t.'Jt .^Cfw f ^^ SMM^M, "^5' ~t^^^L m~^^~ :t^^^^ "^"^-s ^EmOfAB CoWcctd U\\OtA?SOH SMoNiyOMERV (1307-1966) 'Thtfadelpbm urchitut, ncphcn^ of nhmas Jiarnson Montgmeru (1575 -1912), ^BL im'esti^dtor, and ^riHilla ^rmlin CMontgmcru (1874-19561 MBL Ubranan. Qjft of thc4rs(mi j(ugh Montgomert^. M!D. md ^umond 'S. M.oni^omcru — 1987. 0"-' Tofiu-rHifTille ^<^^^^^^mm.^^ Fnhluhi-^ by B,ir,tnir,, Ontlitrl. ,<-.r,n\ J/„vij.j^ifl GREENLAND, ADJACENT SEAS, THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE ILLUSTRATED IN A VOYAGE TO DAVIS'S STRAIT, DURING THE SUMMER OF 181Y. WITH CHARTS AND NUMEROUS PLATES, FROM DRAWINGS OF THE AUTHOR TAKEN ON THE SPOT. BY BERNARD O'REILLY, ESQ. LONDON: PRINTED FOR BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, i?, PATERNOSTER-ROW. 1818. C. Baldwin, Printer, e* Br.d^e Slieel, Lo.iilon. PREFACE. J. HE absolute want of scientific information on the subject of northern cUmates induced the author of these observations to submit to a situation little attractive to choice in every consideration, namely, the place of surgeon to a whale ship, in order that, fi-om personal experience, such information might be derived as would be ac- ceptable to the generahty of readers interested in such subjects. The matter of inquiry seemed to involve many objects highly de- serving of illustration. To the inhabitants of southern lands, views sketched on the spot cannot fail or affording interest, as the di'awings convey a complete idea of the actual situation of the polar world to the 77° N. latitude. Previous accounts had mentioned the existence of a people of singular character inhabiting those dreary regions : but it remained for the present detail to exhiljit portraits from life, of human beings who cherish an abode in those inhospitable countries in preference to the comforts of mUder climes. The arctic animals and birds of passage there found, and the whale fishery as connected with the manufactures and the maritime interests of Britain, given in detail, with appropriate drawings, appeared to the author an object of great interest, and consequently a 2 iv PREFACE. occupied much of his attention. This, therefore, it is presumed, wUl be considered as highly important. The arguments adduced to prove the practicabihty of a north- west passage are supported by facts not hitherto examined, and are of such weight as to give confidence in their accuracy. The accom- plishment of this great object must be evidently of vast benefit to the commercial interests of Great Britain, and cannot fail to interest the reader, as the expectation of its discovery, excited in some measure by the fortunate voyage here related, has induced the govenuuent to fit out ships for a voyage of discoverj-, vvliich after aU may not be as fortunate. For the interests of science and of humanity, may it be still more so ! Phenomena of atmosphere, new to men of science, and of im- portant value in natural history, with accurate drawings, may also be very confidently held forth as objects worthy of attention. With regard, then, to points most important to public information, as well as in gratification of the feeling which led the author into the arctic regions — the general influence of seasons on the lunnan species in high northern latitudes, and in countries undoubtedly insular — the migratory animals frequenting those cUniates — the natural phenomena of atmosphere, and the ascertainment of magnetic variation — with regard to these, this work, in jjresenting facts, leaves little to conjecture, less to speculation. Aware of the system, by which, according to law, tlie Govern- ment is furnished with a log returned from each shij) employed in the " Greenland fisheries " — a log calculated to support pliilosophical inquiry, only by reciting an exhibition of voyage by no means pre- judical to the ship-owner's interest, and (juite enough for the Govern- ment to know when additioJial 7'evenue is the object to be recorded PREFACE. V on the collector's books — perfectly aware of this, it appeared incum- bent on one devoted to the cause of science to abstract himself from such interested purposes — to leave to the mate of a ship such arrange- ments of his log as might best suit the purposes of his employers, and to the master such plans of his private jovmial as, detailing every circumstance which could aid the advancement of his own interest, might be unseen by every eye but his own. Such I'ecords, truly remote, in regard to elucidation, fi-om facts which concern the great cause of science, induced the author not to trust for support to documents placed in custom-houses, nor to rely on the uncertain information which miglit be coaxed from the master of a whale ship, but carefully to effect his intention by keeping a journal adapted to all the scientific objects he had in view. This was his purpose in undertaking a voyage hazardous in the extreme, cooped up with uninformed, unsociable beings. Nature was the grand object of his choice, and his sole consolation. It appeared highly worthy of attention to sketch or describe every land that came into view ; but it was not always possible, from the low temperature of the atmosphere, to command the use of the pencil, and consequently the cabin stove, rather than the deck, pre- sented often more accommodation for that purpose. Compelled by ardency of inquiry to endure unusual jjrivation of sleep, and severest transitions of temperature, the author allowed to pass no oppor- tunity, consistent with the maintenance of health, frequently urged to the extremity of constitutional enduranc^e, lest a single thing conducive to the enlightening of the public mind should escape his observation. With this intent, painful personal feeling was disre- garded in order to ascertain the latitude and exact situation of every point of land that came into view. This was effected chiefly by 8 vi PREFACE. means of the attention which Mr. W. Brass, master of the Thomas, paid to suggestions incessantly urged upon him, in the midst of the duties which a paramount forbiddance of law, and the interests of his owner, required. In sight of the Lixx.ean Isles, July 17, the latitude was de- termined, from Mr. Brass's observations, to be seventy-Jive degrees, seventeen minutes, north ; the variation of the magnetic needle, at the same time noted, being seven points. JMany days elapsed before the sailing of the Thomas from that latitude, occasionally shifting her station, as necessary for the purposes of the voyage. On one such occasion, the termination of tlie Limicean Isles came distinctly in viexv, t/ie open sea lying beyond, when the latitude, no observa- tion being taken, was most probably about the seventy-seventh degree. The state of the atmosphere pertnitted a prospect of a degree at least further to the northward, where the continental ice was evidently interminable. The horizon at the same time to the westward was clear, and exhibited no appearance of blink ; aU the broken field ice having drifted down to the southward, and the sea remaining as clear as the Atlantic, blue, and agitated by a consider- able swell from the north-west ! The Thomas was the last ship that sailed from the presence of the Linnajan Isles in the summer of 1817- The date in the author's journal is July 21, the degree of atmospherical heat at noon, marked by the thermometer, being forty-eight of Fahrenheit's scale. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Ancient History of Greenland 2 CHAPTER I. The Voyage Outward , ] 9 CHAPTER II. Of the State of Greenland, as Insular, or Continental 4.7 CHAPTER III. Of the Natives of Greenland 52 CHAPTER IV. Of the Arctic Ice 86 CHAPTER V. Arctic Zoology 97 CHAPTER VI. On the effecting of a North- West Passage I49 CHAPTER VII. Of the Attempts which have been made to discover a North-West Passage 218 CHAPTER VIII. Of the Expedition lately prepared 240 CHAPTER VIII.* Of the only Route by which Success may be attained 256 CHAPTER IX. Of the Importance of Disko in the Case of Success 265 CHAPTER X. Concluding Observations on a North-West Passage 281 PLATES. Plate Page I. Views of West Greenland S9^ II. Stratification at the Isle of Disko i* III. Disko at Fortune Bay *5 IV. Disko near Lievely with Parhelion 46 V. An Uskee Female and Youth 64 VI. Seal Hunting 80 VII. Uskee Male and Female with their Child 85 VIII. Canis Lagopus 102 IX. Ursus Maritimus 103 X. The Whale, Grampus, &c 117 XI. Whale Hunting 125 XII. Procellaria Gravis, Procellaria Gracialis 140 XIII. Larus Maximus 141 XIV. Colymbus Glocitans, Colymbus Grylle 146 XV, Hunchback 186 XVI. Cirrus Radiatus, &c 195 XVII. Luminous Arch and Weather Gall 196 XVIII. Luminous Phaenomenon 203 CHARTS. Chart 1 The North Pole Frontispiece 2 Draft of Lands in Davis's Strait, northward of the Fi-ow "1 Islands. J " ' 3 Disko and the adjacent Coasts of Western Greenland 182 Page 26, in the Table of Winds, last line but one, for Cyrans read Gyrans. 147, line 3 from bottom, for XVI. read XIV. €1 rM 111 ^ •-S^ INTRODUCTION. ANCIENT HISTORY OF GREENLAND. X HE history of northern nations is much involved in the mists of antiquity, which, hke the fogs constantly met with in northern regions, are apt to magnify objects beheld through such a medium. The poems of Ossian owe their beautiful imagery to such delineation ; the Icelandic Annals, detailing splendours highly apocryphal, maj^ be looked upon as a venerable, but appropriate illustration of the same remark ; and no portion of the globe, with regard to early times, affords more instances of such fondness for the sub- lime, than may be found in the History of Ireland. Ancient Scandinavia also, on the weather-beaten and lichen-clad rock, presents many Runic carvings expressive of the fame of early heroes, Avho, in the admiration of their followers, became objects of deification. The ruins of an extensive city on the banks of the Irtish excited the curiosity of some travellers, and they there found vellum manuscripts stored up, which were watched with religious care by the B 2 INTRODUCTION. barbarous inhabitants of the ruins. The travellers, however, contrived to possess themselves of a few of those records ; and part, being sent to the French Academy, were deci- phered as being some religious decrees written in an old Tartarian dialect in use about the age of Tamerlane, Avho, previously to his grand conquests in India, was nothing but a powerful northern lord. Modern Russia even owes to writers of polished talent, contemporary Avith the more im- proved state of that empire, rather than to the rude legends of her own inhabitants, whatever of elegance is flung over her early history. With regard to the present subject, the scantiness of materials to form an interesting history of Greenland, renders the undertaking unsatisfactory and ungracious ; but, with the reader's indulgence, so much shall be detailed as appears most consistent mth fact. The particulars have been carefully selected from such authorities as are the most respectable on this head. Snorro Sturleggen, who lived in the twelfth century, is stated to have been the author of the Speculum Regale, a compilation of ancient Icelandic rhymes, collected in the year 1315. This is the first historic light to guide inquiry in the history of Greenland. The next writer to be noticed is Torfaeus, who was by birth an Icelander. His book bears the title of Grsenlandia Antiqua. Torfaeus appears to have employed Sturleggen's work as an inexhaustible INTRODUCTION. 3 source of fact, his whole context being little else than a transcript from that memorable legend. This writer dates the first discovery of Greenland by Europeans, in the year 982 of the Christian era ; and on his authority is founded the early history of Greenland as connected with the European world. With respect to the commentaries of Torfaus, much caution is advisable in admitting his details, as the state of science in the times in which he wrote, and the great diffi- culties attending expeditions by sea in those rude ages, together with the exaggeration that such adventures would naturally give rise to, must perplex or mislead. The writers of those times were possessed of a chivalrous spirit to exalt the character of their countrymen, and the very act of undertaking or effecting a voyage was sufficient to afford the adventuring hero a distinguished place in the historical record of the times. The Danish Missionary Crantz has endeavoured to make up for the deficiencies of his predecessors in relating the history of Greenland. That writer used the materials of a primitive missionary, Egede, who published an account of his great and extraordinary endeavours to benefit the native Greenlanders. The difficulties Egede had to encounter, even in the outset of his undertaking, were excessive ; but, in 1721, he at length succeeded in obtaining permission from the King of Denmark to proceed on his humane pur- B 2 4 INTRODUCTION. pose of communicating the gospel tidings to the supposed lost settlers from Norway, who, in the stories of the day, Avere said to inhabit the eastern shores of Greenland, about the sixty-fourth degree of north latitude. Accordingly, in the same year, the worthj^ and pious missionary arrived at Baal's River, being driven thither, rather than succeeding in his endeavours to gain the point of coast to which the prevail- ino; traditions of the time directed him. At the above place native Greenlanclers were found, who expressed the greatest reluctance to any settlement being made upon their shores. This account seems to have but little weight even with Crantz, the writer who repeats it. He possessed a strong imagination, involved in all the Eible commentaries of the day, and, though evidently possessed of much capacity of thought, appears not to have availed himself of the great and abundant materials for observation, which his situation atibrded him, but was obliged to eke out a tardy volume of ecclesiastical detail to gratify his German patrons. The confusion of dates in Crantz's book is extremely perplexing, and is calculated very much to mislead inquiry. The cold which prevails in the arctic regions is also another source of difficulty in the endeavour to procure accurate information regarding those countries from the natives, and the harsh medium of the Danish language, and uncertain transfer of intellioence throua-h the Danish inter- INTRODUCTION. 5 preter, renders an application to that intent generally fruit- less, or at best unsatisfactory. As to the poor Greenlanclers, little information can be had from them regarding the history of their nation. They are said to have no " oral, nor written records;" but some traces of tradition are cherished among them to encourage the rising generation to imitate the exploits of some dis- tinguished progenitor, who left a deathless fame by his skill and intrepidity in killing seals. Yet what can such tradition avail in the search for historic information ? With reg-ard to the Greenlander, such inquiry is unavailing ; and their dislike of strangers intruding on their fishing haunts renders it equally useless to seek from them any accurate account of their present masters. On this point, -the European historians remain the only resource. The authors above referred to, namely Snorro Sturleggen, who is said to be the writer of the " Speculum Regale," and his commentator Torfa?us, and latterly Egede and his commentator Crantz, appear to be the most distinguished amongst those who have written of Greenland. The ac- counts of those writers fix the discovery of that country in the year 982. But Claudius Christophersen, otherwise Lyscander, a divine, has conjectured the date of that event to be in the year 770. The latter rests on reference to a Bull of Pope Gregory IV. dated in the year 835, wherein the conversion of the Icelanders and Greenlanders 6 INTRODUCTION. is expressly committed to the first northern apostle, named Ansgarius. These conjectures have much importance attached to them, as they lay the foundation of emigration from Europe at a very early period, however unfixed that period may be. The subsequent accounts refer generally to other migrations from the same quarter, having various objects in view : some to propagate the Gospel anew ; others to retrace the steps pointed out by annals, at that time often copied in gilt character ; others again, urged by the love of gain, to recover possession of such treasures as were reported to exist in those lands of wine, honey, corn and cattle. These various pursuits were concentrated under- one head, the finding of Old or Lost Greenland. How such an inquiry became necessary shall be next the subject of research. It appears from the early accounts that Eric Raude, an enterprising chieftain, by birth a Norwegian, being com- pelled to go into banishment, was the first discoverer of Greenland. An expedition was fitted out the following year, consisting of twenty-five ships, fourteen of which only arrived. Where the point of destination lay, the story does not inform ; yet wherever those adventurers landed they found such people as answer the description of the Green- landers of the present day. Thorfin, an Icelandic chief- tain, is said to have discovered Wineland, which is con- jectured to be Newfoundland, where he also met with a INTRODUCTION. 7 similar people. Tliey called them Skraellings, which means persons of a diminutive size, and which the reader will hereafter find is consonant to modem observation. The native Greenlanders have amongst them some confused and imperfect accounts of the Kablunaet, that is, the European, . having called them by the name of Karalit, which, from their mode of omitting the first letter of words dilferent from their own, bears a resemblance to Skraelling, and in some degree maintains the credit of the tradition. One remarkable trait in the character of this people is an insurmountable aversion to the presence of intruders ; and such they consider every one who is not of their OAvn nation. In whatever manner they and the new-comers agreed, whether adopting their usual measure, of with- drawing to a remote distance to leave the helpless strangers to perish, or to retire from their fisheries, is not related. Ivar Beer, an early historian, mentions, that Greenland was inhabited and tilled both on the eastern and western sides, in the fourteenth century. This is further confirmed by another statement, which represents Lief, the son of Eric Raude, coming to Norway, in 999, to report on the state of Greenland. Adam Bremensis, who wrote in the eleventh century, makes mention of Lief having discovered New- foundland, in the year 1001, and went the year following to Greenland, probably on his father's course, and met with Skraellings in boats. 8 INTRODUCTION. Accounts thus far considered may, in a great degree, establish the fact of the NorAvegians and Icelanders having been the first Europeans who can claim the dis- covery of Greenland. Yet it must be admitted, that others had the merit of discovering it before them ; for the former visitors aound a people of small stature already in posses- sion. The Norwegian relations go no higher than the sixty- fourth degree, which is about the entrance to Baal's River on the Avest side, and the promontory of Herjolf's Ness, in the sixty-third degree on the eastern side. The former was the principal place of the colony ; and between these two points were situate numerous little settlements, at present said to be indicated by their ruins, the largest of which are visible on the south-eastern extremity of the country between Staten Hook and Frobisher's Straits. These ruins, of churches and large dwellings, are a further support to the foregoing; statement ; but the natives about Baal's River, when asked for the explanation of the name of a particular place there, describe it as the place Avhere men shot arrows at one another. Here then it appears the extirpation of the Europeans began, which was carried round the settle- ments in savage fury by the Skrsellings, until the country became their own again ; or if any survived the massacre, cold, privations and despair, must have eftected their destruction. In the fourteenth century, the Skroellings suddenly made INTRODUCTION. 9 their appearance in great numbers in West Greenland ; and their first onset produced the death of eighteen Norwegians. This petty war continued long enough to obtain for the country the name of Old or Lost Greenland among Euro- peans ; and the natives still remember the war of extermi- nation carried on by their forefathers with the Kabluneet, that is, the European intruders, and their havino- bravely killed or expelled the invaders. To another cause may also be attributed this catastrophe. In the year 1350, a great plague desolated nearly all Europe, but ravaged most severely the northern countries. Possibly the ruinous effects of this pestilence may have reached Greenland, and destroyed the scanty colonies there. Excessive cold is known to approximate, in its effects, to excessive heat ; and to this cause principally is attributed the numerous and civilized population of Iceland having been swept away during a similar visitation. The journal of Bishop Egede records a similar waste of human life, among the natives, which he witnessed to be produced by the baneful contagion of the small-pox, introduced by the crews of some ships that conveyed thither a Moravian mission, in the year 1733, and which raged from September in that year, till the June following. At one place alone, 200 families of Greenlanders were cut off, leaving only eighteen survivors. That the period of the former pestilence must have been 10 INTRODUCTION. singularly calamitous, is evident from the disappearance of an extensive island in the northern Atlantic, peopled Avith polished inhabitants dwelling in a hundred towns, which, shortly after its discovery, was suddenly overwhelmed in the ocean, and disappeared with every living creature on its surface. About that time, the spirit of discovery was much in- dulged, and almost every country produced ardent ad- venturers. The people of Britain and Ireland Avere not in- active in this respect ; the latter being represented as trading to West Friesland, the island above-mentioned, for the sake of the fisheries. As no existing history of Ireland makes mention of this circumstance, the doubt may be lessened by stating, that it was part of the policy of Queen Elizabeth to deprive that island of her records, by which probably more mischief was done to the great cause of history than could be balanced by the Uttle triumph of humbling a nation's pride. t» Columbus, in entering on his immortal pursuit, came to Britain to carry his purpose by kingly assistance. He was refused the protection he sought ; and Spain profited by his disappointment. Two noble Venetians following his ex- ample, obtained a ship in Ireland, and sailed to West Friesland, which their surprise at finding populous and flourishing caused them to announce as having been by them first discovered. The names of these Venetians are 4 INTRODUCTION. 11 Nicholas and Anthony Zeni : their discovery is dated in 1380. This island. West Friesland, was laid do^\Ti in the fifty-eighth degree, between Iceland and Greenland. It is said to have been touched at by Frobisher, in one of his voyages in search of gold in Greenland. This spot is now marked on the charts as occupying an extensive and dangerous tract of ocean, and is named the Sunken Land of Buss. Mariners are studiously careful to avoid it. It is in tempestuous weather covered by a high and terrible sea. When humane reflection comes to contemplate this aAvful event, considerations of the most painful description must arise. The darkness in which the northern history involves the fate of this island is peculiarly uninviting to accurate re- search. That there has been a West Friesland is by no means doubtful ; and that such a country was not the Green- land of late note, is equally certain. The population in the hundred towns of this island, placed so far north as repre- sented, and so far to the southward of Iceland, was well worthy of the notice of the historians of the time. The mind, how- ever rude, in viewing the Avaves that still tower over its waste, must sicken at the contemplation. The site can only come within the casual glance of the wary mariner ; and in the latitude of the Sunken Land such a man is guided by his fears to avoid the dangerous spot. Valleys of dreadful soundings, and peaks of tremendous and destructive con- c 2 M INTRODUCTION. tact, buried in the ocean water, forbid an exact inquiry regarding its actual position. That the island in question has been there, about the time mentioned, facts forbid us to disbelieve ; whilst its fearful disappearance very naturally prevents the rarely passing stranger from exploring the actual depths thereabouts, in order to determine the danger- ous circumstances of the ground. Qusere ? May not this land of Buss so sunken bear some probable reference to the Old or Lost Greenland, or the Atalantis of the Greek writers ? It would not be easy to disprove this. It certainly must appear matter of surprise, that the name of those countries should still be Greenland, though even in less or more degree the peculiar scene of snow and ice. The accounts, on which popular belief has hitherto rested, inform the public by making a comparison between those regions and the island of Iceland, whence the early navi- gators sailed westward. Strange, that at a time when some imaginary hero, worthy of Runic record, some such man as Flokko is reported to have been, did not direct his followers to a place of such natural importance as West Friesland must have been, so contiguous, and so much towards the genial south. We must conclude, that the island so designated, the Atalantis of the Greeks, or the famed Ultima Thule, should have stood in more note than to escape the observation of men saiHng for strange and INTRODUCTION. 13 consequently unknown countries. The name Greenland would in that event, that is, the discovery and colonization of a fine and fertile soil, afterwards studded with a hundred towns, have been more appropriately and significantly ap- plied than to the barren peaks about Staten Hook, or Cape Farewell, or such other parts of southern Greenland, as must naturally present themselves first over the horizon to the eye of the voyager. From the pen of one of the Avriters on this subject, Ave are told that the name Greenland was given to the countries where the Norwegians ventured to fix their settlements, in contradistinction to the bleak and snow-clad mountains of Iceland. Both, however, have been misapplied. If the early annals of Iceland be correct, the appellation of that island is derived from the immense quantities of ice an- nually driven on its shores ; but no season of the year presents the aspect of Greenland (with the exception of rocky faces of mountains fronting a southern sun) Avithout the presence of a cloak of snow, or a chilling curtain of ice. It is true, the elevated lands in Greenland produce in themselves such an absorption of solar heat, during the summer months, as to make the atmosphere insupportably sultry at certain hours, and during particular winds ; but vegetation has not there sufficient life to warrant the use of such an application of the epithet green, as characterizing the general aspect of the country. 14 INTRODUCTION. In examining into this part of the subject, recourse must be had to other means of ekicidation than such conjecture, and, in the language of the natives, a criterion is discover- able. This harmless race have an expression for the sun which bears but little resemblance to any term in language hitherto regarded. Succanuk is their term for the luminary that brings them back their fishing months with his presence. In this his retirement southwards, the northern people say, " Succanuck is gone to Succanunga:" by this they de- scribe all the lands where their fisheries are successful. Now through what source a synonyme for Succanunga may be traced to the language of nations very remote from this truly original people may appear matter of interesting speculation. A classical reader, familiar with the works of Greek and Roman writers, will recollect that an epithet for the noon- day Apollo, when clad in Latin form, is Grynaeus. Grynaeus Apollo forms an adulatory invocation in the prayer of Eneas, Avho was at once a priest and prince according to the Phrygian mythological system. General Valiancy, who be- stowed much and very extraordinary labour on the subject of antiquities, particularly those referable to eastern origin, has fixed on the word Grian, of Irish or Celtic signification, as it may be received, being epithetically expressive of the strongest power of the sun, which is synonymous among all ancient nations with the Apollo of Grecian mythology. To INTRODUCTION 15 avoid, therefore, invidious reference as to intercourse with the Greenlanders, it may be fairly admitted, that the sy- nonyme, by whatever voyager to these parts communicated, is justly explained by the above terras : let us vieAv them in connexion : Succanuk — the Sun. Succanunga — Greenland. Grian — Apollo, or the Sun. Grianland — Land of the Sun. The Land of the Sun, or Sunny-land, as familiarly may be said, corresponds with the simple appellation which the natives give their country. The adventurers who came in aftertimes to seek the same shores, not probably under- standing the meaning of the term, yet spelling the word as they could from hearing it often repeated, were inclined to write Grianland in their mode Groenland, which sounds very nearly aUke, but in the language of Denmark has no re- ference to the original, and hence the absurdity of the ap- plication of such a name as Greenland to countries com- paratively destitute of every product of nature that gives a green luxuriance and vegetative beauty to more southern climates. The brief view of the subject thus laid down will suffice for such as are desirous to examine the more immediate purpose of this work. Histories of almost every explored portion of the globe crowd the shelves of libraries, and are 16 i INTRODUCTION. at the hand of the hourly reader. The man, however, who scans human nature, who studies his connexion with the correlevant parts of creation, and who weighs his destinies, his responsibiUties, his value in the great scale of being, will not be content with words alone, how plausibly soever authenticated. A wish to witness the facts as grounded on observation, denies him quiet, until doubt can be excluded by experience. He tries, travels, studies, deeply reflects, makes up his mind, and passes judg- ment. Such a rule should be the guide of any one intruding on public opinion. It is the same principle that exalts the British jurisprudence above that of every people on earth, in the heaven-born system of the trial by jury. Every honest man so seated is an Alfred, as each indivi- dual there forms his o^vn opinion. Such reflections actuated the mind of the writer of the following sheets previous to his undertaking The object of inquiry appeared highly important. It seemed also in- volved in much mystery ; and its development was viewed as matter of meritorious pursuit. A voyage to Davis's Straits was therefore undertaken for the purpose of ob- taining satisfactory information on many points of natural history, hitherto untouched, or which had not been suffi- ciently elucidated. The circumstances of the voyage were of such a nature as left more for observation than a progress INTRODUCTION. 