conflicts common between men of
the same tribe, and if so, what is their usual mode of proceeding ?

2. Weapons. — What are their war weapons? are the same wea-
pons used in war and the chase? What is the exact natiire of
their defensive armour, especially that described as being made of
pieces of wood fastened together ? Is the throwing-stick used in
war ? what is the accuracy, range, and penetration of a lance pro-
jected by this means ? is there any evidence of its being a more
ancient weapon than the bow ? is it an indigenous weapon or derived
from without ? What are the difficulties in the construction of the
bow from the absence of suitable elastic wood ? is the practice of
giving elasticity to the bow by means of sinews attached to it an
independent invention or derived from the Asiatic Continent ? what
is the accuracy, range, and penetration of the bow?^ In what
manner are the performances of their weapons handed down from
father to son, as is said to be the case ? What is the exact meaning
of the marks scored on their arrows and their weapons (with draw-
ings of them) ? Have they any means of giving a rotation to their
arrows or other missile-weapons ? Have they any regular system
of training to the use of the bow and other weapons ? At what age
do the children commence the use of the bow ? Are the Eskimos

* It appears desirable that some test of accuracy should be established. If the
natives can be induced to shoot at a target, the distance of each shot from the
point aimed at should bt; measuied, added, and divided by the number of shots.
The figure of merit obtained by tins means would enable a comparison to be
made witli the shooting of otlicr races. A target composed of grass bands, not
less than six feet iu diameter, might be used. Misses should be scored with a
deviation of four feet ; distances, fitty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty, and
two hundred paces of thirty inches.

FOR ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 285

expert in throwing stones with the hand : and if so, how far can they
throw with accuracy and force, and for what purpose do they throw
stones? Is the bow dra-wn to the shoulder or the chest? is it held
horizontally or vertically ? Are the women trained to the use of
weapons? What are the varieties of the weapons employed in
different tribes and what is the cause of variation ? to what extent
do the weapons vary in form in each tribe ? Have they anything
resembling a standard, or state halbard, or fetish for war purposes,
as suggested by Capt. Beechey ? (Careful drawings and collections
of all the varieties of weapons are very necessary.) To what extent
have the natives abandoned their ancient arms, and taken to those
of civilised nations introduced among them ? Do they readily adopt
European weapons?

3. Leaders and Discqyline. — How are their leaders appointed ? are
they identical with the chiefs and Angekos ? have they any marks
or distinctions of dress (with drawings) ? are they the strongest and
most courageous ? have they any rewards for warlike achievements ?
have they any subordinate leaders, and how are they appointed ?
have the chiefs any aids or runners to carry messages? What kind
of discipline is pi'eserved ? Have they any punishments for offences
in war? what is the function of the women in war? are any of the
adult males reserved from war for employment in other duties that
are necessary for the tribe, and if so, how is that arranged ?

4. Fortifications and Outposts. — Have they any intrenchments,
earth, or snow works or defensive pits, as described by Capt. Beechey,
and if so, give plans and sections of them drawn to scale ? Do they
employ pitfalls in war or the chase, and if so, give plans and sections ?
Have they any knowledge of forming inundations for defensive pur-
poses ? Have they any use of stakes for defence, or stockades, or
abatis? Do they employ caltraps (small spikes of wood fixed into
the ground to wound the feet) ? Do they ever build on raised piles
for defence, as is practised in some parts of the N.W. Coast? Do
they occupy isolated positions, or hills, or promontories for the
defence of their villages ? Do they fortify their villages or have
they other strong places to resort to in case of attack which are not
usually^ inhabited? Have they scouts and outposts, and are they
arranged on any kind of regular system ? Have they any special
signals for war ? do they employ special men on these duties ?

5. Supply. — How do they supply themselves during war? does
each man provide for himself or is there any general arrangement,
and under what management? Are their proceedings much ham-
pered by the difficulty of supply? IIow do they carry their food,
water, and baggage ?

6. Causes and Effects of War. — What are the chief causes of war?

286 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS

Do feuds last long between tribes ? How do they treat their pri-
soners? have they any special customs with regard to the first
prisoner that falls into their hands ? Do conquered tribes amalga-
mate? How are the women of the conquered tribes dealt with?
How do they divide the spoil ? Are their attacks always succeeded
by retreat or do they follow up a victory ? Is it likely that a know-
ledge of the arts, culture, &c., of other tribes has been spread by
means of war ? To what extent has the increase of the population
been cheeked by wars? Has migration been promoted to any great
extent by warlike expeditions?

Enquiries Eelating to Certaiit Arrow-Marks and other Signs in
USE AMONGST the EsKiMOS. By Col. A. Lane Fox.

