An Arctic voyage to Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound : in search of friends with Sir John Franklin

£

»ii

wt Sm

Boston

Medical Library

8 The Fenway

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

Open Knowledge Commons and Harvard Medical School

http://www.archive.org/details/arcticvoyagetobaOOgood

'£*£*- *f~

'f*~ ^M*""*;. ^ ^ . /,u

AN ARCTIC VOYAGE

TO

BAFFIN'S BAY AND LANCASTER SOUND.

AN

ARCTIC VOYAGE

TO

BAFFIN'S BAY AND LANCASTER SOUND,

IN SEARCH OF

FRIENDS WITH SIR JOHN FRANKLIN,

BY

ROBERT ANSTRUTHER GOODSIR,

LATE PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY
OF EDINBURGH.

LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M.D.CCC.L.

London:
Printed by S. & J. Bektley and Henry Fley,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.

PREFACE.

The following pages are extracts from a
rough journal kept during the voyage, and
were never intended to meet the eyes of
any but those who, I well knew, would judge
kindly and partially of them.

They are reluctantly and diffidently laid
before the public ; but I hope that the feel-
ings will be taken into consideration which led
one brother to search for another — nay, for
many brothers, for surely every one of our fel-
low-countrymen will welcome back as brothers
each and all of the long missing ones.

My brother Harry having embarked with
Sir John Franklin in 1845, it need not be
wondered at that, as year after year wore on,

b

vi PREFACE.

and still there came no intelligence, I, as well
as the rest of my family, began to feel anxiety.
I incidentally heard of Mr. William Penney,
master of the " Advice," of his enterprising
character and energetic disposition. I pro-
ceeded to Dundee, where I had an interview
with him, and with the managing owner of
the " Advice," Mr. Hume, to whom I am
under obligation for much kindness. I offer-
ed my services, and a few days afterwards
sailed with Mr. Penney, from whom, during
the whole voyage, I met with unremitting
kindness and attention. No one could show
more interest in the fate of our missing friends
than he did ; and I have reason to believe
(from neutral parties) that he made strenuous
efforts to assist Sir John Ross and his party
in 1834. Very gratifying, then, is it to me,
and doubtless also to all who have personal
interest in the missing ships, that Mr. Penney's
energy and talent have been appreciated by
Government, and that his experience and
knowledge of the navigation of the Icy Seas,
familiar to him since boyhood, will be turned

PREFACE. Vll

to account in the search for the missing expe-
dition, which he is about to conduct, and in
which I am to have the pleasure of joining.
Most certain am I that no exertions will be
spared on his part.

I must again apologise for the meagre
character of the following notes ; but I trust
that my hitherto untried pen, as well as the
pressure of urgent professional duties, will
prove my excuse for many faults and short-
comings.

Mr. Van Voorst's kind liberality has added
a Frontispiece and Map, of which I am afraid
the letter-press is scarcely worthy.

Finally, my most grateful thanks are due
to an old and ever kind friend, Professor
Edward Forbes, for his valuable guidance of
my doubtful and wavering steps through the
mysteries of the " Press."

There are few indeed, — if there is even a
single individual, throughout the land — who
will not earnestly join me in the wish that
the enterprises now on foot and so nobly
supported by this country, as well as by our

Vlll PREFACE.

generous cousin nation of the New World,
may be successful, and thoroughly successful.
Should God grant that they be so, certain it
is that many thanksgivings will be rendered
up from numerous happy homes. Mingled
bitter and sweet will be the tears shed at
meetings now well nigh despaired of. Not
a few of the old — some of the young — have
gone since the last farewell was said.

Much, very much, gratitude is due from
the friends and relatives of all the missing
voyagers to the noble -hearted and never-tiring
Lady Franklin, for stirring up the energies of
some, stimulating the forgetful, and shaming
the careless, into renewed efforts on behalf of
our fellow-countrymen.

A VOYAGE

ETC.

CHAPTER I.

We sailed from Stromness on the 17th
of March, 1849, running past Hoy Head with
a light, but fair wind, and standing right to
the westward. When passing the Head, or,
as it is generally called, when seen from a
certain point of view, the " Old Man of Hoy,"
I had unconsciously to perform a ceremony,
usual on the occasion. One of the mates
addressing me, said, " There 's something on
your hat," and on my taking it off to examine
it, there was a general laugh ; but the captain
saying, " You have now saluted the Old
Man of Hoy," let me at once see what was
meant.

We were soon fairly out at sea, and had
a very fair run during the whole night. Next

B

2 GALE OF WIND.

day we could just make out the "loom'
of Cape Wrath, and the north-west part of
Sutherlandshire .

For the first ten days there was nothing
to break the daily routine of ship -life but
the changes in the weather from good to
bad, and from bad to indifferent. It was
rather tedious, as a sea-voyage always is to
a landsman, but in the good weather I could
read and write, and in the bad I managed
to make myself as comfortable as possible.

Early on the 27th of March, it came on
to blow strong, and gradually increased to a
heavy gale, so that the ship had to be " hove
to ' under close-reefed main-topsail. During
the night it blew a perfect hurricane, the
wind whistling through the bare masts and
cordage with the most cutting shrillness.

On the 28th it began to moderate some-
what, but a tremendous sea was running.
About eleven o'clock I ventured on deck, and,
for the first time in my life, saw what the ocean
looks like in a storm. I could see nothing
all around but heaving mountains of water ;
each succeeding wave seemed as if it would
swallow up the labouring vessel, but it always
appeared to melt away gently under us, ex-

SHIP A SEA. 3

cept when one more rapid, or " cross," would
send water and spray washing over her decks
and high up into the rigging. The motion
of the ship was not uncomfortable, being very
different from the short cross pitching we had
experienced in the North Sea. I remained on
deck about a quarter of an hour, gazing about
me in silent wonder and admiration, little
thinking that the hitherto harmless waves
were upon the very eve of proving their might
over man's puny bolts and beams. Feeling
it chilly, I went below. I had just entered
the cabin and taken my seat, when the ship
became motionless, as it were, and seemed
to tremble in every beam. A report like
thunder, mingled with the rending and crash-
ing of timber ; sudden and complete dark-
ness, with a rush of water through the sky-
light, and the ship thrown on her beam-ends,
showed me what one has to expect occasionally
at sea. I scrambled on deck after the captain,
as I best could, scarcely knowing what had
happened. Here nothing was to be seen but
wreck and destruction. The quarter-deck was
literally swept of everything, rails and bul-
warks, almost all the stanchions, the binnacle,
compasses, dog's couch, and nothing could

B 2

4 MEN OVERBOARD.

be seen of the wheel but the nave. But
the worst was still to come, two poor fellows
were missing. One had perished unnoticed ;
he must have been killed amongst the
wreck, washed overboard, and sunk like a
stone. The other had been seen by the mate,
for an instant only, floating on the binna-
cle, and just sinking. No human assistance
could have been rendered to them with such
a sea running. Two other poor fellows were
rather seriously injured, and took up my at-
tention for some time. The captain, cool and
collected, soon restored confidence to his men,
and in a short time had the wreck cleared
away, a long tiller shipped, and the vessel
again hove to. Spare spars were lashed to
the stanchions that remained, so that we had
again something like bulwarks, but for many
a day afterwards the ship had a sadly damaged
and wrecky appearance. I have much reason
to be thankful to Providence for my escape,
for had I remained but ten seconds longer
on deck, I should either have been crushed
under the wreck, or washed overboard. Many
of the men, I dare say, were grateful enough,
but, sailor-like, in a few days all was for-
gotten, and " sweethearts and wives " drunk

FULMAR PETREL. o

as heartily on the Saturday nights as ever.
At any rate, we soon heard their clarionet
and songs sounding from the half-deck as
cheerily as before.

A few days after this unlucky occurrence,
we spoke a coal-laden brig, very deep in the
water, bound for some port in America, and
compared reckonings. This was quite an
event, at least to me, as it was the only ves-
sel we had seen, and for days there had been
nothing for the eye to rest upon, except my
friends the " Mollys," of whom more anon.

Although for some time after this, we had
a succession of gales, and the ship was fre-
quently hove to, and driven far to the south-
ward of her course, yet I now began to feel
more at home on board, and having got my
" sea-legs" (i. e. able to walk the deck steadily)
was more comfortable, and could look better
about me.

I perceive in my note-book, that two days
after we left Stromness, I noticed numbers of
the Mollemoke, or fulmar petrel (Mollemakken,
Danish) (Akordlak, Esquimaux) (Procellaria
glacialis) following us, besides one or two passing
Rotges (Alca alle). When to the southward
of lat. 53°, they disappeared entirely, but when-

6 FULMAR PETREL.

ever we were again to the northwards of that
parallel, the whalers' constant companion the
"Molly" again made its appearance, and we
were never without numbers of them to enliven
us, throughout the remainder of the voyage.
The fulmar of the north, except in size, may
well be likened to the albatross of the south.
Their habits and peculiarities are almost the
same. They are strong and graceful on the
wing, flying almost in the teeth of the strongest
gale, without any seeming movement of their
beautifully rounded pinions ; now swooping
along in the troughs of the sea, now skim-
ming on the snowy crests. They are almost
constantly on the wing, night and day, never
alighting on the water, except during calm
and moderate weather, and then but rarely.
They are very bold, flying close to the side of
the ship, almost within reach of the hand.
I have more than once been startled in the
evenings by one flitting close past my face,
with noiseless wing, like some gigantic moth.

At the beginning of the season, before they
are gorged with blubber, and their flesh has be-
come rank and oily, they are occasionally killed
for food, and taste not unlike an ill-fed
chicken.

FULMAR PETREL. 7

They are constantly on the look out, keep-
ing a vigilant eye on the wake of the vessel
for anything that may be thrown overboard.
They are sometimes too, like the albatross,
caught by a baited hook, but generally the
Davis Strait's sailor has a kindly feeling for
the harmless " Mollys;"* and many a reproof,
strengthened generally by a not very gentle
oath, have I heard the " green Orkney boys '
get for molesting them during "flensing" or
" making off." For it is then that they can
be best seen, and their habits particularly
noted. Though, previously, but a very few
may be in sight, immediately upon a "fish'
being struck, they begin to assemble, and are
soon seen hovering over the "fast-boats" in
countless flocks, and alighting to feed upon
the broad pellicle of oil and blood, which forms
a wake after the wounded whale. During
"flensing" their boldness and impudence are
often very amusing. I have seen them get
on the fish, and tear at the blubber, even
amongst the men's long knives, and under

* The sailors have a strange saying that the " Mollys "
are animated hy the spirits of" Old Greenland Skippers ; "
I suppose the fondness of both for blubber has led Jack to
think this.

8 IVORY GULL.

their very feet ; and, more than once, I have
seen one which was roughly laid hold of, and
pitched out of the way with a hearty shake,
coolly return again to his repast. During
" making off," or the process of finally pack-
ing the blubber into the casks, when all the
refuse parts or " krang" are cut off and thrown
overboard, they are seen sitting in the water,
in all directions, tearing at the floating pieces.
They are exceedingly pugnacious, and are
constantly driving one another away from any
piece that may appear more tempting than
another. The noise they make at such times
is sometimes almost deafening, and exactly
resembles that of poultry, something between
the cackle of the hen and the quack of the
duck, whilst the ' ' ploutering " in the water
adds to the hubbub. Hovering overhead, but
never deigning to sully its snowy plumage in
the greasy water, an ivory gull {Larus ebur-
neus) may occasionally be seen, stooping down
to a piece of "krang," which none of the
fulmars may happen to be touching, pecking
at it, whilst fluttering over it. The fulmars,
when able to eat no more, make the best of
their way to the nearest ice, where, squatted
flat upon it, they sleep until ready for another

SNOW BUNTING. 9

gorge. The ivory gull, also, when satisfied
makes its way to the ice, to rest and sleep,
but takes up its position on the topmost
pinnacle of the nearest hummock, when it
can only be distinguished by its black legs
and bill. The fulmar, graceful as it is on
the wing, is the very reverse on its legs, — its
walk is awkward and feeble.

We had other feathered visitors, even in
the very centre of the Western Ocean, but
they, poor things, were not quite so much
at home there as the strong- winged fulmar.
The little snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis)
was seen fluttering about our rigging, evi-
dently tired and exhausted, making vain efforts
to alight, but always to my disappointment
blown to leeward, like thistledown.

On Friday, the 13th of April, in particular,
which was a fine sunny day, but very windy,
with a heavy sea running, I saw no fewer
than three (perhaps the same bird at different
times). The third poor flutterer had almost
alighted upon the lee-mizen rigging, when
a violent gust blew it to leeward and astern ;
again it tried, and was upon the point of
gaining the desired resting-place, when all at
once I saw the poor little thing blown right

B 5

10 FIRST ICEBERG.

into the sea. It rose for an instant, but its
drenched feathers bore it down, and it dis-
appeared behind the wave, as the ship forged
ahead. It was so near me that I saw the
glance of its eye, and it appeared to me to
have an expression of suffering and exhaustion,
but I dare say this was fancy on my part.

On the 14th of April we saw the first ice-
berg. On the afternoon of the same day
we saw another of considerable size, but at
some distance to windward. Being the first
of these masses I had seen, I naturally re-
garded them with great interest. We were
now approaching the most dangerous part of
the voyage, " making the ice." For a week
at this time, whilst rounding Cape Farewell,
we had nothing but the most stormy and
boisterous weather, with the additional com-
fort of dark nights, and the proximity of nu-
merous huge icebergs, and what was still more
dangerous, heavy " washing pieces." Both
at this time and in autumn, when leaving
the ice, particularly if late in the season when
the nights are longer and darker, this is a
most critical, part of the voyage. The strictest
and most vigilant look out must be kept.
There are always two good hands up in the

" MAKING THE ICE." 11

fore -yard during the whole night to watch
for "bergs/' or "washing pieces" ahead.
The latter are the most dangerous, for, as
the name implies, it is almost under water,
and the sea breaking over it; in the dark,
it is very liable to be mistaken for the broken
water on the crest of a wave. The icebergs
are exceedingly dangerous also, and many a
story have I heard of risks run, and of narrow
escapes from fatal contact with them, but
from their greater height out of the water,
and from what Dr. Scoresby calls their " na-
tural effulgence," they are sooner and more
readily seen.

However, we got safely round the Cape,
and had a tolerable run up the Straits until
we made the ice.

12 FIRST STREAM ICE.

CHAPTER II.

On Friday, the 20th of April, we passed
through the first ''streams" of ice we had
seen. The "streams" were narrow, and the
ice of which they were composed was light.
The moment we had penetrated them we got
into smooth water, and during the whole of
the rest of the day had a beautiful run to
the northward.

The preparations for the fishing were begun
to-day by getting out the boats on to the
davits, and coiling the whale-lines, as well as
getting ready the harpoon-guns and harpoons.
There was a good deal of talking amongst
the men about the policy of commencing the
work of the season on a Friday, and not a
few of them looked rather down in the mouth.
" We shall get no fish now," says one. " Had
you ever a lucky voyage when your ship sailed

COILING THE LINES. 13

on a Friday," says another; or "hear of
any work prosper that began on a Friday."
The result, however, proved that Jack was
wrong, so that this unlucky Friday was for-
gotten ; had it proved otherwise, coiling the
lines on Friday, the 20th of April, would have
had the whole credit of the failure. The first
operation was to get the two boats that had
been secured over the main hatchway during
the passage, hoisted out on to their davits
on the quarters. The four remaining boats
in the 'tween decks were then hoisted up,
and suspended in their respective berths on
the main- chains and waists, so that we had
three boats on each side, in addition to the
stern -boat, making seven in all. Each of
the seven harpooners having had his boat
adjudged to him by lot, with his boat's crew,
set to work to splice his lines together, and
to coil them away in the after-part of his
boat. This is done with the greatest care and
regularity, for not only are the lines valuable
and expensive originally, but when it is con-
sidered that the value of a single whale may
be from 5001. to 800Z., and that if the lines
are in the slightest degree chafed or damaged,
the fish may be lost, this solicitude will not

14 THE CROW'S-NEST.

be wondered at. Each boat's crew as they
got their lines coiled, stood up and gave three
hearty cheers, which were responded to by
the rest of the men, so that through the day
we had plenty of noise. The next operation
was the "spanning" of the hand-harpoons,
and the splicing on of the gun-harpoons, to
the " foregangers," which are pieces of rope a
few fathoms long, made of white or untanned
hemp, so as to be more flexible and easily
extended, when the harpoon is projected from
the gun, or thrown from the hand. The
harpoon-guns were then cleaned, oiled, and fas-
tened with their swivels on the " billet heads"
in the bows of the boats. Each harpooner got
a supply of gunpowder and percussion-caps ;
and all the other requisites, which experience
had taught them were necessary, were put
into each boat.

The crow's-nest had, in the mean time,
been got up to the main-top -gallant-mast
head, and early in the afternoon we were
ready, and all more than willing to attack
the first unfortunate whale that should make
its appearance. In the evening all the har-
pooners were invited down to the cabin to
receive their orders and instructions for the

THE LESSER REDP0LE. 15

season. Many of the harpooners are not
very scrupulous when a "fish" is in ques-
tion, and disputes very frequently arise be-
tween vessels on this point. This is most
disagreeable to a master, who wishes to be-
have fairly and honourably, so that every-
thing possible is done to prevent it. When
the men had received their instructions, the
steward served out a glass of grog to drink
" a good voyage and a full ship." This con-
cluded the first day of our campaign against
the whales.

During the day I noticed a small bird flying
about the ship, and, in spite of the bustle
that was going on on deck, it alighted two
or three times close to me, seemingly not
at all afraid. I was thus enabled to get a
good sight of it, and could make it out to
be the lesser redpole (Fringilla linaria). It
much resembles the golden-crested wren, and
is almost the same size. It remained about
the ship for some time, but I could not suc-
ceed in getting hold of it.

Sunday, the 22nd, was the first day we
were really amongst the ice, and a very bitter
day it was, blowing a gale of wind, with
drifting showers of snow and sleet, and the

16 PANCAKE ICE.

ship under close-reefed topsails. We were
tacking backwards and forwards in a deep
bight amongst the ice, with scarcely any sea
running, which was a comfort, indeed, after
our long knocking about. The frost was
intense ; the ship was almost encased in
ice, the bows one mass of it, and every
rope electrotyped, as it were, with a silvery
covering. I never, during the rest of the
voyage, felt the cold so intense as on this
day. Unluckily, however, the only thermo-
meter we had on board was out of order, so
that I had no means of noting the tempera-
ture.

In the evening the wind moderated, and
the sea fell, when I had an excellent oppor-
tunity of observing the formation of what is
called "pancake ice." This is admirably de-
scribed by Scoresby, whose account of it I
will here quote. " The first appearance of ice,
when in the state of detached crystals, is called
by the sailors sludge, and resembles snow
when cast into water that is too cold to dis-
solve it. This smooths the ruffled surface
of the sea, and produces an effect like oil
in preventing breakers. These crystals soon
unite, and would form a continuous sheet ;

CROSS THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. 1 7

but, by the motion of the waves, they are
broken into very small pieces scarcely three
inches in diameter. As they strengthen many
of them coalesce and form a larger mass. The
undulation of the sea still continuing, these
enlarged pieces strike each other on every
side, whereby they become rounded, and their
edges turned up, whence they obtain the name
of cakes or pancakes ; several of these again
unite ; and thereby continue to increase, form-
ing larger flakes, until they become, perhaps,
a foot in thickness, and many yards in cir-
cumference. Every large flake retains on its
surface the impression of the smaller flakes
of which it is composed ; so that when, by
the discontinuance of the swell, the whole
is permitted to freeze into an extensive sheet,
it sometimes assumes the appearance of a
pavement."