17 of discovery should be accompanied with. The reader, however, may rest assured that what shall be submitted to perusal is accurate, and such as many, enjoying the indul- gences of warmer regions, would feel little inclination to, witness. 19 CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE OUTWARD. On Saturday, March 8th, in the Thomas, of Hull, Wm. Brass, master, we left the roadstead at the Hawk in the River Humber, and at 9 a. ra. cleared the Spurn lights. In the evening, the breeze becoming fresh at W.N.W. we tacked and stood round Flamborough Head into Bur- lington Bay. The breeze increasing to strong, we tacked again from Burlington Bay, and steered for the Orkneys, in a full breeze from W. Before I proceed to the detail of matters contained in my journal, it is necessary to premise a few remarks, in order to make the contents of that record intelligible to every reader. In the ^course of a voyage, the direction of the winds, and their velocities, are of primary importance to be understood ; and the signs by which their change, or expected commencement can be known, form one of the main objects in the experience of a seaman. The question of " How are we to have the wind?" is seldom addressed to D 2 20 VOYAGE OUTWARD. a person not long accustomed to the sea. The aged coast- ing sailor prides himself as much upon knowing the in- fluence of every point of land, with regard to the wind, as he does upon his knowledge of the set of tide ; whilst the mariner, conversant with seas and oceans, where he has seldom any land to guide his observations, must look to the general indication of the sky and clouds for sure in- formation. I have frequently observed that an old seaman, on turning out for his watch, invariably directs his attention to see how the sky looks : next, turning to the compass, he silently observes the direction of the wind. During his silence one may, on such occasions, evidently notice the operation of his mind drawing conclusions from such ob- servations. Hence appeared the importance of making a few remarks on these matters ; and as I am not aware that any thing has yet been said conclusively on the subject, I shall indulge the presumption that there is some degree of novelty in what I am about to state. The great principle of electricity is now generally con- sidered as the cause of both clouds and winds ; for to these two subjects I am inclined to confine its operation, though undoubtedly it discharges a most active agency throughout creation. In a dry atmosphere it seems to be in greatest energy, though less observably in action. In the formation and destruction or decomposition of clouds, it is more visible in its effects ; but in the direction of the winds, it VOYAGE OUTWARD. 21 possesses a sovereign power of impulse. The presence of electricity in dry air is manifest in experiments, wherein all moisture must be carefully removed, else this celestial agent does not appear. The immortal Franklin detected its pre- sence in the clouds, and forced it to descend, from that species or rather genus of cloud, nimbus, in which it is usually concentrated ; and its presence, when in motion, is famihar to every one experimenting with an electrical machine, when as the cylinder is revolved, a wind is sensi- bly felt if the hand is placed near the cylinder. The presence of this principle in the clouds is very remarkable during the formation of the cloud above mentioned, being what is familiarly called the thunder cloud. Mr. Howard has lately laid do^vn a classification of the clouds, by which this branch of natural history has been signally simplified. The reader is requested to refer to that ingenious gentleman's publication. His theory has been also copied at length into Mr. Forster's book on Clouds,* wherein many curious illustrations of this subject are in- serted. As my applications were on a scale of more than 3,000 miles in extent, with a perfectly natural horizon almost perpetually under observation, I trust that the details, which shall be as brief as possible, will not be subjected to a charge of presumption on the patience of the reader. I may be also pardoned the expression of my o^vn feeling * Researches about Atmospheric Phaenomena, by Thomas Forster, F.L.S. 22 VOYAGE OUTWARD. of their importance to the great concerns of navigation and trade. And as, in consequence of such views of nature, on general principles, as I hope to exhibit in the progress of this work, the great Atlantic and Northern seas in ge- neral may, ere long, become the theatre of more frequent commerce, other benefits may be found to arise from the conclusions to be drawn from these observations. With regard then to clouds, I shall take the classical names laid down by Mr. Howard ; and leaving the discus- sion of his elegant theory in abler hands, must beg that gentleman's indulgence, in placing them in such arrange- ment as I found, from experience, to be most useful in application. To this classification, a concise exposition shall be added, by way of illustration, for such readers as may not have seen Mr. Howard's exposition. This illustra- tion is intended merely to convey a clear idea of the colour and general situation of the clouds. Therefore, beginning with the lowest member of the classification, we shall pro- ceed with the next in simplicity, and then to their various compounds, pointing out the probable agency of each. Taking nubes then for the term expressive of the genus, the names of the species are as follow : Genus. Species. Nubes. Stratus Lowest of all clouds. Evening and morning ground mist. Cirrus Highest ditto. Mares' Tails. Mackarel sky, &c. VOYAGE OUTWARD. 23 Geoiis. Species. Nubes. Cumulus Small dense cloud, increasing upwards, base hori- zontal. Cirrostratus,. , . The common loose vapoury cloud, generally of a brownish colour. In profile, it represents the figure of a fish ; sometimes a dark streak, and lying parallel to the horizon j sometimes descend- ing very dark at a sharp or acute angle. It is the most variable of all clouds, and is usually inter- mediate between the others. Cirrocumulus . . Next in height to cirrus, generally white, in round, ir- regular, or diamond patches, or representing small waves ; the last form usually precedes a high wind. Cumulostratus . . The previous form of nimbus, called by seamen the " land cloud," being at a distance like rocks and mountains, having, according to its position with the sun, round and rugged snowy tops, dark body, base of the same or deep-bluish black, hori- zontal and ragged, or cirrose; moves often against the wind.* — - Nimbus Tlie cumulostratus discharging rain, hail, lightning, &c. Having thus briefly enumerated the diflerent species of clouds, a few observations on their most obvious uses may not be out of place. The cirrus, ascending, assumes some modifi- cation of cirrostratus ; and owing to some principles, pro- bably communicated from its auxiliary, the latter puts on such a variety of colours as it generally presents. The rainbow, and also many other luminous phenomena, appear in this medium. Cirrostratus is the store from which the * " Noctem hiememque ferens." 24 VOYAGE OUTWARD. cumulus is collected ; whilst the latter becomes by agglomer- ation the ciimulostratus. The cumulostratus, being charged with the electric tluid, changes to nimbus, which sub- sequently becomes cirrostratus again. Cirrostratus, when elevated to a higher and drier atmosphere, is changed into the form of cirrocumulus, in which the electric principle seems to be less active than in the others. This beautiful cloud is the ornament of summer and tranquil skies, and is by the simple pen of Bloomfield described as having " the beauteous semblance of a flock at rest." When the electric fluid is called into action, this cloud, viz. the cirrocumulus, if not previously dissolved in the sur- rounding atmosphere, undergoes a rapid change. Shortly after, the long, fine flaxen cirrus, exhibits its slender forms, sometimes in a single silvery line ; sometimes like the fabled tresses of Ariadne ; at other times, when crossed by an ascending or descending current of electricity, it exhibits an elegant representation of waves. Previous to a storm, its changes are most rapid, and its form often evanescent. At all times, it is considered the index of the electric fluid ; and one accustomed to its direction can venture to predict, with tolerable certainty, the approach and degree of force of a wind, many hours, nay, often days, before the change takes place. To seafaring people, a knowledge of the forms and situation of this cloud is essential to security. VOYAGE OUTWARD. 25 The next object to which I shall invite the reader's atten- tion, is an enumeration of winds, and such principally as are most familiar to the navigator of the Atlantic ocean. In order to render this subject more easily understood, I shall present the names of the several winds in Latin, sheltering the attempt under respectable authority. They shall however be accompanied with the familiar synonymes, in use among nautical men. The ancients denominated the winds kno^vn to them, not according to their force, which should naturally indicate a proper classification, but with reference to some local circumstance, such as blowing from a distant country, or some of the cardinal points. The present arrangement apphes to the relative forces of the several winds, by Avhich means it becomes easy of universal apphcation. I propose therefore to enumerate seven genera ; the first five, with their species, being arranged with respect to their several velocities ; the last two, with a reference to their peculiar effects. As to the accuracy of the Latin names, I may presume that it rests on classic ground. Ovid, in the tragic tale of Procris, has given authority for using the term expressive of the first genus ; and the prince of Latin verse has, with the exception of the last, sanctioned all the rest by his adoption. Dr. Franklin has, in his peculiar grandeur of simple 26 VOYAGE OUTWARD. observation, noted the progress of hurricane to be at the rate of 100 miles per hour. On this plain scale, the comparative velocities of the other winds are calculated (reference being specially had, wherever their forces could be ascertained, with regard to the motion of a ship's way) under their in- fluence, severally. It is matter of regret that circum- stances did not allow me to check this calculation by an anemometer. Subjoined to the foregoing is a table giving a view of a ship, according to her trim or canvass, in each wind, and her knots under the influence of each. This chiefly refers to a whale ship, but may be applicable to other vessels. The table includes the eft'ects of wind favourable, or the con- trary WINDS. Nautical Names. Gen. Air, Breeze, Gale, Tempest, Hurricane, Whirlwind, Simoom, Spec. Light, Light, Fresh, Strong, Fresh, Strong, Hard, Rate of Knots per Hour. 4 7 to 8 9 10 and more 10 and much more 10 to 12 and more Unknown Ditto Ditto Ditto Gen. Aura, Zephyrus, Ventus, Tcmpestas, Hicms, Procella, Simooma, Spec. I Spirans, \ Lenis, | Felix, Agens, ■ Celer, Rapidus, j Vehemens, Ruens, Rapiens, Cj'rans, Suffocans. Velocity per Hour. 5 miles 10 ditto 15 ditto 20 ditto 25 ditto 35 ditto i5 ditto 75 ditto 100 ditto Unknown Ditto VOYAGE OUTWARD. 27 WINDS. State of Ships in a fair Wind. Stale of Sh ps in a contrary Wind. Names of Winds. Rate. Canvass carried. Rale. Canvass carried. Light ail- 2 knots Full sail 2 knots All sails set. Light breeze 4 Full sail 3 All sails set. Strong breeze 7 to 8 Full sail 4 to 5 All sails set. Strong breeze 9 Full sail 6 to 7 All sails set. Fresh gale 10 Full sail f Reefed topsails. 6 to 7 1 Top-gallantsailsfurled. Strong gale 10 + •{ Top-gallant sails IfuU r Close reefed top- > 5 to 4 Close-reefed topsails, r Close reefed main- Hard gale 10 + < sails and reefed L courses }' < top-sail, and reefed L fore-sail. Tempest H drift r Ship laid to, un- < der close-reefed L main-topsail I li drift r Ship laid to as be- \fore. Tops struck. Hurricane Unknown f Ship drifting un- \der bare poles. >■ Unknown Same as in fair wind. Having premised so much, in the hope that the matter will not be deemed irrelevant to the main object of the observations, which is the professed aim of the work, parti- cularly as they will aid in elucidating many of the atmo- spheric phenomena hereinafter to be mentioned, I shall proceed very briefly indeed with the Journal. But first in the following short space shall say a word or two about the Orkney Islands. The general appearance of those islands is that of low, flat, rounded hills, with the exception of the western side of Hoy and Pomona, which present a bold rocky front of sand- stone to the ocean. The stratification seldom departs from E 2 28 VOYAGE OUTWARD. horizontality ; in many places consisting of large flags lying loosely over each other. The soil is poor, and yields little corn ; the inhabitants subsisting chiefly on fish. Latterly the straw plait manufacture being introduced, employs the younger girls : this is chiefly at Stromness, which is the usual rendezvous of ships proceeding to the westward, or to the fisheries. Kirkwall, the chief town, is respectable, and is remarkable for its fine cathedral. Though scarcely a shrub is to be seen on Pomona; it is said to have been once well Avooded, and trunks of large trees are often dug up. On the 17th of April,* after being about six weeks at sea. * JOURNAL. Thursday, March 13 : thermometer 42°, 43°, 42°: wind W.S.W., strong breeze : under shelter of Duncansbay Head : a detached high rock of red-brown sandstone, about 100 yards from the sJiore, is called Johnny Groat's Castle : this day clear and dry : squalls eddying along the sea, March 14: ther. 46°, 47°, 40°: wind N.W., almost a calm: sky clear and deUghtfully serene : Stromness in siglit. March 15: ther. 41°, 44°, 42°: wind S., hght breeze: cirrus changing into cu-rocumulus, cirrostratus : weather fine : anchored at the back of the Holms, a flat island, at Stromness. March 16 : ther. 46°, 45°, 40° : wind S.S.W., Ught breeze: cirros- tratus in long dark beds in the westward, tinged red with the rays of the setting sun. March 17: ther. 42°, 45°, 40°: wind W., fresh breeze: stratus VOYAGE OUTWARD. 29 on making a tack towards land, I had a distinct view of West Greenland : see Plate I. A most dreary appearance characterizes this part of that country. Some small islands lay along the coast, between which were imbedded bergs of out-topping height, and in their peaks and prominences all around, probably from the ocean spray, cirrostratiis radiating from theS.W. March 18: ther. 47°, 45°, 40°: wind S.W., fresh breeze: scud at a great elevation. The wind of this day had been indicated by the cirrostratus radiation of the preceding : the reader is requested to bear this circumstance in recollection : partial cirrocumulus. March 19: ther. 34°, 25°, 30°: wind W.S.W., strong breeze: cirrostratus drifting with sleet and snow in the evening. March 20: ther. 24°, 30°, 25°: wind N.N.E., hard gale: nimbus discharging large haU and snow. The thermometer, after the first observation, rose to 30° ; and on the approach of the nimbus, suddenly fell to 25°, and there remained. March 21: ther. 27°, 46°, 26°: wind N.E., light breeze: ciiTO- stratus: cumulus: nimbus occupying half the welkin in N.W. and discharging hail : land covered with snow : weather became unusually fine : during the night an excellent exhibition of cirrus traversing the sky, pointing from E. and S.E. towards W. and N.W. : this evening- put to sea. March 22 : ther. 34°, 36°, 33° : wind S.W. by W., light breeze : scud, diifting from N. E. : wind increased to strong breeze : a strong swell of the ocean from W.N.W. so VOYAGE OUTWARD. mimicking the forms of land. In the intervals of snow, the dark rock put forth its wrinkled brow, the dip of fissure appearing about fifteen degrees. The mountains in the distance exhibited high sharp peaks, and to the eye of a stranger they appear the most dismal and chilling sight March 23 : ther. 36° throughout: wind W.N. W., strong breeze; wind of this day was indicated by the cin'us of the 21st : vaiious bodies of cin-ostratus, discharging sleet and hail at times : sea continues running very high from the W.N.W. JNlarch 24 : ther. 36°, 34°, 28° : Wind W.N.W., hard gale : broken nimbus, discharging snow and sleet with great violence : sea very high : numerous gulls seen : observed the larus canus, marinus, fuscus, in great numbers, also ridibundus and cataractes : towards evening more moderate : sky milky blue. March 25 : ther. 38°, 35°, 30° : wind N.W., fresh breeze : cuto- stratus overcast : showers of evanescent snow : moon appearing in a double halo ; the inner cu-cle deep yellow ; tlie outer, with the iris rings, very distinct. March 26 : tlier. 34°, 36°, 35° : wind N. by E., strong breeze : weather fine : cumulostratus and cumulus near the horizon : an im- mense pUe of cumulostratus occupying all the W. and S.W. region : afternoon, a sudden and violent gale blew from that quarter during three hours, attended with sleet : procellaria glacialis. At half past nine p. m., the polar coruscation (aurora borealis) was very vivid ; the crown forming a portion of a circle in the zenith, curving from N.W. to S.E. ; the brightest emanation running to the 2 VOYAGE OUTWARD. 31 in nature. This land is north of Joris Bay, and is seldom seen : see Plate I. Fig. 1. On the 28th of April, three natives, the first 1 had yet seen, came up with the ship, and being lifted into a boat, canoes and all, they came aboard, and bartered some parts southward, then traversing sideways, with fairy speed, in conical spires from E.N.E. to W.S.W. on an invisible base, nearly parallel with the horizon, but descending fi'om the north. The moon, at the same time, shone faintly through a corona in intervening diffuse cirrostratus, around which was an extensive halo. Mr. Foster states the halo as ordinarily about 45° in radius : by that proportion the halo here observed must have been more than twice that extent of radius. The luminous ring here noticed exhibited none of the iridescent colours, but was of a sickly yellowish white ; the area scarcely differing from the exterior, except that portion in which the corona appeared. This phenomenon having attracted my attention, I remained on deck till midnight, and conversing with an experienced seaman on the subject, I learned that such appearances in this latitude generally preceded very high wind. The increasing temperature, noted this day, was a further indication of an approaching wind from the south- ward. There was a dead calm immediately after the coruscation disap- peared : the atmosphere very clear. March 27 : ther. 42°, 46°, 43° : Wind S. by W., strong breeze : 32 VOYAGE OUTWiVRD. of their dress with the men. After a stay of three hours they departed. They came from some low islands north of Baal's River : see Plate I. Fig. 2. Their lower extremities were re- markably small. They strike an object at twenty yards dis- tance with surprising dexterity. The figure of one, when sky overcast with dense, diffuse cirrostratus : sun in Corona : wind increased to strong gale : * procellaria glacialis. INIarch 28 : ther. 38°, 43°, 36° : wind S. by W., fresh breeze : nimbus with sno^^' : cumulostratus in masses. March 29 : ther. 38°, 38°, 36° : wind N. W., strong breeze : sky generally clear : cumulostratus changing into nimbus, with mixed showers of hail, rain, and snow : atmosphere unusually cold to sensa- tion, even at the degree marked by the thermometer : ship steering to S.W. : a large balaena physalus (finner) passed the ship. Larus canus : at 8 p. m., the electric coruscations suddenly appeared, running at about thirty degrees above the horizon, ascending in a perpendi- cular direction from a base in a rapid succession of brassy yellow flames from W. to E. and soon died away. Immediately after, from the westward there slowly extended up- wards to the zenith four faintly marked radii, which diverged as they ascended ; two, more, approximating to each other and nearly of equal breadth throughout. One only remained, stretching in a mag- nificent arch over the zenith, embracing the horizon E. and W., and of a splendour exceedingly faint : it might, on hasty observation, be * This event proves the observations of the 26th to be correct. VOYAGE OUTWARD. ti'J seated in his canoe, almost, compels the imagination to look upon the man and his boat as partaking of a common exist- ence, restoring to some degree of reality the fable of the Centaur; particularly when these poor people are seen flying along, each in his flimsy bark, with a short paddle alter- supposed a cirrus. The reader is requested to bear this in mind, as it will be necessary to refer to this phenomenon hereafter. March 30: ther. 35°, 36°, 35°: wind N.W., fresh breeze, in- creasing to a gale: cumulostratus, successively advancing with the wind, becoming nimbus in its angry progress, and regularly dis- charging hail with intensity of cold. In this immense basin (the Atlantic,) the effects of wind this day have been commensurate to the grandest elevation of wave. The firmness of the vessel giving all the security of land observation, I looked on this terrible scene with awful delight. At 9^- p. m. tlie coruscations appeared again froniN.W. ; and in the midst of the stunning hurly, I could not resist noticing their activity. Imagination would say, that truly the spirit of the storm was abroad in all his majesty. The account of the lights, immediately noted, may be of interest to some of my readers. Assuming, as before, an archwise coruscation, but instead of the iUucescent radii playing from a horizontal base as formerly observed, the basial line of these coruscations assumed an angle from the horizon of about fifty degrees. Tongues of brassy hue, at considerable intervals of space, and bending to S.W., touched their ethereal base with lambent playfulness, then, twining in spiral convolution, shot F Hi VOYAGE OUTWARD. nately pressed alon<>; the thing in which he securely sits, re- gardless of wave or wind. The jacket they wear is lashed so as to prevent the admission of water, whilst all is snug- within. Their fishing tackle and darts are so placed as to be constantly within reach, and safe from accident, by a rapidly upwards, and spent themselves in the more elevated regions of the atmosphere. iMarch 31 : ther. 43°, 44°, 40° : wind S. by AV., strong gale : scud flying furiously along : in the course of this day the weather has been highly variable, and sometimes rain : the change of wind was pre- indicated by the aui'ora of tlie preceding. April 1 : ther. 33° throughout: wind W.N.W., hard gale: sky uniformly overcast with cirrostratus : the gale increasing in fury, the sea rose literally mountain high : proceUaria glacialis : moon in halo of vivid brightness. April 2: ther. 34°, 35°, 36°: wind W.N.W., hard gale: storm unabated : cloud beginning to break : procellaria glacialis. April 3 : ther. 42°, 44°, 40° : wind S.W., strong gale : overcast cirrostratus : less dense, long, dark beds of the same, sometimes seen through, moving slowly from S.E. : sun very dimly seen in corona: some rain fell : sea higher, if possible, than yesterday : tlie zenith, clearing a little in the afternoon, admitted a view of linear, comoid, and undulate cirrus, pointing south of east : cloud becoming cumu- lescent.* ^ This night, as tiie clouds of the cirrocuniuhis form drifted along, a similar radiation to that noticed in Journal 29th ult. occurred. A stream of the VOYAGE OUTWARD. 35 simple fastening of thongs. Every thing was exceedingly neat : their outer dress is water proof. The appearance of the land to the southward of Cape Monkchese and about Queen Anne's Cape, Avhich Avas seen by us on the 1st of May, is generally that of uniform, sharp, angular eminences. Nothing but barren rock constitutes Apiil 4 : ther. 42°, 34°, 32°: wind W.S.W., fresh gale : the storm begins to abate : sky generally clear : ciiTus and nimbus : larus canus, marinus, tridactylus, and procellaria glacialis. April 5: ther. 42°, 44°, 41 ^ wind W.N.W., fresh breeze: sky overcast : atmosphere mild : a meteor descended to the S. W. (it generally moves towards an expected wind) : it was of small magni- tude, and visiiile for about a second. April 6: ther. 46°, 45°, 44°: wind S.W., fresh gale: overcast cirrostratus, with some rain, at times very heavy : wind abating, the sea became more tranquil, nearly altogether so : slight appearance of coruscation in W.N.W. : it is remarked that in high northern latitudes they indicate a northerly wind. April?: 36'', 33°, 34°: wind W.N.W., fresh breeze increasing: towards evening a cumulostratus began to form in N. ; and, as it became an intensely dark nimbus, it advanced from that point with an unusual brightness in its rear and above. This brightness is considered a sign electric fluid, coming from S. E., dissolved the cirrocumulus in its progress, and left it behind as a splendid white arch extending across the sky. The cirrus of this afternoon visibly pointed towards the quarter whence the radia- tion subsequently came. 36 VOYAGE OUTWARD. this coast, rising in successive peaks, not much elevated above the horizon. Being at times distant not more than twelve miles, the observer has them distinctly enough in view, particularly with the aid of a good telescope. Very rarely did any rounded summit appear, and the extremely few in number of that description were nearest to the of mnd from the point where it appears : polar hghts vivid : a trainless meteor passed S.W. April 8 : ther. 37°, 43°, 41° : wind N., light breeze : weather fine : cu-rostratus in deep Ijiown beds ; had a settled appearance, and died away without changing position : lights very vivid, restless, and playing from every point towards the star Benetnach, as to a centre of afflux. April 9: ther. 41°, 44°, 41°: wind W.N.W. to W.S.W., light breeze : sky overcast with light misty rain : drops scarcely discernible. April 10: ther. 42°, 48°, 43°: whid S.W., strong breeze: thick, damp, hazy weather, at times sultry, clearing towards evening: procellaria glacialis numerous, and larus canus. April 11 : ther. 43", 48°, 40°: wind S.W., fresh breeze: cirro- stratus generally diffused, with heavy rain. April 12 : ther. 35°, 40°, 38° : wind W., fresh breeze : atmosi)hcre dry and clear : scattered patches of cirrostratus : heavy pieces of ice (fragments of bergs) drifting past : sailing by a pack of ice : fine cuTus pointing from N.E. April 13: ther. 36°, 38°, 34°: wind W.S.W., fresh gale: steering S. by VV. ; W. to avoid the ice : the pack seems to be a limited and VOYAGE OUTWARD. .'J7 shore, and showed the characteristic sharp fracture of basalt. Some huts were also discernible. No appearance of a plain, not even an inch, presented itself in an extent of coast of more than fifty miles this day ; and as far as the sight could ascertain from the highest point of ob- solitary one, as the ice blink (a peculiar brightness in tlie horizon) is no longer discernible : some parallel beds of cirrostratus in profile : all else clear : high land appearing above the horizon, supposed to be Staten Hook or Cape Farewell : procellaiia gulosa, and a species of mergus too distant to be recognized in view : a pair of fringilla tristis alighted on the ship, and afters ards flew towards east : in the evening passed a stream of ice : passed a large berg over whose lower ex- tremity the sea broke, as upon a rock : two seals seen. April 14: ther. 30°, 35°, 30°: wind N.W., strong breeze: light brown patches of cirrostratus : cleared the pack : detached cumulus apparently motionless : the heavy manner in which the procellaria glacialis plies his wing would indicate a southerly wind (at 5 p. m. the atmosphere has just undergone a very remarkable change, proving its direct influence on the animal system : sky dully bright : light flaky snow : wind nearly calm) : polar lights very vivid, I'unning from E. and jjoints S. of east. April 15 : ther. 38°, 40°, 35° : wind S. b. W., light breeze : weather very fine : procellaria glacialis, larus maximus, a flock of L. tri- dactylus : the weather gall* seen in S.E. See Plate XVII. Fig. 2. * A remarkable cloud of singular hue, being of a deep indigo blue, with a dash of yellow, which gives it a greenish cast. It generally appears em- 38 VOYAGE OUTWARD. servation, the land inward seemed to be uniformly of" the same conlormation, but the mountains appeared much higher. From the depth of snow with which those rocks seemed to be covered, the late winter must have been very severe. Queen Anne's Cape is an island advancing April 16: ther. 30° throughout: wind S.E., strong gale: cirro- stratus overcast : snow and sleet : sea streaked with foam : the lights, between 10 and 11 p. m. were exceedingly splendid, and seemed to make Benetnach a centre, but moving to N.E. April 17: ther. 28° throughout : wind N.W., fresh breeze: light vapoury cirrostratus : the presence of cumulostratus to S.E. indicates land seen four to two leagues distant : this being dangerous, stood out to sea : procellaria glacialis, larus maxinuis, balaena rostrata. Api-ill8: ther. 28°, 26°, 25°: wind E.S.E., strong breeze in- creasing : the whole of this day slightly overcast, and light hard snow falling : circle of view not more than half a mile in radius : P. glacialis * on wing, going directly north : li. maximus and mate. April 19: ther. 21°, 19°, 15°: wind E.N.E., hard gale: sea veiy high : sky still overcast with snow cloud : the ropes and sails covered with ice : cold intense to sensation : snow falls sharp and of icy form, transparent : P. glaciaUs unusually active : one L. maximus seen. bosomed in other clouds, occupying a very small space. This weather gall is dreaded by seamen, as a severe wind generally comes from the place where it appears. For distinction sake, I beg to refer to the colour of this cloud for the expression " stormy blue." * The P. glacialis is a sure guide to the whale hunters. VOYAGE OUTWARD. .