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DISCOVERY Ax\D ADVENTURE IN TIIR rOLAR SEAS AND REGIONS: WITH ILIXSTRATION'S OK TliriR CLIMATE, GEOLOGY, AND NATURAL TITSTORY. By STR JOTTX T.F^TJR K.IT., Trofessor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Kilinhurgh, and Corresponding Member of the Royal Institute of France. HO BERT JAMESON, Esq., F.RS.E. A K, F.L, S.. M.W S., Begius rrofesBor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, and HUGH MURRAY. Esq., F.R.SE. WlTIt A NARHATIVE OF XII K RECENT EXPEDITIONS IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. LONDON: THOMAS NELSON, PATERNOSTER ROW; AND EllINBUROH. MDCCCLI. PREFACE TO THE SIXTEENTH EDITION. TuE present Work was undertaken with the view of <3^iving a complete and connected description of the varied phenomena of the Polar world, as well as an ac- count of the more important voyages and expeditions, whether for profit or discovery, through which it has become known to Europe, f^ich a subject, it is believed, combining much that is inte esting in natural scenery and maritime adventure, can hardly fail to prove attrac- tive. In those climates, nature is marked by the most stupendous features, and presenting objects at once su- blime and beautiful, the forms she assumes differ from her aspects in our milder latitudes almost as widely as though they belonged to another planet. The tempests and darkness of those wintry realms are strikingly varied by the brief but brilliant summer, the singular magnificence of the celestial and meteorological appear- ances, and the dreary grandeur of those enormous piles of ice which stud the land or float upon the water. Along with a characteristic range of vegetable produc- tions, and a remarkable profusion of animal life won- 8 rnKFACR. derfuUy adapted to sustain existence in the extremity of cold, we are presented with a race of men singular alike from the circumstances to which thoy have con- formed themselves, the manners and customs thence resulting, and the contrivances whereby they brave the utmost rigours of the clime. When, moreover, it is considered that in the field of Northern Discovery England laid the fouiulation of her maritime pre-emi- nence, and that the men who have earned in it the greatest glory were chiefly British, it will he admitted that the history of their adventmes must have a pecu- liar charm for the English reader. The Narrative of these Voyages, down to the close of the ninth chapter, was carefully drawn from the most authentic sources by Mr. IMurray, whose laboura in a similar department of literature have been received by the public with no common approbation. They include the adventures and exploits of many of those naviga- tors of whom their country has the greatest reason to be proud. Such in early times were Willoughby, Chancelor, Frobisher, Davis, Hudson ; more recently Parry, Scoresby, Ross, the uncle and nephew, with others of little inferior note. The wild and strange scenes through which their career led, the peculiar perils with which it was beset, the hairbreadth escapes and sometimes tragical events that ensued, give to their narratives an interest similar to that of romance. The tenth and eleventh chapters have been pre- pared for the present edition by an experienced writer. They trace the history of north-western exploration through most eventful recent periods, down to the win- ter of 1850. The former narrates the marvellous ice- rRi:FACE. i voynf^e of Captain (now Sir George) Biu-k, and the completion of discovery round the mysterious coasts of Boothia ; tlie latter gives the substance of all whi-ch has been made known, in volumes, periodicals, and public documents, respecting the lamented expedition jif Sir John Franklin, and the complicated searches for it ; and the two together, it is hoped, will be re- garded by every reader as an important addition to the value of this work. Besides these narratives, several of the most distin- guished men of science in Scotland lent their aid to illusti-ate the wonderful order of nature prevailing with- in the Arctic Circle. Sir John Leslie commenced the volume with a full examination of the Climate and its Phenomena, — subjects so important as they respect those high latitudes, that without a preliminary know- ledge of them the progress of discovery would be but imperfectly understood. A general survey of all that is known regarding the Geological Structure of the same interesting regions has ])cen given by Professor Jameson. The chapter on Natural History, though the subject be treated by ]\Ir. IMurray in a popular rather than in ft scientific manner, has received the careful revision of a distinguished naturalist. The whale-fishery forms a striking feature in Arctic adventure, and is, besides, of great national as well as commercial importance. Of its daring operations and its various perils, the description here introduced may be the more acceptable, as it is presumed to be the only one hitherto attempted within a moderate compass. For an account of the successive expeditions, by land 10 PRKFACE. or along the coast, to define the nortliern bounclivvies of the American and Asiatic continents, the reader is re- ferred to the "PuoaiiESS of Discovkky on tub moub NoiiTHEiiN Coasts of Ameuica." In that volume are contained interesting descriptions of the wild country through which the different travellers penetrated to the shores of tlie Polar Sea, of the sufferings they endured, and of the valuable additions made by them to geogra- l>Iiic;vl science. The knowledge of these facts is in some «legree necessary to a clear compreliension of the objects contemplated in most of the recent voyages. 4 CONTMNTS. CHAPTER I. THE CI.IMATK OF THK TOLAU UKGIONS, fiiMioral View of the Subject— Light thrown on it by Voy.'i;];c3 of Discovery — Various 0[tiuions and Observations discussed —Distribution of Ilcat over the Surface of the Globe— Cur- rents in the Atriiosphero— Freezing of tlic Arctic Sea— Phe- nomena of the Seasons in the Polar Regions— Formation of Icebergs— Chan <^cs in the Aspect of the Polar Seas— Sup- jioscd Alterations in the Climate of Europe— State of the li;e in the Polar Seas— Situation of the Ancient Colonies in Greenland Pago 17 CHAPTER II. ANIMAL AND VEOKTAIiLE LIFE IN THE POLAR REGIONS. Remarkable Profusion of Animal Life— Means by which it is supported— The Cetacca : Whale, Narwal, Walrus, Seal — 'I'hc Herring Land Animals— The Polar Bear ; Its Fero- city ; Anecdotes— The Rein-deer— Wolf, Fox, Dog— Birds — Vegetable Life— Peculiar Plants— Red Snow.. 62 CHAPTER IIL ANCIENT VOYAGES TO THE NORTH. Voyage of Pytheas— Norwegian Expeditions ; Ohtherc— Colo- nization of Iceland— The Zeni— Quirini .05 12 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. VOYAGES IN SEARCH OF A NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. Rise of Maritime Enterprise in England— rian of a North- cast Passage to India— Expedition of Sir Hugh Willoughby ; its Issue— Chancelor reaches the White Sea ; Journey to Mos- cow-Voyage of Burroughs— Of Pet and Jackman— Dutch ]:xpcditions— Barentz's First, Second, and Third Voyages ; His Death-Hudson— Wood— Litke Page 103 CHAPTER V. EARLY VOYAGES TOWARDS THE NORTH POLE. Plan of a Polar Passage to India— Voyages to Chcrio Island- Hudson — Poolo— BaflBn— Fotherby 141 CHAPTER VI. F AULY VOYAGES IN SEARCH OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Tho Portuguese ; The Cortcrcals— The Spaniards ; Gomez— Expeditions under Henry VIII. ; their Issue— Frobisher's First, Second, and Third Voyages— Davis' First, Second, and Third Voyages— Weymouth— Knight- Hudson ; Mu- tiny of his Men ; Disastrous Issue of the Expedition — Voy- ages of Button— Gibbons— Bylot— Baffin — Jens Munk, tho Dane— Fox and James— Knight and Barlow — Middleton, &.C 155 CHAPTER VII. VOYAGES BY ROSS AND PARRY IN SEARCH OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Spirited Views of the British Government — Ross's Expedition ; He sails round Baffin's Bay ; Arctic Highlands ; Lancaster CONTEXTS. 13 Sound; His Return- Parry's First Expedition; Entrai.ce into the Arctic Sea ; Regent's Inlet ; Nortli Georgian Islands ; Winters at Melville Island ; Mode of spending the Winter ; North Georgian Theatre ; Gazette ; Disappearance of the Animal Tribes ; Attempt to proceed Westward during tho Summer ; His Return to England— Parry's Second Expedi- tion, accompanied by Captain Lyon ; lie enters Hudson's Strait ; Savago Islands ; Duke of York's Bay ; Frozen Strait ; Various Inlets discovered ; Ships frozen in for tho Winter ; Polar Theatre and School ; Brilliaut Appearances of the Aurora Borealis ; Intercourse with a Party of Esqui- maux ; Land Excursions ; Release from the Ice ; Voyage Northward ; Discovery of a Strait named after tho Fury and Hccla ; Progress arrested ; Second Winter-quarters, at Igloolik ; The Esquimaux ; Symptoms of Scurvy ; Return of the Expedition to England— Parry's Third Expedition ; He winters at Port Bowen ; Shipwreck of tho Fury ; Return of the Hecia Page 212 CHAPTER VIII. Ross's SECOND VOYAQE. Motives which led to the Expedition — Difficulties in equipping it— Expense defrayed by Sir Felix Booth— Accidents on the Coast of Scotland— Passage across tho Ocean — Refitted at Holsteinborg — Passage through Barrow's Strait and down Regent's Inlet— Discovery of tho Fury's Stores— Difficult Na- vigation- Winter Station in T'elix Harbour— Means devised for resisting tho Cold — Visit from a Party of Esquimaux — Information respecting the neighbouring Coasts— Expedition to Nei-tyel-le— To Shagavoke— To the Northward— For Cape Turnagain — Obliged to stop at Victory Point — Return Attempt to sail next Summer— Arrested for the Winter — Excursion to tho Northward— And across the Country- Commander Ross's Discovery of tho Magnetic Polo— Another fruitless Attempt to bring home the Victory— Deterrainatiop 14 CONTENTS. to abandon hcr-Sumraary of Observations on the Esqui- maux—Journey along the Coast to Fury Beach-Fruitless Attempt to cross Barrow's Strait— Winter at Somerset House— Successful Navigation next Summer- Reach the Isabella of Hull— Reception— Return— Joy at their Arrival — Rewards to the Adventurers— General Results of the Voyage- Return of Captain Back Page 271 CHAPTER IX. RECr.NT VOYAGES TOWARDS THE NORTH POLE. Expedition of Captain Phipps (Lord Mulgrave) ; Progress arrested by the Ice ; His Return— Scorcsby ; Various ini- l)ortant Observations made by him ; Voyage to the Eastern Coast of Greenland ; Discoveries ; Returns to England— Clavering's Voyage and Discoveries— Expedition of Graah —Do Blosseville— Dutaillis— Buchan's Expedition — Parry's Fourth Expedition, in which ho attempts to reach the Pole ; Progress along the Coast of Spitzbergen ; The Boats arrive at the Ice ; Mode of Travelling ; Various Obstacles en- countered ; Compelled to return— Question as to the Practi- cability of reaching the Pole 30» CHArTER X. EXrEDITIOXS TO THE SEAS AUOUND ROOTiriA. Ilquipment of the Terror ; Dangers in Hudson's Strait ; Ilo^ctment in the Ice near Frozen Strait ; Series of Dreadful Perils off Southampton Island ; Disablement and Return of the Ship— IJoat Voyage of Messrs. Dease and Simpson ; Labyrinth Bay ; Open Inlet from the Polar Sc;i to Back's Estuaiy ; South Coasts of Boothia and Victoria Land; Re-entrance into the Copper- mine River- Expedition of Mr. Rae; Wintering at Repulse Bay ; Exploration of the Gulf of Akkolee to Lord Mayor's Bay and to the vicinitv of the Furv and Ilccla Strait 3u CONTENTS. 15 CHAPTER XL rilE FR\:>KUN EXPEDITION. Equipment and Sailing of the Erebus and the Terror; Public anxiety about their Fate; Comprehensive Plan of Operations to Search for them ; Proceedings of the Herald and the Plover by way of Behring's Strait; Proceedings of an Overland Party on tlie Central Parts of the Arctic American Coasts ; Proceedings of tlie Ent M-prise and the Investigator by way of Lancaster Sound ; Supi)lcinentary Measures of Search : Increased Public Anxiety and New Searching Expeditions ; Despatch of the Enterprise and the Investigator to Behring's Strait ; Overland Exploration of the Coasts west of Cape Walker ; New Government Expedition up r>idnn's Bay to the Northern Archipelago ; Private Expedition under Sir John Ross; Expeditions at the instance of Lady Franklin ; Expedition from America ; The North Star; Proceed- ings of the Prince Albert; Last view of the Exploring Ships; Traces of Sir John Franklin 370 CHAPTER XII. THE NORTHERN WH ALE-FISHERY. Objects of tho Whale-fishery— Early practised on the Coasts of Europe— First Fishing-voyages to tho Arctic Sea— Disputes between tho different Nations- Accommodation effected-- Dutch Fishery— English Fishery ; Its slow Progress and ultimate Success— Various Attempts to form Fishing Settle- ments on the Arctic Shores— Mode of conducting the Fishery —Equipment— Voyage— Attack and Capture of the Whale- Operation of Flensing, &c.— Situations in which the Fishery is carried on ; Its Dangers- Various Shipwrecks and Acci- dents—Recent Changes in the Fishing-stations ; Increased mmt 16 CONTENTS. Dangers— Capital invested in the Trade ; Its Produce ; Ports whence it is carried on— Disasters and Shipwrecks of 1S30 ; Adventures on the Ice ; Extrication of the remaining Vessels ; General Results— Abstract of the Whale-fishings from 1815 to 1834 inclusive— Statement from 1835 to 1842— Details for 1843 and 1844 Page 4'22 CHAPTER XIII. AKCTIC GEOLOGY. North Cape — Cherio Island, with its Secondary Sandstones, Coal, and Plutonian Rocks— Hope Island, and the Thousand Islands— Spitzbergcn, its Mountain-scenery, its Primitive* Transition, Secondary, Tertiary, and Alluvial Rocks— Mof- fen Island, of Recent Formation ; Low Island, of Transition Formation ; Walden Isle, of Primitive Rocks— Ross's Islet, the most northern known Land, composed of Granite-gneiss, with imbedded Precious Garnet— Remarks—Jan Maycn's Island, a Volcanic Island ; Two Volcanoes described— Old Greenland— East Coast of Greenland, very wild and rugged —Werner Mountains, COOO Feet high ; Rocks, Primitive, Transition, Secondary, and Plutonian ; Of the Secondary Rocks, tho most important, as being intimately connected with the Antediluvian Climate of Greenland, arc those of the Coal Formation, which Scorcsby discovered, forming Jameson's Land— West Coast of Greenland, equally rugged and wild with tho East Coast ; Hot Spring there ; the pre- vailing Rocks Primitive, containing rare and beautiful Simple Minerals ; Transition Rocks seldom met with ; Considerable Depositions of Secondary and Tertiary Rocks in some Places —Barrow's Strait— Melville Island interesting to the Geolo- gist, from its containing the old Coal Formation— Port Bowen— Islands and Countries bordering on Hudson's Bay examined and partly discovered by Captain Parry— Con- cluding Remarks ^^Q iu> I LiJtbm'.tt % ■^ (X) V L II Torts |l!)30; >>cl3 ; 11)15 Ills for 4 '22 ttones, fusand litive, -Mof- sitioa Islet, ,'iieiss, [aycn's -Old kig^Ai Smuul kTonarei '\JiiihertiNJin olsteiVhotanp Soiuid nimrira B?* ^ ^ \ •s i*-. PUBLISrai) BY T.NELSON 10 ^ S fe5 Rttseneath Ailet CralemaiJ«^s]£X^ ^"^ » I*«d •liivmihim P ir.B. Siffht Srorts fiilot *\Bmiaiie #j5SS?/"r . . •'*'(9^*:»>^ Mu&/ hist .Orimseiil. —a Lu r qmaiitirii Fa»B\jfcnJhoiy7 i id yf.IaiiMayra I, CSmifh Lo1«mIi«u.I?«W Hrl^fcLnid If StettiH: . dearorOtene I- 'Dnmsen SeniMiK ' 1 tto ^ ■, iinin miJEMMiaH^^Ba ShetituuiJf^ tfrhteulf-.- < ._^ . _,r<)BTn to 30 LcQig-. West of Grpeiiwicli lO ILLSm^n Br T. nelson IOITDON XrEDIXBTTROir . POLAR SEAS AND EEGIONS CHAPTER r. The Climate of the Polar Regions, General View of the Subject— Light thrown on it by Voyages of Discovery — Various Opinions and Observations discussed — Distribution of Heat over the Surface of the Globe— Cur- rents in the Atmosphere— Freezing of the Arctic Sea — Phe- nomena of the Seasons in the Polar llcgions— Formation of Icebergs— Changes in the Aspect of the Polar Seas — Sup- posed Alterations in the Climate of Europe— State of the Ice in the Polar Seas— Situation of the Ancient Colonies in Greenland. The climate and seasons within the Arctic circle ex- chap, l 1 libit most peculuir and striking features, which modify jiod-fTJ^j, in a singular manner the whole aspect of nature. An iniiuenccs. investigation of those phenomena seems therefore ne- cessary for enabling the reader to comprehend the narrative, and to follow through such icy regions the j)aths of the daring navigator. Accordingly, in order to elucidate the subject more fully, it will be proper to give some explication of the principles that regulate generally the distribution of heat over the surface of our globe. Many of the facts relative to the Polar climate have Oiidn oi been collected in the course of the bold and arduous {pyagcs. attempts made to penetrate to India across the northern Beas. Projects of this kind, after being long suspended, . 18 CLIMATE. CHAP. I. old North-west puiisuge. were in 1818 renewed, and embraced with excessive , ardour by the Englisli government. For two or three ^'"7^1 years previous to that date, the captains of ships ein- ploycd in the northern whale-fishery had generally concurred in representing the Arctic Sea as of n sudden become almost open and accessible to the adventurous navigator. By the more speculative reliiters, it was supposed that the vast icy barrier, which for many ages had obstructed those dreary regions, was at last, by some revolution of our globe, broken up and dis- persed. The project of finding a north-west passage to Asia,— a project so often attempted and so long aban- doned,—was by consequence again revived ; and the more daring scheme of penetrating to the Pole itself had likewise been seriously proposed. Of the complete success of either plan the hopes of sober thinkers were indeed extremely slender ; yet the prospect held forth seemed to bo more inviting, on the whole, than at any former period when such bold undertakings were attempted. The discovery of a north-west passage, were it ever attainable, could hardly, it is true, bo of any real benefit to our commerce ; since in such high latitudes, where alone it could be found, it would at all times be very precarious, and liable to interrup- tion from the prevalence of ice. The scheme of actually reaching that northern point on the surface of our globe which terminates its axis of rotation, however interest- ing in a philosophical view, can only be regarded as an object of pure curiosity, and not likely to lead to any useful or practical results. Yet was it befitting the character of a great maritime nation to embrace every chance of improving geographical knowledge, as well as of extending the basis of natural science ; and accord- ingly, about sixty years ago, the Board of Admiralty resolved to fit out an expedition for the express purpose of exploring the Arctic Ocean. The books and memoirs which contained the latest accounts of the state of the northern seas, either sug- gested the enterprise then pui-sued, or were brouglit Valueless- ness of Uie objecc. Books and memoii's. K I i CLIMATE. 19 '\ forward in consequence of its adoption. The Honour- chap. i. jilde Daincs Barrington, a man of learning and some Daines" in},fcnuity, embraced with ardour the opinion of those Banuigtoii. wlio believed that it was possible to reach the Pole, In successive papers, communicated to the Royal Society of London, he not only condensed the information fur- nished by the older voyagers, but exhibited the results of tlie numerous queries relating to the same object, which he had circulated among persons engaged in the Greenland fishery. He thence proved, that, in certain season for favourable seasons, the Arctic Seas are for several weeks voyuging. so open that intrepid navigators might safely penetrate to a very liigh latitude. In compliance with his sim- gulne representations, the Admiralty in 1773 despatched Captain Phipps'to explore those regions ; but this com- mander was unsuccessful in the attempt, having reached only the latitude of 80 J degrees, when his ship got surrounded by a body of ice near Spitzbergen, and escaped with extreme difficulty, though many of the whalers had in that summer advanced farther. Mr Barrington did not, however, despair ; and, following (.xpcriniVnts. out his views, he induced Mr Nuirne and Dr Iliggins to nmke experiments on the congelation of sea-water. Tho various facts were collected in a small volume, to which Colonel Beaufoy subjoined an appendix contain- uig the answers made to his queries by Russian hunters (who are accustomed to spend the whole year in Spitz- bergen), relative to the probability of travelling from that island to the Pole during winter, in sledges drawn by rein-deer. The reports of these hardy men were J^^Jj^^ sufficiently discouraging. They pictured the winter at Spitzbergen as not only severe but extremely bois- terous, the snow falling to the depth of three or five feet, and drifting so much along the shores by the violence of the Avinds as often to block up all communi- cation. The danger of being surprised and overwhelmed by clouds of snow, raised in sudden gusts, was so great that they never ventured to undertake any long journeys over the ice. Nor did they tliiuk it at all practicable 20 CLIMATE. I Eilucatlon. CHAP I to have loaded sledges dragged over n surface so rough — ' and hilly by the force of rein-deer or dogs, c . At a recent period, the speculations of Mr Scorcsby "'■•^°'" ^presented more than ordinary claims to attention, as exhibiting the conclusions of a diligent, accurate, and scientific observer. Trained from infancy to the navi- gation of the frozen seas under the direction of his father, a most enterprising and successful leader, ho conjoined experience with ingenuity and judgment. For several years, during the intervals of his Greenland voyages, he prosecuted a regular course of study at the University of Edinburgh, whicli, enriching his mind with liberal attamments, gave a new impulse to his native genius and ardour. It wa? exceedingly to be regretted, that any jealousies or official punctilios should have prevented government from intrusting the principal command of the Polar expedition to him who not only proposed it originally, but whoso talents and science, joined to his activity, perseverance, and enthu- siasm, afforded assuredly the best promise of its ultimate success. Hans Egede, a benevolent enthusiast, formed a plan iTans Egede. pf reclaiming the natives of Greenland from the errors of Paganism. After various ineffectual attempts, he at last procured by subscription, in Denmark, the sum of £2000, with which he purchased a vessel, and carried his family and forty settlers to Baal's River, in the Baals river, q^^^ degree of north latitude, where he landed on the 3d of July 1721. He was afterwards appointed mis- sionary, with a small salary, by the Danish govern- ment, which occasionally granted some aid to the colony. During his stay, which lasted till 1736, he laboured with great zeal m his vocation. In 1757, the year before his death, he printed his Description of Greenland, in the Danish language, at Copenhagen. A translation of that work, much improved and enlarged, with useful addi- tions by the editor, contains valuable information, tinged with a large portion of credulity. It is remarkable that two centuries of extreme ac- CLIMATE. 21 tivity should hnvc added so little to our knowledge of CHAI' i. tjie Arctic regions. The relations of the earlier navi- jittiTTiuow- gators who sailed to those parts possess an interest which ifiiuf nc- has not heen yet eclipsed. The voyage of Martens from 'i"'"^"* Hamburg to Spitzbergen may be cited as still the most instructive. But the best and completest work on tho subject of the northern fisheries, is a treatise in three volumes octavo, translated from the Dutch language into French by Bernard de Restc, and published at Paris in 1001, under the title Ilistoire des Pcches, des Decouvcrtes et des Etublissemens des Ilollundais dans les Mers da Nord. The Arctic expedition, which in 1810 attracted the Objects of attention of the public, proposed two distinct objects, J,iaitK>^;'i,.' ■"'' — to advance towards the Pole, and to explore a north- west passage to China. These were no doubt splendid schemes ; but, in order to form a right estimate of the plan and some anticipation of its probable results, it was necessary to proceed with caution, and to employ the lights of science. The facts alleged, respecting the vast islands or continents of ice recently separated and dispersed from the Arctic regions, gave occnsion to much loose reasoning, to wild and random conjectures, and Conjcctuica. visionary declamation. Glowing anticipations were con- fidently formed of the future amelioration of climate, which would scarcely be hazarded even in the dreams of romance. Every person possessing a slight tincture of physical science conceives himself qualified to spe- culate concerning the phenomena of weather, in which he feels a deep interest ; and hence a very flimsy and spurious kind of pliilosophy, however trifling or des- picable it may appear in the eyes of the few who are accustomed to think more profoundly, gained cur- rency among certain classes of men, and engendered no small share of conceit. Meteorology is a complex „ . J T 1 J- X • • 1 Meteorology. science, dependmg on so many subordmate pnnciples that require the union of accurate theory with a range of nice and various observations as to have adviinced very slowly towards perfection. 22 CLIMATE. CHAP L With regard to the nature and real extent of the chan-o — ' , which had taken place in the condition of the icy seas, S^"^' the reports were no doubt greatly exaggerated. To re^- ' duce them to their just amount, it would be necessary to estimate the annual effects produced in those regions and likewise to compare the observations of a similar kind made by experienced navigators at former periods. From a critical examination of the various facts left on record, it will perhaps appear that the Arctic Seas have been more than once, in the course of the last half-century, as open as they are now represented. To discuss with accuracy the question of the periodical SSof formation and destruction of the Polar ice, it becomes ''^^- necessary to explain the true principles which regulate the distribution of heat over the globe. This I shall attempt to perform, independently of every hypothesis, by a direct appeal to experiment and observation. If at any place we dig into the ground, we shall find. If UrS by the insertion of a thermometer, tliat as we successively descend we approach constantly to some limiting tempe- rature, which under a certam depth continues unchanged. The point of this equilibrium varies in different soils, but seldom exceeds thirty or fifty feet. If the excavation be made about the commencement of winter, the tempera- ture will appear to increase in the lower strata ; but on the contrary, if the pit be formed in the beginning of summer, it will be found to grow colder in proportion as we descend.* Hence it is manifest that the mass of the earth transmits very slowly the impressions of heat or of cold received at its surface. The external tempera- ture of any given day will perhaps take nearly a month * In the dreary climate of Hudson's Bay, it is remarked by the residents, that, even during the summer months, in dJKgiiiK through the ground for a grave, they always come at the depth of a few feet to a stratum of frozen earth.— A singular feature of the remoter Arctic tracts is the frequent appearance of red snow. This deception is occasioned by the interspersed multi- tudes of minute plants, now termed Protococcm Nivalis, a species oi Algae, wliich penetrate to a great depth tlirough the suow, and vegetate in the severest weather. CLIMATE. 23 to penetrate one foot into the ground. By digging chap. i. downwards in summer we soon reach, therefore, the FornieTim- impressions of the preceding spring and winter ; but the piessions. same progress into the ground brings us back to the temperatures of the autumn and of the summer. Still lower, all the various fluctuations of heat become inter- mingled and confounded in one common mean. Such observations are more easily and correctly made. Mode of ob. by having thermometers, with long stems, sunk to ^'''■^'*''""- different depths in the ground ; and, from an extensive register, we may conclude that the temperature of the ground is always the mean result of tlie impressions made at the surface during a series of years. The suc- cessive strata, therefore, at great depths, may be regarded as permanent records of the average state of the weather in distant ages. Perhaps the superficial influence will Descent or scarcely descend fifty feet in the lapse of a century. 5"^'^',^/"*^ Copious springs, which percolate the bowels of the earth and rapidly convey the impressions of subterranean heat to the surface, will consequently furnish the most accurate reports of the natural register of climate. These, if rightly chosen, differ not sensibly in their temperature at all seasons ; and, whether they have their seat at a depth of one hundred or of five hundred feet, they affect the thermometer alike.* We are hence entitled to con- clude, that however the weather may have varied from 3'ear to year, or changed its character at intervals of short * The celebrated fountain of Vauclusc, situated in the latitude of 43" 53', and 3G0 feet above the level of the Mediterranean Sea, has been observed to acquire its highest temperature about the first day of September, and to reach the lowest at the be- ginning of April ; the former being 56 .3, and the latter 54°.l, by Fahrenheit's scale ; which gives 55 '.2 for its mean heat. The waters are collected from the fissures of an extensive limestone rock, and seem to receive the superficial impressions in the space of three months. They burst forth with such a volume as to form, only a few yards below their source, the translucid Sorgue, a river scarcely inferior, in the quantity of its discharge, to the Tay above the town of Perth. I 24 CLIMATE. i In pita. '• !| CHAP I periods of years, it has yet undergone no material altera- — ' tion during the lapse of many ages. Mode of ex Some philosophers attempt to explain such facts as are plaining the now stated, from the supposed mternal heat ot the globe, ^'*""' caused by the action of central fires; and pretend, in support of their favourite hypothesis, that the tempera- ture always increases near the bottom of very deep mines. But this observation holds only in particular situations, where the warm exhalations from the burning of lamps and the breathmg of the workmen are collected and confined under the roofs of the galleries. In the case of an open pit the effect is quite reversed, the bottom being always colder than the mean temperature. This is owing to the tendency of the chill air to descend by its superior density. The superficial impressions of heat and cold are thus not sent equally downwards ; so that the warmth of summer is dissipated at the mouth of the pit, whilo the rigours of winter are collected below. A similar modification of temperature occura in deep lakes, m consequence of the disposition of the colder and denser portions of the water always to smk down. The permanent heat of the ground is, therefore, pro- duced by the mere accumulation of external impressions received, either directly from the sun's rays, or circuit- ously through the medium of atmospheric influence. But air is better fitted for diffusing than for storing up heat. The whole mass of the atmosphere, it may bo easily shown, does not contain more heat than a stratum of water only ten feet thick, or one of earth measuring fifteen feet. According to their relative temperature, the winds, in sweeping along the ground, either abstract or communicate warmth. But the sun is the great and original fountain of heat, which the internal motion excited in the atmosphere only serves to distribute more equally over the earth's surface. The heat imparted to tile air, or to the ground, is always proportional to the absorption of the solar beams ; and hence the results are still the same, whether we embrace the simple tlieory. Source of ponnanent lieat. Effect of winds. I'l I M, ! CLIMATE. 25 that heat is only the subtile fluid of light in a state of CIIAP. i. combination with its substratum, or prefer the opinion that light has always conjoined with it a certain admix- ture of the invisible matter of heat. Owing to the spherical form of the earth, and the Fonnofthe obliquity of its axis, very different quantities of light or *'*''^^' heat are received in the several latitudes. The same portion of heat, which would raise the temperature of 135 pounds of water a degree on Fahrenheit's scale, is only capable of melting one pound of ice. The measure of ice dissolved is therefore the simplest and most correct standard for estimating the quantity of heat expended in that process. If we apply calculation to actual expcri- ^"'"r.^'^f'* ^^ ment, we shall find that the entire and unimpaired light and Pole. of the sun Avould, at the Equator, at the mean latitude of 55°, and at the Pole, respectively, be sufficient to melt a thickness of ice expressed by 30.7, 25.9, and 13.4 feet. Of this enormous action, the greatest portion is no doubt wasted in the vast abyss of the ocean ; and, of the remainder, a still larger share is perhaps detained and dissipated in the upper atmosphere, or projected again in a soft phosphorescence. Yet the light which, after those diminutions, finally reaches the surface of the earth, if left to accumulate there, would create such inequality of temperature as must prove quite insup- portable. The slow-conducting quality of the ground, if not Conciuctinj? altered by extraneous influence, would fix the heat ^""^'^y »* where it was received, and thus perpetuate the effect of the unequal action of the sun's beams. The mobility of the atmosphere hence performs an important office in the economy of nature, as the great regulator of the system, dispensing moderate warmth, and attempering the extremities of climate over the face of the globe. As the heat accumulates within the tropics, it occasions currents of cold air to rush from the higher latitudes. But the activity of the winds thus raised, being propor- tional to their exciting cause, must prevent it from ever surpassing certain limits. A perpetual commerce of hea^ 26 CLIMATE. CHAP. L Interclianjre of heat and cold. Aerial cur- reuts. between the Poles and tlie Equator is hence maintamcd by tlie agency of opposite currents in the atmosphere. These currents often have their direction modified ; and they may still produce the same effects, by pursuing an oblique or devious course. The actual phenomena of climate only require the various winds, throughout the year, to advance southwards or northwards at the mean rate of about two miles an hour, or to perform in effect three journeys of transfer annually from the Equator to either Pole. Not that these currents carry the impres- sions of heat or cold directly from one extremity of the globe to the other, but by their incessant play they contribute, in the succession of ages, to spread them gradually over the intervening space. The system of opposite aerial currents leads to the same law of the gradation of temperature in different latitudes, as the celebrated Professor Mayer of Gottingen deduced from an empirical process.* It would appear that the variation of the mean temperature at the level of the sea is always proportional to the sine of twice the latitude. Thus, for the parallels of every five degrees, the arrangement is simple : — Latitude. Meau Temperature. Latitude. Mean Temperature. 0° 84° 60° 63°.5 «» 83°.8 65° 49=.2 w 82°.4 60° 45°.0 w 80°.7 G5° 41°.3 20* 77°.9 70° S8°.l 26<» 74°.9 75° S5°.5 80» 70°.9 80° 33°.G Sfi" 67°.0 85° S2°.4 40» 62°.4 90° 32° 4fi» 68°.0 t * This proposition admits of a mathematical demonstration, but which IS too intricate for the present discourse. f Perhaps the gradation of temperature would, in the higher latitudes, require a small modification. Instead of assuming 32 as the medium at the Pole, it might be more exact to adopt 28 , or the melting-pomt of the ice of sea-water. But the re- I CLIMATE. 27 The arithmetical mean, or 60*, corresponds to the CHAP. I. middle latitude of 45° ; but the real mean of the tem- perature over the whole surface of the globe is 67% wliich should occur on the parallel of 35° 61 5' It thus appear, that the system of currents main- system of tained in the atmosphere contSbutes essentially, by its *^^''i'i"'»' unceasing agency in transferring and dispersing heat, to prevent tlie excessive inequality of seasons in the higher latitudes. But the motions produced in such a vast mass of fluid must evidently follow, at long intervals, the accumulated causes which excite them. Hence probably the origin of those violent winds which, suc- ceeding to the sultry warmth of summer and the sharp frosts of winter, prevail in the months of September and March, and are therefore called by seamen the Equinoc- Equinoctial tial Gales. In the Arctic Seas nature has made a fur- gales. ther provision for correcting the excessive irregularity of the action of the sun's rays. This luminary, for several montlis in winter, is totally withdrawn from that dreary waste ; but, to compensate for his long absence, he continues during an equal pei'iod in summer to shine without interruption. Now, from a beautiful arrangement, the surface of the ocean itself, by its alter- nate freezing and thawing, presents a vast substratum, cent voyagers have registered the coldness in advancing north- wards as much more intense. It is evident, however, that their thcrmometrical observations must have been affected by some latent and material inaccuracy. Were the mean tem- perature of the Arctic regions really below the point of saline congelation, the annual formation of ice in those seas would exceed the quantity dissolved, and therefore the extension of the frozen fields would, contrary to fact, be constantly pro- gressive. This argument appears to be quite conclusive • though some attempts are made to elude its force, by alleging that thick blocks of ice, transmitting the impressions of cold with extreme slowness, may confine and exasperate the atmo spheric rigours. But ice conducts like water near the freezing point, when this fluid conveys the external influence of heat and cold as a solid mass, unassisted by the translocation of its particles, which can occur only in the case of sensible expan- sions. The formation and dissolution of ice are therefore simi- lar acts, that contribute equally to mitigate the vicissitudes of the Arctic climate. I ■ I , Heat of summer. i;i! ;!:'! !',' . I 28 CUMATE. CHAP. I. on which the excesses of heat and of cold in succoBsbn — , ore mutually spent. In ordinary cases, the superhcial SSr water, as it cools and therefore contracts, smks down into the abyss by its superior gravity; but when_ it grows warmer it expands, and consequently floats in- cumbent, communicating afterwards its surplus heat with extreme slowness to the mass below. But the seas within tiie Arctic circle being always near the verge of congelation, at which limit water scarcely undergoes any sensible alteration of volume even from a consider- able change of temperature, the superficial stratum remains constantly stagnant, and exposed to receive all the variable impressions of the sweeping winds. The piercing cold of winter, therefore, spends its rage in freezing the salt water to a depth proportional to its intensity and continuance.* The prolonged warmth of summer, again, is consumed in melting those fields of ice, every inch of which in thickness requiring as much absorption of heat as would raise the temperature ot a body of water 10| feet thick a whole degree. The summer months are hence nearly gone before the sun can dissolve the icy domes, and shoot with entire effect his slanting rays. It may be shown, that under the Pole the action of the solar light is, at the time of the solstice, one-fom-th part greater than at the Equator, and sufficient in the course of a day to melt a sheet of ice an inch and a half thick. If horizontal winds serve to balance the unequal ac- tion of the solar beams over the surface of the globe, the rising and descending currents excited in the body of the atmosphere still more effectually maintain the equilibrium of day and night. Afu: the ground has • At Melville Island, in the latitude of 74° 45', Captain Parry observed ice to form, of a thickness from three to five inches, around the ship's sides in the space of twenty-four hours ; and in one instance it gained in that time the thickness of 7^ inches, Fahrenheit's thermometer being then 12' below zero. Such ^ower of congelation, it might be computed, would require tlio full refrigerating action of a stratum of air, at that tempera- ture, rather more than a mile in height. Equilibrium uiuiutuined. M CLIMATE. 29 become heated by the direct illumination of the sun, it CHAr. i. warms the lowest portion of the incumbent air, which, j^eactlon on being thus dilated, begins to ascend, and therefore oc- the air. casions the descent of an equal portion of the fluid. But these vertical currents, being once created, will continue their motion long after the primary cause has ceased to impel them, and may protract, during the night, the accumulation of chilled air on the surface of the earth. This effect is further augmented, in general, by the fri- Ancmpnta- gorific impressions which are at all times darted down- ^'^"^^^^ ^''** wards from a clear sky.* By the operation of this combined system, therefore, the diurnal vicissitudes of heat and cold are diminished in the temperate and torrid ijones. Another consequence results from such rapid and continual interchange of the higher and lower strata, that the same absolute quantity of heat must obtain at every altitude in the atmosphere. But this equal distribution of heat at all elevations is Arodifying modified by another principle, which causes the regular <^'^'^^^^ gradation upwards of a decreasing temperature. In fact, air is found to have it? capacity or attraction for lieat enlarged by rarefaction ; so that any portion of the fluid carried to the higher regions, where it by conse- quence expands, will have its temperature proportionally diminished. The decrease of temperature in ascending the atmosphere, to moderate heights, is not far from being uniform, at the rate of about one degree on Fah- renheit's scale for every hundred yards of elevation. t • See Supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. iii. Eart i. p. 177 ; or Transactions of the Royal Society of Edin- urgh, vol. viii. part ii. p. 465. t It should be remarked, however, that at great elevations the law of equal decrements of heat suffers a considerable de- viation. In the higher regions of the atmosphere the decrease of temperature advances proportionally faster. Such is the conclusion drawn from some nice experiments, and confirmed by a comparison of numerous actual observations. It may be Bufiicient to notice here a few distinct results. Thus, while at the level of the sea the mean temperature of the air or the land is, in the tropical regions, one degree colder for each hundred yards of ascent, it suffers the same decrease at the elevation of one mile for every 92 yards, at two miles for 85 CHAP. I. Limit of per- pctnnl con- gelation. Ilcat of water. P/ecipitation of cold in lakes. Peculiar cir- cumstances of the Arctic Seaa. gg^ CLIMATE. Hence the llniit of perpetual congelation forms a curre, which is nearly the same as the Companion of the Cycloid, bending gradually from the Equator, reverting its in- flexure at the latitude of 45°, and grazing the surface at the Pole. The mean heights of eternal frost, under the Equator, and at the latitudes of 30" and 00°, are re- spectively 16207, 1H84, and 3818 feet. It is important to remark, that the heat of large collections of water seldom agrees precisely with the mean temperature corresponding to the latitude. The variable impressions received at the surface from the atmosphere will not, as on land, penetrate slowly into the mass, and become mingled and equalized at a mo- derate depth. Heat is conducted through liquids chiefly by the internal play resulting from their partial expan- sion. In the more temperate regions of the globe, the superficial waters of lakes or seas, as they grow warmer, and, therefore, specifically lighter, still remain suspended by their acquired buoyancy. But whenever they come to be chilled they suffer contraction, and are precipitated by their greater density. Hence the deep water, both of lakes and of seas, is always considerably colder thiin what floats at the surface. The gradation of cold is distinctly traced to the depth of twenty fathoms, below which the diminished temperature continues nearly uniform as far as the sounding-line can reach. In shallow seas, however, the cold substratum of liquid is brought nearer to the top. The increasing coldness of water, drawn up from the depth of only a few fathoms, may hence indicate to the navigator who traverses the wide ocean his approach to banks or land. These principles, however, do not apply to the pe- culiar circumstances of the Arctic Seas. Water difters essentially, in its expansion by heat, from mercury, oil, iz yards, yards, at three miles for 78 yards, at four miles for and at five miles, the highest summit perhaps of our kIoCc, the decrement of a degree for (i6 yards. Withm the Arctic circle the gradation of cold, iu asccudiug the atmosphere, must be dec''^edlv more rapid. CLIMATE. SI f 01' alcohol : Far from dilating uniformly, — a property which fits the latter substances for the construction of thermometers, — it swells from the point of congelation, or rather a very few degrees above it, with a rapid pro- gression to that of boiling. Near the limit of its greatest contraction, the volume of water is scarcely affected at all by any alteration of heat. When the surface of the ocean is depressed to a temperature between 28 and 44 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale, it remains almost stagnant, and therefore exposed to tlie full impression of external cold. Hence the Polar Seas are always ready, under the action of any frosty wind, to suffer congelation. The p,nnual variations of the weather are in those seas expended on the supei-ficial waters, without disturbing the vast abyss below. Contrary to what takes place under milder skies, the water drawn up from a con- siderable depth is often warmer within the Arctic circle than what lies on the surface. The floating ice ac- cordingly begins to melt generally on the under side, from the slow communication of the heat sent upwards. These deductions are confirmed by the results of the nicest astronomical observations. Any change in the temperature of our globe would occasion a corresponding change of volume, and consequently an alteration in the momentum of the revolving mass. Thus, if from the accession of heat the earth had gained only a millionth part of linear expansion, it would have required an in- crease of five times proportionally more momentum to maintain the same rotation. On this supposition, therefore, the diurnal revolution would have Ijeen re- tarded at the rate of three seconds in a week. But the length of the day has certainly not varied one second in a year since tlie age of Hipparchus ; for we cannot imagine that the ancient observations of eclipses could ever deviate an hour, or even 3000", from the truth. We may hence conclude, that in the lapse of three thousand years the mass of our globe has not acquired the ten-millionth part of expansion, — an effect which CHAP. I. Expansion by lieut. Aptitude for coiigektioQ. Astro- nomical evi- dence. Length of day. CHAP. I. Influence of the accumu- lation of ice. Intervnl of warm til. Fogs. :• ' Frost-smoke. \'i I! 32 CLIMATE. the smallest fraction of a degree of heat would have communicated. The accumulation of ice on the surface of the ocean would likewise have occasioned a prolongation of the length of the day. This alteration would no doubt h^' diminished under the Arctic circle, from the proximity of the glacial protuberance to the axis ; but its influence would still cause an appreciable differenco. After the continued action of the sun has at last melted away the great body of ice, a shovt and dubious interval of warmth occurs. In the space of a few weeks, visited only by slanting and enfeebled rays, frost again resumes its tremendous sway. Snow begins to fall as early as August, and the whole ground is covered to the depth of two or throe feet, before the month of October. Along the shorei- and bays the fresh water, poured from rivulets or drained from the thawing of former collections of snow, becomes quickly converted into solid ice. As the cold augments the air deposits its moisture in the form of a fog, Avhich freezes into a fine gossamer netting or spicular icicles, dispersed through the atmosphere and extremely minute, that might seem to pierce and excoriate the skin. The hoar- frost settles profusely, in fantastic clusters, on every prominence. The whole surface of the sea steams like a limekiln, — an appearance called ihe/rost-smoke, caused, as in other instances of the production of vapour, by the water's being still relatively warmer than the incumbent air. At length the dispersion of the mist, and conse- quent clearness of the atmosphere, announce that the upper stratum of the sea itself has cooled to the same standard ; a sheet of ice spreads quickly over the smooth expanse, and often gains the thickness of an inch in a single night. The darkness of a prolonged winter now broods impenetrably over the frozen continent, unless the moon chance at times to obtrude her faint rays, which only discover the horrors and wide desolation'of the scene. The wretched settlers, covered with a load i. CLIMATE. 33 of bear-skins, remain crowded and immured in their CIIAP. liut, every chink of which they carefully stop against NativesT the piercing cold ; and, cowering about the stove or the lamp, they seek to doze away the tedious night. Their slender stock of provisions, though kept in the same apartment, is often frozen so hard as to require to be cut by a hatchet. The whole of the inside of their hut becomes lined with a thick crust of ice ; and if they happen for an instant to open a window, the mois- ture of the confined air is immediately precipitated in the form of a shower of snow. As the frost continues to penetrate deeper, the rocks are hearJ at a distance to split with loud explosions. The sleep of death seems to wrap up the scene in utter and oblivious ruin.* At length the sun reappears above the horizon ;t ccippmr but his languid beams rather betray the wide waste ^' than brighten the prospect. By degrees, however, the i^irther progress of the frost is checked. In the month of May the famished inmates venture to leave their hut, in quest of fish on the margin of the sea. As the sun acquires elevation his power is greatly increased. The snow gradually wastes away, — the ice dissolves apace, — and vast fragments of it, detached from the cliffs, and undermined beneath, precipitate themselves on the shores with the crash of thunder. The ocean is now unbound, UK u o: sun U.9 • " The sound of voices which, during the cold weather, could be heard at a much greater distance than usual, served now and then to break the silence which reigned around us ; a silence fur different from that peaceable composure which characterizes the landscape of a cultivated country ; it was the death-like stillness of the most dreary desolation, and the total absence of animated existence." — Parky. During the winter at Melville Island, people were heard conversing at the distance of a mile. This was no doubt owing partly to the density of the frigid atmosphere, but chiefly to the absence of all obstruc- tion in a scene of universal calm and darkness. f In the Arctic regions, the atmosphere being highly con- densed by the intensity of the cold, the horizontal refraction is much augmented, which causes the sun to reappear several days sooner than might be expected from the latitude. This curious and cheering effect was first remarked by the unfortu- nate Hollanders who wintered at Spitzbergen in 1596. 31 CLIMATE. of ice. C3IAP. I and its icy dome broken up with tremendous rupture. ' — '■ ' The enonnous fields of ice, thus set ofloat, arc, by tho oT£ w/"* violence of wmd and currents, again dissevered and dis- persed. Sometimes, impelled in opposite directions, they approach and strike with a mutual shock, like the crash of worlds,— sufficient, if opposed, to reduce to atoms, in a moment, the proudest monuments of huniaii power. It is impossible to picture a situation more awful than that of the crew of a whaler, who see their frail bark thus fatally enclosed, expecting' immediuto and inevitable destruction. Dissfpation before the end of June, the shoals of ice in the Arctic of tiiesiiottJs Seas are commonly divided, scattered, and dissipated. But the atmosphere is then almost continually damp, and loaded with vapour. At this season of tlie year, a dense fog generally covers the surface of the sea, of a milder temperature indeed than the frost-smoke, yet produced by the inversion of the same cause. Tho lower stratum of air, as it successively touches tho colder body of water, becomes chilled, and thence disposed to deposit its moisture. Such thick fogs, with mere gleams of clear weather, infesthig the north- ern seas during the greater part of the summer, render their navigation extremely dangerous. In the course of the month of July, the superficial water is at last brought to an equilibrium of temperature with the air, and the sun now shines out with a bright and dazzling radiance. For a certain time before the close of the summer, such excessive heat is accumulated in the bay« and sheltered spots, that the tar and pitch are sometimes melted, and run down the ships' sides. Notwithstanding the shortness of the summer in tlie high latitudes, the air on land becomes often oppressive- ly sultry. This cxces.4ive heat, being conjoined with moisture, engenders clouds of mosquitoes, from the stings of which the Laplanders are forced to seek refuge in their huts, where they envelop themselves in dense smoke. Humidity marks the general character of the Arctic regions, which are covered during the greater Danfforous navigation ExccssiTe heat. CLIMATE. 35 part of the year with chilling fogs. The sky ecldotn CHAi*. r. appciirs clear except for a few weeks in winter, when ^,,,^,~ ^jj the cold at tho surface becomes most intense. Yet the wiud. rij^our of that season is not felt so severely as the thermo- meter would indicate. When the temperature is lowest the jiir is commonly calm, and therefore abstracts less heat from the body than the exposure to a strong wind of much inferior coldness. The providence of the na- tives serves to mitigate the hardships they have to suffer. The ]']s<|uimaux, on the approach of winter, cut the hard ice building ice into tall 8(j[uare blocks, with which they construct regular spacious domes, connected with other smaller ones, for the various purposes of domestic economy. They shape the inside with care, and give it an even glossy surface by the aff"usion of water. The snowy wall soon becomes a solid concrete mass, which, behig a slow conductor, checks the access of cold, while it admits a sufficient portion of light. It may also be remarked, that the exteraal darkness prevails only during a part of the day. Since twilight obtains when- Twilight. ever tlic sun is less depressed than 18 degrees below the horizon, the limits of entire obscuration occur in the latitudes of 84|° and 48,^° ; in the former at mid-day in the winter solstice, and in the latter at midnight in the solstice of summer. Between these extremes the atmosphere at the opj)Osite seasons glows, to a greater or a less extent, from the middle of the day or of the night. Accordingly, Captain Parry's party, during their detention at Melville Island, in the latitude of 74 40', found that, in clear weather about noon, they could easily, in the depth of winter, read the smallest print on deck. This position corresponds to the alternating jnu-allel of 58° 20', which nearly reaches Orkney, where the transparency of the nights in the height of summer is well known.* The approach of twilight is, besides, • Tills view of the subject deserves perhaps more elucidation. The inhabitant of a temperate climate may hence form a better conception of the progressive glimmer of an Arctic winter. In a high uortheru latitude tlie dusky glow at uoon in mid-wiuter CLIMATE. CHAP. I. Refraction. Jlid-winter nioun. advanced in the frozen regions by the superior refractive power of a very dense atmosphere. The Jiorizontal refraction usually raises the lower limb of the sun and moon about the twelfth part of their diametci-s, and often gives it a wavy and fantastic outline. Hence the reappearance of those luminaries is hastened within the Arctic circle, though the quantity of anticipation has been much exaggerated. The ice which obstructs the navigation of the Arctic Seas consists of two very different kinds ; the one pro- duced by the congelation of fresh, and the other by exactly resembles the summer twilight in some corresponding latitude farther south. Let L and / denote the two northern latitudes, D and d the north or south declination of the sun ; then will the depression of this luminary below the horizon bo expressed in winter by c?+L— 90% and in summer by ,90^ — D~/. Assuming 23i° for D and d, the depressions at the solstitial points will be respectively L— CGi" and CG^' — /; and conse- quently reckoning the limit of darkness when the sun is 1 8 ' below the horizon, L— 66^°=18°, and 66h°—l=l8\ and L = 84^°, and /=48^°, being the latitudes where the gleam at mid- day in winter and the twilight at midnight in summer first appear. But in general, the latitudes of equal obscurity or illumination are evidently included in the simple foimula L-|-/ = 133". Hence this equivalent table : — 84^" 48^ 85° 48" 86" 47° 87° 46" 88° 45° sr 44° iJO° 43° At the Pole. A* *''® P°'^» therefore, it is as dark at noon in the dci)tli of winter as it is at midnight in the summer solstice at the lati- tudeof43°. But a modification may possibly be required. Wo should probably come nearer the truth to assume, as the limit of darkness, a depression of 20' for the Arctic regions (where tho Horizontal refraction is so much increased by excessive cold) stand thus ?1 ^^^ ^^^^^ climates. Tho table would then 86A° 87^ so.i 50" 88° 49° 89° 48° 90° 47' CLIMATE. 37 that of salt water. In those inhospitable tracts, the chap, l snow, which annually falls on the islands or continents. Different being again dissolved by the progress of the summer's ices, heat, pours forth numerous rills and limpid streams, which collect along the indented shores, and in the deep bays enclosed by precipitous rocks. There this clear and gelid water soon freezes, and every successive year supplies an additional investing crust, till, after the lapse perhaps of several centuries, the icy mass rises at last to the size and aspect of a mountain, com- mensurate with the elevation of the adjoining cliffs. The melting of the snow, which is afterwards deposited -^rciting of on such enormous blocks, likewise contributes to their ^^ growth ; and by filling up the accidental holes or cre- vices, it renders the whole structure compact and uni- form. Meanwhile the principle of destruction has alreaJy begun its operations. The ceaseless agitation of the sea gradually wears and undermines the base of the icy mountain, till at length, by the action of its o^vn accumulated weight, when it has perhaps attained an altitude of a thousand or even two thousand feet, it is torn from its frozen chains, and precipitated, with a tremendous plunge, mto the abyss below. This mighty launch now floats like a lofty island on the ocean ; till, driven southwards by winds and currents, it insen- sibly wastes and dissolves away in the wide Atlantic. Such I conceive to be the real origin of the icy origin of mountains or icebergs^ entirely similar in their for- icebergs, mation to the glaciers which occur on the flanks of the Alps and the Pyrenees. They consist of a clear, compact, and solid ice, having the fine green tint verg- ing to blue, which ice or water, when very pure and of a sufficient depth, generally assumes. From the cavities of these icebergs, the crews of the northern whalers are accustomed, by means of a hose or flexible tube of canvass, to fill their casks easily with the finest and softest water. Of the same species of ice, the frag- ments which are picked up as they float on the surface m 38 CLIMATE. CHAP. L FreerinR of sea-water. Icebergs. df the ocean yield the adventurous navigator the most refreshing beverage.* It was long disputed among the learned, whether the waters of the ocean are capable of being congealed ; and many frivolous and absurd arguments, of course, we w advanced to prove the impossibility of the fact. But the question is now completely resolved ; and tho freezing of sea-water is estabhshed both by observation and experiment. To congeal such water of the ordi- nary saltness, or containing nearly the thirtieth part of its weight of sajine matter, it requires not an extreme cold ; this process taking effect about the 27th degree • The water ••vhich flows from those Arctic glaciers becomes frozen again on tho approach of winter, and forms along tho coast a tnick stratum of blue solid ice, embedded in the boacb, and from six to ten feet under the surface. Hi* CLIMATE. 39 on Fahrenheit's scale, or only five degrees below the CIIAP. I. freezing-point of fresh water. The product, however, Frccziiis- 13 an imperfect sort of ice, easily distinguishable from V'l^t of suit- the result of a regular crystallization : it is porous, incompact, and imperfectly diaphanous. It consists of spicular shoots, or thin flakes, which detain within their interstices the stronger bi-ine ; and its granular spongy texture has, in fact, the appearance of congealed syrup, or what the confectioners call water-ice. This salmc ice can, therefore, never yield pure water ; yet, if the strong brine imprisoned in it be first suffered to drain off slowly, the loose mass that remains will melt mto a brackish liquid, which in some cases may be deemed drinkable.* While icebergs are the slow growth of ages, the fields prowtii of or shoals of saline ice are annually formed and dcstroj'ed. ^^^ ^ *' The ice generated from melted snow is hai'd, pellucid, and often swells to an enormous height and dimcn- ' Ions. But the concretion of salt water wants solidity, clearness, and strength, and never attains to any very considerable thickness. It seldom floats during more than part of the year ; though, in some cold seasons, the scattered fragments may be sui'prised by the early frost, and preserved till the following summer. The whale-fisliers enumerate several varieties of the Varieties of salt-water ice. A very wide expanse of it they call ^^^'"''•^^'^ a field, and one of smaller dimensions a floe. When a field is dissevered by a subaqueous or grown swell, it breaks into numerous pieces, seldom exceeding forty or fifty yards in diameter, which, taken collective- ly, are tenned a pack. This pack again, when of a broad shape, is called a patch; and, when much • Captain Parry remarked, that the superficial water near melting ice had scarcely any trace of saltness. In other ob- Bcrvations mado about the end of July, he discovered the water at the surface to conttiiu only the 5.50th part of its weight of salt ; but under ten fathoms the proportion had increased to the 3f)th, and at tho depth of 300 fathoms to the 37th part. The triable ice of sea-water was found to hold the 115th part of salt. 1 \ ] ! CHAP. I, A struma. Drift-ice. Sludj^a Ice-blink. 40 CLIMATE. elongated, a stream. The packs of ice are crowde«3 and heaped together by violent winds ; but they again separate and spread asunder in calm weather. If a ship can sail freely through the floating pieces of ice, it is called drift-ice, and is said to be loose or open. When, again, from the effect of abrasion, the larger blocks are cruml)led down into minute fragments, this collection is called brash-ice. A portion rising above the common level is te'rmed a hummock, being produced by the squeezing of one piece over another. These hummocks or protuberances break the uniform surface of the ice, and give it a most diversified and fantastic appearance. They arc numerous in the heavy packs, and along the edges of ice-fields, reaching to the height of thirty feet. Tlie term sludge is applied by the sailors to the soft and incoherent crystals which the frost forms when it first attacks the ruffled surface of the ocean. As these increase, they have some effect, like oil, to still the secondary waves ; but they are prevented from coalescing into a continuous sheet by the agitation which still prevails ; and they form small discs, rounded by continual attrition and scarcely three inches in dia- meter, called pancakes. Sometimes these again unite into circular pieces, perhaps a foot thick, and many yards in circumference. The fields and other collections of floating ice are often discovered at a great distance, by that singuhir appearance on the verge of the horizon, which the Dutch seamen have termed ice-blink. It is a stratum of lucid whiteness, occasioned evidently by the glare of light reflected obliquely from the surface of the ice against the opposite atmosphere. This shining streak, which looks always brightest in clear weather, indicates, to the experienced navigator, 20 or 30 miles beyond the limit of direct vision, not only the extent and figure, but even the quality of the ice. The blink from packs of ice appears of a pure white, while that which is occasioned by snow-fields has some tinge of yellow. The mountains of hard and perfect ice are the gradual \ CLIMATE. 41 production, perhaps, of many centuries. Along the chap, i, western coast of Greenland, prolonged into Davis' Strait, jrouutaTns of they form an immense rampai't, which presents to the ice. mariner a sublime spectacle, resembling at a distance whole groups of churches, mantling castles, or fleets mider full sail. Every year, but especially in hot seasons, they are partially detached from their bases, and whelmed into the deep sea. In Davis' Strait those icebergs appear the most frequent ; and about Disco Bay, where the soundings exceed 300 fathoms, masses of such enormous dimensions are met with, that the Dutch seamen compare them to cities, and often bestow on them the familiar names of Amsterdam or Haerlem. They are carried towards the Atlantic by the current which generally flows from the north-east, and after they reach the warmer water of the lower latitudes they rapidly dissolve, and finally disappear, probably in the space of a few months. The blocks of fresh- water ice appear black as they ^j^^j^j^ ^^ j^.^^ float, but show a fine emerald or beryl hue when brought up on the deck. Though perfectly transpa- rent like crystal, they sometimes enclose threads or streamlets of air-bubbles, extricated in the act of con- gelation. This pure ice, being only a fifteenth part lighter than fresh water, must consequently project about one-tenth as it swims on the sea. An iceberg of 2000 feet in height would therefore, after it floated, icebergi^ still rise 200 feet above the surface of the water. Such, perhaps, may be considered as nearly the extreme di- mensions. Those mountains of ice may even acquire more elevation at a distance from land, both from the snow which falls on them, and from the copious vapours which precipitate and congeal on their surface. But in general they are caiTied forwards by the current which sets from the north-east into the Atlantic, where, bathed in a warmer fluid, they rapidly wa^te and dissolve. It may be shown by experiment, that if the water in which they float had only the temperature of 42°, the mass of ice would lose the thickness of an inch every I I If lii 111 a 3? 18 5 li I i j;? % 42 CLIMATE. Position in the Arctic regions. CHAP. L hour, or two feet in a day. Supposing the surface of — • , the sea to be at 62°, the daily diminution of thickness Icebergs?^ "'would be doubled, and would tlicvcforc amount to four feet. An iceberg having GOO feet of total elevation would hence, on this probable estimate, require 150 days for its dissolution. But the mcltuig of the ice would be greatly accelerated if the mass were impelled through the water by the action of winds. A velocity of only a mile in an hour would triple the ordinary effect. Hence, though large bodies of ice are often found near the banks of Newfoundland, they seldom advance fiirther, or pass beyond the 48th degree of latitude. Within the Arctic regions those stupendous blocks remain, by their mere inertia, so fixed on the water, as commonly to serve for the mooring of vessels employed in the whale-fishery. In such cases, how- ever, it is a necessary precaution to lengthen the cables, and ride at some distance from the frozen cliff; because the fragments of ice, which the seamen term calves, are frequently detached from the under part of the mass, and, darting upwards, acquire such a velocity in their ascent, that they would infallibly strike holes into the ship's bottom. The ice produced from salt-water is whitish, porous, and almost opaque. It is so dense, from the quantity of strong brine enclosed in its substance, that when floating in the sea, it projects only one-fiftieth part above the surface. The porous saline ice has a variable thick- ness, yet seldom exceeding six feet, and wliich, though during the greater part of the year it covers the Arctic Seas, is annually formed and destroyed ; a small portion only, and at certain seasons, escaping the general wreck. The thaw commonly lasts about three months ; an I during that time the heat of the solar rays, which, though oblique, yet act with unceasing energy, whether applied directly or through the intervention of the air or the Avater, is sufficient for the dissolution of all the ice pro- duced in the course of the autumn, the winter, and tho spring. It may be proved by experiment tliat, under Salt-water ice. CLIMATE. 43 the Pole itself, the power of the sun at the solstice could, CHAP, i in the space of a week, melt a stratum of five inches of p^^ ' . ice. We may hence fairly compute the annual effect to sun. be sufficient for thawing to the depth of forty inches. It sliould likewise be observed, that, owing to the prevailing haziness of the atmosphere in the northern latitudes, there can scarcely exist those singular cold emanations which always dart from an azure sky, and in the more temperate climates diminish the calorific action of the sun often by one-fifth part. On tliis account, perhaps, the estimate of the annual destruction of Polar ice may be raised to a thickness of four feet. As heat is absorbed in the process of thawing, so it Is ^icat again evolved in the act of congelation. The annual formation and destruction ol ice within the Arctic circle is thus a beautiful provision of Nature for mitigating the excessive inequality of temperature. Had only dry land been there opposed to the sun, it would have been ab- solutely scorched by his incessant beams in summer, yet pinched during the darkness of winter by the most intense and penetrating cold. None of the animal or Effect ot vegetable tribes could have at all supported such ex- ^^^^ter. tremes. But in the actual arrangement the surplus heat of summer is spent in melting away the ice ; and its deficiency in winter is partly supplied by the influence of the progress of congelation. As long as ice remains to thaw, or water to freeze, the temperature of the at- mosphere can never vary beyond certain limits. Such is the harmony of the system ; and all experience and observation confirm the belief that it is not subject to any radical change. Some years may chance to fonn Annual more ice than others, or to melt more away ; but it changes. were idle to expect any thing like a general or permanent disruption of the glacial crust which binds the regions of the north. Even were this ice once removed, a similar collection would soon succeed, since it is always the effect, and not the cause, of the disposition of the atmos- phere, which it really serves to temper. We should be guilty of the most vicious reasoning in a circle, if we 44 CHAP. I. Influence on lower lati- tudtiS. Reduction of ice. Ciiimerical ideas. ' CLIMATE. maintained that ice first cooled the air, and that this cold air next increased the fields of ice. But, whatever be the vicissitudes of the Polar ice, they cannot, in any sensible manner, affect the climates of the lower latitudes. The whole circumjacent space where frost holds his reign bears a very small proportion to the surface of the northern hemisphere. Reckoning from the parallel of sixty degrees, it would not exceed the eighth part ; but, since the gelid region hai-dly extends below the latitude of seventy-five degrees, it may be stated at the thirty-second part of the hemisphere. On the supposition, therefore, that the Arctic cold were all transferred and infused into the atmosphere of the south, It would yet produce no perceptible alteration of climate. Even if we imagmed with Mr Scoresby, that, during the years 1816 and 1817, two thousand square leagues of ice disappeared in the Greenland Seas between the parallels of seventy-four and eighty degrees, this extent would still scarcely exceed half the surface of Ireland. It may be calculated, that the loss of heat on our globe, occasioned by a total eclipse of the sun, reckoning this only equivalent to a complete obscuration for the space of a single hour, is as much as would be absorbed by the thawing of a circle of ice 500 miles in diameter and 150 feet thick. This quantity surpasses at least sixty times the ice-fields dispersed from Greenland, allowing them the mean thickness of thirty feet ; and yet the tempera- ture of the air is never depressed more than a degree or two during the continuance of any solar eclipse. But the idea is quite chimerical, that any winds could ever transport the Polar influence to our shores. It may be proved, from the results of accurate experiment, that a current of air flowing over a warmer surface, whetlier of land or water, becomes, in the space of an hour, pene- trated with the same temperature through a stratum of eighty feet ; though the limit of actual contact, or of mutual attrition, is confined to a surface not exceeding the 600th part of an inch in tliickness. If \vc assign to CLIMATE. 45 it the height of a mile, which is a most ample allowance, chap. i. it would lose uU its sharpness, and acquire the standard jr^LTrof cold heat in the course of sixty-six hours. Admitting this wimis. wind to travel at the rate even of twenty miles each hour, it would consequently spend all its frigorific action in a tract of 1320 miles. The gales from the remotest north must thus discharge their store of cold into the German Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. Nor could such impressions, though continued through a course of ages, have the smallest power to chill the superficial water ; for the moment any portion of this was cooled, it would, from its increased density, sink down into the vast abyss. The surface would not be affected till after the cooling had, in its progress, pervaded the whole mass from the bottom upwards. According to the calculations T>cptii of of Laplace, founded on a comparison of the theory of °'^'^""" tides with actual observation, the mean depth of the ocean exceeds ten English miles. Supposing, therefore, a whid blowing from some northerly point, and ten degrees colder than the water, were to sweep over the Atlantic six months every year, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, it would take 220 years to abstract from that vast body of water a single degree of heat.* Some persons have imagined that the mountains or influence on islands of ice, which are occasionally drifted into the """^ ci'm^'e. Atlantic Ocean, must be sufficient, by their frigorific influence, to modify the character of our climate. One of the first who advanced that opinion was the ingenious Richard Bradley, fellow of the Royal Society, and pro- fessor of botany in the University of Cambridge. In " A Survey of the Ancient Husbandry and Gardening, col- • It is true that Laplace, on reviewing his intricate analysis, reduced successively tne measure he had assigned for the mean depth of the ocean, without coming to any precise conclusion. But even supposing it were only five miles, or equal to the elevation of the highest mountains, the continued and absolutely concentrated action of the northern winds during more than a century would still be required, though counteracting causes were excluded, to cool down the mass of the Atlantic oue degree. 40 CLIMATE. it CHAP. I. BiMilley's opinion. Ill 'I ft Size of Icubcrga. lected from the Greek and Roman Writers," printed in octavo at Loudon in 1725, he introduces the following remarkable passage : — « I the rather mention the case of winds becoming cold by mixing with the effluvia of snow or ice, because I liave made some remarks upon the tempestuous weather, which often happens about the end of May, or in June, which has in all my observations been brought in by westerly winds ; and again, I as surely find, that at such times large islands of ice and snow are passing to the southward in the Western Ocean, as I have been in- formed by several captains of sliips that were then coming from our plantations to England. Some of these islands are so large as to measure sixty miles in length, and yielding so great a vapour, tliat for a day's voyage on one side of them, the weather has been so hazy that the mariners could not discover what they were ; and this was accompanied with so much cold, that they imagined they had mistaken in their accounts, and got several degrees too far towards the north ; but a day or two explained the matter, and gave them an opportunity of surveying what they had been so much surprised at. Now, considering the extraordinary heat of the sun at the season these appear, the vapour must be very con- siderable that rises from them, and it is no wonder then, that, as it expands itself, it presses the air with violence enough to cause tempests and cany cold along with it." But a little reflection will convince us that such re- mote influence on our climate must be quite insignificant, their ctfccts. At a very wide estimation, the surface of ice expose5 moulds the climate, and varies the features of the seasons chap. i. over the globe. It is a common remark of tliose who i>i.suit7of a frequent the Arctic Seas, that tliey find the letist ob- severe >vin- struction from ice when the preceding winter has been *^*' very severe in the more southern latitudes. In the year 1760, though the frost had proved most intense through the rest of Europe, the whalers reached a high latitude ; and, not to multiply instances, the three seasons preceding 1818, reckoned very open, succeeded to winters notoriously cold and protracted. Nor is it difficult to discern the reason of this seeming paradox ; for our severe winters arc occasioned by the ])revalence of northerly winds, which must arrive at the Polar Seas from the South, and consequently transjwrt so much warmth to them as may check the usual rigour of the frost. The main argument, however, brought to prove the Norse colony deterioration of the Arctic climate, is drawn from the */ <^<^^'"- supposed existence of a colony which had once flourished on the eastern coast of Greenland, but has for several centuries been extinct ; all access to its remains being at length completely barred by the accumulation of ice. This tale, which seems to have owed its birth to Tor- feeus, the historian of Norway, has obtained very general credence. Yet a sober examination of the early Sagat, or northern chronicles, so full of wonder and fable, will show that there is no solid reason for entertaining such a notion, or believing that the first settlement of Green- land was made on the east side of the continent. The whole contexture of the original narrative indicates the very opposite conclusion. After the North had ceased to send forth her numer- Scandinavian ous swarms upon the fertile provinces of the Roman "*^'°"*- empire, the Scandinavian nations, prompted by their peculiar situation, betook themselves to a life of mari- time adventure. Those bold and hardy pirates visited every sea, and pillaged, during a course of nearly three hundred years, all the coasts of Europe, from the ex- tremity of Scotland to the shores of Sicily. During CHAP. I. Extensive cuiiquesta. 'i\ CHAP. I. Fate of the Kttlcrs. Fabiilons accuuiitdi m question lately entertained wns, whctlier these ill-fated colonists survived tho catastroplie, or were sudik-nly entombed in ice and snow, as the unhappy citizens of Herculaneum were anciently involved in a dense shower of volcanic ashes. Trciutiuious stories are told of tho east side of GreenLuid being now tenanted by giants and stalking ghosts. For more than a century past the court of Denmark has, at different times, despatched ships to search after its lost colony, the crews of which, evidently under the impression of superstitious awe, found it impossible to penetrate on that enchanted coast farther than Cape Discord, in the latitude of Gl". But in favourable seasons small boats can, without much difficulty, creep along the shore to a much higher par- allel. If any settlers liad ever occui)ied the narrow bays, they might surely have escaped cither in their canoes or in sledges. The supposed existence of a colony on the cast side of Greenland is clearly a fable, origmating in a misap- prehension of the unport of the designations applied severally to the two settlements. The one first made lay no doubt to the east, as well as to the south of the other ; but the ships which resorted from Norway held a westerly course for them both. Between them a But such was tho scrupulous anxiety of the publishers to procure the most accurate information, that they stopped tho press to consult a gentleman in this country, deeply skilled in the Runic,— Mr Repp of the Advocates' Library,— who has obligingly furnished tho following reading of the inscription, with a translation somewhat different :— "Oelligr Siguathssonr ok Baaos Tortarson ok Oenrithi Os- son : Laugardagin fyrir ga^idag hldthu Varda dis ok rytu." {The Jive last p'yttres of the inscription are utlerli/ unknown.) That is, "Oelligr Sighwathsoii, and Baaos tortarson, and Oenrithi Osson, on the Saturday before O'af/ndaf/* erected Thorvard's monument, and wrote this." (And tlien the com- pound characters.) * Gngndagr, in nominative, of wlilcli wc liave here tlie aociisntivo cose GnpKiaK, "ere two holidays of tlie Catholic Church in IccLuid. There wiia a greater and a icwer.— (Gagndiigrin Meiri ok .Minni). As to the exact time when they occurred, see " Finni Johanna;i llistoria Eccleaiastica Iblundiaj," under tlie word Gagndag in Uie Index, vol. iv. \ CLIMATE. 61 mutual intercourse appears likewise to have been main- chap. i. tiiincd, which surely could not have taken place had , . „ they been divided by a chain of lofty and impassable witii Noi- mountains covered with eternal snow. Besides, traces ^^^' of those ancient settlements are observed, even at pre- sent, scattered along the western shores of Greenbuid, as low down as the latitude of Gl°, though not corres- ponding altogether with the poetical descriptions of the Icelandic Sjigas. Except the very scanty ruins of a church, the only vestiges now remaining consist of low naked walls, which must have served as pens for sJicl- tering the cattle. It may be safely affirmed that the settlements which, jfodcni during the last hundred years, the Danes have been '*''"^"™'^"''' formbig at various points on the western side of Green- land are more numerous and thriving than those which existed at any former period. They consist of twenty- one colonies, stretching over an extent of 800 miles. The first establisliment is only a single family, occupying Bear Island, a little to the east of Cape Farewell. Ten other liamlets, composed chiefly of Moravians, are planted at different points, from the latitude of CO** to thot of G8°. Three settlements arc distributed round Disco Bay, about the latitude of G9° ; and seven more have been extended thence as high as the bititudc of 73°. So fixr, therefore, from the population having been extirpated by the in- creased severity of the climate, the truth appears to be, that the present establishments on the coast of Greenland extend ten degrees farther north than the ancient settle- ments at their most flourishing period. Tim advance of the colonies has been owing, no doubt, to the increased /dvanceof activity of the whale-fisheries, and to the circumstance the coioniei of these pui-suits having been lately carried with success into Davis' Strait. But there is nothing certainly in their history which betrays any radical or pennanent cluuige in the climate of the Arctic regions. The same contment of ice still remains during the far greater part of the year, to bar the aooess of the navigator to the Pole. 62 ANIftlAL LIFE. ! iioitliem world. CHAPTER II. Animal and Vegetable Life in the Poltir Regiom. Remarkable Proftision of AuimaJ Lifo-Mcans by wliich it is supported— The Cotacoa : Whale. Narwal, Wulrutt, Soal— The Herring Land Animals— The Polar Dour ; Its IV-ro- city ; Anecdotes— The Rcin-docr— Wolf, Fox, Dog— liird.s —Vegetable Life— Peculiar Plants— lied Snow. CHAP. II. When wc contemplate tlie aspect of the northern world, Aspect of Uie—^l^al^» naked, dreary, beaten hy the mf>:ing tenii)est, and subject to an extremity of cold which with us Is fatal to life and to all by which life is supported, — we naturally imagine that animal nature must exist tlicre on a small scale, and under puny forms. It might be expected that only a few dwarf and stunted species would be scattered along its melancholy shores, and that the animating principle, as it attempted to penetrate those realms of desolation, would grow fmnt and expire. But, on the contrary. Nature, whose ways and jjower far Resourcer' of ^"'"P^'^^^ human comprehension, makes a full display of uttiurs. her inexhaustible resources. She has filled the mikcd rocks and wintry sciia with a profusion of organized beings, such as are scarcely brouglit forth under the most genial glow of tropical suns ; storing them with the mightiest of living things, compared to which the ele- phant and hippopotamus, which rear their immense shapes amid the marshy plains of the tropics, seem ahnost diminutive. Even the smaller species, of which the herring may be taken for an example, are found amid the depths of the Arctic zone, in shoals which astonisli by their immensity. The air, too, is darkened by in- I, i' — ANIMAL LIFE. 03 numcmblc flocks of son-fowl, while, even upon the chap. ii. frozen surface of the laml, animals of peculiar form find food suited to their various wants. By what means, or hy what resources, does she support, Source ot in such circumstances, this immensity of life ? Wonder- ful as arc her operations, they are always conducted agreeably to the general laws imposed upon the universe ; and we shall find, in the structure and condition of tho aninml world, the powers by which its various members are enabled to defy this frightful rigour of the elements. Some of the provisions whereby their frames are adapted to the extremes of climate, luive, at first sight, the appear- ance of direct interposition ; yet a more profound inves- tigation always diseovei-sthe causes of them to be deeply lodged in their physical organization. It is on the seas and shores of the Arctic zone that ^,|^j?**y° we chielly observe this boundless profusion of creative energy ; and in conformity with that arrangement by which Nature supports the inhabitants of the waters, by making them the food of each other, so here also we observe a continued gradation of animals, rising one above another, the higlier preying upon the lower, till at hist an alunent is provided for those of largest bulk and most devouring appetite. The basis of subsistence Ibr the numerous tribes of tho ^^''■'^^^ Arctic world is found in the genus Medusa of Linna:;us, which the sailors graphically describe as sea-blubber. This is a soft, elastic, gelatinous substance, specimens of which may often be seen lying on our own shoi'cs, exhibiting no signs of life except that of shrinking when touched. Beyond the Arctic circle this production increases in an extraordinary degree, and is eagerly devoured l)y all the finny tribes. By far the most numerous, however, of the medusan races are of dimensions too small to be discerned without the aid of the microscope, — the application of which instrument shows them to be the cause of a pe- culiar tinge observed over a great extent of the Greenland Sea. This colour is olive-green, and the water is dark and opaque compared to that which bears the common 64 ANIMAL LIFE. ii! tea. C Tistiicea. Cetacca. cn\P n cerulean hue. Tlie portion of the ocean so distinguished — ' amounts to not less than 20,000 square miles ; and hence ^ourof the^j^^ number of animalcules which that space contains ia far beyond calculation. Mr Scoreshy estimates that two square miles comprehend 23,888,000,000,000,000 ; and as such an amount is above the range of human words and conceptions, he illustrates it hy observing that 80,000 persons would have been employed since the creation in counting it. This green sea may be considered as the Polar pasture-ground, where v/hales are always seen in the greatest numbers. These prodigious creatures, it is true, cannot derive any direct subsistence from particles 80 very small ; but these last foi-m the food of other minute fishes, which in their turn support a third scries, till at length, as has been already remarked, animals are proiiucod -^f si:ch slzo as to afford a morsel for the mighty devoureis. The genus Cancer, of the same writer, or members of the chiss Crustacea, appear to rank second in number and imporlince. They present thenisclvca under the various species of the crab, and, above all, of the shrimp, whose multitudes rival those of the niedus.'i, and which in all quarters are seen either pursuing their prey, or becommg the food of a higher class of marine animals. So carnivorous, indeed, are the northern siirimps, that joints of meat hung out by Captain Parry's crew from the sides of the ship were in a few nights picked to tlie very bone. Many of the zoophy- tical and molluscous orders, too, particularly Actiiiw, Sepia, and several species of marine worms, arc employed by Nature as the means of supplying food to various inhabitants of the deep possessing a more perfect organi- zation. Among the numberless tribes of living things which people the northern seas, one order stands highly con- spicuous. These arc the Cetacca, comprehending the largest of existing animals, and having a structure wliolly distinct from every other species. Although their homo be entirely in the depth of the waters, they have several features in common with quadrui)eds, aaid, in fact, belong _ f 1. .6- ! i ANI lAL LIFE. 67 to tlie Linnacan class of Mammalia, or suck-giving crea- CHAP, II. tines. Tlicy produce tluir 3'oung alive; their skin ''• v„ "r~»*K. xi J -.1 J. 1 i.1 • 11 J • Young of the smooth and witliout scales ; their blood is warm ; anu wimic the flesh tastes somewhat like coarse beef. They have a heart with two ventricles, and lungs through which they respire ; and being unable to separate the air from tlic water, as fishes do by means of their gills, they must come to the surface in order to breathe. It is thus by Notaflsh. no means strictly scientific to call the whale a fish ; yet he is entirely an inhabitant of the sea, having a tail, though j)laced in a different position from that of ordinary fislies, while his front limbs much more resemble fins than legs, and are solely used for pawing the deep. l^.