The 23rd was still cold, but calm and bril-
liantly clear. In the forenoon we crossed the
Arctic Circle, and saw land for the first time
(Queen Ann's Cape) since we had lost sight of
Cape Wrath. We had a beautiful run during
the day, through stream after stream of young
bay ice, within an apparently short distance of
land. Like all others inexperienced in these

18 COD-BANK.

latitudes, I imagined we were within a short
distance of the shore when we were in reality
some twenty or thirty miles off.#

I had afterwards many better opportunities
of noticing this phenomenon ; it fully ex-
plained the stories told by Danish voyagers,
of their having sailed for hours towards land,
which moved from them as fast as they neared
it, until, in terror, they put about, and made
homewards, full of strange ideas about load-
stone rocks stopping their ships and other
equally improbable notions.

Here is one of the best Davis Strait cod
banks, which have only recently become
known, and are now resorted to by many
vessels during the summer. An abundant

* " There is nothing more practically striking, or more
captivating to the imagination, than the extreme slowness
with which we learn to judge of distances, and to recog-
nise localities on the glacier surface. Long after icy
scenes have become perfectly familiar, we find that the
eye is still uneducated in these respects, and that pheno-
mena the most remarkable when pointed out, have utterly
escaped attention, amidst the magnificence of the surround-
ing scenery ; the invigoration which the bracing air pro-
duces, and the astonishing effect of interminable vastness,
with which the icy plains, outspread for miles, terminated
by a perspective of almost shadowless, snowy slopes, im-
press the mind." — Prof. James Forbes.

DAVIS STRAIT COD. 19

supply of cod of the finest quality can be
easily obtained, and there are in-shore ex-
cellent harbours at no great distance from the
bank. Fishing here has already been found
a very profitable speculation by those who
have tried it ; and there can be little doubt
that in a short time it may prove an important
branch of British enterprise.

We put our fishing-lines overboard to try
for some of these cod, but it was not only
too early in the season, but the ship was going
too fast through the water to allow the lines
to sink sufficiently, although heavily leaded.
For the same reason I found that my dredge
was useless, as it towed astern a short way
from the surface. Whilst we were lying in
Exeter harbour on the west side of Davis
Strait, about the end of August, we got some
of these cod from the master of the "Jane
of Bo'ness." It struck me then that, al-
though they had been some time in pickle,
the mottling was much brighter than that of
the cod caught in the German Ocean, and I
find that my brother Harry, in his letters
from Disco, of June, 1845, says that they are
" mottled and speckled in the way you see
the deep-sea cod at Cellardyke, but much

20 EIDER DUCKS.

more strongly : gills as red as scarlet. I never
saw these organs in such perfection before, or
of such a beautiful colour; few or no Caligce
or Lerneos on them ; their stomachs full of
Hyas and Ammodytes."

The colour of the water is here of a dirty
green, very different from the deep ultramarine
of the ocean. As far as I can make out, it
must have been somewhere in this locality
that Davis found the water to be " filthy,
black, and stagnating." This I cannot un-
derstand, for we certainly never saw any ap-
pearance in the water meriting this descrip-
tion.

Whilst passing over the Bank we saw im-
mense flocks of ducks, principally the king
duck ( Somateria spectahilis) . They were
literally covering the water in myriads, but
were so wild, that we could not get within
shot of them. We only succeeded in killing
one. I was annoyed at not being able to get a
number of specimens of these beautiful birds,
but did not think so much of it at the time, as
my comrades told me I should get as many
as I chose when we got north to the Duck
Islands, where they said there were also plenty
of the eider, and the long-tailed duck (Heralda

FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 21

glacialis). Eventually, however, I was disap-
pointed ; we were never near the Duck Islands,
nor had I ever another opportunity of pro-
curing skins of any of the species.

My first impressions of this country were
destined to be favourable. From the time we
got sight of Queen Ann's Cape, on the 23rd,
until the end of the month, we had most beau-
tiful weather. It was cold but the sunshine
was bright, and the sky perfectly cloudless.
The whole length of the coast we sailed along
was a succession of towering mountain ranges,
covered with snow, bordered by the black and
precipitous shores, along which were seen the
entrances to the numerous fiords deeply indent-
ing this coast, but which, at the distance we
were at, appeared to be merely valleys. The
different effects of light and shade were ex-
ceedingly beautiful, more particularly in the
evenings, when the summits of the more dis-
tant inland ranges shone in the sunlight like
masses of gold, and the icebergs in the fore-
ground were tinged with the most beautiful
and dazzling colours. I longed for the art of
the painter, and could not help fancying that
Turner would have been enraptured with the
magnificence of the scene.

22 ICEBERGS.

We continued onwards to the north end of
Disco, and for nearly a month were cruising off
this island and South East Bay. Nothing can
be more delightful than sailing amongst the
ice with such weather as we had at this time.
The water is so sheltered and broken up by
the ice that, even although a smart breeze
should be blowing, it is like a mirror, and the
ship glides over it so smoothly, that you are
scarcely sensible of the rapid motion. It will
be difficult for those to conceive this who have
only seen a whale -ship lying in dock. But
even the clumsiest of these vessels looks well
when working and manoeuvring in the narrow
lanes of water, amongst the ice, under a cloud
of canvas, from the royals down to the courses,
to say nothing of "flying kites," which are
bent immediately after making the ice, in order
to take advantage of the lightest breath of air.
There is always something new to be seen by
those who will look out. The water beneath
is alive with the most beautiful forms, and the
most brilliant colours. The scene around is
constantly varying, for from the immense
" floe " down to the little " sconce piece," each
succeeding one seems to assume a different
aspect; and you pass one berg of fantastic

ICEBERGS. 23

form, only to come to another still stranger.
One berg which I saw here was perforated by
an arch of the most perfect outline. The
berg itself was of immense size, and I am not
exaggerating when I say that a pretty large
vessel could pass through it, with all sails
set. But it is impossible to describe the
beauties of these ice islands. Many of them
have caverns worn in them, within which the
ice appears of the most brilliant blue and
green, whilst without, all is of stainless white,
the entrances curtained, as it were, with glit-
tering icicles. The imagination of Poet or
Painter never fancied grotto fitter for a Fairy
Queen than these would be, could but the
beauties of the Floral world be associated with
them.^

All that has been said of the coral reefs
of the Southern Seas may be well applied
to the icy masses of the Northern ; but I

* " Masses have been seen, assuming the shape of a
Gothic church, with arched windows and doors, and all
the rich tracery of that style, composed of what an Ara-
bian tale would scarcely dare to relate, of crystal of the
richest sapphirine blue; and often immense flat- roofed
temples, like those of Luxor on the Nile, supported by
round transparent columns of cerulean hue, float by the
astonished spectator." — Pennant.

24 ICEBERGS.

much suspect it must be with the accom-
paniment of such weather as we at this time
enjoyed, for a whistling north wind soon drives
one to look for the picturesque in the neigh-
bourhood of the cabin stove.

From this time, the 26th of April, until
the middle of August, although the sun was
not yet visible at midnight, we enjoyed one
long continuous day. There was no part ot
the four and twenty hours I enjoyed more
than midnight. Quietness was all around ;
the ship and the surrounding ice were re-
flected in the still water. The reflections
of the few stars twinkling above seemed far
beneath the smooth sea, and the scattered
clouds overhead, purpled with the rays of the
sun, now just dipping beneath the horizon,
were so vividly pictured beneath us, that we
seemed to be floating amongst them in the
clear ether.

Whilst in a boat shooting seals one morn-
ing, we saw what we took to be a very large
one, on a distant piece of ice. Pulling gently
up to it, we were astonished that it lay so
quietly, and just as I was on the point of
firing, one of the men said that it was a
" kajack," or Esquimaux canoe. Getting on to

R A JACK. 25

the ice we found it lying upside down, as
the Esquimaux are in the habit of placing
them to keep them dry ; beside it was placed
the paddle. The piece of ice was about seven
or eight yards square, and was about forty
or fifty miles from land. The canoe had been
there for some time, for the snow had gathered
up about it. Most probably the piece on
which it was lying had broken loose from
the land-ice, whilst the owner was watching
for seals, and the poor fellow would thus lose
the most valuable part of his little posses-
sions ; or, as is not unfrequently the case,
he may have got adrift himself, and as the
Esquimaux from their cumbrous seal-skin
dress, are utterly unable to swim, his miser-
able fate may easily be conceived. We took
possession of the little canoe, and two days
afterwards, when in at the Whale Fish Islands,
we had our first visit from the natives, they
informed us that it was a Bunke land kajack,
recognising it from marks visible enough to
them, but not apparent to us.

The Esquimaux of these islands, and, in-
deed, along the whole coast, as far north
as Upernavik, are very intelligent. Many of
them can read, and some even write very

c

26 ESQUIMAUX.

well. They are all Christians, and have a
high respect for the Danish Missionaries who
reside amongst them. I noticed in all their
canoes little slips of paper stuck into a thong,
below the round opening where they seat
themselves. Upon these there were passages
from Scripture written in Danish. Many of
them have Danish blood in them, and are
not a little proud of it. " Me half Dansk,"
" Me quarter Dansk," are common boasts
with them. The mixture, or rather the uniting
of the Scandinavian with the Esquimaux fea-
tures is very curious. I noticed one man in
particular ; he was taller and not so thick
set as the pure native ; he had the flaxen
hair and fair complexion of the Scandinavian,
with large whiskers and beard, of which the
Esquimaux, with the exception of a thin bris-
tling moustache, are almost destitute. But
the peculiarity of his countenance was in the
eyes ; they were thoroughly Esquimaux, large,
round, and of a lustrous black. For I observed
that the eyes of the natives we saw, instead
of being small, as they are said to be in
most of the books, were large, and decidedly
the best feature in the countenance. The
other features are, however, such as they have

ESQUIMAUX. 27

been described ; the large head, with narrow
retreating forehead, strong coarse black hair,
flat nose, and full lips, with almost beardless
chin.

When they came along- side, a boat was
lowered in order to assist them on board.
There is a great deal of care requisite in get-
ting out of their easily overbalanced canoes.
Two of them drawing up alongside of the
boat, the outermost inserts his paddle below
one of the thongs, which stretch across his
neighbour's deck, thus steadying the canoe
until its occupant has cautiously got out of it.
The next comer is assisted in the same way,
and the last of the party, by the aid of a com-
panion, leaning over the gunwale of the boat,
and holding the kajack until he extricates him-
self from his apparently cramped position.
They always render one another this assistance
in the kindliest manner possible, but of course,
when by themselves, as they must often ne-
cessarily be, they must steady themselves
against the ice the best way they can. Their
canoes were then handed on deck, when each
owner produced from the recesses of his bark
what he had with him as barter, or, as the
sailors call it, "troak;" consisting of seal-

c 2

2S BARTER.

skins, seal-skin trowsers, caps, slippers, gloves,
and tobacco-bags or " doises." These last and
the slippers seemed to be in greatest demand.
All these articles are made of seal-skin, and
are very neatly sewed with the sinew-thread.
The slippers are made of white, red, and blue
leather, prepared in Denmark, and are very
prettily embroidered and trimmed with far.
The men bartered for them gaudy yellow,
and red pocket-handkerchiefs, old clothes,
biscuits, coffee, and earthenware bowls. I
had brought with me some cheap clasp-knives
and sailmakers' large needles, thinking that
they would be the most acceptable to the
skin-sewing Esquimaux, but like many another
speculator, I found that I had not known
my market, as they looked with contempt
at my big needles, and would scarcely have
them in a present. Small sewing needles,
however, were much in request, as also were
cotton handkerchiefs of the most glaring
colours, which most of the men had provided
for this purpose.

From their frequent intercourse with the
whale-ships, most of the natives here can make
themselves understood, and the sailors know-
ing a few words of Esquimaux, they manage

DANISH NEWS. 29

between them to be intelligible to one another.
They informed us that the winter had been
a severe one, and also that they had been
somewhat short of provisions, as the Danish
governors of the different colonies, fearing that
the unsettled state of affairs in Denmark might
prevent the vessels coming out with their
annual supplies, had not given them their
usual allowances of bread, &c. All the Danes
here were naturally very anxious for European
news, and almost all the natives whom we
saw had letters or verbal messages for us,
requesting intelligence whether their ' ' beloved
native country was still implicated in war."
We explained the state of matters in the
best way we could, to the most intelligent
of our visitors, and sent one or two of
the newspapers we had on board, which con-
tained the latest Danish intelligence, to the
nearest missionary, Mr. Norsted, at Bunke
Island.

One would think that the inclement rigour
of this country could not be very favourable
to missionary enterprise, yet from the 3rd of
July, 1721, when the " Arctic Apostle,"
Hans Egede, landed in Baals River, there have
never been wanting men willing to devote

SO MISSIONARIES.

themselves to the conversion of the Esqui-
maux, and they have succeeded in spread-
ing Christianity as far north as the seventy-
fourth degree of latitude.

" Fired with a zeal peculiar, they defy
The rage and rigour of a polar sky,
And plant successfully sweet Sharon's rose,
On icy plains, and in eternal snows."

Cowper.

In how different a place is the lot of
these men cast from that enjoyed by our
own missionaries in the sunny islands of the
Pacific !

The month of May was ushered in by the
most inclement weather, — snow and biting
cold north winds, which, with the exception of
an occasional good day, continued throughout
the month. On May-day morning the sailors
had a sort of saturnalia, which they annually
enjoy at this season on board the whale-ships.
For some days previous they had been pre-
paring an immense garland of party-coloured
ribbons fastened on a hoop, which was sur-
mounted by a full-rigged little ship fixed on
a pivot. As twelve o'clock struck this was
suspended to the mizzen-stay, and immedi-
ately afterwards a bellowing sound was heard

MAY-DAY. 31

ahead, and the ship was hailed. On being
duly answered, Neptune and Amphitrite, or
Mrs. Neptune, as they unceremoniously call
her, came on board over the bows ; the former
a huge, red whiskered cooper's-mate, dressed in
anything but classical costume, with an enor-
mous speaking-trumpet in one hand and the
trident in the other, surmounted — by a red
herring. Mrs. Neptune was personated by the
boatswain, with a cockernony of paper on his
head, and his chin bound round with a
bandage, which was stuck full of sharp iron
spikes, it being her privilege to claim a kiss
from each of the uninitiated after they have
been duly shaved by Neptune's valet. Hav-
ing previously got the captain's permission,
they then proceeded to assemble all the new-
comers in the 'tween deck, where they were
confined in the cable tier, and one by one
taken out to undergo the rough treatment
of the barber, whose plentiful lathering of
tar and notched iron hoop were anything
but gently applied. However, it was all done
in good humour, and we heard of no quar-
relling amongst them, although they were
certainly noisy enough during the best part
of the night.

32 LAND OF LEIFLY.

On the 6th of May we landed at Leifly, the
principal Danish settlement, and the residence
of the Inspector of the Colonies. I had on
this occasion an excellent opportunity of
marking the deceptive appearance of the land
and the difficulty of judging of its distance.
From the ship we appeared to be almost under
the overhanging precipices, and close to the
shore. Nevertheless, it was nearly an hour
and a half, hard pulling, with a willing crew,
and a swift boat, ere we got to the landing
place.

We passed many large and beautiful icebergs
aground. I was informed that in South-East
Bay, in the entrance to Waygate Strait, there
are large glaciers, which, if correct, would
account for the number and size of the bergs
generally found in this bay. It was in South-
East, or, as it is generally called, Disco Bay,
that the two immense bergs mentioned by
Crantz remained stationary for a number of
years aground in 300 fathoms water; one of
which was called by the sailors Haarlem and
the other Amsterdam.

We landed in a small creek, beside a num-
ber of Esquimaux huts, and a little to the
southward of th,e flag-staff on Leifly Point.

LEIFLY. 33

On our landing a gentleman came up and
addressed us, whom we afterwards found to be
Dr. Rink, of Copenhagen, who had been here
for two seasons, and intended to remain
another. He was working at the Mineralogy
of West Greenland. He had spent some
years in India, and spoke English fluently.
Of course his first question, after the usual
greeting, was about the Danish and Schleswig-
Holstein war. We gave him what information
we could, whilst walking across to Leifry to
the inspector's house.

A number of Esquimaux women were stand-
ing on the rocks when we landed. Some of
the oldest of them were certainly the most
hideous -looking creatures I ever saw, although
one or two half-caste girls amongst them were
almost comely. They were dressed in seal-
skins like the men, and had their hair gathered
into an immense top -knot. Their huts were
as good, indeed better, than many I have seen
in the West Highlands of Scotland. I regret
now that I did not manage to get a view of
their interiors, but I must confess that the ac-
cumulation of filth around them deterred me.
Most of the huts were almost half built of the
bones of the whale, and whole troops of half-

c 5

34 LE1FLY.

starved and wolfish-looking dogs were prowling
about.

We were met by the Inspector and the
Governor, a short distance from their houses,
and were very kindly welcomed by them, We
spent some hours very pleasantly with the
former and his family, consisting of his wife,
her sister, and a little daughter. The Inspector
himself spoke English well, so that we had no
difficulty in making ourselves understood, and
we were soon seated at table in the midst of a
family circle, such as I little expected to have
fallen in with here, refined, hospitable, and
good-hearted. We were waited on by a little
half-caste servant girl, neatly dressed in seal-
skin trowsers, and ornamented boots, with a
coloured cotton jacket, and her hair dressed in
the usual top -knot. She had been the pre-
vious season in Denmark, and they gave us
an amusing account of her description of the
grandeur and magnitude of Copenhagen on her
return. Of course we had plenty of news to
tell them, in the stirring events of the previous
autumn and winter, and the few newspapers
we had to spare were more than acceptable.
We bade them farewell, highly gratified with
our visit, the only unpleasant effect of which

LEIFLY. 85

was, that " roughing it" on board ship was
not, for a time, so agreeable after the glimpse
of home comforts we had seen.

Everything was as yet covered with snow.
Spring had not made the slightest advances,
but I could easily conceive that this must be a
very interesting spot during their short sum-
mer. The Inspector's house faces the harbour,
which is completely land-locked, and has the
appearance of an inland loch. On the opposite
shore rises abruptly the highest range of
mountains in the island. In walking over to
the boats again, the only plant of any kind
that I could see, was the ground willow (Salix
arctica) peeping in some places out of the
snow ; sbut I was informed that in the In-
spector's and Governor's gardens, they grow
large cabbages, turnips, carrots, and parsnips,
besides various salads.

The bare part of the rocks we passed over
was all polished, and showed evident marks of
the action of ice. There were scattered about
many very large travelled blocks of red granite,
which was besides the only formation we saw
anywhere. The rocks along the shore also,
are in many places scratched and polished for
some feet above the level of the sea.

36 WHITE WHALE.

Whilst in South-East Bay we saw great
numbers of the white whales (Delphinapterus
beluga). They are gregarious, being seldom
seen singly, but in "runs" of three or four.
They are of a dirty white, or yellowish colour,
and swim very rapidly, remaining but an in-
stant at the surface to blow, rising three or
four times in quick succession. I fired fre-
quently at them, but they are exceedingly
difficult to hit from the deck ; it is easier from
the crow's-nest, or the top, as you see them
in the act of rising through the clear water.
When looking down upon them in this way,
their motions can be seen to be exceedingly
graceful, and involuntarily put one in mind of
the fabled mermaid. We saw a few narwhales
also (Monodon monocerus), and most of the
other ships had killed a few walruses when
passing Reef Kholl, but we unluckily did not
get a single specimen of either.