^f) very forward, and forms a common wing to two fine ad- jacent bays. The land northward of this Cape is not nearly so elevated as that above-mentioned. On the 6th of May we passed Reef KoU (Plate I. Fig. 3) at one p. m. The latitude of this island seems not to be ac- April 20 : ther. 10°, 8i°, 11°, 9° : wind N.N.E. to N.N.W., fresh gale, varying every instant, abated to fresh breeze : sky overcast con- tinually with snow cloud : the ocean spray, as it rises, congealed into icy mist : no effect of freezing on nitrous, muriatic, or sulphuric acid, or on rum : the heats of atmosphere this day extraordinary at intervals during the gale. April 21: ther. 10°, 12°, 9°. 11°: wind N. by E., light breeze, westing towards evening, and neaily calm : cirrostratus illuminated by sun-light : the ice blink in the horizon indicates the presence of ice leagues in extent : a seal, killed this day on a piece of ice, was there flayed by the sailors, body left behind : larus eburneus in numbers, and a few of procellaria gulosa. April 22 : ther. 16°, 21°, 20° : wind variable from N : overcast with cirrostratus : sea level as a lake : ice blink : temperature of air much increased : mild, with cirrostratus variously illuminated, having a rich yeUow lustre where it meets the reflected hght from the ice : vast numbers of larus eburneus, and P. glacialis following the ship : a pair of the phoca Groenlandica killed : moon for the first time seen since the change, and surrounded by a broad, somewhat ovate corona. April 23 : ther. 21°, 26°, 29° : wind N. E., fresh breeze : cumulus in long train, with bases pointing southward : ciiTostratus in distance 40 VOYAGE OUTWARD. curately laid down upon the chart, which is serious, as it is the great beacon for the Avhale ships going to the northward. The upper strata of the rock of Reef Koll bear the appear- ance of basaU deeply tinged with iron : lower down it deepens to greenish blue, Avith an irregularity, but sharp- accumulated to the sight as if cumulostratus, but is not such : in the coui'se of the forenoon sailed amongst several str-eams of ice : this sea is called by the whalers " the South West Country : " phoca vitulina, one ; P. hispida, two ; and P. maculata, one, killed on the ice : in afternoon, some slight nimbus having formed, some snow fell : wind in E. by S. increased to a gale in the niglit, and after midnight fell to a calm. April 24 : ther. 34°, 42°, 33° : wind S., strong breeze : atmosphere filled with light milky haze : patclics of brown cin'ostratus : this sea lies east of the entrance to Hudson's Bay : a heavy swell from the S.E. April 25: ther. 33°, descending to Id-Jr" • wind N. N.E., strong- gale : snow falling thick, light and soft : fucus palmatus drifted past : many lairds around : three small islands seen, and rocks over which the sea broke with fury : the fucus warned the people of this danger : the atmosphere so dense with cloud as to prevent a view of land : at noon an observation being taken lat. 64° 24' N. proved the islands seen to be to the northward of Baal's River mouth, a most dangerous coast, as a great indraught is known about the entrance to that river, and against which mariners are constantly cautioned : * * It is thought the " London," a whale ship, was lost somewhere about thia dreadful coast. VOYAGE OUTWARD. 41 ness of fracture, like that of the rock, clink basalt, on which stands the castle of Edinburgh. The island of Disko, called by the natives Duskee, is visible from Reef KoU. At a distance of twenty miles it seemed not far remote. It is table land, the interior the islands seen lay N.E. of the sunken rock: the snow fell in increased quantity, and of singular shape, thin, pellucid, icy ; ge- nerally from a centre, six radii extend themselves ; the adjoined 1999 is an accurate sketch. (^^ April 26: thei-. 18°, 20^ 23°: wind N.N. E., Ught breeze: cir- rostratus in loose masses : many species of larus : a shoal of baloena physalus passed in view ; some of very great length : aftei-noon re- markably fine : land at Baal's River seen : veiy lofty peaked sum- mits covered with snow : lat. by observation 64° 14' N. See Plate I. Fig. 2. April 27: ther. 23°, 30°, 28°: wind N.E., fresh breeze: the wind unfavourable for a passage : the high snowy peaks of Greenland in view about forty miles distant : beautiful undulate and comoid cirrus in the zenith : cirrostratus lower, and cumulus in the horizon scat- tered amongst a mUky stratus : cumulostratus in N. W. indicates wind : cirrostratus lying far below the lofty summits of the moun- tains : water lying on the ship's deck and no appearance of freezing : colymbus troile seen : lat. ob. 64° 23' N. April 28 : ther. 27°, 30°, 27°, wind N. by W. hght breeze : va- rious modifications of cirrostratus, heavy, still, and dark : land dis- tant ten leagues, and some islands with low conic tops. The setting G 42 VOYAGE OUTWARD. parts more elevated than the southern side, and scarcely swells above a plane. On the 7th of May, every part, but the steep faces of the rock, was covered with snow, which also lay upon the debris of the mountain : the parts however next the water were bare of snow. From the great sun flung liis radii from an abrupt collection of ciiTostratus, the field being richest yellow: cumulus inclining the summit toN.E. : moon surrounded with halo : some portions of iiidescence visible : trichecus rosmarus seen : lat. 64° 41'. April 29 : ther. 27° throughout: wind N.E., strong breeze : cu-- rostratus overcast, discharging small soft snow : colymbus troile and anas molUssima numerous. April 30: ther. 19°, 22°, 19°: wind variable about N. : strong tide stream : loose ice much worn : cirrostratus : lat. observed 64° 44' N. May 1: ther. 26°, 28°, 26°: wind S.E., light breeze: diffuse cirrostratus covers the welkin : ice bUnk is observable towards N.W. : ail' temperate and pleasant : numerous trains of colymbus troile : some snow : the atmosphere having cleared, the land to the southward of Cape JNIonkchese came in view : there was a constant view of the land all this day : at 8 p. m. passed Queen Anne's Cape : meridian ob- servation gave lat. 65° 56' N. Sheets of ice, of recent congelation, lay around the ship in her course dui'ing this afternoon, composed of pieces six or eight inches over, nearly circular, the interstices being filled up with similar small ones : the wind always fell as the ship came up with those sheets. VOYAGE OUTWARD. 43 distance at which it first becomes visible above the hori- zon, this island must be more than a mile in perpendicular height. The face of the rock is torn in channels for the discharge of the dissolved snow, which, as they grow nar- rower in their descent, give the spaces between the ap- pearance of stupendous pyramids, a resemblance which is May 2 : ther. 19°, 22°, 18°, wind N.E., strong breeze : this wind being contrary, the ship continued tacking off and on before the land just N. of Queen Anne's Cape : the cold intense : vast streams of ice sometimes in sight: since noon the weather became excessively cloudy : sea, rudely high, covered the deck with foam, which imme- diately became ice, to the great annoyance of the sailors : wind at times violent : masses of ice covering the sea : the pieces of young ice much more minute than those observed the preceding day : a few of P. glacialis seen. May 3 : ther. 15°, 18°, 16°: wind N.E., fi-esh breeze increasing : ship standing off and on by land : the dip of the rock hereabouts seems to be about an angle of 60° N. and S. : no birds seen : in the latter part, continual snow shower, with sharpest cold : the wind continued in the same point a strong gale all the day : lat. obs. 66° 38' North. May 4 : ther. 10°, 12°, 13°: wind N.E., strong breeze: the cold increased this day to a distressing degree. The Wild Islands, with numerous rocks near them, both not far distant fi'om the coast, came into view : the fracture of the rock appeared very sharp : the colour and smoothness near the water gave it a resemblance to gi'eenstone : 44 VOYAGE OUTWARD. much heightened by the stratification exhibiting horizontal and parallel fissure, similar to regular building. The rock is basaltic, but not of that regular form which occurs in the Giants' Causeway. This may be seen by casting the eye on Plate II., which was selected at Old Lievely as a tolerably exact specimen of the stratification generally numerous flocks of the anas mollissima, colymbus troile, and of the genns larus around in every direction : much scattered ice : the at- mosphere generally very clear. May 5: ther. 10°, 23°, 18°: wmd S.E., fresh breeze: ship standing in close with the land, which no longer presented the angular prominences of the lands more to the southward : this lies low with rounded summits, but no appearance of plain : after passing through streams of ice, and by bergs of the most fantastic forms, the ship was made fast to a berg, at a short distance from the shore, in about ten fathoms water : saw this day a solitary raven, great numbers of Eider ducks, and some seals ; the latter being re- markably cautious of observation : the state of cloud was uniformly haze : the tide here is amazingly rapid : islands around ; these are the Wild Islands. May 6: ther. 17°, 36°, 21°: wind S., fresh breeze: ship cast ofl" from the berg, and proceeding to the northwaixi : sounding near the land ten fathoms : twenty-one ships in sight : this day heard of the melan- choly loss of the London with all her crew : a hght stratus is the only cloud in view : atmosphere agreeably mild : immense flocks of ducks on wing ; hereabouts is their favourite haunt for rearing their n ^^m^/^^' t.^^^-^^^^ /'llhft.t/inl hi/ AlMirOi li^nit^i * ■/<'."■• Fa/'m^ttfrR li- J£wJJ t. VOYAGE OUTWARD. 45 taken. Its height is sixty feet. There are parts however where the stratification is much more regular. These remarks chiefly regard the south side about For- tune Bay (Plate III.), which seems to be that part of this island which has been least affected by that awful convulsion which at some remote period denudated and destroyed this portion of the globe. Probably the ruin that came upon these countries moved, in its terrible progress, from the north-westward ; and, having forced a passage through the Waygat Strait, swept round through the south-east bay, and so spared Disko. In support of such conjecture, it may be advanced, that Hare Island, lying nearly north of Disko, at the entrance to Waygat Sound, is low and flat, as it were the base of a mountain Avhose summit had been torn away. The contiguous point of Disko shelves into the sea, as if having suffered from the same cause : Avhilst that side of Disko that overlooks the Waygat consists of lofty peaks, behind which there lie deep valleys, where the torrent rioted, having failed to carry away the more elevated parts. More- young. About 8 p. m. passed the western islands, which lie low and very flat, much inhabited by the natives : Disko in sight, appearing high above the horizon : saw flocks of colymbus grylle, also a raven : immense numbers of procellaria glacialis making rapid flight to the jiorth- westward. May 7 : tlier. 25°, 30°, 25° : wind S.E., strong breeze. 46 VOYAGE OUTWARD. over, that part of Disko called Flat Foot Shore, which lies over against Makkely Onit, has evidently suffered during the same devastation. Neither would that portion of the island called New and Old Lievely (Plate IV.) have survived the Avreck, were it not for the strong resistance made by that part which is known by the name of the Black Land. The rock of Lievely, now so dangerous to navigators, 'which is bare at low water spring tides, and which is nothing but the remains of some part of the mountain, is a further proof of the justice of the above assertion. The existence of Disko Bay, Fortune Bay, Love Bay, and the other re- cesses in the bosom of this remarkable rock, owe their existence to the violence of the flood which, boiling at the resistance opposed to it on the north side, rushed over the higher lands to the southward, and there pouring onward, in its rage hollowed out those several bays, and meeting with the other contending currents coming through the Waygat, and down the Straits, completed the work of destruction, and effected the formation of South East Bay. 1 ss 47 CHAPTER II. OF THE STATE OF GREENLAND, AS INSULAR, OR CONTINENTAL. Having conducted the reader thus far along this dreary coast, and this part of the subject being appropriate to our purpose, I shall here beg leave to take into consideration the actual state of the countries called Greenland ; chiefly with a view to inquire whether that state be insular or con- tinental. Spitzbergen, or New or East Greenland, has been already determined by Lord Mulgrave to be an island. So far the necessity is removed of alluding further to that portion of these lands. The whale fisheries, as they are called, when spoken of as the Greenland fisheries, are always carried on to the westward of Spitzbergen, and usually so that the vessels in that trade often have a view of some part of that island in the course of the season. Westward of the fishing ground, the perpetual ice presents an insurmountable barrier to any attempt to explore the eastern coast of West or Old Greenland above a certain 48 STATE OF GREENLAND, degree, where Herjolf s Ness, in the sixty-third degree, forms a bold round promontory. It is not recorded that any na- vigator has penetrated further north than this point on the eastern side, though some charts exhibit inlets bearing Dutch or Danish names somewhat higher up. We may, therefore, fairly assume it as a fact, that Greenland on the eastern side from Herjolf 's Ness to the pole is decidedly unexplored, and the reports of experienced seamen are positive in expressing the impossibility of coming within many degrees of the supposed line of coast from the con- tinual presence of ice ; and that the ice which is carried to the southward from the Greenland fishing grounds is always limited to a certain meridian, westward of which it has been never known to break up. Eastward of this parallel they have at times penetrated beyond the eighty-fourth degree. South and westward of Herjolf's Ness is Skaga-fiord. a sound, the termination of Avhich was never ascertained : but from its apparent direction, it is thought to have a communication with Makkely Onit in South-East Bay, at Disko. Between Herjolf's Ness and Staten Hook there were many more inlets inhabited in former times. Whether these inlets may not have a leading into the preceding communi- cation, must not be looked upon as at variance with pro- babihty. No one now will doubt that Frobisher's Straits penetrate AS INSULAR, OR CONTINENTAL. 49 the whole of southern Greenland, or rather open into some vast internal sea, whence the ice is annually carried west- ward, so as to obstruct the entrance to those parts from the side of Hudson's Bay. Staten Hook, also the most southern extremity of Green- land, and Cape Farewell, the south-western extremity, have been both determined to be islands, between which there lies an immense bay, crowded with islands. The bottom of this, never having been yet explored, may be supposed to have many inlets branching into Frobisher's Straits. Let us turn our attention to Baal's River, which is rather a gulf penetrating Greenland to the N.E. The extremity of this water has not been as yet laid down. It is supposed to extend to Disko by some inlet leading into South East Bay. In its length it is impossible to deny but it may have communication with Skaga Fiord, and the inland waters in Frobisher's Straits. Whether South Bay is connected with Baal's River is not easy to assert, as there is no datum for such an assertion. Makkely Onit in South East Bay has been always al- lowed as running into a water, which, if free from ice, would permit a passage into the northern Atlantic. North of Makkely Onit are numerous passages opening into internal seas in the northern parts of Greenland, some of which have been penetrated by the boats of the whale hunters, the men of which, on their return, invariably re- H 50 STATE OF GREENLAND, ported that they had observed fair, open seas before them after they had gone a very httle way. In Jacob's Bay there is one very remarkable passage of similar description ; so also one, if not more in North East Bay ; and proceeding further north, the numerous sounds up to the Women's Islands, and forward to the Devil's Thumb, an isolated natural column, in 74° 53' north latitude, various openings present themselves, which, no doubt, lead to so many ways of traversing this Arctic Archipelago. A few circumstances more will materially assist in this in- quiry. The whale hunters are unanimously of opinion that Greenland consists entirely of islands ; "for " say they, " wherever chance or inclination led us, on almost any part of the coast, we saw nothing to prevent us from sailing as far inwards as we liked." The habits of the whale, who is observed always running for some one or other of those passages, and some, when stricken, dragging the boats so far that the people witnessed open clear water to a bound- less extent, are in a great degree confirmatory evidence of the fact. But one circumstance, not the least curious in natural history, is, that a whale, struck by a man at Green- land, i. e. at Spitzbergen, escaped, and was in a short time after killed, and taken by a relative of the same man, who was then at Davis's Straits. This curious fact was deter- mined by the harpoon, bearing the mark of the former, being found in the body of the animal when taken. AS INSULAR, OR CONTINENTAL. 51 The north-east coast of Greenland, therefore, being un- explored, and the probable intersection of its south-eastern, southern, western, and north-western parts, by navigable waters, being adduced, besides the other circumstances, in aid, it may, I presume, be inferred that the state of Greenland is not continental, but insular. But whether the research will be ever established by future proofs of more decisive character, or whether any circumstances will war- rant the hazard, must be left for time to determine. 11 'i 52 CHAPTER III. OF THE NATIVES OF GREENLAND. The description of savage life is nearly alike applicable to almost every portion of mankind placed below a certain degree of refinement. The necessary means to prolong life are so varied by chance, convenience, or choice, in different nations, that what is familiarly called comfort be- comes invested with a thousand meanings when used as descriptive of comparative happiness. The poor Green- lander, feasting on his raw food, is as truly happy in such luxury as the citizen of a more indulgent climate who is uneasy in his armed chair until he has the delight of gloting over his pudding, a seventh dish at his usual dinner. In the humble, yet happy, people that are found in the high northern latitudes, and are generally known by the name of the Esquimeaux, more of that spirit of contentment, which is the genuine offspring of necessity, is discernible than probably in any other class of mankind whatsoever. It is not the material of satiety that constitutes what is NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 53 generally estimated as domestic comfort. So far as the mere necessaries of life are considered in relation to this, the Palais Royal is perhaps as scanty as the hut of the Esquimeaux. The Tartar who bestrides his dinner, which, to save time and cookery, is placed within his saddle skirts, looks to an enjoyment of relish equally fine to his taste as the double repast of turtle is to the Liverpool merchant. EmbroAvned in his dreary retreat, the Greenlander feels no inconvenience, unless the accidental severity of the weather forbid his accustomed seal-hunting ; and should this blessing, with the other casualties of his better fortune, come oppor- tunely and in plenty, it may be very truly asserted, that he envies not the lot of any fellow mortal. The influence of climate has been frequently referred to as a scource of those distinctions that mark the various tribes of mankind. No person in the present period will venture, one would suppose, to produce another Adam as the progenitor from whom the coppery savage of America would claim a distinct descent, rather than attribute his singular complexion and warlike character to the influence of local circumstances. The wants and hardships which his forefathers have known, and the severe but necessary ex- ertions to overcome those difficulties, must have produced strong and permanent constitutional effects, growing more into character by succeeding years, and on its transmission to posterity always increased. As an exposition of this prin- 54 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. ciple, the difference of manners already between the United States' American and his British predecessors, has become very strongly marked ; and little doubt can be entertained but that in the progress of several centuries the North American colonist will be as remote in habits and general character from the European as both at present stand in geographical situation. The vast population of the northern regions of the earth, has been long a matter of surprise. The destruction of the eastern empires, China, for instance, and that of India, from the irruption of the Tartar hordes, are memorable proofs of the population of the North having been in early times amazingly great. The ruin of the Roman empire followed from the same cause ; and, in a later period, the world has witnessed the annihilation of one of the most warlike armies that ever was known, by the descendants of those very Tartars. There may be assumed a line embracing the globe to be considered as an equator of civiUzation, towards which, as man approximates, his faculties are observed to be more perfectly developed ; whilst on the other hand, receding from this equator, some of the higher and more beautiful portions of human character die away. Ancient Greece would appear to be traversed by this line. Here the finest specimens of man in full possession of his faculties, in re- finement of manners, .language, and the arts, have existed; 'NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 55 and if the moderns have surpassed the inhabitants of ancient Greece in aught, they have had the lights of the ancients to direct them. The Divine wisdom displayed in the New Testament is another splendid proof of the truth of the position above assumed. It appeared among man- kind diffusing benevolence and peace to all the nations of the earth from a spot within the limits laid down. This line, however, is not always unbroken, but is sub- ject to variations arising from localities, which must ever exercise a predominant influence over mankind. We may also notice that it is not at variance with the general laws of nature that differences may arise subject to such influence. The line by which the mariner's needle is directed to the north is not always steadily noted by the magnet. The va- riation of the compass, the irregular motions of the needle, sometimes in the vicinity of mountains, and often where the land is very little elevated, are evidence that circumstances will cause a deviation from an universally established rule. Perhaps it is to some unseen cause that the great diversity of human character is to be attributed ; and some persons will insist that half the happiness of life depends upon that very diversity. Situation has a surprising effect also on the human con- stitution and character. The inhabitant of the mountain differs essentially from the inhabitant of the plain ; their pursuits and passions are widely different. The one is all 56 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. energy, activity, and simplicity ; the other comparatively gross, plodding, and inactive. The mountaineer, striding over his hills, is roused to action by the gust that shakes the oak above his slumber ; a light meal fits him for the toils of hardy life ; and in the quick ardent glance, and sinewy step, are evolved those energies derived to him from his situation, and which he fancies have descended to him from his sire. Rarely, however, is such a situation the nursery of science. It is in the champaign country that the historian will find the origin of all those arts by which modern society is now so much improved. The early dispersion of mankind could not have been at- tended with those remarkable effects all at once. Centuries must have passed before the various ramifications could drop into separate nations ; and climate, situation, and habits must have exercised their powers long before national dis- tinctions could be recognized. The tide of population de- scending into the more temperate regions, spread over the limits of Europe, and filled it with a race of men who were equally removed from the enervating softness of Asiatic climate, and the more severe and chilling influence of frost. On this point rests the main distinction. Heat, as has been before observed, when in excess, pro- duces effects similar to those of excessive cold. Hence as population is traced north or south from a certain assumed line, the high, august forehead, the erect figure, NATIVES OF GREENLAND, S7 and calm majestic deportment, recede and dwindle. The African exhibits the organs of sense largely developed — patulous nostrils, large lips and mouth, prominent eyes — all proportionally increased ; whilst, in the same degree, the internal organs of the mind become diminished, until the character is scarcely above that of idiocy. The social aft'ections are, under such circumstances, extremely weak, and consequently the progress of civilization is visibly em- barrassed. But as the cold of northern regions can be mitigated by artificial means, the situation of the Laplander or Samoeide is consequently less in extreme, than that of the inhabitant of the torrid zone, who is perpetually ex- posed to a burning sun. In the manners and tempers of both there is a manifest distinction. Ferocious, vengeful, and rapacious, the African will allow nothing to thwart his resistless passion ; whilst on the contrary the Arctic Tartar, humble and simple, is content with his dreary wastes and precarious subsistence, seldom raising his mind to the at- tractions of revolution. The early discoverers of Greenland Avere surprised to meet with a people already in possession of those countries. They described them as diminutive in person, dressed in skins, and moving about in little boats covered also with skins. They are represented as not having ships ; and yet subsequent adventurers from Europe met tribes of this same o8 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. people both in Newfoundland and the waters north of that place, and also in Greenland. That this description exactly suits the natives of Green- land at the present day will not be disputed ; but it must appear singular, that a people confessedly aboriginal in those inhospitable regions, should, after a lapse of nearly two thou- sand years, be found the same in every respect at the pre- sent day, as they appeared to the first European voyagers. Charlevoix, a French historian of much accuracy, stat-es their national appellation to be Esquimeaux, which is a word of their own language having a French termination. This writer explains the term as meaning " eaters of raw Hesh;" but to this interpretation some objections may be reasonably made. For instance, would any people be found desirous to stigmatize themselves with a nick-name ? One only reply to this can appear satisfactory, which is, that they might give themselves such a name to mark the superiority, as they may conceive, of their own nation above every other, in their being able to partake of the fruits of their hunting on the spot, whilst the other must perish unless he have the imnecessaiy luxury of cooking. The value of this observation, however, is much dimi- nished, when it is known that the Greenlander, though he can eat his food undressed, and generally does so, by no means would prefer that mode to the greater comfort of NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 59 having his dinner in the European manner ; but he is, in a great degree, compelled to adopt the former custom of necessity ; and the effects arising from custom are Avell known to infuse themselves into the constitution, and pro- duce what is generally denominated habit. Ellis relates a story of a youth who had been carried away from his native country, and, on his return, the sailors having killed a seal, he eagerly seized a portion of the raw flesh and ate it, expressing his delight at finding a circumstance which so strongly brought to mind his dear native country. The fact, however, is, that the national appellation by which these people distinguish themselves from others is not Esquimeaux, as has been so long received, but is by them- selves pronounced in quite a different manner. Were I to write it, as I observed it spoken by them, it should be Uskee- me (pronounced according to our sounds oos-ke-ma) ; and of this appellation they are as proud as a native of this country is of the name of Briton. Any person desirous of obtain- ing their immediate attention and civility, should address them with the term Uskee, which never fails to ensure that respectful regard which is shown by conciliated minds. The English sailors indulge in their usual humour of ab- breviating names, and have not refrained from exercising their ingenuity in reducing Uskee into Yak, which in- genuity, however, has not afforded much satisfaction to the natives. Probably by similar means the North American Yankee has been invented. 