-nce the vulgar, following a natural and descriptive classification, obstinately conthiuc to give the name oi fish to these watery monsters. But the most character- Blubber. istic and important feature of the Cctacea, consists in a tliick layer of fatty substance, called blubber, lodged beneath the skin and surrounding the body, which yields, on expression, nearly its own bulk of thick, coarse, viscid oil. It is by this covering that Providence enables thcan to defy the utmost extremity of cold, and to preserve a strong animal heat even under the eternal ice of the l*olo. Yet tin's substance, being subservient to the uses of man, has roused a dreadful and deadly enemy, who employs against them the resources of «;•/, — a power whi(;h mere brutal forec seeks in vain to oj)posc. He pursues tliem through ice and tempest, and dyes the seas with their blood. They tliemselves are meek, peaceful, sluggish ; and man, in the contest which he wages with them, is almost always the aggressor ; thouf^h the resistance which he tlien encounters is sometimes terrible, and his life is occasionally the forfeit. Among the cetaceous tribes the chief place is due to chief of the the whale, of all animals " mii>htiest that swim the J^.'f.V'f,*-'""* ocean stream." Enormous as his bulk is, rumour and the love of the marvellous have represented it as beuig at one time much greater, and the existing race as only tiibe& !M il '(■, r* II . CHAP. II. Extreme length. •\Veiglit Dispropor- tionate size of head. Spiracles (18 ANIMAL LIFE. Ihe degenerate remnant of mightier ancestors. Mr Scoresby, however, by collecting various good authori- ties, has proved that sixty feet was always nearly the utmost length of the mysticetus, or great Greenland whale. Of 322 individuals in the capture of which that gentleman was concerned, none occurred of a length exceeding 68 feet ; and he therefore places no rclianco on the report of any specimen exceeding 70 feet. Even 60 feet implies a weight of 70 tons, being nearly that of 300 fat oxen. Of this vast mass, the oil in a rich whale composes about thirty tuns, and when, ns was the rase some years ago, that article brought £55 or £00 per tun, we may form some idea of the great value of the prize. The bones of the head, fins, and tail, which are also valuable, weigh eight or ten tons. The olea- ginous substance, or blubber, forms a complete wrapper round the whole body, from eight to twenty inches in thickness. The head is disproportionally large, l)eing about a third of the entire bulk ; and the lips, nearly twenty feet long, display, when open, a cavity capable of receiving a ship's jolly-boat with her crow. Tiic whale has no external ear ; but, when the slvin is re- moved, a small aperture is discerned for the admission of sound. This sense accordingly is very imperfect ; yet the animal, by a quick perception of all niovemcnts made on the water, discovers danger at a great distance. The eyes are likewise on a sruall scale, though the sense of seeing is acute ; more so, however, through clear water than in the open air. But the most unique fea- ture in the structure of this animal consists in the spir- acks or blow-holes, placed nearly on the crown of the head. These have been compared to natural jets (Venn throwing up water to the height of 40 or 50 feet ; though the more careful scrutiny of Mr Scoresby ascertained that they emit only a moist vapour, and are neither more nor less than huge nostrils. When, however, tliis vehement breathing or blowing is performed under the surface, a considerable quantity of water is tlirown up into the air. The sound thus occasioned is the only ANIMAL LIFE. 69 thing like a voice emitted by the animal, and, in the CHAP. XL case of a violent respiration, it resembles the discharge of a cannon. The tail is the most active limb of this monarch of the ^j^^ ^^^ deep, and the chief instrument of his motion. It docs not rise vertically like that of most fishes, being flat and horizontal, only four or five feet long, but more than twenty feet broad. It consists of two beds ot muscles, connected with an extensive layer surrounding the body, and enclosed by a thin covering of blul)ber. Its power is tremendous. A single stroke throws a large boat with all its crew into the air. Sometimes ho places himself in a perpendicular position with the head downwaids, and, rearing his tail on high, beats the water with awful vioUnce. On these occasions the sea foams, and vapours darken the air ; the lashing is heard several miles off^", like the roar of a distant tempest. At other times he makes an immense spring, and lifts his whole body above the waves, to the admiration of the experienced whaler, but to the terror of those who see for the first time this astonishing spectacle. Other mo- tions, equally indicative of his boundless strength, attract the attention of the navigator at a great distance. The fins, called by the French nagcoires, and by Dr jhe fins. Fleming " swimming-paws," are placed immediately behind the eyes. They are nine feet long, enclosed by very elastic membranes, and provided with bones similar in form and number to those of the human hand. Such is the spring and vitality of the parts, that, if we may believe De Reste, they continue to move for some time after being separated from the body. According to Mr Scoresby, however, while the whale swims these organs lie flat on the surface of the water, and are not at all instrumental in producing his motion, which arises en- tirely from the tail. The fins merely direct and steady the movement, and serve rather as a helm than as oars. The period of gestation in the whale is nine or ten months, and the female brings forth in February or Ulareh. She is viviparous; that is, the young come forth Gcstution. f. 1 10 ANIMAL LIFE. Maternal fondnesa CHAP. IL alive, not enclosed in an e^^ ; and usually, there is not Tb«^^ more than one at a time. These nurslings, about four- teen feet long and weighing somewhat more than a ton, are watched over by the female parent with the most tender care. The whalers strike the ntckersy as they are called, not for their own value, but knowing that the mothers will start forth in their defence. Then ensues a contest hard and perilous, but commonly at- tended with a prosperous issue, for she never seeks safety in flight. She rushes upon the boat, drags the line with extraordinary force, tosses to and fro in ex- treme agony, and suffers herself to be struck by repeated harpoons without attempting to escape ; while the hu- mane captain has his triumphant feelings damped by the consideration, that his prize has fallen the victim of maternal tenderness. According to indications afforded by notches in the bone, which seem not, however, very distinctly ascertained, the whale docs not attain his full growth under twenty-five years, and is said to reach a very great age. There is a considerable variety of these animals. The Balcena physalis {Balanoptera gibbar of La Cepede), called by the sailors razorbnck, is considerably longer than the mysticetus ; and, though his circumference be smaller, he is on the whole larger and much more powerful. He is also swifter, swimming at the rate of twelve miles an hour ; and Mr Scorcsby has seen one, when struck with a harpoon, run off" 480 fathoms of line in a minute. An individual of this species, found dead in Davis' Strait, measured 105 feet in length. It is, as miglit be apprehended, extremely dangerous to attack him ; for, by the extreme rapidity of his motion, he often breaks the line, or obliges the sailors to cut it m order to escape destruction. Martens mentions an- Instance of one which dragged a boat with its crew among loose ice where they all perished. Besides, as this fish contains only ten or twelve tuns of oil, of an inferior quality, the whalers generally shun the encoun- ter, unless when they are disposed for a during adven- Varieties of the whale. ANIMAL LIFE. 71 turc, or mistake him, as they frcquontiy do, for a CiiAr, il mysticetus. Besides the two pectoral fins, he has a niiiaMia" horny protuberance or fin at the extremity of the back, omscuius. which part of the body, instead of being round as in the other variety, rises into a narrow ridge. The Balana niuscuius or broad-nosed whale, the Balama roetrata or beaked whale, and the BalcBna hoops or finner, may be tDUsidercd as razorbacks on a smaller scale, with certain specific distinctions. It is usually individuals of the kinds now described that frequent the coasts of Norway and Shetland, and sometimes make their appearance iu the British firths ; but neither they nor the physalia ever attract the attention of an exj)erienced fisher. The only species, besides the mysticetus, regularly Cachalot sought after, is the cachalot (^Physcter ndcrops) or sper- maceti whale. This variety occurs occasionally in the northern seas, especially on the American coast, but abounds chiefly in the waters bordering on the Antarctic zone, and is the main object of pursuit in the southern fishery. The caclialot does not seem to have met Mr Scoresby*s observation, althougli a male was thrown ashore at Limekilns on the Forth, as described by Sir Robert Sibbald ; but, according to the description of Dc Reste and others, this species is distinguished by a long row of teeth on the lower and none on the upper jaw ; the back has a peculiar form, with a small bunch behind ; and the tail is of extraordinary breadth. They „ appear in large herds ; while the mysticetus, called by Herds. our fishers the riyht whale, is generally found single. These liands very often amount to two hundred, which are said to be for the most part female, and usually mider the guidance of a male of very large dimensions. To attack them is a formidable undertaking ; but suc- cess is very advantageous, since ten or twelve sometimes fall in one encounter. The perils of this fishery are described as almost exceeding belief ; for which reason, it is to be regretted that Captain Day's modesty makes him decline recounting any of those which he witnessed. The quantity of oil is much smaller than in the mys- I it I \\ ' CHAP. II Vnliio of spermaceti. Narwal. Ainplilbious siJL'cies. Walrus. «7g ANIMAL LIFE. ticctus, usually not exceeding three tuns ; but, from its being mixed with the substance called spermaceti, is far superior in value. When warm it is fluid; but on being poured into water it congeals into large flukes. This whale yields also the peculiar aromatic substance called ambergris, formed under certain circumstances in the rectum, and voided as fffices. Another species, called the narwal, about sixteen feet long and eight in circumference, appears to differ little from a small whale, except in a tusk projecting from his upper jaw three to ten feet in length, which, sug- gesting to the sailors the idea of a horn, has procured for him the appellation of the sea-unicorn. He is swift, yet is taken without much difficulty, and yields two or three tuns of very fine oil. The dolphin, another ceta- ceous animal of poetic fame, occasionally occurs ; ami the grampus often appears in numerous herds, guided by some of larger size. The beluga, or white whale, is also a separate species, distinguislied chiefly by its. pecu- liar colour. All the shores and borders of the Arctic zone are crowded with amphibious species, which appear to form an intermediate link between whales and quadrupeds, — the Mammalia of the sea and those of the land. Among these is to be distinguished the morse or walrus (TH- checus rosmarus), which bears such a resemblance to our domestic quadrupeds that sailors, according to their various impressions, have given it the title of sea-horse or sea-cow. It is a large, shapelet \ unwieldy creature, 12 to 15 feet in length and from 8 to 10 in circum- ference ; the head small, the limbs short, of an inter- mediate character between fins and legs. As a defence against the extreme cold, these animals not only have skins an inch thick, covered with close hair, but enjoy, like the other Cetacea, a coating of oily fat, with wliieh their bodies are completely enveloped. Thus cased, they lie stretched on the ice m the depth of winter, without suffering any inconvenience. The most re- markable feature of the walrus, however, consists in It ANTMAL LIFE. 73 two teeth or tusks, which project in a curved line fro.t. chap, il the upper jaw, and arc nearly two feet in length, wah-us" They are of beautiful white bone, almost equal to ivory, ivory. and much used in the fabrication of artificial teeth. The front face, when seen at a little distance, bears a striking resemblance to the human ; and its appearance is suspected to have sometimes given rise to the fanciful reports of mormuids in the northern seas. Like all the cetaceous tribes, to which the walrus is allied, he is dis- posed to be peaceful and harmless. Captain Parry describes the supine security with which a number ol them lay on the ice, piled over each other, without discomposing themselves at the approach of a party armed for their destruction. In Spitzbergcn, however, OatiooU. where they have been long the object of chase to the Russian hunters, they are reported to keep very strict watch ; it being said that one stands guard while the others sleep. Even when sensible of danger, they are not forward to face it, but rather shun the attack by rushing beneath the ice, while those behind, with their tusks, urge forward their companions. Yet, when they convage. are compelled to combat, they give battle with the ut- most coolness and coui'age ; they then stand firm by each other, rush in one united body against the boats, and, striking with their tusks, endeavour to overset theni. When repulsed, too, they repeatedly rally, and in the end yield only to the fire-arms of Europeans, or to the stratagems of the Esquimaux. Maternal tender- ness, and the determination with which the female defends her young, are equally conspicuous in them as in the whale species. The seal, an animal well known on all the shores Ti>e seal of Europe, requires not to be particularly described. The Arctic species are very numerous, and are applied by the Esquimaux for a great variety of purposes. They furnish food for his table, oil for his lamp, cloth- ing for his person ; even their bones and skins supply materials for his light portable boats and his summer tents. 74 ANIMAL LIFE. i: 1 I II CHAP. IL Before quitting the Polar Occftn we must notice HerrinT aiiotiiei' fish, wliose periodical appearance renders it sLooiA familiar to all the European coasts. Those waters, as already observed, apparently so chill and urigenial, contain not only an ample store of animal life, but a vast superabundance, witli which they have been sup- posed to supply the seas of the more temperate climates. From them, in particular, if we may believe some na- turalists, are derived the valuable tribes of the herring ; the immense shoals of which, according to Bloch, Pen- nant, and others, issue from the frozen depths about January, and in March appear on the coasts of Iceland. Their column at this time, confined between Green- land and the North Cape, is of comparatively small breadth, but so dense that the water is darkened by them ; any wooden vessel let down brings up several': they may even be taken by the stroke of a lance. They follow certain of their number larger than the rest, called kings. These leaders are held in much respect by the Dutch, who studiously spare their ma- jesties, and even liberate them when found in the net, lest, deprived of this royal guidance, the nation should not find the way to their accustomed haunts. After emerging from the Greenland Sea, this great army divides into two wings, — the right and largest bearing down directly upon Scotland ; at the north-eastern ex- tremity of which it forms that immense field wherein the Dutch for many years carried on their great na- tional fishery. A detachment smaller in numl)cr, but Bome of which attain to superior excellence, fills the western bays of Scotland, and, passing along Ireland, readies the neighbouring coast of France. Meantime the left, or smaller wing, after ranging the Norwegian shore, enters the Baltic. In July all these divisions halt, and by an unknown impulse begin to retrace their course towards their northern home. De Reste con- siders it certain that the herrings, in returning, have a general point of rendezvous which still remains un- known ; but it should seem that nothing less than the Scottish fialiei'ies. Retnm nui'tliward. I lil n S" > a 3 p. ? w S o 'A o 1 "i.-ri-;!;!'!!! Ji^ ANIMAL LTPE. 77 nctiml discovery of this plnce of meeting cnn ascertain chap, h its existence. However, nhont the end of September jjortiimi they reftch their destination beneath the ice of tlie rcmiezvou* Polar regions, wliere they remain three months, — all the rest of the year being spent in wandering over the face of the ocean. Such is the theory of the annual appearance of the rntor ni.ser- herring, which has been adopted without sufficient in- vmion* vestigation by many popular writers. Later observa- tion, accordingly, has thro^vn doubts upon the principle of Arctic migration, and referred this periodical ap- })earance upon the coasts of Europe to that instinctive impulse wliich guides the finny tribes, at the season of reproduction, to places where the spawn may be deposited and the young find food. When this is ac- complished, they retire from the shores to their habita- tion in deeper waters. The female, when taken in our Pimtii'ions scjis, is commonly found to contain a roc ; and as this Jucumtity. comprises the embryo of ten thousand future herrings, such a prodigious fecundity easily repairs all the havoek committed upon the species, not only by their brethren of the deep, but also by the ingenuity of man, constantly exerted for their capture and destruction. The other animals which frequent the Polar regions belong chiefly or wholly to the land. In caves, or in the hollows of the ice, dwells the most formidable of Arctic quadrupeds, the Greenland buur. bear. This tyrant of the cliffs and snows unites the strength of the lion with the untameable fierceness of the hyena. A long shaggy covering of white soft hair and a copious supply of fat enable him to defy the winter of this rigorous climate. Hence, when ex- r fi • l)osed even to the moderate heat of Britain, he appears oi cuia. to labour under great uneasiness. Pennant saw one, over whom it was necessary from time to time to pour Lu'ge pailfuls of water. Another, kept for some years by Professor Jameson, evidently suffered severely from the comi)arative warmth of an Edinburgh summer. The haunt of this voracious inhabitant of the Polar regions OroPTiInnd. 78 ANIMAL LIFE. .' '«' CHAP. II. ^^o(lc of crossinj the HiH prey. Prccnrious SllppiiL'.S. Conflich rtitli tie polar bear. is on the frozen shore, or on mountains of ice, some- times two hundred miles from land ; yet he is not, strictly speaking, amphibious. He cannot remain under water ahovc a few moments, and he makes his way to sea only hy swimming from one icy fragment to an- otlier Mr Scoresby limits his powers in this respect to three or four miles; yet Parry found one in the centre of Barrow's Strait, where it was Icrty miles across. His prey consists chiefly of the smaller cctacea and of seals, which, unable to contend with him, slum their fate by keeping strict watch, and plunging into the deep waters. With the walrus he wages a fierce and doubtful war; and tliat powerful animal, with his enormous tusks, frequently beats him off with great dama"-e. The whale he dares not attack, but watches an.siously for the huge carcass in a dead stale, which affords iiiin a prolonged and delicious feast : he scents it at the distance cf miles. All these sources of supply bein" pri'carious, he is sometimes left for weeks without food, and the fury of his hunger then becomes tremen- dous. At such periods man, viewed by hun always as his prey, is attacked with peculiar fierceness. The annals of northern navigation arc filled with accounts of the most perilous and fatjil conflicts with the Polar bear. The first, and one of the most tragical, was sustained by Barentz and lleemskerke, in 1.50(5, during their voyage for the discovery of the north-ejist passage. Having anchored at an island near the Strait of Waygatz, two of the men landed, and were walking on shore, when one of them felt him.self closely hugged from behind. Thinking this a frolic of one of his com- panions, he called out, in a jocular tone, " Who's there I pray stand off." His comrade looked and screamed out, " A bear ! a bear !" thcii running to the ship alarmed the crew with loud cries. The siiilors ran to the spot, armed with pikes and muskets. On tlnir approach the animal very coolly quitted the mangled corpse, sprang upon one of the assjiilants, ciirried him oft", and plunging his teeth into his body, began drmkuig his ANIMAL LIFE. 70 blood at long draughts. Hereupon the whole party, cilAP. u. struck with terror, turned their hacks, and fled pre- _ 77" , , ci])itately to their vessel. On arriving there they hegan a bc.ir. to look at each other, ashamed in some measure of their l)usillanimous conduct. Tiiive of them immediately re- solved to avenge the fate of their countrymen, and to sooure for their remains the rites of Inirial. They ndvanoed, hut iired at first from so great a distance that all of them missed. The purser then cournge- ously proceeded in front of his comjianions, andj taking a close aim, pierced the monster's skull, immediately below the eye. The bear, however, merely lilted his head, and ran towards them, holding still in his mouth the victim whom he was devouring ; but seeing him stagger, the three rushed on with siibre and bayon» t, and soon despatched him. They collected and be- stowed decent sepulture on the mangled limbs of their comrades ; while the skin of the animal, thirtri 11 feet long, became the prize of him who fired the successful shot. The history of whale-fishing records a number of remarkable escapes from the Polar bear. In 1(508, '^'i'"'!''^ ^■"""^ Jonge Kees, the master of a Dutch ship, undertook witii two canoes to attack one, and with a buico gave him so dreadful a wound in the belly that his immediate death seemed inevitable. Anxious, there- fore, not to injure the skin, Kees merely followed the animal till he should dn p down dead. The quad- niped, however, having climbed u little rock, made n sj)ring from the distance of twenty-four fee', u])on the skipper, who, taken completely by surprise, lost r*"';"""' ludd of the lance, and fell beneath his assulaiit, which, j)lacing both paws on his breast, opened two rows of tremendous teeth, and paused for a moment, as if to show him all the horrors of his situation. At this critical instant a sailor, rnshinr forward with only a 8<;oop, succeeded in alarming the monster, which mado otr, having the captain without the slightest injury. In 1788, Ca])tain Cook of the Archangel, vthen near the coast of Spit/bergen, found himself suddenly at- "! 80 ANIMAL LIFE. i:i'5 Mode ol attack. CHAP. n. tacked by a bear. He instantly called on the surgeon --,, who accompanied him to fire; which the latter did SpL with such admirable promptitude and precision, that he shot the beast through the head, and delivered his commander. Mr Hawkins of the Everthorpe, in July 1818, having pursued and twice struck a large one, had raised his lance for a third blow, when it sprang forward, seized him by the thigh, and tlirew hini over its head into the water. Fortunately it u.sed this advantage only to effect its own escape. Cuptam Scoresby mentions a boat's crew which attacked a bear in the Greenland Sea ; but the aninuvl having succeeded in climl)ing the sides of the boat, all the men dropi)ed themselves for safety into the waves, where they hung by the gunwale. The victor entered triumpJKUitly, and took possession of the barge, where it sat quietly till it was sliot by another i)arty. The same Avritcr mentions the ingenious contrivance of a sjiiljr, who, being chased by one of these creature's, threw down successively his hat, jacket, handkerchief, and every other article in his possession, when the pursuer pausing at each, gave the seaman always a certain advantage, auL enabled him finally to regain the vessel. TJiouffli the voracity of this aivapfe creature i^ such t€ii(l(iinc.-is. that he has been known to feed on his own species, yet maternal tendi-rness is as conspicuous in the female as in other inhabitants of the frozen regions. There is no exertion which she will not make for the supjjly of her progeny. A she-bear, witli her two cubs, being hunted l)y some sailors ncro.ss a field of ice, and nndbig that, neither by example nor by a j)ceuliar voice and action, she could urge them to tlie ro(iiiisite s])eed, nj)plied her paws and pitched them altern;>^oly forward. The little creatures, as she came up, threw themselvcb before her to receive the impulse, a!id t!\us both she and t.iey escaped from danger. None of tiie varieties, indeed, arc devoid of intel- ligence ; while their schemes for entrapping seals .iid MatcrnKl ANIMAL LIFE. m other nnimnls on wliidi tlicy feed often display con- CIIA!*. ii. fiidcrnble ingenuity. Tiic manner in ^vl^ich the Polar ingenuitv. bear surprises liis vietini is thus deseril)ed by Captain Lyon :• — On seeing his intended prey he gets quietly into the water, and swims to a leeward i)osition, from whenee, by frequent short dives, he silently irakcs iiis approaehes, and so arranges his distance, that at the last i- if, on the e(>ntrary, he lies still, his destroyer makes a powerful spring, kills him on the iee, and devours him at leisure. Some sjiilors, endeavouring to catch a l)ear, placed the noose of a ropc^ mider the snow, baited with a jdoce of whak-'s flesl). lie, however, contrived, three successive times, to push the noose aside, and unhurt to carry off the hait. Ca])tain Scoresljy had half- tanu'd two eul)s, whicli used even to walk the deck ; but they showed themselves always restless inidt-r this confinement, and finally sought relief in their native clement. According to Pennant and other writers, the bear nit)eni;ition. forms chambers in tlie great ice-mountains, where he kIccjis during the long Arctic night, undisturbed by the roar of the tempest ; but this regular hibernation is doubted by many recent observers. 'J'hc fact seems to be, that the males roam about all winter in search of proy, not being under the same necessity of sub- mitting to th.- toiviid state as the black bear of America, which feeds chicily on vegetal)les ; but the females, who are usually pregnant in the more rigorous season, Bcclude themselves nearly the whole time in their dens. The animals which belong entirely to the land, Up Wverons and iced on herbage, are, hi a climate covered with '""'"^''^ Bnow nine months in the year, necessarily few both in number and sj)ceies. The rein-deer, a most jjatient vnd useful creature, an inhabitant of the Polar regions, may be said to subsist as far north as animal life can £ I i I ■:,li if III m 82 ANIMAL LIFE. CHAP. II. licin-deer. Its uses. Knsy cap- ture JIu^k-ox. be maintamed. To the Laplander he is all in all ; and in that dreary portion of the globe he can Uvvays dig from under the snow the mo.ss or lichen, his favourite food. Even in the severer climates he carries his summer-excursions as far as men have yet penetrated ; but at the end of October the intense frost no longer allows him to reach even the sunple pasture in which he delights. It is then that large herds arc observed to assemble and migrate to the southward. From Melville Island they were seen crossing the frozen surface of the sea, to gain a milder climate on the American shore. The people within the Arctic zone do not tame the rein-doer, nor yoke it in the sledge ; it is not even for them the staff of life ; but it affords a favourite object of summer-hunting, gives an agree- able variety to their meals, and yields their wannest and most valuable winter-robes. The fur-skin becomes always richer and more copious in proportion to the intensity of tiie cold, against which it forms the only defence. In the chase the deer fall easy victims, even to the rude archery of the Esquimaux, being so simple and curious, that if a men merely walks away from them, they follow. Some of these aiiimals, which joined Captain Parry's crews on Melville Island, played round them like lapdogs, and at setting out in the morning used to gambol by rearing on their hind-legs. The musk-ox, the only member of the bovine species which penetrates the Arctic zone, though in smaller numbers, constitutes also a wholesome food. Its un- wieldly fonn is protected from the cold by an immense profusion of hair, which envelops its whole limbs and figure, and also by an interior .'aycr of wool, that ap- peared to Pennant the finest he had ever seen, and made, he was told, stockings superior to the richest silk. This last, we suspect, is a tem worary clothing. The canin . race presents several species which bravo the most extreme severity of cold, and remain after every other land-quadruped, except the bear, has taken its tii^^ht to the southward, Wolves, iu considerable ,1' i' ANIMAL LIFE. 83 numbers, continue to seek their prey in the utmost CHAP. IL depths of the Polar winter. It seems difficult to dis-^y^i,";^ cover what food they find at that season ; but a re- gular pack attoided the English discovery-ships, watch- ing for whatever ofFal might be found exposed, and serenading them with niglitly bowlings. As if by a sort of tacit convention, they did not presume to attack the sailors ; but they advanced in the most daring manner to the sides of the vessels, and sometimes even entered the huts of the Esquimaux, whose dogs they esteemed a regular prize, and very speedily devoured them. The natives catch them by traps formed of little Jj^'^^'^'^^P" sheds of ice, at the entrance of which is a portcullis of the same material, connected in such a manner with the bait >vithLn, that when the latter is seized by the animal the suspended portion ilrops, and the wolf is fcikcn. Their tenacity of life is such, that after ap- j'arcnt death they often revive and occasion danger. The Arctic fox, a small beautiful white animal, with^^x. woolly hair like a little shock-dog, occurs in still greater numbei*s. About a hundred were caught in Captain Parry's second voyage, some of which were half tamed nnd made pets of ; while others, by a harder fate, were dressed for talde ; and their flesh, somewhat resembling kid, afforded on agreeable relief from the constant use cf salted meat. The dog, liowev r, is the most important quadnipcd Dog. of the Arctic worla, and the most valuable possession of its people, who luiv succeeded in taming and render- ing it <'|ually useful . -r draught and for hunting. Those (M the Grecnlander, the Esquimaux, and the ]\amtschadale, are large, and of a somewhat wild aspect. Captain Lyon describes them as resembling in form the shepherd's dog, rising to the height of the New- foundland, but broad like tlic mastiff; having short jn-ieked ears, a furry coat, and a bushy tail. In general they are observed to bear a strong reseml)huiee to the Wolf, and the opinion is even prevalent that the former exhibit only the latter in a tame state. I'arrv und '. .1 84 ANIMAL LIFE. CHAP. n. Richardson both mention instances in which domestic roK."i^d ^offs were seduced away by the attractions of female woTvea. wolves ; yet the avidity with which the wolf devours his supposed brethren does not seem quite consistent with so close an affinity. Nature, with provident cnro, defends them against the cold, not only by a profusion of long hair, but by a soft downy covering, formed beneath it at the commencement of winter, and shed K«|uiiTiaux at the approach of the milder season. The Esquimaux diog* are much reproached for their harsii treatment of these valua!)le servants; yet, when young, they nre \iscd with tenderness, the women often taking them into bed, and feeding them from their own mouths. As soon as they can walk they are yoked to a small sledge; in endeavouring to shake off which encum- brance they learn to draw it. Severe and frequent beatings, however, are necessary to train them for act- ing as a regular team. But their greatest sufferings respect the want of food ; of whicli, during the season of scarcity, they ol)tain a portion barely sufficient to maintain life, and not at all to prevent them from falling I'nnerfcot ^"^^ ^ ^^^^^ ^'"^ most meagre and debilitated. Their j.rovisioiis. hunger is manifested by the nature of the substances with which they sometimes seek to assuage it. Captain Parry siiw one which ate a large piece of eanvjis-., a cotton handkerchief laid out to dry, and a piece of a linen shirt. Tiie Es(iuiniaux, we must recollect, are subject to painful scarcities, and the food of ii\o dogs being the same with their own, the animals, on such emergencies, can scarcely expect to be placed on a footing of equality. But this roug^ iisage does not seem incompatible wit'.i a ccrtiiin degree of attach- Fonrtness for "^^"^ '^"'^ eonimiseration. For ervai'iipli', they refused to sell them to tiie Knglisli, '.ill assured that they would not bo killed. They .■ejoiced greatly to see a house built for them ; and at every visit a fri ndly recognition tt)ok place between each dog and his old master. When these animals arc yokeH VEGETABLE LIFE. 91 sion. The northern Indians consider the fruit of a bush CHAP. IL called the Aronia ovalis as the most agreeable food ; j-i^ii^T" besides which they have the strawberry, raspberry, red whortleberry, and various others. Several of these are covered beneath the first snows of winter, which are supposed to mellow them, and, when disclosed by the return of spring, the berries arc seen still hanging on the briinches, while the buds of the others arc bursting, — the whole producing a delightful impression, unknown to those who have not witnessed the desolation that immediately preceded. Those climates enjoy, besides, a precious boon in the Antiscorbn- plants which act as an antidote to scurvy, and which ^^ ^' ''" ^' defy the severest cold of the Arctic zone. The Cochlearia, a thick-tufted juicy plant of extreme fecundity, is em- phatically called scurvy -grass ; and the different species of sorrel, especially the Itumex digynus^ were found by Captain Parry flourishing under the snow at the very fartliest limit of vegetation. The extraordinary phenomenon of red-snow, observed Eed-snow. by Captain Ross and other Arctic voyagers, naturally excited the greatest interest both at home and abroad. Tliis singular tint in a substance, with which we never fail to associate an idea of the purest and most radiant whiteness, has been ascertained to result from an assem- blage of very minute bodies, belonging to the class of cryptogamic plants and the natural order called AhjcB. They form the species named Protococcns Nivalis by origin and Agardh, which is synonymous with the Uredo Nivalis of "i^ture. Mr Bauer. Tiiis production seems by no means peculiar to the Arctic mountains, but occurs on limestone rocks in the island of Lismorc in Scotland, as well as among the Alps and other countries of Europe. Saussure ob- served it so long ago as the year 17(50 on IMount Breven in Switzerland, and so freriuently after that period, that he expresses his surprise at its having escaped the notice of Scheuchzer and other learned travellers. Ramond, whose observations so beautifully combine the precision of science with the perception of the picturestpc, found 92 VEGETABLE LIFE. ;> : CHAP. 11. Red snow in till) Pyre- nees. Observations b y Oaiituiu lioss. I?upi(l propa- gation. Sincnilnr eoinciduuce. red snow in the Pyrenees, as did Sommerfeldt, the bo- tanist, on the hills of Norway. In the year 1818 vast masses of the same substance overspread both the Apen- nines and the Italian Alps ; and it is recorded, that ten years prior to that period the vicinity of Belluno and Feltri was covered to the depth of twenty centimetres with rose-coloured snow. According to Captain Ross, the ridges on which he observed this phenomenon are about GOO feet high, and extend eight miles in length. The depth to which the colour penetrates has been variously stated by different observers. Some found that it descended many feet beneath the surface, while others never saw it spread beyond one or two inches. There is no reason to suppose that the colouring matter itself, as well as the snow, is a meteorological product, although Humboldt certainly mentions a shower of red hail which fell at Paramo do Guanacos, in South America. Moisture is no doubt essential to the production of this plant, as it is to that of all the other Alga ; but, when once formed, it seems to possess the power of continued vegetation, even on rocks and stones, with only an occasional supply of fluid. The propagation of minute vegetable forms, like that of animalcules, is effected, under favourable circumstances, with a rapidity of development truly astonishing ; and the most probable conjecture seems to be, that snow is not the natural situation of the Protococcus Nivalis, but merely that, from its great tenacity of life, it can preserve its vitality on so chilly and ungenial a surface. If such be the case, it is easy to suppose how a wide expanse may be covered witli this red suffusion, during the occa- sional flowing of the snowy waters. When once esta- blished, its particles become more numerous than the sands of the ocean ; and, increasing in density from year to year, it presents at last to the astonished navigator a sight more surprising in its reality than any of the tabled wondors of an Arabian tale. A si-igular coincidence has been observed by botanists to exist between a white ground and a red flower. Thus VEGETABLE LIFE. 93 the rich and brilliant variety otAnthyllis vulnaria is only criAP. II. found on a chalky surface ; and many of the higher coiowof the orders of flowering plants show a decided tendency to snow plant, produce red-coloured petals when they happen to spring up on white limestone. " How much more forcibly, then," says Agardh, " must this law operate upon plants like the Algee^ in which colour is an essential part." That excess of light produces the peculiar or at least prevailing colour of the snow-plant, may be said to be demonstrated by this singular fact, that the red colour gradually changes to green as it occurs more or less secluded from the action of light among the fissures of rocks, or beneath the hollows or under-surfaccs of stones. This being the case, it will appear the less incomprelien- sible that the same plant which is produced amid the snows of the Arctic regions or the highly elevated Alps of more southern countries, should be occasionally de- tected, even during the heat of summer, covering the brilliant white limestone of the plains. In the last- named locality it was discovered by the Baron Wrangel in the province of Nerikc, and named by him Lepraria Itermesina ; and the two supposed species have been since ascertained to be one and the same. In concluding our notice of this singular substance, we Effects of re- may observe, that when the warmth of the returning sun ^yai|||i^ has partially dissolved the surface of the snow, and thus contributed to the formation and development of these microscopical jilants, the vivifying power of the solar light, aided by some peculiar and as yet unknown pro- perty belonging to the natural whiteness of the snow itself, is highly influential in the production of the beautiful colour by which they are distinguished.* * Mr Scorcsby coiijocturcd that the red colour of the Arctic snow dcrivcil its ori^^iu from innumcniblc multitudes of very minute creatures belonging to the order Radiaia. lie had frequently observed the ice to be tinged with an orange colour, obviously resulting from an assemblage of small transparent animals of about the size of a pin's head, resembling the Heme ylobulosa of Lamarck. Other observers have thought them- selves authorized to trace the red colour to the dung of th« p. 94 VEGETABLE LIFE. CHAP. IL little auk (Uria alle), which abounds on many of tho barren — shores of tho North. But neither of these supposed causes could produce the phenomenon alluded to, as observed amon^ the central Alps of Europe, where marine radiata and littlo auks are alike unknown. 11 4' 1 ! ANCIENT VOYAGES. 9S CHAPTER III. Ancient Voyages to the North, Voyage of Pytheas— Norwegian Expeditions ; Ohthere — Colo- nization of Iceland— The Zeni— Quirini. The voyages to the North, undertaken prior to the CHAP^Til great era of maritime enterprise and the invention of Ancient the compass, were few in number, and scarcely extended voyages. into those circumpolar regions which form the special subject of the present volume. It will be enough, therefore, to take a rapid sketch of the steps by which discovery proceeded towards those remote and almost inaccessible quarters. The Mediten-anean, the shores of which constituted Earliest the first civilized portion of the West, was the quarter marititne where European navigation originated. As Tyre, situ- ated in the depth of that sea, was the earliest seat of commerce, Carthage, the daughter of Tyre, was doubtless the first state which undertook any extensive discoveries upon the ocean. These, however, were shrouded in deep mystery, prompted by the jealous and monopolizing temper of this people, once so powerful and opulent. The classic writers give only some slight and detached notices of the voyage of Himilco, who appears to have Himilco. sailed along the exterior coasts of Spain and France, and to have reached the southern extremity of Britain. This, it is probable, was only the first of a series of voyages carried on with the view of procuring tin, — a metal rare and highly valued in those days. The Cas- siteridcs, or Tin-islands, wlilch appear to be Cornwall 06 ANCIENT VOYAGES. CHAP. III. Bytlieas. Strabo. Thule. Northern mists. and the Scilly Isles combined together, were celebrated among the primitive authors of Europe. The most distinguished of the Greek navigators who penetrated into the North was Pytheas, a citizen of Marseilles, a Greek colony, which, favoured by its situ- ation, had become the chief emporium of the commerce of Britain, already esteemed of some importance. He seems to have been the first who, inspired by motives of intelligent curiosity, endeavoured to reach the British coast, and the remotest extremities of the sea by which it is washed. Our knowledge of this voyage is indeed imperfect, being almost entirely due to Strabo, who, while he relates it, derides the whole as a palpable for- gery ; yet the very particulars on which he founds this charge go far to establish the fact he questions. Pytheas appears to have passed the Straits, and sailed along the western coasts of France and Spain, which, from pre- vious misconception, he confounds together. Thence he seems to have directed his course through the English Channel, and along the eastern coasts of Britain, till he reached the northern parts of the island. Not content with this achievement, he continued to sail onwards into the depths of ocean, till in six days he arrived at Thule, an island where it appeared to him that perpetual light reigned at midsummer throughout the night as well as the day. Immediately beyond, his progress was arrested by a barrier of a peculiar nature — by something which was neither earth, air, nor sky, but a compound of all the three ; forming a thick viscid substance, through which it was impossible to penetrate. These statements have afforded much advantage to sceptical readers ; yet the summer days of Shetland are really very long, and the thick and gloomy mists, with which the Northern Sea is often loaded, might make a pe- culiar impression on the mind of a man who had ven- tured into this unknown ocean so far beyond the limit of former navigation : they might make him prone to believe that he had arrived at the farthest boundaries of \\ ANCIENT VOYAGES. 97 nature. It seems difficult, however, to suppose, with chap. iir. Bougainville, that he proceeded as far as Iceland ; though b„]hc7" there is little douht that he entered the Baltic, and also brought home a correct account of its shores, then known to the people on the Mediterranean almost solely by the qualities of the amber which was thence imported. The enterprise of Pytheas, though apparently quite peg„]f^ „f authentic, did not lead to any change in the course of the \oyage. the Massylian trade. It was probably found both cheaper and more convenient to transport the produc- tions of Britain through Gaul, than to convey them by means of such a lengthened and perilous voyage. The only other additions to ancient knowledge respecting the northern seas were made by the Romans, who, in order to conquer, were obliged to explore the earth. Agricola, before undertaking the campaign which was to reduce Scotland into a province, sent fleets to explore Agncoltt its mosi, northern shores and bays. His countrymen, however, do not appear to have sent in that direction, nor perhaps in any other, naval expeditions having dis- covery alone for their object. Their delineation of Caledonia itself is excessively rude ; and though they had traced the shores of Europe eastward as far as Russia, the great peninsula of Scandinavia appeared to them only as a cluster of islands. In the decline of the Roman empire, that country, Scandinavia. formerly so little regarded, became the seat of a most for- midable maritime power. Norway, under the terrible dominion of Harold the Fairhaired, Denmark, under Gorm and Canute, sent forth fleets which pillaged all the coasts of Europe, and redu-ced many of them to subjec- tion. Their movements, however, were /rowi the North, not to the North ; and their objects were not science, but ravage and conquest. The Runic tribes, indeed, were not without some tincture of letters and poetry ; though their sagas or poetical chronicles celebrated only the exploits of their miglity sea-kings and rovers, not any undertaking connected with commerce and the arts of peace. Yet a communication with these adventurers F 98 ANCIENT VOYAGES. Alfred. Olitlicre. Voj'nfte to the Nurtli cupe. CHAP. III. rnabled Alfred, that illustrious monarch, to collect in- formation respecting those extremities of the earth which had remained unknown to the Greeks and Ro- mans. Ohthere, a chief who had conic from the upper ti-acts of Norway, afforded some intelligence respecting a voyage performed by himself along the Arctic shores of Europe. This traveller was considered a rich man in his own country, being owner of twenty oxen, twenty sheep, and six hundred tame rein-deer. Fired by a spirit of liberal research, he put to sea in order to discover the regions that lay northward of tlie high latitude in which his domain was situated. lie sailed six days in that direc- tion, at the end of which he appears to liave reached the North Cape, the farthest point of Europe ; he then turned three days towards the east, and afterwards five days to the south. All this while the land on his right was desolate, traversed only by a few wandering shep- herds and hunters of Finnish race. Then, however, he reached a large river, the opposite side of which was somewhat densely inhabited by the Biarmians, or people of Northern Russia, who showed such a hostile disposi- tion as obliged him to return. The fishery of the horse- whale (walrus) was found to be carried on here with so great advantage, that many individuals were afterwards induced to repair thither. Forstcr delineates the course of Ohthere as extending to the ulterior of the White Sea: but we do not think the period of eight days from the North Cape could have carried him farther than the river Kola, which agrees also with the supposition of his having been arrested on the fron- tier of Russian Lapland. In pursuing their favourite objects of conquest and plimder, the Northmen always bent their sails towards the south. To quit their bleak regions in search of others still more bleak, would have been wliolly foreign to their views ; yet, as the sea was covered with their ships, chance and tempest sometimes drove them in an opposite direction. In 861, Nadodd, durmg a piratical Voyages df the Xoith men. ANCIENT VOYAGKS. 90 VinlaiicL excursion, unexpectedly discovered Iceland ; and though CIIAP. iir, thia country liad little to tempt a nation of freebooters, piscovoiy it so chanced that there existed materials for its colo- of Icuiimd. nization. Harold, in making himself master of all Nonvay, had deprived of their rights and domains nu- merous petty chieftains, and thereby created a largo body of malccontents. But he was willing to grant, and they to accept, a permanent refuge in this frozen clime ; and, accordingly, successive bands of emigrants colonlzafioa. proceeded thither, where they were organized into a free and hidcpcndent community. They even crossed to the opposite coast of Greenland, and formed settle- ments, which for some time were tolerably flourishing, though they have since either perished or lost all com- munication with the parent state. During the eleventh century, however, chance or enterprise led them south- ward to another coast, which they called Vinland, and which has been very generally believed to be America, though, after a careful examination of the authorities on which this opinion rests, we are satisfied that the new country was merely a more southern point of Greenland. The limits of the present work, however, will not admit any detailed account of these settlements. The republican cities of Italy, during the middle ages, jrcdievni revived the fainting spirit of commerce and navigation, voyagers. which they raised to a degree of prosperity, equal, pro- bably, to that attained by Tyre and Carthage during the height of their ancient glory. Their trade, however, lay chiefly within the Mediterranean, especially its eastern border, whither were brought overland, or by the Red Sea, the commodities of India. Few were dis- posed to quit this bright and golden track to face the tempests of the northern ocean ; yet were there not wanting some adventurous spirits who incurred all the hazards of penetrating into its remote and dangerous waters. Nicolo Zeno, a noble merchant of Venice, undertook, Nkolo Zeno. in 1380, a voyage to Flanders, during which a tempest drove him upon a coast that he calls Friesland. The 100 ANCIENT VOYAGES. CUAP. III. Friesland. Pi-incc. ZiclimuL VoyoEe to GreuiilauiL Supposed voyage to Ainericu. position of this unknown shore has ])ecn a subject of controversy ; and some have even had recourse to the hypothesis of its having been since swallowed up by the ocean. When, however, we find that Fricslund was in fact a cluster of islands, to which are applied the names, Talas, Broas, Bres, Iscant, easily converted into Zeal, Brassa, Unst, we may conclude with Forster that it was probably one of the Shetland Isles. Being cast ashore in a state completely destitute, he was received with great kindness by the Prince Zichmni ; who, finding him eminently skilled in naval affairs, reposed in him the highest confidence, and placed under his command various expeditions. So pleased was the Venetian with the favour of this northern potentate, that he invited his brother Antonio to join him. The only voyage, however, which seems to have carried him far to the north, was one to Greenland, and he gives a somewhat romantic account of a religious establishment already formed in that country. The convent was built on the Bide of a hill, whence burst a copious spring, whose boiling waters enabled the monks to vanquish all the evils of the climate. When spread on the frozen soil, it contributed to the production of the most useful herbs and culinary plants; and when introduced into the houses, it served for warming the apartments and cooking the victuals. They were likewise supplied from the country with abundance of fish, rein-deer, and wild-fowl ; and vessels from Norway brought to them the luxuries of life. Zeno performed other voyages in a different direction, which have even been supposed to reach as far as America : but we incline to think that the notices which have suggested this conclusion aic partly misunderstood and partly interpolated.* Quirini, another Italian nobleman, in 1431, engaged in a similar enterprise, and was likewise driven by a tempest on the coast of Norway. The crew arrived in • A recent writer views the whole narrative as a complete forijory, — a conclusion to which wo are not willing to accede. 1/'; ANCIENT VOVAOES, 101 the most miserable l)lif,'ht, having h>st the ship, and been CHAP. il[. obliged to tnke to tlu-ir boats, after the greater part ol quIiIui." them had perished by hunger, cold, and thirst. They were thrown first on a small uninhabited island, where, liaving (erected two tents, and found a large fish, they contrived to support life. After some days, a fisherman kt^^^^^ and two boys coming ui a boat to the island, were at fiahcnucn. first terrified at the sight of the strangers ; but, by soothing language and imjjortunity, were at length prc- vailed upon to take with them two of the sailors, — Gerard of Lyons and Cola of Otranto. They rowed to a village on the neighbouring Inland of Rost, where they met the kindest reception ; and, as it chanced to be Sunday, the priests exhorted the congregation to afford all the assistance m their power to these unfortunate strangers. Six boats were fitted out, the appearance of jjogpu„]if„ wliich filled Quirini with joy ; and his satisfaction was still farther increased by receiving a supply of bread and beer, as well as a cordial invitation to proceed with his deliverers to Rost. He and his people were treated with uninterrupted kindness during a stay of three months, in which time they completely recovered from all their distress and fatigue. The natives ot this little island, about 120 in number, subsisted on salt fish, ^Mvo pro- whieh they carried to the market of Bergen, where purchasers arrived from Germany and other countries ; also on sea-fowl, which in vast flocks covered all the surrounding rocks, and even built on the sides of the houses. Many of these birds were so tame that, when the natives walked up to their nests, they were wont to step off, allow two or three eggs to be taken, and then resume their seat. The people were most strict in their attention to religious duties, and carried their resignation to the will of Providence so very far that they rejoiced, and sometimes even held a festival, at the death of near relations. The Italians, accustomed to the feelings of southern jealousy, were extremely surprised to sec all ^omestio the members of a family sleeping together in one apart- ment, which they themselves were permitted to share 102 AiN'CIENT VOYAGES. CHAP. III. without the remotest feeling of impropriety. In sum- c TTTi ^t ™er, both sexes walked naked to the nearest pool, and Simplicity of ' . f i • J maimers. bathed promiscuously, all in periect mnocence, and without awakening any suspicion, — a practice, indeed, which pretty generally prevails in the northern coun- tries of Europe at the present day. The summer having arrived, Quirini took occasion to go with the annual ship to Dron Jieim, and, travel- ling thence by land to Sweden, he found a vessel bound for Rostock, in which he finally returned to Italy by way of England. \ 1 s NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 103 !f; CHAPTER IV. Voyages in Search of a North-east Passage. Rise of Maritime Enterprise in England— Plan of a North-east Passage to India— Expedition of Sir Hugh Willoughby ; its Issue — Chancelor reaches the White Sea ; Journey to Mos- cow— Voyage of Burroughs — Of Pet and Jackman — Dutch Expeditions— Barentz's First, Second, and Third Voyages ; His Death — Hudson — Wood — Litke. The latter part of the fiftoentli century may be fixed CHAP. IV. upon as that period in the history of the world when oreaT^mari- maritime discovery was prosecuted on the greatest scale, time unUer- and with the most splendid results. Travellers and '^' ^' navigators of the present day have displayed an enter- prise which cannot be exceeded ; but there remained for their efforts only the distant boundaries of ocean, or the interior of barbarous continents. On the contrary, vast kingdoms, new worlds, regions teeming with un- bounded wealth, rewarded the daring career of Gama and Columbus. A new direction was given to human ambition and industry ; and the discovcrv of distant regions became not only a commercial speculation with individuals, but one of the grandest objects of national policy. England had always shown herself ready to embark English ad- in every scheme of adventure and utility ; yet she was ^'^"^•"■<^'*- not altogether prepared for these extensive undertakings. The nations of southern Europe were then nearly a century in advance of those ruder states which lay behind the Alps and the Pyrenees. Venice, Genoa, Seville, Lisbon, and not London or Amsterdam, were :• ( I ! ' 104 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. of naviga' tion. i Henry VH. *5 CHAP. IV. the great schools of commerce and navigation. The EariTIdioois ^^i^bits and ideas of the feudal system, its proud indolence and contempt of mechanical pursuits, were only in the course of being superseded ; and the mercantile interest possessed as yet only a small share of that importance to which it has since attained. Henry VII., amid these unfavourable circumstances, and with nothing of the heroic or adventurous in his composition, possessed qualities which enabled him to appreciate the advantages of maritime discovery. Every thing which promised to fill his coffers was congenial to his taste ; and for this reason he showed himself ready to meet the views of Columbus with greater zeal than any other monarch of the ago. That great navigator, after vain solicitation at the courts of Spain and Portu- gal, sent his brother Bartholomew to make propositions to the English sovereign, which were very favourably listened to ; but before his messenger returned to Castile, the Genoese captain, under the auspices of Isabella, was already crossing the Atlantic. It was afterwards with the countenance of Henry, though not at liis expense, that John Cabot, in 1497, made that important voyage in which he discovered Newfound- land,— an island which, though not fitted for culture, has become the scat of one of the greatest fisheries in the world. He was also the first European who came into contact with any part of the American continent. The same prince, in 1498, furnished to him the means of fitting out another expedition, which appears to have been conducted by his son Sebastian. He subsequently granted to Richard Warde, Thomas Ashehurst, and pilij."^ ^°™' John Thomas, merchants of Bristol, in conjunction with three natives of Portugal, letters-patent, to undertake the discovery of lands and regions unknown ; but the result of their expedition is not recorded. Notwithstanding these proceedings, England had not yet thoroughly imbibed the true spirit of maritune enterprise. Kindled at a foreign shrine, the flame, when deprived of external support, gradually lan- John Cabot. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 105 I giiishcd ; and it became nearly extinct during the long chap. IV. reign of Henry VIII. Considering the character of this jjeni^r^in despot, full of bustle, needy of money, and not devoid of intelligence, he might have been supposed rather prompt to embark in such imdertakings ; but, involved in numerous disputes, domestic and theological, and studying, though with little skill, to hold the balance between the two great continental rivals, Charles and Francis, he was insensible to the glory and advantages to be derived from naval expeditions.* Sebastian Cabot, Sebastian in order to obtain employment, was obliged to quit England and repair to Spain, where he was received with much favour, and spent the greater part of his life, either in attempts at discovery, or in a quiet resi- dence at Seville, where he was consulted and revered as a nautical oracle. After a long slumber the maritime genius of England * This passage has drawn forth the indignation of a late Expeflitions author (Memoir of Sebastian Cabot, Lond. 1831), who repre- under Henry fccnts the writer of this department of the work, in conjunction ^'^^^• with his illustrious predecessors, Robertson and Forster, as wholly disregarding " the evidence which strikingly evinces the earnest and continued exertions of Henry VIII. in reference to this project" (p. 281). Yet his utmost research has only proved tnat this prince, in the course of a reign of thirty-eight years, while all Europe was filled with the enthusiasm of maritime discovery, fitted out tivo expeditions, both seemingly in compliance with very urgent representations. Mr Thome, the chief English promoter of naval discovery, entirely concurs with us when he says to Henry, in a letter written during the eighteenth year of his reign, " Perceiving that your Grace may at your pleasure, to your greater glory, by a godly meane, with little cost, pcrill, or labour to your Grace or any of your sub- jects, amplifio and inrich this your sayd realme, I know it is iny bouuLfcn duety to manifest this secret unto your Grace,M;/aY7t fiilherto, as J suppose, hath beeue hid."— HaMnyt, i. 213. The single expedition fitted out in the course of the succeeding twenty years could not materially alter the character of Henry as a promoter of discovery. A consideration of the simple fact, that Sebastian Cabot, during nearly the whole reign of this monarch, was obliged to sock patronage in a foreign country, is surely decisive as to his pretended zeal in the cause of discovery, 'there does not therefore appear the slightest ground for any alteration in the past^a^^jc as it stands m the text. ! ! 106 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. IV. Edward VI. Cabot. "i i Poyal interest. Association fonned. Scale of pre- paration. was suddenly roused ; bursting forth under a young prince of high hope and promise. In 1553, the sixtli year of the reign of Edward VI., tlie merchants of London, among whom are said to have been " men of great wisdom and gravity," felt an unwonted and ex- treme ardour in the cause of discovery. There chanced at that critical moment to be in their city no less a ])crson than Sebastian Cabot, with whom they entered into deep consultation, and with his assistance formed the general plan of a voyage, having in view to reach, ])y way of the north and north-cast, the celebrated regions of India and Cathay. The obstacles to such an undertaking could not yet be fully appreciated ; no just idea having been formed of the immense breadth of Asia, its extension towards the north, and the en- onnous masses of ice with which its shores arc encum- bered. The youthful monarch, whether he had any influence in inspiring this general ardour, or whether he caught the flame from his people, showed the most eager in- terest in the cause. He had already named Sebastian grand pilot of England, with a salary, considerable in that age, of £1G6. It was not by royal munificence, however, that the funds were supplied for prosecuting this arduous enterprise. An association, or senate as it is called, was formed, who judged it most advisable to divide the concern into shares of £25, by which means the sum of six thousand pounds was easily raised, and employed in the construction and equipment of three vessels fitted for northern navigation. The preparations, with a due regard to the formidable character and lengtli of the voyage, were made on a scale of which there had been no previous example. Cabot says, " The like was never in any realm seen, used, or known." The timbei"S were made of extraordinary strengih, by the best ship- \\Tights; the keel was covered with thin sheets of lead, —-a contrivance then practised for the first time, — and provisions for eighteen months were put on board. The grand pilot, though unable, probably from his age, to K > J I. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 107 r Conncil cf accompany the expedition, drew out a series of instruc- CHAP. IV. tions, in which the whole conduct to be observed by the code of in- officcrs and crew is minutely laid down. He enjoins stiuctions. strict attention to morals ; that morning and evening prayers be read on board each ship, either by the chap- lain or master ; and that there be no " ribaldry or ungodly talk, dicing, carding, tabling, nor other devilish games." He prohibits all acts tending to the breach of discipline, "conspiracies, part-takings, factions, false tales, which be the very seeds and fruits of contention." Naval subordination being in that age only imperfectly established, and the tendency to mutiny very strong, these exhortations were most seasonable. All questions respecting the steering of the ship were to be decided twelve! by a council of twelve, the captain having only a double vote. Persons skilled in writing were, in each vessel, to keep a daily record of the course of navigation, the celestial observations, the aspect of the lands along which tbey sailed, Avith every other interesting occurrence. The different masters were to meet weekly, compare these records, and enter the result in a common ledger. Directions wore even given for adjusting weekly ac- counts, keeping the cook-room and other parts of the ship clean, and preventing any liquor from being spilled upon them. Tlie natives of the countries which they visited were "to be considered advisedly, and treated (owinis with gentleness and courtesy, without any disdain, foveigueia. laughing, or contempt." Particular endeavoui's were to be made by fair means to allure some one on board, where he was to be well clothed and treated, so as to attract others ; but we cannot so much applaud the hint, that " if he be made drunk with your wine or beer, you shall know the secrets of his heart." The mariners are exhorted, however, to use the utmost circumspection in their dealings with these strangers, and, if invited to dine with any lord or ruler, to go well armed, and in a posture of defence. The liveries furnished to the sailors were to be carefully kept by the mercantile agents, and to be worn only when their I ,; ' I 108 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. IV. Naval liveries. Sir Hugh Willougliby, captain considered it an object to show them «in good array for the advancement and honour of the voyage." He warns the mariners not to be too much alarmed when they saw the natives dressed in lions' and bears* skins, with long bows and arrows, as this formidable appearance was often assumed merely to inspire terror. However, he seems to suggest a still more chunerical fear, when he tells them that there are persons amicd with bows, who swim naked, in various seas, havens, and rivers, " desirous of the bodies of men, which they covet for meat," and against whom diligent watch must be kept night and day. We know not whether some confused rumour of the shark and alligator had an in- fluence in suggesting this strange precaution. It now became necessary to elect a suitable com- mander, and many offers were made both by persons qualified and xmqualified. The choice for the supreme direction fell on Sir Hugh Willougliby. His recom- mendations, as mentioned by Adams, were high birth, tall and handsome person, valiant conduct and skill in war, — merits probably enhanced by admiration of the heroism wliich impelled him to engage m this new and daiing career. No mention being made of nautical experience, it may be suspected that, amid so many brilliant qualities, this most essential requisite was not duly taken into account. The charge of the next vessel was confided to Riclmrd Chancelor, an dleve of Heniy Sidney, Hither of Sir Philip, and who first gave lustre to that great name. Sidney stood high in the favour of the king, and was animated with the most ardent zeal for the promotion of the voyage. Chancelor is specially commended for " the many good parts of wit in him," tending to inspire the most sanguine hopes of his success* The preparations being completed, Edward drew up Royal letter, a letter addressed to all "kings, princes, rulers, judges, and governors of the earth ;" which, if composed by himself, certainly reflects very considerable credit upon his spirit and judgment. He observes to these unknown Inexperi- ence. Ricliard Cliuncellor. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 109 potentates, that " the great and Almighty God liath CHAP. IV given unto mankind, above all other living creatures, obiectTof such a heart and desire that every man desireth to join the voyage, friendship with other, to love and to be loved, also to give and receive mutual benefits." He represents, therefore, the duty of showing kindness to strangers, and especially to " merchants, who wander about the world, search both the land and the sea, to carry such good and profitable things as are found in their countries to remote regions and kingdoms." With this view, it is stated that a valiant knight, Sir Hugh Willoughby, and other trusty and faithful servants, had departed from England. "We therefore desire you, kings and princes, and all other to whom there is any power on earth, to permit unto these our servants free passage by your regions and dominions, for they shall not touch any thing of yours unwilling unto you." If such kindness were shown, he concludes, " We promise, by the God of all things that ai*e contained in heaven, earth, and the sea, and by the life and tranquillity of our kingdoms, that we will with like humanity accept your servants, if at any time they sliall come to our kingdoms." It was judged inexpedient to deLay the sailing of t^^^ Time of sail- vessels beyond the 10th of May, lest they should being, overtaken by winter in the northern latitudes. All the members of the expedition took a solemn and tender leave of their relations, kindred, and "friends dearer than kindred," and were at their station on the ap- pointed day. Early in the morning they dropped down from Ilatcliffe to Greenwich, where the court, and, as it were, the nation, were assembled to witness their departure. The king himself was confined by illness. Departure. but the principal courtiers stood at the palace-windows, the rest of the household mounted the towers, while the people in crowds lined the shore. The ships fired their guns, causing the hills and valleys to resound ; and "the mariners shouted in such sort that the sky rung with the noise thereof. In short, it was a very I I i I I - 110 nohtii-east voyages. Number of vessels. Contrary wiada. CHAP. IV. triumph." The thought of the distant and unknown — seas, into which they were so perilously plunging, was either forgotten in this moment of exultation, or served only to heighten its enthusiasm. The expedition, which consisted of three vessels, after stopping a few days at Blackwall, sailed down to Gravesend, and thence to the coast of Essex, where contrary winds unfortunately detamod them till the 23d. Then, with a favouring gale, they quitted Eng- land and shaped their course into the open expanse of the German Sea; the sailoi-s fixing tiieir eyes on their native land as it gradually receded, and many, unaccustomed to these distant voyages, dropped a few natural tears at the thought that they were seeing it perhaps for the last time. Sir Hugh was desirous of touching at the coasL of Scotland ; but this was rendered imposslide by con- ti'ary winds, which obliged him also to make frequent changes of course, " traversing and tracing the seas." On the 14th July he found himself involved in that labyrinth of isles which stud the coast of Norway between the 66th and 68tli degrees of latitude. The ships then altered their course and proceeded till they came to the larger range of the Lofoot (LoflFoden) Isles. The people, subject to Denmark, were gentle and courteous ; but the English, evidently ignorant of this coast, sought in vain to learn how these islands were situated with regard to the Norwegian shore. They proceeded onward to the large island of Seynam or Senjan, where they endeavoured without success to procure a pilot. They were now approaching the North Cape, ond saw before them the abyss of the Arctic Ocean stretching onwards to the Pole, and soon to be filled with snows and tempests. In this critical conjuncture Sir Hugh assembled the commanders, and exhorted them to keep close together ; but, in case of separation, appointed their rendezvous at Wardhuys, understood to be the principal port of Finmark. The visdora of this precaution soon appeared ; for, before Course of voyage. NOUTlI-EAbT VOYAGES. Ill they could enter a harbour, there arose such " flaws CHAP. iv. of wind and terrible whirlwinds," that they were obliged sepamt^ju of to stand out to the open sea, and allow the vessels tiie ships. to drift at the mercy of the waves. Amid the thick mists of the next stormy night the two principal ships separated, and never again met. Clement Adams, who ^.— -— — was with Chancelor, says, that as they were driving before the gale, the admiral loudly and earnestly called upon them to keep close to hun ; but that he himself carried so much sail, and his vessel was so superior, tliat the other could not possibly obey this order. Willoughby's pinnace was dashed to pieces amid the tempest ; and next morning, when light dawned, he Tempest could see neither of his companions ; but, discovering at length the smaller vessel called the Confidence, he continued his voyage. He now sailed nearly two hun- dred miles north-east and by north, but was astonished and bewildered at not discovering any appearance of a shore ; whence it was manifest that " the land lay not as the globe made mention." The imperfect maps of those days appear not to have shown that rapid bend towards the south which the coast takes near the great opening of the Waranger Fiord, on which Wardhuys is situated. Instead, therefore, of approach- ing the borders of Norway, he was plunging deeper and deeper into the abysses of the Northern Ocean. At length the soundings, indicating a depth of IGO fathoms, proved that, as the navigators were out at sea, they must have fallen into some great and perilous error. They then for some time steered to the south- uiiccrtiiinty east, yet afterwards again turned to the north, and ^"'^ ^'^'*'- continued shifting their courses amid doubt and un- certainty. As they groped their way in this manner through those vast and stormy seas, land at length appeared, but high, desolate, and covered with snow, while no sound could be wafted over the waves except the crash of its falling ice, and the hungry roar of its monsters. This coast was evidently that of Nova Zembla j but there was no point at which a landing could ]12 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. l^iRour of the season. I CHAP. IV. be made. After another attempt to push to the north- — ward, the mariners became sensible that Norway must Russian Lap- be sought in an opposite direction. They turned to ^'*'"'- the south-west, and having followed that course for a number of days, saw the coast of Russian Lapland. At this point they must have been very near the opening of the White Sea, into which had fortune guided their sails, they would have reached Arcliangel, have had a joyful meeting with their comrades, and spent the winter in comfort and security. An evil destiny led them westward, in the hope, probably, of reaching Wardhuys, the only point in those im- mense seas of which they had any distinct knowledge. The coast was naked, uninhabited, and destitute of shelter, except at one point, where they found it bold and rocky, but with some good harbours. Here, though it was only the middle of September, they felt already all the rigours of a northern season ; intense frost, snow, and ice, driving through the air as though it had been the depth of winter. For these reasons, the officers conceived it inexpedient to search any longer along those desolate shores, but to take up their quarters in this haven till the ensuing spring. They were sur- prised by the appearances of rein-deer, foxes, Polar bears, and " divers beasts to them unknown, and there- fore wonderful." The narrative here closes, and the darkest gloom involves the fate of tliis first Englisli expedition, for neither the commander nor any of his brave com- panions ever returned to their native land. After long suspense and anxiety, tidings reached home that some Russian sailors, as they wandered along those dreary tracts, had been astonished by the view of two large ships, which they entered, and found the gallant crews all lifeless. There was only the journal of the voyage, with a note written in January, showing that at that date they were still alive. What was the immediate cause of a catastrophe so dismal and so complete, — whether it was the extremity of cold, famine, or disease, or whether Loss of the expedition. NOnin-EAST VOYAGES. 113 all these ills united at once to assail tliem,^an now Ciiap. iv. only be a matter of sad conjecture. Thomson thus pathe- poeiic^" tically laments their fate : — lumcut. Miserable they, Who, hero entangled in the gathering ice. Take their last look of the acscending snn ; While full of death, and fierce with tenfold frost, The long long night, incumbent o'er their heads, Falls horrible. Such was the Briton's fate. As witlijirst prow (what have not Britons dared !) He for the passage sought, attempted since So much in vain. We must now advert to the fortunes of Chancelor, ciianceiior. with whom we parted amid the tempests which over- took the ships on the fiirthest shores of Norway. This commander pressed on, and, by keeping close to the land, or by obtaining better information, succeeded without any difficulty in reaching Wardhuys. There he waited for his companions seven days ; after which, disregarding the alarming representations of the natives as to the dangers of the wild ocean which beats on their coast, he again set sail. " He held on his course towards that unknown part of the world, and sailed so far that he came at last to the place where he found no night at all, but a continual light and brightness of the sun, shining clearly upon the great and mighty sea." As it was now the month of August, it seems difficult to comprehend how the perpetual light of the northern midsummer should not have been perceived sooner, and that it should now be ascribed to the pro- gress eastward. Probably a course of gloomy weather had preceded, so that, at this period, it became for the first time sensible. By this means, however, the adventurers were guided to the entrance of an im- mense bay, which was no other than the White Sea, T^^ ^^''"'® as yet unknown to Western Europe. They espied a little fishing-boat, the crew of which, having never seen a vessel of similar magnitude, were as much astonished as the native Americans had been at the Spaniards, and taking the alarm, fled at full speed. 114 NOKTII-EAST VOYAGES. liutivc:j. iMii.scovy. Joiivnoy to Jl05t0W. CHAP. IV. Clinncclor, with his i)arty, pursued nnd overtook them ; Terror of tiic thereupon they fell flat on the ground, luilf-clcad, ery- Ing for mercy. He endeavoured in the most soothln;,' manner to relievo their njjprehensidns, nnd hy looks, gestures, nnd gifts, expressed the kindest intentions. Upon being allowed to depart, they spread every wluro tho report of the nrrival "of a strange nation, of sin- gular gentleness nnd courtesy." Tlie natives came iu crowds, and the sailors were jdentifully supplied with provisions and every thing they wanted. Clmneelor now, inquiring on what i)art of the woild ho liad hecn thrown, learned that he was at the ex- tremity of a vast country, then obscurely known iu Britain by the title of Russia or Muscovy, and which was under the absolute rule of a sovereign named Ivan Vasilovitch. Although the court at Mosoow was im- mensely distant, and could only be reached by sledges over the snow, he sought and at length obtained ]>er- mission to visit the capital of this great potentate, lli.s journey to that city carrying him out of the sphere of Arctic discovery, it will suffice to say, that he was received in the most satisfactory manner, and returned with a letter from the czar, expressing a cordial desire to open an intercourse with England, and to grant to tho Merchant-adventurers every privilege necessary to en- able them to carry on traffic in his kingdon). Those traders now assumed the title of tho Muscovy Com- pany ; and the same officer was again sent out with credentials from Philip and Mary, who, in conse- quence of the premature death of Edward, then filled the throne. The original object of finding an eastern passage was not lost sight of; the captain being in- structed to make every possible inquiry on the subject. The spirit of discovery at home was too ardint, how- ever, to wait his return ; and a small vessel, called the Searchthrift, being fitted out in 1556, was placed under the command of Stephen Burroughs, who on the first voyage had acted as master of Chancelor's vessel. En- thusiasm and hope seem to have risen as high as at tl The Mus- covy. Company, 10 # NOnTII-F.AST VOYAGF.S. lla li w ill pavt\iro of the former expedition. Sebastian Cfibot CIIap. iv ^ went down io Gnivesfnil with a large pai'ty of ladies sccdiid cxiie- .111(1 ^ciitlcnu-n, mid, having partaken of .such eliccr us Nhij) allonU'd, invited the navigator and his conii)any (() a .sjilendid lianquct ashore. After dinni'r, a dance heing pidposed, the veneraMo pilot started up and tri|'|)ed it along with the most youthful of the party. Under these cheerful ausj)ices, the Searehthrift, on riu'Rwrnh. the :ii)th Ai)ril, s;uled from the Thames; but various"""^' circumstances delayed, till the middle of July, her arrival at the islands and straits of Wavuatz between Nova Zenihla and the continent. On the 21st the crew saw what they imagined to be land, but it proved to be a " monstrous heap of ice, which was a fearful sight to see." They were soon entangled in it, and for six hours could with difKculty avoid one mass without striking U])on another. Soon afterwards an immense whale came ' ^^ '" "^ so close that they might have thrust a sword into him ; but, alarmed lest he should overset the vessel, Bur- rouuhs called together his men, and caused them to shout with all their might ; upon which this mighty animal, which is neither fierce nor very coui'ageous, plunged into the dej)ths with a terrible noise. Among the islands of Waygat/ they descried a Rus- nussiau sian sail. The master, named Loshak, seemed willing ^■^='''"l- to avoid them, xnuler the pretext that he was in extreme haste ; but, on receiving a glass, two pewter spoons, and two knives, he presented seventeen wild geese, and gave much information. He told them that they were on the coast of the wild Samoiedes, who owned no subjection to the czar, but " will shoot at all men to the uttermost of their power that cannot speak their speech ;" it was even said that they ate the Russians. He then conducted l^uiToughs to a place left l)y these people, •where there M-ere still three hundred of their idols, the rudest work- Native Uloia. man&hip he ever saw. They consisted of figures of men, women, and children, " very grossly wrought ; the eyes, mouths, and other parts, stained with blood." We may horc mention that Johnson, one of the party, when at \ i]d NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. Native magic. Sfagical ti'iclcs. CHAP. IV. the Pechora, had been present at a mighty scene of magical incantation, performed by one of the great northern wizards. This personage first took a great sieve, somewhat resembling a drum, then he began to smg " as we use in England to halloo, whoop, and shout at hounds," to which the company responded with— igha, igha, igha ! At length the magician fell into con- vulsions, and dropped down as if dead, though he could still be neard breathing. The visiter having asked the meanmg of all this, was told—" Now doth our God tell him what we shall do !" Having thus allowed him to remain for a sliort time, the people began to cry aghaOy aghao ! whereupon he rose and again began to sing. He next took a sword and thrust it through his body, causing it to enter at the breast and issue at the back. Johnson saw it go into the shirt before and come out at tlie shirt behjjid, but does not seem to have scrutinized with any diligence its actual passage through the person. The magician then sat down with a vessel of liot water before him, and a line or rope of deer-skin passed round liis body, over all which, as well as himself, a spacious mantle was spread. The ends of the line being left outside the robe, were dra^vn tight by two men, till something was heard falling into the dish. The English- man, asking what this was, learned with horror that it was the magician's head, shoulder, and left arm, severed from the body by the violent pulling of the rope. He entreated that he might be allowed to lift the cloak and view this awful spectacle, but was assured that no one could do so and live. After the multitude had sung and hallooed for some time, the covering was removed, when the wizard came forth perfectly entire, all the parts cut asunder having it seems been miraculously replaced. This imposture, however gross and obvious, appears to Lave completely succeeded with the ignorant natives. Burroughs had passed fifteen leagues beyond the mouth of the Pechora, and the soundings indicated an approach to Nova Zembla, when he came to the conclusion that all attempts to penetrate farther this year would be Ridiculous credulity. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 117 abortive. Among other causes, he mentions the un- chap. iv. towai-d north and north-easterly winds, which were obstiicies en- more powerful than in any other place he ever knew ; countered. the great and terrible abundance of ice, of which he had reason always to expect greater store ; the nights waxing dark, and Winter with his stonns beginning to draw on. Under these considerations he determined to return and pass the gloomy season at Colmogi'o, stating his intention to resume next summer the attempt to penetrate east- ward ; but this, in consequence of other employment, was never carried into effect. Tliere occurred now a tragical incident connected with Tragical in- northem discovery. The czar, Ivan Vasilovitch, sent ^^ '^" ' with Cliancelor an ambassador and orator, as he is termed, Osep Nepca Grcgorowitch, in charge of four ships heavily laden with furs, wax, train-oil, and other Russian com- modities, to the value of upwards of £20,000, which belonged partly to the merchants and partly to the im- perial envoy himself. On this homeward voyage, two Wreck of of the vessels were wrecked on the coast of Norway, a ycsscS' third reached the Thames, but the Edward Bonaventure, in which the cliiefs of the expedition liad embarked, was diiven by the tempest into the Bay of Pitsligo, m the north of Scotland, where it went entirely to pieces. The English captain attempted, in a very dark night, to con- vey himself and the ambassador ashore in a boat ; but the skiflF was overwhelmed by the waves, and the former drowned, while the latter with great difficulty succeeded in reaching the land. He thence proceeded to London, where Philip and Mary gave him a splendid reception. From these events, an apprehension of disaster and j^^^ feeling of dismay were associated with all such voyages projects, along the northern boundary of Europe and Asia. This would not probably have damped the high spirit of enterprise by which the British were then animated ; but the Muscovy Company, at the same period, had their attention diverted by the project of opening a communication with Persia and India across the Caspian, and by ascending the Oxus to Bokliara. Tliis object ^ I \l ^ \- 118 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. IV. they prosecuted at great expense, and by a series of bold Asiaticr • adventures, in the course of which Jcnkinson, Johnson, searcirer" , , Alcocke, and otliers, penetrated dix-ply into the interior "of Asia. An unusual degree of courage was indeed ne- cessary to undertake this expedition, which was to bo begun by passing round the North Cape to tlie AVliito Sea ; tlien, by a land journey and voyage down tlio Volga, across the whole breadth of the Russian empire to Astracan, before they could even embark on the Caspian. The truth is, such a scheme was marked by Boldness ami , , ^. ,1^1 i xi 1 1 1 c 1 ignorance, the ignorance not less than by the boldness ot early mercantile enterprise. It was soon ascertained that no goods could bear the cost of so long a carriage by sea and land ; that the products of India could be brought, and those of Europe returned, much cheaper and more coin- modiously, by the way of Aleppo and tlie Mediterranean, than by this vast circuit round the stormy North. If tlie former conveyance, therefore, could not stand a competition Avith the water-carriage by tlie Cape of Good Hope, how could the latter ? It was abandoned, and no attempt for a long time was made to revive it. This channel of intercourse with India having failed, the attention of commercial and nautical adventurcis was again attracted to the possibility of effecting a pas- sage by the north and east of Asia. Intelligence had just been received respecting the river Oby, which was reported to enter the ocean, by seventy mouths, and therefore seemed likely to communicate with the most important countries in the interior. John lialak, who had taken up his resilience at Duisburg, on the Osclla, wrote to Gerard Mercator, the famous cosmographer, a particular account of this river, and of the efforts made by Assenius, a native of the Netherlands, to penetrate eastward along the Asiatic coast. He mentions in ])ar- tieular another river, described as a tributary of the Oby, but which, from the details, appears rather to have ])ee!i the Yenisei, down which came " great vessels laden with rich and precious merchandise, brought by black or swart people." lu ascending this river, men came to the large Renewed iiortlic'vn pi'i'jliCtS. John Balalc i. I //•J * NORTII-KAST VOyAGli:S. 119 lake of Kittay (Baikal?), on whose banks were the CHAP. iv. Kara Kalmucks, who, lie asserts, wore the very people t^j,(j^^,j^ ■, of Cathav. It was added, that on the shoves of this lake had been hoard sweet harmony of bells, and that stately and large buildings had ')cen seen therein. Hence Mer- caior, in a letter to Ilakluyt, infers that a very small ]U'ogress beyond the limit already reached by navigators ^vonld carry them to the spacious realms of Japaii and China. He maintained that the cape bounding the Gulf i^['^*f'^^'^^ of Oby was no other than the gi'cat promontory of TabLs, which, according to Pliny, formed the north- eastern boundary of Asia ; which being turned, the fortunate mariner would bear down direct upon Serica, Catiiay, Cambalu, — those regions with which ancient and modem rumour had identified the position of the Chinese empire. This was underrating the breadth of Asia by a hundred degrees of longitude, or more than a fourth of tlie cii'cumfercnce of the globe ; yet so imperfect were the sources of knowledge in those days, that the error, however immense, caimot be considered as fatal to the reputation of this great geographer. To realize these views, Arthur Pet and Charles Jack- Tiio Opovjre / man were su])plied in 1580 with two vessels, the George ^'"^ ^\iJ"'"ll ' and the William. On the 23d June they arrived at Wardliuys; from which they sailed on the 1st July. Approaching Nova Zembla they Ibund themselves en- closed in a bay of ice, whence they were obliged to come out as they entered, and had much trouble before they were able to round the large field to which it belonged. On the 19th of the same month they saw AVaygatz, and Waygatz. endeavoured to steer along its southern coast ; but found the water so shallow that they were comj)elled to turn and make a circuit by the north. Proceeding onwards they came to a fair low island, and found a passage between the ice and the shore, which, however, at length closed, and they could advance no farther. At the same time the ships were separated by large fields of ice, and could communicate only by beating drums and firing muskets, till they were able to put about and rejoin ( 120 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. \ I CHAP. IV. Impeding ice. Great datt gcr. each other. They enjoyed now the most favourable breeze ; but all was rendered vain by the state of the ico. « Winds we have had at will, but ice and fogs too much against our wills, if it had pleased the Lord God other- wise." The captains therefore determined to return to Waygatz, where they might confer together, and endea- vour to find a more open passage. They were now obliged to warp from one piece of ice to another, some of them 80 large that they could not see beyond them from the topmast. They were repeatedly enclosed by these masses, enveloped with dark fogs, and obliged to make fast to icebergs, where, " abiding the Lord's leisure, they con- inued with patience." On the 13th August they were involved among loose ice, a fragment of which broke the stock of their anchor, " and many other great blows wo had against the same, tliat it was marvellous the sliip was able to abide them." The boat, being between the floe and the brig, was struck, its side driven in, and the vessel itself was made to recoil backward. Pet and Jack- Fatal error man did not reach Waygatz till the 16th August ; by which time, it being found impracticable to penetrate again to the eastwai-d, they sought only to repass the North Cape, They appear to have been zealous, well- intentioned men; but, not duly acquainted with the phenomena of ice, they adhered too closely to the land, whence large masses are continually detached or carried down by the rivers, while the open sea might liavc afforded better hopes of a prosperous navigation. The United Provinces^ when roused to resistance by the ferocious bigotry of Philip and by the cruelties of the rehiorseless Alva, after a long, hard, and glorious struggle, succeeded in establishing their little territory as an independent republic. Thenceforth they began to look to the sea as the source of their greatness and pro- sperity. This element surrounded their country on all sides, — it towered, as it were, above them ; and they had employed its inundations to defend their small domain against immensely superior forces. Commerce, — a com- merce embracing the globe,-— was necessary to compensate The United ProviuceSi f . NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 121 tion. for the narrow limits within which they were hemmed, chap. IV. and to raise them to the first rank among European jjecess^y for states. The East was the most promismg quarter ; but commerce. its approaches were strictly guarded, and they had not yet a fleet which could cope with the mighty armadas of Spain in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The North alone was open to their enterprise ; and, by passing its frozen boundaries, they hoped to arrive at the rich and celebrated empires whence so ample a tide of wealth had flowed into Europe. The first expedition was undertaken by a private Private society of merchants, upon asking permission only of the association. States and their high admiral. Prince Maurice. Three vessels, with a small yacht, were equipped at Amsterdam, Enchuysen, and Zealand. The pilot of the ship belonging to the capital, and to whose guidance the expedition was generally intrusted, was William Barentz, one of the most expert nautical men of the age. The squadron sailed from the Texel on the 6th June First expcdl- 1594, and on the 23d arrived at the island of Kilduin in Muscovy. Approaching Nova Zembla it was formed into two divisions, one of which attempted to pass by the old route of the Strait of Waygatz ; but Barentz himself, taking a bolder course, endeavoured to pass round to the northward of Nova Zembla, that great insular mass which opposed, like a barrier, his eastward progress. Here he coasted the Bay of Loms, so called Bay of Loms. from the numerous flocks of the bird of that name, probably the penguin, with wings so small, compared to its ample body, that it seemed astonishing how they could support the creature's motion in the air. Passing the Black Cape and William's Isle, his people saw various features characteristic of the Arctic world ; among others the walrus in large herds, of which they give a very good description. Subsequently, at the Orange Isles, they came upon two or three hundred lying in heaps upon the sand, and basking in the sun. Having fonned the erroneous idea that these animals are help- less on shore, the sailors maiched against them as to an I CHAP. IV. AttiK'k of tlic Wiilinis. i; Unexpected 1 esistuuce. Noi'them point Tlie com- piiniun vessels. ill J22 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. assured victory, congratulating themselves on the rnul- titiule of valuable teeth which would become an easy prize. But so com])letely were they mistaken, that these gallant amphibia beat them off with loss and dis- honour, brcal Imprisoned iu the ice. ! 1 1 Floating wood. m CHAP. IV. to all hopes of escape from their icy prison. As the vessel was cracking continually, and opening in different quarters, they made no doubt of its going to pieces, and could only hope to survive the winter by constructing a hut, which might shelter them from the approaching rigour of the season. Parties sent into the country re- ported that they had seen footsteps of rein-deer, also a river of fresh water, and, what was still more important, a great quantity of fine trees, with the roots attached to them, strewed upon the shore. Not one of these could have gi'own on the frozen soil of Nova Zembla ; but, as already noticed, they were all brought down the rivers of Muscovy and Tartary, and wafted over the ocean by winds and currents. This circumstance gave a pecu- liarly cheerful colour to the hopes of the mariners. They trusted that Providence, which had in this sur- prising manner furnished materials to build a house, and fuel to warm it, would supply also whatever was necessary for their passing through the approaching winter, and for returning at length to their native country. A sledge was instantly formed, and three men cut wood, while ten drew it to the spot marked out for the hnt. They were desirous to raise a rampart of earth for shelter and security, and with this view kindled a fire in the hope of softening the ground, but in vain. — The carpenter having died, it was found im- possible to dig a grave for him, and they lodged his body in a cleft of the rock. The building was carried on with ardour, as affording the only hope of life; yet the cold endured in tliis operation was intense, and almost insupportable. Wlicn a nail was put into the mouth, it froze to the lip, and brought the skm away, drawing blood. The snow some- times fell so thick, for days successively, that the seamen Polar Bear, could not stir from under cover. They had at the same time perpetual combats with the Polar bear. On one occasion the master saw from the ship three of these furious animals making their way towards the working- party, to whom he gave warning by uttering loud cries. Cutting wood. Building. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 131 They immediately ran towards the vessel ; when one of CHAP. IV. them, in his haste, fell into a cleft in the ice, and was given up for lost ; hut the hears overlooking him, con- tinued their chase of the main hody. The sailors having Escape fiora at length reached the ship, made the circuit of it, and ijears. mounted from behind ; but their pursuers entered in front, and advanced furiously to the attack. A man, sent down to the kitchen to light a match, was in too great haste and agitation to accomplish that simple pro- cess, and the muskets were thus useless. The crew could now only parry the assault by throwing at their assailants whatever came first to hand, by whicli the attention of the animals was always for a moment at- tracted, though they returned to the charge with fresh vigour. At length, when matters seemed approaching to extremity, a halberd was darted at the largest, which struck him on the mouth with such force that he retreated from the vessel, and the others followed. Notwithstanding this intense rigour, winter had not Tenpomnr yet thoroughly set in. Several days of south-west wind dissolved a vast quantity of ice, and the mariners saw a wide open sea without, while the vessel was enclosed within, as it were, by a solid wall. By October they completed their hut, and prepared to convey thither their provisions and stores. Some painful discoveries were now made. Several tuns of fine Dantzic beer, of an agreeable and medicinal quality, and from which they had anticipated much comfort, had frozen so hard as to break the casks, bursting even the iron hoops by of beer. which they were bound. The contents, indeed, existed in the fonn of ice ; but this, when thawed, had merely the taste of bad water ; and though in the middle they found a liquor concentrating in itself the whole strength of the beer, it had not the true flavour of that beverage. They made trial of mixing the two together, but without being able to restore its proper relish and virtue. The sun, which had hitherto been their only pleasure J^eparturc of and consolation, now began to pay only short visits, and to give signs of his approaching departure. He rose in thaw. Deptrncfion ]32 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. The moon. Night of winter. CHAP. IV. the south-south-east, and sot in the south-south-west, while the moon was scarcely dimmed by his presence. On the 1st November his full orb was still seen for a short interval ; on the 2d it rested on the horizon, from which it did not detach itself; and on the 4th the sky was calm and clear, but no sun rose or set. The dreary winter night of three months, which had now set ui, was not, however, without some alleviations. The moon, which happened to be at the full, wheeled her pale circle round the whole horizon. With the sun disappeared also the bear, and in his room came the Arctic fox, a beautiful little creature, whose flesh re- sembled kid, and furnished a variety to their meals. They found great difficulty in the measurement of time, and on the 6th, as they did not rise till it was late, a controversy ensued whether it was really day or night. The cold had stopped all the clocks ; but they afterwards formed a sand-glass of twelve hours, by which they contrived tolerably well to estimate the duration of their dreary solitude. On the 3d December, as the sailors lay in bed, they heard from without a noise so tremendous;, as if all the mountains of ice by which they were surrounded had fallen in pieces over each other. In fiict, the first light which they afterwards obtained showed a considerable extent of open sea ; yet this disruption must have been produced by some internal movement of the ice, and not by any tendency towards thaw. Intense cold. As the season advanced the cold became more and more intense. Early in December a heavy fall of snow stopped up all the passages by which the smoke could escape ; so that a fire, at all fitted for the dreadful in- clemency of the season, led to the danger of suffocation. The men were thus obliged to keep the room at a miserably low temperature, for which they used the imperfect remedy of heated stones, passed from one bed to another. An unwonted .'