1. Capt. Hall speaks of mysterious signs consisting of *' parti-
coloured patches sewn on to seal-skins, and hung up near the dwelling
of the Angekok for the information of strange Innuit travellers, and
to direct them what to do." Are these signs for strange Innuit
travellers generally understood by the Eskimo race ? what is their
object and s-ignificance ? are they generally understood by the people
or only by the Angekos ? Drawings and explanations of these signs
would be desirable.

2. Sir Edward Belcher, in the ' Transactions of the Ethnological
Society,' vol. i. p. 135, new series, gives his opinion that the Eski-
mos " are not without the means of recording events," and that
" the use of notched sticks and working of the fingers has a deeper
signification than mere numerals." What is the exact meaning of
these marks? are they confined to particular tribes or common to
the whole race? Drawings and collections of these notches would
be desirable.

3. In our Ethnographical Museums identical marks upon horn-
pointed arrows appear- to be derived fiom different localities and at
different times, so as to preclude the possibility of their having
belonged to the same owner. Some of these marks appear to be
pictographic, although consisting of straight lines representing a
man or an animal ; others are evidently not pictographic, and con-
sist of a longitudinal line with other short lines branching from it,
or an edge of the horn-point serves the purpose of the longitudinal
lines, and the short lines are marked upon it. Their resemblance
to Eunes has been noticed. What is the exact meaning of each of
these marks ? are they the marks of the owner or do they record the
performances of the weapon, or have they any other significance?
are there similar marks upon other weapons and utensils or upon
rocks ? are they understood beyond the tribe ? is there any proba-
bility of their having been derived from the Scandinavian settlers

FOR ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 287

in Greenland ? Drawings and collections of these, and any other
similar marks, with the exact meaning of each mark, would be
desirable.

Enquiries E elating to Drawing, Carving, and Ornamentation.
By Col. A. Lane Fox.

Have the natives a natural aptitude for drawing? do they draw
living animals in preference to other forms? are the heads of men
and animals usually represented larger in proportion than the other
parts of the body ? Have they the least knowledge of perspective ?
Are the most distant objects drawn smaller than those nearer ? are
the more important personages or objects dravvTi larger than the
others ? Do their drawings represent imaginary animals or animals
now extinct ? Do they show any tendency to represent irregular
objects, such as branching trees sjTumetrically so as to produce a
conventional pattern? Are the drawings generally historical, or
merely drawn for amusement or for oiTiament ? Are events of dif-
ferent periods depicted in the same drawing ? Have they any conven-
tional modes of representing certain objects? Do they draw from
nature or copy each other's drawings? Do they in copying from
one another vaiy the forms through negligence, inability, or to save
trouble, so as to lose sight of the original object and produce conven-
tional forms, the nature of which is otherwise inexplicable ? if so, it
would be of great interest to obtain several series of such drawings,
showing the gradual departure from the originals. Do they readily
understand and appreciate European drawings? do they show any
aptitude in copying European drawings? Do they draw with
coloured earths besides the drawings engi-aved on bone ? With what
tools are these engravings made? Have they special artists who
draw for the whole tribe or does each man ornament his own pro-
perty? Do any of the natives show special talent for drawing, if
so, in what direction does such talent show itself? Is drawing more
practised in some tribes than others, and if so, does this arise from
inclination or from traditional custom? Do they draw plans or
maps ? Do they understand European maps ? At what age do the
children commence drawing? are they encouraged to draw at an
early age (a series of drawings of natives of different ages, from five
or six upwards, would be interesting as a means of comparison with
the development of artistic skill in Europeans)? Do they oraament
with geometrical patterns, such as zigzags, concentric circles, con-
tiguous circles, coils, spirals, punch-marks, lozenge patterns, herring-
bone patterns, &c. ? Do they use the continuous looped-coil ])atteni
in ornamentation ? Are such geometrical patterns in any case copies
of mechanical conti ivances, such as the binding of an arrow head,

288 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS

the strings supporting a vessel, &c., represented by incised lines?
Are there any ancient drawings upon rocks, &c. ? and, if so, in what
respects do they differ from those of the existing natives ? Copies
to scale of any drawings which cannot be brought away would be
very desirable.

5. — Further Exquiries and Observations on Ethnological Ques-
tions connected witli Arctic Exploratjon. By A. W. Franks, f.s.a.,
Keeper of Ethnography, &c., British Museum.

On reading over the enquiries suggested by the distinguished
members of the Anthropological Institute, Dr. Barnard Davis, Mr.
Tylor, Mr. Boyd Dawkins, and Col. Lane Fox, the following
additional points of enquiry have suggested themselves : —

Aniliroiwlogical Details. — Some uniform mode of measurement
should be adopted, and careful instructions would no doubt be fur-
nished by Dr. Barnard Davis. It would also be desirable to ascertain
the strength of the natives in lifting and throwing weights, and
pulling against weights, as compared with Europeans ; also their
speed in running.