60 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. From these remarks it must be apparent that there is not much dependance to be put on the explanation given by Charlevoix as to their national name. He says, that Abenaqui Esquimantsic signifies eater of" raw flesh, and that they are the only nation in the world that eats raw flesh ; but the accounts of many Tartar tribes are positive in asserting, that the eating of law flesh is known and prac- tised in many parts of northern Tartary, and that the Tartar horseman usually has no other mode of preparing his repast than by placing it on his horse's back beneath the saddle, which practice cannot be looked upon as a refine- ment in cookery. Hence it is evident that the Green- landers, or Uskee-m^ tribes, must have received their national name from some other cause. In all the revolutions that language has vmdergone, the pronoun seems to have maintained a sort of inviolability throughout all nations. This is very remarkable in the pre- sent case, in which the personal pronoun, belonging to the speaker, is obviously the same as in other languages. Thus, when an Uskee wishes to express absolute refusal, he says, na-me, i. e. not for me. Requesting the reader to bear this in mind, I shall next mention that the old Roman term for water is written asqua ; and, as it is evidently a remnant of an original language carried from the East in the course of colonization, it will not be over- strained to find its use adopted by other people very far remote from the theatre of the Latin tongue. xVnother NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 61 term in the language just mentioned is the word cunnus, signifying woman, the " belli teterrima causa " of the satirist. The reader will probably be somewhat surprised to find a simihar term in use among the Greenlanders. The Uskee tells you that the name of his wife is cuna. Besides, the old Latin word cunabula, cradle, has a relative term in the lansuase of the Uskee-me, cuna-bla-bush, coitus. Taking notice, therefore of the word asqua, water, and applying it to the term Uskee, it requires \'ery little aid of the imagination to find a close analogy. This analogy is supported by the fact, that, these people are nowhere found but in the vicinity of water. From it they draw subsistence : and its presence must be ever foremost in their thoughts, and natmally lead them to designate their nation peculiarly by some term, in which water must bear a pro- minent share. The adjunct of me gives additional force to this observation, as the moment an Uskee-me makes his appearance amongst them, though previously an entire stranger, he is hailed with joy by this name, and is there- fore entitled to all the rights of hospitality. Before we come to speak of their manners and customs, it may not be amiss to attempt an inquiry as to their original residence. In this respect, it is best to consider them exclusively as fishermen, as they are seldom known to stray a day's journey from the shore inland. It is true, indeed, they sometimes go in pursuit of deer ; but as on 62 NvVTlVES OF GREENLAND. the American side such pursuit would lead them into the neighbourhood of nations hostile to them, and con- sequently produce less or more the reduction of their numbers, which they are most careful to avoid, they are very vmwilling to expose themselves to such hazard, and content themselves with what they can procure from the sea. In Greenland, however, there must be deer, more particularly towards the south. It is rare in those islands to see any animal of that description, and deer-skin is seldom seen to form a part of their dress. The Danes, indeed, may deprive them of such skins, by inducing the poor creatures to barter with their masters ; and hence the rare occurrence of seeing an Uskee furnished with any portion of deer-skin. In Hudson's Bay, the name for a deer is, according to writers Avho have given accounts of that country, tuk-toa ; and in Greenland the same is pronounced more softly, and may be written tu-tu (too too). The ti'itling difference of sound in this instance is nothing; and it is mentioned as tending to identify the people who inhabit Greenland and Hudson's Bay. There can be no doubt of their having a common origin, being in size, customs and pursuits, precisely on the same scale. In person they are diminutive, but stoutly made. They seldom stand above four feet four inches, except in Green- land, Avhere the national figure is changed by intermarriage NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 63 with the Danes. The native Uskees do not cordially asso- ciate with this mixed race, which they consider as de- generate. In complexion, they are generally of an olive- brown. Their forehead and the sides of the head, above the temples, are greatly depressed ; the crown is elevated considerably ; and the back of the head is depressed, as the forehead. The smaller end of a hen's egg presents a familiar resemblance to their cranium. Their eyes are usually small, but piercing, not brilliant ; and the calm mild manner with which they contemplate a stranger gives a good idea of the poAver of their eye. Their vision is astonishingly strong, by means of which they can distin- guish objects at an incredible distance. The snow glare affects their eyes very much, which are often observed to be inflamed. Against this inconvenience, they have many ingenious contrivances, in the manner of eye-shades, which are usually a piece of wood made to fit across the eyes, having two fine slits, and a pinhole in the centre of each to correspond to the centre of vision. Their cheek bones are high, which, with their rounded flabby cheeks, renders the nose by no means a prominent feature. Their lips and mouth are generally large ; the former very much protruded. The lower part of their face altogether forms a striking contrast to their narrow forehead, and is a chief distinguishing feature of this people. The women differ little from the men, except that they are not so tall. Their 64 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. hands are remarkably fine, small, and neat. The same remark applies with regard to their feet. The dress of both sexes is nearly alike, the women being distinguished only by their jacket terminating in a triangular piece, before and behind, reaching nearly to the knees. Nothing about the persons of the Uskee-mes is more re- markable than their hair. It hangs from their poll, long, black, coarse and lank, exactly like the hairy parts of the whalebone. The women tie it in a bunch upon the top of the head, which takes away much of the unsightliness of such an object. In Plate V., Fig. 1, which is a good Hkeness of an Uskee woman, this custom is exhibited. Having stated so much regarding the person of the Greenlander, we shall proceed to trace him in his emigra- tion. That they are of Tartar origin, may be very fairly as- sumed. Their general cast of feature, their retired and cautious habits, and above all their unconquerable disposition to change their place of abode, are evident proofs of this assumption being correct. In this view, then, some of them may be considered as having moved Avestward, and colonized Lapland, where they are found in boats of the same construction as those of the Green- lander and Hudson's Bay Esquimeaux, and devoted to the very same pursuits. Others proceeding northward and eastward, peopled the Samoeid country, and whether by -:\ ^>^^ ^ 4 .^ NATIVES OF GREENLAND. ()> accident or design, ventured across Behring's Straits,* which, considering their surprising dexterity in the management of their httle boats, was not at all difficult to effect. Be- sides, on an expedition of this nature they are never un- employed. The ice, which covers that Strait at certain times, serves as a place of repose to the seals, which may be truly termed the live stock of the Greenlander. These animals, therefore, in the course of the expedition, become a certain resource against famine ; as every part of the seal is turned to account — the very intestines being usefully employed by way of floats attached to the darts. The women, too, who are never left behind when a removal is carried on, will, during such a voyage, convert the seal or bird skins into convenient dresses, so that this little roving tribe are seldom at a loss, the sea supplying all their wants. Should an extensive field of ice present itself, they at once get out of their boats, each man takes his kaiak on his head ; the women must look after their umiak (the names of the fishing and family boats) ; and, in this manner they traverse immense fields of ice, which saves the labour of paddling round them, and of course, shortens their journey very considerably. Such is their patience under toil, when seated in their boats upon their favourite element, that they usually perform the distance * Behring, in his voyage, found the small islands lying across the Straits peopled by Esquimeaux, for such they appeared by their dress and manners. K 66 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. of twenty leaoues a day. That is tlie way in which they describe a day's rowing in a kaiak. In this manner it is very plain that they might have passed along the arctic shores of North America ; and if the conjecture be plausible, they might, year after year, have extended them- selves through the numerous waters that are sprinkled over that unexplored region, exulting in the solitudes they met with, and which to them were secure blessings. Thus have they, in the course of their emigration, passed from Siberia into America, and spread themselves over all the shores of North America to the eastward, always settling upon low islands, contiguous to the best waters for killing seals and wild fowl, &c. : a people so accustomed to hardy fare could not be much at a loss to find a re- sidence on such a coast, whence the passage to Greenland was not diflicult. The latter, however, must have been attended with much difficulty and danger. But that it has been effected is undoubtedly true, as the first European adventurers found them in possession of that country in the tenth century. So also about that period they were found as tar south as Newfoundland. There must con- seqently have elapsed a great number of years before they could have advanced so far southward ; and, of course, their emigration must have commenced at a period previous to the Christian era. In the course of their wanderings, coming in contact NATIVES OF GREENLAND. (i? with other tribes, who from causes, not necessary to form a part of this inquiry, had already spread over other parts of the American continent, and being of peaceful and very unwarlike habits, they were unfit to associate with their new neighbours. The consequence Avas, that the red In- dians, as they are termed, Avho lived entirely by the chace, usually attributed to their timid neighbours every unfavour- able change of weather that interfered with their hunting. Hence arose wars, which to the present clay are continued with undiminished asperity. The appearance too of the Uskee, clad in his skins, his head wrapped in a hood, and his whole figure loAvly, and little expressive of warlike cha- racter, was remarkably contrasted with the tall, graceful figure of the red man, accustomed to warfare, and impa- tient of intrusion. The Uskees, in self-defence, must have learned also hoAv to fight, and doubtless retaliated with devastating efl'ect, having always a sure retreat in their boats. This disposi- tion the early settlers from Norway found to their cost, when they provoked them to vengeance in Greenland, and were in consequence extirpated. Neither did a subsequent visit from the Europeans tend to diminish the rancour arising from unprovoked injury. For, in the year l605. Christian IV. of Denmark having sent out Admiral Lindenow with a small fleet, under the guidance of John Knight, an English mariner, in search of Old Greenland, " they seized four K 2 68 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. wild men, and were obliged to kill one of them to render the others tractable ; " a most extraordinary specimen truly of European refinement. In the settlement of Newfoundland and Canada by the English and French, those Uskees who had ventured so far south, and had been there established for centuries, finding the strangers determined on retaining possession of the country, unanimously resolved to abandon those shores, which they accordingly did ; and have since fixed their abode in the northern parts of Hudson's Bay, and among the lakes and seas in the northern parts of North America, where they now remain unmolested, except by some of their warlike neighbours from the southward and westward. Mr. Ellis states that the severity of the cold beyond the sixty-first degree causes the trees to dwindle into brushwood, and that none of the human species appeared beyond the sixty-seventh degree, inferring that human life could not sustain the cold beyond that degree. This applies, in Mr. Ellis's account, to the natives around the bottom of Hud- son's Bay ; but the shores northAvard and north-westward of that degree remain to be satisfactorily explored ; in which event it will certainly be found that Uskees inhabit coun- tries of much higher latitudes than the sixty-seventh. On the Greenland side of Davis's Straits it was supposed that no natives existed beyond the sixty-fourth degree ; but sub- sequent research found them numerous along the coast as NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 69 far as Disko. Here discovery seemed to terminate ; but not long after, other navigators met with a population sprinkled over the low islands up to the seventy-third de- gree, where the voyagers saw many women in boats, and traded with them for seal skins, and unicorns' horns. It is a positive fact, moreover, that they have been met with at the Devil's Thumb, in the seventy-fifth degree nearly, pro- vided with musquets. How much further north they can be traced is doubtful ; but that they can exist beyond the de- gree stated by Mr. EUis is without question. Hence also arises a presumption that the cold in those high latitudes is not of such severity as to forbid livino- there throuoh the winter, particularly if due precaution be observed. At Disko, or rather at Lievely, there is a Danish settle- ment, where a factor constantly resides, and lives very com- fortably. The Danish government maintains a governor for the superintendence and management of their concerns in that quarter, who constantly resides there. Butfon ha- zarded an opinion that there was no ice at the pole, ground- ing his conjecture on the supposed warmth of the atmos- phere in that place ; but this part of the subject shall be taken into consideration more fully, when we come to dis- cuss the question of a north-west passage. The Danes in re-establishing their claims to the posses- sion of Greenland, have done very little towards amelioratino- the condition of the natives. The natural disposition 70 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. however of the Uskees, Gipsey-like, makes them appear to conform to the manners and reHgion of their masters : yet Httle doubt of their insincerity exists. It must be acknowledged that the conduct of many of the Danes sent thither, as it is said, for their crimes, is not well calculated to reconcile them to European sentiments. They are, if spoiled by such corrupt example, looked upon as untract- able ; and a sensible writer, descanting on their unwilling- ness to become converted, represents them as listening very attentively to Christian exhortation, and when asked if they understood all that had been said to them, their answer was childishly affirmative, when it was evident they did not com- prehend or retain a tittie of the subject. " They are such adepts in disguising or suppressing their passions, that one might take them for stoics in appearance." This short sentence shows very fully their calm and peaceful temper. They never interrupt any person when speaking ; and their reply is sensible and brief, and marked with the most re- spectful deference to the person they address, provided he commands their good opinion. It is when they do not esteem the man, that they are liable to the name of stoics in appearance. The Danish convicts and settlers have intermarried with the Uskee women, and a mixed generation is now remark- ably predominant Avhere the government has been fixed. Plate v., fig. 2, is sketched from a youth of sixteen, NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 71 whose mother was evidently a native, though his father was Danish. The contour of his countenance proves this. This youth, I was informed, had been left behind by his father, whether from the boy's own choice, or the father's will, did not appear. Some of the children of the Euro- peans bj^ the Uskee Avomen are quite fair, but all have that remarkable attachment to their country which the genuine natives evince. The young man who amused the people at Hull, Leith, and in the Thames, widi the exercise of his kaiak was the son of a Dane, but his mother was a native of Greenland. It is said that the sister of that young man was so much grieved at the thoughts of his going from his dear home that she pined away and died of grief. Such is their excessive attachment to their country. In their intercourse with strangers, they are at first shy and cautious, but firm in their manners. That reserve soon disappears when they are kindly treated, and they freely communicate their knowledge of any thing asked them. Their experience extending but little beyond the arts be- fitting the necessary occupations of their own peculiar mode of life, makes their information of , inconsiderable value when applied to the greater concerns of European commerce. They appear sensible of their deficiency in this respect ; and when they give reply to the inquiries of the whale hunters, it is always frank but diffident. Any effort to extend their experience beyond the contracted 72 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. circle of their wants, is attended with such a train of imaginary difficulty, that few, if any of them liave ever ventured out of the footsteps of their forefathers. The Uskee-me jacket, trowsers, boots, darts and canoe (for they use this name for a boat indiscriminately with kaiak) are identically the same as they have been observed more than 800 years ago. The great difficulty of obtaining from these people accurate information respecting the northern countries, is a source of perpetual error and perplexity. Looking with a jealous eye on all strangers, and tempted by the richness of some paltry present, but which appears in their eyes of much value, they have frequently shown a desire to communicate ncconnts of their country and its resources, greatly exaggerated, in order to make their information on such subjects appear of the utmost im- portance to the people from whom such communications were known to bring superior advantages to them. It is a prevailing trait in uncivilized life, to desire strongly such things as come within the direct apprehension of particular wants. This is signally exemplified in the African, who, dead to the calls of consanguinity, is anxious to decorate his graceful neck with a string of Statlbrdshire ware at the expense of a child ; and the wife of his bosom must often be a bit of barter, in order that the human beast may contemplate his perfections in a mirror, in her stead. NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 73 The same propensity exists in the humble Esquimeaux as in the African ; but the desires of the former are finely chastened by a reserve that seems almost peculiar to this people. The tie of consanguinity binds the arctic in- habitant too closely to be unfastened : it is a gordian knot of a texture too refined and complicated to be undone : it is genuine, unsophisticated nature, nursed in the con- tinual presence of all that is dear to existence, and which no temptation can destroy. There is not probably a nation on the earth more signalized for urbanity than are the inhabitants of Green- land. To witness the splendour of a London assembly, its luxuries, elegance and grandeur, and (were it possible) to turn the eye the next instant on the little patriarchal circle in an Uskee hut, few common minds would relish the comparison ; yet to any one accustomed to reflect, and to appreciate the happiness of mankind comparatively, on the scale of necessary wants and wishes, the lot of the apparently wretched Greenlander is far from beino- miser- able. In truth, had European luxury and its allurements been withheld, his state would have still remained in aboriginal simplicity and happiness ; and, if any thouo^ht arise to disturb his constitutional tranquillity of mind, it proceeds from a reflection that he wants something from the great wak (it is by this term the Uskee expresses a ship) ; and he will readily barter the last article of dress. 74 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. necessary to the comfort of his person, in order to obtain a bit of lead, or some powder for his gun, or a rag of handkerchief for his cuna. The commodities generally trafficked with them are such as the sailors find no longer useful to their own ac- commodation, or some vile coarse articles of dress, of no value when compared with what they get in exchange. In later years, the aits of the European have taught them a litde more cunning ; and some now are as expert at making a bargain as any of their visitors. In this respect, they compliment the honour of the English very pointedly in contrast with the conduct of the Danes. They fre- quently say, " Englishman good, Uskee good, Danskee no good," thereby leaving an inference that they are by no means, even yet, satisfied with the presence of strangers, and consider the blessings which their master would com- municate, greatly under the value of their natural in- heritance. Strictly honest in all their dealings, they are also exceedingly watchful that they be not cheated ; and he must indeed be worse than savage who would wrong people of such direct integrity as they are remarkable for. The hardships and perils through which they must toil in order to procure material articles for barter, should also form a humane consideration of their condition, and protect them from injustice. Some serious grounds, therefore, of dislike towards the Danish dominancy, must NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 73 exist, before these people, strongly guided by a sense of right and wrong, could be brought to express an ab- horrence of their masters' principles ; and this must be either by the Danes exacting from their industry a demand in the shape of tax for the protection afforded them, or for the support of the missionaries, or else by trucking with them on 4erms obviously disadvantageous to the natives. On either point, the Uskee feels his superiority in principle over his master, and is not to be reconciled to his views. The original form of society still exists amongst the Uskee-mes in all its simplicity. Though a nation as dis- tinctly defined as any other in the world, yet they are such only in identity of character. Their institutions are truly patriarchal without the danger of dissolution from the extravagant acquisition of property. Whilst in the early government of patriarchal form, the gradual ac- cession of landed property and flocks of cattle and ser- vants led to the despotism of some wealthier Lord ; and many, sharing such abundance in common, desired a chief who should maintain equal justice, these petty govern- ments became gradually absorbed into larger ones, and empires have been formed, and revolutions given rise to ruinous and wasting wars. During all this, that has formed the basis of ancient and modern history, the simple Uskee-me, content in his kaiak, plies his paddle in un- L 2 76 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. molested waters, kills his seals and wild birds, or transfixes his nimbler game, and in the bosom of his small rejoicing family enjo^'s his good fortune, and trains his son to imitate the prowess and skill of his sire. Living in a manner that requires little from the neighbouring soil, he farms not, he tills not, nor concerns himself in the slightest degree about the right of property in the territory in which he resides : he is consequently free of the broils which such species of property is likely to create. Give him his fishing waters, and leave him undisturbed, " he takes no thought for the morrow." The father of a family is to all intents absolute chief; but still his authority is exercised with the mildest sway. To chide for a fault is considered the severest punishment. Blows are never resorted to. It is considered a savage and barbarous act to strike an Uskee, and is looked on with abhorrence. The women are treated kindly, but are regarded as servants, doing all the labours of the house, excepting such parts as the men think their superior un- derstanding only can be equal to. Domestic harmony is seldom known to be disturbed, unless when in the absence of the men some dowager mother exercises her peevishness upon her daughter-in-law, especially if the latter have not the good fortune to have been the mother of a son ; for on the birth of male children they think the existence of the nation rests. NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 77 The men are the carpenters; the women the tailors, shoe-makers, house-masons, and cooks, the last more par- ticularly, as the men, on returning with game, no sooner are disengaged from their kaiaks than all further concern on their part ceases. This arises very probably from the excessive fatigue to which they have been exposed, rather than to any indifference towards their women. The women's labour then commences. They have to haul the seals ashore, and convey to the tent or hut the different animals taken. Their first concern being to draw a little blood from the seal (which, after being killed, is staunched for that purpose), and present it to the men, by way of cordial after their fatigue. Then, having provided the men with dry clothes, they proceed to flay and cut up the spoil. Seals' flesh forms their chief support; and they employ various modes of preserving it for future use. The most common is to cut it into thin slips, and so dry it over a line in the interior of their huts. The blubber is most carefully preserved, as being convertible to almost every domestic comfort, more precious by far to them than wine is to others. Oil is the luxury of their meals, their bread being nothing more than the dried muscular part of the seals or of birds. Such a representation of life would form little induce- ment to an European to exchange his comforts in its room. The picture is to such appetites truly disgusting ; and the 78 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. horrible smell of their huts, persons, and almost every- article belonging to them, is intolerable to the coarsest feeling. Even the sailor accustomed to the atmosphere of a whale-ship has been frequently known to nauseate the inside of a Greenlander's hut. Those poor creatures smile at such squeamishness, and kindly excuse the want of poHteness in the stranger, as he could not possibly know any thing better. The whale often wounded, and carrying in his huge body the instrument of destruction, very often in his anguish runs himself ashore, or into some creek among the rocks, and there, lingering, dies. Such a chance is an unexpected blessing if discovered ; and any person who has ever winded a dead whale must know that an occurrence of that kind is not likely to remain long a secret. Every hut is then emptied to take advantage of the fortunate occasion. If any one is within reach of the good tidings, he is imme- diately invited, and it is easy to imagine what a scene ensues. Men, women, and children, with every edged instrument at command, are in full employment. But in such eager- ness wounds are often intiicted by accident, and such are never resented. The blubber is carefully stored, that it may subside into oil ; the muscular parts are removed for future fare, and nothing can be of coarser texture, yet still they relish it, and are thankful for the blessing. The tendons also are carefully preserved, to be appropriated as NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 79 cordage, thread, lines, and for various other purposes ; and in the whalebone they have sufficient for their own private necessities, and for the demands of the Danes. In winter-time they retire further from the sea than they had been in the summer months, and in their huts or Avinter houses generally spend the interval between the latter end of October and the middle of March in getting up their fishing tackle, whilst the women are busily engaged in re- pairing the kaiak, or sewing dresses for the men. On such occasions the children have an opportunity of learnino- the arts peculiar to their sex, and scarcely any other time is given for their education. As soon as the returning sun announces the approach of summer, all is bustle and activity. The materials for the summer huts are got in readiness, and the Avhole household, sometimes consisting of five or six families, moves down- wards to the fishing place, which is generally a low island with a sloping beach looking towards the south, for the ease and convenience of launching the boats or drawing the seals ashore. They are not confined to any particular spot for the summer: unless abundance of seals be seen, they generally shift to some other station, which in the course of former seasons they have observed as more fit, or as they may have information from others of their coun- trymen. The Greenlander is very vain of his accomplishments ; 80 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. and viewing them, as he does, as the perfection of human art, he pities the ignorance of any one who is unable to manage a kaiak, or use the hand-board in discharging the spear or lighter dart. It is dangerous for a European to venture into one of those canoes, as he is almost certain of being instantly upset, in which case the buoyancy of the little bark would certainly keep him immersed, and drown him. In Plate VI. is represented, from the life, a young Uskee in the act of striking a seal ; and scarcely can there be any thino; more amusins; than to see what manoeuvres are re- quisite to avoid the watchfulness of the animal. The seal himself, mischievous in the extreme towards every creature weaker than himself, entertains a sovereign dread of the Uskee-me, and flies from every quarter where he discovers a kaiak ; but his precaution seldom avails. The instant a seal is seen by a Greenlander, he whispers " pussee " (seal) along the surface of the water to the nearest of his companions, who telegraphs the signal until all the boats are engaged in the chase, and it is seldom possible for their prey to escape. The seal is impetuous in disposition, and, having once observed his pursuers, he dives re- peatedly, and in different directions, to confound them ; but becomes at length so short-winded by his hurry, that he cannot remain long out of sight ; and as the Uskees are around in various points watching the favourable moment. X- ^, J NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 81 one of them paddles silently in his rear, using the paddle with one hand, whilst with the other he is getting his tackle in order; and, having advanced near enough, for he is sure to measure the distance with accuracy, he tlings his dart, and never fails to strike. The seal, terrified and wounded, dives in the greatest flurry ; but a float being attached to the dart by a leathern line, he is soon forced up again, and is shortly dispatched They are then careful to staunch the wounds, to save as much of the blood as possible, and to distend the body, by blowing into the cellular part, as butchers sometimes are used to do, in order to make the body of the animal buoyant, otherwise it Avould go to the bottom as soon as dead. Seal hunting, being their most profitable as well as most dangerous pursuit, is looked upon as the perfection of manly achievement. It forms the burden of praise to which every man aspires ; and it is chiefly through the fame of having killed such a number of seals that any man can aim at pre-eminence. The unmarried women listen with eagerness when such great exploits are recounted ; and a description of a seal hunt given, with proper em- phasis and gesture, by the fortunate hunter, is sure to obtain general approbation. The applause which they bestow is not however clamorous, but tinctured with that decency and reserve for Avhich they are remarkable. It is on such occasions that love matches usually are set on M 82 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. foot ; and the successful candidate for the lady's hand must rely on the credit he has obtained by the number of seals he has taken. There is very great danger to the Greenlander in the seal hunt. Should the seal be little exhausted in the chase, he often turns on his adversary, seizes on his kaiak, and with his sharp teeth pierces the flimsy cover, when no alterna- tive remains to the poor Uskee but death, as his kaiak will sink and take him down. This must be certain ; as the others can oft'er no assistance, except to allow him to hold by the end of another boat, to the great risk of him who navigates it. Except in the case of a father and son, such accommodation is very rare, as every man on such emer- gency naturally thinks of the value which his life is of to his own family. Much danger also is to be apprehended if the line get foul of the paddle, or arm, or even neck of the hunter, when the seal dives so suddenly on being wounded. It is then that the Uskee displays his skill and experness. If upset, he raises himself again in his kaiak by a dexterous management of his paddle. When assembled at a merry-making or at a marriage- feast, they are cheerful and joyous in the highest degree ; but none of that boisterous rejoicing, which is considered the test of enjoyment in other places, is here known. The dance is practised in lively and tolerably well-executed movement ; and some of the Danes having introduced the NATIVES OF GREENLAND. 