.'fficulty accompanied every attempt to wash their clothes : whenever they took these up from the boiling water, and began to wring them, Breaking of the ice. Washing. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 133 the linen froze in their hands ; and when they hung chap. iv. them up to dry, the side failhest from the fire was hard (jreaTsuffer- frozcn. The cold becoming always moro rigorous, ice ings. two inches thick was fonncd on the walls. At length their sufferings came to such an extremity, that, casting at cacli oilier languishing and sorrowful looks, they an- ticipated that this must end in the extinction of life. They now resolved that, cost what it might, they should for once be thoroughly warmed. They repaired, there- fore, to the sliip, whence they can'ied an ample supply of coal ; and having kindled an immense fire, and care- ^rc"ins re- fully stopped up the windows and every aperture by heat, which tlie cold could penetrate, they brought themselves into a most comfortable temperature. In this delicious state, to wliich they had so long been strangers, they went to rest, and talked gaily for some time before falling asleep. Suddenly, in the middle of the night, several wakened in a state of the most painful vertigo ; their cries roused the rest, and all founu themselves more or less in the same alarming predicament. On attempting to rise they became dizzy, and could neither stand nor walk. At length two or three contrived to stagger to- wards the door ; but the fii-st who opened it fell down insensible among the snow. De Veer, who stood behind, revived him by pouring vinegar on his face ; and the wintry air, which had been their greatest dread, now restored life to the whole party. Tliese unhappy mariners being thus compelled to insupport- afford a certain access to the blast, its effects became ^^''^ ^"^'^• more insu])portable than before. It seemed as if the fire had lost all power of conveying heat ; their clothes were white with snow and hoar-frost ; their stockings were burned l)efore the feet felt any warmth ; and this result was made known by smell ratlier than by feeling. Yet, in the very midst of these sufferuigs, remembering that the Gth January was the Feast of the Kings, they be- Feast of sought tlie master that they might be allowed to cele- ^'"S^* bratc the festival. They had siivcd a little wine and two pounds of flour, with which they fried pancakes in M i f' 15 134 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. IV. King of Nova Zcmbla Abatement of darknesa. First appear- ance ot tlie sun. Great joy. Returning cheerluliiessL oil ; the tickets were drawn, the gunner wag crtrvmed King of Nova Zembla, and the evening passed as merrily as if they had been at home round their own firesides. Nothing can more strikingly illustrate the salutary effects produced even in the most depressmg circum- stances by mental occupation and amusement, — an ex- pedient of which Captain Parry afterwards made so happy a use. About the middle of January the crews began to ex- perience some abatement of that deep darkness in which they had been so long involved, and which prevented the exercise and amusement so necessary to tlieir health. Soon after, about mid-day, a faint flush was scon to tingo the horizon ; and this first dawn of tlie annual morning revived in their hearts the hope which was almost ex- tinguished. On the 24th, De Veer and two othei*s ran in to say that they had seen a portion of the sun's disc. Barentz demonstrated, on astronomical principles, that this could not take place for fifteen days to come. Many, however, trusted more to the eyes of their com- panions than to scientific deductions ; and bets were taken, that could not be decided in the two following days, in consequence of a heavy fog with which the air was oppressed. The 27th, however, being clear, they went out in a body, and saw ascending above the horizon the full orb of that great luminary. Joy took possession of their hearts, and Barentz in vain continued to prove tliat this appearance was contrary to every pruiciple of science. He was not aware of the extensive power of refraction in that northern atmosphere, which, in Cap- tain Parry's expedition, produced a similar abridgment in the duration of the Polar winter. Affairs now assumed a more cheerful aspect. Instead of constantly moping in the hut, the men went out daily, employed themselves in walking, running, and athletic games, which warmed their bodies and preserved their health. Vith the sun, however, appeared their old enemy the bear. One attacked them amid so thick a mist that they could not see to po.int their pieces, and north-EaST voyages. 135 sought shelter in the hut. The animal came to the chap. iv. door, and made the most desperate attempts to hurst it iiene%vcci open ; but the master keeping his back firmly set attacks of against it, the unwelcome visiter withdrew. Soon after- wards, however, he mounted the roof, where, having in vain attempted to enter by the chimney, he made furious efforts to pull it down, tearing the sail in which it was wrapped ; all the while his frightful roarings spread dismay through the mansion below : at length he finally retreated. Another came so close to the man on guard, who was looking another way, that on re- ceiving the alarm from those within and looking about, he saw himself almost in the jaws of the bear ; however, he had the presence of mind instantly to fire ; when the brute, being struck in the head, attempted to escape, but was pursued and despatched. The first reappearance of the sun had inspired hopes Return of that the weather would become continually more mild ^""^^' and agreeable. It was, therefore, a severe disappoint- ment, wlien, in February, a heavy gale from the north- east brought a cold more intense than ever, and again buried the hut under snow. This was the more pain- fully felt, as the men's strength, and supply of generous food to recruit it, were alike on the decline. They no longer attempted daily to clear a road, but those who were able went out and in by the chimney. A dreadful Failure of calamity then overtook them in the failure of their *"'^'- stock of wood for fuel. They began to gather all the fragments which had been thrown away, or lay scattered about ; but these lieing soon exhausted, it behoved them to carry out their sledge in search of more. To dig the trees, however, out of the deep snow, and drag them to the hut, was a task which, in their present weak state, would liave appeared impossible, liad they not felt that they must do it or perish. In the course of March and April the weather became nMcr milder, and the attention of all the crew was drawn to wcatiier. plans and prospects of return. Southward, on the side of Tai'tary, the icy masses were still floating, but to the J36 NOllTU-EAST VOYAGES. li -1 liicvi.'il'-iiisr <.i!)>triu-tii'ii'* of rllC :illii'. e^ciipo in 111 boats. Extrication ol tlie boat.' CHAP. IV. north-east there was an open sea. Yet tlic barriers which enclosed the ship not only continued, but, to their inexpressible grief, rapidly increased, probjibly from the fnigments which drifted hito the harbour ujjon the breaking up of the great exterior field. In the middle of ^tltirch these obstructions were only 75 paces broad ; in the begiiming of May they were 500. The piles of ice resembled the houses of a great city, inter- spersed with apparent towers, steeples, and chimneys. Ersoiution to 'j^<]j^j siiilors, viewing with desi)air the predicament in oxpnnj* ill till' ^ ^ ^ , - , , which they were placed, earnestly entreated peiini^ision to fit out the two boats, and in them to nndcrttxkc the voyage homeward. The master at length agreed, pro- vided there was no better prospect by the end of May. From the 20th to the 2Gth, a north wijid came on, and blew upon them a still gi'cater quantity of ice ; so that they no longer hesitated to begin their work, and to bring from the ship sails and cordage. The extrication of the boats from luider the snow was a most laborious task, and the equipment of them would have been next to impossible, but for the enthusiasm with which it wa.s undertaken. By the 11th June they had the vessels fitted out, their clothes packed, and the provisions cm- barked. Then, however, they had to cut a way through the steeps and walls of ice which intervened between them and the open sea ; while amid the extreme fatigue of digging, breaking, and cutting, they were kept hi play by a huge bear, which liad come over the frozen sea from Tartary. Kinbavkation At lengih, having embarked all their clothes and pro- 10 oats. yjgjQj^g^ ^jj(,y gpj g.^Q qj^ ^|jg J ^^}^ ^jj,|^ ^ wcstcrly breeze. In the three following days, having passed the Ciii)e of Isles and Cape Desire, they came to Orange Isle, always working their way through nmch encumbering ice. When they were off Icy Cape, Barentz, long struggling with severe illness, and now feeling his end approach, desired that he might be lifted up to take a last view of that fatal promontory, on which he gazed for a con- siderable time. NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 137 Veer. On the following day the vessels wore again involved chap, i v. in masses of drift-ice, and were so forcibly struck, as f„y„j7(,"^ jy^ well as squeezed between opposite fields, that the men masses oi bade a final adieu to each other. Seeing, however, a ^''''"■''^'-'• body of fixed ice at a little distance, De Veer took a rope and leaped from fragment to fragment, till he ar- rived on the firm surface. A communication thus formed, they landed first the sick, then the stores and provisions, and, finally, they drew up the ])oats them- selves. During this detention, Barentz, being informed of the severe illness of one of the men named Adrianson, said that he himself was not far from his end. As he peathof Pa continued, however, conversing and looking on a chart of the voyage made by De Veer, it was thought that his disease could not be so serious, till he pushed aside the paper, asked for a draught of water, and immediately expired. This event deeply afflicted the crews, both from their personal attachment to him, and the loss of his skill in piloting the vessels. The sailors with some drift-wood, repaired the boats ; Boats ro- yet the ice was still close around, and they were struck P'*"'^^- with the fear that it was not possible for them to escape from this bank. On the 22d, however, open sea ap- peared at a little distance ; and having dragged the boats over successive pieces of ice, they were again afloat. After three days they reached Cape Nassiiu, the ice fre- quently stopping them, but separating again like the gates of a sluice, and allowing a passage ; though on the 2()th they were obliged once more to disembark and pitch their tents on the frozen suiface. On the opposite coast they saw immense herds of the walrus, and the air was darkened with numberless birds. While they Attack of were fast asleep in the tent, the sentinel called out, bears. " Three bears ! three bears !" The whole crew were instantly out ; but their muskets were charged only wath small shot. However, " these sweetmeats," though they could not inflict any serious wound, induced the monsters to turn, when one of them was pursued and killed. Tho survivors carried off" their dead companion 138 NOKTU-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. !' New dan- gers. Open sea. ■I; Capture of bads. '1 St Lawrence hay. to the most rugged parts of the ice, where they devoured a hirge portion of his carcass. The year was now advanced ; the bright light of the sun and the occasional south-westerly breezes dissolved the ice, and gradually opened a way before them. But dangers of a new class soon succeeded. The dis- tinction between fixed and floating ice had now almost ceased, the fonner continually melting away. When they thought themselves lying secure on a large field, a body of icebergs came in from the sea, struck and dashed it to pieces. The packages were separated from the boats, and several dropped into the water. With much labour and peril they scrambled over the detached fragments to a place of safety, while the weighty articles sank into the softened ice, not without the greatest risk of falling to the bottom. For twelve hours the sailors floundered through this loose and broken surface before they could establish themselves on the field which was attached to the land. The 2d of July was the finest day yet seen in Nova Zembla; and the weather continuing favourable, pro- duced on the 7th an open sea, to which, with great labour, the men succeeded in dragging the boats. From this time their progress, though often obstnicted, was never entirely stopped. In several of the rocky bays they cauglit an immense number of birds, which, not having yet learned to fear man, allowed themselves to be taken by the hand. Near Admiralty Bay they saw two hundred walruses lying on a bank of ice, and attacked them ; but these powerful animals advanced to the combat, snorting and blowing in so tremendous a manner that, had not a fresh wind sprung up, the mar- iners might have had to bewail a serious loss ; and they regretted, amid so many inevitable evils, to have brought on themselves one so very unnecessary. On the 28th, after passing the bay of St Lawrence, when they came near the southern extremity of Nova Zembla, they discovered with surprise and joy two Russian vessels at anchor. They approached and were NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 139 well received by the crews, several of whom recollected CHAP. iv. having met them in the former voyage, and were tnily Reception by astonished, instead of the large and handsome vessels RusMtm whose equipment they had so much admired, to see ** °'*' them in miserable open boats, with pale and meagre countenances. After mutual presents, the parties agreed Usa cf coch- to sail together to Waygatz, but were separated by a '^*'^^** heavy gale. On a small isle the Dutch foimd abundance of cochlearia, or scurvy-grass, by the use of which the sick recovered in a manner almost miraculous. On the 3d August they steered their course to the south-south- west, and though somewhat obstructed by ice, came next day in view of the Russian coast. They had a tedious but safe voyage to Kola, where, to their joyful Arrtyai at surprise, they found John Corneliz, who displayed the greatest kindness, and afforded them a comfortable passage to Amsterdam. As no account was ever given of this commander's own proceedings, it may be pre- sumed that they did not lead to any important discovery. The question as to a north-eastern passage was not iTptiry yet considered as finally determined. The London '^^^^*"^ merchants next took it up, and in 1608 sent out Henry Hudson, who had already distinguished himself by a voyage to Spitzbergen, and proved one of the greatest of the early navigators. Tlic design of this able seaman appears to have been, not to entangle him- self in the straits and islands on the Russian coast, but to strike at once into the channel between Nova Zcmbla and Spitzbergen. He dropped down to Blackwall on the 22d April, and on the Stl June saw the North Cape, nntnnsied in bearing south-west. He still pushed on to the north '^"^ '^'*' and east, till he reached the latitude of 75°, when he found himself entangled among ice. He at first en- deavoured to push through, but, failing in this attempt, turned and extricated liimself with only " a few rubs." On the 12th June he experienced a thick fog, and had his shrouds frozen ; but the sky then cleared, and af- forded bright sunshine for the whole day and night. On the 15th, Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner so- \'4 'I f [| ' if 140 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. CHAP. IV niuiuiuid. Const of Zumblo. Plensart siinnner abpuct. Return to Eu gland. lemnly averred, that, while standuig on deck, they saw a mennaid. This inhabitant of the deep is described as liavini? a l)ack and breast like a woman, a very wliito skin, and long black hair flowing behind ; but_ on her tnrning round they descried a tixil as of a poi-poiso, and speckled like a mackerel. It seems uncertain which of the cetaceous tribe suggested this resemblance to the human form. Hudson continued to push on eastward, varyingaccord- ing to the wind, between the latitudes of 74° and 75°. On the 2oth, however, heavy north and north-easterly gales, accompanied with fog and snow, obliged him to steer south-easterly; and this course, on the 2Gth, brought him to the coast of Nova Zembla, in lat. 72° 25'. Here, with premature resignation, as June was not yet closed, ho concluded that it were fruitless to hold this year a more northerly course ; in place of which he resolved to try the old route of the Waygatz. From this he was diverted by the view of a large sound, which appeared to afford an equally promising opening. On its shores also were numerous herds of the sea-horse, from the capture of which he hoped to defray the ex- pense of the voyage. Nova Zembla, on the whole, seen at midsummer, presented to liim somewhat of a gay aspect. He says, it is " to man's eye a pleasant land ; much mayne Luid, with no snow on it, looking in some places green, and deer feeding thereon." The sound, however, as might have been conjectured from the strong current which flowed down, terminated in a largo river, and the boats soon came to anchorage in one fathom. The morees also, though seen in great num- bers, could never be brought to close quarters. The ice now came in great masses from the south, " very fearful to look on ;" and though, " l)y the mercy of God and his Jnighty help," he escaped the danger, yet by the 6th of July he Avas " void of hope of a north-east passage ;" and, determining to put his employers to no farther expense, hastened home to England. . We know not whether the Muscovy merchants were NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 141 T'ntpUivincnt ot llixlnoa Dutch. Hudson's nariutivc. fully satisfied with the zeal displayed by Hudson in this CIIAP. IV. expedition; for we find liiin in 1G09 setting sail from the Texel under the auspices of the Dutcli l^^ist India Company, whose hopes of a northern passage had again revived. On the 6th May lie passed the North Cape, and on the 19th came in view of Wardliuys. It may bo remarked, however, that our countryman, though so excellent a navigator, is a most unsatisfactory writer. His narrative, amid vague complaints of fog and ice, shows nothing distinctly but that he dt'terniined to repass the North Cape, whence he steered across the Atlantic to America. Forster says that he reached Nova Zembla, — an assertion directly contrary to the captain's own narrative, and inconsistent with the time spent in this part of the voyage. According to Constan- tin, the crew, consisting chiefly of seamen accustomed to sail to India by the Cape of Good Hope, were soon alamied by the tempests and floating ice of the North. Tlie truth is, the commander's own mind seems to have been fixed on north-western discovery. This ap- pears from sevei'al hints in his second narrative ; and he was probably inclined to content himself with a mere show of proceeding eastward, that, apparently baffled, he might follow his favourite direction. He seems to have been impressed with the expectation of finding an open sea bet ^'cen Virginia and Newfoundland ; and in fact he discovered the important bay which receives the river, called after him the Hudson, and on which New York was afterwai'ds built; but this lies out of our present sphere. The Russia Company, at a subsequent period, made some attempts to establish a factory on the Pechora ; but after persevering for two or tliree seasons, they relinquished the undertaking. In 1G76, Captain John Wood, on his own sanguine representations as to the great probability of a north- eastern passage, was sent out by the Admiralty in the Speedwell. On the farther coast of Nova Zembla, how- ever, his vessel went to pieces, and the crew, cast on ITis o^^'n views uf success. Discovery of tliy ii\'er Hudson. C.iptnin Juhii Wood. 142 NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. Captain Litke. I '^il CHAP. IV. shore, with diflRculty reached their consort, the l*ros- f„,,p;^cl£ofperous Pink, which afforded them a passage liome. Wood. Wood, though he had done nothing to throw light oa the suhject, brought back an impression respecting it so very gloomy, that the plan of penetrating to India in this direction was thenceforward given up, and has not been revived even in the eras of the most enthusiastic enterprise. Attempts by j^ may be proper in this place to notice the attempts govenmiuut. recently made by the Russian government to complete the survey and exploration of Nova Zenibla, to our knowledge of which little addition had been made since the time of Barentz. To effect this object an expedi- tion was despatched in 1819 under Lieutenant Lazaref ; but it encountered such formidable masses of ice, that he was obliged to return without in any degree effecting his object. Captain Litke was employed in the same undertaking in 1821, but the issue was almost equally unfavourable. In the following year, however, the same officer was again sent to sea ; and, after an extensive survey of the coast of Lapland, came, on the 8th August, in view of Nova Zembla. During liis progress along the western shore, he found it in general to correspond with the delineation given by Barentz, recognising in par- ticular Admiralty Isle ; after which he reached a head- land supposed to be the Cape Desire of that navigator, but differing by about 15 degrees from the longitude which he had assigned to it. Litke was intrusted with a similar command a third time in 1023, when he ascertained tliat the promontory which he had imagined to be Barentz's Cape Desire, was in fact his Cape Nassau, and that the description of it given by this celebrated discoverer was quite correct. In the same voyage he had an oppoi-tunity of examining the great strait, called Matotchkin Schar, which divides the island into two parts, and found its length to be about 52 English miles. His general conclusions are, that the southern section of the coast is low and flat; but that about lat. 73° there TJiird voy- age NORTH-EAST VOYAGES. 143 commences a cliuiu of somewhat lofty mountains, the CIIAP. iv. summits of which arc covcrod with snow. The appear- coniMusinns ancc of the country is dreary and miserable in the ex- univcu ui. trcme ; notwithstanding which, the idea entertained by those who consider it as a mere mass of ice, partially sprinked with soil, was found quite eiToncous. Captain Litkc brought home with him specimens of the ditt'erent rocks and earths of which it is composed. The same navigator was appointed once more in 1024, VoynRc to with instructions to examine the eastern coast ; but iMs/cm" ' '** in endeavouring to penetrate between Spitzbergen and ^"""t* Nova Zembla he was completely repulsed by the masses of ice with which the sea was encumbered ; while his attempt to make a passage by the Strait of Waygatz was equally defeated by contrary winds and calms. Hence, notwithstanding these spirited efforts on the part of the Russian government, no great accession has been made to our knowledge of that insular territory. il 144 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. i 1 Tolar pas- sage. i i CHAPTER V. Early Voyages towards the North Pole. Plan of a Polar Passage to Indiar-Voyages to Cherie Island- Hudson— Poole— Baffin— Fotherby. CHAP. V. The attention of the public, it has appeared, was early Sci.cu.rofa drawn towards a Polar passage, which, by striking di- rectly across the Arctic ocean, might bring the navigator by a shorter route than any other to the golden realms of the East. Mr Robert Thome, a zealous promoter of discovery, in his memorials to Henry VIII. and other great men, always placed foremost the scheme of reach ing India by tliis improved course. It is not wonderful, however, that such a voyage should not have been among the first which were attempted. A century had elapsed from the discovery of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, and half that period since the commencement of the naval career of Britain, before her seamen, despairing of success by the more circuitous tracks hitherto followed, put forth all their strength to cross the icy waters which surround the northern pole of the earth. Discovery of Barentz, as already noticed, had in his third voyage Spitzbergen. discovered Spitzbergen ; but it was in pursuit of the fishery that the English were first attracted into the high latitudes of the Greenland or Polar Sea. In 1G03, Alderman Sir Francis Cherie of London fitted out the Godspeed, under the command of Stephen Bennet, ap- parently with the vague idea of exploring the Arctic shores, and ascertaining their sources of commercial wealth. The captain at first followed the beaten track EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. 145 of the North Cape, Wardhiiys, and Kola ; after wliich, cttap v. reversing his direction, he pushed north and north-west enrptaiiT into the ocean. On the IGtli August, at two o'clock, he Buauot. descried two hills which seemed to rise above the clouds. In four hours he reached the Bear Island of Barentz ; and not having heard, it should seem, of its previous discovery by that navigator, gave to it, in honour of his own employer, the name of Cherie. Here the sailors Jj^",^" ""^ caught only two foxes and a few fishes ; for though caught. they saw the teeth of a morse, proving that those ani- mals did " use there," the season was considered too far advanced to commence operations against them. He directed his course homeward by Kola and the North Cape, and reached the Thames on the 15th October. Sir Francis, on the return of the ship, though it came s<'f""'^ empty, was so far satisfied as to send it out next year under the same commander. Bennct, accordingly, not only went out a second time, but made several successive voyages, in which the capture of the morse was carried on with considerable success. While these things were going on, Henry Hudson, n-uison dis- in 1G07, was despatched by the Muscovy Company to ff;M,'|'J,Xy penetrate, if possible, directly across the Pole. This Comi.uuy. bold enterprise had not been before attem])ted, and it constitutes the first recorded vovage of the eminent navigator to whose skill it was confided. Having sailed on the 1st May, he passed the latitude of Iceland, and took a direction westward, being desirous to survey the northern boundaries of Greenland, thinking there might be an open sea in that direction as likely as in any other. On the 13th June the ships were involved in thick fog, their shrouds and sails behig frozen ; but, when it cleared next morning, the stiilors descried a high and bold head- land mostly covered with snow, behind which rose castellated mountain, named the JMount of God's Mercy. Rain now fell, and the air felt temperate and agreeable. They steered eastward to clear this coast ; but, after being for some time enveloped in mists, again saw land, very High and bold, and without snow even on the loftiest I 146 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. CHAP. V. mountains. To this cape, situated in 73°, tliej gave the — name of Hold-with-Hope. Passing He now took a north-eastward direction, and on the Spitzbeigeu. 27th faintly perceived the coast of Spitzbergen. lie still pushed northward, till he passed the 79th degree of latitude, where, though the sun at this season did not descend lower than ten degrees above the horizon, the weather was piercingly cold, and the shrouds and sails often frozen. The ice obliged him to steer in various directions; but, embracing every opportunity, he pushed on, as appeared to him, to 81-|°, and saw land stretching without interruption as far as 82°. But as the extremity of Spitzbergen does not lie beyond 81°, he must have committed some mistake, either in his latitudes or in mistaking for land extensive fields of ice. It has been supposed that he had again reached the opposite coast of Greenland. Greenland ; but this seems inconsistent with his bear- ings, which are always more or less to the eastward. The sea, in the latitudes of 81° and 82°, he considers to be so completely baiTcd with ice as certainly to defeat all attempts at a passage to the Pole in this direction ; though, in his opinion, it might be frequented with groat advantage on account of the immense multitude of seals with which it abounds. He returned, coasting along Spitzbergen, some parts of which appeared very agree- able ; and on the 15th Sopteml)cr arrived in the Thames. Enterprise of The Muscovy Company, still the most enterprising the Muscovy body in England, determined to fit out another cxjiedi- tion for Polar discovery. They intrusted it to Jonas Poole, who had distinguished himself in the Cherio Island voyages ; and it was hinted to him, that though discovery was to be his maui object, yet he might catch at intervals some morses, and even one or two whales, to make the voyage defray its own expenses. He took his departure in due season, sailing from Blackwall on the 1st March IGIO. By the 10th he had reached the coast of Norway, in lat. Go°, but the wind then blew from the north so " extreme fierce, with great store of snow and frost," and the vessel was so laden with ice. J EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. 147 tlmt it could not maintain a "fore course," and was CHAP. V. driven back as far as Scotland. Here he remained till „ ~r~ the 12th April, when, favoured by a southerly breeze, Jonas Poola he again set sail, and after many stonns, snows, and ex- treme frosts, came in view, on the 2d May, of the North Cape. He then steered for Cheric Island, near which he judged liimst'lf to be on the 6th ; ])ut the fog was such that he could not see a cable's length, and " the ship had many a knock ; but, thanks be to God, no harm was done !" Continuing to beat about in this ob- scurity, he entirely missed his object, and the first land seen by him was m ^° 50', being the shores of an inlet on the coast of Spi*' ' r n, which, from the deer's horns found there, he na . 1 1 om Sound. He pushed on to H*""" Sound. 77° 25', where he found the air more temperate than he had formerly felt it at the North Cape at the same sea- son. Soon, however, there was a complete reverse ; the ship was involved in thick fogs, — and wind, frost, snow, and cold, seemed to strive for the mastery. After many a sore stroke he got the vessel through ; but the main- sail was still " frozen as hard as ever he found any cloth," and could with great difficulty be set. He discovered an island, which he called Blackpoint, and the nearest promontory he named Cape Cold ; but next day the weather changed so entirely that he gave to a similar projection the milder appellation of Fair Foreland. His Fair fore- views continued to brighten, when he found that the^"^"^* sun, as the season advanced, gave a most powerful heat ; that the ice was melted on tlie ponds and lakes ; while tliat which still floated on the sea was not nearly so huge as he had seen it in 73 degrees. He conceived favourable hopes, therefore, even after so sharp a be- giiming, and judged that a passiige by the Pole was as likely to be found in this as in any other meridian. He might therefore have been expected to apply himself in p,i„uitof the most zealous and determined manner to make the morses. discovery. A large herd of morses, however, liaving come in sight, he despatched his crew in pursuit of them ; and fi'om this time there is not another word of prose- Il '1 CHAP. V. Scdiictive- n ess of the chase. Milflnoss of Spitzbei'gtii .Satisfaction ■with the voyuge. New ex]ie(ll- tion planned. 148 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. Wreck of tlie M.iry Mar- garet. cuting the research. The taking of tlie walms and tho deer, and now and then an attack on the whale, al)sorbed his whole attention. He met with some dangers. One day he attacked a herd of morses lyuig on ice, which proved hollow, and suddenly broke, whereon ice and beasts slid into the sea together, and the crew had great d.ificulty in not going along ^^^th them, especially one man ; for, besides being cnished by the weight of the carcasses, the animals that were alive struck at him in the water, and severely bruised him. Upon the whole he judged Spitzbergen to be milder than Clierie Island, and was not less surprised at the great number of deer, than at the care of Providence, wliich enabled them to subsist on so little pasturage, with only the rocks for a house, the starry canopy for a covering, and not a bush or a tree to shelter them from the nipping cold of winter. Although Poole returned from this voyage without having done or almost attempted any thing, yet, as he brought a considerable store of oil and teeth, his em- ployers were not ill satisfied. They fitted him out next year in the Elizabeth of fifty tons, and in their instruc- tions distinctly informed hini that discovery was to be his main object ; yet intimated, as before, that as he proceeded with the Mary Margaret, destined for the whale-fishery, he might begin by joining he?" in taking a few whales, and in his course along the coast kill as many morses as might chance to present themselves. Having extracted the oil, he was to fioor the liold with their skins, which a tanner had agreed to purchase of tlie Company ; but all this was only to lighten the cost of discovery, and not to be m any degree a primary pursuit. The vessels set sail early in April IGll, but were soon .separated by fogs and storms ; and when Poole reached the coast of Spitzbergen, he found only three boats escaped from the wreck of the INIary Margaret. In the rest of his proceedings we never hear a single word of discovery j but applying himself most diligently EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. 149 to the secondary object, by the 3d of August he liad CHAP, V. accumulated oil, morse-skins, and teeth, to the extent shccc^uI of 29 tons, — a good lading, he observes, for a ship of 60, fSsheiy. Accordingly it proved her ruin. As the last package was brought in, she went entirely to one side, and all the skins, which lay loose in the hold, slipping in the same direction, carried her altogether under water. Poole, who sat in the cabin, considered himself as Fat^il conso- Iiaving only the choice of being drowned by remaining, *i"""''^^- or, in attempting to escape, of being killed by the casks, staves, and divers other thuigs which were traversing the ship in every direction. He chose the latter alter- native as the least certain, and, though twice beaten down, was plucked from the jaws of death, being en- abled to crawl out with his skull laid open, and his ears, back, and ri])s severely bruised. The crew, who all escaped, were taken on board a Hull sliip commanded Escape of the by Thomas ^Marmaduke of whom Poole makes many complaints ; which Purchas, thinking too diffuse, has omitted. As to Greenland, he observes, in general, that when he first went, the mountains and plains were almost entirely white with snow ; afterwards they ap- peared green with grass and a little moss : but, lastly, the sun with his powerful heat dissolved the ice, and exhaled such a profusion of vapours, that the day differed little from the darkest night elsewhere. He was, nevertheless, sont out a third voyage in 1G12, Third voy- with two vessels, the Whale and the Sea-horse ; but he ^^'^ seems on this occasion also to have busied himself solely in tile capture of whales, which he killed to the amount of tiiii'teen. No mention is made of anything being either attempted or projected in relation to discovery ; though he states that Marmaduke penetrated to the latitude of 82°. No detail, however, is given, nor have we any narrative from that captain himself ; which is to be regretted, as he seems to have been more deei)ly imbued with the spirit of research than any other ma- riner of that time. The next expedition took place in 1G13, luider 150 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. CHAP. V. Wllliiim liutfin. Oppressive interference. Unrcason- ab1(! i)roceetl iiigs. eglect 01 discovery. William Baffin, the most learned navigator of the age, and one of the greatest names in northern adventure. It was not, however, by this voyage that he obtained his reputation, though he was provided with six good and well-anned ships ; the object of it appearing to have been little else than to chase from the Greenland seas all other vessels that might attempt to use them for fishery. Their practice was, whenever they fell in with a foreigner, to summon the master on board, show the kuig's commission granted to the worshipful Com- pany, and desire him to depart, on pain of having a cannonade immediately opened upon him. The strength ' of the English being in general decidedly superior to that of any other squadron m those seas, these terms were usually acceded to without opposition. At one time, indeed, five vessels, Dutch and French, including a large one of 700 tons from Biscay, mustered, and showed signs of offering battle ; but the Spaniard liaving lost courage and yielded, the rest were obliged to follow his example. On another occasion a Dutchman having refused, and endeavoured to make off, so brisk a fire was opened upon him, that he had nearly run on sliore, and was fain co submit. A considerable number "of English sailors seem to have been on board these foreign ships, who were all forcibly taken out. It seems difficult to discover on what ground the sulijcct.s of King James attempted to establish their right to these coasts, since they had neither been the first dis- coverers, nor held them in any sort of occupation. In fact, they were not able ultimately to make good the pretensions which they urged in so violent a manner. There is no mention of any effort on the part of Baffin for the purpose of discovery. On the contrary, Maiinaduke, who had again endeavoured to penetrate to the north of Spitzbcrgen, was chidden for having thereby hindered the voyage, and was prohibited from any farther attempts of the kind during the season. The former, however, made some curious observations on the effects of refraction in high northern latitudes. EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. 151 The Company still did not consider the question of a chap. V. nortlicm passage decided, as, indeed, since the time of ^^ "T^ Hudson, it could not be said to have been seriously at- Koi.eit tempted. In 1614 they appointed Robert Fothcrby, in I'^t''^'"/- the Thomasine, to accompany their Greenland fleet of ten ships and two pinnaces, with instructions, while the rest were fishing, to devote himself mainly to discovery. Baffin accompanied him as pilot. After considerable obstructions, eleven vessels being at one time fast among the ice, the captain, by the Gth of June, pushed on to Ilakluyt's Headland. He endeavoured to penetrate through Magdalcna Bay, which he calls Maudlen Sound ; but the weather was foul, and the ice lay unbroken from shore to shore. On the 10th he stood farther out, Course pur- and succeeded in passing to the north of the headland, when he again encountered an impenetrable barrier. He then steered westward, in hopes of discovering a more favourable opening ; but the ice trending south- west, he sailed twenty-eight leagues without success, and then returned to the Foreland. About the middle of July, the air becoming clear and favourable, he and Baffin ascended a high liill, to sec what prospect there was of getting forward ; but as far as they could dis- cern, ice lay upon the sea, which indeed seemed wholly wiiaie flsu- " bound with ice," though in the extreme distance there "'^'' was an appearance of open water, that inspired some hope. After amusing themselves for some days killing whales, they again mounted a very lofty eminence, from which they saw an extensive channel, but much im- peded with ice. This was Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, which they afterwards ascended to its head, and found a good harbour, very advantageously situated for the whale-fishery. It was now the 9th of August, and Fotherby saw two Pcrsever- Dutch ships, Avhich had been sent out for northern dis- ^^^^' covery, making their way homeward, after relinquishing | the undertaking in despair ; but he was determined not to be baffled in his attempt without some faiihcr struggle. He pushed towards the north from Capo i 'i' IE." h: i, i CHAP. V. Inrcrruiition ti'uin icu. Siiisnlur giievmice. ^ South-west gale. Return. V A._ 152 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. BfiTi-cn, and had made twenty-four leagues, wlien he again met tlie ice. lie coasted along it two days, hoping to find an opening among its shattered fragments ; l)ut a north wind sprang up, with heavy snow, and every thing being cohl, tliiek, and winter-like, he was forced once more into harbour. The shore and liill being now covered with snow, the crew were seized with the desire of returning to England ; but the captain was still un- willing to depart without some farther satisfaction. lie went in a boat up Redcliffe Sound, and though ice was newly formed upon it, of about the thickness of a half- crown piece, he pierced through, and got into open water. The snow, however, continued to fall thick, and the east wind blew m the ice so forcibly, that he was glad to return to the ship. ri...3ing a point, it w.xs ob- served that a cross which our countrymen had erected, with the king's arms and a sixpence nailed upon it, had been taken down, " sixpence and all," l^y the Dutch, and Prince ]\Ianrice's arms substituted ; this grievance, however, was speedily redressed. About the end of August a gale sprang up from the south-west, and brought milder weather than at any former period of the season ; and the strength of the thaw was proved by huge masses falling from the snowy banks into the sea with a sound like that of thunder. Conceiving better hopes, the navigator pushed out again, in a north-west direction, till he came nearly to the latitude of 80°, when he heard a mighty noise of the waves, as it were, breaking on an extensive shore. It proved, however, that he was now on the margin of the great northern ice. lie coasted for some time along that grand barrier ; but was soon embayed, whence it was not without difficulty that he extricated himself. The season advancing, he took the benefit of a fair wuid to steer homewards, and on the 4th October arrived at Wapping, with his whole crew of twenty-six men in perfect health. Fotherby, having recommended himself on this voy- age by spirit and diligence, was sent out next year EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. 153 (1G15) by the worshipful Company, in the Richard, a CTIAp v. pinnace of only twenty tons. After many conflicts with sccomiToj • ice and fog, he reached llakluyt's Headland about the "5",°*,, beginning of July. lie forthwith began his career of '^ ^ discovery ; but a strong southerly gale driving him upon the ice, shattered his bark considerably, and obliged him to return. As soon as his vessel was refitted, he cnde.'ivoured, by a westerly course, to find an opening among the ice, which projected in various points and capes, but remained still fixed, and ho found himself pushed by it southwards to the latitude of 70°. How- ever, he sailed still farther west, towards what he thought should have been the southern part of Hud- son's Greenland ; and seafowls in vast flocks seemed to indicate land, ])ut the fog lay so thick, " that he might easier hear land than see it." When about lat. 71 1°, the air cleared, and he descried a snowy hill very high amid the clouds, while the fog lying on each side made it appear like a great continent. It proved, however, j^^^, jiayen to be only an island, probably Jan ]\Iayen ; and as the island. shores presented nothing but drift-wood, and appeared as if fortified with castles and bulwarks of rock, no shelter was afforded from a heavy gale which began to blow. This induced him to stand out to sea, when he regained the northern point of Spitzbergcn, and began to beat for a Polar passage. The wind, however, blew so strong from the nortli-north-east, that he gave up the attempt, only resolving, on his way home, to take a survey of Hudson's IIold-with-Hope. He came to the place where it ought to have been, but finding no land, he insisted that his predecessor must have been mistaken £,ioi.i,ni. in the position assigned to it, — a suspicion which has been recently confirmed by INIr Scorcsby. Availing himself then of a brisk northerly breeze, he shaped his course for England. Fotherby, on being asked his opinion as to the pro- bability of a passage through the Arctic Ocean, replied, tliat though he had not attained in this respect his de- sire, nothing yet appeared to exclude hope. There was, ii 154 EARLY POLAR VOYAGES. Ill CHAP. V. he remarked, a spacious sea between Greenland and Continued Spitzbcrgen, though much pestered with ice ; and therc- iiopes of sue- fore he would not dissuade the woi-shipful Company ***•• from a yearly adventure of £150, or £200 at the most. The little pinnace, with ten men, in which he had sailed two thousand leagues, appeared to lum more convenient for that purpose than vessels of larger dimensions. A very long period, however, elapsed before any attempt of this nature was resumed. '" '".--: . "'^^'ig |! EAULY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 155 CHAPTER VI. Early Voyages in Search of a North-west Passage. Tho Portuguese ; The Cortcrcalcs— The Spaniards ; Gomez— Expeditions under Henry VIII. ; their Issue— Frobisher's First, Second, and Third Voyages— Davis' First, Second, and Third Voyages— Weymouth— Knight— Hudson ; Mu- tiny of his Men ; Disastrous Issue of tho Expedition — Voy- ages of Button— Gibbons— Bylot— Baffin — Jens Munk, tho Dane— Fox and James — Knight and Barlow — Middlctou, &c. NoTwiTiisTANDiNo tliG rcpcatccl efforts to find a passage chap, vl by the cast ami north-east, the west finally became the p.iv(,^ii7"for scene of the grandest naval enterprises, and flattered the tiu! N'oitii- nation longest with the hope of this signal discovery, ^^'"'^'p^'*'*'''''®' The maritime world were not yet aware of the immense breadth of America at its northern limit. That conti- nent was imagined to tenninate in a cape, after rounding which, and passing through the Strait of Anian, — an imaginary channel, supposed by the early geographers to separate America from Asia, — an entrance would be opened at once into the Pacific, in which the navigator might proceed full sail to Japan, China, the Spice Is- lands, and all the other regions abounding in Oriental wealth. Of the European nations, Portugal was the first to Portuffiiose embark in the career of ocean-discovery. Her monarchs enterprise. and nobles employed their utmost exertions to double the southern point of Africa, and thereby to overcome the obstacles opposed by that continent to a direct com- merce with India. Their efforts were crowned with w t I 150 EARLY NOUTH-WEST VOYAGES. CHAP. VI. Cnitcrcirft eiitliusiasiii' Clnlms of Julia \'az. (iis)i(ir Cortfic'.d Bucccss ; mid the passage l)y the Cape wouUI have been the most brilliant exploit ever performed, had it not been rivalled by the contemporaneous discovery of America. Enough might seem to have been done, both for the ])enerit and the glory of the nation, withont di- recting their eflorts hito any other channel ; yet one of the most illustrious houses of that kingdom, with much enthusiasm and no small loss, devoted itself to western navigation. We allude to that of Corteroal ; for a memhir of which, named John Vaz, claims, though somewhat doubtful, have been advanced for the honour of having reached the shores of Newfoundland some time before the celel)rated voyages of Columbus or Ca- bot. In 1500, his son Caspar, innnediately upon hearing of the successful labours of the former of these com- manders, resolved to follow his steps. Having obtained from the king two vessels, he touched at Terceira, ono of the Azores, and proceeded in a north-west direction, endeavouring to find his way to India by some of the higher latitudes. Respecting the details of this voyage there remain only detached notices, which Mr Barrow has collected with his usual learning and diligence. lie reached the coast of America about the parallel of 60°, probably on the northern shore of Newfoundland, where he found a bay contauiing numerous islands which he calls the Golfo Quadrado, — conjectured to be the Straits of Belleisle, He then steered northwards, and passed jjp^piijj^^ jj along a coast which Europeans have since commonly called Labrador, but which in the early maps bears from him the name of Cortcrealis. In some of the nar- ratives it is designated Terra Verde (Greenland), but it has nothing in common with the countrv to which Eu- ropeans have still more improperly affixed that appella- tion. The territory is represented as amply stocked with timber, — a description which applies to the spa- cious forests of fir and pine that clothe the region con- tiguous to Canada on the north. The natives are correctly described as a mild and laborious race ; — and no less tliaii fifty-seven being allured or carried on fiiast ot Liibi'udur, U EARLY NOnXII-WKST VOYAGES. 157 J board, were convoyed to Portuf^nl. After n run along CITAP. vr. this slioro, estimated at about 700 miles, Citrtireal came ni;.)!^ to a point which seemed to preclude all i'arther proj,'ress. inti'iKio Ramusio, indeed, states that tiie hi;,die.st latitude he at- '"'^'"*'^" taincd was only 00°, which would coincide nearly with the entrances into Hudson's Bay. But the season was now somewhat advanced ; andtlie approach of the Polar winter, the iloating moimtains of ice, the thick snows which filled the air, — the gloomy characteristics of an Arctic climate, — must, to a crew accu.>>tomed to warm and temperate seas, have appeared j)eculiarly terrihle. .i-i ' t ot tho It was therefore judged ahsnlutely neccj^sary to return "'latcr'" home, and Cortereal arrived at Lisbon on the Hth Octo- ber 1501.'^ That this necessity, however, was cou- Tonililo • The view hero taken of Cortoreal's voyage, as extending aloiisi; tho coast of Labrador, has been lately contested, and even treated as an "alsnrd hypothesis," by tho anonymona author of" A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot." Ho maintains that tlio most northern point reached by that navi^^ator was in the Cnlf of St Lawrence, or at farthest tho sontliern extremity of La- brador. This (incstion, relating to one of the most ilhistrious martyrs iu tho canse of early discovery, seems to merit somo attention. It may be ju'emiscd, tliat tiiis hypothesis can with no propriety be called ours, since it is the ;ceneral belief of mo- dern geograi)hors, expressed by the very names of Cortereulis and Ldlirudor, always api)lied to this coast. Donbtlcss it was ))erfcctly open for the antlior, if he could, to disi)rovo this opi- nion and establish his own ; but it is conceived that a very few observations, founded in a great measure on documents pro- duced by himself, will prove it to be palpably erruneous. First, Tho voyage is allowed on all bands to bavo been di- rected towards tho north, and with a view to northern disco- very, but as tho objects lay westward, the direction would of <'onrse bo modified accordingly, ajid we may accept tho state- ment of tho Italian ambassador, that it was tra iiturstroc pnn- ente (between north-west and west). IJnt such a course, either from Lisbon or Terccira, could scarcely be compatible with his reaching any point south of the .St Lawrence, certainly not ono which would admit of (JOO or 700 miles of northerly navigation before reaching that river. By supposing one decree of north- ern for every four of western sailing, we should make him roach America in about tho latitude of 50 degrees, AvhicU would place him on the northern coast of Newfoundland. Second, The mild and laborious character ascribed to tho natives (motto mausueti—eiretlentia da fatiyn), presents tlio most striking contrast to tho fierce and proud iudolenco of tliv 158 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. CHAP. VL sidered to arise from the season only, and that no panic was struck into the mind of this intrepid navigator, was Undftunted courage. I ' II! North American Indians ; it applies exchisivoly to the Esqui- maux tribes. The liabit of subsisting almost wholly on fish, the clothing formed almost entirely of seal-skin, the roofing of the huts with skins of fishes, are features which, occurring to such an extent, become strikingly characteristic of shores in- habited by Esquimaux. These two first observations concur to render our conclusion highly probable ; the third seems to remove every shadow of doubt. After sailing along this coast six or seven hundred miles, the navigator was arrested by a frozen sea and prodi- f;ious falls of snow (.mare at/Uazato e iiifiiii/a copia de neve) ; 10 then sailed homewards, and arrived sit Lisbon on the Hth of October. Ilcnce the above phenomena, marking the setting in of the utmost severity of an Arctic winter, must have presented themselves not later "than the middle of September. Surely no one at all acquainted with the phenomena of climate c-wi <'n)i- cur with the author of tho Memoir in the suppo ation that at that season the expedition could bo arrested, m the maanei above described, in tho Gulf of St Lawrence. Respecting tho latitude reached by Cortercal, there occur two different statements. Some make it .'iO , others G0^ Tho author zealously adopts tho former, considering it as the ulti- mate point reached hy that navigator. So anxious is he to accumulate authorities upon this head, that he quotes first domara and then Fiande, as if they had been seiKxrate authors, although he knows tho one to bo only the translator of tho other. The truth is, there is not the sliglitcst discrepancy be- tween tho statements. There are two positions to hv con- sidered ; that at which Cortercal first touched the American coast ; and the one where, after sailing (iOO or 700 miles, ho terminated his coasting-voyage. The latitude of .'lO seems evidently to correspond to the first point, where he found tho (•'offo Quadrado, the extensive pine-furests, and the country wearing a smiling asjjcct. The very expression of Galvano, that " ho sailed iiilo that climate wliicli standeth under tlic north in 50 degrees," clearly implies this as the latitude at which America was reached ; and this, as already observed, agrees exactly with the direction in which Cortercal sailed from Portugal. The latitude of GO" again appears as clearly to be the most northern jjoint, where his progress was arrested by the frozen sea, and the air filled with wintry tempests ; and it is remarkable, that ten degrees, the difference between theso two latitudes, corresponds exactly with the space of (iOO or 700 miles, which he is represented to have sailed along the American coast. The only feature that seems at all to support our author's hyiwLliesis, and on which indeed he seems to place liis sole ro- haucc, is the verdant and smiiiug aspect which the uavi;;atora EARLY NOllTII-WEST VOYAGES. 159 sufficiently testified by his appearing on tlie sea next CHAP. VI, season with two vessels, which he steered directly to the most northerly point attained in the former voyage Here he is described as entering a strait, Hudson's per- haps, or more probably Frobisher's ; but at this critical moment the two ships were separated by a tempest, amid the floating ice with which these narrows are ui- festcd. One of them succeeded in extricating itself, and searched for some tune in vain for its consort ; but this last, which had on board the gallant leader of the expe- dition, was seen no more, and no intelligence could ever be obtamcd of its fate.* Fresh attempt Loss of one of the ships. ascribed to this region. This does not exactly corrcBpond with onr ideas on the subject ; but the trutli is, that certain tracts wholly uncultivated, even in the neighbourhood of the Arctic circle, exhibit, when arrayed in their summer robe, an appearance peculiarly pleasing. The varied vegetation, the 1)rofusion of wild flowers, and the bushes loaded with delicious )erries, compose a gayer scene than is displayed on more southern shores that are covered with the dark luxuriance of tropical folia/^o. • We consider it a somewhat hasty conclusion formed by the author of the Memoir of Cabot, that it " cannot be doubted that the objects of Cortereal's second voyage were timber and slaves." 1 his seems to harmonize very ill with the character of the navigator, and the lofty spirit ot Emanuel, by whom he was employed. These objects appear, indeed, from the letter of a Venetian ambassador, to have been mentioned, but chiefly, wo suspect, to satisfv that class of persons who considered mercantile proflt as the only legitimate object of maritime dis- covery. Osorio, a very eminent I'ortugucse historian, who wrote the history of Lmanuel's reign under the sanction of one of his sons, gives a very onposite view of the motives of Cortereal. He says, in regard to the first voyage, " Gloria) (•ui)iditate volicmenter incensus, ad sui nominis nicmoriam pos- toris ali(iuo I'acto memorabili jn'odendam j)ertinere arbitratus est." (l'ow(!rfully inflamed by the desire of glory, ho thought it concerned him to transmit his name to posterity by some memorable exploit.) With regard to the second voyage, the observation is : — " Cum ad spem multo plura cognosceudi ra- peretur-ut latiiis littora illius omnia pervagarctur, et gentis mores et instituta perdiscerot." (Heing urged by the hope of obtaining more extensive knowledge -tliat ho might traverse more widely all the shores of that country, and might learn thoroughly the manners and customs of the people.) — De liebut Etiuinuelis, 6i.c., G3. 160 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Curtureal. Arrival at tlie nidutli ol lliidsoa's Buy. .1 CHAP. VL When these gloomy tidings -svcrc conveyed to Por- tugal, ]Migucl Cortereal, a younger brotlier, animated with the most tender affection for Caspar, and witli a congenial spirit of enterprise, dctennined to put to sea in search of him. Having cquipited three vessels, he sailed on tlie 10th ]\Iay 1502 from the port of Lisl)on. On an-iving at the numerous openings mto Hudson's Bay, the captains adopted tlie plan of explor- ing separately the various inlets. Tliis, however pro- mising in some respects, was an imprudent step ; for nothing could have conduced more to their mutual safety than to keep close together, and be ready to aid each other in those dreadful exigencies to which this navigation is liable. It proved a fatal measure ; two of tliem, indeed, met and returned ; but Miguel and his crew shared the fate of those whom they had gone to seek ; and it was never known wliere or how they perished. Tlie survivors rej^rted at Lisbon this heavy aggravation of the former distress. Fra- tenial affection and daring courage seem to have char- acterized the whole of this noble race. There was still a third brother, Vasco Eanes, who besought of the Vaseo Bancs king permission to search for his lost kuidred amid the abysses of the noiihern ocean ; but on tliis project n royal veto was absolutely imposed ; his majesty de- claring that it was more than enough to have lost in this cause two of his best and most faithful servants. After a commencement so gloomy, and such gallant efforts made in vain, it does not a])pear that the i)roject of effecting a passage in the Ajx-tic sea was ever re- vived in Portugal. Inertness of Spain, which had made the discovery of America, Spain. and from that success derived so much glory and wealth, might have been expected to t;ike a deep in- ^ terest in every thing connected with its farther explora- tion. Tlie fact, however, appears to be, that revel- ling amidst the rich plains and glittering treasures of Mexico and Peru, she felt little attraction towards the bleak confines of the Northern Pole, Only one EARLY N0RTU-WE8T VOYAGES. 161 voyage is mentioned, that, namely, ■\vliicli was imder- chap. VL tiiken in 1524 by Gomez, with the view of seeking a yovafre of shorter passage to the Moluccas. He is understood Goiucz. to have touched at Newfoundland, sailed along the coast of New England as far as the 40th degree of latitude, and returned, after a voyage of ten months, bringing with him a few of the natives, but without making any material addition to the infomiatiou col- lected by Cabot. Britain at last assumed the task of discovery, and I'litisii made it almost exclusively her own. Her efforts, ' '■'^" indeed, were long in vain ; — the barrici*s of nature were too mighty ; — and America, stretching her shores into regions that lie beneath the perpetual sweep of the northern tempest, renders navigation precarious and doubtful. More recently, however, she has earned high glory in this career ; she has formed in it some of her greatest naval commanders ; has opened new channels for the whale-fishery ; fixed the limits of the western continent ; and explored the wide seas and large islands which range along its remotest shores. liut even in this country there was a long inter- indiffoicnco ruption in maritime discovery. Henry VIII.. as we Yj','i '"^ formerly observed, showed from his accession almost an entire absence of the zeal manifested by his pre- decessor ; and Sebastian Cabot, who had earned per- haps the highest name in Europe for naval skill and enter])riso, finding no encouragement, resolved to transfer liis services to the court of Spain. Amid this neglect, however, he seems to have preserved the strongest Soiin^tian attachment to his native country. He repaired thitlier ^"*"'^" in 1.517, and prevailed upon the king to fit out an expedition with the usual ol)jeet of discovering a new route to the East Unfortunately the command was intrusted, not to Cabot himself, the early and able leader of such expeditions, but to Sir Thomas Pert, Sir Tiiomas who though he held the high rank of vice-admiral ^''"* of England, seems to have been destitute of the quali- ties requisite for tills arduous field of euterprise. The 162 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Course ex CHAP. VL other was allowed to act only as his pilot ; yet in this capacity he guided the vessel, according to liis own statement in a letter to Ramusio, to the latitude of 67;^,° N. ; and the researches of tlie author of " A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot" have even given reason to con- clude that he actually entered Hudson's Bay, and was ascending what has since be en called the Fox Channel. He considered the voyage so far as having been quite prosperous, and decluiis that he both could and would have gone to Cataia (China) ; but the coui-agc of the commander, as well as of the crew, appears to have failed, and they refused to proceed any farther. By the unsuccessful issue of this voyage, the monarch seems to have been confirmed in his previous indiffer- ence to discoveiy. Cabot was again obliged to have recourse to Spam, and was soon after created grand pilot of that kingdom ; nor did he return to England till the period of Henry's death. Ten years after this failui*e, his majesty, urged ])y a strong representation on the part of Mr Thome of Bristol, who seems to hint that on account of his apathy on this subject he was iniwoi-thy to reign, was induced to fit out another expedition lor the sjinie jbject. The records of it are most imperfect ; though the author ofithe " iMemoir" has found that the names of the vessels were the Mary and the Sampson, and that they I'cached the latitude of 53° N. ; but, having probably set out too early in the season, they were arrested there by ice and snow, and turned to the southward. One of them appears afterwards to have touched at Porto Rico. iriiis undertaking was followed, at the distance of nine years, by another, which was set on foot by Mr Ilore of London, a wealthy individual, who easily induced thirty young gt ntlenien of family and fortune, some of whom were from the Inns of Court, to embark along with him. In this case also Ilakluyt had to lament the absence of written records ; but he found out Mr Oliver Dawbcuy, who sailed in one of the Rcmon- ^tlaIK'0 of Mr. 'i'hornc utBrititul. y Mr. Horc of LuikIuu \ 4 r.ARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 163 vessels; and having learned that a son of Sir William CHAP. VI. Buts of Norfolk had been of the party, and was still somcTof alive, he rode two hundred miles for tlie purpose of imonnation. convex ing with that gentleman. From these sources he was informed that the band of volunteei-s mustered in military array at Gravescnd, and, having taken the sacrament, went on board. They had a long and tedious voyage, during which their buoyant spirits con- siderably flagged. At the end of two months they reached Cape Breton, then held as part of the West cupe Breton Indies ; whence, in fulfilment of their views, they endeavoured to shape a more northerly coiirse. They reached Penguin Island, the same probably since called Birds' Island, abounduig in fowls as large as a goose, and even in bears, which made such tolerable food that all their wants were supplied. Having proceeded to Newfoundland, Dawbcny one day called on his comrades to come and view a boat with the " natural Newfound- jjcople of the country," whom they had earnestly •""d. , desired to see. A barge was fitted out to treat with them ; but the savages, alarmed, fled precipitately, relijniui.- l.filic I'Vii'slainl ol" /.'iio, luif. ill I'ju't il wjis tlif soiifluTii |>«'iiil of y To:; lliil i(, was itiipossililc to laiiil. 'I'lif navi:;a!«>is now mIcitcI wi'stwarti, siilVfiin',' scvi-rcly iVoiii lu'itlurly ^ali-s. 'Dii till' lltli lli«' wiiiil sliallfii-.l lliiir i«'n> yanl, am! Imuv tlic iiiiz/ciinia-it ovnlxianl ; am! on the llilli the topmast with its siil hrokf oil'. Mini fill into the sea. Tlicy roiitiiiiit'tl. however, to press on ; aiui upon the L'LM a tliiek iiiisl dispersiiiL;, showed a Ioiil; line ofeoMst, eoiijeetiireil to he Lalnailor. lee, Iiiiwe\i r, t'ornied an iinpassihle harri<'r helw«'eii them anil the land, whilo the lead went ddwn 1(H) lathoms willionl lonehin:; tli(< jj:roiiiid, 'riieeiirrent was very stroni;, hut lV()m the im- possihilitv oreomiiiL,'' tt» anidior, could not he measured ; vot it seemed not less than u league and a half an honr. On the 1st Aliirust the diseovere'-s approaehed to nia!v<' ohservalions «tn a lar^c island >•!' iei-, •.vhieli, as they wen? viewiii!,' it, went to pieces, and fell into the sea witil a tremendous crash. Ilavin!; on the lOth reached a nitn-e aecessihie coast, tlit\v were desirous to aseerlain if it. was inhahiled. SciMiii:: seven hoats plyinij aloiiiv {ho heaeli, they si-iit out one of their own, the crew of which, hy holding;- up H white cloth, induced a canoe to approach ; Init on secinu: the ship the natives immcdiatily turned haeU. l''rohisher then went on shore, and, hy the disiiihutiou of several lillle presents, eiitiecd one orihein to come on hoard. 'I'his ]>erson heiiiLT well treated with meat and drink, made when he lande.l so iavonraMe a reptnt that Anponriiiioo. niii«>teen lollowed his (>\ample. The sailors had then u full opi>ortunily of oI)servinn- this Ivujiiimanx race. They are d(>serihed as *' like to Tartars, with loni; Idaek hair, broad faces, and Hat noses, ha vini; hoats of seal-skin, with a keel of wood within the skin," N(<\t dav they appeared more shy, and w ith somo dilViculty one of tlu in. Illt.TVli-W \«i;li Hut llu.ivt:). I.AULY N<»l{lll-Wi:,sr V(»VA<;i.H. 1(17 i l>V the ulliin'intiil of a l»fll, wiis (liiiwii oii liniinl, 'I'lic ro;.',rrhH low.ml.s u wistnn |>ns,';ajv ; yet, Imviiii;' with surli siriidi r inraiis iiinilialril tliii.s iar mill ilisnivrnil u iirw niiiiiliy, ili^iiilird willi I In- til Id of IMctii liu'o;;iiila, liin voya;;i' wa.s coiit.iilricd liif;lily rndilaldr, and as atl'ordin^ ^ood |ironii.si< I'or llir I'liliirc. Thf piililif intiTcst was rxrilrd l»y aiiolln r cii'ciiiii.st.ancr of a Vi TV illnsnry nalinr. All \\h\ IViriid.s iiii|iorliiii< d liiiii to ^ivr thrill huniicthiiiL;' or other whirli had loiiic M>'i:i in. n<,. from Mcta lnco;^iiila. At. a lo.ss to sati.sl'y tiii.s dr.sirr, Ik; "" '• ni.st Iiirt «-y«'.s on ii larm' Ntoiir whirh, IVoni il.s ;.;lilt.rrin;jf ■'i|i])('ai'.'iii( r, lir had hi'iii indiirrd to takr on lioard. Ilu hroko it into pircrs, and disi lilnilrd tluni union;; llii<. rindo «d* his aciniainlancrH. Om- |)oilion was nrrivid hy II lady, who hapiiriird to drop it into Ihr I'nr, win ir, niter hiii'iiin^ lor .son u* time, il apprand lo^lillir liko irold. Urin;; thcrriipon .siihinillcd to Ihc ;.',oldsniilii.s, they wiTi" so ignorant, or so misled hy the rnlhnsiasni of till" moment, us to proiionnee il. a valnahle ore id" the most preeioiiH oF niital.s. This false deeision threw all IhIm: lio| <-tk I'iiii^land into a ferment, of joy. There was no dillieiilly now ill eipiippin;; an e\|iedilion. The ipieeii eiitilriluiled the ship Ayde of l!!() tniis, hesides means for i-nahlin;; l''rohislier to lit, ont two other ve;S(ds, tin; Miehael and (iahriid, of '!() tons eaidi. Ilein^ invited to visit the ipieen at liord Warwiidv's .seat in Mssex, he was allowed to kiss her majesty's hand, and heard from her lip.s many gracious expressions. He suiU'd again on the UOth May l/iTT, with such a IfiS EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Continuous Ugiit. CHAi'. VI. "memo wind" that on the 8th Juno lie touclicd at the SocMuT Orkneys for fresh water, allowhig his gentkincn and vo>.n,'e soldiera to go on shore for recreation. Tlie poor inhal)i- tants, having, it is probable, snflered from the inroatis of y- pirates, fled from their lionses with cries and shrinks ; bnt were soon, l)y courteous treatment, in(hieod to return. Their accommodations were found truly mi- serable; they had no chimneys in their houses, the fire being placed in the middle of the floor, the one side of which was occupied by the family, and the other by the cattle, — while oat-cakes and cwe-milk were their only fjod. The discoverers now entered on their jierilous voyage through the Northeni Ocean, during which they were much cheered with the perpetual light, as it allowed them at all hours to read or otherwise amuse tiiemselves ; which, it is observed, is peculiarly agreeable to such as " wander in unknown seas and long naviga- tions, where both the winds and raging surges do piusf^ their common course." They were sur])rised to see largo fir-trees, toni up by the roots, floating in the midst of the waves. On the 4th July, Friesland presented its awful front, a range of inaccessible mountains entirely covered with snow, unless where, from the extreme steep- ness of the cliffs, it had broken off and fallen into the sea. During four days' sail they saw, whenever the thick fogs dispersed, a coast equally dreary, without any landing-place, and without a sign of human habitation or even of life ; yet little birdi', apparently bewildered in the mist, came and alighted on board, and gave the impression that there might be a milder region in the interior. But the inexperienced part of the crew were especially struck by the islands of ice, rising thirty or forty fathoms above the water, and rooted at the bottom, which the line could not reach. Frobisher now sailed across to Labrador, and touched at a sound which received his name. The coast, how- ever, was found guarded by a mighty wall of ice, which the ships could not penetrate ; though the cai)tain, with two of his boats, succeeded in workuig his way into the Friesland Labrador EARLY NOnTII-WEST VOYAGES. 169 strait, and began to survey the country. So crude were ciiAi' \i. then the ideas of seamen respecting the geography of f^,,„i~" these regions, tliat they iinaguied the shore on their uotionsoi tiio left to be America, and that on their right to be Asia. '*^'''"'^'"- Landing on the former they scrambled to the top of a liill, and erected a column, which, after tlie great patron of the expedition, was called Mount Warwick. On Mount their return cries were heard like the lowing of bulls, ^Vaiwiek. and a large l)ody of natives ran up to them with an air lucked off", to satisfy the credulous siiilors as to the fact whether she did not present that peculiar structure of the lower extremities supposed to characterize the dread foe of the human race. As this essential mark was found wanting, it was instantly determined, by liberating her, to deliver their eyes from so hideous a spectacle. The other female was young, with a child Young in her arms; and being, from her jtcculiar costume,*^'"'""* mistaken for a man, had been fired at and the infant wounded. It was in vain to apply remedies ; she licked tsAHI.V NOIIIII \VI Ml \0\ AdIM. I niVf. VI nil Willi In r (itii)'in' llii- (Irc'iMini'.M '>i>'l "nlxfi, oikI 4iurl nun II <' Inli'i \ li'W \v nil lIlK llllliM"« II MJ r*iii|> iniil Hill iilliK'liiin il. I'Vtilii lii'i- mIiII I In I i'.ln'd lni|n ti nl' iIimux n iiii» lij i niin. A liiii'.i' |i;iilv ii|'|'i inn;', cii II"- l"|' "i ii lull, mii'Iii wtic in.nli' "I II ili'Mir Im niiilinil (iti'itiiinniiliil nni, A \\ \\ nl" llniii ihImiiii ''I, iiii'l vm'D' iiilio'lin ri| In lln< ;ll (ir 1 W t ir ilrt I'l V ilHi' I'll, llll'l 'iiu'lll 'uuih' I lllii' w i I In 'III III III I in; i\ \\o\A ; li iii < linn l!<>\\ < >| ; ninl \> In ii (Ili'V III III i| liHlll'l '|urii'.'n I'trd .lie I .in; li Ji mm li in llirir Itixi'iii'. rin< iii|ilMiii imw ii'iMiiiril liiiiii llnil, tui run (111 it'll <»r llii'ir rc'tloriiiit liii In c iin ii, I ln'\ "ln>iilil uccn o Nt'Uiilliilliiii I' n l« linn own hninli, Willi lln< inMil n>ii ul Miiinlr\ M.liM.llnl,. ,,| (lioic lillli' (illlrl.'M nil wlil.li lliry Mil 111.' Iii,;!n"ir MiliK'. 'I'lini llii'V |iri)iiii 'I'll, iiinl iil'm In iniivi \ i\ Irllcr l<) Ilii' I'll Klin T'l. MniiMli'Ki l<\ llii'i liiiH' IIk'm' iiiiIoiIii mill' iinliv iv< nl' I'iinlilt'i , iiivilim; lln< l''.iirii|)i'iiii'i Id ii|'|)I"ii<'Ii ; I'lil tlio l.'illiT, wliii ii:iw III!' Iii'ik'l ' I'l I'llnii I'l I I'liii', liDiii lirliiml lln< ri'dv'i, ii'inlvcil Id judccciI willi llic iilnnxl c.nil inii. 'I'lir ni'MiniM l)('i> Ml l)y plariiii', in \ irw \i\\i\r |iii'nM iil* I'Xi'i'lli III iiii'mI ; mill wlini llnir nii'iny roiiM iml |ii< rnui'.lil l)\ tliiil l):iil, Diic dI" lluin jiilvMiii't'il \('i\ rlDiic, li'ii'jiinn liiiin'in'!«t, uml mci'iiiiu); Id oIIi v liiin .cU' an rjiiy pvcy. I'Volii'tlnr nIlDwri' ii i.lml Id Ih' liii'il. li\ uliiili lliis pri'iDii w:iM niicil nl Diirc, ninl lonk Id Iii>i IiciIm. .S'l'inj^ ail llicir arliln'CM I'liil, llm harbut-iiiiiH *|(<(i HiiilttfM ; (lit'NC la'ii|i'< I., illtij li> nill'ii' l|Mr|riii| III I'llirij, 'i'lii' ''.I'll III" Aii)mimI IimiI iiiiw miiviil, Hn' iri' \v/im Ih' i iH< I'liMi'll iili< riillll il ill lull liirri', mill rmi'ij llimii' ili'iiilnli' nlimrt In lii< H|Miiil(il ii i miullnr 1*1111. S|i.'(iiil riimiiiiiMiiiin III, iiini nl' jiiili'imiil, ml, mnl nKill, Will' iimiii il li\ III r iiKiji mI y In 11 irilniii ImiIIi IIh' >|ii,iIi( III' flu- iliiiiiiii'. Mil I ihl IIIII'I' mill I III' I II III III III Illy III I ill • I Ml)', il Mi\ l!'i' In llliliil. A llrl illlr tlii|ilil V, II 1 1 Hi! I It M ill I flliln irlinll WlIM Ilimli' nil Iml'l ii|li|irlM, H rnlll IIH IhI i II", IhI, nlllv llllll H IK'W r\|ii'ilil loll nil II |',lilil Ullli' 'illnllM Im llllril mil. Iilll II <'n|nli\ I'llillili'illril nil Mini n limli rml'l, wild iiii)',lil. Ill niHi' III' jiliiiril ill lull |iii . u riimi III if I Iri'irmiri, iimi lir mi llii' wnlrli Im ivi ly n|i|M>i liiinly nl I'mllii'i ili'iin\iry. 'I'n l.nivi' llm uinlrr nl' IIh' I'niiir ||,,|,.,,,,| I'ciriniiM wiiH M iinvil mill ilmiiii' 1 nli 1 in i n' ; yi I jik li i"' > '"in iili'fi, V I'l Hull III!' iiiilimiiil i>|iiiil, lliiil llir ii|i|i •'•' 'I'll- 1 ^ rUIl'T. !( iH'iitcd instaiuTS liavi' l)i'cn given. 'J'lu'ir litlK* Itoata ot bkin (kayak) were moved by one oar, with n swift- ness wluch no English sjiilor couhl niateli. Tlie as- t, seemed to suspect him as one disdainful, and would have grown hito choler, until at last, by feeling and handling, he found the deceit, and then, with gnat noise and eiies^ ceased not wondering, thinking that we could make men live and die at our pleasure." (Jreat signs of mutual attachment appeared between the male and female captives who were brought home on the second voyage. She killed and dnsscd the dogs for him, and tended him carefully when siek, while he, on the other hand, picked out the sweetest and I'attest mor- sels, and laid them before her ; yet they lived entirely as brother and sister, without the slightest imprf from olf their backs, consisting of seal-skins, and birds' ^'""*'^'^'*- skins with the feathers on them, their buskins of well- (Iressed leather, their darts, oars, and five canoes, accept- ing eheerfully in return whatever their new visiters chose to give, and kiiully aiding each other under the j>rivations thus occasioned. They olfered to return next day with an ample store of furs and skins, whieli tlu'y saw the foreigners value so highly ; but a favour- able bree/.e springing up, the captain very properly determined to allow nothing to interfere with his schemes of discovery, lie steered directly across the strait, or rather sea, whieh still bears his own name. Davis' On the (Ith August he discovered high land, which ^"■"^^'^' he named Mount Raleigh, being part of Cumberland Island. Here, anchoring in a fnie road, the seamen saw three white animals, which seemed to be goats. De- sirous of fresh victuals and sport, they pursued them, w hell they soon perceived that they were in chase of three monstrous bears. The animals rushed on with great fury, till, being received with several balls, they retreated, apparently not much hurt, but were followed nnd at last killed. 'J'here were no symptoms of their having fed on any thing except grass ; but it was ne- eessaiy to clear away a very large quantity of fat before the tit. h could be eaten. I ill i III ni2 EAULY N()llTll-Wi:ST VOYAOLS. (•MAP. VI. Darin, aftcT coaMtiiif,' alxnit for some days, npiin foiMi.l i-:n.~CHnys himself at the capo which he had at first ivacl.cd on his Mercy. cros.siiii,' from tlic ojtpositc slioiv of (Jrccnhiiid. 'J'Imh promontory, which he calhtl tJod's .Mercy, lie now turned, wlien he entered a sound stretehinv: north-west- Murd, twenty or thirty h-ayues hroad, free from ice, and its watew having' the colour and (juality of the main ocean. After proceedin*,' sixty lea,i;ue.s, he ohserved an island in the niid-chafniel, which still, however, afforded an open passat^e ; so that his hopes daily increased, till ahout the end of Aui,nist, when hein^^ involved in fo;;>i and contrary winds, )ic determined to .suspend operations for the season and return to Mngland. KathvdoL's. On one of the islands in this .sound the seamen heard dogs h«)wling, and at length saw twenty of them approach, having the appearance of wolves. lmi)rcsse(l, howevei-, with the ideji that only animals of prey could he fomid on these shores, they fired and killed two, round one of whose necks they found a collar, and soon afterwards discovered the sledge to vl'.ieh he ha ai>j)roached, the native s came out in their canoes at first with shouts and cries; hut, r. cognising their comj)anion:; of the preceding year, tliey hastened forwanl, and hung round the vessel with every expi-ession of joy and wi 1- eonie. Seeing them in such favourahle dispositions, tho ( KAULY NOUTII-WKST VOVAOnS. UI.'J 1 Diptiuii NVdit a^lu)^T aii'l distriltutiil in iiU'sent-. twinty CiiAi". \i. Knives, ii i'lisiii^f the odVr <»f skins in return. The niobt jiocthuTwitli iiitinmti' acnuaintuni-i' was now rrsuinitl ; yet tlit y never tiie n..tivL». met the stranifers anew witluuit eryinj; " Hhuntt /" luxat- ing their hrrahts and liltinp; their hands to the ^\\\\, hy wliicli a tVish treaty was ratified. 'J'he two jiarties amused themselves hy contests in hodily exercises. 'J'ho Ks(|uimaux eiiuM not match their opponents in leaping'; hut in wri'stliuL; they showed themselves stronj^and skil- i'lil, and threw some of the hestumonj,' the sailors. IJy (k-- ^'rt'cs they hegan to manifest less laudahle qualities. Tlu-y I'xereisrd many and solemn incjuitations, thoufjfh, Davis thanks (Jod, without any elfect. Thev kindled a fire hy ruhhiuj; tw(j sticks against each other, an - Mount n x.n. Leaving this coast tlioy jiow s^iilcil wi'stwurd, and, after being deceived l)y Si'vcral illusory appearances, at length saw the white cliffs of Greenland towering be- hind a mighty wall of ice. Without attempting to approach the beach, the captain steered towards the south-west, and passed what he imagined to be Frobi- shcr's Straits, which in fact long continued to be errone- ously laid down on this shore, though they belong to that of America. He now turned Cape Farewell, and "raised the Desolations," making careful observation of those points of land which he found not well delineated in the charts. The maruiers soon began to descry, floating along, the mighty islmids of ice, — a sight which appalled all but the stoutest hearts. Onward they advanced, however, sometimes enjoying a clear and open sea, but often encompassed by icebergs or by small and drifting heaps ; and at length they had to steer a3 it were between two lands of ice. On occasions of peril, they not unfrequently moored themselves to the larger masses ; but seeing one of them split, and fall with a tremendous crash into the waves, they no longer trusted to such a protection. On the 25th June land appeared to the north, was again lost sight of, and afterwards discovered to the south ; so that they found themselves \i 1 KAIILY NORTII-WRST VOYAGRS. 11)J \ at tlio broiid ontmnce of the channel wliicli has since ciiaP. \ t ol)taine(l the name of Hudson's Strait. They wore now „ , — ," 1.1.. - p . 1 , Hmltious btill more annoyed witli lee m various tornis, partieulurly struit. that of large islands standing deej) in the water, which were very dirfieult to avoid from the violent ripples and currents. Thus they were often ohliged, especially nmid thick fogs, to fasten their vessel to the firmest ot these nuisses ; and they even used to land upon them from time to time, collecting the water melted in the hollows, which proved to ho sweet and good. Amid these vicissitudes many of the sailors fell sick ; and ^ppi.c),,,,,, tlnnigh Pricket does not choose to assert that their sole sionsot tiio malady was fear, yet in several he saw no signs of any '*^'^'"''"' other. The crews of this period, indeed, display few tokens of that hardihood with which the followers of Willoughhy and Frohisher were wont to hrave the northern tempests. Hudson secmg his men in this dej)ressed state of mind, hethought himself of an ex- pedient by which he hoped to animate them. He call( d them together, showed them his chart, from Unavaiiinj; which it appeared that they had penetrated farther tuch^ii^iV'. into the Straits by a hundred leagues than any former expedition, and put it to themselves whether they would advance, — yea or nay? This was a bold experiment, but did not succeed. Some, it is tnie, expressed them- selves " honestly respecting the good of the action ;" but others declared they would give nine-tenths of all they were worth, so tliat they were safe at home ; while a third party said they did not care where they went, so they were out of the ice. Vexed and disappointed, he broke up the conference, and followed his own determination. This, we think, is evidently the real state of the case, though Pricket represents that the captain himself was in a state of alarm and doubt. He accuses him also of having remembered too long some of the speichcs made on this occasion, to the disadvantage of those by whom they had been uttered. Notwithstanding this failure, Hudson, buoyed up by his own courage and resolution, seeing land alternately If I I ! ]%• EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. MiiiisfioKl CHAP. VI. on one side and the other, having sometimes a wide and I'uiseverancc ^'^6ar sca, and hcing occasionally involved amid moun- 01 liiuirtoii. tains of ice, made his way onward. Certain savage islands in which, when severely pressed by the wind and floe, he found a tolerable retreat, were called " Isles of God's Mc.-'.y ;" but even this harbour was rendered dangerous by hidden reefs ; and the land adjoining to it contained, according to Pricket, only "plashes of water and riven rocks," and had the appearance of being subject to earthquakes. At length they arrived at a broad opening, having a cape on each side, to which the commander gave the names of the two chief patrons of the voyage ; to the one on the continent, that of Wol- stenholme ; to the other on the large island of Mansfield, that of Sir Dudley Digges. Landing at the latter, and mounting a hill, the men descried some level spots abounding in sorrel and scurvy-grass, plants most salu- tary in this desert region ; while herds of deer were feeding, and the rocks were covered with an unexampled profusion of fowls. Seeing such abundant materials, both for sport and food, the crew, who had ever shown the most anxious concern for tlieir own comfort, earnestly besought their captain to allow them to remain and enjoy themselves for a few days on this agreeable spot ; but he, perceiving that the season for his chief enterprise was rapidly passing away, refused Eximnso of to comply. He had not proceeded long in this channel when the coast on each side was observed to separate, and he beheld before him a wide ocean, to which the eye could discover no termination. It seemed to him, doubtless, a portion of the mighty Pacific. Here, how- ever, his narrative closes, without expressing those feelings of pride and exultation which must have filled his mind at this promised fulfilment of his highest hopes. The relation of Pricket, on which we must now depend, shows too clearly that many of his followers would have had no sympathy with such elevated feelings. The expanse thus discovered by the navigator was the great inltmd sea, called from him Hudson's Bay ; Hudson Bwy EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 1?7 !S \ mid it was a grand discovery, tlio\igli not exactly what CliAr. vr. !ie imagined. The 3d of August was now arrived, a comimMur- season at which the lx)ldest of northern adventurers had ""'"' "' Av inter been accustomed to think of returning. But, little in- clined to such a resolution, he continued to sail along the coast on the left, which must liave appeared to him tlie western boundary of America, — hoping probably before the close of autumn to reach some cultivated land, in a temperate climate, where he might take up his winter quarters. The shores along this bay, however, though not in a very high latitude, arc subject to tlie rigours of a most inclement sky. Entangled amid the Fncnmpfis«s- gulfs and capes of an unknown coast, struggling with j'.'s difflcui- mist and storm, and ill seconded by a discontented crew, he spent three months without reaching any comfortable haven. It was now the first of November : the ice was closing in on all sides; and nothing remained but to meet the cheerless winter which had actually begun. The sailors were too late of attempting to erect a wooden house ; yet the cold, though severe, docs not seem to have reached any perilous height. Their chief alarm respected provisions, of vhicli they had brought only a six months' supply, and consequently had now but a Failing pro small remnant left. Hudson took active mc^isurcs to visions. relieve this want. He carefully husbanded the original stock, and promised a reward to every one who should kill beast, fish, or bird ; and " Providence dealt merci- fully," in sending such a number of white partridges, that in three months they secured a hundred dozen. In spring these visiters disappeared, but were succeeded by flocks of geese, swans, ducks, and teal, not natives of that region, but on their flight from south to north. When these were passed, the air no longer yielded food, but the sea began to open, and having on the firet day taken five hundred fishes of tolerable size, they conceived good hopes. This success did not continue ; and being reduced to great extremity, they searched the woods for moss, which they compare, however, to pounded timber : they ate even frogs. The commander under- m ■ 198 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. CHAP. VI. took an excursion with a view to establish an intercourse TenolTf the "^^^^^ *^^® inhabitants ; but they fled, setting fire to the natives. woods behind them. An interview was obtained with one, whom they loaded with gifts ; yet he never re- turned. Discontents arose as to the distribution of the small remaining portion of bread and cheese ; to allay which the captain made a general and equal partition of the whole. This was a bad measure as applied to such a description of persons, many of whom knew not how "to govern their share," but greedily devoured it as long as it lasted. One man even ate the whole in a day, and brought on a dangerous surfeit ; and their distress, now greater than ever, soon arrived at a most fatal crisis. Unprincipled Hudson, as may be observed, had from the first to *"^^' struggle with an unprincipled, ill-tempered crew, void of all concern for tlie ultimate success of the voyage. He had probably hoped, as the season should advance, to push on southwards, and reach next summer the wealthy regions for which he was commissioned to search. The sailors, on the contrary, had fixed their desires on "the cape where fowls do breed," the only place where they expected to obtain both present supply insuboidina- and the means of returning to England. Ringleaders were not wanting to head this growing party of male- contents. At the entrance of the bay the captain had displaced Ivet the mate for insubordination, and ap- pointed in his room Bylot, a man of merit, who had always shown zeal in the general cause. He had also changed the boatswain. But the most deadly IjIow Avas struck by Green, a wretch whom, after being cast off by all liis friends, the captain from humanity had takcix on board, and endeavoured to reclaim and restore to society. He was possessed of talents which made him useful, and had even rendered him a fiivourite with his superior ; and among other discontents it was reckoned one, that a veil was thrown over several flagrant dis- orders of which he was accounted guilty. Yet some hot expressions of Hudson, caused, it is said, by a tion. riasencss of Green. i\ \ Bt ! EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. J99 V misunderstanding about the purchase of a gray coat, so chap, vi acted on the fierce spirit of this ruffian, that, renouncing ^ s^^cv every tie of gratitude, and all that is sacred among mankind, he became the chief in a conspiracy to seize the vessel and expose the commander to perish. After some days' consultation, tlic time was fixed for Pricket. the perpetration of this horrible atrocity. On the 21st June 1611, Green, and Wilson the boatswain, came into Pricket's cabin, and announced their cruel resolution, — adding, that they bore him so much good- will as to wish that he should remain on board. The narrator avers most solemnly, that he exhausted every argument to induce them to desist from their horrid purpose, be- seeching them not to do a thing so foul in the sight of God and man, and which would for ever banish them from their native country, their wives, and their children. Green wildly answered, that they had made Repoiutinn (-f up their minds to go through with it or die, and that neti^"*' they would rather be hanged at home than starve here. An attempt was then made by him to negotiate a delay of three, two, or even one day, but all without effect. Ivet came next, of whom, as being a person of mature age, there seemed moi'e hope ; but he was worse than Green, declaring that he would justify in England the deed on which they had resolved. John Thomas and Michael Perse now came in, proving themselves " birds of a feather," and Meter and Bennet having followed, an oath was administered to the following tenor : — " You shall swear truth to God, your prince, and oath i\an:ia- country ; you shall do nothing but to the glory of "''"'^'i- God and the good of the action in hand, and harm to no man." Pricket complains of the reproach thrown upon him for having taken this oath, the bare terms of wliich arc certainly unexceptionable ; but the dark proceedings by which they were illustrated marks them as containing an implied obligation to remain at least passive on this dreadful occasion. All was now ready, but the conscientious historian of the voyage succeeded in persuading them to postpone till p Seizure of Hiidbun. EARLY NOIITII-WEST VOYAGES. CHAP. VI. clayliprht the accomplishment of their crime. They, iiowever, kept strict watch through tlie niglit, antl liclrt themselves ready to act at the first appearance of dawn. Daybreak approaching, the captain came out of hi^ cabin, when he was instantly assaulted by Thomas, Bennet, and Wilson, who seized hini and bound his hands l)ehind his back ; and on his eagerly asking what they meant, told him he should know when ho was in the boat. Ivet then attacked King the carpen- ter, known as the commander's most devoted adherent. That brave fellow, having a sword, made a formidable resistance, and would have killed his assailant, had not the latter been speedily reinforced. The mutineer;* tlien offered to him the choice of continuing in the ship ; but he absolutely refused to be detained other- wise than by force, and immediately followed his master, Avhom the conspirators were already letting down the sides of the vessel into the shallop. Then, with n barbarity beyond all example, they called from their beds and drove into it, not simply the friends of Hudson, but the sick and infirm sailors who could afford no aid, and whose maintenance would have been burdensome. They threw after them the carpenter's box, with some powder and shot ; and scarcely was this transaction completed, when they cut the boat from the stern, " out with their topsail," and set off, flying as from an enemy. The great navigator, thus abandoned, was never heai'd of more ; and he undoubtedly perished on those desolate shores, though the form or duration of the distress to which he fell a victim must be for ever unknown. The sailors, as soon as the guilty deed was accom- plishftd, regarding the ship as a captured vessel, broke open every chest, and seized on every remnant of food which could be discovered. Green, however, who now assumed the command, used some vigour in restoring o'rder. He placed the cabin and provisions under the charge of Pricket, who was afterwards accused of a matter no less than treason, that of secreting some cakes of bread. As soon as the mutineers had time to think. narbarity of t!u; mu ti- ll eei's. In^snlionli na- tion in the shil). f l; EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 201 ic. painful reflections began to arise. Even Green admitted CHAP. vr. that England at this time was no place for them, nor Feni-rnf the could he contrive any better scheme than to keep the mutineers. liigh sea till, by some means or other, they might pro- cure a pardon imder his majesty's hand and seal. The vessel was now embayed, and detained for a fortnight nmid fields of ice, which extended for miles around it und, but for some cockle -grass found on an island, they must have perished by fiimine. Considerable disputes with respect to the steerage arose between Ivet and Disputes as to By lot, who alone had any pretensions to skill ; but the ^ '^' ° "'' latter, being justly regarded with the greatest confidence, at length guided them to Cape Digges, the longed-for spot, the breeding-place of fowls, clouds of which ac- cordingly continued still to darken the air. The party immediately landed, spread themselves among the rocks, and began to shoot. While the boat was on shore, they saw seven canoes rowing towards them, whereupon " they prepared themselves for all assayes." However, the savages came forward, beating their breasts, dancing, leaping, and displaying every token of friendship. The utmost intimacy commenced, the parties went back and nances of tiia lorward, showed each other their mode of catching fowls, and made mutual presents. In short, the natives ap- peared the most kind and simple people in the world, and "God so blinded Henry Green" that he trusted them with implicit confidence. One day, when at the height of this affectionate harmony, Pricket, sitting in the boat, suddenly saw a man's leg close to him. Rais- ing up his head, he perceived a savage with a knife uplifted and ready to strike. In attempting to arrest Assault, the blow, his hand was cut, and he could not escape (wo wounds, one in the breast, and one in the right tliigh ; by which time he got hold of the knife and wrenched it from the assassin, whom he then pierced with his dagger in the left side. At the same time a general attack was made on the crew, dispersed in dif- ferent quarters. Green and Perse came tumbling down wounded into the boat, which pushed off ; while Meter, Friendly od- ' t 202 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 11 CHAP. VI. D.ath of Grcuii. Terplexity the crew SuffevinfTs cliiring the voyage. Failure of Virovisions. "seeing this medley," leaped into the sea, swam out, and, getting hold of the stern, was pulled in by Perse. Green now cried coragio, and he and Perse brandished their weapons with sucli vigour that the savages ceased attempting to enter the boat ; but they poured in clouds of arrows, one of which struck the former with so sure an aim that he died on the spot, and his body was thrown into the sea. At length the party readied the vessel ; but Moter and Wilson died that day, and Perse two days after. Thus perished the chief perpetrators of the late dreadful tragedy, visited by Providence with a fate not less terrible than that which they had inflicted on their illustrious and unfortunate leader. The crew, thus deprived of their best hands, were in extreme pci-plexity, obliged to ply to and fro across the straits, and unable, without the utmost fear and peril, to venture on shore ; which yet was absolutely neces- sary for obtaining provisions to carry tliem to England. They contrived, at the expense of much toil and hazard, to collect three hundred birds, which they salted and preserved as the only stock whereupon to attempt the voyage. They suffered, during the passage, the most dreadful extremities of famine, allowing only half a fowl a-day to each man, and considering it a luxury to have them fried with candles, of which a weekly distri- bution was made for that purpose. Ivet, now the sole survivor of the ringleaders in the atrocious conspiracy, sunk under these privations. The last fowl was in the steep-tub, and the men were become nearly desperate, when suddenly it pleased God to give them siglit of land, which proved to be the nortli of Ireland. They complain that, on going ashore at Berehavcn, they did not receive the sympathy and kmdness which they so much needed ; nor was it until they had mortgaged their vessel tliat they obtained the means of proceeding to Plymouth. Purchas closes the narrative by saying, — " "Well, Mr Pricket, I am in much doubt of thy fidelity ;" and he is not singular in this suspicion. It seems clear, at all EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 203 events, that he did not avail himself of the means by chap. VI, which he might have attempted to check the liomble suspicions o mutiny. But, on the other liand, it is probable that, Pricket liad he been an active agent in the crime, some of his accomplices would have betrayed him, or, had their mutual guilt bound them to each other, some stoiy would liave been invented to palliate or conceal the offence ; whereas it is set foilh by his narrative in all its atrocity. Notwitlistanding the calamitous issue of this voyage, Hopes ex- the discovery thereby made of a great sea in the west '^^^^^ seemed to justify the most flattering hopes of accom- plishing a passage. To follow out this object. Captain, afterwards Sir Thomas Button, was despatched next year (1G12), having Bylot and Pricket as guides. This officer, who seems to have been active as well as resolute, Captnia soon made his way through the Straits, and pushing ^^""°"* directly across the sea that opened to the westward, came in view of an insular cape, called by him Carey's Swan's Nest, and which afterwards proved to be the most southern point of Southampton Isknd. Nothing else broke the apparent continuity of the ocean, and there- fore he cherished sanguine hopes that the first shore he should see would be that of Japan. Suddenly an an- nouncement was made that land was in sight, when there appeared before him an immense range of coast, stretching north and south, and barring all farther pro- gress. Button, deeply disappointed, gave to it the name of Hope Checked. I3efore he had time to look for an opening, the gloom of the northern winter began to gather, when it behoved him to seek quarters for the winter, season ; and these he found in the same creek, Avhich afterwards became the principal settlement of the Hud- son's Bay Company. In spite of his best precautions, he lost several men through the severity of the cold, and was unable to extricate himself from the ice till the middle of June. He then steered northward, seeking au outlet through the broad bay between the continent and SoutJiampton Island, since called Roe's Welcome, Return of i 'I > i 204 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Disappoint liicnt. Hopes still biitertaiiKMl New expedi' Uoii. CHAP. VI. Obsci-ving, however, that the cliannel became narrower and naiTowcr, till it apparently closed, he gave up the attempt, and, after touching at several points of tlie island just named, returned to England. Although Sir Thomas had been thus baffled by the unwelcome encounter of tlie western shore of Hudson's Bay, the merchants justly considered it by no means ascertained that the land was so continuous as to pre- clude all passage into the ocean beyond America ; for which reason they resolved to make another attempt, and accordingly, in 1G14, they fitted out two vessels under Captain Gibbons, an officer of reputation, pro- nounced by Button " not short of any man that ever yet he carried to sea." But cither his character went beyond his merits, or fortune was singularly adverse, for never was there a more abortive voyage. He was early entangled in a bay on the coast of Labrador, where he was detained the whole summer, and which was afterwards dignified with the appellation of " Gibbons his Hole." Having here sustained some damage from the ice, he no sooner extricated himself than he returned home. The merchant-adventurers, still undismayed, sent out next summer the Discovery under Bylot, who in all the late voyages had approved himself an able navigator, and was accompanied by Baffin, whose name was now established as the most skilful steersman and best nau- tical observer of the age. After passing Cape Farewell, they sav/ some most tremendous islands of ice, one of which rose 240 feet above water, and, according to the usual estimate, which makes this visible part only a seventh of the whole, had probably an entire height of 1680 feet. Having entered the Straits, and, on the 2d June, hearing from the northern shore a furious barking of dogs, they landed and found five tents covered with S€al-skin, amongst which were running about thirty or forty of those animals, of a brindled black colour, re- sembling wolves. They had collars and harness suitable for certain sledges, lined with fish-bone, which were Bylot end Baffin, Imniensi? loebei'^'. EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 205 V standing by. In one of the houses was a bag containing chap, vi, little images of men, the only spechnen observed of such j^-^t.