After this we ran north, as far as Hare
Island, in North-East Bay, but were stopped
by the ice, when we had to put about and
make to the southward, which, however, we
had no cause to regret, as it was the means
of our getting two large whales. We were
more successful a second time in getting

DEBACLE. 37

through the barrier of ice, and into the Black
Hook (Swartzhoak) water, where we also got
" two fish at a fall." However, I will defer
saying anything of the admirable and exciting
sport of whale hunting, until we get to Ponds
Bay, into the thick of them.

The mate, during the voyage out, had told
me of a strange occurrence that had happened
here. He said that, when lying with his
ship in North-East Bay, in 1834, about six
or seven miles from the shore, along with a
number of other vessels, they were startled
by a distant rumbling noise like thunder,
which lasted a considerable time ; that shortly
afterwards a number of rolling seas came
tumbling out from the shore, and the water
around became stained, like that at the mouth
of a river after a flood. There can be little
doubt, I think, that this must have been a
debacle, equal perhaps in violence and extent
to that of the Dranse in Switzerland, in 1818,
but happening, luckily, in a country where
there were none to suffer from its effects. It
would have been interesting to have landed
here, traces of its effects might still have
been seen ; but, unfortunately, it was not
in my power.

38 MIDNIGHT SUN.

For some time back, as I have mentioned
before, there had been little difference between
night and day, but it was not until the 10th
of May, that we saw the

" Midnight, Arctic sun

Set into sunrise." *

Tennyson's Princess.

RUNIC MONUMENTS. 39

CHAPTER III.

" The men were saved. The other ships were in great
danger. The seas, mustering armies of ycie souldiers to
oppresse them, using other naturall stratagemes of fogges
and snowes to further these cruell designes."

Purchase's Pilgrims. Sir Martin Frobisher's
Voyage in 1578.

About the beginning of June we left the
Black Hook fishing-ground, to endeavour to
effect a north passage to the west side of
Baffin's Bay. "We passed Women's Islands
and Upernavik (the most northern Danish
settlement) during thick weather, and, much
to my disappointment, we had not an oppor-
tunity of landing at either of these places.
I was anxious to examine the Runic monu-
ment on Kingiktorsoak, one of the Women's
Islands, as well as the ruins at Upernavik
mentioned by Humboldt in his "Cosmos,"
and which would seem to prove, that the
discoveries of Baffin, of Ross, and of Parry,

40 RUNIC MONUMENTS.

had been anticipated by the Northmen by
many centuries. #

It may be as well to explain here why it is
that this north route is taken. On looking
at the map it will very naturally suggest itself
to one, that a much more expeditious and
shorter passage to Ponds' Bay, and the coast
to the southward, which it was now our object

* The activity, courage, and enterprising spirit of the
adventurers from Iceland and Greenland is manifested by
the fact, that after they had settled so far south as 41° 30"
N. latitude, they prosecuted their researches to the lati-
tude of 70° 55' on the east coast of Baffin's Bay, where,
on one of the Women's Islands, north-west of the present
most northern Danish settlement of Upernavik, they set
up three stone pillars, marking the limits of their disco-
veries. The Runic inscription on the stone discovered
there in the autumn of 1824, contains, according to Bask,
and Fin Magnusen, the date 1135. From this eastern coast
of Baffin's Bay the colonists very regularly visited Lan-
caster Sound, and a part of Barrow's Straits, for purposes
of fishing more than six centuries before the adventurous
voyage of Parry. The locality of the fishery is very dis-
tinctly described, and priests from Greenland, from the
bishopric of Gardar, conducted the first voyage of disco-
very. This most north-western summer station is called
Kroksfiardar-Heide. Mention is made of the driftwood
(doubtless from Siberia), which wras collected there, and
of the abundance of whales, seals, walruses, and sea-bears
(page 234); also note, 367, of Humboldt's "Cosmos,"
vol. ii. Sabine's edition.

devil's THUMB. 41

to reach as soon as possible, would be by
pushing northwards, along the west side of
Davis5 Strait, and Baffin's Bay. But it has
been found from experience that it is im-
possible to take that course in consequence
of the immense fields of drifting ice, which
occupy the centre of Baffin's Bay, and go by
the name of the " middle ice;" being in the
early part of the season packed close to the
west shores, in consequence of the then pre-
vailing winds. It has been found easier then,
although it is much more circuitous, to pro-
ceed up the east side, between this "middle
ice " and the land ice, or that ledge of ice
which remains during the greater part of
the season attached to the shores in varying
breadths.

On the 8th of June, we were in lat. 74°,
off the Devil's Thumb. # This extraordinary
landmark is a column of rock rising abruptly
from amongst the mountains, at a short dis-
tance from the shore, and towering above
them to an immense height. It somewhat re-
sembles in shape one of the Standing Stones
of Stennis, or the similar Standing Stones of
Lundin in Fifeshire. We passed it on a

* Frontispiece.

42 MELVILLE BAY.

beautifully clear morning, about ten or fifteen
miles off. I am not aware tbat any one has
landed here, at least, I can find no mention
of it in any of the earlier or later voyages,
except in one instance, where it is spoken
of as a rocky promontory. I took a rough
sketch of it from the crow's-nest, which will
give some idea of this strange feature of a
coast, wild and strange enough otherwise.
We were now fairly embarked in the passage
through Melville Bay, a part of the voyage
which is viewed by the whalers with the
greatest dread. This will not be wondered
at when it is considered that since 1819, when
it became customary for the vessels employed
in this trade to push thus far north, not a
year has passed without being marked by
more or less damage sustained by the ship-
ping between the 74° and 76° of lat. Should
a south-west or southerly wind set in whilst
they are slowly working their way through,
between the land-ice and the loose floes, it
frequently drives in the middle ice upon them,
with such violence and rapidity, that the
vessels are crushed between them like egg-
shells. In 1819, fourteen ships were thus
entirely lost ; in 1821, eleven; in 1822, seven;

MELVILLE BAY. 43

but the year 1830 was peculiarly disastrous.
In that year nineteen vessels were entirely
lost, and twelve seriously damaged ; the value
of the former, and the cost of the repairs of
the latter, amounting to 142,600/. The ac-
count of these losses, given in the Edinburgh
Cabinet Library, is substantially a correct
one, and agrees with what I have heard from
many of those, who lost their ships on that
occasion.

" On the 19th June a fresh gale sprang up
from the S.S.W. and drove in upon them
masses of ice, by which they were soon beset,
in lat. 75° 10" N., long. 60° 30' W., about
forty miles to the southward of Cape York.
They ranged themselves under the shelter of
a large and rugged floe, having water barely
sufficient to float them. Here they formed a
majestic line behind each other, standing stem
to stern so close as to afford a continued line
along the whole of their decks, being at the
same time so pressed against the ice that in
some places a boat-hook could with difficulty
be inserted in the interval.

" On the evening of the 24th the sky dark-
ened, the gale increased, the floes began to
overlap each other and press upon the ships

44 MELVILLE BAY.

in an alarming manner. The sailors then
attempted to saw the ice into a soil of dock,
where they hoped to be relieved from the
severe pressure ; but soon a huge floe was
driven upon them wTith a violence completely
irresistible. The ' Eliza Swan ' received the
first shock, and was saved only by the floe
raising her completely up. It caused her,
indeed, to strike with such force against the
bow of the ' St. Andrew ' that her mizzen
mast was nearly carried off, but it then passed
from under her, after damaging severely her
stern and keel. It next struck the ' St.
Andrew ' midship, breaking about twenty of
her timbers and staving a number of her
casks, but it then fortunately moved along
her side and went off by the stern. Now,
however, pursuing its career, it reached suc-
cessively the ' Baffin/ the ' Achilles,' the
' Ville de Dieppe,' and the ' Rattler,' and
dashed against them with such tremendous
fury that these four noble vessels, completely
equipped and fortified, and which had braved
for years the tempests of the Polar deep, were
in a quarter of an hour converted into shat-
tered fragments. The scene was awful, the
grinding noise of the ice tearing open their

MELVILLE BAY. 45

sides, the masts breaking off and falling in
every direction, amid the cries of 200 sailors,
leaping upon the frozen surface, with only
such portions of their wardrobe as they could
snatch in a single instant. The ' Rattler ' is
said to have become the most complete wreck
almost ever known. She was literally turned
inside out, and her stem and stern carried to
the distance of a gunshot from each other.
The ' Achilles ' had her sides nearly pressed
together, her stern thrust out, her decks and
beams broken into innumerable pieces. The
' Ville de Dieppe,' a very beautiful vessel,
though partly filled with water, stood upright
for a fortnight, and the greater part of her
provisions and stores were preserved, as were
also some of those of the ' Baffin, ' two of
whose boats were squeezed to pieces. All
the other boats were dragged out upon the
ice, and were claimed by the sailors as their
only home. Not far from the same spot
the ' Progress,' of Hull, was crushed to
atoms by an iceberg.

" On the 2nd of June, and on the 18th of
the same month, the 'CEenhope,' also of that
port, became a total wreck. About the same
time, and within a short distance of the above,

46 MELVILLE BAY.

eleven other vessels were destroyed under cir-
cumstances precisely similar. Yet it is a
remarkable and gratifying fact, that in the
whole of these sudden and dreadful disasters
there should not have occurred the loss of a
single life. The very element, indeed, which
destroyed the vessels was in so far propitious
as it afforded to the crews a secure, though
uncomfortable retreat. By leaping out upon
the ice in the moment of wreck, they all
effected their escape. Still, we have heard
of several instances in which the danger was
close and imminent. Sometimes the seamen,
before they could snatch their clothes and
bedding, found themselves up to their middle
in water. The surgeon of the ' North Britain'
beheld the ice rushing in and meeting from
opposite quarters in the cabin before he was
able to make his retreat."

The shipwrecked mariners, nearly a thou-
sand in number, were now obliged to establish
temporary abodes on the surface of that rough
and frozen sea, where their ships had been
wrecked. They erected tents of sails detached
from the broken masts ; they kindled fires,
and procured provisions, either out of their
own shattered vessels, or from those of their

MELVILLE BAY. 47

companions, which had fortunately escaped.
But still their situation, though not desperate,
was dreary in the extreme, like outcasts in
the most desolate extremity of the earth, with-
out any assured means, either of subsistence
or return. Yet such is the elastic spirit of
British tars, that as soon as the first shock
was over, they began with one consent, to
enjoy themselves, exulting in the idea of
being their own masters. Finding access, un-
fortunately, to considerable stores of wine and
spirits, they commenced a course of too liberal
indulgence. The rugged surface of the Arctic
deep was transformed into a gay scene of fes-
tivity. The clusters of tents with which it
was covered, the various scenes of ludicrous
frolic, the joyous shoutings of the British
sailors, and the dances and songs of the French
suggested the idea of a large fair ; some even
gave it the name of Baffin Fair. The French-
men are said to have declared that they had
never been so happy in their whole lives. Ex-
cursions of considerable extent were made over
the ice from one party to another; a com-
munication was even opened between the
northern and southern detachments of the
fleet, and so regularly carried on, as to be

48 MELVILLE BAY.

called by the latter the C( North Mail." Such
are the casualties to which the whale-ships are
yearly exposed, it may be easily conceived,
therefore, that it is with no very comfortable
feelings that they look forward to the passage
through " the Bay," as they call it. It must
necessarily, too, be a period of great anxiety
for the masters, for not only does the success
of their voyage depend upon their energy and
activity here, but the absolute safety of their
ship, upon their constant watchfulness. It
follows, therefore, that he who is the best
navigator amongst ice must necessarily be the
most successful whale-fisher.

An ominous preparation was made about
this time ; sundry casks of provisions, pre-
served meats, bread, &c, were hoisted on
deck, and secured there, ready to be rolled
on the ice, should the nip come. Experience
has taught them that it is better to be thus
prepared than to trust the precarious chance
of picking them up from the hold after the
crash has taken place. I got a hint, too,
to have a bag of clothes "handy" to pitch
on to the ice.

There were eleven " sail" in company with
us, and it was an animated scene to see them

TWO SHIPS LOST. 49

all crowding sail and threading their way out
and in amongst the floes. We continued in
company for about a week, when four of the
vessels taking a different "lead' separated
from the rest of the fleet. It came on thick
and stormy weather afterwards, when we had
all to get into docks. It was reported amongst
the ships in our company, that two of the
four vessels astern had been seen with heavy
" lists," during a temporary blink of clear
weather, and that their boats and the men's
chests had been seen lying on the ice around
them, which rendered it but too likely that
they had been caught in a " nip."

This proved but too true, for, nearly two
months afterwards, when one of them rejoined
us in Pond's Bay, we heard that they had
all four been subjected to a heavy pressure, two
of them utterly destroyed, and the other seri-
ously damaged. Our informant's vessel being
only kept afloat by two additional pumps,
taken out of one of the wrecks, and thrumbed
sails under her bottom. Had they taken the
" lead " the rest did, they would have escaped,
— had we followed them, there might have
been seven or eight vessels lost instead of
two, and even had we escaped, we might

D

50 ICE FLOES.

have been detained so long, that ere we got
to Pond's Bay, it would have been too late
for a successful fishing : for it has been
noticed that there is little chance of getting
whales there, unless the ships arrive before
the middle of July. It may be seen by this,
how much depends upon a master being
able to pick out the best " lead," or, in
other words, to take the shortest and least
dangerous way amongst the ever-shifting floes.
But he must, besides, be able to calculate
what their probable motions will be for some
time to come, judging from the prevailing
current or wind, and marking whether they
are rotating upon themselves, or moving di-
rectly one way or the other.

Pushing our way slowly northward, we now
began to see immense fields of ice, of a dead
unbroken level, often as far as the eye could
reach, sometimes sparkling with a bright and
blinding glare in the sun, but as often lying
outstretched beneath rolling volumes of thick
mist. We would be now progressing rapidly
under a press of sail in almost open water, in
a short time afterwards closely beset by ice,
without a pool within sight for miles around.
The rapidity with which the scene thus some-

CONCUSSION OF FLOES. 51

times changed, was sometimes very extra-
ordinary. To an inexperienced eye, there
would be no appearance of an immediate stop-
page, but soon the water about us could be
seen to be rapidly narrowing, and frequently
we were scarcely secure in a dock ere the
concussion would take place, and the floes
were grinding and crushing against one another
with the most irresistible force. It was a
strange feeling to stand beside the place where
such forces were in operation. It seemed like
a trial of strength between the opposing floes,
the hollow grinding noise under one's feet
booming lower and lower in the distance. It
was as if one was standing over the site of
an earthquake. The ponderous ice, trembling
and slowly rising, would rend and rift with
a sullen roar, and huge masses, hundreds of
tons in weight, would be heaved up, one
above the other, until, where it was before
a level, an immense rampart of angular blocks
became piled.

" And, hark ! the lengthening roar continuous runs
Athwart the rifted deep : at once it bursts,
And piles a thousand mountains to the clouds."

One might almost think that the poet of

D 2

52 THE NIP.

the " Seasons " had witnessed such a scene.
Great misshapen columns, like those of Stone-
henge, are not unfrequently seen reared on
end, on the top of these ramparts, poised
so delicately, that a slight touch will send
them thundering down on either side. When
the pressure is lessening and " taking off,"
the hollow grinding noise becomes sharper
and shriller, and the smaller fragments are
seen slipping down between the larger; then
the topmost heavy blocks are, one by one,
launched 'into the chasm, which slowly widens,
and opens up, showing a long lane of water,
edged on each side by a wall of ice, formed
of the pieces which have been upheaved on
to the floe during the pressure. The spot
where this is taking place, is naturally one
of interest to the crews of the ice-bound ships,
and parties may always be seen going and
returning from the " nip " where the first
appearance of -'taking off" is anxiously looked
for, as then they will be able to push forwards
to the wished-for " north water."

Cutting a dock is generally a time of hurry
and excitement, for it is not always certain
whether they be able to get the ship secured
ere the moment of danger arrives ; and besides,

ICE DOCKS. 53

as there are generally three or four vessels
together, and each of their crews are shouting
some strange sea ditty, to the grating and
rattling of their saws, it forms a scene of
strange bustle and confusion. When it be-
comes necessary to form a dock, all hands are
immediately called ; the master and the car-
penter get on to the ice, and measure out its
length and breadth. The triangles or tripods,
and the ice saws are in the mean time handed
on to the ice, the former about twelve feet
high, and the latter about fourteen feet long,
and six inches broad, and about a quarter of
an inch thick, with two cross handles inserted
into sockets at the top. The triangles are
erected at the edge of the ice, and the saws
suspended from them by an iron chain and
pulley. To the other end of the chain are
fastened a number of short ropes, each of
which a man lays hold of; four or five lay
hold of the cross handles, and they immedi-
ately commence work, the men with the ropes
elevating the saw, the others shoving it down-
wards. One of them immediately strikes up
a song, in the chorus of which the rest join,
and it is astonishing how rapidly a well- drilled
ship's company will cut through floes, from six

54 ICE DOCKS.

to eight feet thick. As they advance, the tri-
angles are from time to time moved backwards
from the edge of the floe, until they have sawn
out the whole length of the dock, when they
saw it across at the end, and drag or push the
separated piece out. But it may happen that
there is not sufficient open water to allow
them to drag out the piece past the ship entire,
so that they have to saw it up into segments,
and draw them out of the way separately.
The ship is then towed in stern foremost ; and
should there be any appearance of a very
heavy pressure coming on, the ice at the head
of the dock under the stern is sawn into dia-
mond-shaped pieces, which enables the vessel
to sustain the shock with greater ease, as she
either rises over them, or displaces them on to
the floe. Whenever this becomes at all likely
to happen, or indeed whenever a ship becomes
"beset,55 the rudder is unshipped, and slung
across the stern, as it is almost certain to be
the first thing damaged under these circum-
stances. In order to facilitate this operation,
the rudder-case of a whaler is made large and
roomy, and with the assistance of the capstan
and windlass they speedily remove it out of the
way of injury.

TRACKING AND TOWING. 55

During the whole of the month of June
were we thus tediously working our way
through this tiresome barrier of ice, now lying
for days together fast bound in a dock, now
advancing perhaps for a few miles, by dint of
laboriously heaving with windlass and capstans
on warps and ice-claws taken out ahead.
Some days we could get on briskly enough,
alternately tracking and towing, according to
the state of the ice ; the former being done by
all the men on the floe, dragging the ship
forwards by a rope attached to the foremast,
and the latter by all the boats towing ahead.
Every slack of the ice was taken advantage of,
and no opportunity was lost of getting for-
wards for however short a distance. I thought
it was desperately hard work for the men, but
was informed that it was trifling to what it is
some years when they have to track and tow
often for days and nights together, frequently
dragging their ship after them in this way for
five or six hundred miles, and that when sink-
ing over the instep into the snow, which covers
the rugged surface of the floe.

During our frequent stoppages, if there hap-
pened to be a pool of water near, we were sure
of getting plenty of the little auk fAlca allej,

56 THE LITTLE AUK.

which was often found literally blackening the
water, and their sharp shrill cry sounding
through the mist, when they appear to be
much more vociferous, often led us to these
pools. More than once, whilst we were " be-
set " where there was some extent of water,
I have in the course of an hour or two killed
four or five hundred of these birds. They fly
generally in flocks, their flight being sharp and
rapid, and never at any great distance from
the surface of the sea. In the water, they are
exceedingly active, ducking and jerking about
with a strange and rapid motion. In diving
they use both wings and feet, and cleave their
way under the water with the utmost velocity.
I found eggs fully developed in almost all the
females. They do not seem to rest during the
night, for they were then as numerous in the
pools as during the day, and incessantly flying
backwards and forwards from the distant cliffs,
which form their breeding-places. To my
great regret, I was not able to visit any of
these breeding-places, so that I did not suc-
ceed in getting specimens of the eggs of any
of the Arctic birds. The loom fUria troilej
was shot occasionally, but it was not nearly
so numerous as the Rotge. The doveca,

ARCTIC HIGHLANDERS. 57

also fUria gryllej, seems to become less
numerous as we advance northwards. But
we still occasionally see the fulmar petrel and
snow-bird. The rotge and loom are shot in
immense numbers by the whalers, with whom
they are a favourite dish, and form an agree-
able change of diet. When they have been
kept some time, and are parboiled before being
broiled, they eat very well, and with but little
fishy flavour. I only trust that they were as
plentiful with Sir John Franklin's ships as
they happened to be with us at this time,
when every ship in the fleet had their ' ' davits ' '
strung with hundreds of them.