83 fiddle amongst them, they contrive to make out a pleasing entertainment. The men talk over their exploits in seal hunting, at which the boys are always attentive and silent hearers. Sometimes the song is raised, when one who leads the chorus repeats a Hne, and this is immediately suc- ceeded by all the rest, joining in a short accompaniment of no particular meaning. They are extremely hospitable, particularly to any of their own nation who happen to pass near their abode, in removing from one place to another in search of seals. A brotherly invitation is instantly given, and the utmost attention paid to the stranger, who freely imparts his ex- perience of the season, and receives in return such infor- mation as he requires. It is this interchange of good offices which makes them set so high a value on each other. The language of the Greenlanders or Uskee-mes is very guttural. Like the Norwegians, they pronounce the letter r in the throat, so that it is not easy to distinguish many of their tones. They pronounce their words with great fluency ; and their accents seem to be numerous, by the peculiar stress with which they deliver certain sounds. There are many consonants which they never use at the beginning of words, as they prefer commencing generally with a vowel. Even such words of other languages as they are desired to repeat, they dress in their oAvn sounds ; and if it begin with any of the proscribed letters, such is M 3 84 NATIVES OF GREENLAND. usually omitted, as was observed on the term Skreelling, which they converted into Karaht. They have no writing amono'st them ; though some of the children of the Danish convicts have been tauo-ht to write. The Uskees think it so much time thrown away from the more important con- cern of learning the management of the kaiak and dart. They usualty reckon on their fingers, and seldom go beyond ten in counting ; though others say they have been known to reckon as high as twenty. Their conveniences of life being so few, make further numbering ufmecessary. The following brief list of words from the language of the Greenlander is very insufficient to give any adequate idea of its construction ; but, as it may aid further en- deavours on such a subject, I beg leave to subjoin them, with their English signification. Uskee The national denomination, to which is added me ; and to this compound is attached the most honourable consideration. Yak The national name so pronounced is insulting. Cuna Woman. Picaninnee Child. A familiar diminutive gene- rally applied. Ap Yes ; probably an imitation of aye. Na-me Absolute refusal. /"*.; fCZnrts srti/p >//■. ////Y ,'/// ' yy/////y '/-^.^ /-in.Cradirk&J^.Po»Ma^ riihtUhrd InSaUn-ut. IHtdook ID R A F T of LAW » S Juir//.K of Frpjv r.\-/r//u/.f '"^ ^^s?'?^ ^rn:, Man,/ Ml-.//. r)^./,.«<*J„,. J/i„._(; ,^,^ A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 183 descent, had all the erect figure and fair complexion of an European. One of these, said to be the son of the former governor, a handsome interesting lad, also brought articles of dress to exchange among the ships. He evidently had bergs interspersed, was easily set to the westward as it came in con- tact with Berry's, and the outer Frow Islands : sterna hirundo, larus maximus, colymbus grylle, and proceUaria glaciaUs : the wind southing a Uttle of east this evening, some rain fell. July 3: ther. 32°, 46°, 36°: wind S.S.W., steady fresh breeze : cloud, cirrostratus gathering up from mist, and creeping along the horizon at a small elevation in dark brown, loosely compacted beds : rain at times falling, at times evanescent snow : the land to the southward of Horsehead abreast : a shoal of finners, about twenty in number, passed the ship, going with immense speed to the south- ward : a flock of corvorants (pelecanus carbo) flew towards land : larus maximus, and procellaria glacialis ; the latter journeying singly, but numerously to the northward : about noon a calm succeeded, which continued for some hours, when the wind sprung up at N.E., faintly increasing : latter part hazy : passed a berg which stood above the surface of the sea at an elevation of about 200 feet perpendicular : flaws of ice all around: lat. 73° 15' N. July 4: ther. 32°, 34°, 32°: wind N.E., strong breeze: the greater part of this day the weather continued chill and thick : about eight p. m. it cleared up and afforded a view of thirty saU, moving in various courses among the ice, which by the wind and tide has been broken into streams : very little northing has been 8 184 ON THE EFFECTING OF a superior manner to his companions, but exhibited an eagerness, equal to theirs, to benefit by the visit of the ships. This youth was also drawn by dogs on a miserable looking sledge, formed rudely of broad laths, covered with obtained this day, in consequence of the contrary wind, and the descent of the ice, which it required much skilful management to keep clear of: sterna hirundo plying his delicate pinion ; whUst the pro- cellaria glaciaUs seemed quite at ease, cleaving the breeze without apparent effort. July 5: ther. 32°, 38°, 35°: wind S.E., fresh breeze : the vapour, on the changing of the wind, became converted into rain, which fell incessantly for nearly twelve hours, when at ten a. m. the cloud assumed all the various forms of cirrostratus, fiom the light brown vapour to the densest streak : Horsehead on the ship's beam distant six miles. Along this coast the land appears in no place flat or level, neither is the elevation of any part considerable ; but the iron-coloured rock dips at once into the sea, which is here of unknown depth. Numerous islands lie at various distances from each other, forming little bays and inlets. Horsehead, so called fiom some fancied re- semblance, is one of these islands, beyond which is Hickson's Bay, A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 185 a seal-skin as a seat, which was scarcely raised above the surface of the snow. None but the youth last mentioned wore any thing as covering for the head. He had a cap neatly formed of dog-skin, but was ready to part with it which is very well sheltered and capacious, running veiy deep within the islands, and having a fine open entrance. Horsehead is the southern extremity of Hickson's Bay. The whale hunters give the name of Frow Islands to all the islands northward of the seventy- third degree ; and to every recess, no matter how distinct fi-om each other, they assign, in equal en-or, the name of Hickson's Bay ; but the one now mentioned is that propei'ly so called. This bay derives its name from a master of a ship, who was very successful in killing whales within it. They formerly resorted to this bay in gi'eat numbers ; but from the repeated persecution of the whalers, they are seldom seen now in any continuance there. Sugar-loaf Mountain appears very high over the islands on the north side of Hickson's Bay.* After passing the last-mentioned bay, a string of islands irregularly elevated present themselves for a short distance, when a fine open and deep sound comes into view, with some peaked hUls beyond its centre : delphinus leucas, larus maximus, terna hirundo, colymbus troile and giylle, procellaria glacialis. Ice no longer in sight, save the immense bergs around, which mislead the eye by then- resemblance to islands : at seven p. m. the wind again set in at N.E. fresh breeze : cirrostratus generally, but * There are some dangerous rocks near those islands, which should make the navigator cautious of entering the bay on the north side. 2 B 186 ON THE EFFECTING OF tor an equivalent, and Avould be content to return home bareheaded like his companions. There was a hunch-back among the number about fourteen years of age. (Plate XV.) There was no difference whatever in their dresses. in the western region a stormy blue aggregation, which would portend a stiff wind from that quarter. The land at times loaded with mist, but mostly clear to the eastward : on a sudden a mass of purplish-brown cirrostratus arose on the horizon in W. S. W., and this was followed by a fine fi-esh breeze from the same point, when imme- diately the cloud of stormy blue assumed a creamy hue : at ten p. m. abreast of Sugar-loaf Bay, which lies in latitude by observation 73° 50' N. thirty-six ships in sight. The islands forming the southern wing of Sugar-loaf Bay are called the Seal Islands, from the great number of those animals formerly found there, from which haunt the fi-equent visits of the whale ships, and the persevering pursuit of the Uskee-me, have expelled tliem. The mountain which gives name to this bay is of a conical form, of which the above sketch gives an accurate view. This hUl owes its distinguished elevation more to its standing alone, and to the flatness of the adjacent lands, than to its proper height. Four small islands lie near its base, which are a favourite retreat of the eider duck. ^/y///7'//^7i / , M^ /;•, B.,/.l„,„ ,}^,.,„i S-j„,, r,„,,„.^,„r ll.,„ Jb,, A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 187 Lievely is distant from Love Bay, or Old Lievely, eight miles. There is a burying-groimd above the latter in a very romantic valley, where some Dutch sailors, who happened July 6: ther. 32°, 42°, 40°: wind W.N.W., fresh breeze : weather thick with acicular snow collected into drops : the stormy blue cloud invariably portends a wind from the quarter wherein it appears, as is the case in the wind of this day which followed the indication of the preceding : the stormy blue cloud of yesterday, when observed, lay at a distance of about ten leagues : latitude observed at noon was 73° 42' N. : a cumulostratus over the land to the eastward with accessory cumulus, which soon dispersed : land distant about eight leagues : in the afternoon passed the largest berg yet seen, more than 140 feet above the surface of the sea, and having a channelled summit like one already noticed : the body of this berg was riven into caverns, and its water edge was heaped with fragments like mountain debris ; this was most observable on its north-eastern side, from which it would appear that a wind from that point had forced this mass through the islands, whilst in the straining these caverns were formed, the ruins of which were forced by the wind and waves back upon the berg in the manner just mentioned : throughout the afternoon the atmosphere continued clear and dry, yet somewhat chUl from the presence of numerous straggling flt^ws : colymbus grylle and glocitans, proceUaria glacialis and sterna hirundo. At midnight the wind set in at S.W. light breeze, at which time a milky stratus encii-cled the horizon, and in the point of wind a 188 ON THE EFFECTING OF to die by drowning, have been interred. The natives use much caution in the interment of their dead, by wedging together large stones over the grave, which is commonly in the cleft of a rock, to prevent the bears and foxes from beautiful exhibition of ciirocumulus occurred, the patches being edged with a rich tinting of sun-liglit, which contrasted with good effect to the purphsh-lirown swell of the centre. Out of this assem- blage of small clouds, there issued a J^riUiant radiation of snow- white cirrus, such as has been observed in the journal on the 13th of June. This radiation seemed to shoot from behind and above the cirrocumulus cloud just mentioned, instantaneous, rapid, and resist- less as the polar coruscation. At first a continuous stream of white issuing from an irregular coronal ring, apparently touching the cloud : from this ring a mazy spire descending held communication with the cloud : from the point in which the sun was sweeping his lowest arch, other radiations, shorter and more sharp, came in re- sponse to the former, to which succeeded a gradual but uninteiTupted chano-e of the radiations from the cloud into a reticulated form with recurved points : the ciiTOCumulus also underwent a partial dissolution in the mean time ; the denser patches descending in loose yellowish- brown cirrostratus. I have been thus particular in detaiUng the circumstances of this phenomenon, as I am not aware that the Uke has been before ob- served by any person else. Of its utility the philosophic reader may possibly form a better conclusion, than I can presume to do ; yet as many such may not have the opportunity of witnessing the Uke, from A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 189 digging up the body. A notion prevails among the masters of the whale ships, that every disappointment and mi- favourable accident of the voyage would ensue, were they to permit any curious person to fetch the skull of a Green- tlie difficulty of access, whilst on the spot I felt it my duty, in the cause of science, to record what I had observed. July 7: ther. 42°, 46°, 32°: wind N.E., nearly calm: the radi- ation from S.W. still continues (10 a. m.) undiminished and very beautiful : in the zenith comoid cirrus, and purpUsh-brovvn cirrostratus suddenly forming in the horizon around: the weather delightfully fine : at noon the atmosphere became cloudless, the radiation having previously undergone a sudden solution into a milk-white hazy suffused state, and disappeared : the great berg last noticed not far distant: at one p. m. a single stream of cirrus sprung from S.W. appearing to embrace the opposite point of the horizon, at which moment I observed the thermometer at the degree noted as highest, and almost instantaneously a thick fog advanced from the north- ward. At four p. m. the cirrus streamers increased in the same direction as the former, seeming to issue from an invisible corona in the S. W. under which lay a reddish-brown mist of cirrostratus. In the north- east point, at an elevation of about thirty degrees from the horizon, a similar mist, with circular base, appeared to be the source of corresponding streams of cirrus, which met the former in the zenith ; and the meeting, or inosculation, as such an union has been called, was productive of cirrocumulus, which was immediately formed in 190 ON THE EFFECTING OF lander aboard ; and so strong is this absurd impression on the minds of those men, whose habits are familiar with the most disgusting scenes of slaughter, that the utmost un- easiness is signified lest such a shocking purpose should be effected. flimsy patches : the cirrus streamers continued throughout this day fixed in nearly the direction of W. S. W. and E. N. E. which points correspond with the magnetical variation, observed on a meridian azimuth compass, by which I ascertained the variation to be some- what beyond sixty -seven degrees north-west : latitude observed at noon 73° 46' N. At midnight the radiation ceased, and the south-western region was darkly clouded, to which the rich sun-light of the hour afforded a pleasing contrast : at this hour tlie Ijursting of an ice berg rung upon the welkin for several minutes, with a i-eport louder than that of the heaviest ordnance : thirty-two sail near : ship grappled in a flaw. July 8: ther. 32°, 40°, 28°: wind N.E., fi-esh breeze: stiU an- chored at the flaw which shifts slowly to the southward ; a strong tide current setting in that direction : at noon the tide flowed rapidly to the northward, causing numerous eddies along the edge of the flaw: the course of the current by compass was N.E. which, aUoAving for variation, is nearly N.N.W. more westerly: the whole sky during the forenoon was covered with broad irregular masses of cirrostratus of a light brown colour: the procellaria glacialis unusually active, which may be considered a certain indication of a strong wind ; also the kittiwake appeared in great number, and was very clamorous. A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 191 The heat of the sun reflected from the snow and ice, and also from the face of the rock, is intolerable ; and whilst on shore, though every step is almost knee-deep in the snow, the head and body are involved in a burning atmosphere. At four p. m. the masses of cumulostratus became confused into an uniform feature, varied only by a denser cloud of stormy blue, which lay sullen and still near the horizon in the N. E. : soon afterwards the wind grew strong and menacing : the ship was then set free of the flaw, as a situation near the ice is under such cii-cumstances full of danger : up to the midnight hour it continued to blow a very strong gale, with a heavy sea. July 9: ther. 33°, 34°, 32°: wind N.E., strong breeze : cirrostratus generally suffused over the sky, at times richly illuminated by the sun-light: numerous bergs around: procellaria glacialis, colymbus grylle, and Col. glocitans. July 10 : ther. 29°, 33°, 40° : wind N., nearly calm : atmosphere thick, and minute acicular snow falling : at noon more clear, when the snow ceased to fall, and the cloud became loose cirrostratus at a considei'able elevation : a cumulostratus appeared in the eastward, where shortly afterwards land came into view : the presence of the latter cloud may be always considered as indicating land, and there- fore the circumstance cannot be too strongly insisted on, and it is imperative on the navigator to know the form of this cloud well, and also to be aware of its indications : proper care in this respect may be a means of saving both the ship and seamen, or afford a gratifying anticipation of expected land. The remark refers 192 ON THE EFFECTING OF Marshal's Bay, which we reached on the 27th of June, is, by the sweep which the current makes round its northern arm, a resting place for bergs,* where, from their great weight, they fasten on the projecting rocks specially to the appearance of the cumulostratus in Davis's Strait : ursus maritimus, colymbus glocitans, and larus eljurneus ; the latter very active and plunging in the sea, probably at the Clio Retusa which appeared very numerous this day : wind at noon, soft light breeze at W. : afternoon the wind coming from S.W. with dark grey ciiTostratus : to the northward, and close to the horizon, lay a broad belt of deep yellow intermixed with brown and red : this phenomenon is rare in Davis Strait, but is frequent in the Spitzbergen seas : it is denominated field blinc, being present wherever a continuous tract of bergy ice occurs. July 11: ther. 32°, 40^ 33°: wind N. by W. Ught breeze: cu-- rostratus greyish-brown, thinly diffused, which as it passes over the zenith admits of a view : cutus and cuTocumulus at a vast height above, apparently in the most tranquil state. The water is intensely blue : at noon a well-marked nimbus appeared advancing from the northward : latitude observed 74° 42' N. : the yellow bhnk still visible : the sun-light passing through the denser parts of the cirro- stratus in the south-west, the cloud in places became intensely bright, and very painful to the sight, so that the eye would be less distressed * A bay north of Jacob's Bay, and near Black Hook is remarkably so, and thence is named Bergy Bay. A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 193 below, and unless moved by extraordinary increase of sea, from swells, or solution of inland ice, they are known to remain for years. Some of the sailors in the Thomas recognized in this bay two of several years' continuance, gazing on the luminary itself: procellaria glacialis, colymbiis gloci- tans and troile, larus eburneus. July 12: ther. 33°, 40°, 28°: wind variable, at times calm: cirrostratus generally diffused : some whales seen ; also a monodon monoceros of great size: two groups of seals in emigration passed to the northward : numerous flocks of colymbus glocitans at a very great elevation passing in the same direction : at noon the zenith clearing : extensive cirrocumulus of snowy whiteness appeared above : at the same time a berg, not far distant, burst with a noise resembling thimder, which continued heavy and long in reiteration over the ice : an immense flaw is descending rapidly from the northward : larus maximus and eburneus, colymbus grylle, P. glacialis. July 13: ther. 30°, 49°, 32°: wind N., light and variable: the sun obscured with greyish cirrostratus : the weather delightfully fine : a female whale killed : the longest lamina (whale-bone) measured nine feet ten inches : clio retusa, and many species of medusa, are very numerous in these waters : at ten a. m. the wind changed to W.S.W. light breeze: soon after the thermometer indicated forty- nine, when the glass was covered with condensed vapour in diops : cirrocumulus in snowy exhibition decorated the zenith : latitude ob- served at noon 74° 45' N. : at this time the wind came from the southward, fresh breeze : many flaws of ice around. 2 c 194 ON THE EFFECTING OF particularly a large ragged berg more than two miles in ex- tent. This is the one, which, when speaking of the arctic ice, I mentioned, as affording evidence of being rent from the continent above the Linna-an Isles. (These being now July 14: ther. 32°, 38°, 30°: wind N . E. strong breeze : weather clear, with cin'ocumulus at a great elevation, and cirrostratus in profile in the south : at ten a. m. the clouds showed signs of land, and at noon the summits of four islands came in sight : at this hour a beautiful display of cirrus radiation * occurred, darting through the cirrocumulus field, which underwent instantaneous dissolution : colymbus glocitans in numerous flocks, enlivening tlie dreary scene with its busy bustling flight and cheerful notes : a fog indicated by a light grey stratus in N. and W. July 15: ther. 36°, 42°, 34°: wind N., light breeze. July 16: ther. 36°, 48°, 38°: wind N.E., light breeze: the ship advancing towards land on a S.E. course, came in with an extensive field of ice reaching to the Linnaean Isles : this field was interspersed with numerous bergs, and appeared unbroken for leagues in extent, east and west. The state of cloud this day, beautiful cirrocumulus, and flimsy comoid cirrus, the points of which were scattered in every direction : the atmosphere to the northward unclouded, and sky of a pearly blue hue : a pair of burgomasters on wing : colymbus grylle and colymbus glocitans in associated and numerous flocks : several of the mouodon * Corresponding with the magnetic variation very exactly. ;^ ^« I v?^ A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 195 frequently referred to, see Plate XVI.) The lofty columnar tops with which it is crowned, are nothing but the ridges remaining of the icy mass, which has been channelled by the annual torrents, that tumble from that extraordinary ac- cumulation of congealed water. Neither does it require monoceros came from under the field of ice, or played along its edge, and numerous families of seals were observed in merry emigra- tion passing to the westward. July 17: ther. 38°, 52°, 38°: wind N.E., fresh breeze: not a speck of cloud to be seen : the air unusually hot : the continent of ice distinctly seen: latitude observed at noon 75° 17' N. : larus maximus and delphinus leucas in great number : colymbus glocitans in large flocks, sometimes flying very high : an odd colymbus troile appeared ; and col. grylle in parties of five : few seals seen. July 18: ther. 48°, 42°, 32°: wind N.E., ligl.t air: the state of atmosphere still the same, and not a speck of cloud to be seen : at noon a bright fog bank arose in the south-west, which afterward ex- tended itself over the whole sky, verifying the assertion, that it is observed to move against the wind : a procellaria glacialis appeared entirely white : larus maximus and eburneus : the monodon appeared in great number this day, and the Thomas's men succeeded in killing one male and two females : the latter were destitute of the tooth : they are always taken without that instrument, which is solely con- ferred on the male either for ornament or annoyance : the male monodon measured from snout to tail fourteen feet : the horn six feet eight inches : there was also a minute one in the left socket, hut not 2 c 2 196 ON THE EFFECTING OF any of those " convulsions of nature," which sometimes shake the Andes, to cause such a separation of the above huge block from the enormous original. The simple visita- tion of the sun, every year, fails not to produce similar convulsions, and load the sea with ice beros. But in the projecting beyond the skin : three finners passed near the ship ; they seemed about forty feet in length each : a female whale (balaena mysticetus) killed this day, measured sixty feet : it received the harpoon but once, and dived away under the ice, drawing down three boats' lines, being 1080 fathoms, and died at the bottom : immense groups of the oniscus ceti attached to the under lip, and to the under part of the fins : the edge of the fleshy covering, embracing the root of the monodon's tooth, was covered with insects of the same descrip- tion : it appeared somewhat singular that not a mallemuck, with the exception of the white one above noticed, came near the ship this day, though the men were engaged flinching, until the latter part, when a few appeared, which were evidently new comers, as was remarked by their clean feathers and voracious efforts : the fog continued throughout, leaving the zenith unusually clear : a luminous arch appeared this afternoon in opposition to the sun, but destitute of iridescence : the whole interior of this arch was strongly luminous, and objects within its compass partook of that illumination : I thought it worthy of a place among the sketches, as not having been heretofore noticed in any publication within my experience (see Plate XVII., Fig. 1.): the sun light at midnight is strong to an in- tense degree ; but, owing probably to the presence of the ice, the ther .*r— "•^•^'^Sii^ssst- .