^n fabrication upon this coast. The navigators soon descried campment. a canoe with twenty individuals, whom they hailed in their native language, holding up knives and other toys. 1^'riendly salutations were given in return ; but neither party chose to trust themselves within reach of the other. At a little distance, the conflict of opposite cur- rents amid large icebergs caused so fearful a grinding that they gave to the adjoining land the name of Mill Island. There they would have been in extreme danger, " had not God, who is stronger than ice or stream," delivered them. The policy of Bylot in this voyage seems to have been Course of to keep close to the northern shore of the strait ; and ^ °^' thus, entering Hudson's Bay at a higher latitude, he hoped to steer clear of those lands which had barred the westerly progress of his predecessors. Therefore, on reaching the Isles of God's Mercy, instead of holding southward to Cape Dudley Digges, he proceeded directly west, and arrived in the broad expanse afterwards called the Fox Channel. At length, indeed, he saw land, but fox cinui it was bounded by a cape which had every appearance "^^■ of being the most northerly point of America. He called it Cape Comfort ; though this name, it soon ap- peared, was pi-ematurely given, for a single day had not elapsed when " his sudden comfort was as soon quailed." They were now on the eastern coast of Southampton Island, which spread on all sides to a very great extent, rjisnppo seeming to preclude every prospect of an opening on ment. either hand. Disappointment, the lateness of the season, and the pressure of the ice, concurred in persuading Bylot that there was nothing to be hoped for here, and determined him to set sail immediately for England ; whither he carried a most unfavourable I'eport as to any prospect of penetrating westward in that direction. But the adventurers were not yet discouraged. Turn- ing their hopes to a different quarter, they next year again fitted out Bylot and Baffin, with instnictions no int- 206 EARLY NOllTH-WEST VOYAGES. New course proposed. Native females. CHAP. VI. longer to attcmiit the passage by Hudson's Bay, but to enter Davis' Strait, and push due north till they reached lat. 00^, if an open sea should allow them to proceed so far ; then, turning to the westward, to round, if practi- cable, the extreme point of America, and to bear down upon Japan. Respecting this voyage, which, perhaps, of all those to the North, produced the most memorable discoveries, Baffin has favoured us with only a very meagre narrative. Following the course pointed out, he reached, on the 30th May, Hope Sanderson, the farthest point attained by Davis. Soon afterwards the expedition came to a number of small islands, on which they found only females, some of very great age. These at first ran and hid themselves among the rocks ; but the sailors having reached two dames, one of M'hom was estimated at fourscore, and having presented bits of iron and the usual toys, induced them to carry a favourable report to their youthful countiy women. The whole party soon came down to the shore, and four even went on board the boat. The charms of these ladies were heightened or disfigured l)y long black streaks made on their fiices in early life with a sharp instrument, and so deep that they could not now be effaced. It was ob- served, too, that the dead were buried merely by piling stones over them, through which the body appeared, secured, however, from putrefaction by the extreme cold of the climate. The navigators sailed onwards in lat. 74°, when they were arrested by a large body of ice, and obliged to turn into a neighbouring inlet to await its melting. Here they received repeated visits from about forty of the natives, the only account of whom is, that they brought an extraordinaiy quantity of the bones of sea-unicorns, or narwals, great numbers of which animals were seen in the water. Hence this was called Horn Sound. The mass of ice now dissolved before the powerful influence of the sun, and the discoverers sailed northwards among its fragments; but still snow fell every day, and the shrouds and sails were often so hard frozen as to make it hnpossible to handle them. In 76° Jfode of sepulture, Native ti'afiUc. \ EARLY NOllTII-WEST VOYAGES. 207 l^ they came to a fair capo, and then to a goodly sound, to CHAP. vr. which they gave the respective names of Digges and p,.o(;rmof WolstenJiohne, the two nuiin promoters of this under- i^yiot. taking, and whose zeal was already associated with localities in the interior of Hudson's Straits. After havhig sustained a severe storm, they discovered another inlet, which would have supplied them with a multitude of wlialcs, had they heen duly provided with the means of capture : this they called Whale Sound. Next, in 78°, appeared a third, the widest and greatest in all this sea, and which was named for Sir Thomas Smith, one of the chief patrons of discovery. This opening, which Baffin seems to have examined very supei-ficially, abounded almost equally in whales, and caused particu- lar astonishment by the extraordinary aberration of the needle, to which nothing similar had been ever witnessed. Between these two sounds was an island which was de- nominated Ilalvluyt, after the venerable recorder of early English discoveries. Proceeding now along the Numerous south-western boundary of this great sea, the next observoa. "fair sound" received the name of Aldennan Jones, another encourager of these laudable pursuits. It may be remarked that Baffin notices all these inlets, of which he was the first discoverer, in the most cursory manner, without mention of any attempt to trace, in their interior depths, an opening into any sea beyond. In lat. 74° there appeared another broad opening, which was called Sir James Lancaster's Sound ; but while he calls it great, he seems scarcely to have noticed this future entrance into the Polar Sea ; on the contrary, he observes, at the very same moment, that the hope of a Lancaster passage became every day less and less. He sailed on but a barrier of ice prevented him from approaching the shore till he came within the " indraft" of Cumberland's Isles, " where hope of passage could be none." Finding the health of his crew rather declining, he sailed across to Greenland, where an abundance of scurvy-grass boiled in beer quickly restored them ; and " the Lord then sent a speedy and good passage homeward." sound. I' fll ' I .'I! ! CHAP. VI. Buffln's nay. piinisli exiie (Utioii. Jens Munk. Winter quarters. 2on EARLY NOmil-WRST VOVAOES On roturning, he expressed flie most doeided conviction that the great sea whicli he had traversed was enclosed on all sides, and afforded no opening into any ocean to the westward ; and his judgment wa.s received by the public, who named it from liim Baffin's Bay. lie for- cibly, however, represented the great encouragement it held out to the whale-fishery, as those huge animals were seen sleeping in vast numbers on the surface of the water, without fear of the ship " or of any thing else." Davis' Strait, accordingly, has ever since been a favourite resort of the fishers, who did not, however, till lately venture into those high latitudes, where whales are de- scribed as more peculiarly abundant. There was now a pause in English discovery ; every quarter had been tried, and none seemed to afford any farther promise ; nor was it till 1G19 that Denmark, which has always felt an interest in northern navigation, made an attempt to follow up the success of Hudson and Baffin. At the period just named. Christian IV. sent out two well-appointed vessels under Jens Munk, who had the reputation of a good seaman. Ho succeeded in penetrating through Hudson's Straits into the bay, whereupon he took upon himself to change the whole nomenclature of that region, imposing the names of Christian's Straits and Christian's Sea, and calling the western coast New Denmark. But this innovation, which was contrary to every principle recognised in such cases, has not been confirmed by posterity. When September arrived, and the ice closed in, he thought it prudent to seek winter-quarters, and accordingly esta- blished himself in the mouth of an opening which, it is highly probable, was that channel which has since been called Chesterfield Inlet. The season seemed to open with the best promise, commodious huts were constructed, and there were both abundance and variety of game. His people witnessed some of those brilliant phenomena that are peculiar to high latitudes ; at one time were two and at another three suns in the sky ; and the moon was once environed by a transparent circle, within 1 KAULY N()llTlI-\Vi:8T VOYAOW. 209 which was a cross cutting through its centre. But, CHAP. VI. instead of amusing thiir minds and improving science [{ .,„,„.i'," ,), by noting these beautiful appearances, they were dc- I'liunurneiu. pressed by viewing them as a mysterious presage of future evils. Frost now set in with all its intensity ; their beer, wine, and other liquors, \.vre converted into ice; the scurvy began its ravages; while tliey, ignorant of the mode of treating it, ei: • lo^id no renieuy except a large quantity of spirits, which has always been found to aggravate that frightful disorder. Unfit lor the ex- ertion necessary to secure the game with wiiich the o^trM* of country abounded, they soon had famme added to their I'tecxcw. other distresses ; and their miseries si^em to have been almost without a parallel, even in the dark annals of northern navigation. Munk himself was left four days in his hut without food ; at length, having crawled out, he foinid that of the original crew of fifty-two no more than two survived, lie and they were overjoyed to meet, and determined to make an effort to preserve lil'e. Gathering strength from despair, they dug into the snow, yffr,rtf>. of ha under which they found herbs and grass, which, being suivivoiu of an antiscorbutic quality, soon produced a degree of amendment. Being then able to fish and shoot, they gradually regained their natural vigour. They equipped anew the smaller of the two vessels, in which they reached home on the 25th September 1G20, after a stormy and perilous voyage. The commander declared his readiness to sail again ; and there are various reports as to the cause why he did not. Some say, that having in a conference with the king been stung by some ex- Denmai'kl ^ pressions which seemed to impute the disasters of the late enterprise to his mismanagement, he died of a broken heart. But Forster relates that, during several successive years, he was employed by his majesty on the North Sea and in the Elbe, and that he died in 1628, when engaged in a naval expedition. The English, after Baffin's attempt, appearing to re- linquish every prospect of discovery in the more northern seas, confined for a long time all their efforts in the 210 EARLY NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Hudson's Bay settlement. CHAP. VI. direction of Hudson's Bay. But as these did not lend En-ribiTcx- to any important results, and are chiefly connected with peditions. the remoter settlements of America, we shall introduce here only a very slight sketch of them. CnptninsFox Captains J^ OX and James Were fitted out in 1631. The aiui James, forfner examined two passages leading to the northward, one on the western side of Southampton Island, called Sir Thomas Roe's Welcome ; the other on the eastern side, called from himself Fox's Channel ; but he did not trace either to any great height. James, entangled in the southern extremity of Hudson's Bay, spent a winter under the most extreme suffering from cold, and returned next summer to England. About 1668 a settlement was formed in the bay just specified, and an extensive company established for the traffic in furs; but this association, though bound by their charter to make the most strenuous exertions for the discovery of a western passage, concerned themselves very little with the subject till 1719, when they ■'.veve in a manner compelled to fit out an expedition under Knight and Barlow. These officers, however, never re- turned, and a vessel sent next season under Captain Scroggs could learn no tidings of them ; nor was it till nearly fifty years afterwards that the wrecks of their armament were found on Marble Island, where they appear to have been cast ashore and lost. Middicton'3 ^^ 1741, after a long interval. Captain Middleton, sup- expedition, ported by a gentleman of the name of Dobbs, obtained the command of two vessels, with which he sailed up the Welcome. He came to a long inlet called the Wager, but it appeared quite enclosed by a shore, with a river falling into it. Proceeding to its northern extremity, he found a spacious opening, that affbrded at first the greatest hopes ; but being disappointed by the appear- ance of land, he named it Repulse Bay. The coast then taking an easterly direction, he followed it till he came to a channel which, from the accumulation of ice at its entrance, he called the Frozen Strait. A current ran through it, which, however, appeared to him to be I \^ EARLY NORTH WEST V0YAUE8. 211 Public zeal ia merely the one that had entered by Hudson's Strait, and CHAP. VL proceeded circuitously round Southampton Island. He returned home, expressing a decided conviction that no practicable passage existed in that direction. Mr Dobbs, the mover of the expedition, was deeply Unsuccessful. disappointed by this result ; and from his own iv;flections, results. and the statement of several of the inferior officers, became convmced that Middleton had given a very incorrect statement of the facts. Of this he so fully convinced both the Parliament and the nation, that £10,000 was subscribed for a new expedition, and a reward of £20,000 promised to the discoverers of the projected passage. thTobjec;.* Captains Moor and Smith, in 1746, commanded this armament, which, like most of those equipped with great pomp and circumstance, entirely failed. They merely ascertained, what was pretty well known before, that the Wager afforded no outlet ; and, after spending a complete severe winter there, returned next season to England, failure. It appears, by notices which Mr Barrow has drawn from the Admiralty records, that the armed brig Lion was sent in 1776, under Lieutenant Pickersgill, and in 1777, under Lieutenant Young, with the view of acting in concert with Captain Cook, who in his third voyage might, it was hoped, make his way round from Behring's Strait into the Atlantic. These officers reached respec- tively the latitudes of 68° and 72°, without effecting or almost attempting any thing farther. 2J2 liECENT JiOUTII-WEST VOYAGES. CHAPTER VII. M ■'*!' Voyages hy Ross and Parry in Search of a North- urst Passage. Spirited Views of the British Government— Ross's Expedition ; He sails round Baffin's Bay ; Arctic Highlands ; Lancaster Sound ; His Return— r:^iry's First Expedition ; Entrance into the Artie Sea ; Regent's Inlet ; North Georgian Islands ; Winters at Melville Island ; Mode of spending the Winter ; North Georgian Theatre ; Gazette ; Disappearance of the Animal Tribes ; Attempt to proceed Westward during the Summer ; His Return to England — Parry's Second Expedi- tion, accompanied by Captain Lyon ; He enters Hudson's Strait ; Savage Islands ; Duke of York's Bay ; Frozen Strait ; Various Inlets discovered ; Ships frozen in for the Winter ; Polar Theatre and School ; Brilliant Appearances of the Aurora Borealis ; Intercourse with a Party of Esqui- maux ; Laud Excursions ; Release from the Ice ; Voyage Northward ; Discovery of a Strait named after tho Fury and Hocla ; Progress arrested ; Second Winter-quarters, at Igloolik ; The Esquimaux ; Synijjtoms of Scurvy ; Return of the Expedition to England— Parry's Third Expedition ; He winters at Port Bovven ; Shipwreck of tho Fury ; Return of the Hecla. i ' zeal of Britain, CHAP. VII. Britain had seen other nations carry off all the great Tardy luwai prizes in iiaval discovery. She had scarcely a vessel on the ocean, when the nations of the Iberian peninsula laid open new worlds, and appropriated the golden trea- sures of the East and of the West. But her energies being once roused, her efforts were from the beginning bold and adventurous, though sometimes made with inadequate means, on a small scale, and often with a ; I I- RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 213 disastrous issue. Advancing, however, with regular chap. vtt. steps, she first rivalled and finally surpassed all other Energies modern states. The reigns of George III. and of his^ouswL eldest son formed the era which decided both her mari- time supremacy and her special eminence in the depart- ment of discovery. She achieved almost entirely the exploration of the vast expanse of the South Sea, with its great and numerous islands, leaving to the exertions of France only a scanty gleaning. The re- volutionary war, indeed, for some time employed the attention and resources of the nation ; but as soon as her signal triumphs had left Britain without an enemy in the seas of Europe, she looked again to this theatre of her former glory. Even amid the din of arms, the j,,g African African Association pursued their enlightened and phi- association, lanthropic course ; and the important results to which tliey attained finally induced the government to take an interest in their undertaking, and to aid them with means which no private body could command. Mr Barrow, who by his personal exertions had illustrated some of the most interesting poi'tions of the globe, took the chief direction, — prompting and guiding every step with an energetic perseverance and practical judgment never before extended in an equal degree to similar object?. The measures pursued with respect to Africa do not come within the compass of the present work ; but when the spirit was once roused, it did not confine itself to a single point. The northern seas, as a theatre of adventure, had been unoccupied for half a century. There px'evailed, indeed, a general impression that so many fruitless expeditions had set the question at rest ; nanow. but when Mr Barrow applied to it the powers of his vigorous and penetrating judgment, he became sensible that this conclusion was quite groundless. Baffin had once sailed round that great sea, which by him was called a bay, and still bears his name ; but his examination had been quite superficial, and insufficient to establish that continuity of land with which the maps had j^o thoroughly enclosed it. There were even striking facts indicating n 214 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. U : i Supposed commnnica- tion witli the Pacific Ocean, Admiralty expeditions. Ross and Parry. 1 I CHAP. VII that there must he a communication with the Grecnlaiu-l Sea on the one side, and tlie Pacific Ocean on the other. Even in regard to Hudson's Bay, no progress was made since Parliament had offered a reward of £20,000, and sent out the large expedition under Captains Moor and Smith. Thus the grand prohlem in which the countrv h'ad long taken so deep an interest was still unsolved ; and to decide it nothing more seemed necessary than the application of that skill and undaunted courage, of Avhich British seamen have sho^vn themselves so emi- nently possessed. In 1818 the Admiralty fitted out two expeditions ; one destined for the discovery of the north-west passage, the other to attempt a voyage across the Pole. The first, which is the one we are at present to follow, con- sisted of the Isahella of 385 tons, commanded hy Captain John Ross, an officer of reputation and experience, who had twice wintered in the Baltic, had been employed in surveying the White Sea, and been as far north as Bear or Cherie Island. Another vessel, the Alexander of 252 tons, was intrusted to Lieutenant Parry, a young officer of rising merit, who has since amply justified the choice made by his employers. On the 18th April the navigators sailed down the Thames, and by the end of the month Avere off the Shetland Islands. On the 27th May they came in view of Cape Farewell ; round wliich, as usual, were floating numerous and lofty icebergs of the most varied forms and tints. On the 14th June they reached the Whale Islands, where they were informed by the governor of the Danish settlement that the past winter had been imcommonly severe ; that the neighbouring bays and straits had been all frozen two months earlier than usual ; and that some of the channels nortlnvard of his station were still inaccessible, owing to the ice. A curious assertion was here made by the Esquimaux, that they could see across the whole breadth of the bay, though not less than two hundred miles, which, indeed, would be an extraordinary instance of the power of re- Course of tlio navigators. Curious plienonienon. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 215 fraction ; but it ought to bo observed, that tlie frozen chap. vil. surface of the sea often presents deceptive appearances wavpiT of land. On the 17th June, m the neighbourhood of isiuiid. Waygat Island, an impenetrable barrier obliged the dis- coverers to stop their course, making themselves fast to an iceberg, and having forty-five whale-ships in com pany. Observations made ashore proved this island to be misplaced on the maps by no less than five degrees of longitude. At length the ice attached to the eastern side of the strait broke up, though still forming a con- cjeakincr np tmuous and impenetrable rampart at some distance to the westward, in which direction it had drifted ; but in the intermediate space they were enabled to move for- ward slowly along the coast, labouring through narrow and intricate channels. They steered their course, how- ever, to the higher parts of the bay, and in about lat. 75° came to a coast which had not been visited by former navigators. They were struck, as Baffin had been, by the great number of whales which were slumbering se- curely in these deep recesses, never having been alarmed by the harpoon. On the 7tli August, in the same lati- tude, a heavy gale sprung up, wliicli, driving the ice ^^^'^ against the vessels, made a display of its terrible power. Providentially, when instant destruction was expected, the mass receded, and the ships, owing to the extraordi- nary strength of their construction, escaped without material injury. Proceeding along a high mountainous coast, the ex- N.uive pedition came to a tribe of Esquimaux, who, of all ^'^ human beings, seem to exist in a state of the deepest seclusion. They had never before seen men belonging to the civilized world, or to a race different from their own. The first party whom the na^-igators approached showed every sign of alarm, — dreadmg, as was after- \vards understood, a fatal influence from the mere touch of beings whom they regarded as members of an un- known species. Yet they seem to have felt a secret attraction towards the strangers, and advanced, holding fast the long knives lodged in theu* boots, and looking r E\ 1 516 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Interview vitli tlie nutivus. Siirn of amity. CHAP. VII. significantly at each other. Having come to a chasm which separated them from the strangers, they made earnest signs that only Saccheous, the interpreter,* who bore a certain resemblance to themselves, should come across. He went forward and offered his hand ; but they shrunk back for some time in alarm. At length the boldest touched it, and finding it flesh and blood, set up a loud shout, in which three others joined. The rest of the party then came up, to the number of eight, with fifty dogs, which joined their masters in raising a tremendous clamour. Ross and Parry now thought it time to advance. This movement excited alarm and a tendency to retreat ; but Saccheous having taught tliese offiv ers to pull their noses, this sign of amity was gTa- ciously accepted. A mirror was now held up to them, and on seeing their facts in it they showed the most extreme astonishment, looking round on each other a few moments in silence, then setting up a general shout, succeeded by a loud laugh of delight and surprise. The ship was the next object of their speculation ; the nature of which they endeavoured to ascei't;iin by interrogating itself; for they conceived it to be a huge bird spreading its vast wings, and endowed with reason. One of them, pulling his nose with the utmost solemnity, began thus to address it : — " Who are you I Whence come you i * This yonng man was a native of Greenland, who had ac- companied the Thomas and Anne, Captain Newton, one of the Leitn whalers, on lier homeward voya<;o in Kilf! ; and the followinf? year ho went out to the fishery, returning a second time to Europe. During this period, being intelligent and do- cile, he n'o e V jnsiderablc ja'oficieney in a course of elementary study, hi f.:j pro.-^ecutiou of which he received every assistance from his friends in Lcith. On the equipment of the Arctic expedition, his wishes to accompany ihc discovery-ships having heen communicated to goveriunent through the medium of Captain Basil Hall, he was immediately engaged as interpreter. His services in that capacity, as the narrative shows, were of Cnrinsitj' of the natives. in the ensuing spring, he was unfortunately attacked with an iuilaiumatory fever, wliiili carried him oft'iu a few days. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 217 Is it from the sun or the moon V The ship remaining chap, vil silent, they at length applied to the interpreter, who j^ ~r assured them that it was a frame of tinihcr, the work of rcsiw-ctiug liuman art. To them, however, who had never sei n *'"^ '''''^'' any wood but slight twigs and stunted heath, its im- mense planks and masts were objects of amazement. What animal, they also asked, could furnish those enor- mous sJcins which were spread for the sails. Their ad- miration was soon followed by a desire to possess some of the objects which met their eyes, and with little ^"| 'V?. ceremony or discrimination as to the means of effecting their end. They attempted first a spare topmast, then an anchor ; and these proving too ponderous, one of them tried the smith's anvil ; but, finding it fixed, made off at last with the large hammer. It was not less wonderful in their eyes to see the sailors mounting the rigging ; nor was it without much hesitation that they ventured then* own feet in the shrouds. A little terrier- dog appeared to them a contemptible creature, ./holly unfit for drawing burdens or being yoked in a sledge, wliile the grunt of a hog filled them with alarm. This tribe, in features, form, and even language, be- Esquimaux. long evidently to the Esquimaux, — a race widely dif- fused over all the shores of the Arctic Ocean. They appear to have little or no communication with the rest, and amid the general resemblance have some distin- guishing characters. The boat, large or small, which we almost instinctively associate with our idea of the Greenlander, is here wholly unknown. Much of their food is found in the deep, and procured at various parts of the icy surface whicli incrusts it during the greater part of the year. Yet they have one important ad van- posse^ision of tage, not only over other Esquimaux, but over the most *"""• civilized of the native Americans. Their country affords iron, which, being flattened by sharp stones, and inserted in a handle made of the horn of the sea-unicorn, forms knives much more efficient than those framed of boiie by tlie neighbouring hordes. Again, unlike tlie otlier tribes, they have a king, who rules seemingly with 218 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAfiFS. CHAP. VII I'orm of government. Doff sledges. Red snow. Cape Dudley Digges. Smith's Suund. gentle sway ; for they deacribcd him as strong, very good, and very much beloved. Tlie discoverers did not visit the court of this Arctic potcntiite ; but they under- stood that he draws a tribute, consisting of train-oil, seal-skins, and the bone of the sea- unicorn. Following the general usage, they have sledges drawn by large and powerful teams of dogs ; their chase is chiefly confined to hares, foxes of various colours, the seal, and the nar- wal. They rejected with horror the proflFercd luxuries of biscuit, sweetmeats, or spirits ; train-oil, as it streamed from various species of fish, alone gratified their palate. Captain Ross, swayed by national impressions, gave to this district the name of the Arctic Highlands, In the northern part of this coast the navigators ob- served a remarkable phenomenon, — a range of cliff's, the snowy covering of which had exchanged its native white for a tint of deep crimson. This red snow was not only examined on the spot, but a portion of it was brought to England, and analyzed by the most learned men both at home and abroad, who have entertained various opin- ions as to the origin of the colour. The latest observa- tions, as elsewhere observed, have established its vege- table origin.* Having now passed Cape Dudley Digges, the commo- dore found himself among those spacious sounds whicli Baffin had named, but so imperfectly described. They all appeared to him, however, to be either bays enclosed by land or obstructed by impenetrable barriers of ice. Ho sailed past Wolstenholme and Wliale Sounds very quickly, without approaching even their entrance ; concluding them to be blocked up with ice, and to affbrd no hope of a passage. As these openings stretched towards the noiih, it must be admitted that they could not in this high latitude be considered very favourable as to the object he had in view. He came next to Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, which, we may recollect, Baffin described as the most spacious in the whole circuit of " See chap. i. p. 22, note ; chap ii. p. 91-94. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 219 these coasts. This was regarded with greater attention ; chap. VIL but Captain Ross satisfied himself tliat he had distinctly — : seen it, at the distance of eighteen leagues, completely Captttiniioss enclosed by land. He soon arrived at an extensive bay, which had hitherto been unobserved, — afterwards to that which Baffin called Alderman Jones' Sound ; but in respect to both, the ice at their entrance, and the ap- parent boundary of high land in the interior, led, as in the other instances, to an unfavourable conclusion. Tlie season was now somewhat advanced ; the end of close nf the August approached ; the sun set after an uninterrupted ^'^**°"' day of two months and a half ; and a thick fog rendered the lengthening nights more gloomy. The land, seen at some distance, consisted of very high and steep hills, presenting, however, some spots fit for human habita- tion. An opening forty-five miles wide, to the south- ward of a promontory which was named Cape Charlotte, was decided against on the usual grounds. On the 30th August, the expedition came to a most magnificent in- let, bordered by lofty mountains of peculiar grandeur, wliile the water, being clear and free from ice, presented so tempting an appearance, that it was impossible to re- frain from entering. Tlus channel, wliich soon proved to be Lancaster Sound, was ascended for tliii'ty miles ; Lancuster during which nm officers and men crowded the topmast, Sound. filled with enthusiastic hope, and judging that it afforded a much fairer prospect of success than any of those so hastily passed. Captain Ross, however, soon thought that he discovered a high ridge stretcliing directly across the inlet ; and, though a great part of it was deeply in- volved in mist, a passage in tliis direction was by hini judged to be hopeless. The sea being open, however, the commander proceeded ; but about twelve o'clock Mr Beverley, the assistant-surgeon, came down from land. the crow's nest, and stated, that he had seen the land extending very nearly across the entire bay. Hereupon, it is said, all hopes were renounced, even by the most sanguine, and Captain Ross sailed onwai'd merely for the purpose of making some magnetical observations. hi 220 KECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. :■: H,f CHAP. vir. Cliarjro of course. Sail south- wmd. nofurn to Lugltind. Opinion of i'aiTv. n I III made the signal to steer the vessels out oi At three o'clock, the sky having cleared, the com- mander himself went on deck, wlien he states that he distinctly saw across tlie bottom of the bay a chain of mountains, continuous and connected with those which formed its opposite shores. The weather then l)ecoming unstttleci, ho Lancastc r Sound. On redlining tlio entrance of this groat channel, Cap- tain Ross continued to steer southward along the western shore, without seeing any entrance which afforded equal promise. Cumberland Strait alone was similar in mag- nitude ; but as it could lead only into tlie higher lati- tudes of Hudson's Bay, it afforded little chance of a passage into tlie Arctic Sea. After surveying, there- fore, some of these shores, ho returned home early in October. The captain arrived in England under the most decided conviction that Baffin's observations had been perfectly correct, and that Lancaster Sound was a bay, affording no entrance into any western sea. If even any strait existed between the mountains, it must, he conceived, be for ever innavigable, on account of the ice with which it is filled. The intelligent individuals, however, who had fitted out the ships with such zeal and on so great a sca,le, felt dissatisfaction at thb con- clusion, as connected at least with the premises from which it was drawn. The grounds, in particular, on which Lancaster Sound, an opening so spacious, and in a position so favoura1)le in respect to western discovery, had been so abruptly quitted, appeared inadmissible. The s;mic opinion was very decidedly espoused by se- veral of the officers, and especially by Lieutenant Parry, the second in command. It was determined, in short, that a fresh expedition should be equipped and intrusted to him, that he might fulfil, if possible, his own sanguine hopes and those of the government. He was furnished A'ith the Ilccla of 375 tons, and a crew of fifty-eight men ; and with the Griper gun-brig of 180 tons, and thirty-six men, commanded by Lieutenant Liddoa.. IIKCENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 221 i These sliips were made as strong as possible for the CiiAR vil navigation of the Arctic Seas ; and were stored with F,.psi7^pe. ample provisions for two years, a copious sujiply ofii'tion. antiscorbutics, and every thing which could enable the crews to endure the most extreme rigours of a Polar winter. Lieutenant Parry, destined to outstrip all his pre- Departure of decessors in the career of northern discovery, weighed ^'">''y- anchor at the Nore on the 11th May 1819, and on the 20th rounded the remotest point of the Orkneys, lie endeavoured to cross the Atlantic about the parallel of 68", and though impeded during the first fortnight of June by a scries of unfavourable weather, obtained on the 16th, from the distance apparently of not less than forty leagues, a view of the lofty cliffs composing Cape Farewell. On the 18th the ships first fell in with ice- bergs, the air being also filled with petrels, kittiwakes, terns, and other winged inhabitants of the northern sky. ciosinir ',f He now made an effort to push north and west, thiough ^i"^ '^^ the icy masses, in the direction of Lancaster Sound ; but these suddenly closed upon him ; and on the 25 th both vessels were so immovably beset that no power could turn their heads a single point of the compass. They remained thus fixed, but safe, when, on the morning of the second day, a heavy roll of the sea loosened the ice, and drove it against them with such violence, that only their very strong construction saved them from severe injury. The discoverers therefore were fain to extricate themselves as soon as possible ; and, resigning the idea of reaching Lancaster Sound by the most direct course, resolved to steer northward "^""^^ "^ along the border of this great icy field till they should find open water. In this progress they verified the observation of Davis, that in the narrowest part of the great sea, misnamed his Strait, the shores on each side could be seen at the same moment. Thus they pro- ceeded till they reached the Women's Islands and Ilope Sanderson, in about latitude 73°. As every step was now likely to carry them farther from their dcstiuutiou. courae. (([ 222 ni:cr,NT iXouTii-wEsx voyages. I '4 1 1 El] I LancastcT Sound reached. CHAP. VII. Parry detonninod upon n desperate push to the vvest- D.iriiie pas- ^\J""'l' l^'ivvourcd with a inodcrutc hrcr/o, the ships wero fiiKf tiiiough run into the detached pieces and floes of ice, througli thelco. ^vliich they wero heaved with hawsers; hut the oh- stack's l)econiing always more insuperahle, tliey were at length conipk'tely heset, and a heavy fog coming on made them little ahle to take advantage of any favour- ahle change. Yet in the course of a week, thoni;h re- jjcatcdly and sometimes dangerously surrounded, they warped their way from lane to lane of open water, till only one lengthened floe separated them from an ojxn sea. By laboriously s/iwing through this obstruction, they finally penetrated the great barrier, and saw the shore, clear of ice, extending before them. The navigators now bore directly for Lancaster Sound, and on the 30th July found themselves at its entrance. They felt an exti-aordinary emotion as they recognised this magnificent channel, with the lofty cliffs by which it was guarded, aware that a very short time would decide the fate of their grand undertaking. They were tantalized, however, by a fresh breeze coming directly down the Sound, which did not suff\;r them to make more than a very slow progress. Still there was no appearance of obstruction, either from ice or land, and even the heavy swell which they had to encounter, driving the water repeatedly in at the stern- windows, was hailed as an indication of open sea to the westward. The Hecla left the Griper behind, but still without making any great way herself, till the 8d August, when an easterly breeze sprung uji, carrying both vessels rapidly forward. A crowd of sail was set, and they proceeded triumphantly in their course. The minds of all were filled with anxious ho])e and suspense. The mast-heads were crowded with officers and men, and the successive rcpoi-ts brought down from the highest pinnacle, called the crow's ne.st, were eagerly listened to on deck. Their path was still unobstructed. They passed various headlands, with several wide openings towards the north and south, to Hiph hopes entei'tuiued. lUXLM NOHTlI-WKSr V0YA(3i:.S. 21:3 ^vllieh ihvy hastily gave tho names of Croker Bnyf chap, vil Navy Boiml Inlet, nnd similar dosignutions ; l)ut those oiu'iiTnK,t it was not their present ohjcct to explore. The wind, ras-sud. freshenin.ij more and more, earried them happily for- ward, till at midnight they found themselves in longi- tude 83° 12', nearly a hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the sound, which still retained a hreadth of fifty miles. The success of the expedition, they fondly hoped, was now to a great extent decided. The Ifecla at this time slackened her course to allow Jnnctioi. <>t her companion to come up, which she did in longitude ^lla'ui•l|)c^. H5°. They proceeded together to longitude 8G° 30', iind found two other inlets, which they named Burnet (md Stratton ; then a bold cape named Fellfoot, form- ing, apj)arently, the termination of this long line of coast. The lengthened swell which still rolled in from the north and west, with the oceanic colour of the waters, inspired the flattering persuasion that they had already passed the region of straits and inlets, and were now wafted along the wide expanse of the Polar Basin. Nothing, in short, it was hoped, would henceforth ob- struct their progress to Icy Cape, the western boundary of America. An alarm of land was given, but it proved to arise only from an island of no great extent. How- Appcnrnnco ever, more land was soon discovered beyond Cape Fell- of lumL foot, which was ascertained to be the entrance to a noble recess, extending on their right, which they named Maxwell Bay. An uninterrupted range of sea still stretched out before them, though they were somewhat discomposed by seeing on the south a line of continuous ice ; but it left an open passage, and they hoped to find it merely a detached stream. A little space onwards, however, they discovered, with deep channel ob- dismay, that this ice was joined to a compact and im- atmcted. penetrable body of floes, which completely crossed the channel, and joined the western point of Maxwell Bay. It behoved them, therefore, immediately to draw back, to avoid being embayed in the ice, along the edges of which a violent surf was then beating. The oflicers I 224 RECENT NOKTII-WEST VOYAGES. L m f^ i W\ h Dnsolate scuiie. CHAP. VII began to amuse themselves with fruitless attempts to Newcourse. ^atch white whales, when the weather cleared, and they saw to the south an open sea with a dark water-sky. Parry, hoping that this might lead to an unencumbered passage in a lower latitude, steered in this direction, and found himself at the mouth of a great inlet, ten leagues broad, with no visible termination ; and to the two capes at its entrance he gave the names of Clarence and Seppings. The mariners, finding the western shore of this inlet greatly obstructed with ice, moved across to the eastern, where they entered a broad and open channel. The coast was the most dreary and desolate they had ever beheld even in the Arctic world, presenting scarcely a semblance either of anhnal or vegetable life. Naviga- tion was rendered more arduous from the entire irregularity of the compass, now evidently approaching to the magnetic pole, and showing an excess of variaaon which they vainly attempted to measure, so that the binnacles were laid aside as useless lumber. They sailed a hundred and twenty miles up this inlet, and its augmenting width inspired them with corresponding hopes ; when, with extreme consternation, they sudden- ly percei/ed the ice to diverge from its parallel course, running close in with a point of land which appeared to form the southern extremity of the eastern shore. To this foreland they gave the name of Cape Kater. The western horizon also appeared covered with heavy and extensive floes, a bright and dazzling iceblink extending from right to left. The name of the Prince Regent was given to this spacious inlet, Avhich Parry strongly sus- pected must have a communication with Hudson's Bay. He now determined to return to the old station, and watch the opportunity when the relenting ice would allow the ships to proceed westward. That point was reached, not without some difliculty, amid ice and fog. At Prince Leopold's Islands, on the 16th, the barrier was as impenetrable as ever, with a bright blink ; and from the top of a high hill there was no water to be Renewed hopes. Prince Rt'Keiit's liilet. RECENT NORXn-WEST VOYAGES. 225 seen ; luckily also there was no land. On the 18th, CIIAR VIL on getting once more close to the northern shore, the sndden" navigators began to make a little way, and some showers ciiuuye. of rain and snow, accompanied with heavy wind, pro- duced such an effect, that on the 21st the wliole ice had disappeared, and they could scarcely believe it to be the same sea which had just before been covered with floes upon floes as far as the eye could reach. Mr Parry now crowded all sail to the westward, and, Voyacro though detained by want of wind, he passed Radstock ^^'^^f^^"'''- Bay, Capes Hurd and Hotham, and Bcechey Island ; after which lie discovered a fine and broad inlet leading to the north, which he called Wellington, the greatest name of the age. The sea at the mouth being perfectly open, he would not have hesitated to ascend it, had there not been before him, along the southern side of an island named Cornwallis, an open channel leading due west. Wellington Inlet was now considered by the officers, so high were their hopes, as forming the west- ern boundary of the land stretching from Baffin's Bay to the Polar Sea, into which they had little doubt they were entering. For this reason Lieutenant Parry did not hesitate to give to the great channel, which was un- Barrow s derstood to effect so desirable a junction, the merited ap- Strait. pcllation of Barrow's Strait, after the much-esteemed promoter of the expedition. A favourable breeze now sprung up, and the adventurers passed gaily and tri- umphantly along the extensive shore of Cornwallis Island, then coasted a larger island named Bathurst, and next a smaller one called Byam Martin. At this last place they judged by some experiments that they had passed tlie magnetic meridian, situated probably ^. in about 100 degrees west longitude, and where the nctic mcii- compass would have pointed due south instead of due '^^''^^ north. The navigation now became extremely difficult, in consequence of thick fogs, which not only froze on the shrouds, but, as the compass was also useless, took away all means of knowing the direction in which they sailed. They were obliged to trust that the land and \ ■•■H : '♦ i'l >':'. 226 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Novel diffl culUes. Success of tliu expedi tiuu. CHAP. VII. ice would preserve the same lino, and sometimes em- ployed the oddest expedients for ascertaining the precise point. They encountered also a compact floe, througli which they were oliliged to bore their way by main force, Nr>tw'thstanding all these obstacles they reached the coast of an island larger than any before discovered, to which they g"^'" the name of i\Ielville. The wind now failed, and they moved slowly forward by towing and warping, till on the 4th September tbe lieutenant could announce to his joyful crew, that, having reached the longitude of 110° W., they were become entitled to the reward of £5000, promised by Parliament to the first ship's company who should attain that meridian. They still pushed forward with redoubled ardour, but soon found their course arrested by an imp('netral)le barrier of ice. They waited nearly a fortnight in hopes of overcoming it ; till, about the 20th, their situation became alarming. The young ice began rapidly to form on the surface of the waters, retarded only Vy winds and swells ; so that the commanding officer was convinced that, in the event of a single hour's calm, he would be frozen up in the midst of the sea. No option was therefore left but to return, and to choose between two apparently good harbours, which had been recently passed on Melville Island. Not without difficulty he reached this place on the 24th, and decided in favour of the more western haven, as affording the fullest securitj'' ; but it was necessary to cut bis way two miles through a large floe with which it was encum- bered. To effect this arduous operation, the seamen marked with boarding-pikes two parallel lines, at the distance of somewhat more than the breadth of the larger ship. They sawed, in the first phice, along the path tracked out, and then by cross-sawings de- tached large pieces, which were separated diagonally in order to be floated out ; and sometimes boat-sails wore fastened to them to take the advantage of a favourable breeze. On the 26th the ships were established in five fathoms water, at about a cable's length from the beach- CoiT^pelled to ix'turn. DiffU'tilties overcome. li\ RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 227 For some time the ice was daily cleared round thorn ; CIIAP. VIL but this was soon found an endless and useless labour, i/foz^inn fo' aud they were allowed to be regulai'ly fiuzen in for the the winter. winter. Mr Parry then applied himself to name the varied ^'^■Tnes of tho ^Toup of islands along which he had passed. He called them at hrst New Georgia ; but, recollecting that this appellation was pre-occupied by one in the Pacific, he gave the title of "the North Georgian Islands," in honour of his Majesty George III., whose reign had been so eminently distinguished by the extension of nautical and geographical knowledge. The commander, finding himself and his ships shut J'uiioious ill for a long and dreary winter, devoted his attention, {j'e cliin-" with a mixture of firmness and kindness, to mitigate niander. those evils which, even in lower latitudes, had often rendered an abode in the Arctic regions so fatal. His provisions being very ample, he substituted for a pound of salt beef weekly a pound of Donkin's preserved meat, and a pint of concentrated soup ; beer and wine were regularly served instead of spirits ; and a certain allow- ance was made of sour-krout, pickles, and vinegar. The sailors were also called together daily, and required to swallow a quantity of lime-juice and sugar in presence of the officers, their improvidence being such as to afford no other security for their imbibing this salutary draught. Their gums and shins were also carefully examined, in order to detect scurvy in its earliest symptoms. It was p,ovcntivf! necessary to be very economical of fuel, the small pvecautioi.i quantity of moss and turf which could be collected being too wet to be of any use. By placing the ap- paratus for baking in a central position, and by several other arrangements, the cabin was maintained in a very comfortable temperature ; but still, around its extremi- ties and in the bed-places, steam, vapour, and even the breath, settled, first as moisture and then as ice. To remove these annoyances became accordingly a part of their daily employment. From the first, Mr Parry was aware that nothing acted I? 1 i :fiit 11 228 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. Dramatic recreation,"!. North Georgian Theatre. CHAP. VII. more strongly as an antiscorbutic, than to keep the men's minds in a lively and cheerful state. Ilis plans for this purpose were very original, and proved not less effectual. Arrangements were made for the occasional performance of a play, in circumstances certainly very remote fro;n any to which the drama appeared congenial. Lieutenant Beechey was nominated stage-manager, and the other gentlemen came forward as amateur performers. The very expectation thus raised among the sailors, and the bustle of preparing a room for the purpose, were extremely beneficial ; and when the North Georgian Theatre opened with " Miss in her Teens," these hardy tars were convulsed with laughter ; not a little excited, perhaps, by viewing their officers in so singular and novel a position ; at all events, the Arctic management was extremely popular. As the small stock contained in one or two chance volumes was exhausted, original composi- tions were produced, and afterwards formed into a little collection. The officers had another source of amusement in the North Georgian Gazette, of which Captain Sabine became editor, and all were invited to contribute to this chronicle of the frozen regions. Even those who hesi- tated to appear as writers, enlivened the circle by severe but good-humoured criticisms : — Tims pass'd the time Till, through the hicid cliambers of the south, Look'd out the joyous Sun. It was on the 4th November that this great orb ought to have taken his leave ; but a deep haze prevented them from bidding a formal farewell, and from ascertaining the period down to which refraction would have rendered him visible ; yet he was reported to be seen from the mast-head on the 11th. Amid various occupations and amusements, the shortest day came on almost unex- pected, and the seamen then watched with pleasure tlie twilight gradually strengthening at noon. On the 28th January none of the fixed stars could be seen at that hour by the naked eye ; and on the 1st and 2d of Feli- ruary the sun was looked for, but tlie sky was wrapped North Georgian Gazette. Disappear- ance ot the sun. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 229 in mist ; however, on the 3d he was perceived from chap. VIL tlic maintop of the Hccla. Throughout the winter, the ^e-appear- officers, at the period of twilight, liad taken a regular auce of the walk of two or three hours ; not proceeding, however, ^^^' fartlier than a mile, lest they should be overtaken by snow-drift. There was a want of objects to diversify tliis promenade. A monotonous surface of dazzling white covered land and sea ; the view of the ships, the Dreary smoke ascending from them, the sound of human voices, '*^'="'^- which through the calm and cold air was carried to an extraordinary distance, alone gave any animation to this wintry scene. The officers, however, persevered in their daily excursion, and exercise was also enforced upon tho men, who, even when prevented by the weather from leaving the vessel, were made to run round the deck, keeping time to the tune of an organ. This move- ment they did not at first entirely relish ; but, no plea against it being admitted, they converted it at last into matter of frolic. By the above means health was mahitained on board Threat of tlie ships to a surprising degree. Early in January, '^®*^^- however, Mr Scallon, the gunner, felt symptoms, first in the legs and then in the gums, that decidedly indicated the presence of scurvy, of which the immediate cause ajipeared to be the great collection of damp that had formed around his bed- place. At this alarm, all the antiscorbutics on board, lemon-juice, pickles, and spruce- beer, were put into requisition ; a small quantity of mustard and cress was also raised from mould placed over the stove-pipe ; and such was the success of these remedies, that in nine days the patient could walk without pain. Farther on in the season a number of slighter cases occurred, which were somewhat aggravated Danger from by an accident. As the men were taking their musical ^le- perambulation round the deck, a house erected on shore, and containing some of the most valuable instruments, was seen to be on fire. The crew instantly ran, pulled off the roof with ropes, knocked down a part of the sides, and being thus enabled to throw in large quantities 230 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 1,1 i III CHAP. VII Effect of frust Disappear- ance of uniniuls. Wolvca Ptnrmigan sliuL Snow blind- ness. of snow, succeeded in subduing the flames. Now, how- ever, their faces presented a curious spectacle, every nose and cheek being white with frost-bites, while the medi- cal gentlemen, with their assistants, were obliged to run from one to the other, and rub them with snow in order to restore animation. With one man the amputation of several fingers became necessary, and no less than sixteen were add.d to the sick-list. The animal tribes disappeared early in the winter from this frozen region. The officers, on the 15th October, made a shooting-excursion, enjoying a very fine day, though with the thermometer 47° below the freezing- point ; but they did not find a deer, a grouse, nor any creature that could be ranked as game. All of them, deserting this wintry realm, had crossed the seas to America. There remained only a pack of wolves, which serenaded the crews nightly, not venturing to attack, but contriving to avoid being captured. A beautiful white fox was caught and made a pet of. On the 12th May one of the men gave notice that he had seen a ptarmigan ; and attention being thus excited, Mr Be- verley next morning shot one, and on the 15th three coveys presented themselves. The footsteps of deer were also seen, which, fi'om the impression made on the snow, seemed to be moving northwards. From this time ptar- migans were supplied in considerable numbers ; but tliey were made strictly a common good, being divided equally among the crew, with only a preference in favour of the sick. There was found, also, mixed Avith moss under the snow, an abundance of the herb sorrel, a most potent antidote against scurvy. By these supplies, and under the influence of the more genial weather, the health of the crew, which at the end of March had been in a somewhat alarming state, was completely restored before the beginning of J unc. In extending their ex- cursions, however, they wei-e considerably incommoded by that distressing inflammation of the eyes, which, proceeding from the glare of snow, is called snow-blind- ness. It was cured in a few days by cold applications, RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 231 while, for the future, it was prevented by covering the CHaP. VI I. eyes, or by wearing spectacles, in which crape was used instead of glass. On the 16th March the North Georgian Theatre was Active work closed with an appropriate address, and the general i<^sumcd. attention was now turned to the means of extrication from the ice. By the l7th May the seamen had so far cut it from around the ships as to allow them to float ; but in the sea it was still immovable. This interval of painful inaction was employed by Mr Parry in an ex- cursion across Melville Island. The ground was still mostly covered with softened snow, and even the cleared tracts were extremely desolate, though chequered by patches of fine verdure. Deer were seen traversing the Appearance plains in considerable numbers. Towards the north «f «ie€is. appeared another island, to which was given the name of Sabine. By the middle of June pools were every where formed ; the water flowed in streams, and even in torrents, which rendered hunting and travelling un- safe. There were also channels in which boats could pass ; yet throughout this month and the following the great covering of ice in the surrounding sea remained entire, and kept the ships in harbour. On the 2d of August, however, the whole mass, by one of these sudden movements to which it is liable, broke up and boated ^^f^j^^'J^"? out ; and the explorers had now open water in which to prosecute their great object. It was consolatory to think that this was the very season at which they had last year entered Lancaster Sound ; and if they could make as brilliant a voyage this summer, the following one would see them not far from Behring's Straits. But it was not without some obstructions that on the 4th they reached the same spot where their progress had been formerly arrested. On the 15th they were enabled to make a certain advance > after which the frozen surface of the ocean assumed a more compact and impenetrable aspect than had ever before been witnessed. The officers ascended some of th« lofty heights which bordered the coast ; but, in a long reach of sea to the westward, uo •I: I ., 232 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. I: ijif . -. ■S A. 'i t! 'i to further procedure. Return to Brituin. CHAP. Vli bonndary was seen to these icy barriers. There appeared im cdimenis ^^^y ^^^ Western extremity of Melville Island, named Cape Dundas ; and in the distance a bold coast, whicli they named Banks' Land. As even a brisk gale from the east did not produce the sliglitest movement on the glassy face of the deep, they were led to believe that on the other side there must be a large body of land, by wliich it was held in a fixed state. On considering all eircumstances, there appeared no alternative but to make their way homeward while yet the season permitted. Some additional observations were made, as they re- turned, on the two coasts extending along Barrow's Strait. Mr Parry's arrival in Britain was hailed with the warmest exultation. To have sailed upwards of thirty degrees of longitude beyond the point reached by any former navigator, — to have discovered so many new l.mds, islands, and bays, — to have established the much- contested existence of a Polar Sea north of America, — linally, after a wintering of eleven months, to have brought back his crew in a sound and vigorous state,* — were enough to raise his name above that of any other Arctic voyager. No hesitation was felt as to sending out another ex- pedition ; but, considering the insuperable nature of tho obstacles which had twice arrested the progress of the last, it became important to consider whether there was not any other passage by which the Polar Sea, now as- certained to exist, might be reached with greater facility. In Hudson's Bay neither of the great northern sounds called the Welcome and Fox's Channel had been traced to a termination. Middleton, in the former inlet, had ascended higher than any previous discoverer ; but a thick cloud had been raised around his reputation, and liis Frozen Strait, after all, might very likely prove to * Only one man died in the course of their long and perilous Tioyage, and his disease was no way referable to the toils or t)rivations of the expedition, the origin of his malady having )cen of a date anterior to the sailing of the sliips. FrosJi exiiedition RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 233 l)e only a temporary barrier. If from cither of these chap. Vll sounds an opening should be effected into the Arctic Sea, Anticipations it could be navigated in a much lower latitude than that of a westum in which Parry had wintered, and might perhaps be also ?"'*=*'*'''''• free from those large islands among which he had been entangled. There was accordingly fitted out a new ex- jtedition, in which the Fury, of 327 tons, was conjoined Ymy nnd with the Hecla ; the commander conceiving that two Hecia. vessels of nearly equal dimensions were best calculated for co-operating with each other, while the exammation of coasts and inlets could be carried on by boats. This .".ctive officer, now promoted to the rank of captain, hoisted his flag on board the Fury ; while Captain Tiyon, already distinguished by his services in Africa, received the command of the Hecla, and proved himself fully competent to the arduous duties of this new service. The equipment, the victualling, and the heating of the vessels, were all accomplished with the greatest care, and with various improvements suggested by experience. Tlie adventurers were ready to sail on the 8th May ^ r)Gpiirtiiro of 1821, and having then quitted the Nore, passed through tiie expedi- the Pentland Frith and by Cape Farewell, though not ^'^°^ without suffering repeated detention ; but we shall not pause till we find them, on the 2d July, at the mouth of Hudson's Strait. Captain Parry, accustomed as he was to views of Polar desolation, was struck with the exceedingly dreary aspect which these shores presented. The naked rocks, the snow still covering the valleys, and the thick fogs that hung over them, rendered the scene indescribably gloomy. The ships were soon surrounded by icebergs, amounting to the number of fifty-four, — one of which rose at least 258 feet above the sea. They icebersa. were attended by large floes, and rendered very formid- able by their rotatory motion. The peculiar danger ot these straits, often remarked by former navigators, arises from the strong tides and currents that rush in from the ocean, and cause violent movements among the huge masses of ice with which they are usually filled. Captain Lyon had an alarming proof of their strength ; 234 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. the ica 'if CHAP. VII. for two of his hawsers were carried away, and the best Strenjith of bower anchor, weighing more than a ton, was wrenched from the bows, and broken off as if it had been crockery- ware. During these disasters the sailors wsre amused by the sight of three companion-ships, two belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and one bringing out settlers for Lord Selkirk's colony. The emigrants on board the last, who were chiefly Dutch and Germans, were seen waltzing on deck often for hours together, and were only driven into their cabins by a severe fall of snow. Amid these obstructions the ships spent nineteen days in making seventy miles ; which course, however, brought them, on the 21st, within tw^o leagues of what are called the Savage Islands. On the following after- noon a loud shouting was heard over the ice, and soon after there appeared a numerous band of natives, paddling their canoes through the lanes of open water, or, where these failed, drawing them over the pieces of ice. Among a great number of kaynks, or boats rowed by a single man (see plate p. 178), were five ooniiakSy or women's Slow pro- gress. Women's buuta Oomiak, or Woman's Boat. boats, constructed of a framework of wood and whale- bone covered with deer-skins, having flat sides and bot- tom, and of considerable size. One of them, 25 feet by 8, contained women, boys, and young children, to the number of twenty-one. Presently began a merry, noisy scene of frolic and traffic. The natives carried it on with eagerness and even fury, stripping themselves of the very skins which formed their only covering, till RFXENT NORTH- WEST VOYAGES. 235 they were in a state of absolute nudity, except the ladies, cilAP. Vir. who always made a laudable reservation of tlieir breeclies. j. — They drove what they meant should be an excessively tiie natives. liard bargain ; yet, being wholly ignorant of the value of the rich skins with which nature has invested the tinimals of this climate, they raised shouts of triumph when they obtained in exchange a nail, a saw, or a razor. Their aspect was wilder and more dishevelled than that of any other tribe even among this rude race ; their character also seems fiercer and more savage ; and in- deed it is in this quarter that most of the tragical encounters with Esquimaux have occurred. Some of ,^, the old women were pronounced to be the most hideous womcu. objects that mortal man ever beheld ; inflamed eyes, wrinkled skin, black teeth, and deformed features, ren- dered them scarcely human ; hence much apology was found for the dark suspicions cherished by Frobisher's crew respecting one of these dames, and the odd investi- gation to which it had prompted. The children were rather pretty ; though, from being thrown carelessly into the bottom of the boats, they had much the appear- ance of the young of wild animals. Besides traffic, the barbarians indulged in a great deal of rather rude frolic, like that of ill-regulated schoolboys. One of them got behind a sailor, shouted loudly in one ear, and gave him a hearty box on the other, which was hailed with a loud and general laugh. They also displayed their merriment in a dance, consisting chiefly of violent leap- ing and stamping, though in tolerable time. In spite of every obstruction. Captain Parry, early in August, reached the entrance of Fox's Channel, and ^^^'^ came in view of Southampton Island. It was now the question, whether to sail directly up this inlet, and reach, by a comparatively short route. Repulse Bay and the higher latitudes, or to make the south-western cir- cuit of Southampton Island, and ascend the beaten track of the Welcome. The captain judiciously preferred the former, notwithstanding its uncertainties, on account of the great time which would be saved should the course 'Ui n 2.^6 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. r^-'inilse B;i} rUAP. VII 1)0 found i)racticablc. On the 15th he came to nn open- in:,' stretching westward, and apparently separating the inland from other land on the north. Ilojjing to find tills the Frozen Strait of Middlcton, he entered it ; hut it soon proved a spacious and beautiful basin, enclosed by land on every side. lie named it the Duke of York's ]»iiy, and considered it one of the finest harbours in the world ; but, after admiring a large fl(jc covered entirely with minerals, shells, and plants, he moved out of it, and pursued the voyage. On the 21st the navigators found themselves in another strait, not much encumbered with ice, but darkened by thick fogs ; and, befoi'c they knew distinctly where they were, a heavy swell from the southward showed that they had already passed through the Frozen Strait, and were in the broad chan- nel of the Welcome. They speedily entered Repulse Bay, in which modern speculation had cherished the hope of a passage ; but a short investigation made by boats in every direction proved that it was really, as Middlcton had described it, completely enclosed. A good deal of time had thus been lost through the scep- ticism so unjustly attached to the narrative of that eminent seaman. Captain Parry, having come with all speed out of Repulse Bay, began the career of discovery along a coast hitherto unknown. An inlet was soon observed, and called by the name of Gore ; but was not found to extend far into the interior. At the mouth of this opening the valleys were richly clad with grass and moss, the birds singing, butterflies and other insects displaying the most gaudy tints, so that the sailors might have fancied themselves in some happier climate, had not the mighty piles of ice in the Frozen Strait told a different tale. Hunting-parties traversed the country in various directions, and the game-laws of the preceding year were strictly enforced, by which every beast or bird was to be relinquished for the general good, allow- ing only the head and legs as a douceur to the captor. The latter, however, adopted and made good a theory, Course of Iscovery. nECENT Nonrn-WEST voyages. 237 agreeably to which the description head was greatly cmap.vii. extended, so as to include even several joints of the back- — bone. Having passed Gore Inlet, the discoverers found perils of the themselves among those numerous isles described by voya«e. Middleton, which formed a complete labyrinth of various shapes and sizes, while strong currents setting between thcni in various directions, amid fogs and drifting ico, rendered the navigation truly perilous. The Fury was assailed by successive masses ; her anchor Avas dragged along the rocks with a grinding noise, and on being drawn up, the two flukes were discovered to be broken off. The same vessel was afterwards carried forward by a violent stream, amid thick mist, the people on Iward finding it impossible either to guide or alter her direction ; so that Captain Parry considers it altogether providential that she was not dashed to pieces against the surrounding rocks. However, one channel, and one only, was observed, by which the mariners at last made their way through this perilous maze. No sooner had they reached the open sea, than, being obliged to run before a strong northerly breeze, they were much disheartened to find themselves, on the 3d of September, at the very point which they had left on the 6th of August. All the interval had been employed in the merely negative discovery, that there was nothing to discover. The commander soon reached the northern coast, and dmscsof resumed his task, which was rendered very tedious by ^'^^" the necessity of examining every opening and channel, in the hope that each might prove the desired passage into the Polar Ocean. He first explored a large inlet, the name of which he gave to Captain Lyon, — then a smaller one, which was named from Lieutenant Hopp- and by connecting these with Gore Inlet, he com- ner pleted his delineation of the coast. The seamen had again the pleasure of opening a traffic with a party ot Esquimaux, whose first timidity was soon overcome by the hope of being supplied with some iron tools, la 23( RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. hn m Liii Tiafllc with the natives. Native thefts. Winter set ill. CiTAP. VII the course of this transaction, the surprise of tlie crew was roused by the conduct of a lady, who had sold one hoot, but obstinately retained the other, in disregard of the strongest remonstrances as to the ridiculous figure slie in consequence made. At length suspicion rose to such a pitch, that, all courtesy being set aside, her per- son was seized, and the buskin pulled off. Then indeed it proved a complete depository of stolen treasure, there being no less than two spoons and a pewter-plate se- creted within its capacious cavity. The end of September now approached, and Captain Parry found himself suddenly in the depth of winter. Snow had been falling during the whole of the short summer ; but tlie united warmth of the air and earth had melted it as it fell, and left the ground still open to the sun's ra3s. In one moment, as it were, it made good its lodgenr.ont, spreading its white and dazzling mantle over land and sea ; and the solar l)eams bemg then no longer able to reach the soil, the whole became subject to permanent and impenetrable frost. Some parts of the snow were indeed dissolved, and then refrozcn in varied and beautiful forms of crystallization ; whereas at Melville Island the covering once spread over nature liad never changed its aspect. A more alarming symp- Formatinn of torn appeared in the rapid formation of the soft or pan- cake ice on the surface of the deep. The obstacle thereby occasioned was at first so slight as to be scarcely felt by a ship before a brisk gale ; but it continually increased, till at length the vessel, rolling from side to side, became like Gulliver bound by the feeble hands of Lilliputians. At the same time the various pieces of drift-ice, which were tossing in the sea without, had been cemented into one great field called " the ice," that threatened every moment to bear down upon the brigs, and dash them in pieces. Under this combination of circumstances, the navigators could no longer even at- tempt to reach the land, but determined to saw into the heart of an adjoining floe, and there take up their win- ter-quarters. There was about half a mile to penetrate, Ice. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 239 which, in the soft state of the pancake-ice, was not very chap. vir. laborious. It was, however, far from pleasant, as it ^yi,,^,. bended like leather beneath their feet, and caused them quarters. sometimes to sink into the water, whence it was impos- sible they could escape without a very cold bath. Captain Parry was now frozen up for another winter Wintor in the midst of the Northern Sea, and he forthwith ap- amusements j)licd himself to make the necessary arrangements with that judicious foresight which had been already so con- spicuous in the same trying circumstances. As the result of experience, not less than of several ingenious contrivances, the ships Avcre much more thoroughly heated than in the former voyage ; the provisioning, too, was more ample, and antidotes against scurvy still more copiously supplied. The Polar Theatre opened on the 9th November with « The Rivals." The two cajjtains appeared as Sir Anthony and Captain Absolute ; while those who personated the ladies had very gener- ously removed an ample growth of beard, disregarding the comfortable warmth which it afforded in an Arctic climate. The company were well received, and went through their performances with unabated spirit ; yet this season does not seem to have gone off quite with the same eclat as the preceding. Novelty, from the firat the chief attraction, had worn off, and the discomfort of a stage, the exhibitions of which were attended with a cold thirty degi-ees under the freezing-point, became rather severe. The sailors found for themselves a more sober and useful, as Avell as efficacious remedy against enmii. They established a school, in which the better- ^. , , . instinictod undertook to revive the knowledge of letters bii;>huiL among those who had almost entirely lost the slight tincture that they had once imbibed. These hardy tars •npplied themselves to their book with ardent and laud- able zeal, and showed a pride in their new attainments like that of little boys in their first class. At Christmas sixteen well-written copies were produced by those who, two months before, could scarcely form a letter. Amid these varied and pleasing occupations, the shortest day 240 RECENT NORTH-WEST TOYAGES. if'" ' w V it:; 9-1 i I ii i Celobnitinn ot Christina Hares and fuxcs. CHAP. VII. passed over their heads almost unobserved, especially as the sun did not entirely leave them. Captain Lyon never saw a merrier festival than was celebrated on board. The sailors, being amply regaled with fi-esh beef, cranberry-pies, and grog, became so extremely ele- vated, that they insisted on drinking, with three hearty cheers, the health of each officer in succession. The animal creation in this less rigorous climate, even though the ground was completely frozen over, did not disappear so entii'cly as on Melville Island. A few so- litary hares were caught ; but they were in a miserable state of leanness, weighing only five or six pounds, and had a purely white covering, whui, resembled swan's down rather than hair. About a ' i ' white foxes were snared in the nets during i. v' v. inter. These beautiful creatures, when first taken, were perfectly wild and ungovernable ; but in a short time the young ones at least threw off this timidity. A delicate little quadruped entrapped one day proved to be an ermine ; but it was excessively friglitened, and to the genenil legret died soon afterwards. The winter months were also enlivened by various striking appearances which the sky at that season pre- sented. The northern world, when tlie sun departs, is by no means involved in tliat monotonous gloom whidi such a privation might seem to indicate. After the solar beams have finally quitted the earth, and the long winter has closed in, the heavens become a gay scene, through which tlie most brilliant meteors are perpetu- ally playing. Those singular streams of light, called commonly the Aurora Borcalis, keep up an almost in- cessant illumination, and were frequently witnessed in full splendour by Captains Parry and Lyon during their Arctic residence. The light had a tendency to form an irregular arch, which, in cahn weather, was often very distinct, though its upper boundary was seldom well defined ; but, whenever the air became agitated, showers of rays spread in every direction, with the rapidity of lightning. Sometimes long streaks of light were spread Norflicrr pUutiuiiiuiia Aurora Isorcalii). I / / RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 241 he 10. nn ell jaa out with inconceivable swiftness, but always appearing CHAP. Vii. to move to and from a fixed point, somewhat like a .p,,p ^~~ riband held in the hand and shaken with an undulatory danceia. motion. No rule, however, could be traced in the movement of those lighter parcels called " the merry dancers," which flew about perpetually towards every quarter ; becoming in stormy weather more rapid in their motions, and sharing all the wildness of the blast. They gave an indescribable air of magic to the whole scene, and made it not wondei-ful that, by the untaught Indian, they should be viewed as " the spirits of his fathers roaming through the land of souls." Several questions have been agitated with respect to , the Aurora. It has been said to be accompanied with i.y tiie a hissing and cracking noise ; and indeed Captain Lyon '^i"'"*- observes, that the sudden glare and rapid bursts of those wondrous showers of fire make it difficult to fancy their movements wholly without s^und ; — yet nothing was ever really heard. Captain Parry complains that he could not expose his ears to the cold long enough com- I)letely to ascertain the point ; but his colleague de- clares that he stood for hours on the ice listening, and at a distance from every sounding body, till he became thoroughly satisfied that none proceeded from the Au- rora. It lias also been questioned whether this meteor ever completely hid the stars; and it was generally f^^^^^^''^^''*' decided, on this occasion, that it dimmed the lustre of those heavenly bodies, as if a thin gauze veil had been drawn over them, — an effect which was augmented when several luminous portions were spread over each other. In a clear atmosphere these lights shone with a brightness which gave the impression that they were nearer than the clouds ; but whenever these last over- spread the sky the Aurora was hid by them, and must therefore have been more distant. To Captain Parry it appeared to assume tints of yellow and lilac ; but to ^^^ colour. Captain Lyon its colour always resembled that of the ]\Iilky-Way, or of very vivid sheet-lightning. The present writer saw this phenomenon once, and only / m 242 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. I.u'iiinons meteors. Mock suns. CHAP. vir. once, in its utmost brilliancy, and exhibiting all the appearances described by these northern oliscrvers. His impressions agree perfectly with those of Captain Lyon. Other luminous meteors, ari.sing apparently from the refraction caused by the minute and highly crystallized spicula; of ice, appear in succession to embellish tlic northern sky. The sun and moon are often surrounded with halos, — concentric circles of vapour, tinted with the brightest hues of the rainbow. Parhelia, or mock suns, frequently adorned with these accompaniments, shine at once in different quarters of the firmament. Ellis, who was with Moor and Smith in Hudson's Bay, has seen six at the same moment. They are most brilliant at daybreak, diminish in lustre as the sun ascends, but again brighten at his setting. The solar orl) itself, for some time before it finally departs for the winter, and also after its reappearance in spring, tinges the sky with hu-es of matchless splendour. The edges of the clouds near that luminary often present a fiery or burnished appearance, while the opposite horizon glows with a deep purple, gradually softening as it ascends into a delicate rose-colour of inconceivable beauty. As at thci-e periods he never rises more than a few degrees above the horizon, he is, as it were, in a state of permanent rising and setting, and seems to exhibit longer and more variously the beautiful appear- ances produced by that position. At this time the naked eye can view him without being dazzled ; and Captain Lyon considers the softened blush-colour that his rays exhi])it through frost as ])ossissing a charm A\hich surpasses even that of an Italian sky. Notwithstanding all these resources, the monotony of the scene was beginning to be oppressive, when it was relieved by an unexpected incident, which at- tracted univer>al attention. On tlie morning of the l?t February, a numljcr of distant figures were seen moving over the ice, and, when they were viewed Ai'pciiraiice o: iiativts. Ihron gh gh- ass(s, tlie cry was raised E squnnaux .- t E. (iuiuiaux !" As it was of great importance to deal i i RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 243 •al kindly and discreetly with these strangers, the two CHAP. VIL commanders, attended by a small party, proceeded to- pi.ie,^„ wards them, walking in files behind each other, that greetings they might cause no alarm. The natives then formed themselves into a line of twenty-one, advanced slowly, and at length making a full stop, saluted the strangers by the usual movement of beating their breasts. They were substantially clothed in rich deer-skins, and ap- peared a much rj[uieter and more orderly race than their rude countrymen of the Savage Islands. As soon as the seamen produced their precious commodities, knives, nails, and needles, an active traffic was set on foot ; and Traffic; the females, on seeing that much importance was at- tached to the skins which constituted their clotliing, began immediately to strip them off. The captains were alarmed for the consequences in a temperature rnoro than fifty degrees below the freezing point ; but were soon consoled by observing that the ladies had another comfortable suit under the furs. The strangers were now cordially invited to enter their habitations, to which they agreed most readily, although there ap- peared no liabitations to enter. However, they were led to a hole in the snow, and instructed to place them- selves on their hands and knees, in which position, j^^g'yi^gg^ having crept through a long w^inding passage, they arrived at a little hall with a dome-shaped roof, whence doors opened into three apartments, each occupied by a separate family. These proved to be five distinct man- sions, tenanted by sixty-four men, women, and children. The materials and structure of these abodes were still more singular than their position. Snow, the insepar- able accompaniment of the northern tempests, became here a protection against its v,wn cold. It was formed into curved slabs of about two feet long and half a foot thick, put together by a most iudicious masonry, so as*"""^^' to present a species or structures resembhng cupolas, rising about seven feet above the ground, and from fourteen to sixteen in diameter. The mode of inserting the key-slab, which bound the whole together, would, 244 RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. CITAP. VII. it is said, have been satisfactory to the eye of a regularly icegiasl '^red artist. A plate of ice in the roof served as a window, and admitted the light as if through ground glass ; which, when it shone on the interior of the mansions, in their first state of pure transparency, produced soft tints of green and blue. But, alas ! ere long, accumulated dirt, smoke, and ofFal, converted these apartments into a scene of blackness and stench. This little village appeared at Native fi^t like a cluster of hillocks amid the snow ; but suc- viiiago. cessive falls filled up the vacuities, and converted it almost into a smooth surface, so that even boys and dogs were seen walking and sporting over the roofs ; though as summer and thaw advanced, a leg sometimes pene- trated, and presented itself to the inmates below. Then, too, the ceiling begins to drip ; and the tenants, after repeatedly endeavouring to patch it with fresh slabs, and catching, of course, some severe colds, are obliged to betake themselves to a more durable covering. In each room, suspended from the roof, burns a lamp, with a long wick formed of a particular species of moss, fed with the oil of the seal or the walrus, and serving at once for light, Iieat, and cookery. The family sit round the apartnient on a bench formed of snow, strewed with sler der twigs, and covered with skins ; but this part of ti>e dwelling must be carefully kept a good deal below tht freezing-point, since a higher tem- perature would speedily dissolve the walls of the frail tenement. After this friendly visit, an invitation was given to the Esquin:r.ux to repair to the ships, when fifty accepted it with alacrity. Partly walking, and partly skipping, they speedily reached the vessels, where a striking con- geniality of spirit was soon found to exist between them and the sailors ; boisterous fun forming to each the chief source of enjoyment. A fiddle and drum being produced, the natives struck up a dance, or rjither a succession of vehement leaps, accompanied with loud shouts and yells. Seeing the Kabloonas, or Whites, as they called our countrymen, engaged in the game of leap-frog, they Lamp. Invitation to the siiip. 1 ^'^■v!i;V':!|.-%l'V:|•i I'I'mI; !•. , ':.,'i:;^:, - :i'^,» f^ ii2 j;i 5f^ 5'.' Si l.'iK "''111'' §mA i'-:''iii;': ,1 "mI' r"'r,.i' ■• '•:'';;:'li!'%iiiR|' iHiir i^!i.':rii!iiiii;'ii;i|,ii;;!|. ', : ■ir'.ii:' :''i':' '. i.'i \:^M ^■'r'liiiii'jiii'ii'i'li :i!i|:||l''':''^^-';;:i'l-:^in::'i; lllli'ii' filii;-;:,i/|!^;i!i!i:i;'i>^':^;'H nECEN'T NtJRTlI-WEST VOYAOES. 