Mental Qualities. — Evidences of quick understanding or the re-
verse. Habits of providence or the reverse. Knowledge of numera-
tion and weights. Capability of understanding European pictmes
of animals, and especially of landscapes. Comprehension of the
advantages of writing. Any knowledge of astionomy ?

Marriage and Funeral Customs. — Is any ceremony observed with
either sex on attaining puberty ? Are wives obtained by courtship,
capture, or purchase? if by the former, are there any surviving
symbols of either of the two latter modes, as in Eussia ? At what
age are marriages usually entered into ? and are there any prohibited
deo-rees of relationship ? Are there any ceremonies at marriage or
on childbirth? Is the name of the child ancestral? has it any
special meaning ? and is it changed at any time ? How are the dead
buried ? are their weapons and food deposited with them ? and if so,
are they broken or rendered useless before being deposited? Is
there any ceremony on receiving friends or strangers ?

Arts and Manufactures. — Any particulars on these points will be
of special value, as possibly illustrating prehistoiic periods. How
is the carving in ivory or bone executed ? Is any method employed
to soften the material ? Have the ornamental designs on the im-
plements any particular meaning ? How are the skins tanned ? are
there any varieties in the fashions of dresses ? and are these tribal
or dependent on individual fancy ? How is the sinew-thread made ?
Are labrets in use? and is tatcoing employed by either sex? Is

FOR ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 289

thero any native explanation of either custom? It wonld be
desirable to obtain the native names of the various tools, and to bo
especially attentive to the use of stone implements. Is meteoric
iron employed for implements? and where is it obtained? The
native names of metals employed ? Are there special persons who
manufacture a distinct class of objects or does each family supply
its own wants ? Is tobacco in use ? where is it obtained ? and is
any other substance used with it or substituted for it ? How are
the tobacco-pipes made ? and especially how are the bowls and
stems bored ?

Hunting and Fishing, dc. — The use of lures and stratagems. Are
any Rallies employed to record the number of animals killed? Is
there any distinction in the form of paddles used by different sexes ?
do the rowers keep time ?

Food. — Are any ceremonies used at their meals or feasts ? Is there
any offering to the deceased or to spirits ? Is there any particular
order in the succession of various kinds of food at such meals?
iMode of feeding? especially as to the cutting off at the mouth the
food. Do the teeth become much worn down by the nature of the
food or the mode of eating ?

Collections. — It is most desirable to make as complete a collection
as possible of everything illustrating the Arctic tribes ; for the
intercourse with Europeans must in time modify or extinguish
many of their peculiar implements, weapons, or dress, and it is
believed that the Arctic races would furnish valuable illustrations
of the condition of the ancient inhabitants of the South of France,
&c., during the cave period. It would be well also to search in
the walls and floors of ruined houses for stone and bone implements
left by the former inhabitants. The specimens should be, as soon
as possible, carefully labelled and marked ; where marked by
adhesive labels or by cards tied on, something should be written on
the specimen itself, in ink or pencil, so that if the label should
drop off or become detached there ma}'' be no doubt as to the speci-
men to which it belonged.

There is, however, a point of great imj^ortance which relates to
the disposal of the collections when they are brought back. It has
been too much the habit to consider such objects the property of
the officers of the expedition, to be disposed of according to their
wish. Should, however, such collections bo made by a scientific
expedition, there should be clear directions that it should be jtlaced
at the disposal of the Government to bo deposited in the national
museum, and the commander of the expedition shmild see that the
main collection contains the best illustrations of the subject.

To show the evil effects of the contrary practice, it may be noticed

290 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS

that the greatest of English explorers, Captain Cook, must have
made very large collections, as specimens obtained by him are to
be found in many museums and private collections both in England
and abroad. Unfoiiunately, the value of his specimens is much
diminished by the absence of any proper account of the places from
vphich they were derived ; and it is somewhat curious that although
the British Museum is supposed to have the principal part of his
collections, many of the finest specimens are not to be found there,
but in other collections.