//MM/^^-^J t. ' Tyrotj FXMn-U sciJp^ %/-//y/'r ■ -' x^/^ A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 197 process of a few years, if such diminution continue, the supply must cease, and some future Danish historian will again have to " flee to the mountains" to ascertain the origin of others. Were the purposes of the voyage to allow advantage to mometer stands at .32° : the water here is brownish green, and abounds with the cho retusa, and many species of medusa. July 19: ther. 42°, 46°, 34°: wind S.E., light breeze: at an early hour this day, the fog had entirely dispersed, and no rloud appeared, except a yellow stratus : the field blink, in the horizon all around : the sun-light in this stratus has a most distressing effect on the eyes, causing very painful inflammation, and scorching the face in an in- credible degree : the ship remained stationed near the field of ice in company \yith ten others, all engaged in the look-out for whales : the water throughout this day was smooth as glass, except where ruffled by the colymbus glocitans diving after the flimsy, artless clio, which seems to be the favourite food of the roch : numerous in- dividuals of the larus maximus appeared ; also L. eburneus in great flocks : procellaria glacialis and colymbus grylle, the latter observed to be in pairs : the Linnaean Isles at midnight still in view distant about seven leagues : many ships, five particularly, are at the same time dangerously circumstanced amongst packed ice to the westward. July 20: ther. 4.5°, 52°, 48": wind N.E., light breeze: ship stationed nearly as the preceding day: those ships which were to the westward succeeded in getting clear fi-om the ice, which otherwise would have inevitably crushed them to pieces : the object of the 198 ON THE EFFECTING OF be made of a short delay in Hickson's Bay, which we approached on the 5th of July, a very valuable acquisition might be obtained of eider down ; the ducks of that species frequenting the low islands on the north side in countless masters, in going so far in that direction, was to intercept the whale in his progress east and west : and in this respect not one of them had success, the ships which remained the .most to eastward having killed a good many. Latitude observed at noon 75° 8' N. : lams eburneus, and co- lymbus glocitans, few throughout this day : procellaria glacialis also few in number : it would seem as if these birds had proceeded to the southward warned by the indications of the season, which, to human observation are not so discernible as to those migratory animals. From the great number of the monodon monoceros seen and killed in view of the Linnsean Isles, I have marked the place upon the chart " Unicom Bay." At eight p. m. some very light cutus appeared in the zenith, and towards S.E. : larus maximus and colymbus giyUe came into view frequently in the course of the evening : the water in Unicorn Bay is of the colour of the bay -leaf, and crowded with moUusca : the tide setting strongly, as heretofore, observed north and south by compass : at a later hour the cirrus changed into cirrocumulus, evi- dently communicating with loose patches of ciirostratus lower down : ship laid to by the flaw, as on the 17th current. July 21 : ther. 34°, 48°, 42° : wind, a perfect calm : at three a. m. this morning a most magnificent display of radiation occurred, of whicli a sketch has been attempted. (See Plate XVI.) The ciirus radiation A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 199 numbers, for the purpose of rearing their young. As the care of the parent bird is so great, that it will divest itself of its own soft covering to guard its young against the inclemency of the climate, the nest may, to such as seek here remarked is always observed to issue from a body of detached clouds, assuming the form of an arch. WTiether this curved arrange- ment be actually in a portion of the circumference of a circle, or merely an optical delusion, I will not undertake to assert, but the curve invariably aj)peared to me arched, as I have related : the basis arch of the phenomenon which occurred this morning was of amazing span, embracing several leagues of sea, the central radius passing through the horizon in nearly E. by N. per compass ; which corresponds closely with the point of variation. The radiation darted rapidly and irregularly towards the opposite point of the sky, in pale white spires. The atmosphere in the southern region immediately became suffused with whitish brown cirrostratus. Soon afterwards various beautiful changes to minute cirrocumulus and comoid cirrus were observable. Within the arch lay a long linear bed of cirrostratus, almost black, which preserved a horizontal position and unaltered form during the radiation and the changes mentioned. In the space of three hours from the first appearance, the whole was dissolved and dissipated, leaving the atmosphere free of visible cloud, but not quite clear, being of a milky blue. I should not have intruded upon the reader's notice the detail of this radiation, had I not been convinced, by repeated observations, that there exists a close, it may he said a direct, correspondence between its appearance and the variation of the 8 200 ON THE EFFECTING OF it, afford a good supply of that very valuable material ; one island alone, as I have been correctly informed, fur- nishing several pounds of down. Besides, the old birds are so anxious for the safety of their progeny as to be needle. From what cause this singular coincidence proceeds, it will still longer I fear remain to be explored. The facts, however, which are herein exhibited, may be relied on for the accuracy and faitlifulness of report, and may induce some enlightened and able mind to study a satisfactory illustration of the phenomenon. It is right also to inform the reader, that during the formation and continuance of the radiation, no irregular motion of the compass was observable ; the entire process appearing to go on at an elevation far too great to admit of any influence on the needle. The state of cloud, its being invariably a base of distinct cirrostratus in a curved chain, the radiation always issuing as it would appear from behind the cirrostratus, and having a cirrus consistence, and all those appearances being usually succeeded by a wind fi-om the opposite point, besides the correspondence with the variation, are circumstances well worthy of the philosopher's attention. At noon the sky became free of every speck of cloud, when a light breeze from the W. by S. carried the ship slowly to the eastward : light cirrus formed: latitude observed 75° 12' N. July 22 : ther. 33°, 38°, 34° : wind very variable : from midnight the wind blew furiously fi-om S. W. a strong gale ; changed at noon to N.W. light air with fog : about six p. m. a light breeze from W. con- verted the fog into light rain : in the evening later tlie wind became very variable, inclining to northward, with rain : at ten p. m. the wind A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 201 regardless of their own, so that they are made an easy spoil to the marksman. The skins of the anas rnoUissima, as 1 have before noticed, are in very high estimation. Several ships killed whales during the 13th of July, coming to N.E., the upper atmosphere cleared, and exhibited cirro- cumulus : no birds to be seen, but an odd mallemucl?: going southward. The state of this day is fiiU of those indications that mark the ne- cessity of ships proceeding to the southward, about this date, and even sooner. The Thomas was the last ship that moved off; the rest of the fleet, except a few, having some days since departed. The greatest apprehension of danger arises from the presence of fog, in which, if a vessel become involved, and candied by the current among the packed ice Trd bergs, there is little chance of avoiding destruction : neither can the utmost vigilance guard against such a visitation. The winds being now', usually, very variable, the state of the weather may in the course of an hour change fi-om clear and fine to that of the thickest fog. July 23 : ther. 34°, 44°, 'JS° : wind E., light breeze : from the mid- night hour the breeze continued steady till noon, freshening a good deal in the early part of the day : cirrostratus in every species covering the sky : at a Uttle before noon, the whole cloud passed into general suffusion very rapidly, and became very attenuated : at noon a splendidly white fog bank lay immensely along the land in the north- cast, the low tops being then just visible above the horizon : the fog bank came onwards, slow, but unimpeded in progress, involving all the lower objects in interminable obscurity, and shutting up an elegant 2 D 202 ON THE EFFECTING OF those animals having appeared in greater number than usual, generally in groups of five and six together. It is, as formerly noticed, in such circumstances extremely dangerous to strike one of the group, as the others, in the confusion of escape, make such irregular and violent motions, that any boat within reach of them is apt to be destroyed : many such accidents occurred Avithin view, but fortunately no life was lost. The movements of the whale are truly terrible when writhing in the agonies of wound ; and when the deadly barb is plunged into his body, his harmless nature directs the monster only to escape. If ever struck before, memory, and the dread of such another attack, excite alarm at the presence of a boat, when the tlurry in which the animal endeavours to make off is attended with extreme danger to the pursuer, par- ticularly if a number happen to be in company when one is struck, the fugitives being then most dangerous. A pair also engaged in the dalliance of nature are dangerous to be approached, as happened in the case of the one above- mentioned being killed : her companion at the same time being struck, both wounded descended to the bottom, and rose again to seek each other, when a boat belonging display of cirrocumulus, resting apparently on cin-ostratous beds, whiclj bad previously formed in an elevated position. W,/,r.„ ihiM.-i !./,■!,. JM A NORTH-W^ST PASSAGE. 203 to the ship which struck the male whale was dashed to pieces by a jerk of the tail : the men were however saved by a boat which happened to be near. The female died at the bottom, and, on being hauled up with the line, the under jaw was covered with yellow mud. The weather during the early part of the 15th of July, equalled in fineness that experienced in the temperate latitudes at the same date, the sun-light being exceedingly strong : a slight mist came on just before noon, but soon cleared away. The ship laid too near the flaw edge, afforded a very distinct view of the islands, which, as the accounts of the most experienced navigators inform me, have not been seen before. I therefore presume to give them the name of the Linnaean Isles, in honour of the prince of natural historians. The atmosphere, at noon, being obscured by a fog, which advanced from the eastward, presented an observa- tion. The mist in the afternoon appearing rather shallow, the upper atmosphere being mostly clear, I was induced to ascend to the hurricane house, in hopes of seeing the land more satisfactorily, when a phenomenon of novel character presented itself to view. As the reader may desire to have an account of this appearance, the figure in Plate XVIII. will give a good idea of it, taken from a sketch drawn at the moment. The sun-light falling on the mist formed an ellipsis 2 D 2 204 ON THE EFFECTING OF strongly illuminated, apparently rising from the surface of the sea' to the upper edge of the mist, at an angle of about twenty degrees from the horizon. In this ellipsis the iridescent colours were not distinguishable. The inner edge was pearly white, with the faintest tinge of blue ; the middle, yellowish, deepening into brown and purple ; the outer edge a blackish blue ; beyond that, a brighter line ; outside of which again lay the cirrostratus mist in its peculiar brown. Within, the ellipsis was bounded by a deep blue line, and the inner space filled with mist of the same colour and illumination as the exterior. In one centre of the ellipsis my shadow appeared de- picted, the head surrounded with a circle of the liveliest iridescence. Beyond this was another with similar iri- descence ; but the colours were reversed in order, and more faint ; the belts were also broader. One circumstance surprised me much : whilst the ellipsis rose at an angle from the horizon, the iris circle appeared depicted on the surface of the sea. No account of such a phenomenon having in my recollection been recorded, I thought it might be deemed worthy of consideration. The Linnaean Islands run in a curve, bending westward and northward, from the Greenland side across Davis's Straits, and by their resistance prevent the descent of that amazing accumulation of ice to which the name of icy continent is given. In the open spaces between the A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 205 Islands, the ice continent appears abruptly broken, as if large bergs had been detached in former years. There is also a sloping debris at the bottom similar to rock. The upper surface of the continent is torn in diverging channels, evidently worn successively every summer by the dissolved snow. The great body of the polar ice rises as it extends northward ; and where it leans against the islands, it, in many places, out-tops them. The channels on this icy continent all, so far as they were visible, were directed southerly. Through the spaces between the islands, the bergs obtain a passage, and coming in contact with the rock, either when forced from their original situation, or in their passage, they are frequently stained a brown colour. This the sailors call black ice. The general ap- pearance of the Linn-dian Isles is bare basaltic or floetz trap rock. They are in general small, two only being about ten or twelve miles in length. From my chart, which Avas made with the utmost accuracy, the number of these islands is eighty, lying at irregular but short distances from each other. One of the largest of the Linnsean Isles lies to the northward of the chain in the western extremity, and is of a conical form, much more elevated than the others, and is covered with snow. Many smaller islands lie grouped around, as well as to the southward of it, and at a very short distance from each other. This island 206 ON THE EFFECTING OF is easily discoverable on the chart from its superior extent. The latitude of the next larger island to the southward was formed, by observation, to be 75° 3' N. ; and the variation determined the same time, by an azimuth com- pass, and corrected to the time at Greenwich, was exactly 821°. On the l6th, ten whales were remarked invariably running eastward and westward, out from the Greenland waters, and others again pursuing a contrary course. The whale hunters are so convinced of this, that they sail always in that direction when in high latitudes. Hence the obvious conclusion must be, that the further emigration of those animals northward is limited to the Linnaean Isles ; and that too, from the impossibility of their obtaining a supply of air underneath the icy continent. Indeed, when a whale is struck, if it happen to run for the ice, the hunters are almost certain of its capture, as it must come out again for breath, when the boats being arranged along the edge of the field are sure to be ready to repeat the blow the instant the animal re-appears. I saw one, which was so wounded, succeed in spying out a small hole within that ice field, where scarcely more than the head had access to the air ; and there the creature rose in imagined security, at a great distance from the edge ; but the blow- A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 207 ing soon exposed his situation, both from the sound, and the watery column driven up in respiration ; and the hunters having pursued across the ice to the spot, soon succeeded in dispatching their victim. Among the whales, on the 20th, taken, there was a young one, about half grown ; and as this circumstance is rare in Davis's Strait, though frequently occurring in the seas around Spitzbergen, it would strongly support the opinion that Greenland is terminable at a very low degree from the pole ; nor would this presumption be misappHed if ex- tended to the American continent, which reaches little, if at all, further northward than the latitude of the Linnaean Isles. In this sweep of the arctic region, some promon- tory may hereafter be found to violate the line such as Spitzbergen does ; but the fact of no land lying around the pole may be fairly presumed ; and of this fact I have to adduce a weighty proof from the observations com- municated by one of the masters who proceeded so far to the westward, being one of the five yesterday in danger. " After clearing the ice, all to the north-west was heavy open sea, the swell and current coming from that point, and no obstruction appeared against proceeding as far north as he pleased : at all events, a hundred miles further (more than three degrees) were accessible." But as open sea presents little chance of meeting with the whale, in a 208 ON THE EFFECTING OF state of rest, this person, mindful of his oath, deemed it adviseable to return to the eastward. This part of the Journal will be useful in reference to our inquiry, when further considering the subject of the north-west passage. A lofty berg this day came in view, with a Gothic arch, at least 100 feet high, passing quite through one extremity : the bottom of the arch was covered with the fragments that had fallen from the cavity above. Over the crown of this arch, a broad and heavy superstructure of the icy mass sat suspended, offering an appearance of stability awfully deceptive ; under which, were an antiqviarian to stand taking a drawing from this extraordinary structure, very few persons of common caution would venture to ensure his life : the washing of the sea had worn a bay witliin the bosom of this berg, which bore strongly the semblance of land, and the ruins of the icy arch added forcibly to the deception. From the remarks in the preceding day's journal (to which the reader is referred), the approach of the fog bank, on the 23d July, must have been contemplated with much uneasiness. At a distance from the land, which at best could only relieve from the apprehension of drowning ; in a latitude which forbade every hope of escape or prolonged life, were the ship to founder ; and well aware that the all- involving fog would have its ruinous effects increased by any degree of breeze ; it may not be exaggeration to say, A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 009 that such a situation could by no means be considered enviable. Having advanced further yiorth than the whalers (who are certainly most intrepid and daring navigators) had ever ventured before ; the circumstance also of the Thomas being the last to return, though some others were in sio-ht : and the apprehension that the wind coming from the south- ward, or westward of south, might set the yet undissolved ice again towards the inhospitable shores of Greenland, and so preclude the possibility of return, were matters for reflection little calculated to preclude alarm. Under those circumstances, however, the discipline of the men, however rude it may be considered, kept every mind on the alert ; and the ship^s forecastle and bow were never without a careful eye to look out for danger. As the fog advanced in the afternoon, the whole surrounding scene became obscured ; many bergs had been previously seen, and the necessary precautions had been vigilantly insisted on. Notwithstanding all the care of the watch on deck, the ship came unexpectedly within half her bowsprit-length of a frowning berg, deeply cloaked with mist, which, in the tem- perature of the hour, it was throwing otF in clouds, and was of course in such a tendency to solution, that the least touch from any part of the ship would have produced a disruption capable of overAvhelming her in an instant. Fortunately, by backing the sails immediately, the danger was avoided ; 2 E 210 ON THE EFFECTING OF and other vessels, four in number, coming on the same course in succession, were, by the cries of the men from the other ships, successively warned of the situation. Many heavy flaws lay around, oftering such openings to the east- ward as were at first thought to lead to open water ; but hope to that eftect was found deceptive, and the ships were compelled to warp back again to the westward, to get clear of the flaws. The sea in this latitude, which is that of Devil's Thumb, must be shallow, as an innumerable hoard of bergs is here- abouts remarkable, though the current to the southward is still strong enough to set them in that direction. From the summits of those bergs an accumulation of vapour, exuded under the influence of the sun, assumes a form similar to a cumulous cloud, or, as some readers may more familiarly represent it to their recollection — such an appearance as, on a greater scale, caps the mountains' summit in temperate climes, before or after rainy weather. The various fantastic forms of those bergs adds to this imaginary representation ; many not a hundred feet in elevation, seeming to be mountains in miniature surrounded Avith appropriate exha- lations ; and others, from their sharp squared summits, would afford a picture, not absurdly alike, of palaces Avhose many summits, by the streaming smoke, gave indication of the luxury Avithin. A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 211 In the afternoon the fog cleared away, and gave to the view several islands, towards and along which the ship was running under a fresh breeze N. by E. At the termination of this coast, and at a considerable distance N. E. of the most northern island in the line, stands that singular rock which the sailors denominate the Devil's Thumb, being an isolated rock, standing, as it were, the goal of northern voyage in Davis's Strait. To the south westward of the Devil's Thumb is a large, long, rugged island, which is the most north-westerly of Greenland in those seas, covering the waters in which is seated the Devil's Thumb to the north-east, and sufficiently distinct in distance to be considered not a part of the chain of the Linnaean Isles. Within the above-mentioned large island lies an extensive sound of unknown bounds eastward, and which to the southward is terminated by the islands forming the northern extremity of Sugar-loaf Bay. Numer- ous other islands lie to the westward of the above sound, but imperfectly known from the casual visits of the whale hunters, who only know those lands when shut in by the ice descending from the northward, where they remain until the sea becomes sufficiently safe for their purpose. Under such circumstances, the masters of the whale ships only know the land as it may afford them an hour's shooting, with their rusty fowling pieces, in order to bring home some eider duck skins to the wives of their acquaintance, or the 2 E 2 ai2 ON THE EFFECTING OF friends of their employers. Yet even here there is popula- tion, perhaps endeared by domestic sweets. This thought recalls the picture so admirably drawn by Horace, who could have scarcely imagined that his delightful words would so happily suit the situation. ' With the indulgence of the reader I shall venture to apply them to this, is I believe, the last retreat of social human life. Pone me, pigris ubi nulla campis Arbor sestiva recreatur aura : Quod latus mundi, nebulae, malusque Jupiter urget. Pone sub curru nimium propinqui Soils, in terra domibus negata, Dulce rjdentem Lalagen amabo, Dulce loquentem. Place me, where frost the most severe Forbids the tree a summer's air, In fogs oppressed and sad, — Where wheels the sun's eternal course. Still teeming light with boundless force. Nor human eye is glad ; There give me but the honied smile. And those sweet sounds which care beguile, There Lalagd, and life ! To many readers, I fear, the foregoing detail of views in the most northerly parts of Davis's Strait may appear tedious and unsatisfactory. To such I would presume to say, that a faithful account of any part of the globe, which A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 213 has been hitherto imperfectly described, cannot be destitute of interest, though the subject, as in the present instance, be of the lowHest and most barren description in ordinary view. To another class of readers I would address a loftier appeal. To such minds as seek a knowledge of the actual state of the earth, beyond the pale of vegetation, where nature slumbers in eternal lethargy, and is roused into feverish motion only for a very short portion of the summer months, under the influence of a perpetual sun : to such readers, I say, a view of those regions, drawn by a person earnest in the cause of science, and anxious to behold the effects of correct opinion propagated, must be of some value. Under these considerations I have ventured to exhibit those scenes, in order that the reader, who possesses only a wish to indulge cursory opinion, as well as the more deeply reflecting reader, may both find entertainment. The former, by indulging that propensity to curiosity which forms the ground of much of the happiness of life, may, in perusing the particulars of this excursion, meet occasionally with some agreeable circumstance amidst the dreary and desolate picture of an icy region, which, for seven months in each year, is shut from access by continual frost. To know from what causes a variety of the human species cherishes an abode in such inhospitable climes, with an enthusiastic attachment to such desarts, and why any portion of mankind would suffer that predilection to forbid 214 ON THE EFFECTING OF removal to more genial latitudes, forms alone a topic for consideration of much interest. The migration of birds and other animals to high northern latitudes, their habits and pursuits in such situations as they frequent, their periods of return southward, or emigration in other directions, furnish the mind with store for valuable reflection. All these points are comprised, and recorded as they occurred, in the Journal just submitted to the notice of the reader. The latter description of reader has now laid before him for investigation a mass of facts in natural history, important in many points of view. To philosophic research I leave such inquiry, and the useful application of the results, in the hope that, from the heap, some deduction may be drawn of importance in the concerns of science and of mankind. Neither am I, in this regard, actuated by a desire to arrogate to myself any merit for furnishing those facts. It was my good fortune to find that the motives which urged me into those high latitudes were rewarded by having presented to my view many appearances in nature which were quite new to my observation ; and if they appear so to others, and prove of any benefit to society, my gratifi- cation will be multiplied. Some atmospheric phenomena, such for instance as are recorded in the preceding Journal, have not, in the extent of my reading, come previously within my knowledge ; and particularly that of the cirrous radiation, Avhich bears A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 215 a correspondence with the magnetic variation ; if any of my readers consider Avith me, that these are new in descrip- tion, and that they can furnish any useful results, then I shall not consider my time and anxiety thrown away. In this pursuit I went unbidden and unsolicited ; and should my inquiries, as I trust they will, afford either entertainment or profit to the general or philosophic reader, I shall consider such approbation a proper stimulus to con- tribute my humble mite, on every fit occasion, in aid of the cause of science. In giving publication also to the result of my inquiries in the arctic seas, I have to boast of a loftier motive : viz. the deep concern I feel in the cause of humanity. Havino- learned lately that an expedition is preparing to set out for those seas, with intent to explore a north-westerly passao-e, by a polar route, into the North Pacific Ocean, I should deem myself culpable in withholding from the public at laro-e, as well as from the projectors of that undertaking, such particulars of the natural state of the higher northern latitudes, as I had, during the course of last summer, a full opportunity of observing. With that view, therefore, I drew the reader's attention to the actual state of those countries during the summer months, when only the arctic waters are navigable ; and, in the course of the Journal, a faithful and accurate account 216 ON THE EFFECTING OF of almost every hoar's state of weather, wind and water is recorded. Those circumstances I have laid down as a basis for some observations, which I shall take an opportunity of submitting on the subject ; which, from its importance, is worthy of the most serious consideration, not only as it regards the safety of the individuals engaged in the expedi- tion, but as involving in its results matter of the weightiest interest to the trade and general commerce of Great Britain. The importance of this subject has long since attracted the attention of the autocrat of all the Russias, whose government, doubtlessly envious of the preponderance of the power of Great Britain upon the ocean, seeks the most active and effectual means of anticipating her re- search to countries hitherto unexplored by Europeans. It is well known that the Emperor Alexander has at this moment some vessels, under the command of Lieut. Kotzebue, who, having examined the islands in the northern Pacific, between Kamtschatka and the North American shores, is waiting in some station near Behring^s Strait, for the opening of the ice in the ensuing spring, in order to push his researches, if possible, across the polar seas into Davis's Strait, or directly forwards, should circum- stances favour an enterprize of such adventurous daring, and reach by such attempt some port in the north of Russia. A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 217 As this curious subject has long engaged pubhc atten- tion, it may not be improper in this place to take a cursory view of the attempts hitherto made to discover a passage westward into the Pacific. The account shall be as brief as possible. 