247 r'lurprise. nttcnipted to join ; but not duly understanding how to ciiai". vii. measure tlu-ir movements, they made such over-leaps LeairfioK. OS sometimes to pitch on the crown of their heads : however thoy spranjj up quite unconcerned. Their attention was specially attracted to the effects of a winch, hy which one sailor drew towards him a party of ten or twelve of their number, though grinning and straming every nerve in resistance ; but finding all in vain, they joined in the burst of good-humoured laugh- ter till tears streamed from their eyes. One intelligent old man followed Captain Lyon to the cabin, and viewed with rational surprise various objects which were presented. The performance of a hand-organ and a musical snufF-box struck him with breathless ad- miration ; and on seeing drawings of the Esquimaux in Hudson's Strait, he soon understood them, and 5)ointed out the difference between their dress and .ippearance and that of his own tribe. On viewing the sketch of a bear, he raised a loud cry, drew up his niawinR oi a sleeves, and showed the scars of three deep wounds bear, received in encounters with that terrible animal. The crews were desirous to treat their visiters to such de- licacies as the ship afforded, but were for some time at H loss to discover how their palate might be best grati- fied. Grog, the seaman's choicest luxury, only one old woman could be induced to taste. Sugar, sweetmeats, gingerbread, were accepted merely out of complaisance, and eaten with manifest disgust ; but train oil, entrails of animals, and any thing consisting of pure fat or grease, were swallowed in immense quantities, and with symp- toms of exquisite delight. This taste was first evinced l»y an elderly female, who, having sold her oil-pot, took , care previously to empty the contents into her stomach, delicacies. and lick it clean with her tongue, regardless though her fiice was thereby rendered as black as soot. Captain Lyon being disposed to ingratiate himself with rather a handsome young damsel, presented her with a good moulded candle, six in the pound. She immediately began to eat off the tallow with every appearance of 248 RECENT NOUTH-WEST VOYAGES. Water. Woivos. cifAP. VII the greatest enjoyment, after wliich she thrust the wick into her mouth ; but the captain, concerned for the consequences to this delicate virgin, insisted on puUinii it out. In preference to strong liquors they drunk water in the most enormous quantities, by gallons at a time, and two quarts at a drauglit ; a supply of \uiu\d which is perhaps necessary to dissolve their gross food, and which, being obtained only from snow artificially melted, is a scarce article in winter. The Esquimaux were attended by a large pack of wolves, which seemed to follow them with the view of picking up whatever might be found straggling or defenceless about their habitation. These animals con- tinued through the whole season intensely pressed with hunger, and in eager watch for any victim which might come within their reach. For this purpose they took a station between the huts and the ships, ready to act against either as circumstances might dictate. They ditl not indeed attack the sailors, even when unarmed, though they were often seen hovering througli tho gloom in search of food ; but every stray dog was seized, and in a few minutes devoured. Two broke into a snow- house close to the vessels, and carried off each a dop, larger than himself ; but, being closely pursued, one of them was obliged to drop his booty. In the extremity of their hunger, in fact, they hesitated not to devour the cables and canvass. A deadly war was therefore waged against these fierce animals, of which thirteen were killed in the course of the season, and sent to bo eaten by the Esquimaux, — a present which was rcceiveil with much satisfaction. As spring advanced, the attention of the officers was almost wholly engrossed by the prospects of discovery during the approaching summer. Their neighbours, bv no means destitute of intelligence, and accustomed to shift continually from place to place, were found to have acquired a very extensive knowledge of the seas and coasts of this part of America. One female, in particular, named Iligliuk, who bore even among her rocfs Topo- RlMplliClll hnowlcdge. I HECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 249 countrymen the character of "a wise woman," was, chap. vir. nftcr a little instruction, enabled to convey to the K^f,„j^^ux strangers the outlines of her geographical knowledge mi\i). in the form of a rude map. A pencil being put into her hand, she traced the shore from Repulse liuy with such a degree of accuracy as inspired great confidence in what she might farther delineate. She then began to exhibit a coast reaching fur to the north, being, iu iuct, the eastern limits of Melville Peninsula. Next her pencil took a western direction, when her farther progress was watched with the deepest interest ; in the coui>ie of which she represented a strait between two opposite lands, that extended westward till it opened on each side, and spread into an ocean apparently un- bounded. This sketch, which promised to fulfil their most sanguine hopes, gratified the oificera beyond measure, and they loaded Iligliuk with attentions which unluckily soon turned her head, and made her so conceited and disdainful, that they were obliged to discontinue their notice of her. Captain Lyon, in the middle of March, undertook a journey across a piece of land, lying between the station of the ships and the continent, which had been named Winter Island. The party were scarcely gone Winter when they encountered a heavy gale, bringing with it ^^'""^ clouds of drift, and a cold so intense that they could not stop for a moment without having their faces covered with frost-bites. After some vain struggles they determined to pitch their tent ; but as the tem- ])erature within was at zero, and continually lowering, liiey felt that they could not live through the night xmder such shelter. They therefore dug a cave in the earth, and by huddling together round a fire, immersed iu smoke, to which no vent was allowed, contrived to keep up some portion of warmth, though still ten or fifteen degrees below the freezing-point. In the morn- ing their sledge was too deeply buried beneath the drift to leave any hope of digging it out, and they could not reach the ships, now six miles distant, except by pro- 250 RECENT NOUTII-WEST VOYAGES. CHAP. VII. cccding on foot through a tempest of snow fallincf so ^ , thick that they could not see n ytinl Ijcforo thrni. the fsploriii^' party. Snow blind- lU'SS. Snow storm. Finding somctinu's no tmek, sometiincs several lending in different directions, they were soon bewildered, nud wandered they knew not whither nniong heivvy hum- mocks of ice. The frost-bites were so nunieious that they could not muster hands enough to rub the ])art!i affected, and some began to sink into that dreadful in- sensibility which is the prelude to death by cold, and to reel about like drunken men. In fact, they had resigned almost every hope of escape, when providenti- ally there appeared a newly beaten track, which they determined to follow, and in ten minutes it led them to the ships. Their arrival there caused indescribable joy, as they had been nearly given up for lost ; while no one could be sent in search of them without imminent risk of sharing their fate. On the 8th May, in a more favourable season, Cap- tain Lyon undertook another journey. In a few hours he crossed Winter Island, and reached the strait se- parating it from the continent, covered with heavy grounded ice very difficult to walk upon. The sun, now powerful, produced such a glare on the snow as affected several of his attendants with severe blindness ; while the only means of procuring water was by hold- ing up plates of ice in the solar rays, l)y which they were gradually melted. The party, having reached the mainland, proceeded a considerable way along the coast, crossing several bays ; but at last they came in view of a bold cape, which they fondly hoped was the extreme point of America. Here they were overtaken by a storm of snow, but not accompanied like the other with perilous cold ; it melted as it fell, and formed a pulp which penetrated into their tents, yet did not dissolve so completely as to be fit for drinking. This storm kept them imprisoned sixty-eight hours ; which dreary interval they enlivened by reading in turn from three books they chanced to have with them, and as soon as the sun began to gleam they hastened to return to the ships. HECKNT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 251 Tho end of May presented n gloomy aspect, the chap. Vif. season being still more backward than in the more ^^pg^tTn northerly and rigorons climate of Melville Island, The May. hnow was melted only on some spots, and hardly any hymptoms of vegetation were yet visible ; but, as there Avas an extent of open water in the sea without. Captain I'arry determined upon sawing his way to it. This was a most laborious process, the iee being much thicker and stronger than at the connnencement of the season ; and after the men had continued at it more than two weeks, and were within forty-eight hours of completing a canal, the body of the ice made a movement which dosed it entirely up. As they were looking on in despair at this disaster, another passage opened, which they attempted to render available ; but it, too, was closed in the same manner. Yet these agitations had at last the effect of causing the whole mass to float out into the open sea, and thus leaving to them an uuob- btructed outlet. On the 2d July they resumed their voyage of discovery, Voynce They had a favourable run through this entrance, which "-'*"'"'^^'- formed a continuation of Fox's Channel ; but a strong current from the north was still bringing down the ice with great force. The llecla underwent sonn; severe ])ressurcs, and, within five or six hundred yards of the Fury, two large floes dashed against each other with such a tremendous concussion that numberless huge masses were thrown fifty or sixty feet into the air. The vessel, nscape of t!ie had she come for a second within the sphere of these ''"'y- movements, must have been crushed to pieces, — happily she escaped. This current, however, was highly pro- mising, since it could not be traced to the mouth of Hudson's Strait, and must therefore, they concluded, have come from the Western Or.un, ..Inch they were so anxious to reach. The ice passed by, and the rhri'S p"Of;eeded with a :.^ :m<^':^ .\^ ijioupof K«i|iiinh'ux. Fnul adven- ture. RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 261 CHAP. vrr. lood de- rood itvpes lie a tting lipes. and ae as and skin, itbrt- these nies ; ence tilled , and Es'jiiirnnnx u atfiiin;,' ,i S*Ml-h(ile. even the whale ; but the hunters and the game ara se- iTuntini?. parated by a thick covering of ice. These creatures, however, though they make their chief dwelling beneath the waves, as formerly observed, experience the necessity of ascending fiom time to time for the puii)ose of respi- ration. The Esquimaux watch with the most indeftiti- gable patience for their appearance, often erecting a little snow-shed to protect them from the cold, and the instant any one of them is visible, strike into him a dart or harpoon, of which they have several forms and sizes, and sometimes throw it by means of a long line, — a necessary part of their apparatus. Their grandest Attnokinir achievement, however, consists in the attack of the '''^ ^^''''^•• whale himself ; on which occasion a large body of them assemble, anncd with a variety of weapons. When struck he instantly plunges into the water ; but, being obliged to come up at short intervals, is always assailed afresh, till, overcome by fatigue and loss of blood, this mighty monarch of the deep remains an unresisting prey. An Esquimaux does not hesitate, even singly, to attack the Polar bear, the fiercest and most terrible of poi^,. i,(;ar_ all the Arctic races. In this encounter, however, he umst be aided by a band of his trusty dogs, which rush 202 RECENT NORTII-TTEST TOYAaES. Wasteful I! ess. CHAP. VI 1. fearlessly on, keep the animnl ot bay, and threaten him TacticiToftiii-^" all sides ; while the master advances with his spear, hunter. and avoiding, with almost pretematunil agility, the furious springs of the enraged monster, pierces him with repeated strokes. Nooses, springes, and traps, are also used with skill, cliicfly against birds JUid foxes. But they show little prudence in the management of their supplies. The instant that tidings transpire of tlu? capture of a w^tlrus, shouts of exultation are raised through the vill ige, whose inhabitants share the prizi; in common. Oi: its arrival, slices are instantly cut out, every lamp is supplied with oil, the houses are in a blaze ; all the pots are filled with flesh, and the women, while cooking, pick out and devour the most dainty morsels. Kttti.e toast. The fcast prepared, one man takes up a large piece, aj>- plics it to his mouth, and severs with his teeth as much as that cavity can possibly admit ; then hands it to his neighbour, and he to the next, till all is consumed. A new piece is then supplied, and thus the process con- tinues, almost without intermission, till the animal is entirely devoured. To the capacity of an Esquimaux stomach there seems scarcely any limit. Some exjjcri- ments on the subject made in the Fury, and carefully noted, produced the most surprising results. A youth named Toolooak stands recorded, as having in twenty- one hours received into his stomach ten i)ounds four ounces of solid food, a gallon and a pint of water, with more than a pint of soup. Captain Lyon pitched against him Kangara, who in nineteen hours finished nine j)ounds fifteen ounces of solid, and a gallon and a half of fluid. At this rate the most ample store very speedily disappears ; one day they are labouring under fever, hemorrhage, and all the maladies incident to repletion ; a few days after they are without a morsel to eat. Considered as to their intellectual condition, this people have not the least tincture of what goes by the name of learning ; can form no abstract idea ; nor count fibove ten, the numljer of their fingers. Yet, amid a life somewhat varied and eventful, many faculties. nECKNT NORXn-WRST VOYAGES. 2r.3 Dcvrlop- ciit of fuciiUiutk without nny nrtificlnl culture, arc spoutancously tlcvel- CiiM*. viL oped, Wc have seen the skill tlisplayid in the con- struction of tlicir houses, as well as in pursuing and killins: the various tenants of the earth and of tlic waters, on which their subsistence depends. Their migratory habits give them a consitk'rahlc extent of local and geo- jrraphical knowledge, which they are even in a certain th'gree able to systematize and delineate. They are also shrewd and intelligent in all the affairs of common life, ;i.nd possess a considerable talent for humour and mim- icry. In their moral qualities, the Esquiiriux, or at least Moral (luuu this particular ti'ibe, present much that is worthy ot t'^'*- commendation. At the first opening of the intercourse, the most undeviating integrity marked all their conduct, — though this quality, in the course of two winters* <'ommunication, was considerably undermined. They were exposed indeed to most severe trials of virtue, by seeing constantly scattered about the ships little planks, jiieccs of iron, and empty tin pots, — a temptation to them not less formidable than if the decks had been strewed witii gold and jewels. It also came to their knowledge that, in some of their early exchanges, rich nkins had been bartered for beads and other trifles of no real value, — a system against which they exclaimed as absolute rob!)ery. From first to last honesty was prac- noncvty. tised among themselves in a manner worthy of the golden age. Their dresses, sledges, and all their imple- ments of hunting and fishing, were left exposed inside or outside of the huts, without any instance being known of their having been carried olf. Property, without the aid of laws and tribunals, was in the most perfect se- curity. The common right to the products of the chase marks also a singular union, without seeming to relax their diligence in search of food, though it may perhaps contribute to their very thoughtless consumption of it. I'he navigators admit that they were received with the most cordial hospitality into the little huts, where the 2C4 RECKNT NOUTlI-Wi:ST VOVAGES. Native vices. ft;" CUM'. VII. best niont wns set before them, and the women vi(<1 11-. -ituutv ^^'^'^ ^^^'^^ oilier in the attentions of cooking, (lryini,% and mending their elotlies. *' The wonun working and sin;;ing, their liusl)ands vjMietly mending their lines, the children jdaying before the door, an»l the pot boiling over the blaze of a cheerful lamp," gave a pleasing pic- ture of savage life. Yet a continued intercourse with th( ni showed that they inherit their full bhare of human frailty. IJegging we shall pass over, though in many instances persevering and importunate, because it seems to have been called forth almost entirely by their con- nexion with our countrymen, and by too lavish presents at the first ; while their little bursts of envy appear to have flowed from the same source. But the fair sex arc charged with a strong propensity to slander and de- traction, which were as busy among thcni as they siit iu circles round the door mending their lines as in the most fashionable drawing-rooms. Their own conduct, mean- time, is said to have afforded the most anjple scope for censure, especially in regard to connubial fidelity ; yet, when it is admitted that these faults were carefully concealed and much outward decorum observed, and that the pro})ensity to calumny often led the natives be- yond the strict limits of truth, we doubt whether too implicit reliance may not have been phiced on the scan- dalous chronicle of the frozen regions. The natives certainly do appear to display a peculiar apathy in re- gard to the sufferings and even the death of neighbours and relations. Widows, and the aged and infirai, if they have not children of their own, experience tho greatest indifference. In times of plenty, indeed, they share in the general abundance of food, but during scarcity a very small quantity reaches them ; and, re- ceiving no attendance in their sickness, they often perisli through want and neglect. The children are treated with extreme tenderness ; though the practice of adop- tion, which prevails most extensively, and establishes iu full force between the parties the ties of father and child, su. t!)v to 1 t RECENT NORTH-WEST VOYAGES. 2(1') M in practised with regard to boys only, and seemingly in cii.\i\ vii, order tlmt they nmy euntributc to support the old ugu of their factitious parents. The religious ideas of the Esquimaux, though they ndiuioiw cannot be dignified with any better name than supersti- ''^^''"" tion, are not much more absurd than the popular creed of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Their princij)al •leity is AywiUaiyoo, a female immensely tall, with only the left eye, wearing a pigtail reaching to her knee, so thick that it can scarcely bo grasped by both Imnds. Captain Lyon witnessed a mighty incantation, in which IWenuik, the chief mogician^ summoned AywiUaiyoo to the upper world to utter her oracles. The party were assembled in a hut, where light after light wits put out, till they were left in total darkness. The wizard then, after loud invocations, professed tOj^r|,,.^.^ descend to the world below to bring up the goddess, wizai a. Soon there arose a low chant of peculiar sound, imag- ined to be the voice of AywiUaiyoo. During half nn hour, in reply to the loud screams and questions of her votaries, she uttered dubious and mystical responses ; after which the sound died away, and she was supposed to descend beneath the earth, when Toolcmak, with a shout, announced his own return to the upper world. The i)erformer, however, being soon after on board a British ship, was treated witli nine glasses of hot water (brandy), under the influence of which he began to act over again his enchantments ; when it ap^ieared that, by varying modes of aj)plying the hand or jacket to the mouth, he produced those changeful and n)ysteriou3 sounds which had passed for the words of the goddess. This divinity has for her father a giant with one ann. The Es(|uimaux pantheon comprises, moreover, Pami- ooli, a spirit frequently invoked, and a large bear, whose j' dwelling is in the middle of the ice, and who frequently holds converse with mankind. The natives believe also in a future world, the emidoyments and pleasures of which, according to the usual creed of savage races, are all sensual. The soul descends beneath the cai'th into \ ; 2G6 nrXKNT NOUTII-WKKT VOYAartiikrs sonirAvlint — T" «»f tlu' Hiitnrc of imr'atorv : Imt tlic lmkkI spirilH luissinu; ll{ lid III II 1 .-> . ' n I I n tuiiiri! Hiiiio. ninsula, luit titnnd the route so rnt;i;e(i and so harreij hy steep chains 111' numntains, that he was ohiii;ed to retnrn in nineteen (lavs wilhiint any discovery, except of two ra|iid rivers iallin;f into the sea near Ij.',loolik. F,ientenant lloppner accompanied a jiarty of I''-S(|nimanx toCockhnrn Island, luit eonid not make his way to any distance inland. It was the 7th oi' An,mist hel'ore they were aide, hy H<'Vero sjiwin^, to rcaidi tiie o])en sea; hy which time ('a|)tain I'arry had ren«inn<'ed i]u\ hope of elVectinj^; any thimj important dnrinL' tlie short remnant of this seasoii. lie formed, however, a very hold jdan ; which was to hrin^ all the stores of the other vessel on hoard the l''nrv, and with it alone to l)rave a third winter in the Polar re.uions, hopiny; that the sncceedini,' snmmer nii^dit he more j»ro- jiitions. lint, as h(> wrs pr(j)arin_i^ to ciirry this too daring pj-oject into edect, a rejtort was made that symp- toms oi' scurvy had hroken out on several of the crew, whos(> jthysic;il stren;',th appean'd to he ;;eneially im- jiaired hy the two hard winters thr',iij>h which they had p,"ssed. This left no choice ; and, in com]tlianco with the general ojtinion oi' his oOicers, he I'orthwith he-jan his voyat^c homewards. The ships were drifted ahont in a stormy sea covered with ice I'or twenty-four days ; hut, heinu; at last favoured with a westerly hree/.e, tlu>y crossed tlu^ Atlantic, and on the lOlh of Octoher \i\'2'A arrived in llrassa Sound, Shetland. Alter two successive years thus ])assed in the depths of tlu' frozen world, whence not the faintest rumour oi' their existt'ueo liad reached lirituin, the ofliccrs and njcn were viewed /\")i('nr;>nr(', lu MMiivy. ilili! hkcknt noutii-wkst voyages. 2(}7 ()- (lO )- \- ith >ur ■/.(•, »IT \Vl> IK'15 almost ns pci-sons riHcn from tlio (lead. Tlit; lulls of CIIAP. vil Ijcrwick wire nm^% iind of her cxtraonlinary (l('m()nstia-|.^,,„',,|,~ tioiis of Joy iiiadf on lluir arrival. In u few days tluy • iiti'n'd tli«; TliaiiuH. Two uttompts liad tlnis Ijcoii made, each to .: ''<'i"tainjT,„j.,„„f,,,j jioiiit Mucci'ssrul, hut Itotli arrested iiiueli .slmrt ol" tlio^'>'«'l"''»u- eompletioii of the grand enterprise, '{'he gf)vernmeiit at home, however, were not willinjj; to stop short iti their spirited e;ireer. The western extremity of iMeiviile l-l;>nd, and the Strait of ihe l''iiry and Heel;:, ajipeared to he hoth so hIoeke(l up as to afford lilth; hope ; hut I'rinee Kegent'sluh't seemed more iikidy folead to a pros- perous issue. Wr -n explor^vj durinj,' the reeent voya;^e, it had indeed presented an icy Inirrit r, hut such as so often gave way sudthnly mid almost instantaneously, that the itiou into which she had been thvown ; and that, when hhe was relieved from pressure, her haks would close. lUit the next accounts were, that she could not be kept dear of water except by the action of four jjunijis, at wliich the whole crew, otticers and men, were oblim'd to work. It became evident, that the evils under which she laboured could (udy be discovered nnd remedied by the operation o'i ItvavuKj dowtt, by whiel. her jjosition being revi-rscd, the j)arts now under water woiiM be exposcil to view. This expedient retpiirc*! u liiirbour, jukI there was none at hand ; however, something was formed which resemlded one, by connecting with anchors and bower-cablis the grounded ice to the shore. Four da^'s were then sjxnt in unlading tlie Fury of those! ample stores with which she had been ]»rovided. The opera- tion was interrupted, too, by a violent storm of snow; while the external ice l)eing driven in, demolish<'d, in a ureat measure, the sleniier bulwarks bv which tiie vessel was secured. Her holds were filled with water, an, might be made available in avoiding a collision with formidable masses of ice. In soliciting, however, from difierent quarters, the means of fitting out a ship on this principle, ri'ju'ated disa]>pointments were experienced. Government declined the propos.1l on the gnnuKb: already stated. A merchant, whom Captain Ross endeavoured to tempt by the ]>i'emiuni of £20,000, viewed it, not without reason, as a very ])rcearious speculation. Mr (now Sir bVlix) Booth, felt, on thc contrary, so nice a sense of honour, tliat he would not embark in the enterprise so long as there could appear a possil)ility of his being swayed by any sordi.i motive. But when thc parliamentary offer of £20,000 was withdrawn, the scruides of this high- minded individual were removed, «and he generously engaged to furnish from his amjde fortune the whole of what might be nccessjiry for this grand adventure. Captain Ross ]>urchased the Victory steam-vessel, of 85 tons, whicli had for sonic time l)een employed lietween Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Additions were made which extended her to 150 tons ; and two Sir Felix Luoih, Victory Btcam-vcjscL ROSS*S SECOND VOYAGE. 273 lions Itwo London artisans produced an engine on a new plan, chat viii. which unfortunately, however, did not answer expecta- ^cw »^( um- tion. Provisions were laid in for a thousand days. The ciiKine. Admiralty, though they withheld all pecuniary aid, afforded the use of books and instruments, and even a decked vessel of sixteen tons tiiat had been employed in the Polar expedition ; also two boats formerly used by Captain Franklin. So great an interest was excited, that officers high in the navy tendered their services, and even offered to bear a share in the expense ; but Captain Ross had already chosen for his second in command his nephew, who had been employed in every one of the recent northern voyages. The ship's company were twenty two in number, including a purser, surgeon, and three mates. On the 23d May 1829, the vessel, after being visited Imrfdiimnta by the Lords of the Admiralty, by the present King ^uya'^^o. of the French, and other eminent characters, was moved down the river. The steam-engine was soon found to be most miserably imperfect. At the utmost, it did not prop .'1 the vessel more than three miles an hour ; and its action often required to be suspended altogether, iri order to stop leaks and make necessary repairs. On the 7th June, however, they had reached the AIiiU of Galloway, when a dreadful accident occurred. William Hardy, the principal stoker, having lost his footing, one Prcn 'fui of his arms was entangled in the machinery, and so "'''^'"^'"*- dreadfully shattered, that the captain, in the absence of the surgeon, who had not yet joined, was obliged to perform an immediate amputation, and treat it as he best could. The poor man was afterwards landed, conveyed to Stranraer, and placed under the care of a regular practitioner. In hopes of remunerating Sir Felix Booth for his Plnn for large outlay, the John of Greenock had been purchased, ™"" '* "^ and fifty-four seamen engaged, with the view of carry- ing on the whale-fishery, and perhaps bringing back l)art of the Fury's stores. This crew joined at Port Lo.:^an, on the Scottish coast ; but they proposed tiio outlay. err A p. V [* ail UciLtltlUl. Tc!-ii..'>t Gicunl.iii ! SilMlll- tMii;iiic% ve 274 Ross's SKCOND VOYAGF!. iiiircnsonaMc condition that, wliatovrr the foi-tuiio »»f tiic fishfvy might ho, they shoulil he paid the same amount as if tliey came lionie with a full sln'p. As they persisted in thi;i cxtravngiuit den\and, and othevwi^' hi'havcd in a manner extrcniely nmtinoUH, it was judgcil necessary to rclinipiish this j)art of the plan altoi^ether. The seamen of the Victory, who, in this crisis, conduetcd themselves admirahly, were recompensed for the loss of their shares hy an agreement to give them full pay ac- cording to lliiir rating. On the inth June, Captain Ross steered his course through the North Channel, the wind heing at first tolerahly fair ; hut on the 14th, after jiassing the island of Ilathlin, the vessel was assailed hy so dreadful a tem- pest, that the top of the foremast gave way with a terrihle crash, and only a few splinters kej)t it from falling into the sea. In crossing the ocean, they had a fair wind, and sailed without aid from steam. On the 1st July they dcscil».d, though at the distance of thirty- one leagues, a point of land, which they concluded to be Cape Farewell. On the 3<1, they were off that southern extremity of Greenland, having already had served out to them their Arctic dresses. They now en- joyed so favourahlea gale, that on the (!th and 7th they ran 27C miles, and reached the latitude of OF 33', where several large pieces of drift-wood were pfcked up, which proved extremely useful. On the l.'ith, they crossed the track ])ursued hy the Isahella in IRUJ, and next day were in latitude (!,>'' 04'. The wind hecoming modirate and less favourable, they endeavoured to bring the en- gine into play ; but it was so defective as to atl'ord only very limited aid ; besides that leaks and other damages Were continually occurring, whicli were not repaired without much labour and difUculty. By the 212d, therefore, very little way had l)een made, though the opportunity was taken to employ themselves in catching hsh, of which they oI)taiMeil a large supj)l^ . An inKt I)eiiig jiow discovered, Commander Koss was sent to ex- uuiiuc ^^hether it ccntaiucd any good harbour ; iu which nnss's SECOND VOYAnK. C:\su It was detcnnincd to put in, nnd repair daiiiavcs. ciiAP. VIII. 'i'ho report was, that a cove liad Ijccu found, pirfW'tly . ~, s,iri.', but so .small that it would nu'rcly vccfivo the ship, ii.niiour. Tlie hay, wlu'U eiitort'd, was scon to open ii.to two uv.v^- niliccnt inlets, hordcivd hy rocks of imposing form ; and every spot, not ahsulutely a precipice, was covered with buch lirii^Iit verdure as to justify the ai)pellation of Greenland. Li sailing upwards, the unexi)ected apj)ear- ance of a Danish ilag surprised the crew, and they learned that they were now near a settlement belonginy- ^ , . to that nation, called Ilolsteinhorg. The governor had .sctticniont seen the masts above the rocks, and, apprehensive ot tlieir being those of a vessel in distress, kindly sent an oiler of aid. The party were immediately conducted to the village, where they got a hospitable rccejjtion, with entertainment such as they little expected on those driary shores. I'hc settlement of Ilolsteinborg lies in GO'' 58' N. Hc.Ntdn- lat. and 53° 54' W. long. The governor, named Kail, ^'"^' and the clergyman with his wife and family, are the only European inhabitants. The place consists of about forty huts ; the church, which can contain two hundred persons, is well attended, the Danish sovereign display- ing a laudable concern for the spiritual welfare of his Arctic subjects. The vicinity is, of course, devoid of trees, but abounds with angelica, scurvy-grass, and sorrid : and in the principal garden, salad, radishes, and tuinij)s, are reared. The people are exclusively em- ployed in hunting and iishing. About 3000 rein-deer skins, and a quantity of whale and seal oil, varying ac- cording to the fluctuations of the season, are annually exported to the mother-country. A singular casualty had occurred hero, which jtrovcd FTtiinnto of great benefit to the expedition. The llookwood whaler, from London, having struck on a rock near Woman's Islands, had ])ut in to refit ; but proving to be damaged beyond repair, slip was abandoned, and now r.-* lying a complete wreck. A part of her stores had been Bold to the Danes, and the remainder left in the custody lii'l 270 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. CHAP. VIII. of the governor, who took a great interest in the oclven- inexpected ^"^^"^ '^"^ offered nny thing helonging to tlio vessel Biiii>iic\j which could he of service to them. Captain Rosa thus found himself, as it were, in a dockyard. The mizzcn of the liookwood, without any trouhle, was fitted in instead of his damaged foremast. The provisions were raised to their full complement, the owner heing referred for payment to Sir Felix Booth. Some hoots and gloves were ohtained from the natives, and the gov- ernor made a useful present of six Esquimaux doija. Disco Island. On the 26tli, the discoverers sailed to the northward ; and on the morning of tiie 20th, the stupendous moun- tains of Disco Island, long enveloped in mist, hurst on their view only a few miles distant. The range nearest the shore was entirely free from snow, and the interior hills were hut partially covered. I hire Island was al- Lnncaster buiuid. icehergs were most equally clear ; and though forty ohserved, yet, as the navigators approached the latitude of 74°, near to where the Ilecla and Fury had heeu heset in 1824, not a vestige of ice wjis perceived. They might have fancied themselves sailing on the summer seas of England, or even of the Mediten*anean : the men threw off their jackets, and worked in their shirts, without shoes or stockings. They had several times recourse to the engine ; and though, from practical de- fects, it never enahled them to sail ahove a mile and a half an hour, yet as, without it, they could have made no way at all during these calms, the opinion in favour of steam-navigation in the Arctic ocean seems in prin- ciple confirmed. On the Gth August, a thick fog having dispersed, the coast was suddenly displayed, with all its high lands, among which Cape Byam Martin was con- spicuous, covered with snow. On retvching the entrance of Lancaster Sound, and reverting to the hlame imputed to him for not having explored it, the captain ohserves that, from the deceptive appearances presented by hays and inlets, similar mistakes had been made by Cook and other navigators of the greatest skill. No opinion dif- fering from his had been expressed by any one of his h'm< \.mi R088 8 SECOND VOYAGE, 277 ofliccrs, who, if they cntertninrd nny such, were \m- cil.\r. Vlir. «iucstionably bound to linvc stated it. The ice, luoro- ,, " „ 1 ,1 .1 . 1 ,1 , 1 111 , UiuiNimlly over, lay then so thick, that lie couhl liavc pcnctiiitod miui hut a few inih>8 further. Now, however, he wiiled *'^^"'"'"- through the middle of the strait, perceiving scarcely any trace of ice or snow, unless on the tops of the lofty mountains. The thermometer stood at 40° ; while the sensible heat waa so nmch greater, that they felt it agreeable to dine without a fire, and with half the sky- light removed. For two days they made only a slow and laborious progress by the aid of steam ; but on the Oth a welcome brceze sprung up from the east, ami, all sail being set, on the 10th they passed Caj)c York, after which the land Iwgins to turn southward, and, with the opposite coast of North Somerset (Boothia), forms tho broad opening of Prince Regent's Inlet. This being the channel by which Captain Rosshoj)ed to accomplish his passage, he immediately steered across, and reached the western shore on the afternoon of the 11th, between Cape Seppings and Elwin Bay. In sailing southward along this coast some lieavy Heavy (in'.^:% gales were encountered ; and tho ice ha^'ing been broken off in the various forma of streams, j)acks, and bergs, the full difficulties of Arctic navigation began to be ex- perienced. These were increased by the near approach to the Magnetic Pole, so that the compass ceased to tra- verse ; and the bearings could be ascertained only by observations on the sun, which was often obscured by heavy fogs. The navigators mado their way, however, and on the 12th descried the place of tho Fury's wreck, with the poles of the tents standing ; but, to their mor- tification, a strong current carried them from the spot, and even out to sea. With great exertion they regained the coast, at what proved to be the opening of a very Adeiaido extensive bay, which was named Adelaide. They were ^^' then considerably beyond the desired point, a^id, with great efforts against wind and tide, came again in sight of the Fury's station. They hastened, with intense interest, to examine tUi . > i>. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 1^ l££ Ki §12 m 1.4 11.6 ISO lU Ul US Ki Li Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 4m 4^ '^ %^ ^ ^J> v^^ to the temperature of 70°, in order to prevent the vapour from freezing- on their sides ; that of 45° was found quite sufficient for liealth and comfort, and a great saving of fuel was in consequence effected. Two small ante- chiimhers were formed, and in the outer one such of the men as had been exposed to the atmosphere were rc- fjuircd to leave the clothes on which snow had fallen. The air necessary to produce combustion was introduced by a copper pipe direct to the fireplace, where it was immediately warmed, and, instead of chilling, seized to heat and dry the room. The strength and spirits of the crew were supported by regular meals and constant occupation. Divine service was duly perfonned, and religious instruction dispensed at a school held every Sunday evening. Tiiis was considered, not only to have a salutary effect on their general conduct, but in a par- ticular manner to promote mutual union and harmony. On the other nights a school also Avas attended ; and with such ardour did these gallant tars apply themselves to repair the deficiencies of their education, that it was a subject of regret to many of them when the termination of the long whiter mterrupted their studies. The stock of provisions, on examination, was found sufficient for two years and ten months at full allowance, — a quantity which could easily be managed so a.s to bust three years. Fuel was equally abundant. The only article deficient was spirits, of which there was only one year's full supi)ly ; but this want the commander by no means regretted, being satisfied that their luibitual use impaired the strength of the seaman, diminiished his j)ower of enduring cold, and rendered him more liable to scurvy. He was gratified, therefore, when the crew rc1ic;ious A>innflant iJi'ovibions. I ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 203 >isusc of i'ii'its. ApTxvirTiou ot nauvL'S. cheerfully cinscntod to tlicir being withheld, unless on oiiap. viii ppeeial oceasions ; and lie considcis tliis circumstance as Imving remarkably contributed to the preservation of tlicir health. In fact, the end of the year arrived with- out any illness, except that of the armourer, who had imprudently engaged in the voj'agc while laliouring under a fatal disease, which the climate might aggravate, i ut had no share in producing. The rest were in a good state, not only of healtli, but of spirits, having felt scarcely any weariness, although they had not sought to dispel it by light amusements. The year 1830 opened with an incident which greatly enlivened the gloom of the succeeding winter. Traces of Esquimaux had been observed on different parts of the coast; but none had been hitherto seen. At length, on the morning of the 9th January, a party were dis- covered by a seaman from the observatory. Captain Ross immediately proceeded to the spot ; upon which they retreated, but soon returned with a body of their companions, ranged in a line of ten in front and three deep, one man being detached, who appeared to be sitting in a sledge. The captain having sent for his nephew and some of the crew, desired them to remain behind, while he walked towards the Esquimaux, who were armed with spears and knives. lie hailed them by the interview. well-known national salutation, Tuva! tima! which was shouted by them in return. The navigators then advanced, and throwing away their guns, called out, Aja, tima ! upon which the others tossed their knives and spears in the air, repeating the shout, Aja! and extending their hands to show tJiat they had now no .Mutuni weapons. As they stood still, however, the discoverers Ki'^^^ti"o. approached, and embraced all those in the front line, stroking their dress, and receiving in their turn this customary greeting. Their gratification was testified by laughing, clamour, and strange gestures ; thus full confidence was at once established between the two parties. Tliese burbai'ians were found to be most comfortably 2M ROSS'S SECOND VOYAGE. CHAP. VIII Native clutiiing. Sicht of a luinui*. Visit to tlie Ksquiiiiaux village. Continued iuCercuui'so. clothed in a double covering of deer-skin, having the hair both within and without. They possessed knives pointed with iron, one of which bore the mark of English manufacture ; and being prevailed on to enter the ship, they each received with the utmost delight the present of a piece of iron hoop. They did not manifest surprise at the vessel itself, nor at the wall of snow by which it was guarded, but were stnick with astonishment on seeing themselves in a mirror, and at the engraved por- traits of their countrymen from drawings made in former voyages. Some preseiTed meat of excellent quality was placed before them, which they began to eat, one of them even declaring it to be good ; but, on being cross-ques- tioned, he confessed that he had not spoken the truth. He was then permitted to lay it aside ; and being regaled with oil, pronounced it to be " really good." The others, taking courage by his example, tlirew away also the offered treat, and betook themselves to their favourite mess. Next day the discoverers visited this people at their own village, which consisted of twelve snow-huts, con- structed in the very same manner as those observed by Captain Parry. Tliis tribe were thought, on the whole, to be cleaner and better dressed tlian those more to the northward ; besides, they kept a store of seal and rein- deer buried in the snow, — a precaution not before noticed among any Esquimaux. While the British remained on these shores, they held frequent intercourse with this and other parties of na- tives ; and we shall endeavour afterwards to collect into one view their observations, so far as any new light is thrown on the habits and character of this remarkable race. It concerned the navigators more immediately to discover that this horde wandered as widely as those who occupied Melville Peninsula, and that they had equally in their peregrinations acquired a considerable extent of geographical knowledge. Some of the places about Repulse Bay being named and described, they showed an intimate acquaintance with th( n, stating nOSS'S SECOND VOYAGE. 285 that they had recently journeyed from tliat quarter, chap. vin. Two of them, TuUualiiu and Ikmallik, drew a skett-h Nati^eo- of the line of coast by which they had tffivelled, and uriiiiiijiiii this was amended by a learned lady, Tiriksiu. The ^•^'"'^'^^'""^ general result proved to be, tliat between the present station and Repulse Bay there intervened a very ex- tensive gulf, of which the limits were Melville Peninsula on the east, the American coast on the south, and the country in which they now were on the west. The grand question, whether there was any navigable opening farther westward, could not be then ascertained, though they had reason to believe that, if there was, it must be very narrow. The strongest interest, however, was ex- cited by the accounts given by another party of a great vy^^tem ^^,^ sea lying to the westward, and of a strait which it was hoped might lead into it. On the 5th of April, therefore, when the rigour of winter had somewhat abated. Com- mander Ross, with Mr Blanky the chief mate, and two native guides, undertook an expedition to explore it. The weather being still very inclement, they w :re fre- quently obliged to pause and seek refuge from ht drift, when the Esquimaux in half an hour erected sno. -huts, which afforded tolerable shelter. Unluckily the fire necessary for heat and light, melting the walls of this frail tenement, enveloped them in moisture, to avoid which they were obliged to creep into their fur-bags. After a difficult journey of three days, they reached a bay facing the westward, and, on proceeding a shoi*t distance inland to the south and south-east, discovered ^^^^nd lake. a very extensive lake, called by the natives Nei-tyel-le, whence a broad river flowed into the bay. On their return to the coast the guides pointed out a lofty cape, beyond which there was said to be a vast sea, the ter- mination of which could not be descried. They declared, however, that a tract of land, or isthmus, connecting the territory on which they stood with the continent ot America, would render it impossible for the vessel to reach the western sea in this direction, or otherwise than by a channel considerably north of her present station. 20( noss .s sncoND voYAriK. J)i-ii\);joiut lllCllt. CUAi*. VIII. The jouiTicy so fur had issued only in disappointment ; but tlicy loarnod that, on the coast noavest them, facin;; the eastward, there was a place called Shagavokc, wheru the water i-ushcd through a narrow strait with extraor- dinary rapidity : hence arose hopes that this tide might come from the opposite sea, and afford a channel through which the ship could be worked. The natives, indeed, discouraged every such idea ; but on a point so deeply affecting the principal object of the voyage, it was thought improper to rest satisfied with any thing shoi-t of ocular evidence. Comniimder Ross, therefore, on the Second over- looming of the 21st, set out with a fresh guide; and Una juuriiey. travelling, regardless of all inconvenience, fifty miles in the day, he reached the place before midnight. The channel at its entrance was about five miles broad, but four miles upwards it narrowed to 120 feet ; and this small space was so encumbered with rocks, that it a]>- peared doubtful if even a boat could effect a passage. The question proved of very little consequence, since, on tracing it farther, though the strait widened, it became ultimately a mere inlet, the rapidity of the current being derived from the large quantities of snow, by the melting of which it was fed. Every idea of a passage south of the ship's present station was renounced. On their rctui'n, a somewhat ludicrous incident occurred : the dogs ran off with the sledge over the rough ice, when the stores and instruments were scattered in everv diree- tion, the guide testifying his amusement by shouts of laughter. It Avas to the north that all hopes of finding the desired jassage were now directed. Some of the natives having aientioned a place in that quarter, whence they con- sidered it possible to get round by sea to Nei-tyel-lc, Commander Ross undertook a journey thither on the 27th of April, accompanied by Abernethy the mate and two native guides. After encountering many hardships, they discovered, on the 1st of May, from the top of a high hill, an inlet, which might possibly rench the western sea ; but the numerous obstacles which inter- Xdl'tll! Ill oM'ilnii'l ioiiniuy. noss's SECOND VOYAGE. cou- cl-lc, 1 tlie and of i\ the ntor- Nativo iul\ ice. journey. voiK'(l, and the exhausted state of the party, ohliyt-d t'liAi". viii them to return without ascertanany; the point. ltd aspect, however, was unpromising ; and the most in- telligent natives intimated that the only channel was in a much more northerly quarter, supposed to bo no otlier than Barrow's Strait, through which Captain Parry hud already navigated. Belbre prosecuting further discoveries in this direction, another journey v/as resolved upon to the westwa)-d, beyond the isthmus, to ti'acc the coast of America as it extended along the newly discovered sea. They thus hoped to reach Cape Turnagain, and to connect their discoveries with those of Captain Franklin. The younger Ross again set out on the l7th May, with three com- panions, eight dogs, and provisions for twenty-one days ; and on the 19th, having crossed the great middle lake of the isthmus, he reached his former station on the western sea. The first view of it was celebrated by three loud and even joyous cheers, though tempered with regret at the diminished prospect of ever being able to navigate it. Having to spend the night here, they contrived a more comfortable sleeping-place, by excavating a sort of bur- row in the snow, roofing it with their skin-boat, and placing a block of snow as a door. After passing Cape Isabella, formed of gray granite 500 feet high, the party travelled along the coast west and north for twenty miles. On the morning of the 21st jMay, they discovered, behind a lofty point, an inlet, which, from its breadth and the different charac- ter of its opposite coasts, afforded the hope that it might open into the Polar ocean. They therefore made a complete circuit and a careful survey of its shores ; but the only opening found was clearly ascertained to be the mouth of a river, named by them Garry. On ascending a high hill, they perceived several large lakes extending to the north-east, and forming in fact an almost con- tinuous chain to Thom's Bay, near the Victory's station ; with mterruptions enough, howevei', to prevent a ship l>ubi.lla. 288 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. rifflcnlty of tlistiii>;iiisli- iii;^' laiiii iiiid ma. CHAP. VIII. passing through. Next day they proceeded north-west CrosslnK the ^^^^S the coast ; but resolving to reach the opposite ice. land some miles distant, they crossed the frozen surface of the strait, and came to a large island, which was named Matty. They pursued their fatiguing journey along its northern shore, over rough ice ; and passing another narrow strait, which they called Wellington, found themselves on the mainland of America. The coast now stretched due west, and the surface being level, they proceeded with comparative ease and ra- pidity. The direction changing to the north-west, they soon arrived at a spacious bay, which was named Parry ; they then travelled onwards two days, but with difficul- ties continually increasing. One great embarrossment, as regarded both their advance and return, was how to distinguish between land and sea. "When all is ice, and all one dazzling mass of white, — when the surface of the sea itself is tossed up and fixed into rocks, while the land is, on the contrary, very often flat, — it is not always so easy a problem as it might seem on a super- ficial view, to determine a fact which appears in words to be extremely simple." The advancing season, in- stead of favouring the journey back, might render it very perilous, by converting ice into water, or at least into a soft and sinking mass. But the circumstance which most restricted their progress was the necessity of eating, for the suspension of which they could not forbear indulging some vain wishes. Their stock of provisions, however, not only imposed a limit on their excursion, but encumbered them with a heavy load, which the dogs could no longer assist in dragging. These animals, unable to travel without occasional days of rest, were now completely exhausted, and became themselves a burden. On the 27th, although the food had already been reduced below the full allowance, a still farther diminution was requisite, to render it possible for them to continue the journey two days longer. This, amid such heavy toil, was a very severe privation j yet. I.ond of pro-^ visions. III. I ^ 'H nOSS*S SECOND VOYAGE. Sili) when the cominaiulcr made the propo«il, he found Hint CiiAi'. Mil ihe party had of themselves resolved to suggest it to him. voiimtMiy Having deposited every thing that eould for the I'l'vutions. present bo dispensed with, they set out on the 2{Uh with only four days' provisions. On the 25)th they reached Capo Felix, when the direction of the coast cnpc Fdix. changed to south-west, and tliere was before them an expanse of ocean, which appeared altogether iinbounded. Having travelled along it for twenty miles, their station next morning was in lat. 60° 40' 19", long. 90^ ,12' 49". They seemed in the direct route to Franklin's Cnjio Turnaguin, which as many more days as they hud already spent in their journey would have enabled them to reach ; but for these days the very means of existence were wanting. They had brought with them from the siiip provisions for only three weeks ; much more than half was consumed, and they had but ten days' very hliort allowance for their journey back, which was not reckoned at less than 200 miles. They could not, there- iore, have a moment's hesitation, though with intejiso regret and disappointment, to make this the boundary of their progress. The spot on which they stood was Viptnry named Victory Point, while the most distant one in ^ ""'''• view, estimated to be in long. 90° 17' 68", was called Cape Franklin. At the former place they reared a cairn of stones six feet high, and lodged in it a narrative of their proceedings, though scarcely hoping that it would ever meet the eye of any European. The return was attended with a considerable increa'^e Cninmitifs in of suflFering. The dogs fell victims to successive calami- '"^1""""^ tics, till, of eight, only two remained alive. It was proposed to vary the scene by keeping south of Matty Island, along the coast of the continent ; but observing that it formed an extensive bay with winding shores, to follow the sinuosities of which would have consumed too much time, they pushed forward in a direct line over the frozen surface of the sea. On the 8th June, they arrived in a very exhausted state in the neighbour- hood of Nei-tyel-le, where they met a party of natives., s I'll 2P0 ROSS'S SECOND VOYAGE, Native lios- pitulity. Return of spnny. illyi Continuance of the iotf. ! ' I ■-'" ■m CHAP. VIII. who received them hospitably, and supplied them so plentifully with fish, that they were able to take a day's rest, and proceed at leisure to the vessel, which they reached on the 13th. Meantime, Captain Ross himself had made a journey, though of more limited extent, with the intention of surveying the isthmus of Bootliia, when he made the partial discovery of another large lake, to which he gave the name of Lady Melville. The nephe.v, upon his return, found that he had arrived just in time. The early spring, the only season when travelling is practicable in this region, was over. The thaw had set in with extraordinary rapidity ; the country was under water ; the streams impassable ; and the surface of the ocean could not have been traversed without the greatest danger. Except a short excursion to procure fish, all their attention and efforts were directed to the extrication of the vessel with a view to her voyage northward, in which direction alone they could now hope to discover a passage to the western sea. But month after month rolled on ; the height of summer passed, and the sea remained still bound in icy chains. In August its aspect began to present hopes, but these were followed by successive disappointments. Its close arrived, and they had the mortification to re- flect that they had remained eleven months, — a period in which they might have circumnavigated the globe, — fixed to that dreary spot. At last, on the 17th of September, with a transport of joy, they found them- selves free, and the ship, so long immovable, again buoyant on the waves. They advanced about three miles, when, encountering a ridge of ice, they made fast to one of its extremities, in a tolerably secure position between two bergs. Next morning, a change of wind and heavy fall of snow confined them to this precarious shelter; and in tlie evening a heavy gale sprung up, which, on the three following days, drove the icebergs, and the vessel along with them, to the vicinity of some rocks, causing considerable pressure, Danjrer of tUe vesueL ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 291 m so day's they irney, on of le the Bgave le had season 5 over. y ; the 3 ; and iversed uursion s were view to le they western eight of |a in icy hopes, ,ments. n to re- period lohe, — 7th of d them- again it three y made secure change to this ivy gale s, drove to the in-essure, though no serious injury. On the 23d they were com- chap. Vlil. pletely frozen in ; and by the 30th the sea exhibited Fro^enTin. one unbroken surface. This state of things seems to have been chiefly produced by the northerly wind? which prevailed during the autumn, particularly in September, and continually brought down fresh masses of ice. " It was as if the northern ocean were sending all its stores into this quarter ;" and these were driven into the bays, and so closely wedged in by the tides, that they appeared as much a part of the coast as the rocks themselves. The greater part of October was employed in laboriously sawing their way through the ice, the thickness of which was always increasing ; and they were at length obliged to desist after reaching a spot not exactly such as could be wished, but which, amid an ocean immovable on every side, afforded toler- able protection. Another dreary winter having nowg^p^^^^ sec in, it became necessary to look narrowly into the Wintei- stock of provisions. A certain reduction in the daily allowance was found requisite, leaving, at the same time, enough to maintain the crew in health and vigour, which they continued to preserve uninterruptedly dur- ing the season. They felt, however, the utter monotony of then* situation pressing upon them with increasing severity ; they began almost to envy the Esquimaux, to whom eating and sleeping constituted the whole of existence. In this manner passed 1830; nor was it till April of the following year that excursions of any extent could be undertaken over the frozen surface of land and sea. The first adventure of this kind was conducted by Northern Commander Koss, who proceeded towards the iiorth, '^^^^^^^^ with the view of examining the inlet formerly men- tioned, which, from the report of some, they had been led to hope might reach between the two seas. Setting out on the 20th day of the month just specified, after a • journey rendered severe by the drifting snows, he arrived on the 24th at the place, in about lat. 70° 38' 32". The first distinct view convinced him that it could not i IS ; 202 ROSS'S SECOND VOYAGG. Brentford Bay. S(>con(l expedition If ; !li 14 I ^'iil CHAP. VI be that described by the Esquimaux, who had repre- sented it as in some parts so broad, that from the one shore the opposite coast could not be discovered. Ho did not leave it, however, till, by a minute investigation, he had ascertained that it stretched only a small distance inland. There was still another opening at Brentford Bay, in lat. 71° 65' ; but this as yet they had not ex- amined, and he had not provisions enough for travelluig to so distant a point. On the 15th May the two principal officers set out together on another trip, crossing the country in the direction of the chain of lakes which had been observed from the inlet on the west coast. They passed along the river Lindsay, and also that of Saumarcz, situated further south ; then a large lake, which they named Krusenstern after the eminent Russian navigator ; next a smaller, with the appellation of which Captain Jekyll was complimented ; and afterwards two others, to which the name of Professor Hanstem was assigned. The short intervals between these large sheets of water were filled by smaller ones, so that there was scarcely an interruption across the whole continent ; though it is more than probable that there will never exist any motive to complete this natural communication. Tak- ing a new direction, Captain Ross reached Cape Isabella, whence he returned, while his nephew proceeded along the western coast. Discovery of The discovery of the Magnetic Pole, which the ob- Poie. "'^"^"'^ servations of Captain Parry showed to be situated in this quarter, was one of the leading objects in the pre- sent voyage ; there being every where a great desire to obtain all the light that could be thrown upon the mysterious agency by which vessels trace their path through the ocean. Calculations made by the learned in Europe had placed this mtcresting spot in lat. 70* north, and long. 98* 30' west. Commander Uoss, in his expedition of 1830 along the coast of America, when near Cape Felix, h;^i approached within ten miles of it J but from the want of the necessary instrimients, he ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 293 was unaMe to make the requisite experiments. After CHA?. viil his return to the vessel, however, a long and careful jf,,f,^(, scries of observations led him to the conclusion, that the cxpuditiou. ahove position had been erroneously assigned, and that the real point lies in lat. 70" 6' 17 ' north, and long. 0{i° 46' 45" west, which would place it on the western coast of Boothia. To this point, therefore, he directed Jiis course. The jouniey was tedious and laborious, not only from the rigour of the season and the rugged- ness of the surface, but from the care with which he examined every inlet and remarkable object. He set out on the 27th May, and on the 1st June, at eight in the morning, reached the spot to which his calculations referred. The instruments were the same day put in operation. The amount of the dip was 89° 59', being only one minute less than 90°, the vertical position, which would have precisely indicated the polar station ; and the horizontal needles, when suspended in the most delicate manner possible, did not show the slightest tendency to move. He looked, however, in vain for ^T^TlntoTly of some object to mark so important a fact in physical "^'''^'^"^ science ; for there was merely a low flat coast, rising about a mile inland into ridges fifty or sixty feet high. " Nature had here erected no monument to denote the spot which she had chosen as the centre of one of her great and dark powers." The commander, notwith- standing, placed upon it a flag, and to the locality has since been assigned the name of William IV. ; he also jroTnoriai erected a cairn of some magnitude, in which was lodged ^'^'"'• a record of his visit. The state of the provisions did not allow him to proceed more than a few miles farther along the coast, which he saw still extending ten or twelve miles in a continuous line due north. It was conjectured, though of course without any certainty, that it follows the same direction till at Cape Walker, in lat. 74° 15', it joins the northern coast of the penin- sula discovered by Captain Parry. As soon as he returned, it was thought time, amid alternate hopes and fears, to watch the progress of the 294 ROSS*S SECOND VOYAGE. risnppoin ineut ImU . m CHAP. VIII. ice, and escape, if possible, from the prison of .a tliird PnitiaT" dreary winter. Tlie season was not, on the whole, more iireakinK up favourable than that of 1830 ; yet, on the 28th August, of the ice. ^ somewhat earlier periotl, tlicy contrived to warp out into the open sea, and on the morning of the 29th were in full sail. Changes of wind prevented them from making more than four miles, and at evening the threatening aspect of the weather induced their to take shelter at the mouth of a small bay, which formed a secure harbour. They had cause to rejoice in having found this refuge, as a heavy gale came on, with a storm of snow ; and next morning, from the top of a hill, they saw nothing but one heap of hummocky ice, which had completely blocked up their former harbour. They now anxiously watched an opportunity of getting themselves again afloat, and were occasionally cheered by a transient hope, which proved quickly fallacious. On the 14th of September they were little gratified to find that they could again take exercise by skating on the newly formed ice. On the 27th, the painful altei*- nations of hope and disappointment were terminated, inasmuch as they found themselves completely fixed for a third winter. Their last year's navigation had been three miles ; this season it was extended to four. The spirits of the adventurers now began to droop in c^cxliicilti'nK earnest. They soon became sensible that, at all events, the vessel, it would be most perilous to wait another season in the hope of extricating the vessel, in which they could never return to England, and had no alternative but to abandon her amid the Arctic regions. Tlieir OTily means of escape was to proceed in the boats, or di'aw them over the ice, to the wreck of the Fury, when, after supplying themselves with a fresh stock of pro- visions out of her stores, they might reach Davis' Straits, and return in one of the whale-ships. It was proposed, f)efore abandoning the vessel, to place her in a situation where she might sink, and be drawn up by some future navigator. Observing that the preserved meats brought out in the Fury in 1823 remained, after the lapse of Abandon - l.ili Ross's SECOND VOYAGE. 295 eight years, as peifect as at first, it was imagined that chap. viii. they would keep for a period altogether indefinite ; and that possibly, after the lapse of centuries, another generation might from these specimens discover the style of cookery adopted in England at the present day. About the end of November, considerable alarm was symptoms of excited by symptoms of scurvy appearing in one of the sciuTy. crew. The extraordinary exemption hitherto enjoyed from this dreadful malady, in the absence of the grand specific of vegetable food, Captain Ross is inclined to ascribe to the abundance with which the men were supplied with water, notwithstanding the quantity of fuel requisite to melt the snow ; to their never having been too long at once exposed to cold ; and to the care that was taken not to allow them to remain in their wet clothes. Constant employment and exercise were also provided ; and no little advantage is ascribed to the precautions against mental depression, and to the with- holding of the usual allowance of ardent spirits. As no further communication was henceforth held Obsenations with the Esquimaux, we shall, before tracing the re- turn of this adventurous crew, bring together the par- ticulars observed by them respecting that people. It is unnecessary, indeed, to enter into much detail, as they are evidently the very same race observed by Captain PaiTy. Their snow-houses, their dogs, their mode of hunting and fishing, were precisely similar. In regard to food, they seem to have displayed a greater degree of foresight, having often large stocks in reserve ; so that a ton of salmon was once purchased from them with articles which had cost only about 7s. 6d. Yet they manifested the same extraordinary appetite which had astonished a former expedition. On one occasion, a party of them were invited to what seems to have been considered only as a lunch ; yet it amounted to fourteen pounds of raw salmon for each person. In this enormous eating, they sought, not merely to satisfy hunger, but also the gratification of their gross desire, making pauses to recruit their powers, and then beginning afresh. on tlie natives. ill 296 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. euting. Lefts. V. I: li .ill!:: CHAP. VIII. Commander Ross conceives that, with plenty before Eiioi-mous them, nothing will ever induce them to stop, except tho absolute impossibility of forcing another morsel beyond the top of the throat. They retained the same distaste for European luxuries. When they found a store of rum and lemon-juice deposited for the use of the officer just named in one of liis expeditions, they carefully emptied these liquors out of the vessels as " very dirty water." Tlie intercourse had not contmued long, when in- stances of petty theft began to be discovered, consisting chiefly in their abstracting iron and glass articles, — a pair of snuffers, a hammer, and a reading-lens. The navigators soon found themselves possessed, in the eyes of the natives, of the power of conjuration, effected, as was supposed, by their scientific instruments, and still more by their arms ; on the firing of which, it was im- mediately asked " what the guns had said." Of this impression thcyavailed themselves somewhat too largely, in awing the people into confession .ind restitution. "When detection took place, the thieves were derided by their neighbours, and considered as having the laugh against them, rather than as the objects of due censure. The same very slight degree of disgrace was incurred by the falsehoods in which they occasionally indulged. Their matrimonial arrangements are more singular, and in some points more exceptionable, than could naturally have been expected. Convenience and interest seem the ruling motives. A widow left with a large family, and without property, is with us considered an object peculiarly helpless ; but in Boothia she ranks as a great heiress, and is immediately surrounded by pressing suitors. The deeply felt obligation on the part of children to assist their parents, even by marriage, renders them a species of treasure, without which the former may, in old age, be reduced to extreme distress. More culpable accommodations are sometimes procured by polygamy, even in the form of two men having one wife, and by an exchange of wives, either permanent or temporary. Jlatrimoniul avraiigo- muuts. Value of childvc'ii. Ross's SECOND VOYAGE. 207 -a On the whole, the conduct of the Esquimaux to their cilAr. viir. visiters was friendly, good humoured, and, when occa- ^ . ~r . sion roquLi'ed, even liberal. To this there was only one liberal con- remarkable interruption. As Commander Ross, with •^'^*^'' two companions, was setting out on a journey, he approached an Esquimaux village ; when, instead of tlie usual cheerful shouts, he was much surprised to be re- ceived in deep and gloomy silence. The women and children had been sent away, a usual prelude to combat, and the men were furiously brandishing their weapons. One old man, with the tears streaming down his cheeks, rushed out of a hut, and was about to throw at them the large knife used in attacking bears, when his ann was arrested by one of his sons. The natives, however, with a threatening aspect, attempted to surround the visiters, and their numbers rendered them formidable ; but the levelling of a gun induced them to fall back. The two parties, nevertheless, maintained a hostile atti- ^ios^^ie f r\ tude, until one of the women rushed forward and dis- ings excitud. closed the mystery. A fine boy, the adopted son of the enraged old man, had been killed the preceding night by the fall of a stone, — a catastrophe which the stran- gers were believed to have produced through the super- natural powers which they were supposed, and, as we have seen, had admitted themselves to possess. The;y now solemnly abjured those pretensions, which they had injudiciously advanced ; and the people, being with much difficulty persuaded that they had no con- cern in the boy's death, made every effort to obliterate the impression caused by symptoms of anger proceeding from an imaginary cause. The navigators, on taking a general view of their Benefici.ii intercourse with these people, had the satisfaction to '^iteicouise reflect, that they had supplied them with some useful tools and materials, and had even instructed them in the art of making nets, the value of which was full}' appreciated, though it seemed doubtful if they would ever have the means of forming them on any adequate Bcule. An Esquimaux having lost his leg, a wooden 298 Ross's SECOND VOYAGE. CHAP. VIII. A woodon leg suppliud. Abandon- ment of the Victory. Stores on Fury Beach. Difflcnlties encountered. one was constructed in its place, — ft truly precious gift, by which he was converted from a helpless object to an active and efficient hunter. His gratitude was extreme ; in testimony of which, he pressed the services of an eminent Angckok, to cure by conjuration the armourer, then in the last stage of illness ; but this was too serious a case to admit of trifling. It was also a satisfactory reflection, that they had not taaght them the use of spirits, had communicated no diseases, and had done nothing to make them discontented with the humble condition in which they were placed. As already stated, the discoverers had abandoned every hope of returning home in the Victory ; and they durst not even venture to await the period when her extrication might have been possible, as it would then have proved too late to attempt their journey over the ice. They therefore determined to move as early in the spring as travelling should be found practicable. The task was very laborious, as they had not only to proceed on foot, but to drag provisions and boats over a vast expanse of rugged ice. The only thing which rendered the undertalcing hopeful, Avas the prospect of finding on Fury Beach an ample store of boats and pro- visions ; though this spot was distant 180 miles in a direct line, wliich, by the necessary windings, would be extended to 300. The plan was, first to carry forward the boats and a portion of food a certain length, deposit- ing the former in a convenient position, in the event of its becoming necessary to fall back upon them. The party were then to push forward to the wreck, and ascertain whether the valuable supplies which had been left were still to be found. On the 23d April 1882 they set out on the first part of their expedition. The loads being too heavy to be carried at once, made it necessary to go back and for- ward twice, and even oftener, the same day. They had to encounter dreadful tempests of snow and drift, and to make circuits in order to avoid impassable barriers. The general result was, that, by the 21st May, they had ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. 209 travelled 829 miles to gain 30 in a direct line, having chap. viii. in this lahour expended a month. After this preliminary movement, they returned to Final the ship, of which they were soon to take a final leave, leaving tiia On the 29th May they hoisted the colours, nailed them to the mast, and drank a parting glass to the Victory, which they considered worthy of a better fate. Captain Ross describes himself as deeply affected ; this being the first vessel he had been obliged to abandon, of thirty-six in Avhich he had served, during the course of forty-two years. In a few days they reached their former depo- sit ; and the men, extremely exhausted, were anxious to leave the boats and spare provisions and push on to Fury Beach. The captain, however, considered it indis- pensable to carry these to the other side of Elizabetli Harbour, as the nearest spot to which there Avas full security of being able to return. The 9th June arrived before every thing was brought forward to that point : it was soon after arranged, that his nephew and two others should set forward as a light party, with a fort- night's provisions, to ascertain the state of the supplies, and then return with their report to the main body, who were to proceed by slower marches, but more heavily loaded. On this laborious journey Captain Ross had an oppor- Examination tunity of examining the coast, and ascertaining that the °* ^^'° '^""*^" large inlet in Brentford Bay was formed merely by a river, and could afford no passage to the western sea. On the 25th June he met the advanced party, who re- ported that tliey had found three of the boats washed away, but enough still left for their purpose, and all the provisions in good condition. On the 1st July the whole crew reached their destination. They imme- diately enjoyed a hearty meal, and soon reared a canvass mansion, which they named Somerset House. The month of July was spent in fitting out the boats, Fitting out which were ready by the 1st of August, when there ap- I'O'its. ];eared a considerable extent of open sea, cheering thena with the hope of being able to penetrate through Bar- 300 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. nifflcuitiis of tlic voy- age. Petiini to Fury Beach. CHAP. VIII. vow's Strait into Baffin's Bay. Tlio voyage, however, proved very difficult ; masses of ice, still tossing amid the waves, placed them sometimes in dangerous posi- tions ; and when they sought shelter on the beach, it was mostly bordered by lofty precipitous cliffs, from which, at this season of thaw, fragments were often de- tached, one of which might have crushed them to pieces. It was the 29th August before they passed Cape Sep- pings, and arrived at the junction between Prince Re- gent's Inlet and Barrow's Strait. After several attempts to run along the latter, rendered fruitless by the ice, they were obliged to haul the boats on shore and pitch their tents. There was still time to have accomplished their object ; but repeated surveys from the neighbouring mountains convinced them that Barrow's Strait was now, and had been during the whole summer, an im- penetrable mass. By the 24th September all were agreed that no choice was left but to return to Fury Beach, and there spend their fourth Arctic winter. Proceeding therefore in the boats, on the 30th Septem- ber they reached Batty Bay, more than half the distance ; but the ice rendering it impossible to sail farther, they hauled them on shore, and left them above high-water mark. Then, carrying the provisions on sledges, and making a somewhat difficult journey, they arrived on the 7th October at what they now accounted their home. The party suffered at first a good deal from cold, against which their canvass covei'ing afforded very im- perfect shelter. They contrived, however, to envelop it in a wall of snow, and set up an additional stove, which was so effectual, that the heat of 51° could be maintained within. It was necessary to make a reduction in the allowance of preserved meats ; bread was somewhat deficient ; and the stock of wine and spirits was entirely exhausted. However, as they had caught a few foxes, which were considered a delicacy, and there was plenty of flour, sugar, soups, and vegetiibles, a diet could be easily arranged sufficient to maintain the party in health and vigour. Winter Btutiou. Ross's SECOND VOYAGE. 301 The winter, as it advanced, proved one of great CHAP. viir. severity ; and when the cold reached its utmost rigour, uj^oi^, their sliglit Avails could no longer keep the mansion in winter. a comfortable heat. The tempestuous weather made it impossible to take exercise in the open au* ; and at length their patience appears to have been wearied out by this long and dreary imprisonment within the Arctic wastes. On the 16th February 1833, Thomas, the carpenter, died ^.^^^^ ^^■^,^^^ of scurvy, — an event deeply regretted in itself, and re- of scm vy. garded as a warning of what was too likely to befall the rest. Several of the seamen, in fact, became affected with this cruel disesisc, of which Captain Ross himself felt the sure approach by the return of pain in his old wounds. Their situation was becoming truly awful ; since, if they were not liberated in the ensuing summer, little prospect appeared of their surviving another year. In April and May, as soon as it was possible to travel, ^fovpnicnts •' ' ^ ill spriii""* while yet the ice remained firm, it was necessary to carry forward an ample stock of provisions to the position of the boats, and there wait the opportunities of release. Though the distance was only 32 miles, their reduced numbers, and the weight of the loads, obliged them to go over the same ground eight times, raising the space actually traversed to 256 miles ; so that it afforded laborious employment for a whole month. They then returned to Somerset House, where they remained till the 8th of July ; on which day the whole party quitted, without regret, this dreary honie, and, though much encumbered by the transport of the sick, arrived on the 12th at their boat-station in Batty Bay. The aspect of the sea was now watched with intense Watching anxiety, not unmingled with dread ; yet the very habit *''^ ^^'^ of obsemng and of speculating on their prospects, — some daily mounting the neighbouring hill, and others reviewing their report, — kept their spirits in a state of salutary activity. The pursuit of feathered game, which always afforded the hope, and sometimes the reality, of a good supper, also enlivened their time. A month was passed in vain expectation ; when at length, on the 'H ) IJ4' .1 I 302 Ross's SECOND VOYAGE, I! CHAT. VIII evening of the 14th August, a lane of water appeared Embdika- l^'a^iug to tlic nortliwavd. Next morning the seamen tioi). were in movement at an early hour ; and, having cleared the shore of the ice that obstructed it, they embarked the provisions and stores, and by eight o'clock were under weigh, with a favourable wind. At midnight they passed £1 win's Bay, and on the ICth had come to the farthest point reached in the preceding year, — a spot which excited some painful recollections. However, though all passage to the east was closed, there was still an open lane by which they could proceed northwards. In the evening of that day, they were at the north- eastern point of America, and beheld the sea in that direction quite navigable, though encumbered with ice. At three in the morning of the l7th, they were in mo- tion, making their way through the loose pieces, till, favoured by a southern breeze, they turned the point of the solid mass which obstructed the inlet, and saw the wide expanse of Barrow's Strait open before them. Wafted on as if by magic, they reached the opposite shore, which they sailed along to within twelve miles of Cape York, having made in this day seventy-two mUes. In the two following they passed Admiralty Inlet, and came within six or seven miles of that called Navy Board ; after which they were detained four days by contrary winds, and obliged to reduce their allowance of provisions. On the 26th, however, they could again use their oars, and reached the eastern side of Navy Board Inlet, where they found a good harbour for the night. At iour in the morning of the 26th, they were roused from sleep by the look-out-man announcing " a sail," which, viewed through a glass, proved evidently to be a ship. All were presently in motion, and their hopes and fears were variously expressed. But they were detained by calms and light shifting airs ; and, a breezt springing up, the vessel made sail with a rapidity which left them hopelessly behind. About ten, however, they descried another, which seemed to be lying-to ; but she. Enter IJunow's Stmit. Ship in Bight. nOSS's SECOND VOYAGE. 303 ftlso, soon 1>ore up under all suil, and appeared to be fast CiiAi* vni. leaving them. Happily a calm succeeded, and, by hard -riic TTii] n rowing, they approached so near that their signals were oniuii. jierceived, when she was seen to heave to and lower a boat, which made directly towards them. On its arri- val, the mate in command asked if they were in distress and had lost their vessel, proffering his aid ; stating, in answer to their inquiries, that he belonged to the Isabella of Hull, once commanded by Captain Rosa, now by Captain Humphreys. On being told that the former person stood before him, his brain was so puzzled that he declared the captain must bo under a mistake, as ho liad certainly been dead two years. When satisfied, however, of the contrary, and that he was in the presence of the long-absent navigator, he offered his hearty congratulations, and hastened back to the ship with the gratifying intelligence. Immediately the yards were manned, and the adventurers were saluted with three loud cheers. The scene on their arrival may be much more easily conceived than described. "Every man was hungry, and was to be fed ; all were ragged, bourd!' and were to be clothed ; there was not one to whom washing was not indispensable, nor one whom his beard did not deprive of all English semblance, — it was wash- ing, dressing, shaving, eating, all intermingled," Then " interminable questions to be asked and answered," — all the adventures of the Victory, all the English news of four years. At length they were accommodated with every thing, and retired to rest ; " and I tioist," adds Captain Ross, " there was not one man among us who did not then express, where it was due, his gratitude for ut'thuir' that interposition which had raised us all from a despair i*'''^^"^ which none could now forget, and had brought us from the very borders of a not distant grave to life, and friends, and civilisation." Such, however, was the effect of previous hardship, that few of them could sleep on a bed ; and some time was necessary to enable them to enjoy this and other accommodations of ordinary life. Captain Humphreys had sailed up Barrow's Strait in Reception on Gratification 304 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. Arrival at bcruiniiuss. CHAP. VIII search of the Victory, and even attempted to cross Prince T, , ~' Re^rcnt's Inlet : but he had been arrested by a field of ice, I)('l.Tv ill ® ' *' Bttfflii's Bay. and was now returning. Having only two-thirds of a cargo, he was obliged to remain for some time in Baffin's Bay. On the 13th September they fell in with the fleet of whalers on the fishing-ground, when all of the captains came on board to welcome the discoverers, and some of them brought presents from their own stores, which were very acceptable. On the 30th Sej)tember the fish- cry being no longer practicable, the Isabella left Davis' Straits, and on the 12th October reached Stromness in Orkney. The intelligence respecting the adventurous individuals she had on board spread thence like lightning through the kingdom ; for never had any event con- nected with maritime enterprise, at least in our day, produced so strong a sensation. With the fourth winter hope was almost extinguished in the breasts even of the most sanguine ; and Captain Ross with his companions, having been numbered among the many victims who have fallen in this hazardous career, were received now as men risen from the grave. On his landing at Hull, Reception at on the 18th, sucli crowds were attracted that he could with difficulty reach the inn. After receiving the free- dom of the town, and a public enteiiiainment, he pro- ceeded next day to London, and having reported himself to the Admiralty, was presented on the morrow to bis majesty at Windsor, from wbom he experienced a most gracious reception. To this meritorious body of men the public were fully disposed to make a liberal remuneration for their toils and dangers ; and government to a certain degree was inclined to second their dispositions. Although no obligations had been incurred, the inferior officers and seamen re- ceived double pay from the period of tbeir departure to the time of their leaving the ship, and full pay from tliat date till their arrival in England. Those who desired, and were qualified, obtained emploj'ment and promotion. Commander Ross was insured, after the necessary preparation of another year's service, of being London. rewards to the party. ROSS'S SECOND VOYAGE. 305 ;ions n re- ive to from who and the raised to the rank of post-captain. The surgeon, the chap, viil j^unncr, and the purser, were appointed to eligible situa- Pion^ons. tions in the navy. Captain Ross alone, apparently from an excess of the laudable spirit of economy, was refused every thing, except the half-pay which had accumulated during his absence, and to which he would have been equally entitled had he remained at home. He had therefore ample ground for an appeal to Parliament ; pa^iia,n„„. and, in April 1834, a committee of the House of Com- taiy reward. mons decided, that, considering the importance of the object, and all the circumstances attendant on the expedi- tion, they would not transgress the bounds of a prudent liberality by recommendmg that the sum of £5000 should be voted to him. In taking a general view of this voyage, we do not Results of consider it as within our province to notice any defects ^^^^ ^'oyiye. which might perhaps be detected in the narrative or chart, but shall simply remark that it has not been un- productive of very important discoveries. Additional doubts have indeed been thereby thrown on the existence, or at least tlie practicability of a north-west passage. The channel which had for some time been considei'ed as offering tlie best ground for hope, has been found ob- structed by the extensive territory of Boothia, which, though not as supposed by him a peninsula, is separated from the continent only by passages probably of diffi- cult navigation. There remains only the strait to the south of the Georgian Islands, which Captain Parry, in two successive seasons, attempted without success. The two other courses mentioned by Captain Beaufort, in his evidence before a select committee of the House of Commons, the one northward through the Wellington possibility of Channel, the other south-west from Leopold Island, ap- »" open sea. pear to us to offer very slender promise. An increased probability is however presented, that a vessel which should, in some fiivourable season, penetrate southward between Banks' Land and Cape Walker, the apparent extremity of Boothia, would find an open and unob- structed navigation to Behring's Strait. However this 306 ROSS S SECOND VOYAGE. CHAP, VIII Nortliern termimition of the A meiican continent Captiiin Buck's expe- ditiuu. River Thlew- ee-clioli. i may be, the actual coast discovered by Captain Ross vras considerable and important. The northern termination of the American continent is the last of the great boundaries of the earth which has been left for modem enterprise to explore, and to this interesting object he made some important contributions. Even the survey and description of this large insular tract forms a con- siderable accession to geography. The value of hi3 magnetic observations, too, has been highly appreciated by Professor Barlow, so eminent in this department of science, by Captain Beaufoi't, and by Mr Children. During the deep though desponding interest felt for Captain Ross's expedition, a number of spirited indivi- duals raised a subscription, which, aided by £2000 from government, enabled them to send out Captain Back, — the active companion of Captain Franklin, — to trace, if possible, the fate of the Victory. After his departure, the long-absent navigator returned home ; but, before the tidings could be conveyed to Captam Back, he had landed at New York, and reached the northern lakes. Having, therefore, gone so far, he was instructed to pro- ceed, and undertake the exploration of that small portion of the American coast which intervened between the farthest points reached by Ross on the one side and Frank- lin on the other. In this career he discovered a new river, the Thlew-ee-ohoh, on which he embarked, with the assurance that it would carry him down to the sea. After overcoming various hardships and difficulties, he succeeded in reaching its termination, and entered a large bay of the northern ocean. He traced the whole circuit of its shores, and even obtained views of the coast both to the east and west. He did not, however, reach Sii* James Ross's pillar, and thus could not connect his own discoveries with those of his predecessor. There only appeared reason to believe, on comparing the two, that Boothia, instead of a very extensive peninsula, was in reality an island, separated by a channel from the body of America. On the whole. Captain Back's journey being performed by land or m boats, is foreign to our present ROSS*S SECOND VOYAGE. 307 subject, and belongs properly to the continent. Accord- CHAP. Viri. ingly it has been narrated at some length in the volumes of the scries which relate to British America.