On the 1st of July we came in sight of
Cape York, lat. 75° 55', the first land we had
seen since losing sight of the Devil's Thumb.
An immense number of stupendous icebergs
were aground off the Cape. Two natives
came on board here of the Ross tribe of
Arctic highlanders, I suppose ; one a stout,
comely young fellow of twenty, and the other
a curious -looking little man of about forty,
very lame from the effects of a fall from a
cliff. They seemed to differ slightly in any
respect from the Esquimaux of the southern
tribes; unluckily, however, I saw but little of

d 5

58 STRANGE SCENE.

them, as I happened to be called away at the
time to see some men belonging to one of the
other vessels who had met with an accident.
Some of the boats belonging to the few vessels
who escaped the disasters of 1830, and suc-
ceeded in getting thus far, happened to land
to the northwards of Cape York. A short
distance from the shore they perceived some
Esquimaux huts. Advancing, they were rather
astonished at the unusual stillness which
reigned around them, they missed the usual
vociferous greetings of the natives, as well
as the noisy howlings of the half- fed dogs.
The very snow before the entrances of the
miserable skin huts was untrodden and un-
stained. They were surprised at this, but
were still more so, when, on entering the
huts, they found their inmates stark and stiff.
At first they thought them to be asleep, but
the sunken eyeballs, and the uncovered lip-
less teeth, proved that even the cold of this
desolate region could not for ever arrest the
finger of decay. Hut after hut, of the three
or four, presented the same spectacle, each
containing four or five lifeless bodies, old and
young, all evidently long dead. What had
caused this mortality could not be learned,

" CRIMSON CLIFFS." 59

it had not been from starvation, for their
usual food was lying about in abundance.
Neither could it be ascertained whether any
had escaped the strange fate of their com-
panions, it seemed but too probable that the
last survivor, after seeing friend and relative
drop around him, must have himself lain down
to perish alone and unassisted. It must have
been a strange scene. Even the rough Green-
land sailor, when telling me, nineteen years
after, spoke gently and quietly of it.

By the 3rd we had rounded Cape York,
and were sailing past the " Crimson Cliffs " of
Sir John Hoss. They certainly do not in the
slightest degree resemble those depicted in
his voyage of 1819. Instead of being of the
bright glaring crimson colour which they are
represented to be in his plate, I could only
make out in some places a brownish appear-
ance, which seemed to be caused by the drop-
pings of birds. We were within two miles of
the cliffs, and as the day was brilliantly clear
they could be seen with great distinctness.
There was scarcely any snow on them. The
want of this, its usual nidus, may account,
perhaps, for the colour of the fungus, being
less apparent at this time. I had noticed

60 RED SNOW — GLACIERS.

during our passage through the ice, that
wherever the rotges (Alca alle) were, numer-
ous of their droppings had a bright red appear-
ance on the snow. Although it is now a well
ascertained fact, that the cause of the colour
of red snow is a vegetable organism (Proto-
coccus nivalis), yet may not the dung of the
little auk contain the germ thereof? This
would seem to be the more likely, as the red
snow has been only found on the cliffs which
are the favourite brooding places of these
birds.

To the northward of these cliffs are many
glaciers, but of which, with my usual bad
fortune, I could not get a closer view than
from the deck with a telescope. Little can be
said confidently as to the structure and for-
mation of the icebergs without a thorough
examination of these glaciers. But I will
reserve the few unimportant facts that I have
been able to observe with regard to icebergs
for another chapter.

This was one of the most beautiful and
delightful days we had as yet enjoyed since
crossing the Arctic Circle, and we enjoyed it
the more, seeing that during the whole month
we had been amongst the ice of Melville Bay

ICEBERGS. 61

it had been thick and misty. It was a dead
calm, and the very cliffs in shore were seen
mirrored on the water, the glassy smoothness
of wrhich was unbroken, except by the plash-
ing of the oars from the long line of boats
ahead of each of the ships. The transpa-
rency of the atmosphere was such as can only
be conceived by those who have visited arctic
countries, and the whole scene was one that
it would be difficult to forget, the more so
since it was here we saw one of the most
beautiful icebergs of the many it was our
fortune to observe during the voyage. It was
of immense size. The south side, on which
we advanced towards it was almost perpen-
dicular, as if a recent split had taken place ;
but on rounding the corner and coming abreast
of the west side, which we did almost within
arm's-length, we found it to be wrought into
ledges, — ledge above ledge, each festooned with
a fringe of crystal icicles, which here and there
reaching the ledge beneath, formed columns
slender as those of a Saracenic mosque ; within
them ran a gallery green as emerald. Two or
three tiny cascades were tinkling from ledge
to ledge, and fell with a soft plash into the
water beneath, sending the pearl-like bubbles

62 ICEBEKGS.

dancing from them over the smooth surface.
All was glancing and glittering beneath a
bright sun, and if I had had it in my power
I could have stood for hours to gaze at it.
Passing the corner, the north side was seen
to be cut into two deep little bays with
sloping shores, a long point running out
between them. The lowest ledge of the west
side rounded the corner and inclined down
towards the nearest bay, if so it may be called,
and ending in a broad platform. This little
bay seemed so snug, and lay so beautifully to
the sun, that, unnatural as it may appear, one
could not help fancying it, — as a fit site for
a pretty cottage.

Loath to leave this fairy scene, even the
slow progress the ship was making, towed by
the weary arms of the crew, seemed by much
too fast.

Almost all the bergs we saw here had
similar beauties, though none were so remark-
able as the one mentioned above. The ledges
are formed by the under-wash of the sea at
the floating line, each change of the position
of the berg in the water adding to their
number.

Continuing northwards, we passed Cape

THE " NOKTH WATER." 63

Dudley Diggs. Opening Wolstenholm Sound,
we sighted Dalrymple Rock, against which a
few hours afterwards, thick weather coming
on, one of our consorts made a narrow escape.
We then struck out to the westward, and
soon we were rejoiced to find that we could
not be far from the " north water," as the
ship began to " lift."

With a fine breeze, we could have now
got on fast enough, but the thick weather
delayed us somewhat amongst streams of ice.
By the afternoon of the 4th we were fairly
in the " north water," the ship again rising
to the wraves, and bounding cheerily to the
westward before a fine breeze. We crossed
to the southward of Carey's Islands in lat. 76°
30', and saw the west land on the 8th.

64 LANCASTER SOUND.

CHAPTER IV.

POND'S BAY WHALE HUNTING.

" I might here recreate your wearied eyes with an
hunting spectacle of the greatest chase which nature yield-
eth, I mean, the killing of the whale.

" And thus they hold him in such pursuit, till after
streams of water, and next that of bloode, cast up into the
aire and water (as angry with both elements, which have
brought thither such weake hands to his destruction), he at
last yieldeth his slaine carkasse as meed to the conque-
rors."-— Purchase's Pilgrimes, 1626.

We had a distant sight of the west coast
of Baffin's Bay, about lat. 76° N., on the
8th of July, being a part of North Devon.
We ran past the mouth of Lancaster Sound
with a strong breeze, and occasional heavy
squalls. The ice we passed during the day
was much heavier than any we had seen on
the east side, being apparently broken-up ice,
refrozen into tough solid masses, very un-
equal on the surface, and with deep over-

LANCASTER SOUND. 65

hanging edges, under which the sea was wash-
ing with a hollow dismal sound.

We were too distant at this time to make
out whether or not the Sound was frozen
across, but it may be believed it was not with
uninterested eyes I looked in that direction,
which, four years before, had been taken by
those of whose welfare so many were now
looking eagerly for tidings. I would fain have
struck at once to the westward ; however, there
was nothing for it but to wait patiently. So I
made up my mind to pass the next month
in Pond's Bay as I best could, the hope never
leaving me that I might yet succeed, one way
or another, in getting up Lancaster Sound.

On the 9th we were reaching in to Cape
Byam Martin, the snow-capped peaks of the
Martin mountains towering up beyond. We
ran rapidly to the southwards with a fine
breeze, along the land ice past Cape Walter
Bathurst.

In the evening we found ourselves off Cape
Graham Moore, the northern point of Pond's
Bay. It had now fallen almost a dead calm.
Every one on board was on the alert and
in high spirits, for as I have said before,
the whalers consider that if they get to Pond's

66 A WHALE.

Bay the first week in July, they are sure
to fall in with a run of whales,, and so
secure a full ship. The ship at this time
making scarcely head-way through the water,
the master was talking of sending the boats
into the bay, to see if they could fall in
with a fish or two. The deck was thronged
by the eager crew, the older hands pointing
out the well-remembered features of the bold
coast before them, each rendered memorable
in their eyes by the slaughter of some huge
" nine," or " ten footer," on former years.
In speaking of the size of a whale, they esti-
mate it by the length of the longest laminae
of whalebone.

The harpooners were all busy in their boats,
examining their guns, harpoons, and lances ;
the attention of every one else was directed
towards the bay, when the sudden cries
of "A fish!" " A fish close astern!" "A
mother and sucker!" caused a rush to the
boats ; in an instant a couple were manned,
lowered, and after her. There she is — a large
whale, with the calf sporting about, and but
a short way astern ; the deep roust, and the
spouting fountain of her blast, contrasting with
the weaker and lower one of the calf. Ah !

WHALE CHASE. 67

they are down — the quick eye of the mother
has seen the boats, and she is off. The
faces around me on deck begin to elongate,
and their owners begin to think that it will
prove but a "loose fall" after all. But,
no ; the harpooner in the headmost boat is
a sharp fellow and an experienced — he has
marked which way the fish has " headed,"
and he is off after her, bending to his oar,
and urging his men to do the same, until
the boat seems to fly over the water For
twenty minutes they pull steadily on in the
same direction. Now, see ! the boat-steerer
is pointing ahead ; it is the calf that has risen
to breathe — had the poor mother been by
herself she would have been far enough by
this time, but she stays by her heedless off-
spring, and she now appears at the surface
also, within a "fair start" of the boat. A
few strong and steady strokes, and they are
at her. " He 's up ! he has pushed out his
oar; and stands to his gun." There is a
puff of smoke ; an instant afterwards a report
— the boat is enveloped in spray, and the
sea around broken into foam — as with an
agonised throe the mighty creature dives, in
the vain effort to escape. All this has been

68 A FALL !

witnessed from the ship with the most breath-
less anxiety ; but now every soul is bawling
"A fall!" "A fall!" at the pitch of their
voices, whilst the rest of the crew are tum-
bling pell-mell into the remaining boats, which
are lowered almost by the run, and with-
out the loss of a second, are off towards the
" fast one," which is now seen, with its
"jack" flying, a happy sight to the master,
who directs it to be replied to, by hoisting
the ship's "jack" at the mizzen. The har-
pooneers in the loose boats now station them-
selves around the fast one, but at some dis-
tance from it, to be ready to attack the whale
the moment she appears at the surface, with
the exception of one which remains beside
it to " bend on," should the fish take out
all its lines.

Half an hour is now past, and during that
time the fish has been " heading " towards the
ship, so that the boats are but a short distance
from us. Every instant she may be expected
to reappear at the surface. " There she is ! "
"Hurrah boys!" "She spouts blood." The
first harpoon has been well aimed, and sent
home with deadly force ; she is already far
spent ; but a second and a third are sent

DYING FLURRY. 69

crashing into her, and she dives again and
again, but for a shorter space each time, until
at last she lies almost motionless on the sur-
face, whilst with the long and deadly lance
they search out her most vital parts. " Back !
back all of you ! she 's in her dying flurry."
No, she is too far spent, it is only a faint flap
of her heavy fin, and a weak lash of that tail
which, an hour back, could have sent all the
boats around her flying into splinters. She
turns slowly over on her side, and then floats
belly up, dead. " Three cheers, boys, for our
first Pond's Bay fish : I'se warrant ye, she 's
eleven feet if she 's an inch, and I 'm sure
she 's no been that ill to kill," cries out some
excited harpooner. The equally excited men
replying by three cheers of triumph that make
the blue bergs ring again.

But it must not be taken for granted that
the whale is always so easily captured as this
one was. It is often a work of severe labour,
and almost always one of considerable risk ;
but the excitement of the sport is such, that
this is scarcely thought of. It is but seldom
now, however, that a whale can show much
fight, in consequence of the deadly effects of
the gun-harpoons, which are now constantly

70 THE " ST. ANDREW."

used by all the ships. It may be easily con-
ceived how much more efficacious these are
than the old hand-harpoons, particularly when
well aimed, and at a good range. A smart
harpooner, however, generally manages to get
fast with his hand-harpoon, as well as his gun,
being thus doubly secure of his fish.

All were of course highly encouraged at this
propitious beginning of the fishing, almost at
the very instant of our reaching the ground.
After "flensing" the whale, we proceeded in
to the land ice, and there made fast. On
coming into the bay we found a vessel lying
there, which turned out to be the "St. An-
drew," of Aberdeen. We had many conjec-
tures when we first saw her, whether it was
not the Investigator sent down here by Sir
James Ross to await our arrival. The "St.
Andrew " we found had got through the bar-
rier of ice at the north end of Disco, inside, or
to the eastward of Hare Island, and proceed-
ing northward, had found open water, almost
the whole way through Melville Bay, during
the beginning of June. She was only once
obliged to cut a dock, and arrived in Pond's
Bay on the 10th of June. She had been lying
here for a wThole month, had seen no whales,

MELVILLE BAY. 71

and, with the exception of a few unicorns,
had killed nothing or done nothing. I was
annoyed at this, or rather at my own bad
fortune in our ship, not having got through
at the same time ; merely in consequence of
our not succeeding in getting through the
barrier of ice at Hare Island when we first
attempted it. It was thick weather at the
time, and the " St. Andrew" took the inside
of the island, whilst we tried the outside. She
succeeded, but we had to put back. The
result is seen ; she was at the west side of
Baffin's Bay a full month before any of the
other ships, and had little or no difficulty
in effecting it. This proves that Mr. Penny
is right, in the opinion he has so often ex-
pressed to me, that the earlier in June the
passage through Melville Bay is attempted,
the easier will it be effected. He has pointed
out to me that the prevailing winds during
the month of May and the beginning of
June, are from the north or north-east, and
that the effects of these are to drive the
ice to the southward, consequently slacken-
ing it in Melville Bay, and the northern
part of the " middle ice," and thus rendering
the passage through it easier during the earlier

72 MELVILLE BAY.

part of the month of June, than it is about the
end of it : and that it is still more difficult
during July, from the prevailing winds then
being from the south and south-west, their
effect being to pack the ice into Melville
Bay. Going over every year from 1820, he
has shown to me that the earlier the passage
has been attempted, the easier it has been ;
and that if the whale ships have been delayed
to the southwards, from any of the many
causes which are apt to do so, they have
always had proportionate difficulty in effecting
their passage, according to the period in the
month of July, in which it was attempted.*
For instance, Sir John Franklin's ships, in
1845, were only crossing the Arctic Circle
at the time we were this year (1849) in the
" north water." And, in 1845, Sir John
Franklin's ships were met in Melville Bay,
beset, and still forty miles from the " north
water," by the whalers returning full from
Pond's Bay.

Here is the ''North Star," too; had she
been dispatched in time, she might have been

* And it will be found that very few of the expeditions
have ever been able to do anything during the first sum-
mer of their voyage, from being always too late in sailing.

INTENDED EXPEDITION. 73

at the mouth of Lancaster Sound by the
middle of June or beginning of July at the
latest. We now know that she was not there
up to the 20th of August.

I was the more annoyed at our bad luck,
seeing that if we had got through at the
same time as the " St. Andrew," some advan-
tage might have been taken of the additional
time thus gained, to search for some informa-
tion of the Expeditions. I am certain, at least,
we should not have been lying idle. Mr.
Penny had proposed a most feasible plan to
me, and which I should have been delighted
to have had in my power to execute. He
knew there was an Esquimaux at Pond's
Bay of the name of Toonick, with whom he
was well acquainted, an intelligent fellow,
and who could speak English well. Our plan
was, that I should make a bargain with this
man to accompany me as a guide from Pond's
Bay to Navy Board Inlet. With a couple
of sledges, the necessary number of dogs, and
Esquimaux attendants, we thought this could
have been easily done, and I yet regret that
I had it not in my power to try it. Although
we visited Navy Board Inlet a month after-
wards, and found no trace of the Expedition

E

74 pond's bay natives.

there, yet my time would have heen as well
employed as on board ship, and if I had done
nothing else, I could have ascertained whether
or not there is a sea communication between
the two inlets, which seems exceedingly pro-
bable. However, we found upon inquiry from
the first natives who came off to us, that
Toonick and almost all the rest of the Esqui-
maux had proceeded up the country salmon-
fishing. Those who were left were all old men,
many of them afflicted with snow-blindness ;
and the only stout young fellow we saw
appeared to be idiotical. "We could make
nothing whatever out of him. Our scheme
was thus knocked on the head, much to my
disappointment, as I had looked forward to
it with great hopes. It was here, and at this
time, that the Esquimaux report of the Ex-
peditions originated. Those natives whom I
myself saw and interrogated, all answered my
questions in the affirmative. But, from my
imperfect knowledge of the Esquimaux dia-
lect, I was necessarily obliged to put leading
questions, so that I placed little or no confi-
dence in their answers. When we heard that
the natives had given information of the safety
and present position of the Expedition, we

ESQUIMAUX REPORT. 75

were rather astonished, particularly at the mi-
nuteness with which many facts were stated;
but we in a very short time found that, even
in its passage through one ship, the report
had changed features, and gathered importance
wonderfully. It is needless to repeat those
things which throw doubt upon the truth of
this report. In different articles in the " Athe-
naeum, " I think it is shown satisfactorily that
little confidence can be placed in it. But I
think that the mere fact, that Sir James Ross,
during the whole course of his voyage never
saw a single Esquimaux, should prove that it
is utterly without foundation. And I must
say, the person cannot be blamed too highly,
who, whilst on the spot, openly avowed his
disbelief in this report, and yet on his return
home spread it throughout the length and
breadth of the land, raising high hopes in the
breasts of hundreds, which, he was fully aware,
would in a few days be dashed aside.