3 F ai8 CHAPTER VII. OF THE ATTEMPTS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE TO DISCOVER A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. So early, it appears, was this subject of navigating the arctic seas entertained, with an expectation of obtaining an intercourse with India in that direction, east or west, that in the year 901, Alfred the Great is said to have engaged a mariner named Other, a native of Heligoland, to survey the coasts of Norway and Lapland, and to discover jf any opening in a north-east direction would admit of a passage to India on that side. The navigator above-mentioned, on his return, gave the monarch an account of the Norwe- gian and Lapland countries, and of the inhabitants, who subsisted by fishing and killing whales. A subsequent inquiry during the reign of the same prince confirmed the accuracy of Other's account. In the year 1497, John Cabot, a native of Venice, fired with a desire to imitate the example of Columbus, and encouraged bv the merchants of Bristol, where he then NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 219 resided, made an application to the King (Henry VII.) to be permitted to make a voyage of discovery across the Atlantic Ocean. His request was readily complied with, and letters patent furnished him, but enjoining strictly a return to the port of Bristol. That enterprising navigator accordingly set sail ; and he appears to have been the original projector of the north-west passage, after the ex- ample of Columbus, who, in a similar attempt at a southern latitude, had made his grand discovery of America. Cabot, inferring from the accounts of Columbus, that a probability might exist of the ocean being open to the northward, directed his course to the north-westward in this expectation ; and on the 24tli of June discovered New- foundland, which he named Prima Vista or First-seen-land. Still actuated by his original intention, he sailed further to the northward, and discovered Cape Florida, where he found people already established, answering exactly to the description of the Uskee-mes. From this place he returned to England, carrying with him three of the natives, as a proof of success. Such an act, however, could not tend to impress that simple and harmless people with amicable feelings towards their visitors. In 1521, the fame of Cabot's expedition encouraged some French merchants to send out a countryman of their own, named Jaques Cartier, to discover a north-west passage to the East Indies ; but it seems he penetrated no 2 F 2 220 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER further than the Bay of St. Lawrence, and, otherwise un- successful, he returned home the same year. In the year 1536, the origin of the fishery on the banks of Newfoundland arose from a voyage made from Bristol, by Mr. Robert Thorne, a merchant of that place, who, with the King's permission, which on such occasion appeared indispensable, fitted out a ship at his own ex- pense, and sailed to Newfoundland and Cape Breton, discovering the very valuable fishery of Newfoundland on his passage. By the discovery of Thorne, the naval and commercial prosperity of England has been in a great degree promoted, the fishery, from its justly estimated im- portance, having down to the present day been firmly maintained in British monopoly. Thorne made this great discovery merely by accident, as his purpose on setting sail was also to ascertain the possibility of a north-west passage. In the last year of Edward VI. and whilst that pro- mising young prince was confined to his death-bed by sickness, an expedition was planned, under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, to prosecute a voyage to China by the north-east passage, if such could be ascertained. For this purpose three ships were fitted out ; but from the obstruction of the ice, though the ships set out in May 20, 1553, Sir Hugh could advance only to the seventy- second degree, and was there shut in, and obliged to A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 2?l winter in Russian Lapland, where that intrepid adventurer and his crew most miserably perished, in consequence of the excessive cold. One of the ships engaged in thjs un- fortunate expedition was more successful in getting through the ice, under the command of Capt. Chancellor, who passed the North Cape to the eastward, and got safely into the bay of St. Nicholas on the Russian coast, being the first European that had conducted a ship into those waters. At the representations of Capt. Charleton, upon his return, the whale fishery was undertaken, and several ships were subsequently fitted out in that trade, which afterwards led to the discovery of Spitzbergen. In 1556, Capt. Stephen Burrough, promising himself better success than was experienced in the unhappy voyage of Sir Hugh Willoughby, ventured upon a similar expedition ; but his attempt to discover a north-east passage was unavaiUng. Sir Martin Frobisher, in the year 156?, under the auspices of Queen Elizabeth, undertook to ascertain the existence of a north-west passage. The Earl of Warwick, in a spirit of patriotism, encouraged Capt. Frobisher warmly in this undertaking, and in consequence he sailed in June with two barks and a pinnace. In this voyage the east coast of Greenland was seen in latitude, 63° 8' N. He here discovered the strait, which he called after his 222 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER own - name. Here also he lost five of his men whom he set on shore ; and by a very unwise and unfair retaliation he seized upon one of the natives, and carried him away to England. That such proceeding was unjustifiable is evident from his being at the time in a state of uncertainty about the fate of his own men, whose lives, if spared by the natives up to the time in which the Uskee-me was seized, might probably have been preserved, but such a proceeding could only produce the worst consequences. Captain Frobisher brought home in this voyage a piece of stone of a black colour, which some chemists of that day pronounced to contain gold ; and this event tended to recommend another expedition to the same place in quest of that precious ore. High expectations were entertained that a most valuable discovery had been made on that occasion. Accordingly, by the exertions of his patron, the Earl of Warwick, he was dispatched in 1577 in quest of the land of gold ; and the better to secure success, he was pro- vided with one of her Majesty's ships, attended by the two barks. He again saw the land lying at the entrance of the strait, and called it Queen Elizabeth's Foreland. Having sent ashore to make strict search after his men, which proved he was doubtful of their fate, all inquiry was ineffectual, and he hesitated not to carry oft' two men and one woman prisoners. Here he took on board a quantity A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 22S of the ore, which afterwards, being carefully examined, turned out altogether worthless. The Queen was so much pleased with the account given of this voyage, that she called the supposed continent Meta Incognita. In 1578 her Majesty ordered a grand expedition under the same commander. The fleet consisted of fifteen sail, carrying a colony of 120 persons, who were to be left in the newly-discovered country, with three ships for their use. Materials of wood for building habitations for the colonists were provided along with other suitable supplies ; but a storm having overtaken the squadron, the ship carrying the materials for building foundered, and the undertaking so grandly begun ended in nothing ; the fleet not having even been able to find the strait. Captain Frobisher was afterwards advanced to the honour of knighthood for the bravery with which he con- tributed to the destruction of the Spanish armada in 1588. In the year 1580, the Russia Company fitted out two ships for the discovery of a north-east passage. That un- dertaking proved unsuccessful and unfortunate, one of the ships having been lost, and all on board perished. In 1585, the hope of finding the so much desired north- west passage induced Mr. John Davis to undertake it, though so many previous attempts had failed. He took the precaution to avail himself of the experience of Mr. Fenton, who had been engaged in former voyages for 8 224 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER the same purpose. Davis set sail on the 7th of June, and, on the 20th July following, discovered the Island of Deso- lation on the west coast of Greenland, where he found the natives a civil, tractable, and honest people. Having proceeded further to the^ northward, he discovered the strait which has been since called after his name. Steer- ing west, he came in sight of the land on the American side of the strait, and called the lofty mountains which he there observed Mount Raleigh. In his second voyage, in 1586, Capt. Davis advanced to latitude 60° 47' N. where he again saw land, but met much obstruction from the ice, which he avoided by running to the westward, and afterwards succeeded in reaching the 54° 15' of latitude, where he also found an inoffensive people. The land here appeared broken, with great sounds and inlets. Captain Davis was again sent out in the following year, when he penetrated to lat. 72° 12' N. where he discovered a great many islands ; and from the number of women who were there, he named them the Women's, or Frow Islands. A remarkable promontory here he called Hope Sanderson. This was the greatest distance to the northward that Davis ever reached. Steering westward from Hope Sanderson, he ran a distance of forty leagues, and again fell in with Mount Raleigh. Davis, to the last, remained confident of the practicability of a north-west passage, A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 225 After the failure of Davis's attempt, all expeditions in search of a north-west passage were for some years sus- pended ; but the public mind in the interval was busily occupied with numerous pamphlets, and other publications, both for and against the possible execution of such a design. In 1602, Captain George Weymouth made another effort, but with singular want of success. His attempt was not calculated to support the arguments of those who were in favour of the measure, and it was again abandoned. The intrepid, but unfortunate Hudson, next took up the subject, imagining that, by exploring the seas to the north- ward of Spitzbergen, he might have a better chance of success, by saihng towards the North Pole in that di- rection. With this view, in l607, he sailed northward, and in latitude 73° 12' he saw the land of Spitzbergen. He there observed the elevation of the sun at midnight to be 10° 40' above the horizon : in this voyage Capt. Hudson penetrated to 82" nearly, and thought to effect his passage to N.W. that way ; but an impenetrable barrier of ice forbade further progress. In the year I6O8 he again renewed his efforts in the same sea, where he met with much difficulty from the ice ; he then tried a N.E. passage but without effect. Another endeavour was made by the same persevering individual 2 G 226 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER in 1609 in the same quarter ; but this ended as fruitless as the former. Defeat seemed to spur his exertions, and the following year he set sail across the Atlantic, big with expectation, which was increased by his discovery of the strait and bay, on the North American side, which have been meritedly called after this indefatigable navigator. After having traversed much of that bay. Captain Hudson, a man of ardent mind, felf himself still not satisfied, and in- timated an intention of looking out for some situation in which himself and his men might continue in safety during the winter, but when the provision, which had been laid in only for six months' consumption, came to be examined, the stock was found nearly exhausted. Hudson melting into tears on observing the unhappy situation of his people, distributed all the biscuit among them, and this inconsiderate act of generosity was cruelly repaid by a mutiny. An ungrateful wretch named Green, to whom the Captain had been remarkably indulgent, having conspired with the mate of the ship, and the ma- jority of the crew, sent the unfortunate man Avith his son, a youth, a ]\Ir. Woodhouse, who was an eminent mathema- tician, and five of the hands who remained faithful to their master, all adrift in the shallop. Those unhappy persons undoubtedly soon perished in that dreary region, as no account of them was ever after A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 227 obtained. The ruffianly crew, with much difficult}', and in the greatest hardship, endeavoured to return home, and one only of the wretches survived their attempt to recount the melancholy tale. Thus terminated the efforts of the un- happy Hudson, a man in everj^ respect worthy of a better fate. Captain Button was afterwards sent out in the year l6l2, in hopes of recovering poor Hudson ; and after encounter- ing great dangers in Hudson's Bay and Strait, having been, on one occasion, intercepted in the strait by the ice, he laj^ with his ship locked up for twenty Aveeks' con- tinuance ; he at length succeeded in extricating- himself from his perilous situation, and returned home in the utmost disappointment, without hearing any tidings what- ever of Captain Hudson, or having the least chance of finding the north-west passage. Captain Gibbons made a similar attempt in l6l4, an returned equally unsuccessful. In the year 1615, Captain Robert Bylot, an experienced navigator, and one who was also well acquainted with the causes of mischance in former expeditions, having sailed with Hudson, Button, and Gibbons, was appointed to make another trial for a north-west passage. Captain Bylot took Avith him the celebrated William Baffin to act as pilot in the arctic seas, for Avhich duty he was peculiarly qualified on account of his experience in 2 G 2 228 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER those icy regions, having been for many years engaged in the whale trade at Spitzbergen. In this voyage Bylot advanced no further north than the sixty-tifth degree of latitude in Davis's Strait. In the following year (I616), Bylot and Baffin proceeded to explore Davis's Strait, and succeeded in penetrating beyond the remotest advance of Davis, and the accounts say they even got up to the seventy-eighth degree, where Baffin observed the variation of the compass to be 65° W. which was then the greatest ever known. In this place those navigators came into an extensive sound, which they named Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, and which spread be- yond the seventy-eighth degree. Standing over to the westward, they saAv Gary's Isles, and afterwards the first sound on the American side, which Captain Bylot named Alderman Jones's Sound, and further south in lat. 74° N. Sir James Lancaster's Sound. The observations made by Baffin in the course of this voyage impressed him strongly with the conviction that the north-west passage was still feasible ; and he commu- nicated his opinion to Mr. Briggs, the fiimous mathema- tician, who took much interest in the affair, and even made a chart* according to Baffin's information, which, * No chart has hitlierto been published above the seventy-third degree of north latitude in Davis's Straits ; and I indulge a presumption, that the reader will receive with some gratification a chart, carefully made by myself, and A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 229 with a discourse illustrative of the subject, was never made pubhc. The persuasion of the feasibility of a north-west passage continued to hold an influence over the public mind so strongly, that in l631, the King (Charles), on representa- tion being made on the subject, gave his commands to Captain Luke Fox to proceed on the inquiry. His Majesty appeared so well satisfied of the practicability of the un- dertaking, that he gave Captain Fox a chart on which the passage was marked, and also a letter written by himself to be delivered to the Emperor of Japan as soon as the Captain had effected his voyage into the eastern seas. Fox, Hke his predecessors, roamed about in Hudson's Bay, unable to find out the expected passage, and returned home without accomplishing his mission, but still certain that a passage could be effected through some yet undis- covered opening in the northern extremity of Hudson's Bay. Captain Fox drew his conclusions, to that effect, from the state of the tide in a distance of 250 leagues which he had traversed. " It is inconceivable, " he says, " how such a vast quantity of water should be recalled and re- paired every twelve hours, if it were not fed and supplied which accompanies this work, affording a correct view of the coast of Green- land as far as the seventy-seventh degree, including the newly-discovered Linnaean Isles. 230 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER from some great and vast ocean," alluding to the northern Pacific. Captain James, of Bristol, sailed to Hudson's Bay the same year as Captain Fox, and discovered several islands, but was nearly shipwrecked in some shallow soundings, with a rocky bottom, into which he had unexpectedly run. His researches for the north-v/est passage were unsuc- cessful. During the same year the Danish government sent out a ship in the same pursuit, and the result was similar to those already experienced. In l653, the Danes, unwilling to make a second expe- riment in Hudson's Bay, projected a design of passing in a north-east course, through the Waygate Strait, south of Nova Zembla, and by that way to attempt a passage to India. The obstructions they experienced from the ice compelled them to abandon the undertaking, and they were forced to return as unsuccessful as former adven- turers. In the reign of Charles II. anno I676, the Duke of York, afterwards James II., who was ever attentive to maritime concerns, at the advice of Lord Berkeley, ordered a ship to be fitted out, the command of which was given to Captain Wood, who was directed to sail in company with one of the King's ships, for the purpose of discovering a north-east passage to India. But this, like former ex- A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 231 peditions, was frustrated by the ice, which prevented the ships from advancing beyond the seventy-sixth degree north. The misfortune of shipwreck was added to dis- appointment, as the King's ship came foul of a sunken rock and foundered. This accident damped the expectations of those who advocated the design, and the thing was pro- nounced impracticable. The spirit of adventure, however, it appears, was not yet quite subdued, as Captain Barlow was afterwards sent out in the year 1720, by a company of private persons, to seek a passage to China through some opening in Hudson's Bay. The undertaking cost the Captain and crew their lives, the ship having been cast away in about the latitude of 63° N. when every person on board perished. Another unsuccessful attempt was made by Capt. Scroggs in 1722. Like all the former adventurers, he failed in accomplishing his object. In order to rectify all the supposed errors of preceding voyagers, Mr. Dobbs took the pains of collecting the amplest information on the subject, and drew up his views of the matter, in which he largely examined the nature of the currents, tides, and the other circumstances which appeared necessary to illustrate the subject. Mr. Dobbs having communicated his information to Capt. Middleton, a gentleman, like most of his con- 232 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER temporaries, enthusiastically involved in the question of the north-west passage, the undertaking was again resumed. In order the more effectually to ensure success, Capt. Middleton sailed from Churchill River, in Hudson's Bay, in the year 1741, where, by order of the Admiralty Board, he had been ordered to winter, that, by being so near to the expected place, the greatest possible advantage might accrue to the inquiry. The ships employed on this occasion were two sloops of war. The expectations attached to this undertaking also proved fallacious, as Capt. Middleton found it impossible to proceed further north than 66° 30' of north latitude, and returned to England greatly disappointed, and determined to oppose a project which he considered visionary and impracticable. In consequence of the representations of Capt. Middleton on the subject, the public opinion was much divided ; yet so firmly was Mr. Dobbs convinced of the truth and strength of his positions, that he hoped by perseverance to effect an object, for which, by much cherishing, he had contracted an unconquerable affection. One opinion seemed, at this time, very much to aid the purpose of Mr. Dobbs, and to excite him to greater exertion ; and that was, that the failures of Capts. Scroggs and Middleton were in some measure effected by the endeavours of the Hudson's Bay Company, the members of which, the better to protect their monopoly in the trade A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. y 233 of furs, took every means to stifle accounts at the factory, if such accounts appeared to throw Ught on the subject of the north-west passage. Such conduct was looked upon as extremely illiberal, particularly after the great expense and danger which had been incurred, and out of which the very existence of that company's monopoly originally sprang. Mr. Dobbs, supported in his views with such a powerful argument, laboured incessantly in the affair ; and the matter appeared of such importance, that the legislature offered a reward of 20,000/. to such persons as would succeed in penetrating through the northern waters of the Atlantic, by a westward course, into the Pacific Ocean. Such a bounty, as might be expected, became a most powerful stimulus to exertion, and Mr. Dobbs was gratified in seeing an expedition fitted out, in the year 1746, for the purpose of effecting his favourite project. Accordingly, in the above year, two vessels, die Dobbs Galley, commanded by Capt. William Moore, and the California, under the command of Capt. Francis Smith, were fitted out with the utmost care for the comfort and preservation of the people. In order to afford the greater advantage to the occasion, the celebrated Mr. Henry Ellis was invited to undertake the office of agent to the company, at whose expense the outfit was made, which he cheerfully complied with, and to that gentleman the public is indebted 234 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER for the best account ever before exhibited of the attempts to explore the north-west passage. Having received very ample instructions, from which they were directed to find, according to the state of the tide, tlie most northerly cape of the American continent, in latitude sixty-two degrees north, the ships proceeded on their voyage, accompanied with the wishes of thousands for their success. It should be also mentioned, that the captains of those ships were cautioned against the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company. That this caution was not unnecessary was afterwards proved ; for when the Dobbs and California were obliged to winter in Hudson's Bay, the governor threatened to use force to repel the intrusion, HoAvever, by the firmness and conciliatory manner of the persons entrusted with the expedition, the diflficulty was got over, and the ships were comfortably, at least safely, moored for the winter at a convenient place in Hayes's River. From this place the voyagers Avere not able to clear, on account of the ice, till the beginning of the ensuing June. They continued throughout that summer traversing the northern extremity of Hudson's Bay, every hour in hopes of finding the long desired passage, but in vain ; for after various efforts, countenanced by ingenious and plausible arguments, they were obliged to return without deriving any advantage from the voyage, except a more exact knowledge of the shores of that bay, and the manners of A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 235 the natives, who met them in great numbers whenever they approached any point of the coast. One circumstance recorded on this occasion is worthy of note. Although the Esquimeaux, as they are called, are reputed savages, and are represented as mischievous and sanguinary, yet to the interference of one of those savages, the California, one of the ships, owed her preservation. Having been thrown upon a ledge of rocks, and in danger every moment of going to pieces, the natives came around, as usual, to barter, when one old man, perceiving the danger in which the vessel lay, pointed out a deep passage, through which, when the California tloated on the return of tide, they sailed in the utmost safety, the same old man paddling on before, and showing how to avoid the rocks. Notwithstanding the failure of this last expedition in search of a north-west passage, still the arguments in favour of its practicability remained in sufficient force to impress the minds of the persons engaged in even that expedition, to expect success at some future opportunity. To this effect Mr. Ellis has left his opinion upon record, that the expected opening would be found somewhere in the north extremity of Hudson's Bay, and not in Davis's Strait ; but Mr. Ellis had no knowledge of that Strait. Since the expedition in the Dobbs and California, the subject of a passage to India northwards had been 9 H 2 236 ATTEMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER frequently discussed, but never acted on until the year 1775, when a voyage was undertaken at the request of the Royal Society, to try how far navigation was practicable towards the North Pole, and whether there existed a possibility of discovering a passage to the East Indies, by any route through those frozen regions. The late Lord Mulgrave, then the Hon. Capt. Phipps, and Capt (afterwards Admiral) Lutwidge, received severally the command of the Race Horse and Carcass bomb-ships, to carry this attempt into execution. All the necessary means for comfort and security were provided ; nor were the concerns for scientific observation overlooked. On the 2d of June they sailed from the Nore, being- directed to steer by a particular meridian, until the presence of ice would make it necessary to alter their course to the eastward, and proceeded with very little obstruction until they reached above the eighty-first degree, where they were driven by the pressure of the ice descending from the north- ward, into a bay, and the ships were apparently locked up, never again to be extricated. Every exertion was made to free the ships, but in vain ; for after several days' inefiiectual toil in that endeavour, the commanders came to the sad resolution of abandoning them, in order to save the lives of the men. The confusion attending such a resolution is described as extreme, as each individual, anxious for his A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 237 personal safety, was only concerned about his own comforts. The boats were hoisted out, with intent to drag them over the ice until they should reach the open sea. In this dreadful alternative, of remaining to perish in that inhospitable place, or encounter the dangers of the ocean in light open boats, one of those " convulsions of nature," so frequently observed in the icy seas, relieved them from their miserable situation. The ice having ac- cumulated against Spitzbergen, and pressed against on the western side by the unbroken iield ice, in that direc- tion, the current from the north at the same time urging the pack to the southward, the ice began to give way, and the sutierers hailed the opening with joy. They saAv the ships which they had abandoned beginning to move, and immediately hastened on board, in' the hope of deliverance from their perilous situation, and the wind having shifted from an easterly to a N.E. wind, which was, in fact, the cause of the " convulsion of nature," the ice gave way freely before the current, and the ships were set at liberty. After this fortunate escape from a miserable death, the Toyagers had not much spirit to persevere, nor would their endeavours, it appears, have been of much avail, as the state of the season was not favourable to the enterprise. The chart, made on the occasion, exhibits many lines of traverse made in the hope of finding the passage to the Pole ; but the utmost advance effected was no further 238 ATTEIMPTS MADE TO DISCOVER than latitude 81° 36' N. somewhat less than Hudson had gone before. Capt. Phipps having explored thus far, and being satisfied that a passage by that way was impracticable, determined to return home, and both ships arrived in the month of October in the same year. In this manner ended the latest attempt, having for its object the determination of a passage by the north seas to the Pacific Ocean, each undoubtedly undertaken with the most confident hope of success, in the assurance that the errors of preceding trials would enable the successor in the enterprise to avoid such, and consequently to attain a point of such desirable importance. The motives which put the adventurers into action were unquestionably fair and praiseworthy, and no impartial mind should blame their want of success. A cause wherein such men as Mr. Briggs, Mr. Dobbs, and Mr. EUis voluntarily were engaged must, from a consideration of their talents, be of the highest respectability ; but, in the present, we have not alone their valuable suffrage, but that of the whole nation, and of the legislature, that the undertaking so long and frequently attempted should not even yet be abandoned as hopeless. Of the expedition now in contemplation, I must, in truth, pretend ignorance regarding its object and arrange- ment, except so far as the reports of the daily prints are A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 239 designed to inform the public. From this source only, I am aware that some ships are fitted out for the purpose of exploring the long sought passage to the Indian seas by the north-west. On this subject I beg leave, as an eye witness of the state of the globe, recently in a high northern degree, and from a candid examination of the real state of the case, to submit a few observations on the subject, it being one in which the most important results are involved, highly beneficial if successful, and ruinous if otherwise. 240 CHAPTER VIII. OF THE EXPEDITION LATELY PREPARED. A VITAL interest of Great Britain is the extension and security of commerce. From this source, in a great measure, flow her internal grandeur, national renown, and wide dominion ; and every means tending to promote commerce is consequently encouraged to the greatest degree. After the discovery of America by Columbus, or more accurately speaking by Cabot, who was the first to touch upon the continent of North America, as we have seen in the sketch of his voyage, sanguine expectations were entertained of a possibility of finding a passage westward to the East Indies, by which the tedious voyage by the Cape of Good Hope might be avoided ; and no expense was spared in fitting out ships from time to time, to have the expectation realized. New and daring adventurers came forward in hopes of winning the laurels of success, OF THE EXPEDITION I.ATELY PREPARED. 241 but it has been, in many instances unfortunately, — in all unsuccessfully attempted. Mr. Dobbs calculated, on finding the passage in latitude 62° N. which Mr. Ellis proved to be erroneous ; and the latter with equal confidence fixed the probable opening in the north end of Hudson's Bay. Baffin, who was a practicable and able navigator, well accustomed to sailing amongst ice, had acted previously on other grounds, and directed his course up Davis's Strait, and although he had not gained the point, j^et he persisted in the accuracy of his plan till his death, which happened in the East Indies, at the siege of Ormus. Hudson, aware of the errors of his predecessors, tried the way both to Spitzbergen and Davis's Strait. He did not succeed in either ; the ice on the eastern side presenting an eternal obstruction, and, in the latter, his death pre- maturely cut him short before he could prove the superiority of his plans. It is to be regretted that a man so well calculated for enterprise as Hudson was, did not push forwards into Davis's Strait at once, and try to solve this great problem. In Lord Mulgrave's expedition the ideas of Hudson were again acted on ; but the advance effected was not so great even as his. This rapid review of the various expeditions is more, in point of plan, than with any regard to the succession of dates, and my reason for so doing is that, by comparing 2 I 242 OF THE EXPEDITION all the former in the manner in which I have done, the present design of fitting out ships for a similar enterprise may be the more easily understood. In the former undertakings, on the subject of a north- west passage, it had been repeatedly tried on the American side, and the failure of such attempts gave an opportunity of urging an opinion that on the Spitsbergen side the design would be found more practicable. The latter opinion was found erroneous, and speculation was, from the repeated disappointments, compelled to pause. Whilst the desolating work of war was going forward, the thought of renewing the almost forgotten affair of the passage to India, by the north-west seas, must have ap- peared so unfit for inquiry, that one need not wonder that since the expedition under Capt. Phipps, the subject was left for so many years unagitated. But noAV that " wild war's deadly blast is blown," the minds of men have been again attracted to this interesting affair ; and to the honour of the Royal Society it is to be recorded, that the resuscitation of the subject is owing to their philoso- phical vigilance. The great intent of the present undertaking, if I may presume to judge, seems to be, to make a grand effort at once in the sea northward of Spitsbergen, there to push forward directly to the pole, and in Davis's Strait to sail as far northward as possible, with a corresponding intent. r.ATELY PREPARED. 