* In 1837 and 1838, expeditions were undertaken, under Expeditions the direction of the Hudson's Bay Company, by Messrs "! ^'^'}^^ i*"* Dcase and Simpson, by whom a good deal of farther in- formation was collected. These journeys, however, were carried on similarly to that of Captain Back, and solely with the view of exploring the boundaries of the continental coast. The leading particulars therefore have been narrated in the work already referred to.t No recent attempt has been made by a maritime expedi- tion to penetrate through these seas. Rumour, however, states, that a fresh one is at present in contemplation, to be conducted by Sir James Ross, now returned from his important discoveries in the Antarctic seas. • Vol. iii. chap. ii. t Ibid. vol. iii. pa^e 77. Appendix, pages SS/i, 372, &o. '■b' .308 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. CHAPTER IX. Recent Voyages towards the North Pole* Expedition of Captain Pliipps (Lord Mnlgraye) ; Progress arrested by the Ice ; His Return— Scoresby ; Various im- portant Observations made by him ; "Voyage to the Eastern Coast of Greenland ; Discoveries ; Returns to England— Clavering's Voyage and Discoveries — Expedition of Graali — Do Blosseville — Dutaillis — Buchan's Expedition — Parry's Fourth Expedition, in which he attempts to reach the Polo ; Progress along the Coast of Spitzbergen ; The Boats arrive at the Ice ; Mode of Travelling ; Various Obstacles en- countered ; Compelled to return— Question as to the Practi- cability of reaching the Pole. CHAP. IX. Since the times of Hudson and Fotlierby, comprehend- ing a period of more than a century, the attempt to reach and to cross the North Pole had not been resumed. The extraordinary zeal, however, wliich in the early part of the reign of George III., and under the patron- age of that excellent monarch, was kindled in the cause of naval discover}^, failed not to extend in this direction. Mr. Daines Bari-ington, distinguished hy the union of rank with scientific acquirements, espoused with ardour the belief that, in spite of every obstacle, the pole of the earth might be reached, and various f icts thereby brought to light, which at present are hid in mystery. He read to the Royal Society several papers on this subject, which were afterwards reduced into a separate treatise ; and that learned body, eagerly imbibing the opinions of their eminent associate, solicited the Board of Admiralty to fit out an expedition wliich might r.iu<;u ill 11(11 Ilium expluration Dnlncs Burrinyton. RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 309 Fittempt to realize this interesting object. The Earl CHAP. ix. of Sandwich, then at the head of the naval department, captaiiT entered with ardour into the society's views, and drew PUipps. up the plan of an expedition, Avhich he submitted to his majesty. The intentions of government having now transpired, Captain John Pliipps, afterwards Lord Mul- gravc, offered himself for the command, and was ac- cepted. Two bomb-vessels, known under the rather odd names of the Racehorse and the Carcass, were selected, and stored with an ample provision of wine, spirits, and whatever else could contribute to the health and comfort of the crews ; the latter of which was in- trusted to Lieutenant Lutwidge, under whom Horatio Nelson, afterwards so celebrated in the naval annals of Britain, served as cockswain. Other equipments were added, not hitherto customary in nautical preparations. All previous attempts were made by mercantile bodies, who were content to combine geographical discovery with certain views of commercial advantage ; whereas p. . . the expeditions projected under the auspices of George fie expedi- ' III. were the first which had the promotion of science ^'°" for their sole object. Mr Israel Lyons, an eminent asti'onomical observer, was employed by the Board oi Longitude to supply the ships with suitable instru- ments ; to which were added two chronometers, made with the greatest care by Kendall and Arnold, for measuring the distance from the first meridian by difference of time. Mr Gumming constructed a seconds- pendulum, fitted to determine the range of vibration in high latitudes; while Sir Joseph Banks and M. d'Alembert drew up instructions suggesting various scientific objects, respecting which it was thought desirable that observations should be repeated. The vessels were also provided with Dr Irving's apparatus for distilling fresh water from the sea, — an invention which, being then recent, excited much interest. Thus equipped, the expedition began to move on the 21st May 1773 ; but being detained by contrary winds, If^^'^^S tha did not leave the Nore till the 4th June. The last " 310 KECENT POLAR VOYAGES. CHAP. IX. Sixty do- Rrees of latitude. Dppp sound- ings. Spitzbergen. ITfiRlit of the moun- tuins. object seen on land was Whitby Abbey ; and Captain Pliipps then steered into the mid-channel of the Ger- man Ocean, endeavouring to avoid both Norway and Shetland. In sixty degrees of latitude the sun set about twenty minutes past nine ; the clouds making a beautiful appearance by the reflection of its rays when below the horizon. In latitude 66° , on the 19th June, that luminary, even at midnight, was still visible. Captain Phipps here made deeper soundings than were ever before attempted ; reaching with a very heavy lead not less than 780 fathoms. The temperature at that depth was 26'' Fahrenheit, while in the air it was 48°. Trial was now made of Dr Irving's apparatus, which was considered completely successful ; inasmuch as it was found to produce a sufficient quantity of per- fectly good water, either for drinking or cooking, with- out any inconvenient expense of fuel. This favourable opinion has not been confirmed by experience ; and the practice, owing, we believe, to the quantity of coal required, has never come into general use. On the 27th June the navigatora found themselves in the latitude of the southern extremity of Spitzbergen, without any appearance either of ice or land ; but two days after they saw the shore, and stood close in. This coast " appeared to be neither habitable nor accessible ; for it was formed by high barren black rocks, without the least mark of vegetation ; in many places bare and pointed ; in other parts covered \vith snow, appearing even above the clouds : the valleys between the high cliffs were filled with snow and ice. The prospect would have suggested tVie idea of perpetual winter, ha*' not the mildness of the weather, the smooth water, bright sunshine, and constant daylight, given a cheerfulness and novelty to the whole of this striking and romantic scene." In sailing along this bold and lofty coast, the mariners enjoyed gentle gales and measured the height of several of the mountains, one of which was found to be 4500 feet. On the following morning they learned, from the master of a Greenlandman, that there was ice I RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 311 arv sixteen leagues to the westward, and that one Dutch chap. ix. and two English ships had been lost in the course of the season. In the first days of July, Captain Phipps continued Mumiaieiia to steer along the shore ; and on the 4th he came to ^^"^*^ Magdalena Hoek, near which he landed, and began to make observations upon the variation of the compass, which were soon interrupted by a thick fog. Being informed by the Rockingham, a vessel employed in the fishery, that the ice was ten leagues off Hakluyt's Headland, he determined to direct his course for that part of Spitsbergen. On the 6th, as he was avoiding certain islands near Danes Gat, something white was sinp^,i;,r seen througli the mist, and a noise was heard as of surf peaiaiKe ..f breaking upon the shore. The commander, desiring ' " °^' the Carcass to keep close to him, resolved to stand towards it and see what it was. Erelong, amid thick fog, the crews saw an object on their bow, partly black and partly covered with snow, which they at first mis- took for land : it soon, however, proved to be t!.3 main body of the ice, on which wind and sea were beating with such violence that they could not have escaped, except by constant change of tack, and by the utmost alertness of officers and men. Captain Phipps, finding himself now upon the great ciiati^x; of field, and being informed that it extended imbroken to ^"""''^ the north-west, determined to move eastward, — a direc- tion seldom taken by the whale-fishers, — where he hoped to find some opening to them unknown. Con- tinuing to work his way against the wind, between the ice and the land, he passed first Hakluyt's Headland, then Vogel Sang, and on the 7th found himself ap- proaching the bold pinnacle of Cloven Cliff, — a remark- able promontory, named from its resemblance to a cloven hoof, and which, from its perpendicular form, is never covered with snow. Here, as the frozen masses increased in number and size, the officers, after full deliberation, concluded it vain to attempt penetrating any farther in this direction ; and they were farther I: lii 312 RECENT POLAR VOYAGlS- KepeiiteJ Cll ill^fuS of Cloven clilt CHAP. IX disc'onragecl, by considering that this was nearly the place in which all previous navigators had been checked in their efforts to reach the Pole. The com- mander therefore came to the resolution of standing to the westward, cherishing some hopes of a passage in that course. He had a dreary run, immersed in fogs so thick that the ships, even when very near, could not see each other ; and a number of the crew, notwith- standing an extra allowance of wine and spirits, became affected with rheumatic colds and pains in the bones. Having made ten degrees to the westward, without the least appearance of an opening, he determined again to try the east, in the hope that the continuance of warm weather might have dissolved the bamers which had formerly arrested his progress. On the 12tli July the iiavigators were a second time in the vicinity of Cloven Cliff, and found a good harbour on the island to which it is attached by a narrow isthmus. Here they obtained abundance of water, and, though interrupted by fog, made some important celestial observations, — taking the bearings and altitudes of the principal objects on the coast. In endeavouring to push on, however, the captain was stopped at nearly the same point as before, — finding the ice locked in with the land, and no passage cither to the east or north. In despair, he turned once more westward, and kept close to the main field, pushing into all its open- ings, some of which, being nearly two leagues long, afforded hopes of success ; but they proved to be only ice-bays. Near Hakluyt's Headland the ships suffered a severe pressure between a loose fragment and the fixed mass. He now perceived that it would be ex- tremely unsafe to proceed before an easterly breeze, which brought in all the loose pieces, and drove them against the great field, making it resemble a rocky shore ; and it proved both easier and safer to sail against the wind. He resolved, in spite of repeated repulses, to try another effort to the eastward ; and this time he was rewarded by some progress. Making way through ITiilchiyt's Uuudluud. h: RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 313 the floating ice, he came to an open sea, stretching ciiaP. ix. north-east, wliich inspired the most flattering hopes. The coast was neither so lofty nor exhibited the same monotonous aspect as the one he had just passed ; the tints being more varied, and having more of the natural colour of earth, had caused the early navigators to give to different points the names of Red Beach, Red Hill, and Red Cliff. At length he reached Moffen, a lowj^^^^^j ilat island, covered with numerous flocks of wild fowl, ibiaud. He continued two days longer to sail through an open sea, meeting only loose masses, till, on the 27th, he waa stopped by the main body of the ice lying east and west. He then coasted it to the eastward, pushing the ship, by a press of canvass, into the icy bays or openings, notwithstanding the large pieces by which these were encumbered. On the 29th July the expedition reached another island, larger than Moffen, clothed with moss, and well supplied with deer; on the shore of which were found large fir-trees, some seventy feet long, partly torn up by the roots, partly cut down by the axe, and fashioned into different shapes, but all perfectly entire. Two of the officera engaged in an encounter Encounter with a walrus, from which they came off with little JlJig^^ ** ^^ ' honour. The animal being alone, was wounded in the first instance ; but, plunging into the deep, he obtained a reinforcement of his fellows, who made a united attack upon the boat, wrested an oar from one of the men, and had nearly overset her, when another boat from the Carcass, under the command of Nelson, came to her relief. From the point which the discoverers had now Return of reached, they saw that remote peninsula of Spitzber- *'^"* gen which the Dutch call North-east-land, and beyond it the range of the Seven Islands. The ice, however, began to gather round them, and Captain Lutwidge, on ascending to the top of a high hill, saw to the east- ward one continued frozen surface, bounded only by the horizon. The ships were now becalmed amid a very beautiful and picturesque scene ; the immense 314 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. Alarm of tlic pilots. Plan of escape liy the boats. CHAP. IX field being covered with snow, except where some pools of w^ater were coated with a newly formed crust. The mariners attempted in vain to make any progress ; the ice closed fast, and no opening was any where seen, except for about a mile and a half round the vessels. The pilots, who had never before proceeded so far, wcro seriously alarmed lest they should be beset. Nor were their fears groundless; for next day the ships were frozen in faster than ever, not having room to turn, while the passage by which they entered had entirely closed up behind them. There was no longer any time for deliberation. Tlicy began sawing through deep ice, some of which was twelve feet thick ; and these labori- ous efforts only enabled them to move three hundred yards Avestward ; while the mass by whicii they were invested was moving in the opposite direction, carrying them along with it. In these circumstances, Captain Phipps conceived no time was to be lost in putting out the boats and dragging them over the surface, with the view of reaching the Dutch fishermen who usually about this period were known to shape their course homewards. On the 7th August they had got forward two miles ; and the commander, on his returning to the ships, finding the ice round them a little more open, caused all the sails to be set, by which means they were made to move, though but slowly, and still counteracted by the drift ice. However, being favoured by moist tifeopcu^sea. ^"•^ foggy weather, their progress soon became more rapid. They came up with the boats, and took them on board ; and on the 10th, having a brisk gale from the north-east, they forced their way through all ob- stacles, though not without sustaining many heavy strokes, and breaking the shank of their best bower anchor ; but about noon they found themselves in the open sea. Being thus delivered from their greatest fear, they repaired to the harbour of Smeerenberg for refreshment In its vicinity they admired a very lofty iceberg, which presented a perpendicular face nearly 300 feet high, of RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 315 I .of a fine light green, and down which a cascade was pour- chap, ix ing. " The black mountains, white snow, and beautiful uarbour of colour of the ice, made a very romantic and uncommon smccrca- picture." A large fragment, which had fallen into the ^'^'^^' sea, floated out, and grounded in twenty-four fathoms : it stood fifty feet in height, and was of the same beauti- ful tint. Captain Phipps, before quitting the Polar world, Polar pheno- made some general remarks on the phenomena which '"^"''■ it presents. In all cases he observed a great swell near the edge of the ice ; but, whenever he was enclosed among its loose fragments, the sea was perfectly smooth. According to Hudson, the green waters were free from ice, which was found only in the blue ; but no facts appeared to confirm this distinction, nor does there probably exist any. Marten described the sun at mid- night as resembling the moon in appearance ; but our observers could see no difference in its aspect, except what arose from its being lower in the heavens. On the 19th August, the captain weighed for Eng- Sail ing for land, and on the 24th was somewhat surprised by the •^dsIh"^ sight of the planet Jupiter, no star having for a long time been visible amid the perpetual light of the north- em sky. After passing Shetland on the 7th September, he sustained several very heavy gales, during which he lost three boats, and was obliged to throw two guns overboard. However, having reached Orfordness on the 24th, he proceeded without farther difficulty to the Nore. The result of this voyage, which was considered as Results of having been made under favourable circumstances, '^^® ^°^'"'^* tended in some degree to chill the hopes of penetrating more deeply into the Arctic regions. It seemed that, from the eightieth degree, ice in one unbroken field Ktretched to the Pole. The probability, however, of attaining the desired object by sailing northwards from the Pacific, between America and Asia, led to the equip- ment of Captain Cook for his third voyage. After that attempt had also failed, disappointment was followed as ?,16 RECENT roLAIl VOYAGES. Mr. Scorusby. Ncnrost iiripi()iic]i to tlio role. V: CHAP. IX usual by n suspension of iiitertat ; nnd the novtlicrn realms sunk almost into an entire oblivion clown to the recent period when the spiiit of discovery was again revived. Public attention was first recalled to them liy Mr Scoresby, who, bred a practical whale-fisher, had made obncrvations with an intelligent and scientific eye, very unusual among those who pursue a calling so rough and dangerous. In IBOG, this gentleman made the nearest approach to the Pole that had as yet been fully authenticated ; for the statements of the Dutch and other navigators, who boast of having proceeded farther, are subject to great doubt as to their observations of latitude. At this time he was acting as mate to his father, who commanded a Greenland ship from Hull. Having left Jan Mayen nnd the Whale Bight, they pushed northwards, when they reached an open sea, so extensive that its termi- nation could not be discovered, and it was believed to stretch four or five hundred square leagues. Airiving at length at a very close field, consisting of bay-ice compacted by drifting fragments, they had recourse to towing, boring, warping, and mill-dollingy — a process which consists in the use of a sort of battering-ram. Having thus opened a path across a very broad barrier, they came again to an open sea, which appeared nearly unbounded, having only the ice on the south and the land on the east. As their object was to catch whales, they chose a west-north-west direction. Swiftly cross- ing the shoii meridians of this parallel, they soon passed from the 10th degree of east to the 8th degree of west longitude ; their latitude being 79° 35', and the sea still open on every side. As fish, however, did not appear, they changed their tack, and ran east-north-cast about 800 miles, till they came to the 19th degree of east longitude, where they found them.selves in lat. 81° 30', being a degree higher than Phipps had attained, and only about 600 geographical miles from the Pole. Had discovery been their object, a favourable opportunity was now offered ; and neither master nor mate would Passing an ice bariicr. ' ! RECKNT POLAR VOYAGES. 317 Observations. have hccn insensiMe to tlic glory of nof|uirlng onlnrgod CITAP. IX. knowledge of tlu'so bouTularica of the earth. But they ,, . '~\ /» , •! 1 1 1 1 Kcstriimts on had hccn fitted out hy a niercnntile hody to hruig lionie discovery. a cargo of whale-oil, and this solid purpose could not ho posti)oned for the most hrilliant speculations of seionce. The sea to a great extent lay open hefore thenv ; hut, liS it contained no whales, they steered their course hack- wards towards Ilakluyt's Headland, and in its vicinity they caught twenty- four of these valuahle animals, from which were extracted 210 tuns of oil, Mr Scoreshy indulged his curiosity hy occasionally landing on islands, and clamhering up the lofty steeps which usually rise from their shores. The Fair Fore- land, at the north-west of S])itzbergen, was the first Arctic gi'ound on whieh he touched ; hut the fog soon spread so thickly that he could remark little excejit the immense multitude of birds which clustered around the rocks and precipices. Afterwards, in 1818, he landed near Mitre Ca])o, and undertook to reach the summit of the singular cliff of which it consists. Much of the ascent was over fragments of rock, so loose that the foot in walking slid back every step, and the party could make no progress but by the very laborious operations of running and leaping. The continuance of frost appears to cause this extraordinary decomposition of the '^t;<'"nipn''i- strata. At one place he iound a ridge so steep and narrow that he could seat himself across it as on the back of a horse. He reached the top, estimated at 3000 feet above the level of the ocean, about midnight, when the sun still shone bright upon it, causing such a rapid dissolution of the snow, that streams of water were flowing on all sides. It is considered remarkable that in this frozen region, where even at a moderate eleva- tion the mean annual temperature must be below the freezing-point, the highest summits should put off their winter-covering of snow, in which so many peaks, both of the temperate and of the torrid zones, arc pcj-pctually enveloped. It would appear, however, that during the m ii I I '■« I' t I? 1 1*' 318 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. Effects of solar heat. Polar scenery CHAP. IX short interval of continuous summer-day, the rays ot — the sun beating perpetually on the mountain-tops, which are raised above the fogs that brood over the sea, reduce a degree of heat much greater than corresponds with the latitude. Hence the general average of the year, and especially the months wliich compose the long Arctic night, must be marked by a fearful depression of the caloric influence. The view from this mountain is described by Mr Scoresby as equally grand and beautiful. On the east side were two finely sheltered bays ; while the sea, un- ruffled by a single breeze, formed an immense expanse to the west. The icebergs reared their fantastic forms almost on a level .vith the highest hills, whose cavities they filled, while the sun illumined but could not dis- solve them. The valleys were enamelled with beds of snow and ice, one of which extended beyond reach of the eye ; and in the interior, mountains rose beyond mountains, till they melted into distance. The cloud- less canopy above, and tb.e position of the party them- selves, on the pinnacle of a rock surrounded by tremen- dous precipices, conspired to render their situation equally singular and sublime. If a fragment was de- tached, either by accident or design, it bounded from rock to rock, raising smoke at every blow, and setting numerous other pieces in motion, till, amid showers of stones, it reached the bottom. The descent of the party was more difficult and perilous than the ascent ; the stones sinking beneath their steps, and rolling down, obliged them to walk abreast, otherwise the foremost might have been overwhelmed under the masses which those behind him dislodged. Finally, to the astonish- nr^mt and alarm of the sailors below, the mate and his companions, at one place, slid down an almost perpen- dicular wall of ice, and arrived in safety at the ships. The beach was found nearly covered with the » csts of terns, ducks, and other tenants of the Arctic air, in some of which there were young, over whom the parents Perilous debcent. RECENT FOLAR VOYAOES. 319 kept watch, and, by loud cries and vehement gestures, chap. ix. sought to defend them agamst the predatory tribes which liovcred around. Mr Scoresby, also, in 1817, made an excursion on Exclusion to Jan May en's Land. The most striking feature was the '^'j^J^'"^*^'*''' stately Beerenberg, which rears its head 6870 feet above the sea ; and being seen at the distance of thirty or forty leagues, proves a conspicuous landmark to the mariner. The first objects tliat attracted the eye were three magnificent icebergs, which rose to a very great height, stretching from the base of the mountain to the water's edge. Theii' usual greenish-gray colour, diver- sified by snow-white patches resembling foam, and with black points of rock jutting out from the surface, gave them exactly the appearance of immense cascades, which in falling had boen fixed by the power of frost. A party ascended an eminence which constituted only the lower ridge of the hill, yet was itself 1500 feet high ; and they were not long in discovering that the materials which composed it were entirely volcanic. They trode only upon ashes, slag, baked clay, and scoriai ; and whenever these substances rolled under nmtion. their feet, the ground beneath made a sound like that of empty metallic vessels or vaulted caverns. On the summit they observed a spacious crater, about 600 feet deep and 700 yards in diameter, the bottom of which was filled with alluvial matter, and which, being en- compassed by rugged walls of red clay half-baked, had the appearance of a spacious castle. A spring of water penetrated its side by a subterranean canal, and disap- peared in the sand. No attempt was made to ascend the principal cone, which towered in awful grandeur, white with snow, above the region of the clouds ; but at its feet was seen another crater surrounded by an im- mense accumulation of castellated lava. A large mass of iron was found, that had been smelted by the mterior fires. The volcano was at this time entirely silent ; but next year smoke was seen rising from it to a great height ; and the same phenomenon had, in 1818, been 320 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. ,-iiii Important diiicoveries. Refraction. ' i CHAP. IX. discerned by Captain Gilyott of the Richard, who even remarked a shining redness lilic the embers of a large fire. The most important discoveries, however, effected by Mr Scorcsby, took place in 1822, when he sailed in the ship Baffin, of 321 tons and 60 men, for the whale- fishery. In search of a better fishing-ground, he was led to the eastern coast of Greenland, — a tract absolutely unknown, unless at a few points which the Dutch had approaclied ; and it formed a continuous line with the shore on which the colonies of Old Greenland, the sub- ject of much controversy, were supposed to have been situated. In approaching this interesting coast, he was amused by the singularly refractive power of the Polar atmo- sphere, when acting upon ice and other objects discerned through its medium. The rugged surface assumed the forms of castles, obelisks, and spires, which here and there were sometimes so linked together as to present the appearance of an extensive city. At other times it resembled a forest of naked trees ; and Fancy scarcely required an effort to identify its varieties witli the pro- ductions of human art, — colossal statues, porticos of ricli and regular architecture, — even with the shapes of lions, bears, horses, and otlier animals. Ships were seen in- verted, and suspended high in the air, and their hulls often so magnified as to resemble huge edifices. Objects really beneath the .lorizon were raised into view in a most extraordinary manner. It seems positively ascer- tained, that points on the Greenland shore, not above 3000 or 4000 feet high, were seen at the distance of IGO miles. The extensive evaporation of the melting ice, with tlie unequal condensation produced by streams of cold air, are considered as the chief sources of this ex- traordinary refraction. It was on the 8th of June that, in 74° G' north lati- tude, the coast was discovered, extending from north to south about ninety miles, and of which the most north- erly point was concluded to be that named on the charts Sinsriilar apiJiiiifiUicLS RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 32 ICC, Land. Gale Ilamkes' Land, while the most southerly appeared chap. ix. to be Hudson's Hold-with-Hope. Mr Scoresby's am- ^^-^^ bition, however, to mount some of its crags, which no Hiunkes European foot had ever trodden, was defeated by an impassable barrier of ice ; and a similar one having closed in behind him, he was obliged to sail back and forward several days through a narrow channel. During this inten^al he had a good opportunity of taking the bearings and directions of the principal objects on land. The latitude, as given in the maps, was tolerably correct, and was indeed his only guide in tracing the positions ; for the longitude, after the most careful observation, v/as found to differ seven degrees from that in the best charts, and ten degrees from what is found in those usually supplied to the whale-fishers. The country was generally mountainous, rugged, and barren, bearing much resemblance to Spitzbergen, though less covered with snow. It could not be fully ascertained whether some low grourt' might not be interposed between the sea and the mountams ; but their aspect, and the general analogy of the Arctic shores, suggested the idea that these mighty cliffs dipped perpendicularly into the waves. Mr Scorcsby followed the usual system of naming the Names of the more prominent objects in the territory embraced by ^^^^^^ his discoveries. The two principal bays or inlets were designated Captain Kater and Sir Walter Scott ; while two spacious forelands or projecting peninsulas, the former supposed to be an island, were assigned to Dr Wollaston and Sir Everard Home. Other bays and capes were bestowed upon Sir Thomas Brisbane, Dr Brinklcy, Colonel Bcaufoy, Dr Holland, Mr Ilerschel, and some of the author's personal friends. Afterwards, obtaining the view of some smaller bays to the south, he Avas enabled to pay a similar compliment to Sir George IMackonzie, Sir Charles Giesecke, Baron Hum- boldt, M. de la J 'lace, and M. Freycinet. He now made a movement eastward in search of whales, of which he found no traces in the vicinity ot ni'w terri- 322 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. CHAP. IX. land, — a change of purpose wliich was attended with a i ■■■ii If \ DistR'ssing accident. very distressing circumstance. William Carr, one of his most expert harpooners, and a fine active fellow, had struck a whale, which flew off with such rapidity that the line was jerked out of its place, and threat(>ned the sinking of the boat. Having snatched the rope to re- place it in the proper position, he was caught by a sud- den turn, instantly dragged overboai'd, and plunged under water to rise no more. The boat having at once righted itself, the sailors looked round and asked, " Where is Carr V One man only had seen him disap- pear, but so instantaneously, that he could not describe the manner of the accident. A new coast. On the 19th July the navigatoi-s came in view of a range of coast, of a very bold and peculiar character, extending about forty miles. It presented a mountain- chain from three to four thousand feet high, rising at once from the beach in precipitous cliffs, which termi- nated in numberless peaks, cones, and pyramids. In one instance there appeared to rise six or seven tall parallel chimneys ; one of which, crowned with two vertical towers, was called Church Mount, This coast received the name of Liverpool ; while to the moun- tains was given that of Roscoe. The range of shore terminated at Cape Hodgson ; beyond which, however, steering south-west, they descried three other j)romon- tories ; to these were successively given the appellation of Cape Lister, Cape Swainson, and Cape Tobin. Here Mr Scoresby took, for the first time, the opportunity of landing ; when he found the beach much lower than that farther to the north, and consisting in a great mea- sure of loose stony hills. After some examination, he came, near Cape Swainson, to an enclosure simOar to those which the Esquimaux construct for their suni- mcr-luits, and within which were hollow structures like bee-hives, such as they use for stores. Tliere were also some remains of fuel, charred drift-wood, half burnt muss and ashes ; which last was considered as indicating the place that must have been occupied at no dist^iut Chpc Swain* Boa. X / ■i RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 323 period. As a faiihcr confirmation of this opinion, he CIIAP. ix- likcwise found instruments of wood and bone, one ol them tipped with iron. Resuming his course at sea, and still holding south- Jameson's westward, ho now discovered a spacious inlet, to which, i^'*"^- in looking upwards, no boundary could be seen. While penetrating this opening he observed another sound branching to the northward behind the Liverpool coa^^t, and supjiosed to form it into an island. The opposite shore of this entrance was named Jameson's Land, from the eminent professor of natural history in Edinburgh Beyond Cape Hooker, the southern point of the coast just described, another large inlet stretched towards tlic north, to which was given the name of Captain Basil Hall. It had every ajipearance of converting Jameson's Land into an island ; and the coast to the westward of it received the name of Milne's Land. Between Cape Milne's Land. Leslie, constituting the northern point of that coast, and Cape Stevenson, on the opposite shore, the original opening continued to stretch into the interior, without any appearance of a termination. Combining this ob- servation with the position of Jacob's Bight in the same latitude on the western coast, which Sir Charles Giesecke traced to the height of 150 miles, where it opened into a sort of inland sea, there appeared a strong presumption that, instead of the continuous mass of land which our majjs represent, Greenland composes only an immense arcliipelago of islands. To this great inlet, the entrance of which was bounded by Cape Tobin on the north and Cape Brewster on the south, the navigator gave the name of his father, though posterity will probably be apt to associate with himself the name of " Scoresby'a Sound." These coasts, especially that of Jameson's Land, were Artie f.nra. found richer in plants and verdure than any others seen on this occasion within the Arctic circle, and almost meriting the distinction of Greenland. The grass rose in one place to a foot in height, and there were meadows of several acres which appeared nearly equal to any in /vW fl I 'i a , Ji 1 >li 1 if 1 1 1 ■' i f: II 1; >1 it.::.. ^^ '^ 324 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. Native of a sb'ght hillock. in the eaith c:iAP. IX. England. But nowhere could a human heing he dis- E-quimaux covered ; though there were every where traces of recent huts. and even frequent inhabitation. At the foot of certain cliffs, named after Dr Neill, secretary to the Wcrnerian Society, were several hamlets of some extent. The huts appear to have been winter- abodes, not constructed of snow-slabs like the cells of the Esquimaux of Hudson's Bay, but resem' '-ng those of the Greenlanders, dug ('ocp in the ground, entered by a long winding passage or funnel, and roofed with a wooden frame overlaid with moss and earth. The mansion had thus the appearance Near the hamlets were excavations , serving as graves, where implements of hunting, found along with the bones of the deceased, proved the prevalence here of the general belief of savage nations, that the employments of man in the future life will exactly resemble those of the present. Thei-e was one wooden coffin, which the navigator was willing to believe might mark a remnant of European colonization. Still it was thought singular that the dwellers on this coast should have been recently so numerous, and yet not one of them left ; but it occurred that tlieso were probably winter-quarters, and that during the summer the natives might have repaired into the interior in search of those land-animals which retreat to the southward in the more rigorous season. On emerging from this large sound, and proceeding southward, Mr Scoresby discovered another continuous range of coast, where he observed a bay, which he named after Mr Wallace, and three capes after INIessrs Russell, Pillans, and Graham, all eminent professors in the Scottish capital ; also an island, which he dedicated to Captain Manl)y ; another island and a cape, wliich he associated with the reputation of Dr Henry and Mr Dalton, two distinguished chemists at ^Nhincliester ; and finally a third cape, which he assigned to Dr Barclay of Edinburgh. Disappointed as to any appearance of whales on this coast, ho again steered to the northward, where icebergs RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 325 surrounded him, amounting at one place to the number chap. ix. of five hundred. This course brought him in a few days icebergs. within sight of lands stretching still higher than those recently surveyed, and connecting them with the others wliich he had first discovered. There appeared two large ten'itories, seemingly insular, to which were given the names of Canning and Traill ; and between them was a most spacious inlet, honoured with the name of Sir Humphry Davy. On penetrating this opening, there arose several points of land, probably islands, presenting a range of mountains, which were made commemorative of Werner, the celebrated geologist; a smaller ridge was assigned to Dr Fleming ; after which were appropriated Capes Biot, Buache, and Carnegie. He landed on Traill Trail Island. Island, and with incredible toil clambered to the top of a hill, where he hoped to have found a small plain con- taining a few specimens of Arctic vegetation ; but this summit was steeper than the most narrowly pitched roof of a house, and, had not the opposite side been a little smoother, he would have found much difficulty in sliding down. Beyond this island, and separated from it by a considerable inlet named after Lord Mountnorris, was another coast ; the pointed extremity of which re- ceived the name of Captain Parry. This promontory being at no great distance from Cape Freycinet, which had been seen in the first survey, there was thus com- pleted the observation of a range of four hundred miles of coast, formerly known only by the most imperfect notices, and which might therefore be strictly considered as a new discovery. Mr Scoresby afterwards approached more closely to Cnnrin? Canning Island, and penetrated a sound between it and " ''""' the main, connected apparently with Hurry's Inlet, and where he gave names to Capes Allan, Krusenstern, and Buch. He would have been happy to* examine more of the Greenland coast, having on one occasion had a fair propect of being able to run southward to Cape Fare- well ; but the ship was not liis own, and his duty to his employers compelled him to turn in another direction. 326 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. CHAP. IX' He lixid hitherto met with much disappointment ; and, Appearance ot wliules. the season being; far advanced, lie was appreliensive of If Citptain, t'litvering. Arrival at llamnisrttst Desolate scene. being obli2:cd to return with a deficient car^'o. But on tlie 15th of August numerous wliides appeared round tlie ship : of these five were struck and tliree taken, which ot once rendered the ship full-fished, and placed him among the most successful adventurers of tlic; year. IIo could therefore return with satisfactory feelings ; and the pleasure of the voyage homeward was only alloyed by the occurrence of a violent storm off Lewis, in which y-._SjMn Chambers, one of the most esteemed and active of his crew, was washed overboard. To these discoveries some additions were made next year by Captain Clavcring, who was emi)loycd by the Admiralty to convey Captain Sabine to different stations in the Arctic Sea, for the purpose of making observations on the comparative length of the pendulum, as affected by the principle of attraction. Clavcring sailed on the 3d May 1823, and on the 2d June arrived at Ilammcrfest, where he landed the phi- losopher with his tents and instruments. The observa- tions being completed, he weighed anchor on the 23d, reached the northern coast of Spitzbergen, and fixed on a small island between Vogel Sang and Cloven ClifFfor farther operations. While Captain Sabine was employed upon the island, he endeavoured to push into a more northern latitude ; but, after great exertion, he could not reach beyond 80° 20'. Accompanied by the former, whom he had now rejoined, and whose observations were finished, he left this coast on the 22d July, and steered for the eastern shores of Greenland, of which he came in view on the 5th August. The scene appeared the most desolate he had ever beheld. The mountains rose to the height of several thousand feet, without a vestige of ve- getation, or the a{)pearance of any living creature on the earth or in the air. Even the dreary waste of Spitzbergen appeared a paradise to this. He landed his passenger and the scientific apparatus on two islands detached from the eastern shore of the continent, which he called the RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 327 PcTidulnm Islands, and of wliicli the outermost point is C'.IAR IX. maiked by a bold headland rising to the height of 8000 feet. While Captain Sahine was employed in his peculiar cnptaia researches, the other survej'cd a part of the coast which Sabine, lay to the northward, being the firet which l\Ir Scoresby saw. It lay at some distance, with an icy barrier in- terposed ; but was found indented with deep and spacious l)ays, suspected even to penetrate so far as to convert all this range of coast into a cluster of islands. The inlet, which the former navigator had assigned to Sir Walter Scott, was believed by Clavcring to be that discovered by the Dutch mariner Gale Hamkes ; but we have not ventured to remove this last from the more northerly position preferred by the scientific whaler. Other open- ings which occurred in proceeding towards the north were named by the captain, Foster's Bay, Ardincaple and Roseneath Inlets ; and he saw bold and high land still stretching in this du-ection as far as the seventy-sixth degree of latitude. In regard to the natives this commander was more fortunate than his predecessor, who saw only their deserted habitations. On landing at a point on the southern coast of Sir Walter Scott's Inlet, he received intelligence of Esquimaux having been seen at the dis- tance of a mile, and hastened thither with one of his officers. The natives on seeing them immediately ran to the top of some rocks ; but the English advanced, made friendly signs, deposited a mirror and a pair of worsted mittens at the foot of the precipice, and then retired. The savages came down, took these articles, and carried them away to the place of their retreat ; but they soon allowed the strangers to approach them, though their hands when shaken were found to tremble vio- lently. By degrees confidence was established, and they Confidence conducted the visiters to their tent, five feet high and ^stubhsiied. twelve in circumference, composed of wood and whale- bone. Their aspect and conformation, their boats and implements, exactly corresponded to those observed by Interview with the natives. 328 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. V' IA\ Cn lour of akin. Rehirn to the Tliuines. Danisli cx- peJitioi). CHAP. IX, Cfiptaina Parry and Lyon in Hudson's Bay. A child, after being diligently cleared of its thick coating of dirt and oil, was found to have a tawny, copper-coloured skin. The natives were astonished and alanncd beyond measure by the effect of fire-arms. A seal being shot, one of them was sent to fetch it. He examined it all over till he found the hole made by the ball, when, thrusting his finger into it, he set up a shout of astonishment, dancing and capering in the most extravagant manner. Another was prevailed upon to fire a pistol ; but instantly, on hearing the report, started and ran back into the tent. The observations were not completed till the begin- ning of September, when the season was too late to allow Captain Clave ring to gratify his wish of making a run to the northward. Nor did he extricate himself from the ice without some severe shocks ; but, nevertheless, after spending six weeks at Drontheim, he entered the Thames about the middle of December. We shall here, though deviating somewhat from a Polar direction, notice some recent attempts to com- plete the exploration of the eastern coast of Greenland. The Danish government, which holds the sovereignty over this vast extent of dreary shores, seems to have felt it unsuitable, while others were making important discoveries, that Denmark herself should remain in- active. In 1828, accordingly, they employed Captain Graah to proceed from the western settlements along the eastern side, as high as Cape Barclay, in latitude 69° 13', with the particular view of tracing any indica- tions of the early colonies believed to have been es- tablished there, but said to have been cut off from tho civilized world by an accumulation of ice. This officer, accordingly, in the spring of 1829, set out with a party in an open boat from Nennortalik, where he had wintered, and succeeded in surveying the coast as far as the latitude of C6° 18', when he was arrested by the frost. He observed, however, in 65° 30' some islands, which he conceives were those of Danel. Having spent the winter of 1829-30 on the east coast, in latitude C.iptrtin, Groult. RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 329 03° 22', in the spring of tlic latter year lie again sailed cuxv. ix northward, but was unable even to reach the point Ancient gained in the preceding summer. He considered that coloaioa by his observations he had coinj)letely disproved the possibility of any civilized settlements, with towns oi cluirchcs, having ever existed on this part of Greenland. Only a few scattered inhabitants, amounting in all to between 600 and GOO, were met with in the course of his expedition. Their language and customs wero similar to those of the Esquimaux ; yet it is very remarkable that in size, shape, coni2:)lexion, and in the form and expression of their countenance, they differ materially from that race, and bear much greater affinity to the Norwegians. Among the women and children, particularly, he observed many individuals having brown hair, while black is the universal colour among the other Grecnlanders. In their intercourse they were found to be friendly, honest, and hospitable.* There still remained between the most northerly Unexplored point reached by Captain Graah and Cape Barclay, the most southerly one observed by Scoresby, an un- explored coast of three degrees and a half, or about 240 miles in direct distance. The French government, First French ambitious to complete tlie survey of this Arctic terri- expedition. tory, fitted out the Lilloise brig of war, and gave the command to M. de Blosseville, already known as an eminent navigator. He sailed from Dunkirk in the spring of 1833, and arrived in July on the eastern shores of Iceland. Proceeding thence he explored ten leagues of the seacoast of Greenland (between G8° 3i', and 68° 55'), which had never been described by any former discov- erer. From some unexplained cause he returned to Iceland, though he wrote on the 6th of August from Vapnafiord, and again on the 16th, when on the eastein coast, that he was setting out to complete his undertak- ing, which he expected to effect in twenty days. Tlie ice was already dense and impenetrable ; but by steer- Journal of Geographical Society, vol. i. p. 247, &o. ii 330 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. Krciu'li ex puilitiua.] Unsatisfac- tory results. Ill CFIaP. IX. ini* nlonf? its outer cdgo, ns if it wore land, ho hoped without danj^cr to ncconiidish his ohjcct. Those, how- ever, were the List aeeounts received from this distin- guislied seaman, whose fate is still involved in a painful mystery. Next season the same government despatched M. Dutaillis, in La Bordelaise, to learn, if possilde, what had hecome of his predecessor. He arrived at Vapna- fiord on the 2Ld May 18.14, hut appears to have l)een misled by vague reports, which induced him to believe that Do Blosscville had sailed, not towards the north, but to the western coast of Iceland. It was not there- fore till the 5th August that ho actually steered in the lormer direction, which was by much the more probable one ; but the advanced season, with the tremendous sea, so alarmed him, that he determined to return. The authorities at Paris, however, considering, not without reason, that this search was very unsatisfactory, de- spatched, in April 1835, another vessel, named the Recherche, commanded by M. Trehouart. The king also, in conformity with a report made by Admiral Duperrey, offered a liberal reward to any one who should either aid in saving De Blosscville, or even bring satisfactory intelligence respecting the armament placed under his charge. The Reclierchc on the 7th May reached the coast of Iceland ; but in July, off Greenland, the crew encountered such obstruction from ice, that they were forced to relinquish any farther search. M. Trehouart accordingly returned to the former place, whence, sailing on the 1st Septem- ber, he arrived at Cherbourg on the IStli of the same month.* We have departed somewhat from the regular order of time, for the purpose of giving in a connected view the discoveries of Mr Scoresby and others along the coast of Greenland. Meantime, however, another at- • United Service Journal, May 1835. Nautical Magazine, No. xli. p. 437 ; and xliv. p. 625. ' ,t nECKNT rOLAIl VOYAGES rial tpmpt Imd 1)ccn mailo. to explore tlio depth of tlio Polar CITAP. TX Sea. Comhined with C'nptaiu Ross's expedition in fi,,p(^^ search of the North-west Passage, the Dorothea nnd UucUun. Trent were plaeed under the command of Captain Puelian, with the view of pushinyj direct to the Pole, and endeavouring, not only to reach that grand hound- ury, but to pass across it to India, — a voyage which, from the relative position of these two parts of the glohe, would have heen much shorter hy this route than by any other. It was contended by the supporters of this undertaking, that the failures of lludson, Fother- by, and Phijips, had occurred in consequence of their being entangled in the bays of Spitzbcrgcn ; that the production of ice takes place chiefly in the neighbour- hood of land ; and that, by keeping in the midst of the ocean, navigatoi*s would find an open sea. Captain Buchan, having set out early in the season Const of of 1818, came on the 27th May in view of Cherie Island. ^' ^ '^''''*^"' Without pausing there, he stretched along the western coast of Spitzbergen to the eightieth degree of north latitude, where he encountered a severe storm, which separated his vessels for a time, and obliged them to seek shelter in Magdalena Bay. On the 10th June he met several Greenland ships, and was informed by the mas- ters that, in the great sea to the westwai'd, to which he had looked with the most sanguine hope, the ice was completely impenetrable. He determined, therefore, to turn Hakluyt's Headland, and proceed north-east- ward in the track ultimately followed by Lord Mulgrave. On his way he was soon completely beset, being hemmed in by fields of ice ten or twelve miles in circuriiference, amid which icebergs rose in the rudest and most fan- tastic foims, appearing like specks in a boundless plain of alabaster. On the 26th June the navigators reached Fair navca Fair Haven, situated between Vogel Sang and Cloven "^"''ched. Cliff. Being detained here for some time, they found numerous herds of the walrus and the deer, and killed, after hard combats, several of the former, — one weigh- ing a ton ; while of the latter they despatched with 332 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. niAi' IX Tix-aiciulous galu. I ! '4 i I ill Return huuie. 1 1 S|8 < f I' : New schcnic of Mr. Scoresby. case from forty- five to fifty, the average weight of wliich was 120 lbs. Being at length enabled to move forward, they reached the latitude of 80° 32', where they were beset three weeks. On the 29th July, the Dorothea was again brought into open water ; but on the 30th she was exposed to a tremendous gale, which blew her upon the niaui body of the ice with a force that she was unable to resist. In this awful situation, the crew having no time to deliberate, determined to turn the helm so that the wind might drive the ship's head into the ice, where it was possible they might find a secure lodgement even amid this fearful tempest. The rudder was accordingly placed in the manner directed, and a solemn awe impressed the mariners during the few moments which were to decide whether the Dorothea was to be safely moored, or to be dashed to pieces. She struck with a terrible shock, which was repeated frequently in the course of half an hour. By that time she had forced her way more than twice her own length into the body of the ice, where she remained immovably fixed. By and by the gale moderated, and she was again brought into an open sea ; but she had been so shattered, and the water entered by such nu- merous leaks, that scarcely any effx>rt could preserve her from sinking. Next morning, however, being fine, the crew with much difficulty worked her round to the har^>our of Smeerenberg. There she was so far refitted as to be able in the beginning of September to take the sea, and on the 10th October came in view of the coast of England, near Flamborough Head. No farther attempt was made to reach the Pole in ships ; but, after a certain interval, a plan was devised to accomplish that object in vehicles drawn over the frozen surface of the ocean, — a scheme first suggested by Mr Scoresby. In a memoir read by this gentleman to the Wernerian Society, he endeavoured to prove that such a journey was neither so visionary nor so very j.erilous as it might appear to those who were unac- quainted with the Arctic regions. The Polar Sea, he RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 333 waa doubted not, would in some meridians present one con- chap. IX. tinned sheet of ice, the inequalities of which would p,.opo~i oppose no insurmountable bamer. Intervals of open boat sledge. water would be more troublesome ; yet the vehicle, being made capable of serving as a boat, might cither sail across or make a circuit round them. This convey- ance, he remarked, ought to be a sledge fonned of those light materials used by the Esquimaux in the construc- tion of their boats, and drawn either by rein-deer or _ . , dogs. The fomicr animals are so fleet, that, in favour- team. able circumstances, they might go and return in a fortnight, while the best dog-team would require live or six weeks ; the latter, however, would be more tractable, and better fitted for skimming over thin or broken ice. Tlioiigh the cold would be very severe, yet, as no alarming increase occuired between the seventieth and eightieth degrees of latitude, there was little ground to apprehend that in the remaining ten degrees it should become insupportable. For provisions were recommended portable soups, potted meats, and other substiuices, which, with little weight, contained much nourishment. These suggestions did not for a considerable time Cnptnin attract attention ; but at length Captain Parry, after i'""y=» his three brilliant voyages to the north-west, finding ' reason to suspect that his fiirther progress in that direction was hopeless, turned his thoughts to the probability of penetrating over the frozen sea to the Pole. Combining Mr Scorcsby's ideas with his own observations, and with a seiics of reflections derived by Captain Franklin from his extensive experience, he submitted to the Lords of the Admiralty the jilan of an ex])edition over the Polar ice. Their lordsliips, Now cxpedi liaving referred this proposal to the council and com- posed." " inittee of tlie Royal Society, and received a favourable report as to the advantages which science niiylit derive from such a journey, applied themselves with their usual alacrity to sui)ply the captain with every thing which could assist him in this bold undertaking. The 334 RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. Departure of the uxpeJi- tion. ^ II 1 iMl CHAP. ;x. Hccla was employed to carry him to tlio northern coast Hecia -i'ence and solitude. The adven- turers pushed on without hesitation beyond the realms of life ; but now, after three days of bad travelling, when their reckoning gave them ten or eleven miles of nu'm lit"' progi'ess, observation showed them to be four miles iintitii):ite south of the jmsition which tiny occupied on the even- '"''^^ ing of the 22d ; the drifting of the snow-fields having in that time carried them fourteen miles backward This was too much ; and to reach even the eighty-third degree, though only twenty miles distani, was now be- yond all reasonable hope. To ask the men to undergo 340 HECENT POLAR VOYAGES. pptcmiina- tion to ruturii. ■«!! Lilinrious return. ill !m: liln. CHAP. IX. such unparalleled toil and hardship, with the danger of their means being exhausted, while an invisible power undid what their most strenuous labours accomplished, was contrary to the views of their considerate com- niandei*. In short, he determined that they should take a day of nest, and then set out on their return. This resolution was communicated to the crew, who, though deeply disappouitcd at having achieved so little, acquiesced in the necessity, and consoled themselves with the idea of having gone fai'thcr north than any previous expedition of which there was a well authenti- cated record. The return was equally laborious as the going out, and in some respects more unpleasant from the increasing soft- ness of the ice and snow, — depriving them of confidence in any spot on which they placed their boats or persons, and often sinking two or three feet in an instant. How- ever, the drift southward made no longer any deduction from their progress, but added to it, every observation giving them several miles beyond their reckoning. There "was more open water, and it was a relief to them that the sun in their nightly journeying was lower in the horizon ; while, being to the northward, he did not, as formerly, glare in their faces. They met several bears, and killed one, which was eagerly devoured by the hungry crew ; but the meal was followed by such s^ymp- toms of indigestion as inspired an unfavourable opinion regarding the flesh of this animal, though Captain Parry attributed the bad effects to the enormous quantity eaten. At length, on the 11th August, they heard the sound of the surge breaking against the exterior margin of the great icy field. They were soon launched on the open sea, and reached Table Island, where a supply of bread had been deposited ; but Bruin had discovered it, and devoured the whole. They found, however, some ac- commodations ; while the stores left at Walden Island were still quite undisturbed. On the 21st the navigators arrived in Hecla Cove, from whence, soon afterwai'ds, they sailed for England. iScar klUed. 1 I I RECENT POLAR VOYAGES. 341 ltl!SllU of (lis,i|)poiut- muuL Such was the result of the firet and only attempt to chap. ix. penetrate to the Pole over the frozen surface of the deep. All the energy and hardihood of British seamen were exerted to the utmost, without making even an approach towards the fulfilment of their intention. A failure so complete has suspended for the present every idea of resuming the project ; yet there seems nothing in the details just given to deter from the enterprise as impos- sible, or even to render it very unfeasible. The unfavour- able issue seems evidently owing to the advanced season of the year, when the thaw and consequent dissolution of the ice had made great progress, and all the materials of the great northern floor were broken up. The water, inits progi'cssive conversion from solid into fluid, presented only a treacherous quicksand, in which the travellers sunk at every step, not without the risk of being finally swal- lowed up. The ice, in these intermediate stages of its states of tiio transition from hard to soft, and in the breaches and ^'^"' pressures to which this gave rise, assumed much more rugged forms than when it was spread and fast bound over the surface of the ocean. Its tendency also, when loosened, to float to the southward, inevitably defeats every attempt to proceed over it in a contrary direction; for which reason we concur in Mr Scoresby's opinion, that a departure much earlier in the season would be quite indusi^ensable to give any chance of success. We Ciinnces of would even go farther than that navigator, and advise ^""'^'** the adventurers to start at the dawn of the Polar day, when there would be a probable chance of returning by the end of June. Tiic great plain of ice would be niucli smoother and firmer at that than at any other season. It would be deeply covered with snow, which would fill various mterstices, convert rugged steeps into sloping ridges, and produce a suiface generally more level and unifonn. This coatuig, too, would then be much harder, perhaps sufficient to sustain the weight both of Jie men and boats, and aftbrd every where sure and solid footing, and wheels, it is probable, might be employed with ad- vantage, thougli wholly unfit for that rugged and sinkuig : I I II » J I I ill I i in\ illllilii 342 RECENT POLAR VOYAOES. Plima Hront jiKiiisions rc'iuircJ. CIIAP. IX- surface over which Captain Parry was ohlif!;ccl to tread. We arc even inclined to ask, wUetiier other machinery miglit not he Ijeneficially intnxhiccil I Could there not he constructed a lij^ht j)ortai)le hridge, to he thrown across chasms and from hummock to Inunniock, over which the keel of the hoats hy due adaptation mi^ht slide as on a railway, and the evils of friction be avoided I — ■ The cold, douhtless, would bo most intense ; but Captain I'arry's experience and management during his four winterings seem to have removed every apprehension tlmt it Avould ])rove fatal. The hoats might be herme- tically closed, with winding entrances, like the winter- huts of the Escpiiniaux ; and it was clearly established that, even in the darkest depths of the Polar winter, provided tempest did not fill the sky, it was possible, and even most siilutary, to perform brisk movements in the open air. The travellers would indeed rcfjuire an addition to their spirituous fuel, not a weighty article ; also a larger stock of clothes ; but these last it would be every way expedient to wear on their persons. The only circumstance which seems seriously alarming, is an observation made by Cai)tain Parry, that the daily allow- ance of provision, amounting to ten ounces of biscuit and nine of pemmican, was not found sufficient to maintain the men in full vigour ; and truly, when contrasted with their severe toils, it does appear an inadequate supply. It were dreadful indeed to think of sending a party to the Pole on short allowance. The quantity could not well be increased without making the drag- too severe ; hut we cannot help thinking that the victuals selected fulfilled very imperfectly the obvious condition of bemg such as to comprise the greatest possible nutriment in the least i)ossible bulk. Thus it seems unaccountable that the greater part of the food should have hcen fari- naceous, in the form of dry biscuit, which contains surely much less nourishment than the same weight of animal food. We pretend not to be at all versant in the mys- teries of cookery ; yet portal)le soup, for instance, might certainly have been so prepai'cd as to embody a much Quantity of piovisioiih. RKCENT rOLAR V0YA«F:S. 343 IS on ptTiitcr amount of nutritive su1)stanoc than more clried chaIv 1\. and I'oundc'il beef; and, if duly scisoned, miiiht have ^;|,,,.n,^,„ roiincd a most coiufovtahle uu-sh undt-r the snows of the loua. Pole. The addition of some rich cakrs, cheese, and Itutter, might seem likely to eompose a store whieh, without exceeding in weight that of Captain Parry, would yield a much larger proportion of nourishment ;ind strength. — We sliould hesitate to recommend Mr Scoresby's plan of being drawn to the Pole by rein-deer, or even of trusting to a team of any description. These anhnals would be liable to many casualties, and, should they break down at an advanced period of the route, the result might be disastrous in the extreme. This project would require, of course, that the ship .rraniro- should winter on the northern coast of Spitzbergcn, — ni'nts re an arrangement, we conceive, indispensable to avoid that ^i^"^*^*^ delay which had such aniiiflucnce in frustrating the late expedition. We arc surprised to find that even Captain Parry, after so many successful winterings, considers this as a serious objection. In fact, on seeing it admitted, tliat before the close of autumn a ship might penetrate to 82°, and perhaps to 83°, we are tempted to ask whether a dijscovery-ves-el might not, in the first season, push forward to that latitude, and select a station either in an island, if such should be found, or if not, whether it might not enclose itself within one of the great fields of ice, and there await the arrival of spring? A very considerable and probably the roughest portion of the Polar route would thus l)e avoided. 314 LXPEDITIONS TO TUE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. CPIAPTER X. Expcdilions to the Seas around Boothia. im;1|i!;. Equipment of the Terror ; Dangers in llmUon's Strait ; Ilosntmcnt in tlio Ico near Frozen Strait ; Series of Dreadful Perils off Southampton Island ; Disablement and Return of the Ship — Boat Voyage of Messrs. Dcaso and Simpson ; Labyrintli Hay ; Open Inlet from the Polar Sea to Back's Estuary ; Soutli Coastt» of Boothia and Victoria Land ; Ro-cntranco into the Copper- mine River — Expedition of Mr. Rac; M'intering at Repulse Bay ; Exploration of the Gulf of Akkolee to Lord Mayor's Buy and to the vicinity of the Fury and Ilecla Strait. CHAP. X. ^^ the year 1830, an expedition was equipped by the ■~~ British government, at the recommendation of tlie Royal Geographical Society, to complete the discovery of the coast-line between Regent's Inlet and Point Turnagain. His majesty's ship Terror was set apart for the service. {j['"x!^!^".^"'^ She had recently been strengthened in every possible manner for encountering the perils of the Polar Seas ; and she was now provided with every desirable appli- ance which the experience of former expeditions could suggest. Two chief novelties in the fitting out were a complicated warming apparatus, which looked beautiful in theory but did not work well in practice, and three sledges with iron runners, so contrived as to be readily convertible into wheeled carriages. Captain Back, who had just returned from the exploits of his great land 8imoin"eaTo^ joumey, was appointed to the command ; and a ship's the com- company of sixty men, nearly all volunteers, felt happy and proud to be placed under his authority. muuil EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AIIOUND noOTlHA. 345 The instructions given to Captain Back were to pro- chap. x. ceed to the lieaJ of Hudson's Strait, — to go either to nisiii^-utt. llepulso Bay or Wager River, eitlier directly through i'""* tlie Frozen Strait or circuitously by Roe's Welcome, — to put the bliip in a position of safety, and leave her in charge of an ullicer, and to go by land, with a large body of the crew, to examine the eastern shore of Prince Regent's Inlet, sending one detachment northward to the Fury and Ilecla Strait, and another westward to Point Turnfti-ain. The official docununt took a large view of probable contingences, but on the whole ex- pressed a full belief that the prescribed sei-vlce might be duly performed in one season, and that "this Arctic expedition might bo distinguished from all others by the promptitude of its execution, and by escaping from the gloomy and unprofitable waste of eight months de- tention ;" and it therefore gave distinct orders that every effort should be made to return to England in the fall of the current year. The Terror left Chatham on the 14th of June, 183G, Departure o* and was towed to the north of Scotland by the Rhada- '''" '^''"'"''• manthus steam vessel. She soon was buffeted for three days by a strong gale ; but notwithstanding her depth and massiveness, she pitched with remarkable ease, and scarcely strained a rope-yarn. On the 29th of July, when a good way across the mouth of Davis' Straits, she came first in view of the ice. The quantity of it was great ; and one enormous berg presented a vertical face of not less than 300 feet in height. Occasional clear and pleasant runs were afterwards made, but, in general, the obstructions were incessant and tremen- dous. And so early as from the 1st to the 3rd of August, when the ship was near the vexed and foggy shores of Resolution Island, she had to bore and manoeuvre her way among dense floes, high packs, and surging whirl- pools. Off the Savage Islands, two large parties; of the Sad- dle-back Esquimaux came on board, and gave disgust- •ly 346 EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. CHAP. X. ing confirmation to the truth of the stories which prc- PniUiu^-Tpiick vious voyagers liad told respecting their thievishness i!:squuuuux. and brutality. " The women in particular," says Cap- tain Back, " were more outiageous than I had ever ob- served before ; for besides di^-pdsing of tlieir garments, which they never hesitated to do, more than one actu- ally ofli'ered to barter their children for a few needles." Some committed theft in spite of the utmost vigilance of the crew to prevent it ; and a young woman, on ob- serving that one of the officers had not much hair on his head, otTered to supply him with her own at the price of a curtain-ring. On the 8th of August the ship was moored to a large iceberg for protection from a gale. But the berg looked dangerous, and was anxiously watched by the officers lest it should capsize and overwhelm them. Early next morning, it was violently struck on the weather- side, by a heavy drifting floe ; and for some minutes, it rocked and oscillated in awful menace of an overturn. But a large piece fell with a splash into the sea from one of its corners, and providentially restored the equilibrium. The Terror On the 14th of August, the Terror entered the nar- Rtcers for the |-o\vs between Salisbury Island and the north coast ; Strait. and a resolution was now taken to steer for the irozen Strait. The course for four days continued to be severe, yet afforded considerable promise. But on the 18th, after the ship had worked for some time in only one hole of water, she was arrested l)y a dense unbroken pack, of fearful extent, and most wildly lugaed surface. The ablest of the crew, who had spent all their manly years in the Greenland fishery, declared that they liad never seen such heavy ice. Yet the ship pushed boldly into it : and very soon, to the surprise and joy of all, the stujjcndous mass went asunder, and disclosed a path through what seemed an impenetrable barrier. "Such," remarks Cajitain Back, "are the strange incidents of polar navigation, which, tliough less striking than thu EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. 347 wild commotions of the earthquake and tornado, are at all events calculated to excite equal gratitude to that merciful Piovidence whose protecting care is over all his works, in the icy waste no less than in the thronged city." On the 23rd of August, they sighted Baffin Island, which flanks the north side of the entrance of the Frozen Strait. But they found not a channel or a water-lane, even of the width of a brook, to invite them on toward a fulfilment of their hopes. The scene everywhere around them was a tumulated sea of ice, without one break, without one cheering feature, and with a surface so rou^h, and heaved, and peaked, that no human being could have travelled on it for more than a very brief distance. They all but abandoned expectation of ever getting into the Frozen Strait ; and were now glad to attempt to work their way toward Southamj)ton island. They warjjed and bored, and spent many an hour in feverish excitement. On the 25th they made some little distance through a slack ; but at sunset, they weie stopped near an extensive floe, where, from the efi'ects of pressure, some ponderous masses, not unlike the blocks of a Titanian ruin, had been heaped up to the height of thirty feet. "The land, blue from distance, and beautifully soft as con- trasted with the white cold glare of the interminable ice around, reflecting !)y the setting sun the tints of the intervening masses thrown into the most j)icturesque groups and forms, spires, turrets, and pyramids, many in deep shade, presented altogether a scene sufficient for a time to cheat the imauination and withdraw the mind from the cheerless reality of their situation." On the 5th <»f September, when they were firmly fixed about sixteen miles from Southampton Island, and saw some temptiei'4 lanes of water at no great distance, they fell to the spirited task of cutting a way through the ice by mechanical force. All the ship's company, officers and men, seized axes, ice-chisels, handpikes, and CHAP. X. In siftht of Bufllu island Attempt to rciuli Sduth- iimiiton IblaiiU. Cutting tlivuugh tbe ice. 348 EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. CHAP. X. Good lin- iiioiir of the cruw. ExtrcTTK* Cajn! Com- fort. long poles, and vied with one another in driving the blocks asunder, and in dragging them away to the nearest pool. "In this service, they were frequently obliged to fasten lines to the heavier masses, and haul them out ; and though slipping and turning about, yet the light-hearted fellows pulled in unison to a cheerful song, and laughed and joked with the unreflecting merriment of schoolboys. Every now and then some luckless wight broke through the thin ice, and plunged up to his neck; another endeavouring to remove a piece of ice, by pushing against a large mass, would set him- self adrift with it ; and every such adventure was followed by shouts of laughter and vociferous mirth." They succeeded in setting the ship fi*ee, and got her into a run of several miles toward the land ; but so early as next morning, they were once more " in a fix." Iligh winds and foul weather at the same time came on, and seriously bewildered them ; yet, on the whole, did them good service by driving them slowly toward the shore. On the 14th of September, within about four miles of Cape Comfort, the ship became severely " nipped." A violent, agitative, landward motion pressed all the surrounding ice into the utmost possible compactness, raised much of it into ponderous pointed heaps of twenty feet and upwards in height, and jammed the ship with perilous tightness between the nearest masses. Not a pool of water was now to be seen ; not a foot of shelter marred the terrors of the blast ; and the hardy adventurers could look only to the interposition of Providence for deliverance and protection. "None but those who have experienced it," said their brave leader, *'can judij,e of the weariness of heart, the blank of feel- ing, the feverish sickliness of taste which get the better of the whole man imder circumstances such as these." The ha])less ship was, for many days, drifted back- ward and forward, along the coast and away from it, over a range of about thirty miles, just as the wind o«- mi EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROJND ROOTIIIA. 349 the current or the tide directed. The hlack frowning cttap. x. cliffs" of Cape Comfort might have seemed to the most sluggish imagination to grin upon her in irony. She lay in the grip of the ice-masses as helplessly as a kid does in the folds of a boa-constrictor ; and once, when she slipped from that grip, or was hurtled into a change of position, she left her form as perfectly impressed behind her as if it had been struck in a di«s. The many old Greenland seaman on board all declared that they had never before seen a ship which could liave resisted such a pressure. The perils, too, were increas- ing ; and at length, on the 24th of September, the ah lu.pc of officers unani'r.ously expressed a conviction, founded on fn'^''^'' p'""* the experience of the precedmg thirty-four days, that douciL all hope of making further progress that season toward Repulse Bay was gone. Captain Back now resolved to cut a doc'^ in the only adjacent floe which seemed sufficiently large and high to afford the ship fair protection. But on the very next day, by one of those extraordinary convulsions which are the last hope of the ice-bound Arctic voyager, the whole body of ice for leagues around got into general commotion, and burst into single masses ; and com- mencing an impetuous rush to the west, tossed many blocks into heaps, ground others to powder, whirled all into a hurly burly, and bore away the ship like a a storm feather toward the Frozen Strait. Nothing could be J,';i;,7,".„rd done by the crew but to await the issue ; and when the tiie Frozen storm subsided they found themselves midway between Cajie Comfort and the entrance of the Frozen Strait, about three miles from the shore, without any prospect of either forcing their way into a harbour or finding some little shelter in a floe. They were once more firmly beset, with the additional calamity of being so much tilted up that the stern of the ship lay seven and a half feet above the horizontal, and the bow was jammed downward on the masses ahead. "Thus," says Cap- tain Back, "ended a month of vexation, disappoint- 350 EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND nOOTIIIA ■i:; .lii V 'I'll ,"!' Fmyth liar buur. CTIAP. X. ment, and anxiety, to me personally more disiressing and intoleraWle than the woist pressure of the worst evils ■which had hefallen me in any other expedition." In October, the ship gradually righted, and then was carried through a series of vicissitudes not much dis- siuiilar to her bygone disasters. On the 1st of Novem- ber, the warming ai)paratus was specially needed, and put vigorously into requisition, but wofully failed. On the 7th a party walked to the land, and surveyed a harbour one mile and a half [long, and half a mile broad, to which they gave the name of Sniyth Harbour. The ship had now lain so long at rest on her ice-cradle, that hopes were entertained of uninterrupted quietness till the end of the season ; but from the 8th till the 19th, she was again wiiirled hither and thither by the fury of storms and currents ; and on one occasion, she was borne within 3,()50 yards of the inaccessible cliff's of Cape Comfort, and seemed in no small jieril of being unmoved from her icy bed, and crushed to a jelly against the rocks. But she remained firm on the floe, merely overhung and menaced for days by the tumults of the shore ice. This was thrown up on the shelving cliffs, ulkheads in every part, loosen- ing some shores oi stanchions^ so that the slightest eflbrt nari;Utvc EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. 355 would have thrown them down, and compressing others CllAr ^L with such force as to make the turpentine ooze out of " their extremities. One fir plank, placed horizontally between the beams and the shores, actually glittered with globules. At the same time, the pressure was Sovcrc pif v going on from the larboard side, where the three heaviest ^111^."" ""* parts of the ruin of the floe remained, cracked here and there, but yet adhering in firm and solid bodies. These of course were irresistible ; and after much groaning, splitting, and cracking, accompanied by sounds like the explosion of cannon, the ship rose fore and aft, and heeled over about 10° to starboard." " At this time." past nine o'clock in the evening of the tlth of March, "she showed symptoms of suffering in the hull, which was evidently undergoing a severe ordeal. Inexplicable noises, in which the sharp sounds of splitting, and the harsher ones of grinding, were most distinct, came in quick succession, and then again stopjied suddenly, leaving all so still that not even a breath was heard. In an instant the ship was felt to rise under our feet, and the roaring and rushing recom- menced with a deafening din alongside, abeam and astern, at one and the same instant. Alongside, the grinding masses held the ship tight as in a vice ; while the overwhelming pressure of the entire body, advancing from the west, so wedged the stern and starboard quar- ter, that the greatest apprehensions were entertained for the stern-post and frame-work abaft. Some idea of the power exerted on this occasion may be gathered from tliis : — At the moment which I am now describing the increase of forepart of the ship was literally buried as high as the ' '^"i"*^*''"'* flukes of the anchors in a dock of perpendicular walls of ice, — so that, in that part she might well have been thou.';ht immoveable. Still, such was the force, applied to her abaft, that after much cracking and perceptible yielding of the beams, which seemed to curve upwards, she actually rose by sheer pressure above the dock for- ward, and then with sudden jerks did the same abaft. hi> I' Ul)JiPnvul of tlie slilp. i lil' 35G EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTHIA. CHAP. X. During tliese convulsions many of tlic carpenters, anJ othors stationed 1)l'1o\v, were violently thrown down on the deck as people are in an eaitluiuuke. It was a moment of intense suspense." "On tlie IGtli of M;irch, another rush drove irresistihly on the larhoard qu;\rter and stern, and, forcin'^ the sliip ahead, raised her upon the ice. A chaotic ruin followed ; our poor and cherislnd court-yard, its wall and arched doors, gallery, ami well-trodden paths, were rent, and in some parts ploughed up like dust. The ship was careened fully four streaks, and sprung a leak as before. Scarcely were ten minutes left us for the expression of our astonish- ment, that anything of human build could outlive such assaults, when another equally violent rush succeeded; and in its way toward the starboard cpiarter, threw up a rolling wave thirty feet high, crowned by a blue square mass of many tons, resembling the entire side of a house, which, afler hanging for some time in doubtful poise on the ridge, at length fell with a crash into the hollow, in which, as in a cavern, the after part of the ship seemed embedded. It was indeed an awful crisis, rendered more frightful from the mistiness of the night and dimness of the moon. The poor ship cracked and trembled violently; and no one could say that the next minute would not be her last, and, indeed, his own too, for with her our means of safi-ty would probably perish." During all the period of disasters after the disruption of the floe, the ship was carried hither and thither over a range of from twenty-six to forty-eight miles north- west of Seahorse Point, and seldom further than about ten miles from the nearest land. But after the IGth of March, she set pi-etty steadily toward the south-east, and kept a good deal nearer the shore. The ollicers, at CnnsultiUion a formal consultation, agreed that she now seemed liable to be lost at any moment, and that a light boat, with provisi(ms, should, if possible, be landed to serve as a last resource, to communicate with the Hudson's Bay Company's factory, in the event of her going down. All .a\\ful oftlicol!ic»»'""" ic^;-' confusion, and cleared on and provisioned the boats with astonishing; coolness and promptitude. She went so completely on her beam ends that no man in her could move without holding on ; but she went no farther. A submerged ice-mass, whose end was congealed to her bottom, and wliose other end projected right out from her, was the cause of iier overturn, and it now hehl lier firm in her perilous position. Ollicers and men beheld it with awe, and set promptly and energetically to the arduous task of sawing it otf. They worked from eleven o'clock in the forenoon till two in the following morning, afraid that a squall might arise and ruiu them ; and when at last they had only ten feet more to saw, but were compelled by fatigue and drowsiness to go in quest of a short repose on the deck, suddenly there was a grating sound of breaking ice, and, before a word could be spoken, the ship sprang free and entirely Siie is swi righted. Tiie cheering of the crew was vociferous, and '^'" their joy unbounded. Four months, all but a day, had the ship been in the grip of the ice ; and now, after a romance of perils, and a cycle of providential deliver- inccs, she was again subject to the control of man. The last scenes we have described took place in the vicinity of Charles Island, about midway between C;ipe Comfort and the mouth of Hudson Strait. The query was naturally raised whether anything could now be done to prosecute the object of the expedition ; but the ship ^hc is was found to be far too shattered to go again in her pre- ti'ini'.n-hiy sent state into collision with the ice, and a serious doubt ^''s'^'j'^'i- soon arose whether she should be able to cross the sea to a British harbour. There was nothing for it but to run her, with all possible speed, toward home. She was utterly crazy, and broken, and leaky ; and not even m ■ * ^» is I n I li 1 U ^: n i li 1 1 ' i ti;i' ill, or to Irdui.ii. 300 F.xprniTioNf? to the seas around nooTiiiA. CtiAP. X. lier pf^riliius tumbliir,' .inu'tif; tlie ice-masses, around tlie difemnl Cape Cojiifurt and the horrid Seahorse Point, were more perihius tlian the strutrt,dinjr, sta_'i,'ering, w;:tcr-logt;ed voyapr*; wliicdi slie made across tlie Northern Hot urn of Atlantic. She at last readiid the porth-we.st coast of Ireland, emdually sinkini: hy tlie head, ami was run ashore in Louuli Suilly on the .^d of Si-ptendxr ; and had slie heen three hoiiis lon'.'er at sea, she would cer- tainly liave gone to tiie Imttom. Her wliole franit? pr(»ved to he strained and twisteti ; many of lier bolts >vere either loosened or Ijroken ; lur fniefuot 'Aas en- tirely frone : and upwards of twenty feet of her keel, tc ether with ten feet of her stern-jK .'t, liad heen diiven over more than three feet and a lialf on one side, leav- ing a frightful opening,' astern for the free in;,'iess of water. "Well, therefore, mi^ht lier crew, wlien they afterwards looked on her as she lav drv on the headx at low water, express astonishment that evf^r they had floated liack in her to British shores, and amjjle occa- sion had they to cherish adorint,' gratitude to the all- powerful and all-benevolent Being who had preserved them. Main part of the object for which tlie Terror expedi- tion was fitted out in IhSfi, and which all then suirered so sad a defeat throui;h the disasters of the voyage, was accomplished by widely#difVerent means in 18.30. Allu- sion is made, on page 307, to Arctic land expt-ditions ia 18?i7 and 1838, by Messrs. Dease and Simpson, two officers of the Hudson's Bay Company ; and a reason is there given for not introducing a notice of these expe- ditio);s to this volume. But another exjiedition, of broader character and far more extensive results, was conducted by the same parties in ^839. This was ac- complished, in a gj-eat degree, in boats on the sea ; it traversed unknown straits and inlets as extensively :\s had been done by some of the maritime expeditions ; it traced much of the tract between Regent's Inlet and Jfpwrs. I)tas<' nml exjiuUitiv/n. EXPEDITIONS TO THE i?EAS AROUND rOOTIIIA. oGl .^e, was Point Tuinagain, and discovered a seeming strait be- chat. x. tween Bodtliin Felix and the Anu-rican maiiiiand ; and it wassupiiu^etl tobtuUify two of the iiriiici]ial ab.-erti' lontr. 93° 10' W., is a sjjacious bay, reaching as far south as C~^ 40', and intricately diversified by innu- merable islets, and by a countless succession of minor inlets and long narrow projecting' points. lit f' 11 r ' i i CHAP. X. AVItUo Bear ruiiit. iS'i 3G2 EXPF.DTTIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND P-OOTIHA. ]Messi'8. Dease and Simpson found the roiJte through this bay extremely intricate, and the labour of survey- ing it not a little harassing ; but while perplexed be- yond measure to thread their way among the labyrinths, they derived great advantage from the protection which the islets aflbrded from the crushing force of the seaward ice. On one 'ittle headland which projects beyond the range of the islets, and is situated in lat. 68' 7' N., and long. 103^ 37' W., and to which they gave tbe name of "White Bear Point, they were detained by the ice from the 1st to the 5th of August. Esquimaux, mostly old persons, were met with whenever they landed, and ap- peared to subsist in single families, or in very small parties, and to spend the months from June till October in deer-hunting inland, and from October till June in seal-catching on the coast. A -"iver, to v/hich the ex- Eiiicc Hivcr. plorers gave the name of Ellice Riv^r, falls into the sea in lat. G8' 2' N., and long. 104° ir>' W., and has twice the volume of the Coppermine, and ifi much frequented by rein-deer end musk-oxen in summer. The country around comprises green flats, small lakes, and knotty knolls. Finding all the east side of the gi'cat bay terdinjr in a northerly direction, Messrs. Dease and Simpson ox- I'octed nothing else than to be carried on to the Cape Felix of Sir James C. Ross ; but on rounding Cape Geddes, on the evening of the lOfh of August, they suddenly opened a strait extending to the southward of oast where the rapid rush of the tide left scarcely a doubt of open sea-communication with the estuary of Back's River. This strait is ten miles wide at cither extremity, but contracts to three miles in the centre, and has there a deep, though narrow channel. On the 12th of August, the explorers cncouutorod a most ter- rific thund(?rstorm, and next dny they hud a i«Migh wind from the west, accompanied by a \cvy (h'uso fn<^. But tliey ran rapidly along the strait, passed Point llicliard- Bon and Point Ogle, entered the estuary of Back's Tnlpt to I'.acli's Kstu- ary, EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AKOUND ROOTIIIA. 3G3 River, ami careered on till the darkness of the night and chap. x. the increasing fury of the gale drove them ashore beyond Point Pechell. The wind veered to the north-east, and continued till the IGth, and then they directed their course, with flags flying, to IMontreal Island, and landed >ront •enl on it near the spot where Back had encamped. isiauu. They had thus ascertained that the American continent is separated from Boothia to the westward of the Back Estuary ; and though they might now have very justly regarded their mission as completed, they had too much of the arduous and adventurous spirit of geographical discoverers not to feel anxious to ascertain, even at the cost of peril and privation, whether a separation existed also to the eastward. They therefore rowed toward the furthest visible land in the north-east, a l)luftj bold, rocky, singularly-shaped promontorj'. situated in lat. Ciipo 68° 4' N., and long. 94° 35' W. They reached this at ^^"''"'»'"- sunrise on the 17th, after six hours of unremitting labour at the oar, and they called it Cape Britannia. Here they remained wind-bound till the 19th; and on a beetling rock which sheltered their encampment from the sea, and wnich forms the most conspicuous object over a great extent of coast, they erected a strong coni- cal cairn, fourteen feet in height. On the 19th they flrst .'rossod a fine bay, due east, with no small toil and danger, and then made a fine run of forty miles along a north-ea&tern stretch of coast , i>',\<\ next day they struggled all morning among shuals and breakers, with- out gaining a greater distance than three miles, and then ft'lt obliged to take refuge in the mouth of a small river. This i)roved the extj-enu' point of their voyage, riio pNttome and they called it Castor and Pollux. From a lime- stone ridge about a league inland they saw in the north- east some verv remote blue land which seemed, in all pvo1)ability, one of the southern promontories of Boothia ; they saw a so two considerable islands fir in the oiling, find other islands, high and distant, extending from the east to the east north-east, and they observed that the "lint oi the voyage II CHAT. x. illMibitinll I'f ItlMllllK, Felix. Exnminatiiin of tho south pluiic of liuutliia. 3G4 F.xPF.niTioNS to tite seas AIJOUND nOOTIHA. low main-shore in their ininiodiutevicinity, first stretched only about five miles to the east, and then a]»[)eure(l to turn off {ireatly to tlie right. They could scarcely doubt, therefore, that they iiad arrived at the lart^e gulf various!)' called Akkolee and Boothia, which nicrges northward into Prince Regent's Inlet, and extends southward to within forty miles of Repulse and Wagev Rays. Thus apparently were Sir J(din Ross's assertions, that an isthnnis connects Roothia Felix with the American mainland, and that the Polar Sea has a level of tiiirteen feet hi\;her than the Gulf of Roothia, ascertained to be thorou'^h crror.'^. Hence came the declaration to be made in hiL;h (juarters, " Where, according to Sir Jolni Ross, the broad ocean leans against the land, Messrs. l)ease and Simpson navigated a continuous sea, without leaping the imagined isthmus, or looking down the descent of thirteen feet measured l>y Sir John Ross's theodolite." The exjdorers. however, made allusion to Sir Jolin mainly to express their achnirati'Ui, as well they might, of his extraordinary escape from tiiis peril- ous region. They themselves could not liave attempted to penetrate farther without being desperately fool- hardy. Rut they wisjied to make the most of their circumstances, and tlierefore resolved to take a look on their way back at the northern shores of the strait which they had navigated. On the 21st of August they left Cape Rritannia, and commenctd their voy.ige homeward ; and on the 2-Uh they crossed over from l\)int Richardson to the southern shore of Boothia. This shore they traced westward for ftbout sixty milvs, to a jtromontory which they called Cape Ilerschel, and which is situated nearly opposite Cape Geddes, am they found it to be a low uninterest- ing limestone tract, abounding in rein-deer, musk-oxen, and old native encampments. A good deal of ice was Been to the west, and a cairn was constructed on Capo Uerschel. On the £5th they recrosscd tlic strait, and EXrEDlTIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND POOTIIIA. 3G5 retraced, for pome time, their outward route. The CIIAP. x weather now hecaino \insottle(l and severe, and confined tliem (lui-ing four days to one spot. But on the (ith of Seiiti'UihcM-, wlien l)ettcv weatlier had returned, thoy struck from the Kllice River twenty-two miles north- ni^Monofr north-westward to an extensive island, ran for twenty '^*' miles north-westward alonp; the coast of this, and then struck aliiiut the same distance northward to the nearest point of Victoria Land, The latter part of this run was ])erf()nned under night, and they say respecting it, " We have never seen anything more hrilliant than the pliosphoric gleaming of the waves when darkness set in ; the hoats seemed to cleave a flood of molten silver, and the spvay dashed from their hows hefovp the fresli hreeze fell la'k like showers of diamonds into the deep. It was a cold night, and when we at last made the land, clills faced with eternal ice obliged us to run for a couple of leagues before we could take the shore with safety." Tliey explored the coast of Victoria Land for upwards Tbor«vivtof of lAO miles, and found it incomparaldv the boldest l"'",""' which they had anywhere seen in the Arctic Seas. Often, near the shore, no bottom could he reached with thirtv-tive fathom of line, and evervwhere the cerulean hue of the water ijulicated a profound depth. There are several noble bays, and ti. largest, which they called Wellington Bay, recedes to 'it. (J!)'^ 40' N., and in twenty miles wide, correspondiUj/'y long, and screened by snow clad lUi .ntains. Tiie extreme point reached by the expedition bore by comimtation fifty miles north-north-east of Cape Barrow ; and there the coast begins again to trend northward of west. What relation Victoria Land bears to Wollaston Land, situated north of the west side of Covonatiou Gulf, was not ascertained ; but j)robabIy the two countries are separated by a wide channel. On the lOtli cf September, with a side wind and a rough sea, Messsis. Dease and Simpson recrosstd the dOO EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AROUND BOOTIUA. i i )^ CIIAP. X, magnificent islot-studded sound to the mainland ; and they were greatly delighted, on the passage, by the firm bearing of their gallant, old, severely-tried boats. They afterwards were vexed for several days by furious winds ; but on the 16th they entered the Coppermine River, after by far the longest voyage ever performed by boats on the Polar Sea ; and on the 24th, they safely reached Fort Confidence. Pftum of Ajcssrs. I)i-ast.' ami Siini)S()n up tliu dniiJur- iniiic. Expedition of Mr. lUo. •A The supposed great bay extending from the farthest point reached by ]\Iessrs. Dease and Simpson, eastward to the Fury and Ilecla Strait, now became an object of intense interest. The mystery which overhung the north-east corner of the American mainland seemed at last to be almost revealed. Let but the coast-line from the mouth of the Castor and Pollux to the eastern ex- tremity of the Gulf of Akkolee be examined, so as to connect the discoveries of Messrs. Dease and Simpson with those of the second voyage of Captain Parry and those of the second voyage of Captain John Ross, and all would become plain In 1846, accordingly, the Hudson's Bay Company fitted out an expedition to effect this object. The start- ing point was Churchill station, on the south-west coast of Hudson's Bay ; the route was by way of Repulse Bay, first up the western, and next up the eastern coast cf the Gulf Akkolee ; and the mode of progress was chivfly navigation in two boats, and partly land-portage and travelling. The number of men was thirteen; and the commander was ]\Ir. John Kae. So highly was the en- terprise estimated by its promoters, thf^c tlie Gcjvernor- in-chief of the Company's territories fjaiu, resi)ecting it, in his official instructions to Mr. Rf.e, " Let me assure you that we look confidently to you for tlie solution of what may be deemed the final problc.n in the geography of the northern hemisphere. The eyes of all who take an interest in the sulject are fixed on the Hudson's Bay Company. From us the world expects the luial settle- EXPEDITIONS TO THE SEAS AKOLND 1500TIIIA. 3G7 f ment of the question that has occupied the attention of chap. x. our country for two hundred years ; and your safe and " triumphant return, which may God in his mercy grant, will, I trust, speedily compensate the Hudson's Bi-y Company for its repeated sacrifices and protracted anxieties." Only the final object of the expedition, however, and not any details of the progress northward by which that object was attained, belongs to the subject of the present volume ; so that all we shall have to say of it must be condensed into a very brief and general statement. The party left Churchill at the breaking up of the ice, Pmirross to on the 6th of July 1846. They quitted the head of IJ'i^^'^li^"' Repulse Bay, in lat. 60° 32' N., and succeeded in con- veying one of their boats to the southern extremity of the Gulf of Akkolee, in lat. 67" 13' N. They found a chain of lakes lying across the isthmus, and derived ^reat aid from it to the conveying of the boat. They pro- ceeded along the coast of the Gulf of Akkolee till the Gth of August, — and they observed the tides to be aver- agely far higher than in the Polar Sea, bi exceedingly irregular, and varying in rise from four to ten feet ; and already they began to entertain a strong presumption that Boothia, after all, is a peninsula of the American mainland. But they were r.tterly baffled in their pro- gress by ice and fogs and northerly winds ; and felt obliged to return at about lat 67' 3U' N., and to retrace their steps to spend the winter at Repulse Bay. There Wintcrinfr nt they built a house, and procured a stock of provisions by ^'^1'"'=*'^ ^''>'* hunting and fishing, principally rein-doer and salmon ; and, excepting what was used for cooking, they had no fuel throughout the winter. On the 5th of April 1847, six of tlie party again started north with sledges, and travelled along the we.st shore of the Gulf of Akkolee ; and on the 18th, they reached the vicinity of Sir John Ross's most southerly discoveries. The question of the supjioscd communica- tion with the Polar Sea was here to be set at rest. They n V i if Ml 3G8 r.xrF.DiTioNa to tiik pkas around nooiiiiA. CHAP. X- decided now to strike off from the coast across the land, as nearly north as possible; and they had a tiresonic inarch through snow, and across three small lakes ; and at noon, wIm-ii near the middle of anothi-r lake of al)out fojir miles in length, they ascertained their latitude to be (!!)' 20' 1" N. They walked three miles more, and came to still nnnther lake ; and as there was not yet any appeiranee of the se;i, Mr, U le gave orders to the men to jirepare their lodgings, and went forth alone to en- deavour to discover the coast. lie arrived in twenty minutes at an inlet of not more than a ([uarter of a milo wide, and traccil this westward for upwards of a league, and there found his coiu'se once more oh^triieted hy land. Some roekv .jillocks were near; and thinking he saw from the top of these some rough ice in the desired direction, he inhahil fresh hope, and jiu-shed ea-^'erly on to a rising ground in the distance, and there he ! eheld stretched out hefore liim an ice-covered uea, btudded with innumerahle islands. Ihit it was the sea of Sir John Ross, — the Lord Mayor's Bay of the disastrous voyage of the Victory ; and the islands were those which Sir John had named the Sons of the Clergy of the Church of Scotland. Mr. Uae, therefore, had simply crossed a peninsula of the fiulf of Akkolee; and thus did he ascertain that the shores which witnessed the woes of the Victory, the eastern shores of lioothia, are continuous with the nminland of America. Sir J.inu's Clarke Ross, he who figured in the voyage of the Victory as Connnrnder Ross, says, " Mr. Rae's descrijktion of the inlet he crossed over to in the south- cast corner of Lord iMayor's Ray, accords so exactly with what I observed whilst surveying its shores, that I have no douht of his having reacheil that inlet, on which I found the Esquimaux marks so numerous, but of which no accoinit was i»id)Iished in Sir John Ross's narntive." Mr. Rae ap]>ropriately named the peninsula Sir John Ross's Peninsula, and the isthmus, connecting ^mi iim j^ ^.j^j^ ^j^^ mainland, and Hanking the iulet, Sir Janua Arriviil lit buy. I * EXrr.DlTTONS TO TIIF, SRAS AROUND nOOTHIA. 3G9 Tloss's Isthmus. The latter is only one mile broad, and ciiap. x. 1ms three small jiontls; but it bears eviilent marks of being aw autumnal tker-pass, and, therefore, a favourite resort of the Esquimaux. Mr. Ilae had thus reached Mi. ifacs the goal of his wishes ; and he did not turn away from ',',is'!,uca'«l! so memorable a spot, till, with humble and grateful heart, he offered thanks to the Divine Being for bring- ing to a successful issue his perilous exploration. A proj^ress to the farthest point reached by Messrs. Dease and Simi)s<>n was not attempted ; for it was now ascertained that this must comprise a journey over land, and either a voyage across a large land-locked estuary, or a coasting along its sliorcs; and for these the ex- plorers had neither time nor means. They retraced their route, with little deviation, along the shore of the gulf, and, on the 5th of May, arrived at Repulse Bay. On the 12th, J\Ir. Ilae, at the head of a similar Kastside jtarty, set out to examine the east side of the gulf; olAkk'oiec. nnd on the 27th, amidst a bewildering snow-storm, he reached his ultimatum at a head-land, which they called Oipe Crozier. But during a blink of the storm, he got a clear view of a headland nearly twelve miles far- ther on, which he called Cape Ellice, and computed to be in lat. 69" 42' N., and long. 85' 8' W., or within about ten miles of the Fury and Ilecla Strait. On the 12tlii of August, the whole original party embarked at Repulse li.iy ; and on the 31st, they arrived at ChurchilL 1 370 TlIK FllANKLIN KXl'LldTION. CHAPTER XL The Frauklin EpcUilion. f Equipment aiid Sailitiff of the Erebus und tlio Trnvii-; Piil.liS niixioty iibout their Fate; ComiJichonsivo Plan of Ujujiutmiih lo Soaicli for them ; Proceedings of the Herald and the Plover by way of Bohriiig's Straits; Proceedings of an Overhuid Party on tlie Central Parts of the Arctic American Coasts ; Proceedings of the Enterprise and the Investigator by way of Lancaster Sound ; Supplementary Measures of Search ; Increased Public Anxiety and New Searching Expeditions ; Despatch of the I'hitcri>risc and the Investigator to Behring's Strait; Overland Exjtloration of the Coasts west of Capo Walker; New Government Expedition up Hallin's Hay to the Noi thorn Archipelago; Private Exi)edition under Sir John lloss; Expeditions at the instance of Lady Franklin ; Expedition from America ; The North Star ; Proceed- ings of the Prince Albert; Last view of the Exploring Ships; Traces of Sir John Franklin. ■■ CHAP. XI. Till! oci'iision of tlie cxi>e- (lition. The return of Captain Sir James Clarke Ross, in 1H44, from his brilliant career in the Antarctic Ocean, gave a sudtlen stimulus to the old craving for the discovery of a north-west passage The ships Erebus and Terror were now famous for tlieir fitness to brave the dangers of the ice, and could be re-equipped at comparatively small cost. Naval officers and whale-fishermen and hardy seamen were fired with the spirit of adventure, and breathed hot rivalry for the distinction of perilous sei-vice. Statesmen panted to send the British flag across all the breadth of the Polar Sea ; savans longed for decisions in terrestrial magnetism which could be ob- tained only in the regions around the piagnetic pole ; TlIK rUANKLlN EXPEniTfON. 