For the next ten days we continued our
fishing, with varying success, occasionally cast-
ing off from the ice, and running a short way
to the southward, as the whales seemed to be
more or less plentiful. We were more gene-
rally astir during the night than during the

E 2

76 LIFE IN POND'S BAY.

day, for it almost invariably happened that " a
fall!" if called at all during the four-and-
twenty hours, would be about midnight or
after it ; then adieu to sleep for the next eight
hours at least. But there was little privation
in this, for I think there are few men who
having once seen the exciting scene of a whale
hunt, would for an instant prefer their beds to
the pleasure of seeing it again. For some days
we had scarcely seen any fish. A small strag-
gler would be seen occasionally, and was soon
dispatched by some one or other of the ships ;
but still there was nothing like a " run ;" and,
although we ourselves were at that time better
fished than our neighbours, yet we were not
getting on half fast enough for some of the
more impatient spirits. For my part, every
successive capture we made was a sort of dis-
appointment to me, for the more we got, the
less chance was there of our getting up Lan-
caster Sound, my only aim and object. Still,
it was pleasant to see all around me happy
at every accession to the cargo, which was to
take comfort and happiness to many a fire-
side and family during the winter, and for
which all the poor fellows were toiling so hard.
But, in spite of my so far selfish feeling, I

"RUN OF WHALES. 77

am certain I was as keen and as eager as any
one on board whenever the exciting cry of " A
fish! " was heard, or the still more exciting
and rousing one of " A fall ! " and I managed
more than once to be "in at the death," and
take my share in the sport, as well as in a
drenching shower-bath of hot and greasy blood.

It was late in the evening of a brilliantly
clear and warm day — one of those days which
but too seldom enliven this land of eternal ice
and snow, and which, when they do happen,
contrast so delightfully with the many days
of dreary mist which the visitor of Arctic
countries has to endure.

Two or three of the hands were lounging
listlessly about the decks, all the watch being
" on the bran " # in the boats, stationed along
the edge of the ice, to which the ship was
made fast, and the rest of the crew sound
asleep in their berths. The master had just
gone up to the crow's-nest, to take a look
around him before turning in. He had not
been there many minutes, before his quick and
well-trained eye saw whales blowing beyond

* Boats and their crews stationed along the edge of the
ice, on the look-out for whales, are said to be " on the
bran."

78 "run" of whales.

a point of ice some ten miles' distant. The
welcome news soon spread that the long-look-
ed for "run" was at length in sight, and ere
long every soul was astir and ready for the
sport. The boats were immediately lowered,
those in the "bran" were called along side,
all their kegs filled with bread, beef, and water,
and a small supply of grog given to each.
The master was anxiously reiterating his orders
to each of the harpooners ; whilst some of
the keenest of them were running up to the
crow's-nest, and as they came down again were
asserting that they saw the whales spouting
like " steam-coaches, only far thicker." Most
of the boats were now sent off to meet the
" run ; " but in a short time the whales,
showing no inclination to come further into
the bay, the rest were dispatched also, with
orders to pull right out to them. I had no
idea of remaining by the now almost deserted
ship at a distance from the scene, so I pro-
posed to go in the last boat, and, as we were
short enough of hands, I had no difficulty in
getting my offer accepted. We had a long
pull before us, but the anticipation of the sport,
the delightful calm of the evening, and the
beauty of the scene around us, shortened the

APPEARANCE OF THE SHORE. 79

distance wonderfully. Looking towards the
land from which we were pulling, nothing could
be more beautiful than the immense extent of
high and mountainous coast that was stretch-
ed out before us, broken across, as it were, by
the opening of the bay, the whole variegated
in the most beautiful manner by the lichen-
coloured rocks, and the brown patches of vege-
tation appearing above the ground-work of
snow ; whilst half-way down the black pre-
cipitous crags of the shore hung a long filmy
riband of gauze-like mist, tinted with the
most delicate crimson by the level rays of the
midnight sun. The whole, too, seemingly so
close at hand, that more than once through-
out the past day I had caught myself wonder-
ing at my laziness in not stepping across the
narrow boundary of ice which separated me
from the shore, until I recollected that the
apparent mile was nearly fifteen, and these
fifteen rendered unsafe by the decayed state of
the ice. Nothing could be more tantalizing
than this apparent propinquity, for, after
months of confinement to the greasy decks of
a whaler, it would have been an unspeakable
luxury to have set foot on shore again, or to
have been able to pluck even the simplest

80 UNICORNS.

moss or lichen of the scanty Flora of the shore
before us. The longing that a landsman has to
be on shore again, after a tedious sea-voyage,
may be easily conceived ; but to sail for hun-
dreds of miles without being able to land,
within an apparent stone's throw of a coast —
desolate it may be, but still rich in gloomy
grandeur of scenery, — creates a longing which
it may well be believed is much more intense.

But we are now drawing nigh the scene of
action ; we had for some time been meeting
numerous shoals of narwhals ( Mono don mo-
nocerosj, whose blasts every now and then
startled us, as they are almost as loud as that
of the whale. #

We passed a Kirkaldy vessel, the crew of
which were busily engaged, and pulling on-
wards; we shortly came up to one of our own
boats, which we found had succeeded in killing
a large fish of ten or eleven feet bone : the
fish was floating at the edge of the floe, and
the boat's crew would fain have had ours to
join them in the laborious and irksome task
of hauling in their lines. But we had no idea
of this when there was sport to participate in

* The whalers have a saying, "after seals unies, after
unicorns whales."

WHALE CHASE. 81

a little farther on : so, after a few minutes
spent in asking questions, how many lines she
had taken out, &c, all of which seem so inter-
esting to the true whaler, we had regained
breath, and pulled onwards. About three
miles further on we found a second boat with
her "jack" flying, denoting that she was fast.
Passing close to this boat, we found that the
fish was taking out fine with great force and
rapidity, and that the harpooner was rather
doubtful as to his being "well fast" or not;
that is to say, he was uncertain whether
his harpoon was securely inserted into the
whale ; he had fired at a long range just as the
fish was going down. We pulled in the direc-
tion in which she was "heading," where the
rest of the boats already were ; before we got
up to them, she had made her appearance at
the surface; a second boat had got fast to her,
and just in time, as she was seen to be " loose"
from the first. She did not take out much
line from this boat, but remained away a
considerably longer time than usual, greatly
to our astonishment, until we found that she
was "blowing" in some holes in the floe, a
good distance from the edge of it. One of the
harpooners immediately proceeded over the ice

E 5

82 WHALE CHASE.

with a hand-harpoon, trailing the end of the
line with him, assisted by part of his crew,
and from the edge of the hole drove his weapon
into the body of the poor whale ; whilst some
of the others following plied the bleeding
wretch with their long lances, so that she was
soon obliged to betake herself again to the
open water outside the floe. Here more of
her enemies were waiting, for our boat was
immediately upon her, and a gun-harpoon was
at once driven almost out of sight into her
huge side, which was already bristling with
weapons. Our boat was on her very back as
she dived, with an unwieldy roll, which sent
it surging gunwale under, taking the line
whistling out for a score fathoms, until the
harpooner, knowing she was pretty well ex-
hausted, stopped her way, by taking three
or four turns round the " bollard." But
every few seconds she would make a start,
drawing the boat almost head under, until
the line was permitted to run out again,
which, as it did so, made a grinding, burring
noise, eating deep into the hard lignum vitse
of the bollard, enveloping the harpooner in
smoke, and causing the most distinct smell
of burning, which was only prevented from

WHALE CHASE. 83

actually taking place by the line-manager
throwing water constantly on it.

Again she appeared at the surface, but far
exhausted, still she made a strong fight for
it, lashing about with her tail and fins in
fury whenever she seemed to have regained
breath. It was no very pleasant sight to
see her tail quivering high up in the air,
within but a short distance of us, and coming
down on the water with a loud sharp crack,
like the report of a dozen rifles, and which,
had it alighted on any of our boats, had
power sufficient to have converted their tim-
bers into something very like lucifer matches.
A few more lances soon settled her, and
ere long she was rolling on her back. The
usual cheers of triumph were given, and we
had time to breathe and shake ourselves,
for it may be believed we had not escaped
the showers of spray which the defunct had
sent about so liberally.

The water far around us was dyed with
blood and covered with a thick pellicle of oil,
upon which the Mollys were as busy as they
could be, whilst the edges of the ice, as far
as we could see, were deeply crimsoned ; and
a hummock on the edge of the floe, beside

84 HARD LABOUR.

which the final struggle had taken place, was
from the summit downwards streaked with
the black blood which the last few blasts of
the dying monster had sent over it.

Much to our satisfaction, we had little line
to pull in, so that we were soon ready for
another victim. It must not be thought,
however, that I have been all this time an
idle spectator. If one wishes to partake in
this sport he must also partake in the labour.
The whale-boats are necessarily so constructed
that they can only contain their proper crew.
But as I was able to handle an oar, from
former practice, I had no difficulty in finding
a place in them, and so gaining a closer view
of the scene. The labour was severe, as we
had already pulled upwards of fifteen miles,
and that at full stretch, as hard as we could
lay to our oars ; but this was scarcely thought
of at the time. It was only now when the
excitement was over that I thought of fatigue
or felt it. I had luckily pitched my pea-
jacket into the boat when we left the ship,
as I had a sort of idea we might be some
time away, so I now rolled it up, placed it
on the gunwale of the boat, and stretching
myself out on the "thwart," slept as soundly

NARROW ESCAPE. 85

as ever I did in my life. My slumbers, how-
ever, did not last long, for it was scarcely
according to rule that any one should sleep
in the boats on fishing-ground. But I woke
thoroughly refreshed, and we were again in
full chase after the "fish."

We had two or three unsuccessful bursts
after them, but failed in getting within
striking distance. We saw one of the boats,
however, a short way from us fire at a large
fish, which, on receiving the harpoon, leapt
almost clean out of the water, head first,
displaying the greater part of its huge bulk
against the sky, until we thought it was going
to jump right on to the floe. Suddenly re-
versing itself, its tail was seen high over the
boat, and so near that for an instant or two
we breathlessly expected to hear the cry of
agony from the poor fellows as they were
crushed beneath it. But she dived sheer
downwards, quite clear of the boat, towards
which we now pulled quickly to render assist-
ance, more excited, perhaps, by the narrow
escape we had just witnessed than they were
themselves. Distant as we were from the
ship, and notwithstanding the hairbreadth
escape they had just made, the joyous shout

86 LOST FISH.

of "A fall!" was now raised, and the Jack
displayed. Just, however, as we reached it,
the line which had for the few seconds since
the fish had dived been running out with
lightning speed, slackened, and the strain
stopped. The harpooner looked blue, and
began slowly hauling in, his crew assisting,
with long faces ; for, be it remarked, each
man in a "fast boat" gets half-a-crown and
the harpooner half-a-guinea. We sat gravely
by, condoling with them on having lost their
fish. In a few minutes the harpoon appeared
on the surface, and was hauled on board, with
sundry maledictions from the heathens of the
unlucky boat. The whale had wrenched
herself loose by her sudden and active leap,
for the massive iron shaft of the harpoon was
bent and twisted upon itself as one would
twist a piece of soft copper-wire with a pair
of pliers.

We pulled back again towards our former
station. By this time we scarcely knew
whether it was night or day. We had a sort
of idea that we had been a night and a day
away from the ship, but of that wTe were not
certain. We had made repeated attacks upon
the biscuits and canister of preserved meats,

ARCTIC MIDNIGHT. 87

but although the appetites of steady-living
people at home are pretty fair time-keepers,
we found ours of little use in that way here.

I suspected it was again night, but I could
scarcely think it possible, the time seemed to
have passed so rapidly. But there was a still-
ness about the air that must have struck every
one as peculiar to the dead hour of the night,
and although I have noticed it in far different
situations, it never struck me so forcibly as it
did here. The light passing breezes and cats'
paws which had dimpled the water for some
hours back had died away. It was now so
calm that a feather dropt from the hand fell
plumb into the sea. But it was the dead still-
ness of the air which was so peculiar. No hum
of insect, none of the other pleasant sounds
which betoken it is day, and that Nature is
awake, can be expected here even at midday
in the height of summer, twenty miles from
land, and that land far within the Arctic
Circle, where, if one may say so, a third of the
year is one long continuous day. Yet there is
a most perceptible difference, — there is a stir
in the air around, — a sort of silent music heard
during day which is dumb during night. Is
it not strange that the deep stillness of the

88 VOICE OF THE WHALE?

dead hour of night should be as peculiar to
the solitude of the icy seas as to the centre
of the vast city? For many hours we lay
quietly still, no fish coming near enough for
us to attempt getting fast. But during the
whole of this time they were pouring round
the point of ice, and apparently running in
towards the bay, almost in hundreds. The
deep boom of their blowings, resounding
through the still air, like the distant bellow-
ing of a herd of bulls. My ear should have
been pretty well accustomed now to the blast
of the whales, but it was not until this
time that I ever had noticed the peculiar
hollow boom of their voice, if voice it may
be called.

We thought at the time that the fish were
running right into the bay, and imagined we
could hear the distant sound of the guns,
and the shouting of "falls " about the ships,
which could just be seen. We were in no
very good humour at the idea of not being
in the thick of it, but we had no reason to
complain as it turned out, for we learned,
on our return, that the fish had never gone
into the bay, and that scarcely any one had
seen them on this occasion but ourselves.

HABITS OP THE WHALE. 89

But we now had a good chance ; a fish was
seen beside the ice at no great distance from
us, but beyond a " fair start." I have no-
ticed a peculiarity about the whale, that if
there is a piece of ice within sight it will
run towards it, and come to the surface be-
side it. And when beside a floe it always
rises beside its edge, and never appears at
any distance from it. And, moreover, if there
should be a crack or bight in the floe, it is
ten chances to one it will rise to blow in it,
in preference to the outer edge of the floe.
This is well known to the whalers. Such
a crack being now opposite to us, and at
such a distance from where the whale was
last seen, it was likely she would rise there
next, and we pulled towards it. Here we
lay for some minutes in breathless expectation,
our oars out of the water, and the harpooner
silently motioning with his hand to the boat-
steerer which way to " scull." Up in the very
head of the crack the water was now seen
to be circling and gurgling up, " TJiere's her
eddy," quietly whispers our harpooner: "A
couple of strokes now, boys, — gently, — that 'U
do." Looking over my shoulder, I could
see first the crown, then the great black

90 A FAST BOAT.

back of the unsuspecting whale, slowly emerge
from the water, contrasting strangely with
the bright white and blue of the ice on each
side — then followed the indescribable hurstling
roar of her blast. But short breathing time
had she — for, with sure aim and single tug
of his trigger- string, the keen iron was sent
deep in behind her fin. "Harden up, boys!9'
he cries, and the boat is pulled right on to
the whale, when he plunges the hand-harpoon
deep into her back, with two hearty digs.
The poor brute quivered throughout, and for
a second or two lay almost motionless ; then
diving, and that with such rapidly increasing
speed, that the line was whirled out of the
boat like lightning. The usual signals were
now made to the other boats that we were
"fast."

For the first few minutes the lines were
allowed to run out without interruption, then,
one, two, three turns, were successively
thrown round the " bollard." This had the
effect of stopping her speed somewhat, but
the line still ran out with a great strain.
The boat's bow was forcibly pressed against
the ice, and crushed through the underwashed
ledge, to the solid floe beyond ; the harpooner

A FAST BOAT. 91

sitting upon his " thwart," allowing the lines
to run through his hands, which were defended
by thick mitts : stopping the progress of the
fish as much as he could, as the rest of the
boats were still some distance from us. Every
few minutes the fish seeming to start off as
with renewed strength, the boat's bow would
be pulled downwards, threatening to pull us
bodily under the floe. But then allowing
the line to run out, the strain was partly
removed, and the boat's head again rose, but
only to be again dragged downwards. Up-
wards of twenty minutes had elapsed since
we had "got fast," and the strain now began
to slacken, but it was full time, — we were
drawing nigh the " bitter end." The welcome
sound of a gun was heard, and in a few
seconds, looking down the edge of the floe
we could see one of our boats with the well-
known blue "Jack" flying. A few fathoms
more of line were rapidly drawn out, and
then the strain as suddenly ceased. We com-
menced hauling them in, and whilst doing
so, could see a third boat "get fast." The
rest of the boats were now at hand, and as
she appeared at the surface, closely surrounded
her, and busily plied her with their lances.

92 WHALE CAPTURED.

It was in about an hour and a half from the
time we first struck her, that we heard the
distant cheers announcing her death. From
the time the second boat had got fast we
had been busily engaged hauling in our lines,
and thus slowly approaching the cluster of
boats round the dying whale. But long ere
we had finished this they had succeeded in
killing her, and she was lying safe and sound,
made fast to the edge of the floe. The boats
now collected and prepared to tow the dead
fish to the ship. This was even more tedious
than hauling in the lines, but as I had volun-
teered to take my place in a boat, I said not
a word, but tugged away at my oar in silence.
Luckily, however, one or two fish were seen
near us, in pursuit of which our boat and
another cast off from those which were tow-
ing. The moment we were again in chase,
fatigue and languor vanished, and we stretched
to our oars as heartily as we had done when
we first left the ship.

We had a long, but a fruitless pull, and
in the mean time a fight breeze had sprung
up, and we could see that the ship had " cast
off" from the land ice in the bay, and was
working down towards the boats and dead

UNLOOKED-FOR DELICACY. 93

fish. We pulled towards her at once, and I
was not a little glad to be able to stretch
myself on deck again, after nearly forty- eight
hours confinement to the thwart of a boat.
A hearty welcome from the captain, who was
not a little astonished to find me so fresh
after my labours, and the tempting sight of
smoking beef-steaks and early potatoes* on
the cabin table, soon made me all right, nor
did I feel half so fatigued as I might have
expected, and was later than even my usual
time of retiring to my narrow berth in the

* It may appear rather strange that we should have
early potatoes on board ship within the Arctic circle, but
for upwards of three months, from June to September, we
had every day more than a quart of them at dinner. A
large supply of excellent potatoes had been put on board
at Dundee, a good deal of mould being amongst them,
and the place where they were stored being not far from
the stove, and under the water, they had sprouted and
formed young tubers. The Steward having informed us
of this, orders were given that he should be careful in
removing the daily supply, and rather to encourage than
interfere with the growth of this unlooked-for delicacy.
They were about as large as a pigeon's egg, and exceed-
ingly good — better, indeed, than forced early potatoes at
home. As I am upon the subject of eatables, I may
mention that the Captain and I not unfrequently indulged
in a broiled whale steak and broiled whale skin, both of
which are very fair eating indeed, and which, if it came to
be a matter of necessity, I should think excellent.

94 A FALL.

little closet off the cabin, which was by courtesy
termed the Doctor's state-room.

Two or three days after this, I had another
opportunity of closely witnessing the death
of a whale. She had been struck in a crack
but a short distance from the ship. All the
crew, except the "watch," who were on the
" bran," wxere sound asleep in their berths
below, fatigued after some days' hard labour.
It is a most laughable scene to see a " fall
called" under such circumstances. The one
or two hands, who were walking quietly and
gently on deck a second before, in order
not to disturb the fatigued men below, are
now seen dancing and jumping like madmen,
on the half-deck hatch, screaming "a fall!"
as if for their lives. The more active men
of the crew are on deck in an instant, with
ready bundle of clothes in hands, and shoes
or boots slipped loosely on their feet. But
it is generally a race who will be first into
their boats, clothed or unclothed, and nothing
is more common than to see half a dozen
fellows rushing to the boats with nothing
on but their woollen under- clothing, the rest
in a bundle under their arm, trusting to the
first stoppage to complete their toilette, such

LANCING A FISH. 95

as it is. Rather a sudden change this from
their close and crowded " bunks " (as they
call them) in the half-deck, to an atmosphere
often far below zero. But neither the old
whaling sailor, nor the green Orkney boy,
ever seemed to feel it.