An instance connected with Arctic exploration may be noticed.
In the well-known expedition in the Blossom, under Capt. Beechey,
1825-28, a number of specimens was obtained. Some of the speci-
mens were given by Capt. Beechey to the Ashmolean Museum ;
others were presented by the officers to Mr. BaiTow, and are now in
the British Museum. Sir Edward Belcher gave some of his speci-
mens to the United Service Institution, which on the sale of a part
of that museiim were dispersed ; unfortunately they were not pro-
perly labelled, and their value is much impaired. The bxilk of Sir
Edward Belcher's collection has since been sold, and though by a
fortunate accident some of the most interesting specimens have
been secured for the Christy Collection, the value of the series as
a whole is taken away. Others seem to have been given by Sur-
geon Collie to the Haslar Hospital, and on the breaking up of a
portion of that mtiseum were sent to the British Museum ; scarcely
any of them were labelled, and it is only by accident that the pro-
bable origin of them has been traced. If a careful selection had
been made at the time for* the national collection, the manners,
customs, and arts of the Western Eskimos would have received a
full illustration.

6, — Questions relating to the Physical Characteristics of the
Eskimos, &c. By John Beddoe, m.d.

A. The following measurements should be obtained from as many
adults of the two sexes as possible.

1. Stature: the best gotten by means of a graduated rod, in
erect posture. Mention whether shoes are worn, and of what
thickness.

2. Greatest length of head, from the eminence between the
eye-brows ; with index or other callipers.

3. Greatest breadth of head, wherever found, with callipers.

4. Greatest breadth of zygomata, also with callipers.

6. Span — i. e., distance between tips of middle fingers, arms
being exjmnded.

FOR ARCTIC EXPLORERS. 291

6. Circumference of chest at nipple (in men).

7. Ditto after full expansion by forced inspiration (in men).

8. Circumference of thigh at fork.

9. Distance from fork to ground.

1, 6, and 9, are most important.

B. The colours of hair, eyes, and skin, may bo best expressed by
means of Broca's scale ; but in its absence the

1. Eyes may be desig-nated as light (blue, light grey, light
green), neutral (dark grej", dark green, ycl1o^\nsh grey), or dark
hazel, bro^\^l).

2. Hair as red, fair, brown, dark brown, rusty black, or coal-
black.

3. It should be noted whether there is any beard, and, if so, of
what colour, or whether it is extirpated.

4. Is gi'ey hair observed ?

5. Or baldness ?

6. or the arcus senilis ?

7. Is the hair lighter in children than in adxilts ?

8. Is the body less hairy than in Europeans?

C. 1. What is the temperature of the body, taken wdth a " clinical
thermometer" kept in the axilla fully five minutes? This
should be observed in four or five persons.

2. Does the hand appear to be notably smaller than in Euro-
peans ?

For use in the observations above, a gTaduated rod, six feet long,
with a sliding cross-piece, index callipers, graduated tapes, and a
clinical thermometer will be desirable.

7. — FuRTHKR EnixoLOGiCAL Enquikies, more especially connected
with the Western Eskimos. By William Turner, Professor of
Anatomy, University of Edinburgh.

1. Should the expedition visit the western part of the north coast
of America, it would be very desirable to ascertain if any traditions
linger. amongst the Eskimo tribes of a migration of their ancestors
across Behring Straits.

2. It would also be desirable to ascertain if any communication
takes place between the Eskimos and the most northerly tribes of
North American Indians, either for purposes of trade or war ; or if
the Eskimos or Indian tribes intermarry.

15. Collections of crania of the tribes occupying the laud on the

X

292 ETHNOLOGICAL HINTS,

eastern and western sides of Beliring's Straits would be of great
value. Careful notes should also be taken of the physical charac-
teristics of the people, of their habits and modes of life, their tools,
weapons, &c.

4. A collection of crania from the district around Kotzebue Sound
would be also prized, as there is reason to think, from a few speci-
mens already in this country, that the cranial configuration of the
people of this region differs from that of the tribes on the eastern
side of the American continent.

8. — Instructions suggested by Capt. Bedford Pim, r.n.

1. Make full inquiries as to the shape, length, breadth, depth,
and capacity of the baidars ; the covering, the lashing, size of the
ribs and timbers, and the dimensions of the paddles.

2. How many persons can the baidar carry? with how much
weight inside will they float when swamped ?

3. What amount of provisions for its occupants can the baidar
carry ? what is the nature of those provisions, and how many days
will they last ?

4. What is the utmost speed of a baidar xmder paddles, paddles
and sail (if any), or sail (if any) alone ?

5. How many miles can be paddled in four hours ? ditto eight
hours ? ditto twelve hours, with the view to arrive at the length of
a da)''s journey ?

6. These questions to apply equally to the kayak.

7. Especially make inquiries with reference to the capability of
the baidar, or of two kayaks laished together, to cross from Labrador
to Greenland ; and their ability to encounter heavy weather,

8. Also if women can paddle the kayak as well as the men.

9. Make particular inquiries about the weapons of the chase used
both on land and water.

41 8

London: prlnted bt william clowes and sons, stamfobd stkelt,
and charing cross.

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