371 n-.ul though merchants and otlier utilitftrians could f the ice-girt Archipelago of the north. The very dilli- ObsfiuUn < iilties of the enterprise, together with the disasters <»i coiiiu.^^ " failures of all former expeditions, only roused the gene- ral resolution, and drove it, like tiiiit of a heudstrong antrtgonist, into greater firmness of will. Sir John Barrow, in particular, was all alive on the suliject. He had for thirty years been the fervent tidvocate of everything which could throw light on the Arctic regions, and had incessantly bent in that direc- tion the powerful influence which he wielded as Secre- tary to the Admiralty ; and n<»w again was he at his vocation. Lieutenant-Colonel S.ibine, also, whose opin- ion carried more weight than that of any other man, declared "that a final attempt to make a north-we.st passage, would render the most important service that now remained to be performed towards the completi(*' '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WE&; MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716)S72-4503 \ iV •^ \\ [V ^^'^- tions from home, and gone northward as far as Cape Krusensteru in Kotzebue Sound, the appointed rendez- vous. But not being prepared to winter there, nor prepared for explorations among ice, she returned in autumn to the Sandwich Islands, On the 30th of June 1849, the Plover left Noovel, and on the 14th of July she anchored off" Chamisso Island, at the bottom of Kotzebue Sound. Next day she was joined by the Herald and by the Nancy Dawson, the latter a yacht belonging to Robert Siiedden, Esq., who, in the course of a voyage of pleasure round the globe, got intelligence in Ci>ina of the intended expedi- tion through Behring's Strait in search of Sir John Franklin, and nobly resolved to devote his vessel and himself to its aid. On the 18th the three vessels left Chamisso ; on the 20th they were o& Cape Lisburne ; and on the 25th, after having passed Icy Point, they despatched a boat expedition under Lieutenant Pullen. This boat expedition was designed to connect the Boat expedi- proceedings of the present voyage, with those of the over- Lj'^uJenaut land expedition under Sir John Richardson, and to I'uiien. institute search and provide succour for the missing adventurers, on the likeliest parts of the coast and main- land west of the IMackenzie River. It consisted of the Herald's pinnace, decked over, and three other boats, and comprised twenty-five men, and had nearly three months' provisions for its own use, besides five cases of pemraican for the use of Sir John Franklin's party. But it was accompanied also by Mr. Shedden in his yacht. It was directed, after proceeding a certain dis- tance along the coast inshore, to return to a rendezvous with the Plover at Chamisso Island, but at the same 378 THE FRXXKLIN EXl'RDITIOV. ' '1 Tlio Ilcriikl aiul tlio I'lovcr !it tlK liiic'k. ciFAi'. XI. time to despatch from its furthest point a detachment in two whale boats, well provisioned and equipped, Id extend the search to the mouth of the iMackenzie River, and then to ascend that river and proceed homeward liy Fort Hope and York Factory in the summer ot 1S50. The Herald and the Plover, in the meanwhile, bore away to the north, and on the 26th, in lat. 71" 5' N., they reached the heavily-packed ice. They sailed some times along the edge of this, and some times through streams and among floes till the 28th, when they could proceed no further on account of the perfect impene- trableness of the pack. They were then in lat. 72° 51' N., and long. 163^ 48' W. The ice, as far as it could be seen from the mast-head, trended away west-south- westward ; yet, while densely compact for leagues distant, seemed to be broken by a water-line in the northern horizon. On the 28th the ships came again to the land, and the Herald bore in to examine Wainwright's Inlet, while commander Moore went on shore, erected a mark, and buried a bottle containing information about the boats. This place unhappily was found too shallow to af- ford harboiu'age, else it would have proved an excellent retreat on account at once of its high latitude, of the friendliness of the natives, of the obtainableness of rein- deer's flesh, and of there being no nearer harbour to the south than Kotzebue's Sound, while even that place was regarded by the ice-masters as an unsafe wintering quarter. From the 1st of August till the 17th, Cape Lisburno being appointed for a rendezvous, the ships made activi; explorations in various directions near shore, and away TM'scDvcry nf northward as far as they could penetrate. Qn the 17th, tlie Herald discovered a new territory. '• At forty minutes past nine," on that day, says Captain Kellett, " the exciting report of ' Land, ho ! ' was made from the mast-head; they were both soon afterwards crowded, la running a course along the pack towards our fvM u luiw tcni toiy THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 379 5' (liscovery, a small group of islands was reported on our chap, xl port beam, a considerable distance within the outer margin of the ice. Still more distant than this group (from the deck) a very extensive and high land was reported, which I had been watching for some time, AppenmiKo and anxiously awaited a report from some one else, tcvvitoiy?^ There was a fine clear atmosphere (such a one as can only be seen in this climate), except in the direction of this extended land, where the clouds rolled in numerous immense masses, occasionally leaving the very lofty peaks uncapped, where could be distinctly seen columns, pillars, and very broken, which is very characteristic of the higher headlands in this sea — East Cape and Cape Lisburne, for example. With the exception of the north- east and south-east extremes, none of the lower land could be seen, unless, indeed, what I took at first for a small group of islands within the pack edge was a point of this great land. This island, or point, was distant twenty-five miles from the ship's track ; higher parts of the land seemed :: 1, less, I consider, than sixty. When we hove to off the ii.st land seen, the northern extreme of the great land showed out to the eastward for a mo- ment, and so clear as to cause some who had doubts be- fore to cry out, ' There, sir, is the land quite plain.' " They afterwards ran up to the island, and landed upon it, and found it a solid and almost inaccessible mass of granite, about four and a-half miles long, two and a-half miles broad, and fourteen hundred feet high. Its situa- tion is lat. 71« 20' N., and long. 175« 16' W. The dis- tant mountainous land seemed to be extensive ; and was supposed by Captain Kellett to be a continuation of the lofty range seen by the natives off Cape Jakan in Asia, and mentioned by Baron Wrangell in his Polar voyages. In the vicinity of Cape Lisburne, on the 24th of Report of the August, the Nancy Dawson, and the return boats ot tion. Lieutenant Pullen's expedition, rejoined the Herald. They had searched the coast as far east as Dease's Inlet, and had there parted with the two whale boats ; and had 380 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. Exertions nf Mr. ShedUuii. I i : !!!i(l CHAP. XI. at several points made deiiosits of provisions, but had ' not obtained the sliglitest intelligence of the missing adventurers. INIr. Shedden liad been particularly active and daring, and had many times put his yacht in peril. And it is painful to add — though this is said in anticipa- tion of the date — that he fell a victim to his excessive exertions during the noble service. He died eight or ten weeks after at Mazatlan. On the 1st of September the two ships and the yacht rendezvoused in Kotzebue Sound. Upwards of a fort- night was now spent in making an interesting explora- tion up the Buc'kland River, and in establishing friendly relations with the natives. The whole month of Sep- tember was remarkably fine, the frost to the latest so light as not to arrest the streams, and strong winds generally blowing from the east. The Plover prepared to winter in Kotzebue Sound, with the view of making further researches, and received from her consort as much provisions as she could stow or take care of. And on the 29th of September, the Herald and the yacht weighed anchor and stood away for the south. On the 10th of July 1850, the Herald again joined the Plover at Chamisso Island ; and the two ships then set out together on another exploration. They pro- ceeded northward till they sighted the pack ice, and then separated, — the Herald to return in quest of an- other and stronger expedition which had sailed from England, and which we shall afterwards have occasion to notice, — and the Plover to prosecute the search east- ward along the coast. Commander Moore, by means of his boats, made minute examination of all the inlets be- tween Icy Cape and Point Barrow ; and he and his men suffered severely from exposure to cold ; but they were entirely unsuccessful in the object of their search. The two ships again fell in with each other ofl" Cape Lisburne, on the 13th of August; and Captain Kellett eventually gave full victualling to the Plover, ordered her to win- ter in Grantley Harbour and then, toward the ciuje of The Herald and the I'lo- vcr's second explcrat uu. i: THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 381 but had missing y active in peril, mticipa- xcessive eight or le yacht f a fort- t'xplora- fiiendly of Sep- latest so ig winds prepared making )nsort as of. And he yacht in joined lips then hey pro- ice, and ist of an- ted from occasion .rch east- means of inlets be- l his men liey were ch. The [iisburne, i^entually I' to win- e cluje of the open season, returned through Behring's Strait on CIIap. xi his way to England. Thus, in October 1850, ended this first western searching expedition, without having thrown one ray of light on the probable fate of Sir John Franklin. The second searching expedition was the overland f^ir.Tohn one under the command of Sir John Richardson. In (.'vli'i'imt ex- preparation for it, several boats, seven tons of pemmican, i'^'''^'""' large quantities of other provisions and stores, five sea- men, and fifteen sappers and miners, were embarked at Gravesend, on board of ships of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany, on the 4th of June 1847. Sir John Richardson and Mr. Rae left Liverpool on the 25th of i\Iarch 1848, and succeeded in overtaking Chief-Trader Bell, in charge of the boats and the men, at Methy Portage, on the 2Uth of June. The whole party reached the last portage on Slave River on the 15th of July; and there they divided into a seaward or exploring party under Sir John Richardson and Mr. Rae, and a landward or auxiliary party under Mr. Bell. The seaward party comprised three boats, with full loads of pemmican and eighteen men, and immediately embarked. The landward party Duties of the comprised two boats and the stores for winter use, and paJ-tr"' were directed to make the best of their way to Great Bear Lake, — to coast round its western shores, and to establish a fishery at its west end, near the site of Fort Franklin, for the convenience of the seaward party in the event of its having to return up the Mackenzie, — to erect, at its north-eastern extremity, near the influx of the Bease River, suitable dwelling-houses and store- houses for winter quarters, — and, in the beginning of September, to despatch a well-tried Cree Indian and a native hunter to the banks of the Coppermine, there to hunt till the 20th of that month, and to keep a diligent out-look for the arrival of the boats. The seaward party reached the sea on the 4th of Proceedinps August. On their way down they put ashore at Fort wjud paity Good Hope, the lowest of the company's posts on the 382 Tlir. FRANKLIN F,XPEI)ITIOX. 1 Tlie'dcposit- liiit of provi •ilillH. i cii.vr. M. Mackenzie, three bags of pemmican for tlie use of any jiarty from the Plover, or from Sir James Ross's shijis, Nvlio might reach that establishment. At Point Separa- tion, also, which forms the apex of tlie delta of the Mackenzie, they deposited one case of pemmican and a bottle of memoranda, and letters for the use of Sir John Franklin's party, — burying them in the circumference of a circle with a ten-feet radius, from the point of a broad arrow painted on a signal-post. And they after- wards did the same thing, or similar, on Whale Island, at the mouth of the Mackenzie, — on Point Toker, in lat. 69S 38' N., and 132° If/ W.,— on Cape Bathurst, the most northerly point between the Mackenzie and the Coppermine, — and on Cape Parry, at the east side of the entrance of Franklin Bay. The exjdorers encountered liead winds throughout most of their progress of eight hundred miles or up- wards, from the exit of the Mackenzie to the mouth of the Coppermine ; and they always kept near the shore, and landed at least twice a-day to cook, occasionally to hunt, often to look out from the high capes, and com- monly at night to sleep on shore. Immediately off the efflux of the Mackenzie they had an interview with about three hundred Esquimaux; and at many subse- quent points they communicated with other parties, who were assembled on headlands to hunt whales, or scattered along the coast in pursuit of rein-deer and water-fowl. The Esquimaux were confiding and frank; and all said that no ships had recently appeared on the coast; and those west of Cape Bathurst further said, that, during the preceding six weeks, they never saw any ice. The explorers met floes of drift ice for the first time after rounding Cape Parry; but they encountered them more numerously as they approached Dolphin and Union Strait. On the 22d of August they had a strong gale from the west; and on the next morning they found themselves hemmed in by dense j)acks, extending as far Interviews with the Ks quiiimux. Tin: FItANUMN KXI'EDITION. 383 ft^ the pye ccnild reach. Tlie weather had hitherto heen chap. \l -oiiial ; hut now it passed into jjcrpetual frost, with fre- quent snow-storms. The expedition, licnceforth, got on with great difficulty; and when they had penetrated Amsti.u nt well up the west bide of Coronation Gulf, they were en- '?.'i^'. . girdled hy rigorous winter, and felt compelled to aban- don their boats. They, therefore, were unable to fulfil a portion of their official instructions, which directed them to examine the western and southern shores of AVollaston Land, lyiny; north-we&t of Coronation Gulf; and during eleven days, from the 2d till the 13th of Sei)tember, they travelled by land, up the valley of the Coppermine, to their appointed winter-home at Fort Con- fidence, at the north-eastern extremity of the Great Bear Lake. Next bummer Sir John Richardson returned to England. In J I is official report to the Secretary of the Admiralty, Sir John says — *' In the voyage between the Mackenzie and Coi)permine, I carefully executed their lordship's instructions with resp !ct to the examination of the coast line, and became fully convinced that no ships had passed Sir John within view of the mainland. It is, indeed, nearly im- offidunc- '* possible that they could have done so unobserved by port. some of the numerous parties of Esquimaux on the look- out for whales. We were, moreover, informed by the Esquimaux of Back's Inlet, that the ice had been press- ing on their shore nearly the whole summer ; and its closely-packed condition when we left it, on t]\e 4th of September, made it highly improbable that it would open for ship navigation later in the season. " I regretted extremely that the state of the ice pre- vented me from crossing to WoUaston Land, and thus completing in one season the whole scheme of their lordship's instructions. The opening between Wollaston and Victoria Lands has always appeared to me to possess great interest; for through it the flood-tide evidently sets into Coronation Gulf, diverging to the westward by the Dolphin and Union Strait, and to the eastward round tk I 384 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. CHAP. XI. Conjephirc rL'Specting .Sir Jolin Franklin's position. Further ex- ploration en- trusted to Mr Kite. Cape Alexander. By the fifth clause of Sir John Frank- lin's instructions, he is directed to steer south-westward from Cape Walker, vvhich would lead him nearly in the direction of the strait in question. If Sir John found Barrow Strait as open as when Sir Edward Parry passed it on four previous occasions, I am convinced that (com- plying as exactly as he could with his instructions, and without looking into Wellington Sound, or other open- ings either to the south or north of Barrow Strait) he pushed directly west to Cape Walker, and from thence south-westwards. If so the ships were probably shut up on some of the passages between Victoria, Banks, and Wollaston Lands. " Being apprehensive that the boats I left on the coast would be broken up by the Esquimaux, and being, moreover, of opinion that the examination of the open- mg in question might be safely and efficiently performed in the only remaining boat I had fit for the transport from Bear Lake to the Coppermine, I determined to entrust this important service to Mr. Rae, who volun- teered, and whose ability and zeal in the cause I cannot too highly commend. He selected an excellent crew, all of them experienced voyageurs, and capable of find- ing their way back to Bear Lake without guides, should any unforeseen accident deprive them of their leader. In the month of March (1849), a sufficient supply of pemmican, and other necessary stores, with the equip- ments of the boat, were transported over the snow on dog-sledges, to a navigable part of the Kendall River, and left there under the charge of two men. As soon as the Dease broke up in June, Mr. Rae would follow with the boat the rest of the crew and a party of Indian hunters, and would descend the Coppermine River about the middle of July, at which time the sea generally begins to break up. He would then, as soon as possible, cross from Cape Krusenstern to Wollaston Land, and endeavour to penetrate to the northward, erecting signal- columns, and making deposits on conspicuous headlands. THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. n Frank- vestward ly in the n found ry passed lat (com- ions, and ler open- trait) he n thence ibly shut Banks, ft on the nd being, the open- )erforined transport •mined to ho volun- i I cannot lent crew, le of find- es, should Bir leader, supply of ;he equip- ( snow on [all River, As soon aid follow of Indian iver about generally kS possible, Land, and ing signal- headlands, ticiii uiulur Sir Jiinit's G. nnd especially on the north shore of Banks' Land, should char xl he be fortunate enough to attain that coast. lie was further instructed not to hazard the safety of his party by remaining too long on the north side of Dolphin and TJnion Strait, and to be guided in his movements by the season, the state of the ice, and such intelligence as he might obtain from the Esquimaux. He was also re- quested to engage one or more fiimilies of Indian hunters, to pass the summer of 1850 on the banks of the Copper- mine River, to be ready to assist any party that may direct their course that way." Mr. Rae also repeated his elaborate and perilous mission in the summer of 1850. The third and most important of the three searching me cxpedi- expeditions of 1848 was the marine one conducted by Captain Sir James Clarke Ross. This comprised two Uoss. superb ships, the Enterprise of 470 tons and seventy men, and the Investigator of 420 tons and seventy men, both as strong as they could be made, and fur- nished with every possible appliance. Each was pro- vided with a screw-propelled steam-launch, 31 ^ feet long, and capable of an average speed of eleven miles an hour. Captain E. J. Bird was appointed to the com- mand of the Investigator. The ships were instructed to proceed together to the head of Barrow's Strait ; and the Enterprise, if possible, to push on to a wintering place about Winter Harbour or Banks' Land, while the Investigator should try to find harbourage somewhere about Garnier B" or Cape Rennell. Parties were to go from the Enterprise along respectively the eastern and the western shores of Banks' Land, to cross Sir John Richardson's expedition on the mainland; and parties from the Investigator were to explore the coasts of North Somerset and Boothia. The expedition left the Thames on the 12ili of May 1848, and entered Baffin's Bay early in July. A letter Lettn from was written by Sir James Clarke Ross, h'om the Danish settlement of Upernavick on the 12th of July, stating imvicii. that, if after passing a second winter at or near Fvnt 2a Sir J;'.iiu-.> C. l!0Ns;it L'lmr- 38G CHAP. XI. Despatch of the North Star store- ship. TIic Enter- l)r[sc and the Investigiitor oflF Cape Sliackloton. m> THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. Leopold, he should get no intelligence of Sir John Frank lin and his party, he would send the Investigator home to England, and prosecute a further search in the Enter- prise alone. The Lords of the Admiralty took alarm at the possible, or even probable, consequences of this excessive heroism ; and ordered the North Star store-ship, under command of Mr. James Saunders, to get ready with all speed to take out instructions and supplies to the expe- dition. Her prime object was to be the replenishing of the expedition's stock of provisions, and the enjoining of the Investigator not to return to England in the way Sir James C. Ross had indicated, but to remain in com- pany with the Enterprise ; and if the North Star should not succeed in promptly fulfilling this object, she was instructed to land the supplies at the farthest prominent point she could readily reach, and by all means to keep herself free from besetment in the ice, and to return be- fore the close of the season. She sailed from the Thames on the 16th of May 1849, and did not return that sea- son; and as she also became a subject of much public anxiety, this anticipatory notice of her has been given in order to prepare the way for a statement or two re- specting her, which must be made at a future stage of our narrative. The Enterprise and the Investigator left Upernavik on the 13th of July 1848; and after running through an intricate archipelago near the mainland, they arrived, on the 20th, off Cape Shackleton, and there made fast to a grounded iceberg. They were joined there by the Lord Gambler whaling-ship, whose master informed them that, having run to the southward with the rest of the whalers, and having carefully examined the pack, he had found it all so close, compact, and heavy, as not to afford the slightest hope of any ship being able to find an opening through it, that season, to the west. He had, therefore, returned to the north, and expected that all the other whalers would soon follow him; and he had a very confident hope that he should get round the north THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 367 olin Franlc {;ator home the Enter- ilarm at the is excessive ship, under idy with all 0 the expe- enisliing of e enjoining in the way ain in com- Star should set, she was it prominent eans to keep ,0 return be- the Thames irn that sea- much public IS been given it or two re- ture stage of t Upevnavik ling through they arrived, sre made fast tliere by the ter informed with the rest ned the pack, heavy, as not ig able to find est. He had, cted that all ; and he hae." the severest trial, and sometimes quite baffled and stul- tified them ; and so, in some degree, did it do, on this occasion, to the master of the Lord Gambier. The ear- liest date at which it has been passed in any year is the 12th of June ; the latest at which it has been found im- passable is the 9th of September ; and the average date of the first ship of the season passing it is about the 1 3th of July. But in 1848 it could be passed only with extreme difficulty, and only by far rounding to the north; and, as was afterwards ascertained, the first and almost only vessel which then got past it was the Prince of Wales of Hull, on the 6th of August, about lat. 75°. Early on the morning of the 21st of July the expe- dition cast oflF from the iceberg, and began to tow their way through loose streams of ice toward some lanes of water in the distance. But both on this day and on the following few days, they made very slow progress, and were often in difficulty and embarrassnn nt. On the morning of the 20th, when they were off the Three Islands of Baffin, in lat. 74° N., at the clearing away of a fog, they saw the Lord Gambier at some distance, standing under all sail to the southward, — the unusually bad state of the ice having overturned her master's hopes, and altered his purpose. They pursued their courtie Difficult pro- northward amid much perplexity and vicissitude; and, Suirisiamis though still fully expecting to bore their way through of Baffin. the pack, they were so excessively retarded by calms and barriers as soon to lose all hope of being able to accomplish any considerable part of their mission before the setting in of winter. They spared no exertions, but forced a progress, and even drove on at the expense of danger. On the 20th of August, during a strong breeze from the north-east, the ships, under all sail, bored through a moderately thick pack of ice, studded with perilously large masses ; and they sustained severe 388 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. Arrival at PoiuTs liny. ciTAP. XL shocks, yet, happily, did not receive any serious damacro. They gained the open water on the afternoon of that day, in lat. 75 i° N., and lontj. 68° W., and then steered direct for Pond's Bay. That, as is well known, is the grand scene of the whale-fishery ; and thither the ex- pedition went to inquire of any whaler's crew, who might have got across to the west, and also of the Esquimaux who annually visit that locality, whether they had seen anything of the missing adventurers. 'On the 23d of August, they approached the shore about ten miles south of Pond's Bay, and saw the main pack so closely pressed home to the land, some three or four miles farther south, as to leave no room for ships or boats to pass. They next stood in to the bay, and paused within half a mile of the points on which the Esquimaux are known to have their summer residences ; and they fired guns every half hour, and closely ex- amined every part of the shore with their glasses, but did not get sight of a snigle human being. They then went slowly to the northward, and sometimes could not hold their own with the current, and always kept so close to the land that neither boats nor persons could escape their notice, yet still were unsuccessful. On the 26th they arrived off Possession Bay, at the south side of the entrance of Lancaster Sound. A party there went ashore to search for traces of Sir John Frank- lin having touched at that general point of rendezvous ; but they found nothing except a paper recording the visit of Sir Edward Parry in 1819. The expedition now sailed along the coast of Lancaster Sound, keeping close in shore, scrutinizing all the sea-board both from the deck and from the mast-head, and fully expecting; every hour to see those of whom they were in search. Every day they threw overboard, from each ship, a cask containing papers of information of all their proceedings ; and in every fog they periodically fired guns ; and in every time of darkness they burned rockets and blue lights ; and at all times, they kept the ships under such easy Scrutiny of the coiist (jf Lancnster SouikL :■'! THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 3S0 Pail that any boat seeing the signals might have reached chap, xi, them. The drift of the information in the casks told i„f„i'^ti(.ii the missing adventurers that no assistance could be given ti"""^vii over them at Pond's Bay, or anywhere else on the west coast casks. '" very bay d shelter, I'ork vvitii 'lie north he north- itude, the few miles tly to the and then lue south. y obtained iVellintiton veen Cape jcupied by n expanse lerset, was racing all ' enduring 'j the pain ng useless m the 6th rther, an f,!,,^,!!"]^'"!'* and gave promise of a navigable channel. The ships Leopoiii. got out of the harbour on the 28th of August, exactly one fortnight less than a twelvemonth from the time when they entered it. They proceeded toward the north shore of Barrow's Strait, with the view of making further examination of Wellington Channel, and of scrutinizing the coasts and inlets westward to Melville Island. But they were arrested about twelve miles from the shore by fixed land-ice, which had remained unbroken since the previ- ous season, and which appeared to extend away to the western horizon in an uniform heavy sheet. They were in a loose pack, strug'^ling with blocks and streams as they best could, and they kept hovering about the spot which afforded the greatest probability of an opening. But on the 1st of September the loose pack was suddenly put in commotion by a strong wind, and it came down upon them and beset them. During two or three days Tiiey me the heavy masses at times severely squeezed them, and squeezed. ridges of hummocks were thrown up all around them, and then the temperature fell nearly to zero, and con- gealed the whole body of ice into a solid mass. The crew of the Enterprise were unable, for some days, to unship the rudder, and when at last they released it, by means of the laborious operation of sawing away the hummocks which clove to the stern, they found it twisted and damaged ; and at the same time the ship i '^ 300 TIIK riJANKUN EXPEDITION, -iJ Tliey sctni f:x( i| for tli( viiiter. i&>''i'i ne ; Sir pent at of loons, , during ipported le chase, cept for 'ranklin, of them, 1 carried B experi- ilies to a ition had forward. the day eculiarly heir wav ft' {ot so far, iccess at- ird ; and rcelv able lutumnal L'l Sabint^ inalogoiis hat open latitudo, )crscvcre. THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 403 ** By the case of Sir John Ross," remarked Dr. Scorebby, chap, xl " we may account for their not improbable detention, — whilst yet safe, through a period of four years ; and if so, it must be obvious that a variety of causes, even because the expedition was safe, might explain a still further detention." These and such as these were the reasonings of multi- Demand tudes. A cry loud and long, therefore, was raised for sea,"hTn{r new searching expeditions. The brave adventm-ers, if cxijcduiuni alive, had increasing need every hour of the promptest possible supply of fuel and provisions ; and they might be struggling with disease, enfeebled by privation, em- barrassed by disaster, crippled and clogged by any one of not a few causes which a relieving expedition could mitigate or remove. The past searches had only shown, and shown most forcibly, the necessity for new ones. They had scrutinized known ground, and raised a high presumption that Sir John Franklin had gone to the unknown ; but they had not obtained an atom of informa- tion about either his progress or his direction. He seemed certainly to be away beyond Cape Walker or beyond the Wellington Channel, — away in the wide west Polar Seas, — or among unknown lands in their frozen bosom ; and thither must he be pursued ; or at least on the borders of that great region, 700 or 800 miles in length, and several geographical degrees in breadth, must he be sought. The demand for new searches became what is called Tins lUnwnd a topic of the day. The United States took it up and topic oVtilo met it ; Russia took it up and met it ; the Hudson's ^'^y- Lay Con.pany, who wielded powers in reference to it as [^1 eat as those of a great state, made most cordial response to it ; and Britain treated it as a question of national humanity and national honour. Lady Franklin, in a jiathetic appeal to the President of the United States, which kindled thousands of hearts on both sides of the Atlantic into action, remarked, "how noble a spectacle it w ould be to the world if three great nations, possessed 404 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. Speech on it in the lloiiso of Cuiuiaons. CHAP. XI. of the widest empires on the face of the globe, were to unite their efforts in the truly Christian work of sav- ing their perishing fellow-men from destruction." Sir Robert Inglis, in an introductory speech on the subject in the House of Commons, said, " he believed there was no precedent in history of one nation sending forth an expedition to rescue the lives of the subjects of another nation, and the honour of England required that efl'oits should be made by England lierself to rescue her own countrymen." All parliament, and all the intelligence of the British empire held similar language. The newspaper press, of every grade and hue, was earnest and impatient for action. All the well-informed classes of the community desired a search for Sir John Frank- lin to the full as fervently as ever the impassioned few- had desired a search for a north-west passage. Multi- tudes thought of the search with the same rough irreverence, yet with the same red-hot fervour, as if it had been an affair of the turf or the heath, and began to speak of it as " this most exciting of all hunts." And at last the head of the admiralty said in his place in parliament, " that he had never done the House of Com- mons or the country the injustice to suppose that ex- pense would be an obstacle when the lives of their fellow-men were at stake, and that everything which human power could do should be done to save the lost expedition, while he was glad to say that llis Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Russia, the United States of America, and the Hudson's Bay r^ompany, had most cordially entered into these vie».L^ u,nd nianiftsted the most earnest sympathy." Three great divisions of search were adopted. These corresponded, in general sphere and character, to the three primary searching expeditions of 1848. One was marine by way of Behring's Strait, another was over- land to the central northern coasts, and the third was marine by way of Baffin's Bay. We shall, therefoie, treat them on the same general plan on which wu Three frveat di'.isionso; new search. were of sav- Sir iv own THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 405 treated the previous expeditions, noticing them in the cii w. xi. order in which we have now named them, and narratinij — all we know of each before proceeding to the next. Some parts indeed of both the first and the second were done prior to the parliamentary and admiralty proceed- ings at which we have just glanced ; but all will be best seen in their several connexions with the cne great search when put together in the manner which we propose. The ships, Enterprise and Investigator, were refitted Despatch ot with all possible speed to go round South America and piis^ana'*ti,e up to Behring's Strait. Captain Richard Collinson, C.B., investigatfu- was put in command of the Enterprise, and Commander suaiV""*''' R. S. M. M'Clure, who had served as first lieutenant ol the Enterprise in the recent expedition under Sir James C. Ross, was put in command of the Investigator. The ships were provisioned for three years, and supplied with balloons, blasting appliances, ice-saws, and many other contrivances for aiding their movements and research. Each also was provided with i, pointed piece of mechan- ism, about fourteen pounds in weight, attached by a tackle to the end of the bowsprit, suited to be worked from the deck, and capable, by means of a series of sudden falls, to break ice of any ordinary thickness, and open a passage through a floe or light pack. The ships are dull sailers, but were tlie only ones fit for the service which could be got promptly ready ; and in order to expedite their progress, steamers were put in requisition to tow them in more than one part of their voyage, and parti- cularly through the Magellan Strait, the Wellington Channel, and on to Valparaiso. They sailed from Plymouth Sound on the 20th of instmoti.ms January 1850. The captains had minute orders for cap|!,''" their guidance on the way to Behring's Strait, and with reference to the previous expeditions of the Herald and the Plover, and were also furnished with memoranda, sug- gestions, and conditional instructions for their aid in the Polar Seas ; but, with the exception of two or three general commands, bearing comprehensively on the turns. it I i 400 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. The mea- sures and l»rei'uuti()ns to be taken. CHAP. XI. grand object of their mission, they were left almott entirely to their own discretion after they should enter the ice. They were told to reap all the advantage they could from the experience of the Herald and the Plover, — to form a depot or point of succour for any party to fiill back upon, — to retain the Plover and get her re- plenished from the Herald, and send her a wintering and cruising on nearly lier former ground till the autumn of 1853, — to keep the Enterprise and the In- vestigator steadily in each others company, and onward as far as safety would permit to the east, — to cultivate the friendship of the Esquimaux, and induce them to carry messages to the Hudson Bay Corapanj-'s settlements, — to throw occasionally overboard tin cylinders containing information, and to use every precaution against getting into any position which might possibly hold them fast till their provisions should become exhausted. " We feel it unnecessary," said the Lords of the Admiralty to them in conclusion, "to give you more detailed instructions which might possibly embarrass you in a service of this description ; and we have, therefore, only to repeat our perfect reliance on your judgment and resolution, both in doing all that is possible to relieve the missing ships, and in withdrawing in time when you come to the painful conclusion that your efforts are unavailing. You will bear in mind that the object of the expedition is to obtain intelligence of, and to render assistance to, Sir John Franklin and his companions, and not for the jturpose of geographical or scientific research ; and we conclude these orders with an earnest hope that Provi- dence may crown your efforts with success, and that tliey may be the means of expelling the gloom and un- certainty which now prevail respecting the missing ex- l)edition." Both ships made a comparatively speedy passage to Ilehring's Strait. On the 29tli of July the Enterprise reached the western end of tiie Aleutian Chain ; on the 11th of August she reached the Island of St. Lawrence ; The para- mount object t.i bo pur- THE FKAXKLIN EXPEDITION. 407 ami on t1ie 16th of August she fell in with the ice. chap, xl But the weather was then so unfavouial)le, and the ice nD thick, tliat Captain Collinson abandoned a purpose \\luch he had foiined to attempt to penetrate that sea- son to Cape Bathurst. After several encounters with the ice, he reached Grantley Harbour, .ind there found the Plover preparing for winter quarters, and was next An-nnpo- day joined by the Herald. On consulting with Captains liH?\lri,Ji'^I',. „f Kellett and Moore, he determined, instead of wintering 1850. in the north, to proceed to Ilong Kong, there to replenish his provisions, and not to set out again for the north till at least the first of April 1851. The Investigator was later in getting through the Pacific than the Enter- prise, and probably did not reach the ice till about the beginning of August. Commander IMoore writing at sea, in lat. 51^ 26' N., and long. 172« 35' W., on the 20th of July, gave a sketch of his intended operations, and said that no apprehension need be entertained jiliout his safety till the autumn of 1854, as he had on lioard full provisions of every kind for three years after the 1st of September, and intended to issue in lieu of (lie usual rations whatever food could be obtained by hunting parties from the ship. Dr. Rae, it will be remembered, was left by Sir Jolin Richardson to attempt to overtake, in the summer of 1849, an unaccomplished part of the o]»jccts of the over- land expedition of 1848. This had special reference to rtcncwaiof the examination of the coasts of Victoria Land and J,!.'ai."ii"^''"'* Wollaston Land ; and now that Sir John Franklin's ships were believed to have certainly gone beyond Cape Walker, and to have probably bored their way south- \s'estward to some position between that place and the mainland, this was deemed to be much more important than before. Early in 1850, instructions were despatched to Dr. Rae, by Governor Sir George Simpson, of the Hudson's Bay Company, requiring him, in the event of his explorations of 1849 having been unsuccessful, to organize another expedition for the summer of 1850. ^< 408 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION, Divisions of ovc'iland exiilovation. CHAP. XI. This was to penetrate further, to range more widcTy, and to examine tlie coasts of Banks' Land, the coast* around Ca[)e Walker, and tlie north coast of Victoiia Laud. Two small parties, at the same time, were to proceed westward on the mainland in the direction of Point Barrow; and one of those was to descend the Mackenzie, and explore the coast to the west of it, while the other was to pass on to the Colville River, and to descend that stream to the sea ; and Loth were to induce the natives, hy rewards and otherwise, to prosecute the search and spread intelligence in all directions. Dr. Rae was particularly instructed to keep an ample supply of provisions, clothing, ammunition, fishing-tackle, and other necessaries at Fort O^ood Hope, as that seemed an eminently prohahle retreat to which parties of the missing adventurers might try to force their way. But in most other matters, and especially in all the details of the expedition, he was left solely to his own discre- tion. The expedition equipped by government for renewed search by way of Baffin's Bay and Lancaster Sound com- prised two strong teak-built ships, the Resolute and the Assistance, and two powerful screw-propelled steam ves- sels, the Pioneer and the Intrepid. The ships had a tonnage, the one of 500, and the other of 430, and were alike strong, comuKjdious, elegant, and admirably appur- tenanced. The steam vessels had strength and adapta- tion, not only for towing the ships in open channels, but for conflicting with the perils of the Polar Seas, and forcing a passage through small floes and thin packs of ice. Captain H. T. Austin was put in command of the Resolute, Captain E. Ommanney of the Assistance, and Lieutenant Sherard Osborne of the Pioneer. Multi- tudes of officers nobly vied as volunteers to obtain the subordinate appointments ; and some of the most ex- perienced whale-fishers were obtained for the forecastle. The instructions given were similar in scope and spirit to those of the Behriiij^'s Strait expedition, and differed Now public expedition 1)v way of UalHii'.s Uav THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 409 C()a.>«ts i(rtoria .vere to tion of nd the It, wliile and to induce ute the s. Dr. ! supply kle, and med an of the y. But 3 details discre- ex- CHAP. .\i. chiefly in adaptation to the different route. The pedition sailed in the spring of 1850, An expedition, under the command of the veteran Sir Expedition John Ross, was eciuipped hy a public sul).scription, to- j!Ii'!,7"no'i. ward which the Hudson's Bay Company contrilmted L.500. This consisted of a schooner-rigged vesbel of 120 tons, which Sir John called the Felix, in honour of his late patriotic friend Sir Felix Booth, and of a small tender of twelve tons, called the Mary. They were pro- visioned for eighteen months ; and they set sail in the latter part of April. Sir John was in excellent spirits, and as full of fire and daring as in his younger years ; and he obtained an old, expert, Esquimaux interpreter, and possessed fair promise of being able to achieve fully as much in his little vessels as if he had been in com- mand of the best government ship.s. His plan was to proceed as quickly as he could to Barrow's Strait, to comanence operations at Cape Hotham, on the west side of the entrance of Wellington Channel, to examine all the headlands thence to Banks' Land, and then, if still unsuccessful, to leave the Mary there as a vessel of re- treat, and to push the search in the Felix alone during another year. An expedition also was equipped at the instance of the devoted Lady Franklin, — wholly by her own zeal, and mainly at her own expense. This was put under the command of Mr. Penney, the quondam master of Expcriitioa the Advice whale ship, and consisted of a fine ship of ^^^^^^''^' ^^'• 225 tons, affectingly called the Lady Franklin, and a new clipper-brig of 120 tons, named the Sophia, in honour of Miss Sophia Cracroft, the intimate companion of Lady Franklin, and a most anxious moiu-ner after the missing adventurers. The larger vessel was fitted up at Aberdeen, and the smaller one at Dundee, — both with great celerity, and in a style of the best possible adaptation to an Arctic voyage ; and they also sailed in the spring of 1850. Tlieir proposed plan of procedure was somewhat cowi- cident with that of the government expeditioai, yet en- i'enney 410 THE FRANKLIN EXl'KniTION. CHAP. XI. tirely independent, excopt in tli if co-opernti Tim cxpcill- tioii of tlm I'riiu'u Al- beit. The Aincri- i-.\n i'X])ccli- tluii. leu exco]^ nmtuai tiui, and would be niucli contiolleU or nioUil \>y circumstances. An(»tlier expedition, supplementary to the preceding?, Wiis cciuipped at tlie instiiiice of Lanvulsive sruption, le larger agments, I'ps drag- hus dis- blasting cleared ; asure to Captain ing, and falls, nor for; but ice until the two and the the other ood away jht, when ! Intrepid, y to make 15th, the vere quite md on the )n to call d a wish uth shore md stated imine the J Resolute lannel. \lbert ar- ited with could not Che house luch rent tut other- wise in excellent order, and quite fit to be a temporary chap, xl retreat to any forlorn or castaway Arctic adventurers. — The stores looked most abundant and in prime condi- tion. And the steam-iauncli seemed a noble little ves- sel, in which a brave-hearted party might venture any- where, and was so placed that she could very easih- he run into the sea. But not a trace was found of the tisiv of any wanderer from the Erebus and the Terror. The Prince Albert now stood away down Prince Re- liie Princo gout's Inlet; and toward evening, when she was gliding pS Re- past the ice off Catty Bay, her crew were startled for a se"t's inlet moment into a thrill of hope. The men on deck thought they heard a gun fired on shore ; the officers ran to scrutinize the land through their glasses aloft ; the ves- sel was steered closer to the bay; the howitzer was cU^ared away and fired; but not the slightest sign of life could be seen, — not the faintest answering sound was heard. The supposed shot had been merely the falling of a i)iece of rock, or the collision of some heavy masses of ice. Next morning the vessel was off Fury Beach, and in a thick fog ; and when the fog cleared away, she pi-oved to be in a bight of the ice, within a few yards of a con- tinuous, heavy, hummocky expanse, which contained not, as far as it could be seen from the crow's nest, one l)ool or crack, or the slightest promise of an opening. The officers examined this long and anxiously, and vvere forced to conclude that any attempt to penetrate it that season would be utterly impracticable. They gloomily r>e<"<'n,t of t' e biit irresistibly felt the specific object of their voyage, voyagu the examination of the shores of Boothia, to be defeated ; and saw at once that they must turn about and lose little time in returning to Britain. But they resolved first to look at some of the most accessible shores and headlands about the throat of Barrow's Strait, and a brief way up Wellington Channel. During twenty-four hours Mr. Snow, with a small boat parly, made a romantic land-search of the coast around 2c p-1 ■ t I 418 THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. V.\c Prince AlljLTl in Barrow's Strait. 1 ■-«. i;ii i CHAP. XL Batty Bay, and on to Port Leopold ; and he found the latter place fiir more blocked up than on the Slst, and did not get away from it without enormous labour and difficulty. When he again reached his vessel they had to stand well away to avoid collision with a heavy sti'eam of ice which filled a large portion of the adjacent sounds. When they got a little way into Barrow's Strait, they sa coming right toward them a schooner, which they first supposed to be the Felix, but afterwards found to be the Advance. On the morning of the 24th, they were standing across to Cape Hin-d under a clear sky and witli a moderate breeze, while a heavy pack was visible from the crow's nest, extending all along the coast of North Somerset from outside of Leopold Island on the east, to the vicinity of Cape Rennell, where it appeared to enlarge, and began to take a curved direc- tion toward Cape Hotham. The Advance was still be- hind them ; the Lady Franklin and the Sophia were to windward, struggling along shore in the vicinity of Rad- stock Baj' ; and, as the day wore on, three more ships were observed at the mouth of Wellington Channel. The Prince Albert's own voyage outward had been re- markable,— the last of the expedition vessels to leave Britain, and the first to reach BaiTow's Strait ; but since she was now retrograding, the appearance of the others so far to the west, so soon after their long and dis- iTnppn.i pro- couraging bcsetment in IMelville Bay, was vastly move other siiips. cheering, and must have breathed hope and invigoration into the hearts of their brave crews. An hour before noon of the 2Dtb, when the Prince Albert was oft' Cape Spencer, her officers saw that she must stop. An extensive pack was then a short dis- tance ahead, broken only by a few lanes of water, through which the ships in advance had evidently passed ; and the wind was blowing in a direction, happily, quite favourable for carrying these ships rapidly on to the regions of most desirable searcli, l)ut fitted also to make a prompt closure of the pack against any return thai THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 410 and tlie let, and )Our and ihey had y stream t sounds. ait, they ich they 'ound to th, they ik'ar sky lack was ilong the Id Island where it ed direc- j still be- a were to y of Rad- lore ships Channel. 1 been re- 3 to leave but since :he others and dis- stly moi-e v'igoration be Prince that she short dis- !•, through ised ; and ily, quite on to the 0 to make turn that ppiRi^n to the east. If the Prince Albert should now go CHAP. xi. forward more than a mile or two, she might be suddenly — caught by the ice, and helplessly and uselessly shut up for the winter. At noon, therefore, she bore up when about midway between Cape Spencer and Point Junes ; and then Mr. Snow went to the mast-head to take a last view of the position and seeming prospects of the several exploring vessels. Cape Ilotham was seen to the west enveloped in a Last new of tliick haze. The Assistance appeared some distance to sWpT'''"""*^ the nortli-east of it, endeavouring to get to it, seemingly either in a hole of water or along a lane. The Lady Franklin was not far from the Assistance, but probably about mid-channel, either working toward Cape Hotham, or trying to get right away tj the west. The Sophia, also under all sail, was some distance astern of the Lady Franklin, and more to the east. The Rescue was still farther to the east, considerably in shore, and apparently beset. All these vessels were among heavy ice. The Advance could not be seen, but was supposed to be be- hind one of the points of land; and she was afterwards spoken in the vicinity of Cape Riley, close in shore, fast to an iceberg. The Intrepid, too, was not then visible, but had been seen in the morning. All Wellington '^tntc'of Channel, as far as the eye could reach, was filled with cimnuei. one solid pack, broken only here and there by a small lane. Some high land, appearing dim and filmy from haze and diL^ance, was seen toward Cape Bowden, trend- ing apparently to the north-west. One heavy pack ex- tended athwart all the south-west, and looked to be im- penetrable. The only clear water visible lay imme- diately around the Prince Albert, and backward along the way by which she had come. On the same day, soon after the Prince Albert had turned her bow homeward, a flag-staff, like a signal-post, was observed on Cape Riley. The officers, supposing this to have been set up by a party from some one of the exploration ships, sent a boat ashore to ascertain 420 THE KRANKLIN EXPEDITION. CHAP. XI, Traces of Sir John riaiik- liii (111 Cape liiley. Relics from Cape Rilcv Bcnt to tliu Adiairalty. what it meant. A cylinder was found at the flag-staff^ containing a notice that the officers of the Assistance and the Intrepid had landed on Cape Riley on the 23d, that they had collected there distinct traces of an encamp- ment by some party belonging to the royal navy of Britain, that they had found traces of the same party on Beechy Island, and that they purposed to proceed thence to Cape Ilotham and Cape Walker in search of further traces. Here at last, then, were vestiges of Sir John Franklin and his companions. What they were was not said ; but they at least possessed sufficient dis- tinctness, and involved sufficient evidence, to induce the officers who had found them to bear right away to the west. The little boat party from the Prince Albert were too zealous to be satisfied with the mere notice. They looked eagerly around, and soon observed five spots on which tents seemed to have been fixed, and also ol)tained a piece of navy rope, a piece of canvass, a chip of timber, and a number of meat-bones. These, all poor and piti- ful though they might seem of themselves, seemed to throw so perceptible a light on at least the commence- ment of the mystery of the Franklin expedition, that they were esteemed a countlessly precious prize. IIow fortunate that the Prince Albert did not go down Lan- caster Sound, till they were got, and how relieving to the oppressed hearts of thousands of mourners, that they could be so promptly brought to Britain ! The Prince Albert arrived at Aberdeen on the 1st of October; and the relics from Cape Riley were speedily sent to the Admiralty, and subjected there to a rigorous scrutiny. The piece of rope was found to be of navy- yard manufacture, not later than 1841, — the piece of canvass to have a corresponding character, — the chip of timber to have a recent cut with seemingly an European axe, — the meat-bones to bear exact!}' the marks of a ship's provisions used about five years back, — the re- ported tent-marks to be nearly such as might be ex- pected from a party making a long stay for the pwpose ,nce and 3J, that mcamp- iiavy of le party proceed iearch of es of Sir ey were :ient dis- duce the ftv to the jert were ;. They spots on obtained >f timber, and piti- iecmed to )mmencc- tion, that ze. IIow own Lan- lieving to that they the 1st of i speedily a rigorous of navy- e piece of lie chip of European larks of a , — the re- ht be ex- le pwpose THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION. 421 of sfientific observation, — and the entire circumstances chap, xl of the traces on Cape Riley unaccountable by any known or supposable event, except a prolonged visit in 1845 or I84G by a party from the Erebus and the Terror. So, then. Sir John Franklin and his brave companions did Conciiuiin)? not perish in Baffin's Bay ; they duly and comfortably ^''""s'''^'- reaclu'd the centre of the Archipelago ; they went pros- perously away to grapple with the imknown difficulties of the west. May the noble-hearted crews who have gone to that chaos of ice to seek them, and may they themselves, if they yet live, be protected from the ter- rible perils which surround them, and brought back in joy to the bosom of the peopled world, by the love and power of the all-benevolent God ! 422 MORTUEllN WnALE-FISUERY. CHAPTER X. The Northern Whale-Fishery. Il If 11' I Objects of the Whalo-fishery— Early practised on the Coasts of Europe —First Fishing-voyages to the Arctic Sea — Disputes between the different Nations — Accommodation effected — Dutch Fishery — English Fishery ; Its slow Progress and ultimate Success— Various Attempts to form Fishing Settle- ments on the Arctic Shores— Mode of conducting the Fishery — Equipment — Voyage — Attack and Capture of the Whale — Operation of Flensing, &c.— Situations in which the Fishery is carried on ; Its Dangers — Various Shipwrecks and Acci- dents— Recent Changes in the Fishing-stations ; Increased Dangers— Capital invested in the Trade ; Its Produce ; Ports whence it is carried on — Disasters and Shipwrecks of 1030 ; Adventures on the Ice ; Extrication of the remaining Vessels ; General Results — Abstract of tho Whale-fishings from 1815 to 1834 inclusive— Statement from 1835 to 1842— Details for 1843 and 1844. CHAP. XIL We have frequently liad occasion to notice the great number and stupendous magnitude of those animal fonns with which nature has filled the abysses of the Arctic Ocean. The cetaceous orders, which, in some respects, belong exclusively to those northern depths, would for ever have remained undisturbed in the vast domain which Providence has assigned to them, had not the spirit of ava- rice commenced a deadly warfare. Man, ever searching for objects which may contribute to liis accommodation, discovered, in those huge animals, a variety of substances fitted for the supply of his wants. Even after his more refined taste rejected their flesh as food, the oil was re- Arctic life The cetace- ous orders NORTHERN WUALE-FISIIEHV. 423 quired to trim the winter lamp, and to be employed in chai-. xh. various branches of manufacture ; while the bone, from ^vimun^ii its firm, flexible, and elastic quality, is peculiarly fitted for various articles of dress and ornament. It has been generally supposed that whale-fishing, as Antiquity of a commercial pursuit, arose subsequently to the revival "'" ^^i''"'" of navigation in Europe; but the researches of Mr '''^'^' Scoresby leave no doubt that, on a small scale at least, it existed at a much earlier period. Even the voyage ot Ohtherc, in 890, shows that its operations were already carried on with some activity on the coast of Norway : indeed, it was natural that, in this native region of the cetaceuy their capture should commence sooner than else- where, and at an era probably ascending far beyond human records. Still this was not the true whale, — an animal which never leaves its haunts within the Arctic zone. It was that species of dolphin called bottle-nose, which alone reaches the northern extremities of Europe ; is occasionally stranded on the coasts of Orkney and Shetland ; and at times penetrates much farther south. The Northmen, in their career of conquest and settle- whaie ment, introduced on the coast of France the hunting of *\''','^,'y "Z^,"'^ the whale, which, to these hardy mariners, was at once a trade and a sport, — having found in the southern seas an inferior species, attracted thither by the shoals of herrings on which it feeds. These smaller fish frequent the Bay of Biscay, to which they seem to make a periodical mi- gration, and where they are arrested by the wide circuit of its shores. Ancient documentsprove that the Normans, the Flemings, and even the English, regarded them as a valuable commodity ; less, however, for the oil, which in this species is not very abundant, than for the flesh, which batisfied the hunger and even pleased the palate of our rude ancestors. Whales' tongues are ranked among the delicacies that adorned the table during the middle ages. The bay just named was the principal scene of this ray of fishery, which was almost entirely engrossed by the^'^^^^'- people inhabiting its interior shores ; those of Beam and -VI:; wmw i m 4'->4 NOUXnEnN WIIALK-I'ISIIKHY. I i it ' Fv i?n m i' ii I r IllM|l\U 11 Mdi'orn CFIaR Xii. Gascony on the Frcncli side, and of IMscay on tlio Spn- nisli. The Basques in part ienlar soon surpassed all other nations, und carried to such perfection the processes connected with this pursuit, that the most expert whnli'- tishers in modern times liuve done litfle more than copy their usages. By degrees they extended their adven- tures into the northern sens, where they met the people of Iceland, a Norwegian colony, who had already engaged in this trade ; and here, combining their efforts with those of the natives, they soon brought it into a very nourishing state. It Wiis still, however, conducted on n small scale, when compared with the enterprise of modern times. Yet the iirst northern navigators were not attracted thither by this special object, but stuniblcd on it, as it v/ere, in the course of their attempts to accomplish a passage to India by the Arctic seas. Barentz, in 1596, discovered Spitz- bergen, long the main seat of the fishery, and even ex- amined a considerable extent of its shores ; but as the obstruction pi'csented by this island defeated his hopes of reaching India, and as his voyage closc^d at last in disastc r, no other result was obtained beyond a certain knowledge of geography and of the animal kingdom. The English were the first who pushed their opera- tions into the depth of the Arctic Ocean. The Bear Island of the discoverer just mentioned, being rediscovered and named after Alderman Cherie, gave rise to a series of voyages for the capture of the walrus, of which some account has been already given. The views of the mer- chants were much extended, when Hudson, having en- gaged in his daring attempt to reach the Pole, surveyed Spitzbergen or East Greenland to its northern extremity ; and although unable to penetrate farther, he gave infor- mation regarding the immense number of whales which were seen on those shores. Thenceforth the adventurers fitted out for discovery were instructed to cover their expenses, as flir as miglit be, by the occasional capture of these valuable animals. This arrangement, as formerly remarked, was not hapi)y, so far us the interests of FngHsh lie Spa- in OthtT ll'OCt'SSCS wlinli'- im copy adveii- 1" people owledge NOUTIIKRN WIIALE-l'ISULUY. i2ry First wliala geographical scifiicc wore concerned, since the considciu- chap, xii tiona of profit too often super-edeil the nmin object o''^,, ^~ the voynge. Poole, in lOiO, confined his views almost tooio." entirely to the captnre of the walrus ; but, as ho saw ;i great abundance of whales, the Conipany next year sent out the Alary Margaret, furnished with IWscayan har- pooners, and with every thing re((uiaitc for the grcit fishery. Captain ]l:infj gi'uuud. established a permanent right to rule over the neigh- bouring waters, this discovery was shown by Peter Plancius the cosmographer to have been made by Barcnt;^, and not by Sir Hugh. The commencement of the fishery by our countrymen formed certainly a better claim ; though by no means sufficient to establish a perpetual sovereignty over those vast seas. The Hollanders, there- fore, determined not only to refuse acquiescence, but to repel force by force ; for which purpose they sent out fleets so numerous and so well armed, that for some years only slight annoyances were sustained by them ; while the two governments appear to have looked on and allowed the adventurers to tight it out. At length, in 1618, a general encounter took place, which termi- nated to the disadvantage of the English, one of whose -hips was taken and carried into Amsterdam. The Dutch administration, reluctant to involve themselves in a quarrel with their powerful neighbour, prudently re- stored the vessel with its lading and crew, — bestowing at the same time a reward on tlie gallant seamen who had made the capture. It now f>i)pcared expedient to (>ut an end to this unseemly collision. There was ad- mitted to be room enough for all the nations of Euroi)e, provided they ceased to interfere with each other ; and therefore a division was made of the coasts and bays of Spitzbergen among such states as had been accustomed to resort to the fishery. The English, allowed in some sense to have the best claim, were favoured with the first choice ; they pitched upon Horizon Bay, Clock Bay, Safety Port, and IMagdaleiia Bay, in the more southern part of the coast, and near the large island called Charles* Foreland. Then followed the other nations in the order f their adjudned rights. The Dutch selected the fine sland at the north-west extremity, which they namears, so disposed as to cause the pressure on any one part to bear upon and be supported by the whole structure. Mr Scoresby re- commends the dimension of 350 tons as tlic most eligiblo. V*'1iale ships Fortified bo ., 3. NORTHERN WnALR-FISllKRY. 437 Isuch a |o pay muku L'Ussian lent by julurly j)loying They inter- )locked A ship of this size is sometimes filled ; and the nuniher CHAP. xii. of men required for its navigation, being also necessary q^^^ „„j for manning the boats employed in the fishery, could tonna«o. not be reduced even in a much smaller vessel. A larger tonnage than 360, being scarcely ever filled, involves, the proprietor in useless expense. The Dutch are of opinion, that the vessels destined for this service should be 112 feet long, 29 broad, and 12 deep, carrying seven boats, and from forty to fifty seamen. One of the most essential particulars is the crow's nest, a species of sentry-box made of canvass or light wood, pitched on the maintop-mast, or top-gallant-mast head. This is the post of honour, and also of severe cold, where the master, provided with a telescope and a speaking- trumpet, often sits f jr hours in a temperature thirty or forty degrees below the freezing-point, and whence he can descry all the movements of the surrounding seas, and give directions accordingly. The whaling. vessels usually talce their departure in JK J;,7;.;?^ such time as to leave the Shetland Isles about the be- msscIs. ginning of April, and before the end of the month arrive within the Polar Seas. It was long customary to spend a few weeks at what is called the Seal-fisher's Bight, extending along the coast of Greenland, ere they pushed into those more northern waters where, amid fields of ice, the whale is commonly found ; but in later times it has become usual to sail at once into that centre of danger and enterprise. As soon as they have arrived in those seas, the crew \''^'|^^'=><'' must be every moment on the alert, keeping watch day and night. The seven boats are suspended by the sides of the ship, ready to be launched in a few minutes ; and, when the state of the weather admits, one of them is usually manned and afloat. These boats are from 25 to 28 feet long, about 6^ feet broad, and constructed with a special view to lightness, buoyancy, and eas}^ steerage. As soon as the person in the crow's nest heais the blowing of the huge animal which they seek to at- tack, or sees its back emenjing from the waves, he gives 'S\'4 I ■. 'i- ::* ■ ■^'U 4:m NOHTIIEKN WlIALE-PiailKRY. V'imU' In II.ii'i)uua. |t'^! CUAl». XII. notice to the wntch who arc stationed on deck, part of whom leap into ft boat, which is instantly lowered down, and followed by others. Each of the boats has a hnrpooner and one or two subordinate officei*s, and is provided with an immense quantity of rope coiled up and stowed in diffci'cnt quarters of it, the several parts being spliced together so as to form a continued lino, usually exceeding four thousand feet in length. To the end is attached the harpoon (fig. 1), an instrument formed, not to pierce and kill the animal, but, by enter- ing and remaining fixed in the body, to prevent its escape. One of the boats is now rowed towards the whale in the deepest silence, cautiously avoiding to give nn alarm, of which he is very susceptible. Sometimes a circuitous route is adopted in order to attack him from behind. Having approached as near as is con- sistent with safety, the harpooner darts his instrument Striking tlie into the back of the monster.* This is a critical mo- ment ; for, often when the mighty animal feels the wound, he throws himself into violent convulsive move- ments, vibrating in the air his tremendous tail, one lash of which is sufficient to dash a boat in pieces. More commonly, however, he plunges rapidly into the sea, or beneath the thickest fields of ice. While he is thus moving, at the rate usually of eight or ten miles an hour, the utmost diligence must be used, that the lino to which the harpoon is ottachcd may run off smoothly and readily along with him. Should it be entangled for a moment, the strength of the whale is such that he would draw down the boat and crew after him. The first boat ought to be quickly followed \ip by a second, to supply more line when the first is run out, whi:;h often takes place in eight or ten minutes. When this inconvenience is dreaded, the men hold up one, two, or three oars, to intimate their pressing need of a supply. • The harpoon is sometimes discliarged from a poculiar species of mm, in which case the form fiK. 4 is employed ; but this mode has not come into very gcuoral use. Signals. NOUTIIURN WHALE-FISHERY. 439 art of wend hiiH ii ukI is ed u|) parts |1 lino, J o uncnt i-nter- nt its Is the ;o givo f times c him s cou- ument ul mo- Is the movc- le lash Moru sea, or s thus Ics au CIIAI'. ML 1. Hand Ilan^oon. 2. nicker. 3. Blubber Spado. 4. Gun Harpoon. 5. Lance. "'■;'.»■»•■ ■■*.;♦!, ■ It' k:4. If- :i-'• ^y^^jjj. ^l^^^vn suddenly; and the crew were not saved until after having been exposed in boats fourteen days. Thirteen other vessels perished that year in the Spitz- bergen seas. Three seasons afterwards Captain BilU; lost a second ship by the violent concussion of the ice, the crew having just time to save themselves on a frozen held. At the moment of their disaster they were moored to a large Hoc along with another, a brig called the Red Fox ; which last shortly afterwards underwent a similar fate, being struck with such violence that the whole, hull and masts together, disappeared almost in an in- stant,— the sailors having had merely time to leap on the ice. The united crews now adopted various plans, — some remaining where they were, others setting out in boats in different directions ; but all, in one way or other, reached home. The same year the Concorus plans, 'tting out le way or Concord but th« sliip. kable for 1 d diver- instance, upleted a ;cn, were n general , and en- >uvekces, le obliga- ich valu- icr trial ; ey liad a )ut earlv 1 of May, kvcver, r. itli such viidoncc, that the captain found himself completely be- chap, xil set, and saw two Dutch vessels and one English go to — jiieces at a little distance. At length a stirring breeze from the north gave him the hope of being extricated ; when presently he was involved in a dense fog, which pcnse f..^'. froze so thickly ui)f)n the sails and rigging that the ship appeared a mere floating iceberg. On the atmosphere cleaving, the faint light, and the migration of birds to the southward, announced the approach of winter. Unable to make any progress, the seamen contemplated with despair the necessity of spending the season in that frozen latitude. They had nearly come to the end of their provisions, and famine was already staring f'i''";' "' them in the face, when they thought of broiling the'"'^^'^"""' whales' tails, which proved very eatable, and even sdutary against the scurvy. Thus they hoped to exist till the middle of February, beyond which the prospect was very dismal ; but on the 12th November there arose a violent north wind, that dispersed the ice. Their hopes being now awakened, every effort was strained; and on the lOtli a north-wester brought on so heavy a rain tluit next day they were entirely clear of the ice, and had a prosperous voyage homeward. The year 1777 was one which exhibited on a large Loss nf tea scale all the vicissitudes of this occupation. Captain *'"''* Brocrties, in the Guillamine, arrived that year on the 22d June at the great bank of ice, where he found fifty vessels moored and l)usied in the fishery. He began it successfully : indeed, the very next day he killed a large whale. On the morrow a tempest drove in the ice with such violence that twenty-seven of the ships were beset, and ten were lost. On the 25th July, seeing some appearance of an opening, he caused the Guillamine to be war[)cd through by the boats ; but after four days' labour he found himself, with four other ships, in a narrow basin enclosed by icy barriers on every side. Api)rehending the danger of being per- manently beset, he obliged the men to submit to a diminution of their rations. 'i-i'i/i. 418 NORTHERN WIIALE-FISUERV. tlie ici'. r.)!itiiutod tciiipcsC. ciiAi'^xii. On the Ist August the ice began to gather thickly, ontiiering of ft^d a Violent storm driving it against the vessels, placeil them in the greatest peril for a number of days. On the 20th a dreadful gale arose from the north-east, in which the Guillaniinc suffered very considerable damage ; and in this awful tempest, out of the five ships two went down, while a third sprung a number of leaks. The crews were taken on board of the remaining two, which they greatly incommoded. On the 25th all the three were completely frozen in, when it was resolved to send a party of twelve men to seek aid from four vessels which a few days previously had been driven into a station at a little distance ; but before they arrived two of these had been dashed to pieces, and the other two were in the most deplorable condition. Two Hamburghcrs, somewhat farther removed, had perished in a similar manner. Meantime the Guilla- mine and her consorts came in sight of Gale Ilamkes' Land in Greenland, and, the tempest still pushing them gradually to the southward, Iceland at length appeared on their left. The two others just mentioned, com- manded by Dirk Brocr and Rod of Me^'er, found a little opening, through which they contrived to escape. The crews of the three fii-st were beginning to hope tiiat they might at last be equally fortunate, when, on the l.Sth September, a whole mountain of ice fell upon ,„ , , ,, the Guillamine. The men, half naked, leaned out upon tiuiiiiiinine. the trozen surface, savmg with difficulty a small portion of their provisions, and the broken remnants of the vessel were soon buried under enormous piles of ice. The second, commanded by Jeldert Janz, had just met a similar fate, and there remained only tliat of Jans Castricum, to which all now looked for refuge, iiy leaping from one fragment to another, the men, not without danger, contrived to reach this vessel, which, though in extreme distress, received them on board. Shattered and overcrowded, she was obliged immediately after to accommodate fifty other seamen, the crew of the Jans Christiaimz of Hamburgh, which had also gone :r thickly, els, placi'd days. On lorth-east, nsidcrable } five ships r of leaks, ining two, >th all the IS resolved from four ?en driven jforc they lieces, and condition, oved, had le Guilla- j Ilumkes' hing them 1 ai)peared ned, coin- ', found a to escape, g to hope when, on ; fell upon J out upon all portion its of the les of ice. 1 just met t of Jans fugc. jiy men, not L'l, which, on board, mediately few of the also gone NORTHERN WnALE-PISHERY. 449 down, the chief harpooncr and twelve of tho mariners cifap. xii. having perished. These numerous companies, squeezed ^vrtcli 7f into the crazy bark of Castricum, suffered every kind Custt icumt of distress, and were besides menaced with the dread of ^'^'"*"'''* famine. All remoter fears, however, gave way, when, on the 11th October, the vessel went to pieces in the sjunc sudden manner as the others, leaving the unfortu- nate sailors scarcely time to remove to the ice with their remaining stores. With great difficulty they reached a field of some extent, and with their torn sails contrived to rear a sort of covering ; but sensible that by remaining on this desolate spot they must certainly perish, they saw no safety except by attempting to reach the coast of Greenland, which was in view. With in- finite toil they effected their object, and happily met some inhabitants, who entertained them hospitably, and regaled them with dried fish and seal's flesh. Thence they pushed across that dreary region, treated sometimes well, sometimes churlishly ; but by one means or other they succeeded at length, on the 13th March, in reaching the Danish settlement of Fredericks- haab. Here they were received with the utmost kind- ness ; and, being recruited from their fiitigues, took the first opportunity of embarking for Denmark, whence they afterwards sailed to their native country. The Davis' Strait fishery has also been marked with JJ^jj;';,'" J^Js* very frequent and fatal shipwrecks. In 1814, the Royalist, Captain Edmonds, was lost with all her crew ; and in 1017 the London, Captain Mathews, shared the same fate. The only account ever received of either of these ships was from Captain Bennet of the Venerable, who, on the 15th April, saw the London, in a tremen- dous storm, lying to windward of an extensive chain ot icebergs, by some of which it is probable she was dashed to pieces that very evening. Among accidents on a smaller scale, one of the most frequent is that of boats employed in pursuit of the whale being overtaken by fogs or storms of snow, which prevent them from regaining the vessel. A fatal mstance of this 2 B I "\\ a 4:.o AonTIIEllN WIIALE-FISHEny. '1 'V ^ i ].0M (if bouts Liews. (tuiii;ur. ciiA!'. xii. kind occuvrcd to the Ipswich, Captain Gordon ; four of whoso boats' crews, after a fish had heen caught, and even brought to the ship's side, were employed on a piece of ice liauhng in the lino, when a pvjddcn storm drifted her so rapidly a way, that notwithstanding the utmost etforts, she never came within reach of tlie unfortunate men who composed tlie greater part of her establishment, Mr Scoresby mentions several casualties of the siime nature which occurred to his bonfc' companies ; all of wliom, however, in the end, happily found their way back. One of the most alarming cases was that of fourteen individuals who were left on a small piece of floating ice, with a boat wholly unable to withstand the surrounding tempest ; but amid their utmost despair they fell iu with the Lively of Whitby, and were most cordially received on board. The source, however, of the greatest danger to the whale-fisher arises from the physical strength of the ani- mal with which he ventures to contend. Generally, in- deed, tlie whale, notwithstanding his immense power, is extremely gentle, — seeking, even when he is most hotly pursued, to escape from his assailants by plunging into the lowest depths of the ocean. Sometimes, however, he exerts his utmost force in violentand convulsive struggles ; and every thing with which, when thus enraged, he comes into collision, is dissipated or destroyed in an instant. The Dutch writers mention Jacquez Vienkes of the Gort Moolen(13arley^Iill),who,afterawhale had been struck, was hastening with a second boat to the support of the first. The animal, however, rose, and with its head struck the boat so furiously as to sliiver it in pieces, and Vienkes was thrown with its fragments on the back of the huge creature. Even then, this bold mariner darted a second harpoon into the body of his victim ; but un- fortunately he got entangled in the line and could not extricate himself, while the other party were unable to approach near enough to save him. At last, however, the harpoon was disengaged, and he swam to his men. Mr Scoresby, in one of liis earliest voyage;^, saw a boat •T iironi, (luiith. CHAP. XIL ning rope, liad a foot entirely carried off, aiul was oMIgcd EntaiiRiic- ^^ ''"^^' *'"^' lower part of the leg amputated. A l»ar- nuiit m Uio pooncr, belonging to the Henrietta, had incautiously cast '""* some part of the line under hi.s feet ; when a sudden dart of the fish made it twist round his body. He had just time to cry out, — " Clear away the line I 0 dear !" when he was cut almost asunder, dragged overboard, and never more seen, A whale sometimes causes danger by proving to be alive after having exhibited every symptom of death. Mr Scoresby mentions an instance of one which appeared so decidedly dead that he himself had leaped on the tail, and was busy putting a rope through it, when he sud- denly felt the animal sinking from beneath him. He )uade a spring towards a boat at some yards' distance, and, grasping the gunwale, was assisted on board. 1'he fish then moved forward, reared his t^iil aloft, and shook it with such prodigious violence that it resounded to the distance of several miles ; but after two or three mi- nutes of this violent exertion, ho rolled on his side and expired. Even after life is extinct all danger is not over. In the operation of flensing, the harpooners sometimes fall into the whale's mouth, at the imminent hazard of being drowned. In the cose of a heavy swell they are drenched, and sometimes washed over by the surge. Occasionally they have their ropes broken, and are wounded by each other's knives. Mr Scoresby mentions an instance of a man who, after the flensing was comj)leted, happened to have his foot attached by a hook to the kreiig or carcass, when the latter was inadvertently cut awa}'. He caught hold of the gunwale of the boat ; but the whole im- mense mass was now suspended by his body, occasioning the most excruciating torture, and evi n exposing him to the risk of being torn asunder, when his companions contrived to hook the kreng with a grapnel, and bring it back to the surface. The whale, in attempting to escai)e, sometimes exerts |)rudigious strength, and inflicts upon its pursuers not T».iiii;iT Irt NOUTTIF-UN WlIAI-E-FISnF.RY. 4:)3 naoMl^cd A linr- iiiisly cast tldcii dart had just r !" wluMi and never ing to l)e of death. appealed u the tail, n lie 8ud- him. Ho anee, and, The fisli 1 shouk it led to tlie three nii- 8 side and T. In tlic >s full into 1 of being drenehcd, Tjusionally •d hy each tanee of a ip{)ened to or eai'cass, Ileeauglit ivhole ini- eeasioning ing him to ^nipanions and bring lies exerts isuers not only danger, but the loss of their property. In the year cilAr. Ml. lOrJ, u boat's erew belontring to tlie Ilosolution struck p,.o,,| ,i,.„h one on the margin of a floe. Supported by a second boat, stiLii^.h ..r they flit much at their ease, tlierc l)eing scarcely an "'" ^'"^^^^ instance in which the assistance of a tliird was rccpiired in such eircuin^-tances. Soon, however, a signal was made for more line, and as Mr Scoresby was pushing with his utmost speed, four oars were raised in signal of the greatest ilistress. The boat was now seen with its bow on a level with the water, wliile the harpooner, fmni the friction of the line, was enveloped in smoke. At length, when the relief was within a hundred yards, the crew were seen to throw their jackets upon the nearest ice, and thou leap into the sea ; after which the boat rose into the air, and, making a majestic curve, disai)poared beneath the watei-s with all the line attaciied to it. The crew were saved. A vigorous pursuit was immediately commenced ; and the whale, being traced through narrow and intricate channels, was discovered considerably to the eastward, when three har[)oon3 were darted at him. The Great l<» .?«•«. line of two other boats was then run out, when, by an accidental entanglement, it broke, and enabled the whale to carry off in all about four miles of rope, which with the boat were valued at i'150. The daring fishers again gave chase ; the whale was seen, but missed. A third time it appeared, and was reached ; two more har[)Oon3 were struck, and the animal, being ])lied with lances, became entirely exhausted, and yielded to its fate. It had by that time drawn out 10,440 yards, or about six miles of line. Unluckily, through the disengagement of a harpoon, a boat and thirteen lines, nearly two miles in length, were detached and never recovered. Wliale-fishers sometimes meet with agreeable siir- Sinfriii;«r prises. The crew of the ship Nautilus had captured a ^'^^ ^"'* fish, which being disentangled and drawn to the ship, some of them were employed to haul in the line. Sud- denly they felt it pulled away as if by another whale, and having made signals for more line, were soon satisfied, by the continued movements, that this waa the case. At sr ii'j'd r 1 If 4o4 NUUTUERN WIIALE-FISHLUY. tUlf lif CIIAI'. XII. length a large one rose up close to th( ni, and was quickly ~.,,p. killed. It then proved that the animal, while niovini: through the waters, had received the rope into its open mouth, and struck hy tlie unusual sensation, held it fast between its jaws, and thus iK-came an easy prey. — A Hull ship, the Prince of IJnizils, had struck a small fish, which sunk apparently dead. Tlie crew applied all their strength to heave it up ; hut sudden and violent jerks on the line convinced them that it was still alive. They pei-severed, and at length hrought up twT in .suc- cession, one of which had many turns of the rope wound round its body. Having been entangled under water, it had, in its attempt to escape, been more and more implicated, till, in tiic end, it shared the fate of its companion. Ilecent nfw clianiiels of lliv tiaile. Re:n,tvk.iMo I'll riL'i's ii( liCMIIIV, A view of the whalo-fisliery, as it existed prior to 1020, lias thus been drawn from ample and authentic materials afforded by the Dutcii and other early writers, as veil as by the valuable work of the younger Mr Scoresbv. Hav- ing understood, however, that the tnule had been turned into several new cliannels, we aj)plied iu lO.'U to ceitaiji intelligent individuals at the jnincipal j)orts, fron\ whoia we obtained sucli valuable information as enables us tu continue to that period the hi-tory of its operations. Wc can now add some recent inf«jrmatiun, which will bring it down to the end of IHN. Remarkable changes have lately taken place as to tlie waters in whicli tlie fishery is carried on. For nioie than a hundred year:; it was confined to the sea between .Si)it/.- bergen and Greenlan, fully wiotc, leraMc, ['ti;ti»ij NOninEUN WIIALE-FISITKUV. 4.M v( ly of the Active. These wrecks have generally occurred in attempting to })ass from the eastern coast to Lancaster Sound, across that great barrier of ice which fills the centre of Baffin's 13c\y. Tlie sides of the vessels have sometimes been cruhlied together ; at other times they have been pressed out of »-he water and lui' upon the ice. But experience seems to have enabled the mariners to guard in some degree against these dangers. In 1821), of eighty-eight ships only four were lost ; namely, the Dauntltos, Brumham, of Hull ; the Roukwood, Lawson, (»f London ; the Jane, Bruce, of Aberdeen ; the Home Castle, Stodail, of Leith. Several of these shipwrecks have bctn attended with very peculiar circumstances. In 1825, the Active, Cap- tain Gray, of Peterhead, was so completely beset in Exeter Sound, that on tho first October the crew were obliged to abandon her and take a passage in other ships. Next year a vessel, sent out to ascertain her fate, found her on the beach, at a little distance from the place of besctment, completely uninjured. She was got off in a \\)\v days, and brought home with her cai,",o to reterhead, where she arrived on tl>') 12tli September. The Dundee, j^ iyo(;^ ^]^^ Dundee, Captain Dawson, of London, having ventured into the high;,:- parallels of Bafliirs Bay, was in latitude 74° 30' so completely enclosed, that the crew could obtain uu assistance from the other ships. h of the r»arknl)l(! sed since into tlu> spondent 10 11 iiptingto ed, that cr ships. NORTHERN WlIALE-riSlIERY. 4:)7 To add to their distress, a Dutch vessel near them was chap, xii completely wrecked ; and the men, to the nnm1)er of p„t(^.iu- forty-six, came on board entirely destitute. They were wiccu. supported from the 23d August to the Gth October, when they set out in their boats to endeavour to reach the Danish settlement of Levely ; but, as this wa^ 350 miles distant, much doubt was entertained whether they would over arr'.ve at their destination. The crew of the Dundee, reduced to extreme distress by the want of provisions, succeeded in killing some seals and bears, on r.rout iniva. whose coarse Hesh they were thankful to sustain life. ""'*' On the 1st Feln'uary they caught a whale, and on the IGth a second, which attorded great relief, especially as other fishes were attracted l)y the desire to feed on the carcass of this huge animal. Unfortunately for their repose, the sea was not so completely frozen but that enormous icebergs were still tossing through it with thundering noise, tearing up the iields by which the ship was surrounded. On the 22il February, one of uncommon magnitude was seen l)earing directly upon their stern, its collision with which appeared inevital)le ; whereupon the seamen, snatehing their clothes, leaped out upon the ice, and ran to some distance. The iceberg rolled on with a tremendous crasii, breaking the field into fragments, and hiding from their view the ship, which tliey expected never to see again ; but liajjpily it passed by, and the Dundee ai>peared from behind it un- injured,— a spectacle that was hailed with three enthu- siastic cheers. The mariners lost sight of the sun for sevtnty-five days, during which they sulVered such se- Extreme verc cold that they could not walk the ort9, we found that such a ship could then be built and completely equipped for about £8000. A Dundee correspondent calculates that half of this amount is expiiuleii in ciirpenter-work, auil •llfll tlio ficcd licr meeting greatest Ivith pro- |to reach tlie JGth U' Shct- ful of her iisiMered t it j)o.s- ^ifU'r the le of tlio ade con- i vessels ' greatly t! ^^'/' kind, being worthy of much consideration. The prices of these two commodities vary greatly, both at different periods and Ironi one year to another. Whale-oil, in 1742, is stated to have sold for £18 per tin ; but in the fdllowiiig year it fell to £14. In 1801 11' ' ' i 4G0 NOUTIIERN WIIALIM'ISIIKRY. oa Valiio (if WhaiubuIlC CHAP. xn. it rose so high as £.>0 ; hut in 1002 wns only XHl ; nnd Vinintionsin •" 1H07 had suiik so low as ,i;21. In 1010 it reached it tiic value wt hij^her price than ever, the finest quality heing sold at £(50; hut the prospirous fishery of 1014 hrought it down again to £02. IMr Seoresby reckons the average of the nineteen years ending with 1010, at £04, 15s. ; while an intellisj^'nt correspondent at Aberdeen stated that of the twenty preceding at £20, 15s. The price in July 1300 was given in the Scotch j)orts at from £24 to £20 ; in Hull at £24. Since that time it has run nearly between £25 and £00 ; which last rate for the last two or three yeai's has been fully supported. Whalebone bore anciently a very high i)rice, when the rigid stays and expanded hoops of our grandmothers produced an extensive demand for this commodity. The Dutch have occasionally obtained £700 per ton, and were accustomed to draw £100,000 annually from Eng- land for that one article. Even in 17(>0 it brought £500 ; but it soon fell, and has never again risen to the same value. During the present century the price has varied betwi-en £'00 and £;)00, seldom falling to the owest rate, and rarely exceeding £150. Mr Seoresby reckons the price in the five years ending 1010 at £1)0 ; while in July 1000, it was stated from the dilfcrcnt ports to be from £100 to £100. The average price of the Incicasu io twenty years to 1004 was estimated at £1(50. The rate in 1044* is reported to us at £000. Tl^.--. is for what is called the A'/rt'-bone, or such pieces as nieasure six feet or upwards in length ; those beh)W this standard are usually sold .it half-price. It may aj>pear singular that whalebone should rise while oil has been so de- cidedly lowered ; but the o'le jhange, it is obvious, has really caused the otln r. Ojl being the main product of the fishery regulatjs its extent, wliieh being dii.ii- nished by the low price, '.he (piantity of bone is lessened, while the demand for it continuing as great as before, the marketable value conse(iuently rises. The wliale-fishery, lor one ship and one season, is a complete lottery, the result of which, according to the jnco. NOnxnERN WIIALE-FlsnERY. 461 Grcatc.tt rutunis skill nn.l good fortune of the persons employed, fluctu- chap. xil. jiti's l)tt\vcen a large profit and n severe loss. Sonietitnos — ft vessel is so unhieky as to return clean ; another hrings of "iiu"triuir only one fish ; while no fewer than eight or nine of these, producing ahout ninety tuns of oil, arc necessary to make an average voyage. But there are many in- stances of a much larger produce. The greatest cargo ever known by Mr Scoreshy to have been brought from the northern seas was that of Captain Souter, of the Resolution of Peterhead, in 1014. It consisted of forty- four whales, yielding 290 tuns of oil, which, even at the reduced rate of X'32, sold for X'OrjGB, raised by the whale- bone and bounty to about X'l 1,000. In 1813, both the elder and younger Mr Scoreshy secured cargoes, less in (juantity indeed, but which, from the oil selling at X'GO per tun, yielded a still larger return. The former, in the course of twenty-eight voyages, killed 408 wliales, whence were extracted 4240 tuns of oil, the value ot which and of the bone exceeded £160,000. The Dutch have published tables, exhibiting the re- Dutch tables suits of their fishery for the space of 107 years, between inOO and 1778," both inclr ve. During that period they sent to Greenland 14,107 ships, of which 501, or about four in the hundred, were lost. Thfy took 67,500 whales, yielding 3,105,60(5 quardeelent of oil, and 03,170,n(!-^ pounds of bone, which sold for £18,031, 202.:|: The expense of fitting out the ships amounted to X'll, 870,010 ; the value of those lost was X'470,422 ; and the expense of preparing the oil and bone was £2,507,1 00,— total expenses, £14,017,150; leaving a profit of £3,714,142. The Davis' Strait fish- ery, between 1710 and 1778, employed 3101 vessels, of • The years lfi7"2, 1()73, and 1(574, are not inclmlcd, the war with Fnuico liavin^ caiiscd a suspension of tlio fishery. t A qnardool of oil contains from 18 to '1\ stokans, or from 77 to 90 imperial standard ^'allons ; and 100 Dutch pounds aro equal to lO.'Mtis. avoirdupois nearly. X In couvi-rtin;' tho I)ntih ostimatea into English money, the florin is valued at 'JO;d. htcrliug. "M 4(12 NORTIIKRN WITALK-FISlIErtY. niul Davis' Strait lislifiici. r.r;ii!.ii lialaiy. CiiAi'. Ml ^vl^ich G2 were lost. Tho produce was ,i*4,28n,2no, Grppniaiiil which, ilcductuij; i,'3,410,J)87 of oxpciisis, left ii jjiolit ofi'077,248. Tho Greenland lislicry would thus have yielded a profit of about 26 j»er cent., and the Davis' Strait of about 2G i)er cent. ; but it may be observed that the Dutch, in their estimate of cxj)enseH, have not included the orij,nnal cost of the vessels. From ITIW down to l7iH, the number of shij)9 was reduced to sixty, and the trade is said to have bein carried on with abso- lute loss. The British fishery for some time yielded a produce much exceedinfj[ in value that of the Dutch even during,' the period of its greatest prosperity. In the five years ei.ding with 1018, there were imported into England and Scotland G8,940 tuns of oil, and 3420 tons of wliale- bone ; which, valuing tho oil at i,'30, lOs., and the bone at i'S)(), with ill 0,000 in skins, raided the whole to 4:2,834,110 sterling, or ,i'.50(;,822 i)er annum. The fishery of 3814, a year peculiarly fortunate, produced 1437 whales from Greenland, yielding 12,132 tuns of oil, which, added to the produce from Davis' Strait, formed altogether, even at comparatively low prices, a value of above ,1700,000.* It may be mentioned that this trade is now carried on without legislative en- couragement, no bounty having been granted since the year 1824. There has also been a somewhat singular change as to the ports in which the fishery is |)ursued. In London were undertaken all the discoveries which led to its es- tablishment ; aiul for some time a complete monopoly was enjoyed by the great companies formed in that city. Even between the years 1780 and l7iJ0, the metropolis sent out four times the number of vessels that sjiiled from any other town. It was observed, however, that her efforts were on the whole less fortunate than those of the rivals who had sprung up ; and her merchants CIlHtl.'IC of the jiarts. • In all thcso statements the niciisiu'c oniployod is tlie tun of 2.VJ (lid wiuo gallons, oniial to 'JOi'j^ lini>orial stiuidaiu ^alluiis. NORTIIKHN WIIALF.