The stern-boat was the only one now left
on board. The master ordering it to be
lowered, and getting into it himself, I jumped
in with him. We pulled up to the "fast
boat," to see how things were getting on,
and found they were only fast with the gun-
harpoon, and not very well with that. Whilst
talking to the harpooner of this boat, we
heard a commotion amongst the others, and
almost before we had time to turn, bang !
went one of their guns, and the fish was
made almost secure. She seemed to dive
under the floe, and reappeared almost at the
same place, for she next came up within a
very short distance of where she was first
struck, when a third boat got fast to her,
and before she dived again she was mortally
lanced. When she next appeared at the
surface, it was close to our boat ; we were
at her in a minute, when the ready lance
of the master was twice buried deep behind

96 DYING FLURRY.

her fin. She made a rush forwards, which
pulled the lance out of his hand, but he soon
had a second — we " hardened up ' to the
fish, when he plunged it into her side. She
had been quiet enough hitherto, but it was
now full time for him to cry, " Back, men,
for your lives!" I heard a sudden whizzing,
whistling sound in the air — I thought a black
cloud had passed between us and the sun
— a drenching shower of spray passed over
us, and there was a loud thud upon the water
on the other side of the boat, as her huge
tail descended into the sea, which it con-
tinued to lash into seething foam for more
than five minutes. It may be believed that
whilst this was going on we all kept at a
safe distance. It was, however, only the last
struggle — "the dying flurry," and the huge
mass was soon lying powerless and motionless
before us. This was a female whale, and one
of the largest we had yet seen. Her bulk may
be imagined from the following measurement,
which I managed to take whilst she was
fastened alongside, previous to the commence-
ment of " flensing." *

* Measurements of a female whale killed in Pond's
Bay, on the 17th of July, 1849 :—

MEASUEEMENTS OF A WHALE. 97

With such stirring sights as these, of almost
daily occurrence, it may be imagined that the
time would seldom hang heavy on my hands,
yet my object in being here at all rarely
left my mind ; and now, as fish after fish
added to the extent and value of our cargo,
my hopes of being able to get up Lancaster
Sound, began to wax fainter and fainter.

Length from the fork of the tail along the abdomen
to the tip of the lower jaw, ....
Girth behind the fins (Kant slip),

Breadth of tail from tip to tip, ....

Greatest breadth between lower jaws,

Length of head, measuring to a line from articula-
tion of lower jaw, ......

Length of vulva, . . .

From posterior end of vulva to anus, .

From anterior end of vulva to umbilicus, .

Mammae opposite the anterior third of vulva, and 6
inches from tip of it.

Length of sulcus of mammae 3 inches, sulcus on
each side of it 2 inches.

From the tuberosity of humerus to point of fin, . 8 feet

Greatest breadth of fin, . . . . . 3 ft. 11 in.

Depth of lip (interior lower). . . . 4 „ 7 „

From inner canthus of the eye to extreme angle of

fold of the mouth, ..... 17 inc.

From inner to outer canthus, .... 6 „

Length of the block of laminse of baleen, measuring
round the curve of the gum, after removal from
the head, . . . . . 1 6 ft. 6 in.

65 feet

30

»

24

J)

10

»

21

5>

14

inc.

6

j?

8

feet

98 THE ESQUIMAUX REPORT.

However, on the 1st of August, we heard
of the Esquimaux report, which I noted down
as follows, almost verbatim from Mr. Parker's
account of it : —

" We, this morning, had what might have
been considered as cheering intelligence of
' the Franklin Expedition ;' Mr. Parker, the
master of the ' Truelove,' of Hull, came on
board to breakfast, and informed us that
some Esquimaux, who had been on board
the ' Chieftain, ' of Kirkaldy, had sketched

Length of longest lamina of each side, . 10 ft. 6 in.
Between the laminae at the gum Jth of an inch.
Breadth of pulp cavity of largest lamina, . . 1 „

Average length of pulp when extracted from some

of the largest lamina, . . . . 5 „

Number of laminae of each side about 360.

The longest laminae about the middle, their length gra-
dually decreasing from behind forwards, and from before
backwards, their inner edge fringed with long coarse hair,
and their outer sharpened to an edge is bent backwards,
each lamina thus overlapping its neighbour, and giving the
series of plates the appearance of a Venetian blind. Many
of the laminae are beautifully variegated by alternate longi-
tudinal streaks of black and white. I think I could make
out that the laminae of the female whale are shorter, but
broader than those of the male.

The above measurements are necessarily imperfect ; it
was impossible to ascertain the length along the curve of
the back, besides other points of interest, but I hope the
difficulties that lay in my way will prove my excuse.

THE ESQUIMAUX REPORT. 99

a chart, and pointed out to Mr. Kerr where
both Sir John Franklin's and Sir James Ross'
ships were lying, the former being at Whaler
Point, the latter at Port Jackson, at the
entrance to Prince Regent's Inlet. Sir John
Franklin had been beset in his present po-
sition for three winters. Sir James Ross had
travelled in sledges from his own ship to
Sir John Franklin's. They were all alive and
well. The Esquimaux himself had been on
board all the four ships three moons ago,
i. e., about the end of April, or the beginning
of May. Mr. Parker seemed confident as to
the correctness of this information, and as
his ship is nearly full, and he will proceed
homewards very shortly, Mr. Kerr had given
him the chart, which he said he intended
to forward to the Admiralty, and inform them
of what he had learned." Although, as I
have formerly explained, we saw much to
throw doubt upon this report, yet it was so
far good, that it would in all likelihood induce
one or more of the vessels to proceed towards
the Sound.

F 2

100 LANCASTER SOUND.

CHAPTER V.

At last, after months of hopes, fears, and
disappointments, we are fairly under weigh
for Lancaster Sound. God grant we may
see or hear something of Sir John Franklin's
ships ! but if this Esquimaux report does
turn out true, and they are still at the mouth
of Prince Regent's Inlet, the idea that they
have got no further than this during four
seasons, will be almost as annoying to them,
as not hearing of them at all will be to us.

The more I think of the report, the less
faith am I inclined to place in it ; yet it may
well be conceived how delighted I am to find
the "Old Advice" running smartly towards
Lancaster Sound. My long cherished hopes
will now, I trust, be fulfilled.

Early on the 2nd we heard what we had
guessed before, of the loss of the " Lady Jane"
of Newcastle, and the "Superior" of Peterhead.

THE "NORTH STAR." 101

The American ship " MaClellan " brought
this piece of intelligence, and she had herself
been much damaged by the ice. Not a word
was there of the " North Star," and I now
begin to think it will be extremely doubt-
ful whether or not she will ultimately get
through.

Had she only sailed in time, she might have
got through Melville Bay, along with the
fleet of whalers with the greatest ease, and
have had it in her power to proceed up Lan-
caster Sound early in July, or at least as
soon as the ice broke up.

However, here we are ourselves, off Cape
Walter Bathurst, with a fine breeze from the
S.S.E. Throughout the night a strong and
favourable breeze continued to carry us rapidly
into the Sound, the weather still keeping clear
and delightful. A keen and anxious look-out
was kept by all those on deck for the slightest
trace which might have been left by either of
the expeditions. We had run past the mag-
nificent headland of Cape Byam Martin, and
Possession Bay was opening out to our view.
It still continued beautifully clear, but every
object within sight was transformed by re-
fraction— a phenomenon, the effects of which

102 THE EFFECTS OF REFRACTION.

so often attract the attention of the Arctic
voyager.

A long point of ice stretched out ahead.
I was standing on the forecastle, examining
with a telescope every part of the shore with
an anxious eye, when with a thrill of joy I
recognised a flag-post and ensign. I gazed
earnestly at it ; there could be no mistake ;
I could almost make out the waving of the
flag. Without saying a word I put the glass
into the hands of a man who was standing
near me, and told him to look at the point
ahead. He did so, and with a start, imme-
diately exclaimed that he saw a signal flying.
Delighted and overjoyed I snatched the glass
from his hands, and again applied it to my
eyes. For an instant I saw the wished-for
signal, but for an instant only — it faded, and
again appeared, but now distorted into a
broken and disjointed column, now into an
upturned and inverted pyramid. The re-
fraction had caused a hummocky piece of
ice to assume these forms. #

* This chapter appeared in the " Morning Herald " of
23rd December last. The paragraph above, referring to
the illusive flag-post, elicited communications from more
than one authority on these subjects. They seemed to

DISAPPOINTMENT. 103

I need not attempt to explain the sudden
elevation I experienced at this moment, still
less the worse depression I had to undergo
when I found my fond hopes were dashed
aside. Still I resumed my eye search along
the shore, as did also not a few warm-hearted
souls on board, the master scarcely ever
leaving the crow's nest.

During the whole of Friday, the 3rd, a
favourable breeze continued to carry us rapidly
on. We had as yet seen very little ice, and
what we had seen was very light : everything
looked well, and we had high hopes.

think that I was wrong in taking it for granted that it was
merely the effects of refraction, and that, in fact, there
might have been a real signal. This arose from my care-
less wording of the paragraph, which might lead one to
conceive that what I saw was on a point of land, whereas
it was on a point of ice, where it was exceedingly unlikely,
if not impossible, that any signal could be planted. There
was no land right a head, in which direction I saw the sig-
nal; and although there are many well- authenticated in-
stances of vessels and other objects being seen from an
immense distance from the effects of refraction, yet, as far
as I am aware, and from what little I know of the laws of
refraction, there has been no instance of an object being
refracted at right angles from its position, in which direc-
tion this must have been refracted — taking for granted
that a signal would only be planted on terra firma, and
from the relative position of the ship and the land at the
time.

104 ADMIRALTY DISPATCHES.

Whilst off Cape Hay, an Admiralty cylin-
der was put overboard, enclosed in a large
cask, according to the Admiralty instructions,
marked with a pole and vane, and properly
ballasted. Though we were going at a great
rate, we saw it distinctly nearly three-quarters
of an hour afterwards ; the red vane on the
long pole being very conspicuous. I need not
tell of our feelings at this time, or of our
hopes, that this might meet the eyes of those
for whom it was intended. Whilst running
past Navy-board Inlet, a sudden shift of the
wind forced us to stand more to the north-
ward, so that we could make out the head-
lands of the opposite shore, looming through
the distance.,

The shore on the south side, as far as I
could make out, seemed to be of a much
leveller and flatter appearance than any parts
of the coast I had hitherto seen. The im-
mense towering and snow-capped mountain
ranges had disappeared, and a moor-like cham-
paign country taken their place. On some
parts of the shore, however, were abruptly
precipitous rocks, of a remarkable appear-
ance, perfectly flat on the top, and having
a basaltic buttressed look in front. They had

DISTANT APPEARANCE OF THE COAST. 105

none of that stratified appearance which all
the rocky shores we have hitherto seen have
had. However, as I can scarcely say yet
that I have been on shore, I have, therefore,
no title to say anything whatever decidedly
of the geological formations of the country.
But the snow lodging in the successive ledges
of the Trap Rocks, is apt to deceive one into
the idea of their stratification, despite one's
knowledge of their peculiar cleavage. Nothing
strikes one more, than the alternate " ebon
and ivory " which marks the face of the
towering cliffs of this country.

We continued running, with every sail set
that would draw, during the whole of Friday
the 3rd. Late in the evening it began to
lower and overcast, when I retired to my
berth, having been on deck without inter-
mission, since we entered the Sound. On
going on deck again at 4 a.m., the 4th, to my
great chagrin I found that it was quite thick,
and blowing very hard, with a heavy sea, and
all the appearance of an increasing gale. The
top-gallant-sails had to be stowed, and the
top -sails reefed. By six a. m. the gale had
so increased that the ship had to be hove-to
under close reefed main-top-sail. A heavy

F 5

106 GALE OF WIND.

cross sea was by this time running, and it
was exceedingly thick and misty. At ten a.m.
we fell in with heavy washing ice ; a press
of sail had to be made on the ship, and she
was reached over to the north side of the
Sound, where she was again hove-to, until ten
at night, when the ice was again found to
be under our lee. The sea was here breaking
with the greatest violence and magnificence
upon the heavy masses of ice, and upon a
solitary berg which was in sight.

Sail had again to be made, and the ship
plied to windward. A very heavy cross sea
running, the waist boats were taken in on
deck. It moderated slightly on the forenoon
of Sunday; the sea was falling, and to my
great joy the weather began to clear. We
found ourselves in a deep bight of the ice,
which apparently stretched in a crescentic or
concave direction, from Cape York on the
south side to about Burnett's Inlet on the
north. The gale had completely broken up
the ice, that is to say it was in the state of
pack ice. Mr. Penny saw Prince Leopold's
Island from the mast-head, and moreover he
distinctly saw a water sky# beyond.

* "Water-sky." A certain dark appearance of the sky,

LEAVE THE SOUND. 107

I could not but have the most perfect con-
fidence in this opinion of Mr. Penny's, for
I knew that he had an eye thoroughly edu-
cated to the use of the telescope, and, as I
have on many occasions had opportunities
of remarking, is an adept in the use of it.

All hopes of proceeding further had now
to be given up, and we at once commenced
to ply our way out of the Sound, deeply
chagrined at having to renounce our search.
For my own part, I was miserably distressed ;
I had failed in achieving the only object of
my voyage. But Mr. Penny had scarcely
another course open to him ; he was not
authorised to prosecute the search, or to go
out of his way in obtaining information re-
garding the expeditions. As long as there
was a chance of procuring whales in Prince
Regent's Inlet, # he might have persevered,

which indicates clear water in that direction, and which,
when contrasted with the blink over ice or land, is very
conspicuous. — Parry.

* A leading morning paper, in different articles which
have of late appeared in it, seems to doubt that any bene-
fit has accrued to the country from the various Arctic
expeditions. To say nothing of the immense amount of
scientific knowledge that has been gained through them,
I may merely state, that the value of the whales captured

108 LEAVE THE SOUND.

deep as his ship was in the water, and great
as the risk would have been in pushing
through the heavy pack-ice we had fallen in
with. But when, at the conclusion of the
gale, we found that the land ice had been
entirely broken up, which rendered it impos-
sible to prosecute the fishing in this direction,
and consequently his continuation of a search
after the expeditions incompatible with his
duty to his owners, he was reluctantly com-
pelled to retrace his steps. #

The next three days were melancholy
enough ; we were now retracing our steps ;
there was no hope of future success to sustain
us now. The weather, too, was cloudy, dark,
and stormy. Our progress eastward was very
slow — a curious fact, as on former occasions
the difficulty always has been to make their

in Navy Board, Admiralty, and Prince Regent's, Inlets,
since their discovery by Parry, would more than pay the
expense of all the expeditions from that time up to Sir
John Franklin's. May we not hope then that the present
expedition may be the means of further stimulating and
encouraging commercial enterprise.

* It may easily be conceived how annoying it was, on
the return of Sir James C. Ross, but a few days after our
own arrival, to find that we had been so short a distance
from him.

NAYY BOARD INLET. 109

way up the Sound against the current which
sets to the eastward with great strength.

About mid-day on Thursday, the 9th, it
began to clear. We found ourselves about
three miles off the west point of Navy Board
Inlet. Throughout the afternoon and even-
ing it gradually improved until about mid-
night, when it was calm and brilliantly clear.
An Admiralty cylinder was now got ready
and enclosed in a small cask, along with some
of the latest newspapers which we had on
board. I debated long with myself whether
or not I should inclose letters to Harry ; but
when I recollected that the bad news I should
have to communicate would more than coun-
terbalance the good — that the intelligence of
the loss of more than one near and dear rela-
tive during his long absence, would give
infinite pain, and that, perhaps, at a time
when every man of them would require to
be sustained rather than depressed, I refrained
from expressing my feelings as a brother,
trusting, that if they did fall in with our
deposit, it would show them that their friends
and fellow-countrymen were not unmindful
of their welfare. Two boats were dispatched
on shore to bury the cask in the most con-

110 WOLL ASTON ISLANDS.

spicuous place possible. I went in one of
them. After about two hours hard pulling
we landed on the nearest island, on the west
side of the inlet — one of the Wollaston
Islands, I apprehend. Whilst pulling in and
approaching the land, it may be believed that
I strained my eyes in search of cairns or
signals of any sort, but not the slightest
vestiges of such were to be seen. As we
rounded the west side of the island, to obtain
a suitable landing place, I saw many blocks
of ice aground, and observed through the clear
water that the rocks at the bottom were all
scratched and polished by the friction of the
ice. The only appearance of algse were in
the deep clefts of the rocky bottom, and
these were but scanty. We landed on the
south-west side of the island, and found it
to be entirely composed of limestone, and
about little more than a quarter of a mile
square. We ascended at once to its highest
point, where the men began to dig a hole
for the cask. I then hurriedly walked round
the island, and found scattered about on it
many large worn boulders of granite, some of
them more than half way up to the highest
point, which I should say was about fifty or

WOLLASTON ISLANDS. Ill

sixty feet above the level of the sea. There
was scarcely any vegetation to be seen ; two
species of grasses, and a saxifrage (Saxifraga
appositifolia) were all that I could gather.

We disturbed, on our landing, about a
dozen eider-ducks (Somateria mollissima) . Their
eggs I found to be within a very few hours of
maturity. I saw none of the male eider-duck,
all those seen were females. There were nu-
merous nests, the occupants of which had,
I suppose, already winged their way south-
wards. We saw two Brent geese (Anser berni-
cla), and a single pair of Arctic terns {Sterna
arctica), the last of which were most voci-
ferous and courageous in defence of their
downy offspring whenever I approached their
nest. These were the only birds I saw, with
the exception of a solitary raven (Corvus
corax) hovering high overhead, whose sharp
and yet musically bell-like croak came start-
ling upon the ear.

On the east side of the island, in a snugly
sheltered little cove, were the remains of an
Esquimaux summer hut, but evidently of some
seasons back ; surrounded by the bones of
the bear, fox, and seal, and a few little bits
of baleen. I observed also a portion of the

]12 LEAVE THE SOUND.

base of a human skull, but evidently long
exposed to the effects of weather and atmo-
sphere.

In the mean time the men had buried
the cask, a cairn of stones was erected over
the spot, and a pole erected thereon, on which
was fastened a black ball.

We then prepared to return to the " Ad-
vice," which by this time had stood further
in, and had the signal of recall hoisted. It
wTas with slow and tardy steps that I made
my way towards the boats, scarcely being
able to believe it was necessary I should leave
a spot which seemed to me so near our dear
friends — a spot, moreover, rendered memorable
as being almost the exact one from which a
well nigh despairing party was, on a former
occasion, snatched from a lingering fate.5*

We had not been long on board before
thick weather came on. We lost sight of
the land entirely, and standing right to the
westward for two days, did not see it again
until we were far to the southward, in lat.
71° 59'.

Hitherto there had been something to sus-

* It was near this place that Sir John Ross and his
party were picked up by the "Isabella" of Hull, in 1834.

AGNES' MONUMENT. 113

tain us, but now that we had turned our
backs on Lancaster Sound, now, when all
hopes of hearing aught of them, or being
able to render any assistance had vanished,
I was wretched enough ; but, " Hope's blest
dominion never ends," and soon she began
to whisper to me, " They will have got
through ; they will be home as soon as you
will ; they have solved the long- doubtful pro-
blem of the north-west passage, which will
certainly be much more gratifying to all par-
ties, than if they had to retrace their steps,
disappointed and discomfited. Soon, therefore,
I began to regain spirits, and become recon-
ciled to the bad success of my voyage.

We made the land again about Agnes'
Monument, but I got but a distant and in-
distinct view of this remarkable headland.
The coast to the southward presented the
same features we had for months been ac-
customed to. There was somewhat less snow
on the mountains ; they appeared, if anything,
blacker and gloomier than what we had hitherto
seen. I should have liked exceedingly to land
here, but had no chance of doing so. One
of the mates greatly excited my curiosity
and desire to land, by his tales about the ex-

114 FOSSIL FISH.

cellent sport that has been had here by many
of the whalers in rein- deer shooting. He also
told me that he had, when they landed,
always captured great numbers of " big mice,"
as he called them, " with fine long fur."
Some species of lemming this must be, I sup-
pose. I learned now, also, that fossil fish
have been found on the east side of Baffin's
Bay, both in the Island of Disco and the
coast to the northward. At, least I heard
from this same man that " stone fish " had
been there found, and that a few had been
taken home as curiosities by some of the
whaling captains.