-FISIIl'UV. 4(13 wcrp so much discouraged that, In ISIr Scoroshy's time, CHAI". \ii they equipped only seventeen or I'ightocnvcssi'ls. They have since entirely ahandoned the trade, enipjoyin;,' in li'lii?""'' "' 1»27 no more than two slips, in 1035 only one; at present none. Hull early hecamc a competitor with the capital, havin^jf sent out vessels from the very coni- nieneement. Although checked at first hy the inlluenco of the privih'ged hodies, as soon as the trade hecanvi free she prosecuted it with distinguished success. I,i the end of the last century that town attained, and for forty years preserved, the character of the first whale-fishiiig j)oi-t in Britain. Since 1«37 it declined so much as to send in 1042 only two vessels. The two fi)ll()wing years, however, showed a great revival. Whithy en- gaged in this pursuit in IT^IJ, and carried it on for some time with more than common fortum; ; hut her opera- tions have since been discontinued. Liverpool, after embarking in the undertaking with spirit, has now entirely reliiuiuished it. Newcastle, though much de- clined, still carries on a moderate trade. Meantime the eastern ports of Scotland gradually extended their Sf.iitUli transactions, while those of the country at large were ^'""^ diminishing. The increase was most remarkable at Peterhead ; and indeed this place, comj)a»*ed especially with London, must derive a great advantage from avoiding, both in the outward and homeward voyage, CiOi) miles of somewhat difficult navigation. It is now decidedly the chief port in the United Kingdom. Leitli, Montrose, and Aberdeen, after starting with spirit, entirely withdrew, though the last again sent a vessel in 1044. Dundee, and on a smaller scale Kirkcaldy, have kept up a steady trade ; while IJo'ness also de- si)atches one vessel. The following summary has been collected from Mr Scoresby's woik, as the average quantity of shipj)ing fitted out in the diflerent ])orts for nine years ending with 1010; since which time it will ai)[)ear hereafter that the amount has con-jidcrablv declined. CHAP. XII. qiiiintity uf kUiiiiiiut{. Di>in><;»'f8 ot U>uU. Cuuscs. 4t>4 NORTHERN WnALE-FISIIERY. Arrranof • 1H1(>.18. England,- Ponvick 1} (irimsby If ilull 53t I^ivcrpool li London 17| Lynn 11 Nowcastlo 4} Whitby ng 91J Scotland,— Abcnlocn lOg Manff. H Dundeo 7i (irconock i Kirkcaldy | Kirkwall § Leith 8J Montrose 2j I'ctorhcad G8 40J Total 1313 The year 1830 was tlie most disastrous that ever occurred in the annals of British fishery. Melancholy as the details are, they possess a deep interest, and may afford useful lessons to future navigators ; wo have therefore taken some pains to procure such materials as might enable us to exhibit, in a full and connected view, the occurrences of this calamitous season. We consider ourselves particularly fortunate in having ob- tained journals, written by individuals who were pre- sent at the different scenes of shipwreck ; and these not only give a minute detail of the events, but forcibly re- present the emotions which the view of them excited. A variety of interesting documents have also been re- ceived, from intelligent friends at the respective fishing- ports, in reply to queries transmitted to them on the subject. In tracing the causes of these dreadful disasters, it will be necessary to explain the manner in which masses of ice arc formed, and the positions they occupy CHAP. \II riintmtldn •'t IIIUS^L'.S ul -ijj. NORTH i:nN WllALK-FISIir.UY. 4(';) In that extensive inlit, to the succcasivc parts of wlilch wo give the names of Davis' Strait and liutliu's 15ay. This son, though not constituting, as was once supposed, a eonipieteiy enclosed gulf, has yet no opening so wide ns materially to interrupt the continuity of its shores on cither side, lee of a certain description may cover the greatest expanse of water ; hut every one knows that it is formed most extensively, and of the most eomi)act texture, in hays and along a precipitous hcueh. The winding and generally elevated coast of this strait lias always produced it in the greatest varieties, nmong which those of bergs and Hoes have heen most conspi- cuous. The land-ice, during the rigour of wintii',L.iil remains fixed in an unbroken sheet, stretching maiiv miles out to sen. Under the warmth of spring and ( arly summer, numerous fragments are detached, which, through the action of tides and currents, are lloated out into the ocean, and sometimes reach even low latitudes on the shores of America. The greater proportion, however, coming from the opposite coasts, meet in mid- channel, and unite into a compact and continuous bar- rier, through which, till a very advanced jieriod of the season it is impossible for the navigator to penetrate. Between this central body, called tlie middle-ice, and that attached to the land, there intervenes a narrow and precarious passage, always more or less encumbered, and often entirely closed up ; yet through which the adventurous mariner can generally, in the course ot two or three months, wind his course into the higher latitudes in the direction of Lancaster Sound. Pi-ior to the voyages of Ross and Parry, the range of Voyaces ot operations had been limited to the south-west fishery, i«unyl" ' and to that on the eastern shore as far as Horn Sound. These fields, however, gradually shared the fate of those in the Greenland Sea, — being, as it \vcxc,fiishedout ; the whales having learnt to take refuge from the destroying j)ower of their assailants in some more distant recesses of the Arctic Ocean. When it was reported, therefore, hy the officers employed in discovery, that, on the 2P IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) „V ^n^ ^o 1.0 I.I Ui t2A 12.5 |io "^" M^ ^ 1^ 122 = m IL25 IIIU 11.6 ^^ W / y /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) •72-4503 N? \ \\ 4GG NORTHERN WHALE-FISHERY. Revived spirit of euterprise. Course of upprouclL CHAP. xiL north-westcm shores of Baffin's Bay, fish had been seen in vast numbers, the spirit of enterprise Avas kindled, and success soon crowned its efforts. Since that period, not only the Greenland Seas have been nearly deserted, but the original fishing-grounds m Labrador and Davis' Strait have been regarded only as secondary objects ; while every nerve has been strained to reach those interior shores, where whales are still found in an abundance elsewhere unexampled. To arrive at this more important station, the captains may proceed along either of the coasts of that great in- land sea. The western might appear at first sight the more eligible one, leading most directly to the object, and avoiding that middle barrier which is so peculiarly dangerous. This shore, however, is exposed to tlie great body of ice, which, at the beginning of the season, floats down from the north, rendering the navigation at once tedious and dangerous. Hence the usual practice among whalers is to work their way up the eastern passage till they turn Cape York ; beyond which tiie sea becomes much narrower, the central ice usually terminates, and an opening is found stretching to the western side. Before reaching Cape York, however, and after passing that formidable promontory called the Devil's Thumb, they must cross the spacious ex- panse of Melville Bay, bounded on the north by a bold shore, covered with perpetual ice and snow. Here those dangers occur which have proved fat^l to so many navigators. A strong wind from the south-west loosens the ice, and drives its severed fragments directly into the bay just specified. Arrested by its northern bound- ary, these are crowded together, and tossed with a violent commotion, which involves the mariner in the most deadly peril. This place, accordingly, was almost exclusively the scene of the calamitous shipwrecks in 1830, which are now to be described. Most of the vessels destined for the fishery that year sailed between the middle and end of March ; but, hav- ing a tedious voyage out, they did not reach the en- Polnt of NORTHER X W II A LE-FIS II ER V. 407 lad been )rise Wiis s. Since ave been ounds in ded only has been •e whales sampled. e captains great in- sight the he object, peculiarly ;d to the he season, rigation at d practice le eastern which the ;e usually ing to the however, ory called acious ex- orth by a ow. Here ;o so many est loosens rectly into 3rn bound- ed with a iner in the was almost nvrecks in r that year ; but, hav- ch the en- trance of Davis' Strait till the close of April. This CH vp xii delay, chiefly occasioned by the prevalence of adverse winds attended with rain, also prevented many of them tea;?' °^* IDUS from crossing over to Labrador, and attempting the ^"^'^iJ'^ south-west fishery. They proceeded, therefore, directly « up the country," as they tenn it ; that is, northward along the eastern coast of the strait ; and the sea bein^^ remarkably open, and very few whales in sight, they made an uncommonly rapid run. When beyond Disco Island, indeed, they were detained a whole week by the ice ; yet, even there, an unusual extent of open water was observed to the westwaid ; seemingly in conse- quence of the south-westerly gales, which had in a great measure broken up the field in mid-channel, and driven its loosened fragments into a more northerly quarter. We have been informed, that several vessels made an attempt to cross the strait in this latitude, though without success. Working slowly upwards, they at last reached the opening of Melville Bay, where, on the 10th of June, about a month before the usual period, more than fifty sail were assembled. This recess, however, presented a most alarming aspect ; Aiarmincr being crowded with floes of ice that had been driven a«:||'"»i^tioa in by the winds, and arrested by the rugged margin of the northern shore. If, however, they could by any means reach the western boundary of the ice, they might hope to find an open sea leading directly to the great fishing-ground. With eager impatience, therefore, they looked around for some canals by wliich they might proceed through it ; but they saw only a few lanes, forming narrow and dangerous defiles. It is a maxim, however, that the ship which first reaches the open water is sure of a good fishing ; hence an eager emulation is excited, and, as our Peterhead correspondent observes, " when one begins to trip through, all the rest follow." The St Andrew of Aberdeen, accordingly, entered one of these openings which appeared the most promising : twenty-two others imitated her example, and the re- mauiing vessels were eagerly pressing ouward, when, 468 NORTHERN WIIALE-FISUERY. I Getting thr()uj;li the icu. Fatea I) CHAP. XII. fortunately for them, two masses of ice closed together and shut them out, barring, at the same time, the return of those that had advanced. These last, separating into groups, took different directions, and made various de- grees of progress ; a few even came in sight of the open water ; but all were finally arrested, and hemmed in by the ice. One of the largest of these squadrons, and that wliose eventful story we can relate in the greatest detail, con- sisted of six very fine vessels, the St Andrew of Aber- deen, the Baffin and the Rattler of Leith, the Eliza Swan of Montrose, the Achilles of Dundee, and the French ship Ville de Dieppe. They began by making them- selves fast to some icebergs, but soon quitted tliesc in order to attempt a passage to the western side. On the 19th a fresh gale sprung 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 southw^ard of Cape York. They ranged themselves under the shelter of a large floe, having water barely sufficient to float them. Here they formed a line one behind another, standing stem to stem so close as to affi)rd a continued walk along 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. In the evening of the 24th the sky dark- ened, the gale increased, the floes began to overlap each other, and closed upon the ships in an alarming manner. The sailors then attempted to saw out a sort of dock, where they hoped to be relieved from this severe pres- sure ; but soon a huge floe was driven upon them with a violence completely irresistible. The Eliza Swan (whose surgeon, Mr Maccall, has also furnished us with some particulars) received the first shock, and M'as saved only by the ice raising her up. It caused her indeed to strike with such force on the bow of the St Andrew that her mizzen-mast was nearly carried off^, after which it passed from under her, after damaging severely her stem and keel. It next struck the St Andrew, midship, Perilous position. Tlio E bvvaa. :za together lie return ating into arious de- the open mmed in lat wliose ;tail, con- of Aber- lliza Swan lie French ing them- d these in !. On the and drove were soon bout forty icy ranged oe, having ley formed em so close cks ; being lat in some inserted in ! sky dark- rcrlap each ig manner. rt of dock, evere pres- thcm with lliza Swan led us with 1 was saved r indeed to ndrcw that 2r which it verely her V, midship, NORTHERN WIIALE-FISIIERY. 4G0 l)rcaking about twenty of her timbers, and staving a CHAp'xii number of casks ; but it then fortunately moved along ~ her side, and went off by the stern. Now, however, S on.ur pursuing its career, it reached successively the Baffin, ^'"1'=*- the Achilles, the Ville de Dieppe, and the Rattler, and dashed against them with such tremendous fury that these four noble vessels, which had braved for years the tempests of the Polar deep, were in a quarter of an hour shattered into fragments. The scene was awful,— the grinding noise of the ice tearing open their sides ; the masts breaking off and falling in every direction ; were added to the cries of two hundred 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 Complete almost ever known. She was literally turned inside "^^^^^l^^?^ ^''^ 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 fourteen days, and the greater part of her provisions and stores were saved ; as were also some belonging to the Baffin, two of whose boats were squeezed to pieces. All the other boats were dragged out upon the ice, and were occupied by the sailors as their only home. Not far from the same spot the Pi-ogress of Hull was crushed to atoms by an iceberg on the 2d of July ; and on the 18th of the same month, the Oxenhope, also of that port, became a total wreck. The Resolution of Peterhead, Laurel of Hull, Letitia succceriini,' and Princess of Wales of Aberdeen, had advanced consi- >necks. derably farther to the north-west, being in lat. 75° 20' N., long. C2° 30' W. They were lying side by side, and, having cut out a dock in the ice, considered them- selves perfectly secure. But the gale of the 25th drove the floes upon them with such fury that the sides of the two first were pierced ; and being filled with water to the deck, were pressed so forcibly against the Laurel, ""'f K' 470 NORTIIKRX "VVII A LF--FISIIERY. The lldpc of Peterhead. Tlio Spnncer and J^ue. CHAP. XII Avhich lay between them, as almost to raise that vessel out of tlic water. This hist, howevt r, remained for the present in safety, and the seamen busied themselves in carrying on board of her the provisions and stores of her two wrecked companions. But, on the 2d of July, she, along with tlie Hope of Peterhead, was exposed to a gale if possible still more terrible than the former, when they both shared tlie ftite of the Resolution and Letitia. The Hope, which was standing in the water clear and secure, was overwhelmed with such rapidity that in ten minutes only the point of her maintop-gallant-mast was seen above the ice. The tempest, on the 20th June, assailed also the Spencer and the Lee, which had penetrated farther north than any of the other vessels, having reached the latitude of 7C°. The latter escaped with only a number of her timbers shattered ; but tlie former, after a long and vigorous resistance, had her hold burst open and filled with water, so that she soon became a complete wreck. Sufficient warning, however, had been given to enable the sailors to lodge on the ice their most valuable effects. In this vicinity the William and Espfipe of tlio Ann of Whitby and tlie Dordon of Hull were attacked at the same moment. Tlie latter, fortunately, was raised up by the pressure of the ice into a safe position ; but the other being exposed to the action of two opposite floes, was crushed to pieces so rapidly that nothing could be saved out of her ; and a boat, into which the captain liad thrown a few articles from the cabin- windows, was itself soon afterwards sunk. In the same latitude, a few miles to tlie westward, the tempest also proved fatal to the Old Middleton of Aberdeen. A similar disaster befell part of a large group, amounting to twenty-two sail, which bad not entered the ice, but remained considerably to the southward, in about lat. 74° 20' N. They seem scarcely to have felt the storm of the 25th June, and remained in tolerable safety, though beset, till the night of the oOth. A Iti.iJoa of Hull disasters. NORTHERN WIIALE-FISnERY. 471 lat vessel fd for the |i selves in res of her Tuly, she, )sed to a licr, when Id Letitia. [clear and lat in ten llant-mast also the d farther cached the a number 'ter a long open and I complete >een given -heir most lliam and e attacked was raised ition ; but 0 opposite it nothing which the tlie cabin- In the ward, the Idleton of ge group, ot entered thward, in > have felt 1 tolerable noth. A heavy gale then sprung up, and increased continually chap. xii. till the morning of 2d July, when it swelled to a fright- p,, — . ful tempest. The howling of the wind, the showers of tc'inpcsti hail and snow, the dark and fearful aspect of the sky, gave warning of approaching danger. At seven in the morning a signal of distress was hoisted by the William of Hull, and in a short time thereafter she appeared almost buried under masses of ice. About ten the North Briton was reduced to a complete wreck ; and at eleven the Gilder was in a similar predicament. During six hours the storm slightly abated, but return- ing after that interval with augmented fury, pressed the ice with additional force upon the Alexander of ^'i^^cp^s'^'o Aberdeen and the Three Brothers of Dundee,— two of Shipl fine vessels, so strongly built that an observer might have supposed them capable of withstanding any shock whatever. They made accordingly a very stout resist- ance ; the conflict was dreadful, and was beheld with awful interest bj'' the sailors as they stood round : at length their timl)ers gave way at every point, — the sides bursting open, the masts crashing and falling with an astounding noise ; the hull of the Three Brothers was so much twisted that the two ends of the ship could scarcely be distinguished : finally, only some broken masts and booms appeared above the ice. The crews, spectators of this awful scene, gave three cheers in honour of the gallant resistance made by their vessels to the overpowering element by which they had been vanquished. Our corresjiondent liere observes, — some- Power of tiie what as Captain Parry had already done at a critical ^'^^• period, — that a ship, even the strongest which human art can construct, becomes like an egg-shell when op- })osed to the full force of this terrific agent.* It is a gratifying circumstance that, in the whole of * The shipwreck of tlicso vessels is well reprcsciitetl in a litlioji;r;H>liic i>riiit, from a drawiiii^ by Mr Laing, surgeon to tlic Zophyr of Hull. To tliis gentleman, as well as to Mr AloxiMuler, surgeon to the Three I'rothcrs of Dundee, wo have to acknowledge ourselves indebted for some useful information. ;:j r. Si! j u, '\ s 472 NORTHERN ■\VIIALE-FISlIi:UV. i Colony of shiii wreck cil luui'iiieiu ciiAr, xii. these siulden and dreadful disasters, there should not Evo.ith; of the have occurred the loss of a single life. The very element, cicws. indeed, which destroyed the vessels, was in so far projti- tious, as it afforded to the crews a secure though un- comfortable retreat. By leaping out upon the ice in tlie moment of wreck, they all effected their escape, thougli we have heard of several instances in which the danger was almost inevitable. Sometimes the seamen, before they could snatch their clothes and bedding, found them- selves up to the middle in water. The surgeon of the North Briton beheld the ice rushing in and meeting fron\ opposite quarters in the cabin, before ho was able to make his retreat. The shipwrecked mariners, nearly a thousand in num- ber, were now obliged to establish temporary abodes on the surface of that rough and frozen sea where their ships had been destroyed. They erected tents of oails detached from the broken masts ; they kindled fires, and procured provisions, either out of their own shattered vessels, or from those of their companions which had happily es- caped. But still their situation, though not desperate, was dreary in the extreme ; producing the feeling tliat they were like outcasts in the most desolate region of the earth, without any assured means cither 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, unfortunately, to considerable stores of wine and spirits, they began a course of too liberal indulgence. The rugged surfiico of the Arctic deep was transformed into a gay scene of festivity. The clusters of tents with which it was covered, the various scenes of ludicrous frolic, the joy- ous shouting of our sailors, and the dances and songs of the French, suggested the idea of a festival ; some even gave it the name of Baffin Fair. The Frenchmen de- clared that they had never been so happy in their whole lives. Excursions of considerable extent were made over the ice from oi.o party to another ; a communication was WiM fesiivities. NORTHERN WHALE-FISIILRY. even opened bctwcon the northern and southera detach- CiiAP. xii, nicnts of the fleet, and so regularly carried on as to be nm7i^\r called by the latter the " north mail." A few days after the diifcrent shipwrecks, the seamen, S"he in almost every instance, proceeded to a very extraordi- s'l'i's- nary operation, — that of setting fire to the vessels, and burning them down to the water's edge. The object was, that, wlien the upper surface of the ship was thus re- moved, the casks and chests contaming the clothes and provisions might float. A sailor, who witnessed this operation with the first four wrecks, describes it as having completely answered its purpose. Others depre- cated the practice as causing a very wanton destruction of property, which might have been preserved for the use, at least, of other crews. The ships were for some time borne up on the surface by the ice on which they rested ; but when it was melted, they sunk and disap- peared, and the waves were then strewed with floating fragments of every shape and size, — blocks, chests, casks, ropes, shattered pieces of masts and yards, and timber of all dimensions. We have already no'^ced the pleasing circumstance Loss of 11:3. that, in the first awful catastrophe of the vessels, there was not a single life lost ; but we must add that a few died afterwards in consequence of fatigue and exposure to cold. Several also perished in excursions over the ice, particularly in one undertaken by the captains ot tlie Laurel, Letitia, and Progress. Not finding sufficient room in the Bon Accord, where the shipwrecked crews had been received, they departed in search of some othei vessel which might have more accommodation. The three masters carried merely their clothes, and after travelling a direct distance of twenty miles, much in creased by the circuitous track they were obliged to follow, they reached the ships Dee and Mary Frances, into which they were kindly received. But the seamen imprudently encumbered themselves with a boat, which they had frequently to drag over the ice : they thus ,.n 474 NORXnERN WnALE-FISIIERY. rnu«os of (luuth. CHAP. XII. spent a much longer period, and exposed themselves to jucli severe cold that five of them died ; wliile others, reduced to a most distressing state, were recovered only by the extreme care with which they were treated. With regret we must subjoin, that some deaths appear to have arisen from the too free use of intoxicating liquors. A certain quantity, indeed, was rendered ne- cessary by fatigue and cold ; but that measure was greatly exceeded ; and in passing over the icy surface, which was at once very rugged, and filled with various holes and crevices, several plunged in to rise no more. One man expired of mere intoxication. Yet it is satis- factory to add, amid these irregularities as well as the thoughtless gayety which every where prevailed, that, whenever the exertions of the sailoi's were required for the general service, the utmost activity was manifested, and complete subordination observed. After these disasters, the ships remained still closely beset, and their situation became the subject of a daily increasing anxiety. They had gone out wholly unprovided for wintering in the Arctic zone ; while the extensive loss of provisions and fuel, with the numerous crews crowded on board the ships, rendered the prospect still more gloomy and doubtful. On the 21st July, in con- sequence of some favourable appearances, the St Andrew, Eliza Swan, and other ships on the northern station, determined to attempt penetrating to the westward. The men, though quitting the scene of gayety Avhich they had formed for themselves, obeyed the summons with much alacrity. In a few minutes the tents were struck, the crews of the wrecked ships were distributed among the surviving ones, and all hands began towing forward the vessels. They separated in various directions ; but some, being driven considerably to the northward, were so long detained, that they repeatedly lost all hope of ever effect- ing their extrication. The men caught and dragged a few whales through holes in the ice ; but one harpooner re- lates, that these animals were so extremely vigilant that Danpfers of t.ie remain, ing sliips. NORTHERN WHALE-FISnERY. 47"> insclvcs to ile others, fred only c treated, lis appear toxicatinff (lercd ne- sure was y surface, h various no more, it is satis- ell as the ilod, that, quired for mnifested, ill closely of a daily nprovided extensive ous crews 'spect still y, in con- t Andrew, n station, Eird. The they had ith much ruck, the nong the ward the Jut some, 0 so long er etfeet- jed a few )oner re- lant that he could cflFect nothing unless ho approached them with- chap. xir. out his shoes, and thus prevented an alarm. September viKiiii^n of arrived, and the ice was forming so rapidly, that in two tiio wimics. days a place where a boat could have sailed might be safely walked over. The St Andrew and several other vessels had been driven about thirty miles N. W. of Capo Dudley Digges, into lat. 7G° 2' N., long. G8° 4G' W. At last, after much laborious sawing and towing, they suc- ceeded, on the 10th of September, in making their way into open water. Most of those which had taken a more southern direction reached the western coast towards the close of August, and in lat. 71° N. The feelings excited at home by the intelligence of tmcu of these unparalleled misfortunes may be more easily eon- at houwr^' ceivcd than described. The appearance, each successive year, at the great ports, of the firet vessel returning from the fishery, is, in all cases, attended with deep interest and anxiety ; and this season, in consequence of the long delay, these emotions had been wound up to an intense pitch. The tidings were brought to Peterhead, on the 8th October, by the James, Captain Hogg ; and to Hull, on the 10th, by the Abram, Captain Jackson. Our correspondents describe, in the strongest terms, the universal gloom that overcast these towns ; the eager throng which besieged the houses of the captains, and every place where information could be hoped for ; as also the alarm of the females, making hasty inquiries after their brothers and husbands, to which only doubt- ful answers could be returned. It was a scene of public General and general calamity. The news being conveyed to ^^J/.j^" " Aberdeen by the next day's mail, spread equal conster- nation in that city. A subscription was opened at Hull on behalf of the seamen, many of whom were exposed to great distress, in consequence of their pay having been stopped from tlie period at which the wreck of their vessels took place. The following list contains the entire number of ships which were lost in this disastrous year : — iiimiiy. if 47<} NOIITIIKRN WHALE-riSHKHY. CHAT. XII, Ships lost. AUUUDKEN, ...4.— Aninunt o! luSS. I, 'ss of I roducc. Hull, .C— ' Leith, *2. Dundee, 2, ri:TERnEAD,..2.- WniTBY, 1.- Mo.NTUOHE,....!.- Gkeenock,.-'!-' Dieppe, 1. 'I'onn. Alexander '252 Letitia 818 Old Middloton 32f) rrinccss of Wales 308 Gilder 3fiO Laurel 321 North Britou 2(i2 Oxeuliopo 286 Proeross 307 William 3.50 -IJaffiii 321 Kattlor 348 -Achilles 3G7 ^Thrco Brothers 33f) -Hope 2.51 Resolution (riiilip) 400 —William and Ami 302 -Spencer 340 -John 31() -Villo de Dieppe 400 The amount of the loss occasioned by thei?c ship- wrecks is estimated as follows : — Value of 19 British ships, including stores, &c., avcraso £.5000 £9.5,000 Value of outfit, provisions, and wages, £2000 38,000 Twelve damaged ; repairs of each cost on an ave- rage iii800 9,f;00 £142,1)00 A still severer loss was sustained in the great failure of the produce, very imperfectly compensated by a rise of the oil and whalebone to more than double the for- mer price. The following table, derived from sources which may bo fully relied upon, exhibits a complete summary of the results of the whale-fishery during the twenty ycai's from 1815 to 1834 inclusive : — NOUTIIERN WHALE- I'ISlILRy. 477 > i 1 4- W 10 «- O «5 iO *0 CJ 6f >♦• W li ^ O to OS -1 ~. Ot >< & f Hi 3.S.| ^wScol -5Sc.t5f5Sj;2g§^^if52S 9 2;^'S§2§ari'S§^'?S§^JH;S?:j;:t;fe Si 3j:^2§J£§§ig;i=55-SgS5§fefe 1^ to lO W OS *- 05 <2 10 4* ^I O ^1 — -1 Or O W O 05 — ottotooo-, 1— ici"-i>— lO'— 'iI»*-o>^i.05Ci^5'^J*- &f it- w 05 o to Oi M >t« ^ io to *- ijo o i3 10 ■*- C5 C5 0 2 Of CO WH- 'C;»Wto*»OS>— tnO-»>— W0:4-.Ml0t0t;»>— ^ Total Ships Lost. 05*-IOCntOOWiC— IS5to~)050i05^4«OWO 10 tg Cf5 1— ' to S^ to >— IO W 05 O ~ 05 -^l *^ *• 05 -•• cri ^ O ►- O O -^1 C: OS O "^I "^1 "^1 O Crt *. O 05 "^1 to 0? if*.05C*»>;;»lOC50>OON-'(t»WWC)»i— 'lOt— lOlO 1 Total Tuns Total Tons of Oil. 1 of Bone. MM »— i o I—* liiH- *^ 05 C to — C. 05 -^1 1«^ OS C/» to *• to to t» 05 ii» C^ Ct *- o-i-^i — o o woojcoioio io>t- — c; WW IO 10 to Oi W to 05 10 W O © 4- H- lO 10 Ci -^I Ji to 10 CO Cs'oj'cif *- •— 05 "^"t— Zj, Cjt ■^j'o C5"*-.t;t tolo CCW -1 -1 to cr. ot C5 ^1 to St ^ o Oft ►— w o to 05 o lO w CO tOOtW4-i— F--MlOlO©i-'0;OwiOiOSCC050W Number of Whales. tm-l tmmt tm^ t-^|_il-^ I.J ^^1— i O 05 Of Cn to to Cfi -U -1 Or C5 *» — 1 O ^ -^1 to -t to "^1 CSCOOtCfe^-O-vlcoO'SOtoOT^ClOS— 'lOIOWCO Tuns of Oil for each Ship sent out. to CO 00 1— ' oi IO »— 1— ' *» to to 00 to to >— ^ to W O 4-. Tuns of Oil in each Whale. »— 'i-'i— ititotO*-"— 'totoi— •i-'totototoosoatoto 03050SOOti0500>*^*'— l"^OOtC^0«O"^lt0 trt- o tOtOtOt»C;Tr\0t0tOt»SOStOtOtOtOt0>t>.C7it>Tt0C;. to O to Of CTi b> to 4- til C> 03 O to tn Oi O 05 C. 0> O Extreme Prices of Oil ill Ulasgow per Tun. H-i|— 11— '►— itOtOtOi— 'tOtOi— '>— 'to ^ QS©0000500-^>OlOttotO^-">-10MC5ClC5Cl 00©0©Ob'0(^0000©tii©Cn©OOt S" i^k_t-itO*"U)b?t0090stOt-itO„ ^,_^J^ 0»C5'^l"-O^t0t0H-^OO-j0 00-^0505to03t0 ©Ot©0©©©OCJi©©©OiCClO©©©^'© Extreme Prices of Bone in I/indon per Ton. CHAR XII Smiiiniiiy of tliL' rcsiiits of the wliiili! Hslicrv tVom IJilO to loul. 478 NOUTliKUN WHALE-FISHERY. CHAP. XII. The following statement of the results for 183-4 shows Mtemwit of ^^^^ ports from which the fishery was carried on : — c Fishen' of 18BJ. Greenland Bcal flbhciy. Ships. TonnaKC. Fish. Oil. Bone. Tub.. Tout, Cwti, 27,Hull 8906 723 1131 310 953 962 3076 1979 2789 1591 688 1847 273 16 25 34 22 20 99 72 115 92 25 79 2696 149 283 220 173 144 1093 801 1036 743 177 699 146 8 17 11 9 7 57 45 53 38 9 37 10 4 3 2 7 .5 9 10 6 10 4 2. Whitbv 3, Newcastle 1. 13ervvick 3. London 3. Montrose 1 1 . Pftterhen.(l 6. Aberdeen 8. Dundee 5. Kirkcald V 2. Burntisland 5, Leith 76 24,955 872 8214 441 10 The fishery of 1835 was very disastrous, no less than pix vessels being lost, though the crews were fortunately saved. Since that time the trade, which had already experienced a diminution, rapidly declined, till in 1842 only eighteen ships were sent out. In 1843 and 1844, however, it rallied considerably. There has been a certain return to the Greenland seas, which from 1833 to 1836 had been nearly deserted. Another novel fea- ture is the fitting out of vessels entirely for the Green- land seal-fishery, where the vast number of those animals compensates for the small quantity of oil in each. Some endeavour to combine both objects. The following general view of results from 1835 to 1842 inclusive, is derived from the truly valuable Com- mercial Dictionary of Mr M*Culloch : — Years. Ships. Whales caught. Imperial Tuns of Oil. Price. Tons of Whale- bone. GrcenlAnd Davis' 8trait. TotiiL Cost. 1835 1836 1837 1838 1839 1840 1841 1842 1 3 15 31 29 11 11 14 70 58 37 8 12 20 8 4 71 61 52 39 41 31 19 18 6 2 2 1 o 167 70 122 466 115 22 52 54 2623 707 1356 4345 1441 412 647 668 £28 32 35 25 25 25 31 30 55 £36 79 14 oo NORTHERN WHALE-FISHERY. 479 shows I>- Chii, 18 — 7 4 1 3 9 2 7 7 7 .5 5 9 3 10 8 6 9 10 7 4 10 The following details for 1843 have been communi- chap. xri. cated to us hy an intelligent correspondent : — — * Dptiiils for 1843. Ports. Ships. 1- Seals. Tuns of Oil. Whale- n.ivis' tjtrdit Gre*'nl;iiid Ton. 'J bone. Whale Seal. Ton. Cwtb, Hull 2 2 5 2 1 3 15 1 3 2 3 5 2 5 2 1 9 4353 - 791 - 1622 - 746- 322 - 2040 1 26A 11 41 41 3,625 23*^00 300A 132' 359 154 58 648 14 7 22 9 4 22 17 6 16 3 2 Newcastle.. Dundee Kirkcaldy.. Bo'ness Peterhead.. 4 5 24 6874 1 146 26,825ll65U 80 ! 4| Unfortunately Mr Coltish of Hull, who was accus- tomed to collect an annual statement of the produce, died in 1844 ; and no one has undertaken in his stead the same good work. We have thus been able to pro- cure only thy shipping and tonnage for that year, which will show a considerable increase over the two preceding. Ports. s Diivi.' SUsit. lips- Greenland. Total. Tonnage- Whale. 8eal. Hull 5 2 2 1 5 1 4 3 2 10 2 2 1 5 1 11 2645 791 696 322 1622 313 2917 Newcastle KirkcQjld V Bo'uess 5 2 Dundee Aberdeen Peterhead 1 20 i 8 4 32 9306 Detail : fur 1844. I;l-C U'^ 480 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. CHAPTER XIII. Arctic Geology. North Cape — Cherio Island, with its Secondary Sandstones, Coal, and Plutonian Rocks — Hope Island, and the Thousand Islands — Spitzbergen, its Mountain-scenery, its Primitive, Transition, Secondary, Tertiary, and Alluvial Rocks — Mof- fen Island, of Recent Formation ; Low Island, of Transition Formation ; Walden Isle, of Primitive Rocks — Ross's Islet, the most northern known Land, composed of Granite-gneiss, with imbedded Precious Garnet — Remarks — Jan Mayen's Island, a Volcanic Island ; Two Volcanoes described— Old Greenland — East Coast of Greenland, very wild and rugged — Werner Mountains, 6000 Feet high ; Rocks, Primitive, Transition, Secondary, and Plutonian ; Of the Secondary Rocks, the most important, as being intimately connected with the Antediluvian Climate of Greenland, are those of the Coal Formation, which Scoresby discovered, forming Jameson's Land — West Coast of Greenland, equally rugged and wild with the East Coast ; Hot Spring there ; the pre- vailing Rocks Primitive, containing rare and beautiful Simple Minerals ; Transition Rocks seldom met with ; Considerable Depositions of Secondary and Tertiary Rocks in some Places — Barrow's Strait — Melville Island interesting to the Geolo- gist, from its containing the old Coal Formation— Port Bowen — Islands and Countries bordering on Hudson's Bay examined and partly discovered by Captain Parry— Con- cluding Remarks. ciiAP.-xiiL The Geology of Spitzbergen, called East or Old Green- Geoioff7of la^ ^^^ *^® countries examined and discovered by Ross, Spitzbergen. Parry, Scoresby, and Clavering, although as yet but im- perfectly known, is far from being uninteresting. It exhibits, in the first place, the same rocks, and the sama ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 4^1 pencral arrangements, as occur in otl\ov countries the cfiAP. xiil. fi;eon;nostical structure of which has hcen thorouufhlv .. -7" explored : secondly, the fossil organic remains which, in >arance among the older. The sandstone-quartz of Alton has been known since the travels of the celebrated Baron Von Buch ; but on the east, towards the Russian dominions, there is a considerable tract which deviates still more from the primitive formation than that sand- stone-quartz. Sandstone and conglomerate extend across the subjacent gneiss in a horizontal position. These secondary rocks probably belong to the old red sandstone formation of some authors. Hence, in Finmark we find ourselves on the edge of a great secondary basin. Cherie Island. — The first land which rises above the level of the ocean in the Arctic Sea, beyond the North Cape, is the insulated spot named Cherie or Bear Island. It is about ten miles long, is situated in latitude 74^ 30', long. 20° east, and is entirely composed of secondary rocks horizontally stratified, which are cut perpendicu- larly on the coast into cliffs. The principal ingredients are sandstone and limestone, in which veins of leadglance, or sulphuret of lead, sometimes containing native silver occur. The limestone abounds in fossil shells, of which the species are very different from those that at present inhabit tlie surrounding seas : the sandstone contains a bed of coal, from two to four feet thick, — a fact subver- sive of the opinion which maintains that this deposit is 2 G 'siaud. l;-:' !i 482 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. CHAP. xiii. wanting in Arctic countries. In Scorcsby's drawing of Hopelliand. Cherio Island three conical hills are represented, whicli, in all probability, are of igneous origin, probably se- condary trap. Hope Island, and the Thousand Islands. — Farther towards the north the depth of the ocean is so inconsid- erable and unvarying that seamen conclude they sail first over the horizontal basis of Cherie Island, and next over those which belong to Hope Island and the Archipelago of the Thousand Islands. The strata visible in these islands are said to consist of blackish clay-slate. Hope Island, situate on the south coast of Edge's Island, lies in iat. 76'' 20' N., and longitude 20° E. It is nine leagues long, but scarcely a mile broad, and stretches from N.J;1. by E. to S.W. by W. It presents five mountains, of which the inost northern is the highest ; and those succeeding diminish gradually in size. The Thousand Islands constitute a large group interposed between Hope Island and the south coast of that whicli bears the name of Edge. Spitxhergen. — This large island, although not the re- motest land known in that direction, is nearly so. It lies between latitudes 76° 30' and 80° 7' N., and between the longitudes 9° and 22° E. On taking a general view of it, the principal oljjects that strike the eye are numberless mountain-peaks, ridges, and precipices, rising immedi- ately from the sea to a height of from 3000 to 4500 feet. The various brown, green, and purple tints of the land, as seen from a distance, are strikingly contrasted witli the snow-capped summits, and the glacier-ice in the val- leys ; which last often extends downwards to the coast, forming splendid icy cliffs, from 100 to 400 feet high. On the eastern side are two large islands, namely. Edge's and North-east Land. On ai)i)roaching the western shore of Stansforeland, on the east coast of Edge's Island, between the parallels of 77° and 78°, the lowest rock is a coarse granular trap, split by means of vertical rents into imperfect columns. This bed forms a Hat coast of about ten miles and a Spitzbersen. S'lmsfore- ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 483 awing of 1, whicli, )ablv se- » -FartluT inconsid- sail first lext over hipelago in these e, Hope d, lies in e leagues •cm N.l!l. itains, of id those thousand between bears the )t the rc- 0. It lies ween tlie iew of it, imberless imniedi- 1500 feet, the land, 5ted with 1 the val- the eoast, 'eet high. [y, Ed(j&8 tfo7'clandf parallels ular trap, columns. es and a quarter broad and forty-one miles long ; and is the base chap, xiil or fundamental rock of an alternation of line qranular „ , — I . I . . . .,. Sandstone sandstone, an arenaceous marl-slate, compact siliceous ma Umc- limestone, and frequent repetitions of the trap-rock. No ^^""" '"'"''''*• organic remains were seen either in the sandstone or limestone by Professor Keilhau ; but in some specimens collected at Cape Faneshaw, in that part of Spitzbergen named New Fricsland by the officers of Captain Parry's expedition, were noticed silicified madrepores, retepores, orthoceratites, terebratulites, and cardites. This forma- tion extends to latitude 80", and is conjectured by Keilhau to constitute the greater part of East Spitzbergen. It is true that some boulders of granite were observed ; but these may have come from the great primitive chain of West Spitzbergen . Professor Keilhau found an interest- ing deposit of shell-clay in Stansforeland, in which the shciiciay. sume kinds of fossil shells were found as in a similar clay on the southern coasts of Norway. This deposit extends onwards nine miles and a half from the shore, and rises 100 feet above the present level of the sea. Bones of whales have been seen in the Thousand Isles, at a con- siderable height, and probably embedded in this shell- clay. Are we to infer, from the situation of this deposit, that Spitzbergen has risen from the bottom of the sea at a comparatively recent period ? Limestone, like that at Cape Faneshaw, occurs in the island named the North-east Land, on the eastern coast of Spitzbergen. jT^^f,,.gjj,t The officers of Captain Parry's expedition also found Laud granite there. The west and north coasts of Spitzbergen are composed principally of older rocks, the primitive and sometimes the transition. The former in West Spitzbergen appear at the South Cape, in latitude 76^*. They are vertical strata of mica-slate, with numerous bods of quartz, ranging from north-east to south-west. In Horn Sound and Bell Sound they form the high land, and to judge from the shape of the mountains, they ascend to a greater elevation on the west coast, while those near South Cape appear in part overlaid with the shell-clay. A new formation of red sandstone and gyp- 4C4 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. Nntnral mavlilc ai'chus. CHAP. XTTI sum occurs westward along the shore, and also in small Cnai fromico^^^^ is^lands which lie in front of it. In the year 1826 boiuui. seahorse fishers from Finmark brought ishty tons of coal from Ice Sound, in latitude 78^, to Hammcrfcst in Norwa}^ ; and we are inforuK d by Scoi'csby, tliat this useful mineral is so easily procured that many of tiie Dutch whalers, a few years ago, were in the habit of laying in a stock for fuel for the homeward passage. In some places it resembles cannel coal ; in others it is brown and identifies itself with lignite. At Mitre Cape, about latitude 70°, he observed the hills to be composed of gneiss, mica-slate, and limestone, — .ind in King's Bay, a little southward of this cliflP, he remarked natural arches of marble. In some points on the north coast, as at Red Beach, secondary rocks of red sandstone, probably new red sfindstone, occur ; but the prevailing ones are of an older date, being principally primitive, with a few of the transition class. The former, mentioned in Parry's nar- rative, are granite, gneiss, mica-slate, hornblende-slate, primitive limestone or marble, quartz-rock, dolomite- marble, chlorite-slate, and clay-slate. In the mica-slate precious garnets were frequently met with. The mem- bers of the transition were principally clay-slate, quartz- rock, and limestone. In some spots alluvial deposits were noticed, together with hrown coal or lignite. Moffen Island is small and low, lying on the north side of Spitzbergen, in latitude 80° 1', longitude 12" 43' east, and was visited by Mulgrave, who says it had not been noticed by the older navigators. It may be of new formation, and, as Scoresby remarks, has probably been thrown up by the currents which sweep round the prin- cipal island. It is of a roundish form, about two miles in diameter, and has a shallow lake in the middle, which was frozen over, except thirty or forty yards round the edge, when visited by the navigator just named, near the end of July. The whole surface is covered with gravel, and possesses not the least vegetation. It is but a fev) feet above the level of the sea. The only piece of drift- wood found on it by his lordship, which was about thre« MofTcn liniaiKL ARC lie GEOLOGY. 48, o fathoms long, and as thick as the mizzon-mast of a ship, chap. xiii. had been thrown over the sea-beach, and lay near the lqwI^uU. lake. Captain Parry landed on several islands on the northern coast, viz. Low Island, about seven miles long, which appeared composed of transition quartz-rock ; Walden Isle, on which were observed primitive granites, quartz-rock, and gneiss ; and Ro.9s''s Islet, a remarkable spot, in latitude 80° 48^', on which he noticed gray and reddish granite-gneiss, which is verij coarse, granular, occasionally porphyritic, with embedded precious garnets, and also a flesh-red variety of the same rock. Remarks. — From the preceding details it appears that S>immury. Spitzbergen and its neighbouring isles afford rocks be- longing to five of the gi'eat classes admitted by geologists, — namely, primitive, transition, secondary, tertiary, and alluvial. No true volcanic rocks are noticed. Ores are of rare occurrence, small portions of iron-pyrites and of clay ironstone being the only metalliferous substances enumerated. The dolomite-marble of Hecla Cove, men- tioned by Parry, agrees in colour, size of grain, and other characters, with the statuary marble of Italy. In these islands the precious garnet is not uncommon. Its occur- rence on Ross's Islet, and its known distribution in other countries, shows that the precious garnet, of all the gems, has the widest geographical range, extending, in the north- ern hemisphere, from the equator to the high parallel of 80°48i'. Jan Mayen^s Island, according to Scoresby, is situated isiaua. l)etween the latitudes of 70° 49' and 71° 8' 20", and between the longitudes of 7° 26' and 8° 44' west. It is about ten leagues long from north-east to south-west, and is in no place above three in breadth. The peak of ]3eerenberg, the highest of its summits, Scoresby found to be 6870 feet above the sea, consequently higher than any of the summits in Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was seen at the distance of 100 miles. The following account of the geognosy of the only part of the island hitherto examined is given by the same writer ; and we Tnn'MTVf.n'a w$ 4U6 ARCTIC GF.OLOGY. Scnresby's UCCUIl!lt. CHAP. XIII know it is correct, having in our possession the spcoimons collected during the excursion : — " I left the ship," says he, " at three quarters past one in the morning, accompanied by Captains Jackson and Bennet, whose ships were near at the time, and landed at half-past two, amidst a considerable surf, on a beacli covered with a coarse black sand. This sand, which formed a very thick bed, covered over an extent of two or three miles, and about a furlong in breadth. It was a, mixture of ironsand^ augitCy and olivine or chrysolite. riie black parts, which were very heavy, and readily attracted by the magnet, had an appearance exactly like gunpowder. After a few feet rise, forming a seabank of iilack sand, the strand proceeded inland on a horizontal line for about a fourth of a mile, where it was terminated by irregular cliffs. The strand appeared to have been occasionally covered with the sea, as it was strewed with drift-wood, part of which was tolerably good timber, and the rest bruised and a little wonn-eaten. I had not ad- vanced many paces before I observed signs of a volcano. Fragments of compact and vesicular lava were met with at every step ; blocks of burned clay were next met with ; and, nearer the cliff, large masses of rod clay, partly baked, but still in a friable state, occurred in great abundance. Numerous pointed rocks, probably of the trap formation, were projecting through the sand. One of these, which was vesicular hasalty had numerous grains of crystals of augite embedded in it. Along with these was a rock nearly allied in appearance to the cele- brated millstone or vesicular basalt of Andernach. After leaving the seashore, I perceived no other mineral but such as bore undoubted marks of recent volcanic action, viz. cinders, earthy '•lag, burnt clay, scoria?, vesicular lava. The place from whence these substances appear to have be' n discharged being near, we attempted to reach it. In performing the ascent, the steepness of the hill and the looseness of the materials made the undertaking not a little arduous. We frequently slid backwards se- Si^ns of a VuiOauo. lumcrous \i ARCTIC QEOLOGY. J;;^ •ml i)acos l)y the pieces of lava giving way l)encatli our ciiA '. xiii. feet ; in which case the gvountl generally resounded as if n , T", we had been travelling on empty metallic vessels or vaulted caverns. The baked clay, and other loose rocks consisted chiefly of largo masses at the bottom of the hill ; but about the middle of the ascent these substances were in smaller fragments. Towards the top, blocks of half-baked red-clay, containing many crystals of augite, were again met with ; and about the southern part of the summit, a rugged wall of the same sort occurred, giving the mountain a castellated form of no small magnificence. On reaching this summit, estimated at 1500 feet above the sea, we beheld a beautiful crater, forming a basin of 500 or 600 feet in depth, and 600 or 700 yards in diameter. It was of a circular form, and both the interior and the Voinanio sides had a similar inclination. The bottom of the crater '^"'''^^'" was filled with alluvial matter to such a height that it presented a horizontal flat of an elliptical form, measuring 400 feet by 2-40. A subterranean cavem pe- netrated the side of the crater at the bottom, from whence a spring of water issued, which, after running a short distance towards the south, disappeared in the sand. From this eminence we had a most interesting prospect. Towards the north appeared Becrenberg, now first seen free from clouds, rising in great majesty into Bc.;reiibcr& the region of perpetual frost. At the foot of the mount, on the south-east side, near a stupendous accumulation of lava, bearing the castellated form, was another crater of similar form to the one described above. Towards the south-west the utmost extent of the island was visible ; while towards the north a thick fog obscured the pro- spect, which, as it advanced in stately grandeur towards us, gradually shrouded the distant scenery, until the nearer mountains were wrapped in impenetrable gloom. The sea at the same time was calm, the sun bright, and the atmosphere of half the hemisphere without a cloud. Excepting the interest excited by the volcano, Becren- berg sunk every other object into comparative insignifi- cance. A rocky hill, with a precipitous side towards the 4 4aa AUCTIC GLOLOGY. CHAT. XIII. sui, lying a little to the westward, I tlcsconded towards it from the ridjjc of the crater, with the expectation of finding some other kind of rock than what had yet been met Avith. It was foimd to consist only of a cliff cf yellowish -gray frial)le earth or clay, in which crystals of augito, along with black roundish granular pieces of Natural iron. basult, lay embedded. A piece of iron, which appeared to have been derived from ironstone l)y a smelting pro- cess conducted in the furnace of nature, was found near the volcanic mount. Being very cumbrous, it was laid aside by our party as we ascended, and unfortunately left behind by us when avc quitted the shore. The cliffs here afforded but few specimens of plants. Indeed, we tra- velled a considerable distance l)cforc we could perceive the least sign of vegetation ; as we advanced, however, we met with tufts of plants in full flower, scattered widely among the volcanic rocks ; but, under the last cliff we visited, the variety was greater and the speci- 1 lunts. mens more vigorous. Among the plants we recognised rumcx digynus, saxifraga tricuspidata and oppositi folia, arenaria peploidcs, silene acaulis, draba verna, &c. We returned to the ships at six in the evening. A fishing- party which I sent out, proving unsuccessful in the offing, approached the shore about two miles to the eastward of the place we visited, Avhere, though the surf was very considerable and the strand very contracted, Diift wool they effected a landing. They observed much drift-wood, a boat's oar, a ship's mast, and some other wrought wood, scattered along the shore. Every rock they noticed, and all the specimens they brought away, bore the same volcanic character as those I observed. Near some large fissures, which here and there occurred in the rocky and precipitous cliff, immense heaps of lava were seen, which appeared to have been poured out of these chinks in the rock. Cinders, earthy slag, ironsand, and fragments of trap-rocks, covered the beach and so much of the cliff E-k Mount, ns they had an opportunity of examining. The volcano discovered in this excursion I ventured to name Esk Mount, after the ship I commanded, and Mic bay where ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 4[\d owards we landed Jameson's liay, in remembrance of my fricndciiAP. nhi. Professor Jameson." ^ -— . The captain farther remarks, that the volcano on Esk Biy. ]\Iount appears to have been in action in the spring of the following year; for, on the 29th of April lOlBjVoiciini' being off Jameson's Bay, he observed considerable jp^gPi'^'^J'"^'"^ of smoke discharged at intervals from the adjoining land. It was projected with great velocity, and seemed to rise to twice the height of the land, or about 4000 feet. Captain Gilyott, a Greenland fisher, also re- marked the same appearance, with this addition, that once he noticed a shining redness resembling the em- bers of an immense fire. This fact serves to account for some strange noises heard by the seven Dutch sea- men who attempted to winter here in the year 1633-4. In the beginning of the night of the 8th jf September, in particular, they "were frightened by a noise as if something had fallen very heavy on the ground : but saw nothing." This, instead of being the fall of an iceberg, as some have supposed, was probably a volcanic phenomenon. 3. Old Greenland. — This extensive land, which, ac-OMCrocn- cording to some, is a continuation of the continent of ^'"'^'• America, while others view it as a group of islands, extends from latitude 69° 14' to 76° 36'. The few details regarding its geology we owe to Giesecke, who spent many years on the west coast, — to Scoresby, who explored the eastern side, — and to Captain Ross, who at a later period sailed to the top of Baffin's Bay. East Coast of Greenland.— This iron-bound shore is ^-^st coasS barren, rugged, and mountainous; and even in the warmer seasons of the year but few animals or vegeta- bles assist in varying the monotonous and dreary scene. The average elevation of the coast is about 3000 feet. Several mountains measured by Scoresby were found to l)e at least 4000 ; and the Werner Mountains in Davy Sound were estimated, by the distance at which they were seen and their height above the ordinary moun- tains, to be not less than 6000. In the interesting 41)0 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. llpltrlit of luniintuiiis. Primitivo CIIAI'. XIII account of the exploratory voyage performed by a Into distinguished officer, Captniii Clavering, published in the ninth volume of the New Edinl)urgh Philosophical Journal, it is stated, that on the coast to the northward of the part surveyed by Scoresby, the mountains are from 3000 to 4000 feet high. The survey made by the latter extended particularly from Cape Barclay and Knighton Bay in about latitude G9°, to Cape Parry in about latitude 72° 30' ; that of Captain Clavcring from Cape Parry to an island undci* latitude 7C° ; aiul the coast downwards to Cape Farewell, to about lati- tude 60" 30', has been partially described by Crantz, but much of it is entirely unknown. The tract examined by Scoresby appears to consist principally of primitive rock. Secondary ones also occur ; the transition are the least frequent ; and it was only on the beaches, ond at the head of friths, alluvial deposits were noticed. The primitive rocks were granite, gneiss, mica-slate, hornblende-slate, syenite, and clay-slate. These exhibit in that remote region the same varieties of structure as those on the west coast of Greenland, and the latter again do not differ from the primitive rocks of Britain and other countries ; thus affording another proof of the uniformity of their character, similarity of position, and univei-sality of distribution in all parts of the worM. Judging from what is known of the embedded miner.ils on the west coast of Spitzbergen, and reflecting on the agreement of the rocks on both sides of the country, we may infer that if Scoresby had had leisure for more minute investigation, his scientific zeal would have been rewarded by the discovery of the hitherto rare cryolite, the sodalite, and allanite, with magnificent tourmalines and garnets, interesting varieties of zircon, splendid specimens of hyperstency the remarkable dichroite, and with all the species of the felspar genus. There does not appear any reason why the ores of iron, lead, tin, and copper of the west coast, should not also occur in the same rocks upon the east ; and the fine displays of Minerals. AliCTIC GKOLOOY. 41)1 oj>atite, calmrpoua ^jxir, Jhior spar^ nncl of other smipk-ciiAP. xhl inincrab on the west cofwt, which have l)i>('n a source Q,.j,^y||,j of 80 much instruction and delightful contempljition tonixus. the scientific ol)server, may in some future voyage pre- sent themselves in the newly discovered countries to the eye of the naturalist. The specimens of transition clai/slfite picked up by him prove the existence of rocks of that class in Greenland, and thus add a new featurp to its geognosy ; for Gicsecke docs not enumerate any of the slates he met with as belonging to the transition series. This fact is also a farther proof of the wide distribution of these rocks ; and shows, in opposition to certain speculative views, that they arc not confined to a few narrow corners of the globe, but, like granite and gneiss, may be considered as occurring in most ex- tensive tracts of country, and ought therefore to ])o associated with the universal formations. We do not know any other examples of these rocks having been found in so high a latitude. The secondary rocks in that country arc referable to^('^""'i'^r/ two formations, one aqueous or Neptunian, the other Plutonic or igneous; the former class belong to the first secondary sandstone^ or coal formation, — the latter to the secondary trap and porphyry series. The first does not occur on the west coast, and was met with for the first time in Greenland by Scorosby. It is the same as that which abounds all around Edinburgh ; in short, it is that important formation in which arc situated all the great coal-mines in Scotland and England. It was seen only in Jameson's Land, where it forms the princi- .Tamesoi'j pal deposit, and gives to that district its peculiar char- acters ; thus affording another example of the connexion between the features which diotinguibh Lne surface of a country and its geognostical composition. This for- mation always contains impressions and casts of plants which have a tropical aspect,— a circumstance of hig^li interest, especially when combined with the Arctic situation of the coal. The corresponding formation in Melville Island, in latitude 75°, where the summer 4S)2 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. {Secondary trap-locks. ciiAi'. XIII. lasts but a few weeks, I found, on examining a series Tropical ^^ specimens, to contain various tropical-looking fossil fossil plants, plants, resembling those in the coal-fields of Britain ; and as the same formation occurs in Jameson's Land, in latitude 71°, it is very probable that future natural- ists will detect, in its strata, plants of a similar nature. Remains of vegetable substances with tropical charac- ters, evidently in their native place of growth, under the seventy-fifth degree of north latitude, is a fact which naturally leads to very interesting discussions with re- gard to the ancient forms of the land, the ancient state of the climate, and consequently to the early condition of tlie animal and vegetable kingdoms of the Arctic regions. The coal formation of Jameson's Land, at Neiirs Cliffsy exhibits a splendid display of secondary trap-crags, as is so often the case in the middle division of Scotland. The secondary trap-rocks, — all of which are more or less of an igneous origin, and the consideration of which derives so much importance from the position of the neighbouring strata, the outline of the surface, and the elevation of it above the waters of the ocean, — occur at Traill Island, forming, it should seem, nearly its whole nass. These rocks are principally greenstone, claystone, and felspar porphyries. Neither Captain Clavcring, nor Captain Sabine, who accompanied him, appear to have bestowed any attention on the geology of the country surveyed from Cape Parry to latitude 76°, the most northern point of Greenland seen bv the first of these officers, as all we obtain from tlieir reports is simply, that it was mountainous, from SOOO to 4000 feet high, and principally composed of trap-rocks. West Coast of Greenland. — The west coast of this forlorn region is equally mountainous, rugged, and desolate as tlie eastern. The country, even when but inconsiderably elevated above the sea, is covered with snow, or encased in ice. In the warm season of the year rivers appear, but they arc few in number and of West const of Greeuluud. ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 40:3 no great size, being supplied solely by the melting of chap. xiii. the snow. The same also is the case with the hkes, i,^,^^,,,^ which are, however, in some parts of considerable ex- s'luings. tent. Springs then also burst forth, but in winter the greater number cease. Giesecke mentions one which rises and falls with the tide ; and a hot spring, which, in- terrupted neither by cold nor storm, flows all the year round with a temperature of 104" of Fahrenheit. It occurs in the island of Ounartok, in latitude 60°, and is highly interesting, as showing that the volcanic agency, which was formerly exerted so extensively in this country, is still at work beneath the surface.* The large islands that skirt this coast, of which the Disco I$lana. most considerable is Disco, are, like the continent, com- posed of barren rocks, and of valleys filled with eternal ice ; while the smaller ones are formed of roundish ele- vations and hills usually inhabited by numberless sea- fowl. The little we know of the geology has been obtained by examining the coast, or tracts removed but a short distance from it, — the interior and higher parts of the country being inaccessible, owing to the deep and con- stant cover of snow. Four classes of rocks occur, viz. primitive, secondary, Fonr r'usios tertiary, and alluvial. The primitive Neptunian rocks ^'^^^^ are, some granites, gneiss, mica-slate, whitestone, clay- slate, greenstone, and limestone ; the primitive igneous rocks are granite and porphyry. These rocks exhibit the usual relations, the gneiss appearing as the under or fundamental rock, supporting the whitestone, mica-slate, and clay-slate, with their limestones and greenstones ; while certain granites, syenite, and porphyry, rise tlirough the older or Neptunian rocks. In these last various beautiful and curious minerals occur ; namely, • The experiments of Cordicr, related in the New Edinburgh riiilosophical Journal, with the numerous details in regard to tlie temperature of springs and mines, go to support the idea, iwtt of a central heat, but of a source of heat independent of that derived from the sun, situated iu the crust of the earth. iK'l 494 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. CHAP X H. cryolite, allanite, sodalite, thulite ; also numerous /jrec/oM.» ICiiQ^aii garnets, rock-ci'ystal, rose-quartz, dichroite, hypersteue, apatite ov phosphate of lime, zircon, fluor-spar, caic-spar, gold-like mica, magnetic iron-ore, gadolonite, tinstone, wol- fram, arsenical and iron pyrites, galena or leadglance, ti- tanium, and others. Indurated talc and potstone are also found, and sometimes converted into lamps and kettles. Utensils made of these minerals are carried to a distance and bartered for provisions, furs, and other commodities. The Greenlanders, says Crantz, occasionally give them as presents to persons of distinction in Denmark, where they are highly valued, as it is thought that certain kinds of food prepared in them are more delicate than when done in metallic vessels. It may also be noticed, that the gold-like variety of mica \v:i8 at one time taken for gold itself; and it is stated by Egcde, that its ap- pearance was so seducing that two successive expeditions were sent from Denmark in the early part of the 17tli century for cargoes of it, which, after the most careful analysis, were found worthless. The secondary and tertiary rocks, at present known to occur on this coast, are traps, with slate-clay, limestone containing fishes, and limestone having in it portions of embedded amber. These calcareous deposits and slate are associated with beds of brown coal, in some kinds of which amber also occurs. These newer trap-rocks — the amygdaloidal, — ^varieties of which contain agate, jasper, calcedony, and green earth, have been traced from lati- tude 69° ]4' to the top of Baffin's Bay, the farthest point reached by Captain Ross.* Fine specimens of these are seen in the large island named Disco, which is entirely formed of them. The alluvial depositions, which arc of sand, gravel, clay, and rolled masses, occur on the seashore, or on the sides of the fiords ; but they seem not to appear any where in great quantity. Peat, which is to be considered an alluvial formation, is Secondary tertiary rocks. Teat. " Considerable masses of meteoric iron were found by Cap- tain RooS at Sov.allock Point, iu latitude 7o" 2 . ARCTIC GEOLOGY. 495 met with in fenny places, interspersed with roots, chap. xiii. branches, decayed wood, and withered grass. Much of jjjjfj"^ •, it contains sea- shells, from which it is suspected that it must have been covered by the ocean at some distant period. No wood grows ; but drifl-wood is frequently obtained on the coasts, particularly in the southern jjnd western parts. 4. Barrovo's Strait, Melville Island, Port Bowen. — Barrow's All that is known of the geology of these Arctic lands ^^^"*' we owe to the several expeditions which sailed under the direction of Captain Parry between the years 1819 and 1823. The east side of Baffin's Bay or west coast of Green- Baoans Day land, as already mentioned, is composed principally of primitive and secondary rocks. On the west side of the same bay, to the entrance of Lancaster Sound, the pre- dominating rocks were found to be gneiss, mica-slate, and granite. At the entrance of that Sound and in Possession Bay, there are granite, syenite, and horn- blende, with precious garnets disseminated in them, and rocks of new red sandstone, with fibrous and granular gypsum. The north coast of Barrow's Strait, as far westward as the Polar Sea, is said to consist of calcareous strata resembling mountain-limestone. Both sides or ♦ Prince Regent's Inlet are formed of a compact lime- prinoe* stone, which contains fibrous brown iron-ore and a kind iJi^gent's of lignite. Its colours are ash-gray, yellowish-gray, and yellowish-brown. It affords about 20 per cent, of car- bonate of magnesia, and is therefore a magnesian lime- stone. It contains embedded masses of chert-quartz. The organic remains found in it were entrochites, cati- nularia, speropore, turbinolia, favosites, several species of terehratulce, a trochus, a turritella, and an orthocera^ tite. This has been called Port Bowen limestone; its age has not been determined. Resting upon it there are thick beds of gypsum, containing selenitic, fibrous, and fi)liated varieties, which are connected with a slaty limestone, which is newer than that of Port Bowen, Byam Martin's Island appears to be composed of granite ii;- m i -<»(-■ I 4m ARCTIC GEOLOGY. >rr.lville Islaiul. f.n-..iation3. criAP. XIII and red-coloured quartz-rock. A fossil dicotyledonous tree was found on the shore of this island. Melville Island is the most western point ever navigated in the Polar Sea from the eastern entrance. It lies in latitude 74° 26' north, and longitude 113° 46' west. Its length is one hundred and thirty-five miles from cast-north-east to south-south-west ; its breadth forty or fifty miles. Granite, gneiss, and syenite were found in the vicinity of Winter Harbour ; but the principal formations, as far as the specimens brought home allowed us to infer, appear to be transition glancecoal, and the first^ or oldest secondary coal formations. The rocks of these forma- tions observed there were the following : — White quartz- rock, sometimes micaceous, containing impressions of trilohiteSy belonging to the genus asaphvs; sandstone, containing trochi, or joints of the stem of the encrinus ; — but the most frequent fossils in the sandstone were vegetable casts and impressions of species in some mea- sure characteristic of the coal-sandstone, particularly arborescent ferns, resembling those which at present occur only in the tropical regions of the earth. Slate- clay and clay-ironstone were also found associated with the coal-sandstone ; one specimen of ironstone was found to contain a fossil avicula, named by Konig, Melvilliana, in honour of Lord Melville. The secondary coal is more or less of a slaty structure ; its colour is of a brownish- black. It emits no unpleasant smell when burning, and leaves copious grayish- white-coloured ashes. It is quite a different coal from the brown variety of Disco, which contains amber. It would appear that the trilobitc, or glancecoal, is connected with quartz-rock, while the secondary coal rests upon a limestone resembling the mountain-limestone, containing Ijivalve shells and coral- lines, a species of terebratula, and the Favosites Goth- landicus, Tliese deposits appear to be traversed by whin-dikes or trap-veins. 5. Islands and Countries bordering on Hudson*s Bay, examined and partly discovered by Captain Parry. -^ The lands, including Melville Peninsula, Vansittart ITndson's AnCTIC GEOLOGY. 497 otyledonous I. Melville •■ated in the 3 in latitude Its length it-north-east fifty miles. the vicinity rmations, as us to infer, rstf or oldest lese forma- '^hite quartz- pressions of ; sandstone, le encrinus; dstone were 1 some mea- particularly at present arth. Slate- lociated with ne was found , Melvilliana, ^ coal is more a brownish- burning, and . It is quite Disco, which trilobite, or , while the cmbling the Is and coral- vosites Goth- raversed by udson*s Bay, In Parry. — Vansittart Island, Baffin Island, Winter Island, Cockburn Island, chap, xul and Southampton Island, arc not very much elevated (jreatesT above the level of the sea, — the average height being eievatiuna. 800 feet, and the highest summits not exceeding 1600. The valleys are narrow and rugged, and the cliffs some- times display mural precipices of more than 100 feet high. The country is covered with ice and snow the greater part of the year, often exhibiting the most splendid iridescences, and forms of the most picturesque description. The upper soil varies from a few inches to a foot in depth, beneath which the ground is frozen throughout the whole twelve months. The rocks of which this country is composed vary in their nature ; the primitive predominating in some places, in others those of the transition, or of the secondary classes ; no^J'^^*'**' tertiary ones were met with, nor formations either of the ancient or modern volcanic periods. The primitive rocks enumerated and described are the following : — Granite, gneiss, mica-slate, clay-slate, chlorite-slate, primitive trap, serpentine, limestone, and porphyry. In these occur several interesting minerals, as the gems named zircon and beryl, also precious garnet, actynolite, tremo- lite, diallage, coccolite, rock-crystal, calc-spar, rhomb-spar, asbestus, graphite or black-lead, specular iron-ore, mag- netic iron-ore, chrome-ore or chromate of iron, titaniiic iron, common and magnetic iron-pyrites. The transition are quartz-rock, old red sandstone or red graywacke, common graywacke, and flinty slate ; containing /efojsar, mica, chlorite, pale rose-quartz, cpidote, rock-crystal, shorl, molybdena, ironglance, magnetic iron-ore, copper- pyrites, and iron-pyrites. Of the secondary rocks, the only kinds observed were ^ock^^ "^^ limestone, bituminous shale, and greenstone. No fossil organic remains were detected in any of this series but the limestone, which afforded two genera of corals, the caryophylka and astrea ; one crustaceous animal of the trilobite genus ; a productus, a terebratula, and species of the genera nautilus, trochus, and orthocceras. No extensive deposits of alluvial matters were observed, 2n ;;"if-. if I 498 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. iul'ui'cucua. t: CHAP. Xlir. and the most striking objects are the rolled masses or boulders. Some islands, entirely composed of lunestono, were strewed over with these fragments, often very large, of gneiss, granite, and quartz, although no hilla composed of them were within some hundred miles. CONCLUDING REMARKS. The observations made in Cherie Island, Jan Mayen's Island, Spitzbergen, Old Greenland, and the various lands explored by Captains Ross and Parry, supply the following facts and inferences : — 1. That those miserable and almost uninliabited re- gions abound in primitive and transition rocks ; and that although secondary rocks occupy considerable tracts, still, as far as is known at present, their extent is more limited than that of the older formations ; that the al- luvial deposits are not extensive ; that modern volcanic rocks occur only in Jan Mayen's Island ; and that the only traces of tertiary strata were found in the sand- stones, clays, and limestones, connected with the new trap-rocks in Baffin's Bay. 2. That the primitive and transition rocks of Neptu- nian origin, now forming islands of various magnitudes, were in all probability at one time connected together, and formed a more continuous mass of land than at pre- sent ; and that on these formations were deposited the secondary limestones, sandstones, gypsum, and coal, and upon these again the tertiary rocks, and the still newer shell-clay of Spitzbcr£^;n : That these various kinds of primary, transition, secondary, and tertiary rocks, and alluvial clays, were raised above the level of the sea at different times through volcanic agency. 3. That in the course of time the land was broken up — either suddenly or by degrees, or partly by violent action, and partly by the long-continued agency of the atmosphere and the ocean — into its present insular form ; and that^ consequently, the secondary and ter- FoiTTier con- tinuiry. I-niul brokcu ARCTIC GEOLOGr. 400 masses or iiiiestoiie, ten verv no hilL miles. Mayen's le various supply the abited re- ; and that ble tracts, nt is more lat the al- •n volcanic id that the the sand- h the new of Neptu- lagnitudes, i together, lan at pre- iosited the d coal, and still newer s kinds of rocks, and the sea at broken up by violent ticy of the at insular Y and ter- vt'getution. tiary formations in those regions were formerly more chap, xiil extensively distributed than at present. 4. That previously to the deposition of the coal for- Ancient mation, as in Melville Island and Jameson's Land, the*'"Ji'''\l_ older hills supported a vegetation resembling that which at present characterizes the warmest regions of the globe. The fossil corals in the limestones — corals of which the l^rototypes are at present met with in the hot seas of the tropical regions — also intimate that, before, during, and after the deposition of the coal formation, the waters of the Arctic Ocean were so constituted as to support poly- paria, or corals, resembling those of the present equa- torial seas. 6. That probably the climate of the Arctic regions in cumate. ancient times was connected in some degree with the magnitude and form of the land, and its relations to the extent and height of other countries. C. That the boulders or rolled blocks observed in dif- ferent quarters, and in tracts distant from their original localities, afford evide ce of the passage of water across them, and at a period subsequent to the deposition of the newest Neptunian strata. 7. That possibly the distribution of these blocks orr.iockscr boulders was occasioned by the agitations in the ocean, ^°"^^**''*- caused by the upraising of certain lands. 8. That the black or common coal, that namely of Coal. the old formation, which some speculatoi*s maintain to be confined to the more temperate regions of the earth, is now proved, — by its discovery by Parry in Melville Island far to the west, and by Scoresby on the eastern shores of Greenland, — to form an interesting feature in the geognostical constitution of Arctic countries. 9. That the new red sandstone and gypsum found in Rock-salt. certain tracts allow us to infer that they contain rock- mlt. 10. That although few new metalliferous specimens have boon produced to gratify the curiosity of the mi- neralogist, yet the previous details show that valuable J- M 500 ARCTIC GEOLOGY. CHAP, xm ores of iron, copper, lead, and tin, and also graphite, or Metalicores. l>lack-lead, are not uncommon. 11. That the gems, the most valued and beautiful of Gemi mineral substances, are not wanting in the Arctic regions, as is proved by the occurrence of precious garnets, beryls, zircons, dichroites, and rock-crystals. General cor. 12. That the islands and lands described in this sketch ^*^'^^t'?'Vl'^'"^° exhibit the same geognostical arrangements as occur in regions. all other extensive tracts of country hitherto examined by the naturalist, — a fact which strengthens the opinion that the grand features of nature in the mineral king- dom are every where similar, and, consequently, that the same general agencies must have prevailed during the formation of the different groups of rocks of which the earth is composed. INDEX. tir Akkoiee, Gulf of, 367-369. Ainuricaii Expedition in search of Sir Jolin Fianliiin, 410. Arctic Expeditions. Sec Back, Baffin, Davis, Fiobislier, lliulson, Parry, Hoss, Franlilin, and Vojages. Arctic Geology, 480-500. North Cape, 481. Clierio Island, ib. Hope Island and the Tliousand Islands, 482. Spitzbergen, ib. Moffen Island, 484. Jan Mayen's Island, 485. Greenland, 489. Bar- row's Strait and Melville Island, 495. Islands and seaboards of Hudson's Bay, 496. Concluding remarks, 498. Arctic Regions. Sec Polar Regions. Aurora Horealis, brilliant appear- ance of, 240. Austin, Captain 11. J., his expedi- tion to the Nortlua'n Archipelago in search of Sir John Franklin, 408. Progress through Baffin's Bay, 412, 415, 416. Last view of his ships in 1850, 419. B. Back, Captain, his overland expe- dition, 306. His expedition up Hudson's Bay in the Terror, 344- 360. His instructions, 345. Dif- Acuities and perils in his progress, 346-348. Abandonment of all hope of success, 349. Amusemen ts among his crew, 350. Series of awful dangers from the ice, 351- 359. Return to Ireland, 360. Back's Estuary, 362, 363. Baffin, William, Polar Expedition of, 150. His voyage in search of a North-west Passage, 205. < Sails to the head of the bay which bears his name, 206; and to the en- trance of Lancaster Sound, 207. Barentz, William, North-east expe- dition of, 121. Hia progress ar- rested on the coast of Nova Zem- bla, 122. Arrival in the Texel, 123. His Second Expedition, 124. Its failure, 125. Third Expedition, 126. Discovers Spitzbergen, 127. Winters in Nova Zenibla, 129 In- tensity of the cold, 132. Adven- tures witli bears, 122, 136, 1137. His death, 137. Barrlngton, Honourable Daines, be- lieved it possible to reacli the Pole, 19, 308. Barrow, Sir. (now Sir Jolin), liis ex- ertions in promoting tlic recent North-west Voyages, 213, 371. BaiTow's Strait, first navigated by Pany, 225. North shore of it ex- amined by Sir James C. Ross, 389. State of it at the visit of the searching ships in 1850, 418. Ge ology ot it, 495. Bear, Greenland or Polar, its fero- citj', 77. Fatal conflict with, 78. Remarkable escapes from, 79. Tenderness of tlie female for lier cubs, 80. Manner of sui'prising its prey, 81. Beaufoy, Colonel, proposes queries on the probability of reaching the North Pole, 19. Bennet, Stephen, voyages of, to the Arctic shores, 144. Boothia, discovered by Captain Ro'a, 277, 305. Expeditions to tl: j seas around it, 334. Suppose.1 insula- tion of it, 3G4. Examination of the south coast of it, 3C4. Ascer- tained to be a piiiiinsula, 368. Connection of it with North Som- erset, 393. Voj age to it in search of Sir John Franklin, 410. Bradley, Richard, his opinion re- garding the changes that cUmate has undergone, 45. Burroughs, Stephen, voyage of, in soavch of a Nortli-east Passage, 114. \ i I 502 lyDKX. Kuttoii, Sir Tliomas," expedition by, in quest of a North- wcJt russage, 'J03. Bylott, Ills voynge in sonrch of a Nortli-wcst Passage, 204. C. Ciibot, John and Sebnstlan, voya,'?es; of discovery by, 104. Cliancellnr,:Richav(l, one of tlie com- manders in Sir Hugh Wiiloucb- by's expedition, 108. Rcncbes the Wliitc Se.i, 113. Journey to Mos- cow and return to England, 114. Ciierie or Bear Island, 481. Geology of, ib. Climate, changes which Ithasiinder- Konc in the Polar .Sens, '2'i. Af- fected by the winds, 55. Cliraateof Europe, supposed clianges in, 47. Has acquired a milder cha- racter, 49. Collinson, Captain R., his expedi- tion througli Behring's Strait in search of Sir John Franklin, 405- 407. Cortereals, the, voyages of, in search of a Nortli west Passage. See Portngiiese Voyages. Currents in the atmosphere, how- modified, 26. D. Danish expeditions, under Jens Munk, 208, and Captain Graah, 328. Davis, John, his first voyage of dis covery, 179. Interview with the Greenlanders, 180, 182. Second Expedition, 182. Sails up the strait called by his name, 184. Complaints against the natives, lb. Third Expedition, 186. Its return to England, 187. Davis" Strait Whale-fisherv, 61, 444, 449. See Whale-fishery. Dease and Simpson's overland ex- peditions, 307. Tiieir boat expe- dition, 360, Progress eastward from the Coppermine River, 361. Discovery of an inlet along the south of Boothia, 362. Examina- tion of several coasts, and return to the Coppermine, 363-366. Dog, importance of, to the Esqui- maux, 83, 262. Ecede, Hans, a Danish missionary, . his residence in Greenland, 20. Ellice River, 362, 365. I'sipdmaux, 166, 170. 177, 215, 214, 242, 255, 283, 295, 345, 382, 398, 40(i, 409. Mode of constructing their huts, 35, 242. Thievish pro- pensities of some tribes, 184 186, 237, 346. (Ji'ncral character and manner of life. 256. Dross, 258. Food, 260, 295. Moral qiuilitles, 263. Religious ideas, 265. Europe, supposed changes In the climate of, 47. Forsyth, Commander Clinrles C, Jiis expedition in the Prince Al- bert in search of Sir Jolin Frank- lin, 410. Exploit in Mdvillo Hay, 413-415. Defeat of;iiis otijecf, 417. Return to Britain, 418-420. Fotherby, Robert, voyages of, to- wards the North Pole, 151. Franklin, Lady, her efforts on be- half of Sir John Franklin, 397, 398, 403. 409, 410. Franklin, Sir John, liis expedition for a North-west Passage, 370. Opinions respecting it, 371. In- structions, 372-37.^ Sailing and non-return of his ships, 37.5. Pub- lic anxiety about tlieir safety, S/.'i, 400-404. Three grcut expeditions in search of tliem, 376-397. Sup- plementary measures of search, 397-400. Three other great search- ing expeditions, 404-409. Private and auxiliary searching expedi- tions, 409-412. Progress of the new search onward to Capo Ilotham, 412-419. Fictitious re- port about Sir John Franklin, 398. Probable position of his ships, 402. Traces of some of his company on Cape Riley, 419-421. French Expeditions, under Blosse- vllle, Dutaillis, andTrebouarr, 330. Frobishor, Martin, First Voyage in search of a North-west Passage, l(i5. Second Voyage 167. Af- fray with the natives, 171. Tliird Voyage, 173. Dangers encounter- ed, 174. Return to England, 176. Observations on the natives, ib. G. Goodsir, Dr. R. A., liis trip In search of Sir .lohn Franklin, 399, 400. Graah, Captain, voyage of, to the east coast of Greenland. See Danisli Expeditions. r J7, 215, 214, 1*3, 382, ays, jonstriictlnjif lliievish pro. cs, 184 18f;, larncter ami ] Dress, 1!58. Ill qualities, Igcs in the Cli.irlos C, rrince Al- 1)1 in Frnnk- Ii-lvillo Hay, ;liis oliji'cf, in, 418-4;.>i). i5;es of, to- Ul. brts on 1)0- mklin, 307, expedition issajre, KTO. t, 371. In- Sailinj.' and s, 375. Piil.- r safety, 37.'>, expeditions -397. Sup- i of senreh, rreat searcli- 00. Private inp expedi- arress of the I to Capo icfitions re- anklin, 398. s sliips, 402. •onipany on der Blosse- liounrr, 330. \'oyaKO in it Passage, 1C7. Af- 71. Tliird encounter- pland, 17C. fives, ib. ) in search 99, 400. of, to the nd. See Greenland, peneral outline of, SI. Its interior covered witli eternal snows, lb. AViiale-flsliery of, M. (Sec Wliale-fisliery.) Kxtent of ice in its seas, ib. Its discovery by liric Kaudc, 60. Supposed ex- istence of uu ancient colony in, 65, CO, 320. Present settlements in, CI. Kast coast of, 320, 328, 330. Geology of, 489-495. Grcenlanders, 180, 183, 327. (See £s(iuimuux.) II. Heat and cold, observations on, 22. Herring, the, periodical appearance of, 74. Ilolsteinborg, in Greenland, 275. Hope Island, Geology of, 482. Hudson, Henry, voyage of, in search of a North-east Passage, 139. Polar Kxpedition, 145, 140. Voy- age in search of a North-west Passage, 193-203, Enters the strait and bay called by his name, 190. Distress for provisions, 197. Approach of winter, and mutiny of the crew, 198. Jlanner of his death unknown, 200. Fute of tlic ringleaders, 202. Hudson's Bay, 190, 203. Settlement formed in, 210. Exi)lorati()iis in, by Captain Parry, 233-255. Pe- rilous voyage in, by Captain Hack, 345-359. Geology of its islands and seaboards, 496. Hudson's Strait, 105, 233, 345, 346, 3S9. Ice in the Arctic Sea, varions names applied to. 39. Manner of its for- mation, 387. Icebergs, origin of, 37. Very nu- merous in Davis' Strait, 41. On the coast of Nova Zembla, 120, and in Hudson's Strait, 2;i3. Their limit in advancing south, 42. Iceland, 193. Discovery and coloni- zation of, 56, 99. J. Jan Mayen's Island, 319. A volcano upon it, 319, 486-489. Geology of, 485. Kellett, Captain Henry, his expe- dition through Behriug's Struit ir INDPX. 503 Bcnrch of Sir John Franklin, 370. Arrival at the pack ice, 378. Dis- covery of a new territory, 378. Second exploration, 380. L. Labrador, visited by Frobisher, 166. Labyrinth Hay, 301. Lancaster Sound, 207, 221, 276, 373, Jr. Magnetic Pole, discovery of, 293. Maritime enterprise, rise of, in ling- land, 103, 101. Jievival of. In the reign of George III., 212, 308. JIartens, voyage to Spitzbeigen by, Melville Island, discovered by Parrj', 226. Geology of, 495. Mercator, Gerard, greatly under- rates the breadth of Asia, 119. Middle Ice in Batfln's Bay, 387, 412. Middleton, Captain, North - west Voyage by, 210. Reaches Repulse Bay and the Frozen Strait, 210, 230. Mott'en Island, geology of, 484. Mu.sk-ox, an inhabitant of tlie Arc- tic zone, 82, /' N. North Georgian Islands, discovery of, 225-227. North Pole, schemes and sugges- tions for penetrating to, 18, 341. Nonvay and Denmark, piratical voy- "ages from, 55, 98. Norwegian; expedition under Oh- there, 98. Nova Zembla, 129, 142, 143, Parker, Sir., of the Traelove, his efforts on behalf of Sir John Frank- lin, 308. Parry, Sir William Edward, attempts by, to reach the Pole, 47. First Voyage in search of a North-west Passage, 221-232. Sails through Lancaster Sound, and Prince Re- gent's Inlet, to Cape Kater, 222, 224. Discovers the North Geor- gian Islands, 225. Winters at Melville Island, 227. Precautions used to preserve health, ib. The- atrical amusements, 228. At- ten;pt to proceed westward baflflod, 231. His arrival in Britain, 232. Second Expedition, 233-267. En- ters Hudson's Strait, 233. Peril I 504 INDI'.X. oils navlRiitlon, 237. Frozen In lor tlio wliitur, '2M. Aimiscments uiid occiiii.it Ions, il). Intercourse vitli II party of Fxiulmaux, 'U-2. Limd-cxciir.slons. •J4"J. Discovery of the Fury uiul llecia .Strait, W3. Second winter-quarters at IrIoo- lik, •-'.■)5. Observations on tlie Es- quimaux, 'J.'>fl-2(ifi. Syminonis of Bcurvy, 200. His return, 2(17. Third Expedition, 2G7-270. Win- ters at Tort IJowen in rrlncc Kc- Rent's Inlet, 2U7. Fruitless at- tempt to advaiue, and shipwreck of tlie Fiirv, 2(ift. Fourth or To lar Expcdit'ion, 3;)l-a 10. rroRrcvs along the coast of SpitzberKcn, 335, .Tourney prosecuted in boats, lb, DlHlculties encountered, .'):>7. Farthest point reached, and re- turn home, 340. Kesult of ihe enterprise, 341. I'enney, Mr. AVilllam, liis voyages In search of Sir ;John Franklin, 399, 409. riiippH, .John (Lord 5Iu1gravc>, ex- pedition towards the North Tole by, 19, 309. Sails along tlio coast of Siiitzbcrgen, 310. I'rogress arrested by the Ice, 311. Ills re- turn to England, 315. Polar refr.iction, 320. Polar Regions, little progress in the knowledge of, for two centuries, 20, 53. Climate and temperature of, 1 7, 22. Phenomena of the sea- sons, 32-30. Profusion of animal life, 02. Quadrupeds common to, 77. The bear, lb. The rein-deer, 81. Tlie wolf, 82, 248. The fox and dog, 83. Birds, 85. The pc- trel, ib. The gull, 8C The swan, goose, duck, &c , 87. Plants pe- culiar to, 89. The lichen, lb. Red snow, or snow-plant, 22, note, 91, 218. Luminous meteors, 242. Disappearance of the animals fiom, 230. Polar Seas, freezing of the, 28, 30. Formation of icebergs in, 37-42. Changes in the aspect of, 43. State of the ice at ditferent periods, 53. These seas teom with myriads of animalcules, (J3. The whale, 04- 72. The walrus, 72. Tlio seal, 73. The herring, 74. Portuguese voyages In search of a North-west passage, under the Cortereals, 156. Disastrous issue of, iqo. - Prince Regent's Inlet, 224, 277, .TIJ, 417. Pulleii, Lieutenant, Ms boat oxpedi- tion in search of Sir John Frank- lin, 377, 379. Tytlicas, ancient voyage of, to the north, 96. R. Itae, Mr,, his cxjiedition totheOiilf of Akkoleo, 3(!0. New discoveries, connecting those of Sir John Ross with those of Messrs. Dcase and Simpson, 308. Participation in the first overland expedition in searcli of Sir John Franklin, 381, Supplementing that expedition. 384. Appointment to conduct another and more extended expo dition, 407. Rcin-dcer in the Polar Regions, 81. Rich.irdson, Sir John, his overland expedition in searcli of Sir tloliu Franklin, 381. Coasting from the Mackenzie River to the Copjiur. mine, 331-383. Ofllcial report, 383-385. Ross, Cajitaln (Sir James Clarke), his imprimatur on Mr. liae's dis- coveries, 308. His career In the Antarctic Ocean, 370. His expedi- tion in search of Sir John I'rank- lin, SS."). Letter from Upernavick, 380. Difficult progress up Haftin's Bay, 380-388, Examination of the coasts of the Northern Archi- pelago, 388-390. Wintering at Port Leopold, 390, 391. Explora- tory journeys, 392-394. Libera- tion from the ice, 395. Ejectment from Lancaster Sound, and re- turn to Britain, 390, 397. Ro.ss, Captain (Sir John) Arctic ex- pedition In 1818, 214. Reception i)y the I'squimaux, 215. Ascends Baffin's Bay, and enters Lancaster Sound, 218, 219. Second voyage, 271-S04. Motives which led to it, 271. Expense defrayed by Mr. (afterwards Sir Felix) Booth. 272. Passage through Barrow's Strait, and along Prince Regent's Inlet, 277. Discovery of the Fury's stores, 280. Winter-station in Felix Harbour, 278. Means de- vised lor resisting the cold, 281. Visited by the Esquimaux, 283. Land expeditions, 285. Journey towards Cape Turnagaln, 287. Victory Point, and return to the ■r iNonx. [lioiit pxpi'di- ;o of, to tlio ♦otlifiOiilf aliscovi'iits, ii'Jitliii Jtoss Dt'iise uiul Icipiiiioii in |xi)e(lifi()ii in Tunklin, ;;,si. L'xpedition. to condiKt ended expo nL'pions, 81. liisoverl.iiKl of Sir .idiiti iiiff from tliu till' Copper, icial report, fics Cliirkc), r. Hue's dis- areer in tlio Hisoxpedi- lohn Fnink- Upernavick, is up Hiiffln's nination of lieni Arclii- interiii^ at I. E.xplora- )4. Libcrn- Ejectment Kl, and re- 1)7. ) Arctic cx- lieception 5. Ascends s Lancaster )nd voyage, icli led to It, •ed by Mr. Booth, 271', ■ow's Strait, ent's Inlet, lio Fui-y's -Station in Means de- cold, 281. naux, i;83, Joumey Rain, 287. :urn to tho 505 r •hip, 289. Attempt to iinll frus- trutcd, 200. tjeeond winter's sta tion, 201. Excursion to tlio nortli- ward, ib. Discovery of tlio Max- netic Pole, 203. Another fruitless attempt to sail, and third winter, 204. Observations on tho Escpii- muux, 295-208. Journey in boats to I'liry Ueacli, 208. Finally aban- dons the Victory, 200. Fruitless attempt to penetrate tlirouKh Burrow's Strait, lb. Fourth win- ter at Somerset House, Prince Regent's Inlet, 300. Successful navigation next summer, 3U2. Itecelved on board of the Isabella whaler, 303. Heturn home, 304 Rewards to the adventurers, ili. (ienernl results of tlie voyai^e, 305. Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, 400. Uussiun expeditions to Nova Zem- bla, 142. S. Samoicdcs, account of the, 115,124, 2'i7. Scoresby, Mr., his experience in the navigation of the Fruzen Sens, 20. Observations by, 316. i;xcur>ion on Jan Mnyen's Island, 310, 48{;. Discoveries on the east coast of Greenland, 320-320. t»pinion on Sir John Franklin's case, 403. Sliedden, Itobert, Esq., his exertions in search of Sir Julin Franklin, 377, 380. Snow, W. Parker, Esq , his voyngo in search of Sir John Franklin. See Forsyth. Southunii)t(in Island, observations and perils along its coast in the voyage of Captain Hack, 347-357. Spitzbergcn, 10, 127, 14(;, 311, 317, 320, 331. Dutch settlement on, 427, 431, 434. Geoloyy of, 482. Victoria Land, 361, 3C5. Voyages, ancient, to ilie North, 95 - 102. TlieCartliaginians, 06. Py thcas, 96. The Romans, 07. Tiie Zeni and Quirini, 100. Vovages in quest of a North-cast Passage, 103-143. Sir High Wil loughby's exi)edition, lO.s. I:s disastrous issue, 1 12. V( yagc of Stephen Burrough?, 114. Pet ami Jackman's voyage, 119. Dutch expeditions under Barentz, 120- 130. Hudson's expedition 189. Caiitain John Wood's, 141. Kus- siiin expeditions to Novu Zemblii, 142. Voy.iges. early, towards the North Pole, 144-154. Henry Hudson, 146. JoniiH Poole, 146. Willhini Baffin, 150. 1 otherby's voyairos, 151. Recent Pol.ir voyages, oOS- 343. Phlpps" (Lord Muigrave) expedition. 300. Scoresby's vov- ages, 316. Claverlng's voyage, 3."i!. Expedition of Graali, 328. Do Blosseville, Dutailiis, andTrehou- art, o20. Uuclian, 331. Pan.v's Fourtli or Polar exi)editlon, 3;;:!- 340. (Jucstion as to tiic praitl- cublllty of penetrating to the Pole, 34L Voyages, early, in search of a North- west Passage, 165-211. Voya;;es of tho Cortereals, 150-160. (io- mez' voyage. l6l Expedition;^ in the reign of Henry V 11 1., 101- Ki 1. Fioblsher's voyages, 164-17(!. 1 >a- vis' three voyat^cs, 170- 1)S7. \\\'\ - mouth'sexpeditioi), 188. Kiilglit's voyage, 101. Hudson's e.\pe li- tlon, 103; calamitous tcni:ini. tion of. 203. Voyages of button, ,b. ; Gibbon.s, 204; and Bvlot. ib. P.. f- tin's expedition, 205-207. \\>-!!. and James' voyage, 210; Kni^IiC and Harlow's, ib. ; Middleton's ib. Moor and Smith's, 211. Iteccnt North-west Voyages, 212-270. Ross's I'irst Voyage, 214-2-'(). Parry's First Expedition, 221-232. Second Expedition, 23:"j-2t;7; Tiiird Expedition, 2()7-270. Ross's Second N'oyage, 271-304. Po.si- tlon of the question respecting a North-west Passage, 305. Re- vival of interest in it after tho return of the Antarctic expedi- tion, 370-372. Instructions to Sir John Franklin respecting it, 372-375. W. Walrus or mor.-e, the, 72. Encoun- ters with, 252, G13. Wavgatz, islanil ol, 122. Wellington Channel, 225, ."05, C74, 419. Weymouth, George, voyace by, m search of a North-west Passiiire, 188. Conspiracy of the crew, ISO. Dreadful hurricane. 100. ■\Vhale, the dexriplion ol G:-7(k f 50G INDKX. \'iiricty of, 70. His immense power, 450. Vliale-flshery, tlie objects of, 422. Early practised on the coasts of Europe, 423. Spitzbergen long the seat ol it, 424. First fishing voyages to tlie Arctic Sea, ib. Disputes between tlie diflferent nations, 425. Dutch fisliery, 427. British fisheix 429; encouraged by Government, ib. ; bounties granted, and ultimate success, 4150. Mot'.e of conducting the fishery, 436; equipment, ib; voy- nsre, 4H7; attack ami cipture of the whale, 438; operation of ficnsin.T. 441. Dangers of the wliale-tishery, 444. Shipwrecks and accidents, 444-454. Recent ciiunges ill the tishing-stutions, 454. Increased dangers, 45(5. Capital invested in the trade, 458 ; its produce, 400. Ports whence it is carried on, 46:). Disasters and shipwrecks of 1830, 464 -476 ; adventures of the shipwrecked crews on the ice, 472; extrication or" the remaining vessels, 474; loss sustained, 47G. Abstract of tho whale-fisiiinus from 1815 to 1834, 477. Statement from 1835 to 1842, 478; details for 1843 and 1844, 479, Willoughbj', S>r Hugh, voyage of, in search of a Xorth-east I'assage, 103, Its dLsustrous issue, 112. Z. Zeni (the) and Quirini, expeditions by, 100. TUB END. ci>u;Di;iivii: piuhted nil tiiomas nglson. # •r r ngers, 4'"»(>. c trade, 458 ; orts wlienco {. Disasters 30, 464-476; sliipwrockcd ; extviciition icls, 474; loss (tract of tho 1815 to 1834, oin 1805 to 'or 1843 and 1, voyatre of, cast Tassane, issue, ll'i. expeditions ^ '\i)i OM.