What a rich store for the Paleontologist
there may yet be in the more accessible parts
of the coasts of Greenland and Labrador !
I never had an opportunity of procuring any
of these fossils ; and, in fact, the whole voyage
was a failure to me, as far as Natural History
was concerned ; it was too successful in whaling
to allow of much to be done.

The Naturalist, if he takes his chance in
a whaling voyage, will find that he will be
able to do little, if the voyage is successful
as a whaling voyage ; but if, on the contrary,
it is " a bad year," in whaler parlance, then

JOHN HUNTER. 115

there is little to prevent him from reaping
a rich harvest. I had every assistance pos-
sible from Mr. Penny, but from my own in-
experience, I am afraid I lost not a few op-
portunities of observation. You may recollect
the story of John Hunter's sending out a
surgeon specially to Greenland to make a
collection for him, and that at not a little
expense — of his chagrin when the man re-
turned with a collection consisting of a piece
of whale's skin, to which were attached some
of the whale louse (Oniscus ceti), and nought
else. But I much suspect that the man
need not be so much laughed at. Ten chances
to one, he was with people who would laugh
and sneer at his every effort, and throw diffi-
culties in his way that he would not have it
in his power to surmount. I was not thus
situated myself, but I saw and heard quite
sufficient to show me that the position of
surgeon of a whale ship is no very enviable
one, and too often, I am sorry to say, rendered
worse, from their own mismanagement.

We continued working our way southwards,
running a considerable way into Home Bay.
I was informed that a strong current is always
found setting into this inlet, and as it has

116 A " RUN."

never yet been examined, I should not be
at all astonished to find that it may com-
municate with Fox's Channel, or Fury and
Hecla Straits.

We captured one middling-sized whale off
this bay, and then slowly worked our way
southwards. For some time we saw nothing
worthy of notice or comment. A little to the
southward of this, however, a few days after-
wards, we fell in with a " run" of fish. It
was about mid- day, the water was very free
of ice, and a good deal of sea was running,
there being a sharp breeze. Three of the
boats were lowered, and they had a pretty
good tossing about for some hours, but were
completely unsuccessful. It moderated, how-
ever, as the afternoon wore on, and we were
again rejoiced to see the horizon broken by
the spouting jets of numerous whales. A
large " sconce," or rather small floe, lay some
distance a-head — round this they were playing
in dozens. All sail was crowded on at once,
though there was a strong breeze blowing,
but there being three or four other vessels
in company, it was of course necessary to
be a-head of them. This we accomplished
in gallant style ; the good old "Advice," when

A " FIGHTING FISH." 117

well handled, clumsy as she ]ooked, could still
sail well, and, indeed, throughout the whole
voyage, when we were in company with the
others, I think we showed as good a pair of
heels as any of them.

Well, we got into the midst of the black
floundering masses ; one, two, three boats
were in an instant lowered, and in five
minutes one of the largest of the oily giants
was writhing and struggling under the tortures
of a deeply planted harpoon, — "she" made
rather a long and hard fight, but was ulti-
mately subdued.

In the mean time, all the other vessels had
"got fast/' each had secured his whale, but
the rest of the fish had beat a quick retreat.
Interested as I was in the success of our own
boats, I still could not help enjoying the
interesting scene that was going on amongst
those of the " Truelove ;" — they had got fast
to a large whale, but she showed better fight
than any I had as yet seen. For some con-
siderable time she lay on the surface, never
diving, raising her huge tail and rump high
out of the water, and lashing it into a foam,
that even at the distance I was, seemed like
that at the foot of Niagara. The boats

118 THE " FIRST FULL SHIP."

during this time lay at a respectful distance ;
but soon the immense animal getting ex-
hausted, one after the other cautiously advanc-
ing, drove their weapons into her, and she
was soon thoroughly vanquished, when the
happy conquerors found themselves possessed
of more " blubber " than their ship could well
stow, as they had previously been very for-
tunate.

A joyous conquest this ; they were now
" full," and there was nothing, after having
" flensed" and "made off" the produce of
the dead whale, to keep them longer from
home, and " wives and sweethearts." We,
of the other ships, had been as fortunate
perhaps, but being able to stow more cargo
than the little " Truelove," could not yet think
of returning. Some of us, perhaps, looked
with envy on our lucky consort, others began
to think of preparing letters to forward by
her, glad that the good success of a neighbour
would enable us to communicate sooner with
those at home.

For some time previous to this we had be-
come accustomed to some material difference
between night and day. I did not mention
at the time, that I saw the first star I had

ARCTIC AUTUMNAL EVENINGS. 119

seen since the beginning of May, on the 12th
of August, whilst coming out of Lancaster
Sound, dreary and dismal, disheartened and
disappointed.

The nights after this continued gradually
drawing in, and getting darker and darker.

It had now become necessary to make the
ship fast to a floe as the night fell. But
really some of those nights were beautiful
enough to compensate for any hardship or
any want. Can you conceive a sky and an
atmosphere clear and brilliant; a moon still
brighter and still more brilliant, and silvery
masses of ice lying sparkling beneath. Al-
though it was now becoming exceedingly
cold and chilly, it was almost impossible to
tear oneself from the deck at these times.
How often I longed to be able to accurately
transfer to paper the bright tints of those
Arctic evenings, you may well conceive. I
do not think there is any region in the world
where the landscape painter could enjoy better
studies than in the Arctic regions. The sun-
sets I cannot and will not attempt to describe.
Imagine the most brilliant colours, — colours
which, in a painting, would be pronounced as
unnatural as seemingly wonderful, but which

120 A "DEAD FISH."

are here beheld in all the dazzling splendour
of Nature's own design.

Our "fish" was now killed. The master,
in the " crow's nest," had his eyes by this time
on something else, being now sure of the one
the men had been for some time engaged
with. He had marked a huge black mass
some five miles a-head of us ; it was a " dead
fish," worth 500/. at least ; but stop — there
were two ships between us and the desired
prize. An old and experienced harpooner,
the only one now on board, was called into
consultation, but he could not see it ; so to
make sure, with his usual energy and quick-
ness of determination, off starts the master
himself, with a well-manned boat, going cau-
tiously at first, and slowly passing the other
ships' boats, but afterwards pushing rapidly
forward towards the desired prize. I ran up
to the crow's nest when the master left the
ship, and of course, with true esprit de corps,
I by all means wished to see him get the
" fish." Anxiously, then, passed the moments
until I saw him past the boats of the other
ships. I could make out the " dead fish '
distinctly ; over it was hovering a large burgo-
master (Larus glaucus), which, with the pecu-

A " DEAD FISH." 121

liarity of the Laridce, seldom or ever alights
on the object on which it is feeding. Luckily,
during this time, the masters of the other
ships had not been in their "crow's nest,"
being busily engaged with their captured fish,
so that they had not noticed our cautious
manoeuvring. But now, one of them ascend-
ing, noticed (as he afterwards informed us)
my long form standing erect on the seat of
the "nest," with telescope fixed to my eye,
and seemingly greatly interested in what was
going on a-head of his own boats. They are
quick witted as well as quick sighted, most of
these same whaling masters, so, seeing at once
that something was in the wind, his own glass
was immediately applied in the same direction,
when he at once saw one of our pretty white
boats pulling rapidly towards an object that he
almost at the same time discerned ; an object,
too,worth some little trouble to attain possession
of, but he at once saw it was too late. Had
any of the other ships seen it about the same
time we did, there would have been a hard
struggle for it, and many an arm would have
ached in the race that would have ensued.
However, our good outlook gained us posses-
sion of the valuable prize, for now I could see

G

122 A FALL !

those in the boat waving aloft in triumph the
blue jack. I shouted out "a fall!" to those
on deck, which was loudly and gladly re-
sponded to, and the ship's jack was again
hoisted to the mizen-top, not a little to the
astonishment, and, I dare say, causing not a
little envy amongst those of the other ships, who
had not noticed what was going on in the
" Advice.55 This was the third time during the
voyage that we had got " two fish at a fall.55
All the boats now started rapidly off to assist in
towing our prize to the ship, which was lying
made fast to the floe. Not a soul was now
left on board but myself, the first mate, and
steward, so that for an hour or two we had a
quiet enough ship. As good honest James
(the mate) and I sat before the blazing cabin
stove, enjoying our comfortable tea, and doing
not a little damage to the cold junk and hard
biscuits, not a sound broke the stillness around
but the gentle washing of the water under the
hollow ledges of the floe, beside which we lay.
In a short time we heard the sound of oars,
and going on deck, found the master alongside,
in great spirits at the day's work. Having
something to communicate to Mr. Parker of
the " Truelove,'5 he ordered James to take the

BOATING AT NIGHT. 123

boat and proceed there. Always fond of the
boating, I proposed to accompany them ; so,
jumping in and taking the steer oar, off we
started. The " Truelove " lay about seven
miles off. It was getting late in the evening,
but a bright moon was just rising, and we
had scarcely started from the ship, when the
loud screaming of two birds, fluttering over
head, attracted my attention. It was a
poor kittiwake (Larus rissa), vainly endea-
vouring to escape from its enemy the " boat-
swain" (Stercoraiius parasitica). We had a
pleasant pull towards the " Truelove," the
various hummocks and masses of ice we
passed, lying sparkling beneath the moonshine,
whilst they were shadowed beyond in the
deepest blackness. I mentally repeated Sir
Walter's loved lines, and, in imagination, was
again at home amongst those who I knew
would be looking anxiously for my return.
But, alas ! what had I to say ; I had returned
without any news of those whose fate must
be for another year left in uncertainty.

But these melancholy musings were now
broken by the mate pointing out the "True-
love," now but a short distance from us. We
were soon alongside and aboard ; James and I

G 2

124 BOATING AT NIGHT.

met with a kind welcome from Mr. Parker.
As it was now late, we lost no time in what
we had to do, and almost immediately pre-
pared for our return. We started, but a
change had rapidly come over the scene,
great dark masses of clouds had now ob-
scured the moon, and a snow storm was
coming on rapidly. We had just time, before
it became utterly obscured, to take our bear-
ings for the "Advice." In a short time the
snow was pelting against my face with needle-
like sharpness, and it was almost impossible
to see a yard a-head. As boatsteerer, I was
necessarily the only one obliged to face the
blast, the others having their backs to it.
Besides, the boatsteerer has to stand upright
on the lines, in the stern of the boat, on a
level with the gunwale, so that I was com-
pletely exposed to its fury. I was soon one
snow-enveloped mass, but I never felt it cold,
and should indeed have been perfectly com-
fortable, if I could have kept the snow out
of my eyes, and been able to see a-head clearly.
I think (with all modesty be it said) that I kept
my course pretty well, for only once or twice
had the mate to say, " A little more to star-
board," or, "A little more to larboard, doctor."

THE DEAD FISH. 125

And I was not a little proud, and thought
that, for a landsman, I had acquitted myself
pretty well as a boatsteerer, in a dark and
snowy night, when my eyes were greeted by
a bright light straight a-head, which we found
had been hung out by the master for our guid-
ance, as well as for the guidance of the other
boats, the crews of which were wearily, but hap-
pily, I dare say, engaged in towing the dead fish
towards the ship, with the snowy blast drift-
ing right in their faces. They arrived at the
same time we did ; first the long line of boats
came in sight, and then sternmost, appeared
an immense bulk, more like a dismasted ship
than any of the whales I had hitherto seen.
Fast advancing putrefaction — which, from the
immense bulk and very high degree of animal
heat peculiar to the Cetacece, commences
in those animals very soon after death, — had
caused this one to swell into this great size.
Generally speaking, the whale after death
sinks to the bottom, unless its captors have
properly secured it, when decay soon com-
mencing, the gases generated buoy the car-
case up again. Such had been the case with
this one. It had been mortally wounded by
some of the other ships, far to the northward,

126 THE DEAD FISH.

and swam thus far ere it died. It had
just floated to the surface when it was first
seen. Had it been floating for any time, even
for an hour or two, instead of there being
only one burgomaster ready to prey on it,
there would have been bears in dozens, bur-
gomasters in hundreds, and fulmars in thou-
sands, each greedily rending and tearing at
the inert mass. However, a more powerful
beast of prey had secured the carrion, if one
may call that carrion which will produce so
much cash. Here it was, however, safe along-
side the ship, and emitting, I must tell you,
anything but a pleasant perfume ; it was the
first time, however, that I had to find fault
with the poor whales on this account. On
this occasion only, had I even the slightest
reason to object to their coming between " the
wind and my nobility." But the strangest
of it all was, that the approach of the sweet-
smelling stranger was announced by the most
unearthly music, though, perhaps, it would
not have been thought so by a thorough-bred
Highlander ; it was the bagpipes to a note — to
a tone. I almost thought I could recognise
a long-remembered strathspey ; but where
could be the bagpipes ? It was soon all ex-

THE DEAD FISH. 127

plained, however ; the thrusts of sundry lances
into the swollen carcass, had made small
apertures into the abdomen, from whence
issued the gas confined therein, each forward
tug of the boats graduating the tension of the
abdominal muscles, and at the same time
graduating the emission of the gas, trans-
formed the dead whale into a strange musical
instrument.

I was not long in retiring to my berth
when I got on board, tired after the excite-
ments and fatigues of the day. During the
whole of the next day, all the crew were
busily engaged in taking on board the pro-
duce of the two whales ; they were both
good ones, and had both first-rate whale-
bone (baleen) in their heads, that of one of
them being beautifully streaked and varie-
gated.# From the dead fish, also, I had ex-

* There are many quaint and strange passages in those
parts of "Purchase's Pilgrimes" referring to the early-
Arctic voyages and the early whale fishers, two of which
it may not be out of place to append here, — one concern-
ing the whalebone, the other the food of the animal.

"His head is the third part of him, his mouth (O!
Hellish wide !) sixteene foot in the opening ; and yet out of
that Belly of Hell, yeelding much to the ornaments of our
womene's backs ; the Whalebones or Finnes being no other
than the rough or inner part thereof, &c. * *

128 THE WHALE'S FOOD.

pected to have made something out, seeing
that its unusual buoyancy raising it higher
out of the water, I thought to have been
able to examine the contents of the stomach
and intestinal canal, besides other points of
interest, but I at once found that putrefaction
had advanced too far to allow of anything
definite to be determined.

There can be no doubt, I think, that not
only the numerous genera and species of
Entomostraca and Acalephce, but that every

" His food (that Nature might teach the greatest, to be
content with, and that Greatnesse may be maintained
without Rapine, as in the Elephant, the greatest of land
creatures, and sea monsters) is grasse and weeds of the sea,
and a kind of water-worm like a beetle, whereof the Finnes
of his mouth hang full, and sometimes little birds, all which
striking the water with his tayle and making an Eddie, he
gapes and receiveth into his mouth, neither is anything
else (Master Sherwin hath seen them opened, and opened
this unto me) found in their bellies."

Of the latter extract, it need only be said that, that part
of it referring to the " water-worm like a beetle," whereof the
"Finnes of his mouth hang full" is the only truthful part of
" Master Sherwin's" report to the worthy compiler of the
" Pilgrimes." But it shows, amongst much that was incor-
rect, he was observant enough to perceive that the Acalephce
and the Olios constituted a considerable part of the whale's
food; it being most likely one of the former which was his
"*' water-worm like a beetle." It shows also that he had
observed the true function of the baleen, or whalebone.

THE WHALE'S FOOD. 129

other tribe of minute animal life with which
many parts of the Arctic seas teem, form
indiscriminately the food of the huge Myste-
cetus. But there is peculiar interest attached
to the Clio Borealis and Helicina as far as
regards their relation to the food of the
whale. The former (Clio) amongst the men
employed in the fishery generally goes by the
name of the " whale's food." And I have been
informed by one, whom I consider a good
authority, that he considers the Helicina to
constitute the greater bulk of the "whale's
food," as he has always noticed that where-
ever the Mystecetus was numerous there also
would the water be almost blackened by this
little Pteropod.

Nothing can be more beautiful than the
motions and appearance of the Clio as seen
in the water. Its red head and wings, and
opal coloured body, with its slow and graceful
motions, render it an exceedingly interesting
and pretty object in a glass vessel. I had
intended to have brought some of them home
alive, if I could have effected it; but unluckily
the glass jar I had them in, was thrown off
the stern window lockers on which it was
standing, so that I lost the whole of them.

G 5

130 CLIO.

I managed to preserve a good many specimens
in spirits, however.

I never saw them to better advantage than
in Pond's Bay. During the beautiful weather
which we enjoyed there, nothing could be
more interesting than a walk on the floe ; in
every crack of the ice were to be seen Aca-
lephcB of the most beautiful forms and brilliant
colours, — crimson, purple, and azure, whilst
their long tentacles floated gracefully beneath
them ; and their ever-moving cilia were brightly
iridescent. The less gay, but as graceful Clio
would be seen floating amongst them, and
the sombre coloured little Limacina moving
quickly by fits and starts ; but not nearly
so quickly as the merry bounding hither and
thither of the bright yellow little Gammarus
(Gammarus Arcticus). Fancy all these in a
narrow split or crack of the floe not more
than a foot and a-half wide, bounded on either
side by the deep blue of the submerged part
of the ice, which appears as if it were sus-
pended to the bright white of that portion
which is above water.

After the produce of our two whales had
been " made off," and properly stowed away,
we cast off and continued our course to the

CAPE SEARLE. 131

southward, keeping as close in-shore as we
could. Always making fast to a floe at night,
and casting off again as day broke. One
morning, at this time, I noticed a beautiful
gyrfalcon (Falco gyrfalco) soaring about the
ship. I immediately got my gun ready, but
he seemed to be aware that he was in a
dangerous neighbourhood, and kept at a safe
distance, so that I had no opportunity of
getting a shot at him. He remained beside
us some time, but never came within shot.
His plumage was almost snowy white, and
his elegant soaring flight (so different from
the heavy flapping of the gulls we had been
so long accustomed to, or even that of the
fulmars) was very beautiful.

We now ran in towards Cape Searle, and
passed close under that noble headland. I
should like to have landed at Dorban, as I
was informed that coal of good quality is found
there. All these localities are well known to
the whalers, but they have never yet been
thoroughly explored, particularly the Fiords,
which so deeply indent and cut up the shores.
We were now fairly out of the ice, and in-
tended making for Exeter harbour ; but thick
weather and a strong gale of wind coming on,

132 EXETER SOUND.

a heavy sea arose, and we were kept knocking
about for four-and-twenty hours in a most
uncomfortable state. For months accustomed
to the smooth water amongst the ice, with
the exception of the storm we experienced in
Lancaster Sound, this change was anything
but agreeable. We had the misfortune, too,
to be struck aft by a heavy sea, which washed
in all the stern windows and filled the cabin
with water, giving my books a good swim and
a thorough washing, and destroying many of
them utterly.

It moderated next day, and we ran in to-
wards Exeter harbour. This being only the
third occasion during six long months that I
had an opportunity of landing, or even getting
a close view of the shore, I was naturally im-
patient at the slow progress we seemed to
make towards the black precipices before us.
A heavy swell was running, with but a light
breeze ; and even well on in the day the coast,
which in the morning seemed almost close at
hand, was still far off. The breeze freshened,
however, in the afternoon, and we rapidly
approached the rocks, but where the entrance
to the harbour was I could not make out.
To my eye there was no break or opening in

EXETER SOUND. 133

the high, black wall before us ; but in an
instant almost it appeared opening out as if
the wand of an enchanter had rent the preci-
pice in twain. In a few minutes we were
sailing between high walls of granite into this
strange haven, the entrance to which, although
nearly a mile in breadth, seemed narrowed into
a mere canal, from the effects of the cliffs
which rose so high over head on either side ;
whilst the tower-like islands on the north, split
off as it were from the main mass, looked as
if placed there to guard and command the
entrance. We slowly made our way up the
Fiord, which strongly reminded me of the
lochs of the west coast of Scotland, though
of course the scenery was infinitely wilder.
On the south side the shores were abruptly
precipitous, as were they also on the north
side, until about three miles from the entrance,
but then, they formed a beautiful slope, — now
glowing in the evening sun, in the brightest
red, brown, and yellow, with here and there
patches of green, like one of our own moors.
But the delicious perfume that came off from
this shore — "the smell of land" — of the here
somewhat plentiful vegetation drying under
the autumn sun, was perfectly delightful. I

134 NEWS FROM HOME.

enjoyed it almost as much, I should think,
as those are said to do who inhale the aro-
matic breezes which are wafted from the
shores of Ceylon and the other spice islands.

When we got up to the anchorage, we
found two vessels lying there. Many were
the conjectures as to who they were, until,
getting nearer, we found them to be the
"Jane" of Bo'ness, and the "Dublin" of
Peterhead. It was known to most of those
on board that the " Dublin " had been at
the seal fishery in spring, and that she must
have been home since then. Here then was
an opportunity of hearing intelligence, per-
haps letters; at all events a few newspapers
would be procurable. One or two of the
latter we did get, but no letters. However,
even a couple of provincial papers, barren
enough of news, proved very acceptable. We
cast anchor for the first time since leaving
Stromness, and remained here for ten days.
All the boats during this time were almost
constantly away from the ship, leaving at four
o'clock in the morning and never returning
until six or seven at night. This is called
the "rock nose" fishing; and hard work it
is for the poor fellows in severe weather.

DISAPPOINTMENT. 135

However, our men had been this year pro-
vided with an apparatus which greatly con-
duced to their comfort, in the shape of " con-
jurors " fitted up with large lamps, by which
means they could make for themselves hot
coffee or tea, as they required it, when they
were away from the ship for any time. Each
of the boats was supplied with one of these
" conjurors." The first night we lay here
the weather was most beautiful, and I could
scarcely feast my eyes sufficiently upon the
beautifully variegated shores on either side of
us.

I expected early next morning to be able
to land, and visions of ptarmigan and white
hare shooting, or perhaps a shot at a stray
rein-deer, all of which, with the exception of
the latter, were said to be very plentiful here,
filled my mind throughout the night, to say
nothing of a rich harvest of plants.

At 4 a.m. next morning all hands were
called, and I jumped up at the same time to
see that my double -barrel and rifle were in
order, but to my dismay I found on going on
deck, that it was snowing hard, and had been
doing so all night. The slopes and hills
all around us were deeply covered, and the

136 ICE LOCKED.

vivid colours of the previous evening changed
to an unbroken white. Here was a dis-
appointment ; it continued snowing heavily
during the whole of that long day and most
of next. It was very cold, and the snow
scarcely melting when it fell in the water ;
" pancake ice" began to form, and it looked
very like as if we were going to be frozen up.
However, it was too early in the season to
be at all apprehensive of that. On a former
year a Peterhead ship happened to be frozen
up in this harbour. A party of her crew
volunteered to remain with her during the
winter, the rest going home in the other
ships, which, lying further out, had not been
" caught." There would have been no risk in
their doing this ; they had abundance of pro-
visions and stores of every kind, and were,
besides, lying in a snug landlocked harbour;
but their comrades had not left them twenty
minutes when their courage failed them, and
they were seen quickly making their way after
them towards the boats which were to con-
vey them to the ships. Next season the
vessel was found lying in the same position
perfectly safe, the very remains of their last
meal being still on the cabin-table untouched

"ROCK NOSING." 137

and almost unchanged. There were five ships
here at the same time with ourselves, all
anchored within a few yards of one another,
so that the lonely Fiord of the Coast of
Labrador had almost the appearance of a
well-frequented roadstead. In the mornings,
too (at 4 a.m.), when all hands were called,
and the boats dispatched, after the men had
had their breakfasts, the scene was an ani-
mated one. Six or seven boats started from
each vessel. The first thing they did on
starting was to fire off their harpoon guns
in order to be certain that the damp had not
affected the charges, so that in the early
mornings we had regular salutes, which awoke
the echoes from the hills and valleys around
us very beautifully and distinctly ; and then
the boats, some thirty in number, each with
their little white sails, set knowingly and
daintily, would race their way down the Fiord,
between its steep black sides, except when,
ever and anon, a gust from some of the deep
gullies on either side would make them bend
and bow before it ; then becoming lesser and
lesser, until, in the deep blue of these clear
Arctic autumn early mornings, they appeared
in the distance as they emerged through the

138 ON SHORE.

entrance of the Fiord like a group of the tiny
nautilus. Well pleased were the men in the
evenings if they had a breeze sufficient to
bring them back, but generally speaking their
weary arms had to supply the motive power.
But happy enough they seemed to be when
they got on board ; the boats were cheerily
hoisted up ; then each and all betook them-
selves to the infusions and decoctions of their
tea and coffee, the whaling sailor's greatest
luxury and comfort. He has no objection to
his grog, but I think he has, long ere this,
found out that hot, strong tea or coffee, par-
ticularly the former, is by far the best beverage
he can take in these climates.

A few hands had been kept on board one
day, to bring off water with the stern boat.
Opposite the anchorage, on the south side,
were one or two deep gullies, down which
ran little streams.

I went on shore with the boat on one of
its trips. I leaped on shore as we touched the
steep beach, but not without wet feet, as even
here there was not a little surf running. I
had twice before landed on the shores of
Baffin's Bay and its inlets ; at Liefly in Disco
Island, as you will remember, and at Navy

ON SHORE. 139

Board Inlet ; but this was the first time I
had seen any thing like a beach. All that I
had hitherto seen were bluff rocks, rising
abruptly from the sea ; this beach was com-
posed of rounded pebbles of gneis and granite,
the only formations I could notice in any part
of the Fiord I saw. I wandered up the gully
a short way, my onward progress being rather
difficult over the large rounded bullets with
which it was paved, and the meandering of
the stream, from side to side, rendering it
frequently necessary to ford it at the expense
of wet feet. T found but few plants, and did
not see a single animated object with the
exception of a small bird which was briskly
hopping and chirping amongst the rocks. I
could scarcely make it out, but rather think
it was the shore lark (Alauda cornuta). On
my return I was tempted up a ledge on the
left side of the gully, which led me to a
soft mossy terrace overhanging the watering-
place. I saw the boat had completed her
watering, and prepared to make my way
quickly towards her. But on glancing round,
I noticed an oblong enclosure of stones, which
at first I took to be the remains of an Esqui-
maux encampment, but on examination I

140 THE GRAVE.

found it to be the grave of a poor sailor,
who had died of an accidental gun-shot wound,
when his ship was lying in this harbour many
years ago. A board, on which his name
and the particulars of his death were painted,
looked as fresh as if done yesterday, but no
sorrowing eye of relative had ever gazed on
it. The very vessel in which he had died
was lying in the harbour within a few yards
of his lonely and forgotten grave ; manned
by his townsmen and old messmates. But
it would have been unvisited had not my
random steps led me to it. Desolate as the
spot was, it struck me that I should much
rather choose such a place of sepulture than
be laid in one of those disgusting charnel-
yards which still disgrace our greatest cities,
and in which the dismal grave stones are seen
planted so thickly that there is scarce moving
room amongst them.

The boats had all left the ship early one
morning, when taking the " dingo JJ or " dingy''
(I scarcely know which is the correct ortho-
graphy of this kind of naval architecture, but
I would advise no one to trust himself in
it, under whatever name by which it may
be designated), and getting one of the boys

THE "DINGY." 141

to accompany me, and row the said " dingy,"
we set off towards the north shore of the
Fiord, trusting to find sport of some kind,
at least to have a stretching and uninterrupted
walk on the shores before us. I took with
me my double-barrelled gun, and the boy,
Jack, had procured an old rusty musket. Un-
fortunately (as it turned out), I did not think
of it at the time, or I would have given him
my rifle to carry, as I knew he was well
acquainted with the use of fire-arms, and
indeed, an excellent shot. However, we pulled
towards the north shore, and an uncomfortable
pull it was ; a long swell was miming up the
Fiord, and when we got nigh the shore we
found such a surf breaking on it that it was
impossible to land. When we left the ship
we had only been able to find two oars be-
longing to this same wretched "dingy." In
my impatience to be off, I did not wait for
others to be hunted out. One was the " steer
oar," and, of course, nearly half as long again
as the other. So that do as we liked we
had infinite difficulty in making our little
craft steer a straight course. There was besides
no ballast in her, so that whenever I moved
my long body we were in imminent danger

142 BEARS.

of upsetting our too buoyant little boat.
However, we were not to be discouraged, so
pulling up the Fiord, we rounded a point which
stretches out from the north shore, and found
ourselves in what the whalers call the inner
or upper harbour. On this point is erected
a beacon or tower, as a bearing mark for
the anchorage. It was built many years ago
by the man who first entered this Fiord, Mr.
Gray, the master of one of the Peterhead
whalers, which town, I may tell you, produces
the best and most enterprising men in the
whale fishery. When we had rounded the
point, I was rejoiced to see numerous flocks
of burgomasters, ravens, and other birds hover-
ing over another rocky point a-head. Here,
now, I thought, I shall be able to get some
good birds at last. Pulling cautiously on-
wards, we neared the rocks. I had already
noticed that the birds were disturbed and
alarmed before they could possibly have noticed
our cautious advance. The burgomasters were
flying hither and thither in a manner very
different from their usual bold, steady, flight,
every now and then uttering their strange
cry. The huge black ravens would alight for
an instant on the equally black rocks, but

BEARS. 143

after an instant, again rise hurriedly in the
air, with hoarse angry croakings. There is
something to be seen round these rocks, I
am certain, thought I ; but all the birds
seemed so alarmed that I began to despair
of getting a shot at them at all. I had
never yet got a chance of a shot at the huge
burgomaster, and, of course, I was propor-
tionably anxious to do it.

As we rounded the point of rocks the whole
was explained; a not very agreeable odour first
greeted our nostrils, and our ears were almost
at the same time saluted by the loud and
furious growlings of a couple of immense bears,
now in then turn disturbed at their banquet,
as they had previously disturbed the buds.
They were busily employed at the " krang,"
or carcass of a large whale, which one of the
ships had killed a few days before, and which
had been floated up here by the tide. One
of them rushed furiously at us.

" I have been wishing all the voyage to get
a shot at a bear, and here I am now, Jack,
with two before me, and not a single ball to
greet them with. And in this horrid cockle-
shell of a boat too, that I can't move in.
What 's the use of small shot against their

144 SEALS.

shaggy hides. Not a single lance with us
either. What shall we do? "

" Keep at a safe distance, sir, I advise yon,"
said Jack, whose four years' experience in the
country gave him aright to speak; "this dingy
won't like the touch of a bear's paw ; and
besides, what can we do without lances?"

So we sheered cautiously and reluctantly
off, one of the bears following, and showing
his ivory tusks as he growled savagely at us.
We pulled over to the other side of the Fiord,
and then down towards the ship, during which
time we killed a few dovekies (Colymbus grylle),
and had besides a shot at a saddleback seal
(Atack — Phoca Grwnlandica) . I had killed it,
but it sank before we got hold of it. There
is nothing more annoying than this. I had
often before shot these seals, and the crested
or bladder nose (Cystophora cristata), on the
east side ; but if they happened to be killed
outright, they invariably sank. The seals
were numerous here, every now and then their
strange-looking heads emerging from the water
and gazing earnestly around, with curiosity
absolutely depicted in their countenances. I
lost many a shot at them, however, being too
much taken up with the magnificence of the

FISH OF THE FIORDS. 145

cliffs under which we were passing, the sum-
mits of which seemed almost to be lost in the
clouds above.

I am certain there must be fish of many
kinds in all these Fiords. The whalers say
not : — but why are the seals so numerous ?
Had I only had a seine net, I could have satis-
fied myself. I put overboard lines, but did
not succeed in getting fish of any kind.

As we neared the ship, I saw a bird, which
I had once seen before, but I could not manage
to get within shot of it, it was so wild and
restless. I should have taken it for the snipe,
but it seemed somewhat larger, and besides
took the water. Speaking of it to one of the
mates, he told me he knew the bird, and had
shot them often, and that their toes were half-
webbed ; so I take it for granted that it must
be the Catoptrophorus semipalmatus.

We reached the ship, and on my telling the
Captain of the bears we had seen, he, who is
a keen bear-hunter, and has killed not a few
with his own hand, immediately made arrange-
ments to start after them. I had to endure
some bantering about not having faced them
boldly, but I do think that there was little to
be ashamed of, in declining an encounter with

H

146 EXCURSION.

a couple of bears as large as bullocks, with
nothing whatever in my hands but a fowling-
piece loaded with No. 4, and that in a cockle-
shell of a boat, without a single lance, should
we have come to close quarters. However,
off we set for another encounter with the
monarch of the Arctic wastes. But, better
equipped this time, in a good whale-boat,
loaded rifles and muskets, plenty of lances,
and a strong crew. Swiftly we made our way
up the Fiord, urging forwards by willing hands,
all more anxious than the other to see the
anticipated spot. "We soon passed the first
point of the inner harbour, and landed between
it and the second, intending to creep quietly
over towards the " krang," and have a snug
shot at Master Bruin. Quietly we did so, but
I had already noticed a difference in the con-
duct of the birds ; they were startled, but it
was our advance that did so ; their attention
was not divided between two intruders as be-
fore— the ravens were bolder, and the burgo-
masters a little less shy. However, we ad-
vanced over the crest of the bluffs with rifles
ready cocked, expecting every instant to hear
the angry growl of the bears. But we walked
right up to the krang without seeing anything

RAVENS. 147

of them. They had beat a retreat, and the
only trace we could find of them was a lair
in the snow where they had been sleeping,
which was deeply hollowed out into what Mas-
ter Bruin, I dare say, considered a very com-
fortable berth. After this disappointment we
advanced a considerable way from the shore,
over a strange level tract of angular blocks of
granite, as desolate a scene as can well be con-
ceived. Whilst cautiously stepping from block
to block, my ear was attracted by a sound
which I thought I had heard before. It was
like a short, sharp, toll of a bell, repeated at
intervals ; or, perhaps, rather like a smart
blow struck upon a metallic plate. I looked
around me in astonishment, but when I saw
one or two ravens seated on the crags to the
left, and keeping a steadfast eye on our
motions, I immediately became aware of the
origin of the sound. I am not aware that
this peculiarity of the voice of the raven has
ever been noticed before ; it certainly seems
somewhat paradoxical to speak of a musical
croak, but to my ears, at least, amongst these
wild scenes, it sounded both musical and bell-
like.

We now came to a small lake on which

HS EXCURSION.

were numerous water-fowl, but they were so
wild that we did not succeed in getting within
shot, even with the greatest precautions. I
could not make out what they were, as even
when we were at a considerable distance,
they rose in a body and proceeded inland.
On examination I found that this lake had
been a creek or inlet of the Fiord, and that
it was now only separated from it by a raised
beach of small granite boulders, which stretched
across the mouth of the inlet in the most
regular form. The level of the water in the
lagoon was evidently lower than that in the
Fiord.

We returned to the ship not a little dis-
appointed that our excursion had been a boot-
less one, and that we had not even a single
bear-skin to* show as trophy.

I had another land expedition a few days
afterwards, on a Sunday, when all hands were
on board. The mate and I landed on the
south shore, and each armed with a lance
(in case we should meet with bears, but more
as a pole to assist us over our rough and
rocky path), proceeded to make our way in
a south-easterly direction, over the hills to
the sea. We had first to climb up the steep

EXCURSION. 149

side of the slope before us, where every step
required to be cautiously picked, as many
of the ponderous masses of granite were so
delicately poised that the slightest touch sent
them thundering down below. We reached
the summit of the first eminence, and turned
to look upon the ships, they looked like mere
cockle-shells beneath us. For nearly ten miles
we scrambled over hills and down ravines,
forded streams, and crossed deep and rugged
gullies. It was throughout a desolate and
dreary scene, and wherever there was the
smallest spot on which vegetation could pro-
ceed the snow lay deep. There was nothing
whatever on which the eye could rest but the
rugged granite. We gained the top of the
most seaward range of mountains, and saw
that the straits before us, as far as the eye
could reach, were quite free of ice, with the
exception of a few large bergs. The prospect
all around, however, was very magnificent,
particularly inland. Our march back again
was a fatiguing one, but we reached the ship
wonderfully fresh, considering the nature of
our journey.

A few days afterwards, as not a single
whale had been seen by any of the ship's

150 RIMIKSOKE.

boats, the master determined to proceed to
the southward to the gulf of Tenudiakbeek,
or Hogarth's Sound, generally called by the
whalers Kimiksoke, which is the name of
the anchoring place, a small island near the
mouth of the inlet.

We left Exeter harbour, and slowly worked
our way southward with light and baffling
breezes. In the afternoon we spoke the Ame-
rican ship " Mc Lellan," who was also bound
for Kimiksoke. We were now out from
under the lofty shores, and could see Mount
Raleigh's topmost peak look out from amongst
the clouds where even his lower neighbours, as
old Purchase sayeth, were "towering them-
selves in a lofty height, to see if they can find
refuge from those snows and colds that con-
tinualle beat them."

Next day we were off the entrance to Kim-
iksoke, but found that hundreds of large ice-
bergs were scattered in every direction. The
weather looked very threatening, so the master
at once made up his mind to "bear up" for
home, much to the satisfaction of almost every
one on board ; though I should have liked
exceedingly to have visited this place, about
which I had heard so much.

HOMEWARD-BOUND. 151

All hands were immediately set to work to
secure the boats, &c.? for the voyage, and hard
work it was for them, as the storm continued
gradually increasing, and the ship was scarcely
made snug when it was blowing a perfect hur-
ricane, with a tremendous sea.

Our homeward passage was exceedingly
tedious; we had either calms or contrary
winds, varied with heavy gales. It was nearly
five weeks ere we made Cape Wrath light, and
that almost at the very time we expected, so
accurately had our reckoning been kept. We
were becalmed off Loch Eriboll, the wild
coast in which neighbourhood put us in mind
of those shores we had been sailing along
during the past summer. The wind sprung
up during the night, however, and we had a
rapid run through the Pentland Frith, landed
our Orkney men at Sinclair's Bay, when the
pilots came off to us, and the answer to
my first question — " Has anything been heard
of Sir John Franklin?" was,— "Oh! yes,
sir, he's all safe." It may be believed I
leapt with joy, but was as instantly depressed,
when the man continued his information,
and I found it was merely that rascally Esqui-
maux report.

152 ARRIVE AT HOME.

I landed at Aberdeen, and proceeded south-
ward by mail, having been exactly eight months
on the voyage.

Calm through the heavenly seas on high
Comes out each white and quiet star ;
So calm up ocean's floating sky,
Come, one by one, afar.
White quiet sails from the grim icy coasts
That hear the battles of the whaling hosts,
Whose homeward crews with feet and flutes in tune,
And spirits roughly blythe, make music to the moon.

B. Simmons.

THE END

LONDON!

Printed by S. & J. Bentley and Henry Fley,
Bangor House, Shoe Lane.