243 Sailing to the north pole has been long a very favourite subject for closet lucubration ; and as long as a man, in such circumstances, chooses to amuse himself harmlessly, or entertain his friends with his effusions through the medium of a magazine, such pursuits are altogether allow- able ; but where such visionary schemes are in con- templation, as would mislead the public mind, in the same manner as the writer misleads himself, not pausing over facts, and maturely weighing their consequences, the prudent will be careful how they admit his opinions, however plausibly dressed up. This Utopian paper-built plan of sailing to the north pole has been long since defeated by the experience of navigators, who penetrated to the eighty-second degree on the Spitzbergen side of Greenland. The whale hunters have even gone to the eighty-fourth degree, and some even much higher, when the season would permit ; whilst, on the other hand, many years may pass before such an opportunity will present itself, the state of the ice depending almost invariably on the state and nature of the prevailing winds, and not as is represented to have occurred last season, on some " convulsion of nature." Again, on the Davis's Strait side of Greenland, another great difficulty occurs, arising from the same universal cause, it being found impracticable, during some years, to ascend much higher than Disko, whilst in more favourable seasons the 2 I 2 244 OF THE EXPEDITION ice clears away, and leaves the sea open for vessels to sail beyond the Frow Islands in the seventy-third degree, and sometimes to the seventy-fourth degree, or, as the sailors familiarly call it, the Devil's Thumb. In some seasons, as in the last, ships can advance even further, as I have noted in my Journal account — to the seventy-eighth degree nearly, until the icy continent spreads its rocky front against further advance that way to the Pole. Now, even were the project of sailing to the Pole a practicable one, is it inferred that in event of such a thing being done, the object of the present voyages would be accomplished ? Allowing, for an instant, that a ship could be brought to the extremity of latitude, until the curiosity of the contriver of such a voj^age might be gratified with a sight of probably the polar star in his zenith,* to what utility could such a proceeding possibly lead? Suppose, at the same time, for the latter supposition is, at least, as likely to be cor- rect as the former, that there exists interminable ice, — such a mass as the icy continent which I have seen at Davis's Strait, what then, it may be asked, would be the proper and safe mode of proceeding, but to return before the season of fogs, frost, and storms should involve the incautious mariner in inevitable destruction ? It is far from my dis- position to treat a matter of such a serious nature with * It is not possible to sec the stars in high northern latitudes during the summer. LATELY PREPARED. 245 levity, nor am I fond of quotations, but I may be in- dulged in applying to such a design, under such circum- stances as hang by the above suppositions, the words of some poet, who, describing a great military expedition, says of the commander, that he " Marched forty thousand up the hill, Then marched them down again." For in what other light can the consequences of this polar visit be viewed but in those of absolute futihty ? As long as the axis of the earth remains in its present angular position, so long will ice be found in those waters, and so long will navigators find obstruction in every attempt to penetrate by the Pole towards the northern Pacific. That the axis of the earth may have undergone some alteration, can, I presume, be very Uttle a matter for dispute ; and of this some very obvious proofs may be adduced. Among these the gradual decay of icy accu- mulation at the poles is the most remarkable. For many years navigators have been astonished at the frequency and magnitude of the bergs or ice islands met with in high lati- tudes, and numerous theories have been oft'ered to explain their construction. Masters in the Greenland and Davis's Strait trade, in other respects men of close observation, have to myself asserted that those immense masses must have pro- ceeded from some great fresh water sea near the Pole. Such persons had never seen the ice continent ; but 246 OF THE EXPEDITION because experience had taught them to find fresh water for the supply of their ships, from pools to be found on the bergs, they of course supposed that those masses could be formed only in fresh water. In the foregoing pages, wherein ice formation is considered, the fallacy of such an opinion has been exposed ; and I think this place not in- appropriate to mention it again, lest any error to that effect should dwell upon the minds of such persons. Now by the descent of those ice bergs into lower lati- tudes', the great parent accumulation must be undergoing annual decay ; but, as it is so rarely seen, from the vast tracts of field ice that keep it usually beyond view, little can be said with regard to its increase by annual supply. Should I be allowed to offer an opinion on the subject, I would presume to say, that the great ice continent is suffering rapid diminution, by the bursting of the bergs from its lofty sides ; that nothing is added to the extent of that continent at its base, as nothing but comparatively thin field ice is there formed, and that as the bergy frag- ments are detached and carried to the southward, it must be evident that they must have open water for their pro- gress in that direction. That the passage of those bergs southward is not in uniform time, many being recognized in particular situa- tions for years, is argument also to prove that the seas in which they move are not always open, and consequently LATELY PREPARED. 247 not always accessible to shipping ; and, with regard to this, the variableness of the winters in the north should be taken into account, some being dreadfully severe, Avhilst others are mild and fit to be endured by the human constitution. Thus the native inhabitants of Greenland are capable of enduring much severity of cold, but in very inclement winters they are comparatively as sensible of extraordinary cold as Europeans. Even the birds of passage and other migratory animals exhibit similar sensations. But here it is worthy of mention, that when the Avinter in southern latitudes is known to be severe, the subsequent or preceding- winter in Greenland is mild, and it is then not unusual to see birds migrating to the northward from southern lati- tudes to enjoy the milder climate of Greenland. This evidence of severity of climate does not therefore depend on the presence of ice ; it must be sought for in a far different cause : not but that where ice is present a greater degree of cold is experienced ; but, from my own experience, I declare that the most intolerable heat I ever suftered was felt at a moment when I was stand- ing up to the knees in snow on a wide field of ice in 70° of N. latitude, and such a recollection is impressed upon my mind from that circumstance, that I should not like to make the experiment a second time. The Uskee children sit and play upon the snow with their heads uncovered in the same manner as European children enjoy the pleasures 24.8 OF THE EXPEDITION of the grassy green ; and the adult Uskee sleeps with tranquillity and comfort on the snow : so do likewise such Danes or other foreigners as accustom themselves from choice or necessity to the habits of the natives. In a design to penetrate the arctic regions, either by the eastern or western side of Greenland, primary attention must be given to the nature of the ice to be met with in those very ditferent waters. The accounts of persons who annually visit the seas around Spitzbergen, agree in re- presenting that island as utterly uninhabitable in the winter months, and by reason of this apprehension the attempt has never yet been made. If any such ever yet occurred, the event is unknown to me ; but the consequences of such an attempt, even arising from necessity in case of ship- wreck, may be easily presumed on natural grounds. The land, like that of Old Greenland, is mostly bare rock, in some scanty spots under the intluence of the sun, in summer, showing forth its cryptogamic tenants, as if the beauties of expanded fructification could not be displayed in such a desert soil. Man is capable of enduring much ; but a climate in 80° could not be sufificiently genial to prolong life in a place which every animal is known to desert on the approach of winter, and all nature is clad in the shroud of death, and mourned over by the howling storm. The shore of Greenland, west, in its most northern LATELY PREPARED. 249 extremity as it presents itself in 74° N . is inhabited, but whether throughout the winter is rather a doubtful circum- stance. The natives of that country are guided by a simple but prudent policy, which affords little information to strangers, regarding their economy, but what can be gleaned by observation. In summer they have been seen so high as that latitude ; but from the view I have had of the Linneean Isles, even in the late universally open season, I am in- clined to think that they do not dwell so far to the north- ward as those islands are situate. I rather think they remove to the southward in winter. The extreme dangers to be encountered in those high latitudes, when once the indications of winter's setting in appear, are incalculable. Though the field ice be at that period broken up, accumulated in packs, dispersed, or even dissolved, still by those several changes the cold, increasing in proportion as the sun moves (apparently) to the southward, condenses the vapour with which the at- mosphere is loaded, and foggy weather succeeds, often rather suddenly, and in such density and extent, as to make the situation of a ship doubtful to the mariner, and if in the neighbourhood of bergs the vessel is in danger of momentary destruction. This part of the subject, I am aware, is prematurely in- troduced, but in the reader's indulgence I request it may be allowed to remain, and that the observation be kept ^ K 350 OF THE EXPEDITION in recollection : we shall see its utility and wholesome application shortly. In hinting the probability of a change in the axis of the earth having taken place, I did not intend that I should be understood to say that such a change was sudden, but imperceptibly gradual. It is not for my humble pen to intrude on the province of the astronomer ; but a thought has suggested itself to my mind, that the matter may be determined simply by measuring the circle which the earth's axis forms in revolution round the polar star, when, if foimd not exactly the same as heretofore, the influence will obviously and fairly be, that some change has taken place. If such a change has occurred, it will justly be considered a matter worthy of discussion among persons conversant in such subjects, to determine whether the centrifugal action may not aid in demolishing that icy hoard in the north of Greenland, which, I appre- hend, encompasses the north pole. I feel that this sug- gestion places me on tickhsh ground : I therefore beg permission to transfer the subject to abler hands. Independently however of the influence of the sun on the ice continent, or on its huge bergy fragments during the summer months, or even were the proofs of the suggestion right regarding the probable effects of the centrifugal force, another cause exists to retard or promote the formation of ice (I mean the flat or ordinary field ice). LATELY PREPARED. 251 and subsequently contribute to its destruction. The cause to which I allude is the operation of the wind, which, in all its changes, reigns the tyrant of the arctic world. To explain this it will be necessary to examine the matter in a very few points only. The reader has seen in the course of my Journal, from the time of entering Uavis's Strait and meeting with the ice, a faithful record of every wind that blew, and its effects on the atmosphere, as indicated by the thermometer. That part of the Journal is divested of every comment, in order that those effects should meet the eye, and satisfy the mind at once. The plan has been continued up to Disko in the seventieth degree, and resumed with the progress of the Journal to the Linnaean Isles, and down again to the seventy-fourth degree, when the indications of approaching winter commenced. I shall now copy an extract from a Journal kept by Crantz, during a winter in Greenland. I shall abridge it so as not to tire the reader with details. September. — Wind N.E. warm; wind S. very warm; wind S. storm. October. — Wind N.E. snow ; wind N.E. storm and cold; wind S. storm and snow. November. — Wind N.E. excessively cold; wind S.E. storm and snow dust ; wind S. storm. December. — Lightnino- ; afterwards S.E. winds. 2 K 2 252 OF THE EXPEDITION January. — Wind N. and N.E. cold in earnest; more mild in the end. February. — Wind N. and N.E. extreme cold : then rain; thawing E. and S. winds ; cold and rain. From the foregoing extract it may be observed, that the cold of winter sets in early in September (the above months being dated on the first day of each), and that the prevailing winds throughout the months of that season are E. N. or N.E., and these are connected with the expressions, cold, snow, storm and cold, excessively cold, storm and snow dust, excessively cold, and cold in earnest. The latter phrase the reader must interpret for himself. Mr. Ellis, who, as has been mentioned, remained during a winter in Hudson's Bay, states that the winter began there in the latter end of September, with sleet and large tlakes of snow. When the wind was westerly or southerly, the cold was very supportable ; but when the wind was northerly, or north-westerly, it was excessively keen, with drift snow as small as grains of sand. From a glance back to my Journal, it will be seen that in the summer months, northerly, north-easterly, or easterly winds, promote the process of freezing. The extract from Crantz's Journal shows that those winds prevail in winter, at which time the field ice is formed in the arctic seas ; and Ellis's account of northerly winds exercising dominion and similar influence in Hudson's Bay, aids the conclusion 8 LATELY PREPARED. 253 that those winds, continuing to blow during the winter, must produce that great field of ice which extends across the frozen seas properly so denominated. On the contrary, by referring to the observations of both the above-mentioned writers, it will be found that westerly or southerly winds produce an increased temperature in the air, which leads to a solution of the ice in the early summer months, more especially in Davis's Strait ; and the record in my Journal is additional evidence of this fact. So that on those extremities of the icy plain, the first open spaces must evidently occur on the south-western side. Now the influence of the sun, as the summer advances, taking effect upon the ice, disposes it to split ; and the first wind that agitates the surface of the sea, causes a swell, by means of which the whole is broken up. Subsequently, the solution of the ice helps to swell the current, and it only requires the action of a northerly or easterly wind, to drive the broken ice into packs, which are afterwards carried do^vn to the southward or westward, and there finally dissolved. The importance of considering the state of the winds in the northern seas, and their effects, both in the winter and summer seasons, appeared very great, for the following reasons : In the first place, no vessel can navigate those seas in 254 OF THE EXPEDITION winter, on account of the excessive cold ; the surface of the sea being covered over with ice. Secondly, because the ice does not begin to break up till the month of April, and sometimes till the latter end of May, when the wind blows from 8. and W. And lastly, because it is impossible for any ship or other vessel to proceed into high latitudes, unless an easterly, northerly, or north-easterly wind has previously occurred, to clear away the ice, and render the passage northward free. Having now examined the points most material to be retiected on, regarding the navigation of the frozen seas, it appears a convenient and proper place to offer a few remarks on the precise subject of the north-west passage through those seas, into the North Paciiic Ocean, and thence to Japan, China, the East Indies, and also to the west coasts of America. The brief sketch of the numerous attempts made in former years to explore the north-west passage, which has been submitted to the reader in the preceding pages, would appear quite sufficient to warrant the conclusion that all hopes of its practicability, by the way of Hudson's Bay, vanished with the failure of the expedition recorded by Ellis in the voyage of the Dobbs and California. And yet, though that disappointment evidently weighed heavy on the minds of the adventurers in that expedition, still so strong LATELY PREPARED. 255 was the infatuation attending the project, that the historian of that failure takes leave of his subject with recommending further trials in Chesterfield's Inlet or Repulse Bay. The discredit thrown on the plan by the attempts to penetrate to India by a north-east passage, will not be brought forward as an inducement to make any further exertions in that direction ; and I have little doubt on my mind, that the design of sailing to the North Pole, in the intent of making that a way to India, if now put in execu- tion, will not be repeated soon. 256 CHAPTER VIII. OF THE ONLY ROUTE BY WHICH SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. 1 HERE remains only one other direction as yet un- explored, in which to make further attempts for this great desideratum in navigation ; and that is, in Davis's Strait, in a high latitude. Bylot and Baffin penetrated very far to the northward — as report says, to the seventy-eighth degree of north latitude. Those navigators, it seems, were desirous of proceeding to the North Pole also ; however that may be, they changed their minds, and, proceeding Avestward, discovered the land on the American side, where they gave name to a sound ; and, without affording any better lights to guide conjecture by, without exploring that sound or the one to the north- westward of it, they forthwith went to the southward, equally unmindful of any opening along the coast, yet occasionally coming in sight of land, and so returned home. HOW SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. 257 Now Mr. Ellis and others, who examined the bottom of Hudson's Bay, observed the current always coming from the northward, precisely in the direction of the sound named by Baffin, and more particularly of the great sound beyond that. Such a current could easily find its way through even very broken lands and narrow channels, and have an abundant supply from the solution of the Arctic ice. Here then is a rational and ample field for an accurate investigation ; and if those persons who are engaged to explore the north-west passage need a stronger impulse than the honour of deciding this long agitated question, or the more solid splendour of a share in the golden reward, I shall ask their permission to put them in possession of a fact of some consequence to the attainment of success. Some of the whale ships which had proceeded furthest north in the course of last summer in Davis's Strait, as may be seen in my Journal, got embarrassed amongst packed ice, and, as they were so circumstanced, were in extreme danger. It was necessary to wait for the aid of some friendly wind to extricate them, which, very fortunately, soon came to their relief. Whilst in that situation, the master of one, being, as usual, stationed in the hurricane- house, near the mast head, on looking westward and northward, observed the sea become clear to an intermi- nable extent in that direction, and the surface soon after 2 L 258 THE ONLY ROUTE BY WHICH began to swell and rise, which are the surest indications of an extensive sea, and these motions shortly cleared away the pack, when no obstruction appeared to prevent him sailing as far to the north-west as inclination might urge ; but the season being then so far advanced, that to remain any longer would be dangerous beyond calculation, and his oath being in the way of research, as well as the whales having disappeared, — all these considerations were sufficient to compel his immediate return. On this fact I shall make no comment further than putting a short query. Had the commander of a ship been so circumstanced as to have a door of such an inviting description thrown open before him to the north-west, and that in the seventy-sixth degree of north latitude, in the middle of July, when the fogs were about to set in, would he think it adviseable to proceed to the north-west, and take chance of the casualties of ice driven thither before him, and probably covering the coast, which by embarrassing his progress might compel him to remain longer than he otherwise would wish ? I may take the liberty of stating, moreover, that in consequence of the ice descending from the northward in the beginning of the season, and driving chieliy to the south-west, any attempt at penetrating to the north-west by that course is considered quite impracticable and extremeh^ dangerous ; so that the east coast of James's Island is nevei- SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. 259 seen by navigators going out. and in latter years seldom b}^ those returning homewards. The opportunities, then, which I have had of observing the actual state of the Arctic seas, have produced on my mind a conviction that it is practicable for ships to find a passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean, by the shores of North America, and that that passage is to be effected above the seventy-fourth degree of north latitude. The various appearances of the ice found in those seas, and the effects produced from congelation, are of eminent im- portance in the consideration of the present subject, as all the discoveries hitherto made in the frozen regions have terminated with the ice. In Cooke's voyages it appears, that the state of the ice forbade an approach to the North Pole much above Behring's Strait. To this point, I wish to apply a few observations. Open sea is always favourable to the solution of ice, from the great agitation of the surface, ice being invariably formed in a state of rest. In support of this the reader is requested to refer to a fact stated in that part of the observations which regarded ice formation : — whenever the ship came within an extent of recent congelation a calm ensued. That such could not be accidental, was evident from its invariable recurrence in similar circum- stances, and that too when the presence of land was so remote as not to aid in producing any change of wind. It 2 L 2 260 THE ONLY ROUTE BY WHICH certainly appeared to me an unusual occurrence, that a vessel under full but easy way, should be at once arrested in her progress by causes not obvious to common view ; yet such was the case whenever the ship's course lay through an extent of nascent ice. It has been also observed, that the water surface in the vicinity of field-ice is usually tranquil, and therefore dangerous to ships in case of a strong wind pressing on the distant extremity of the field, or any other cause, such as currents, projecting rocks, or heavy bergs urging forward the mass. In such a case, it must be obvious the danger chiefly arises from the apparent security, as the inexperienced would consider the tranquillity of his station to be indicative of the absence of danger ; but should the ice begin to move, a vessel so circumstanced must drift before it, and have to encounter the hidden dangers of the deep, or, in the event of a gale, to meet the awful consequences of the ice becoming packed, when, if sur- rounded by those heavy fragments, there is scarcely a chance of escape. The sailors accustomed to those situations are very expert in determining the course of the packed ice, and measure with singular accuracy the physical pressure of each piece likely to come in contact with the ship. Where an open space in the pack appears sufficiently large to admit of manoeuvring the vessel, it is usually entered, until some opening is observable. Such SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. 261 an open space is called a hole of water, in the language of the whale hunters. In the works of writers who have described the Alps, mention is made of extensive beds of ice occupying the higher valleys among those mountains. Those are denomi- nated glaciers, which appears to be an appropriate term. Though remote from the subject in question, with regard to distance, the introduction of the Alpine glaciers in this place may be allowed, and the brevity of my observa- tion will help to excuse the introduction. The Alps, on account of their great elevation, are mostly covered with snow, which in the summer months is dissolved, and carried down to the valleys. The valleys are met with in different elevations, for which reason the temperature of those places is at all times different. The dissolved snow, under such different degrees of temperature, must be, in the more elevated valleys, converted into ice, which, in turn, is again reduced to a fluid state as the atmosphere becomes more heated ; and hence the origin of those many streams, torrents, lakes and navigable rivers which derive their tribute from Alpine sources. It is not, however, always the case that the dissolved ice and snow can reach the lower situations without diminution. Many of those valleys are confined pits, the solid surrounding rocks affording no outlet for the accumulated waters, which 262 THE ONLY ROUTE BY WHICH being so confined, and in a great elevation, invariably become ice, which is rarely aftewards dissolved. Each succeeding year increases its volume, and the glacier is formed. Such is the progress of glacier ice in Switzerland. There it is known to lie only in elevated situations ; but not having at hand a scale of such elevations, I must request the reader to make that very needful reference. In the southern parts of Greenland, the elevations are much more considerable than the more northern. In those parts therefore glacier ice may have been seen ; such pro- bably as has shut up the western extremity of Frobisher's Strait, and rendered that way no longer passable to navigators. Indeed there is one very remarkable place on the western coast of Greenland, which the Danes call the Eis Blink, and which I have every reason to think is nothing more than a monstrous berg, which by some " revolution of nature," such as a contrary wind, and the great in- draught which is known to exist on those shores, had many years since been forced into that situation. In Greenland further north, from Reef Koll to the great basaltic Disko, the land becomes remarkably low and rounded, few mountains there appearing. The existence therefore of glacier ice cannot be, in those places, pro- bable. The intersections of Greenland by its numerous internal waters are, however, difficult of investigation SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. a63 from the fiords,* sounds, and other entrances being blocked up by the bergy ice, which obstructs the passage of such field, or packed ice, as descends from the internal waters ; for it may be received as an axiom, that, in ex- tensive seas, there is the readiest solution of ice. From Disko to the northward the land gradually be- comes less elevated, an odd eminence occasionally ap- pearing above the descending line, until the most remote lands are buried in the polar ice, which beyond the Linnaean Isles is seen to out-top the rocky prominences. From what cause the accumulation of polar ice has arisen is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to determine. The depression of the earth's axis, during the great change which gave the globe its present appearance, mijght be assumed as a prevailing cause. The presence of the sun, were there no declination, would extend a steady degree of temperature towards both poles, and would in that case * Fiord, pronounced feuor, is the space between two projecting mountains, the bottom being narrower as the bases of the promontories descend in the sea, into which tliey dip sometimes steeply, but generally otherwise, as has been determined by soundings, which are always more shallow near the rocks than more remotely ; so that the jutting base of the rock on both sides may be distinctly traced by sounding towards the middle of the fiord. There is generally shoal water or a rocky reef in the neighbourhood of a fiord, which may be easily distinguished from the, other inlets by the land being visible at its inner extremity, and from a bay by its very narrow appearance. It is therefore adviseable to keep a good offing when near any of those fiords. 264 HOW SUCCESS MAY BE ATTAINED. forbid the great accumulation of ice, which, during the months of winter, is at present known to occur. To the same cause, if the supposition be admitted, the destruction of the polar icy continent or glacier may be assigned — the operation of the sun's rays, and also the centrifugal action of the earth aiding that operation. Under this double influence, the immense bergs are rent off from the original mass, borne southwards by the pre- vailing current, and occasionally urged by the wind, and seldom pass the latitude of Staten Hook before they be- come finally dissolved. Now if this destruction go on for some years longer, the icy continent must at length dis- appear ; such immense fragments being annually torn from its sides, and no increase supplying their place, those seas will become open at an earlier period than heretofore, and consequently more generally and safely navigable. In that event, which is predicted in the genuine spirit of a con- viction of its accuracy, and I would add certainty, it may not be irrelevant to add some observations regarding Disko Island, as it may hereafter stand connected with the con- cerns of British commerce. 265 CHAPTER IX. OF THE IMPORTANCE OF DISKO IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. The island of Disko is of great elevation, as I have said, being more than 6000 feet perpendicular above the sea level, on its southern side, which at Fortune Bay hes in the latitude of 69° 10' N. but runs into a low point at its northern extremity, in the Mallegat Sound, which is about the latitude 70° 18' N. measuring in its greatest length more than one nautical degree. The general form of the island is triangular, as may be seen by inspecting the draft in Chart HI. The great body of the land of Disko is formed of basaltic columns of irregular pile, but sufficiently marked to decide their character. The southern, interior and western parts, particularly the latter, are lofty table land, with fine deep harbours, which are safe retreats for shipping when the ice begins to break up and descend to the southward, except when southerly or westerly winds happen to blow ; but against any danger 2 M 266 IMPORTANCE OF DISKO in those cases a very little care would afford ample security. On the southern extremity, from Fortune Bay to Lievely, there are fine situations for harbours ; but being at present in a state of nature, they present little to attract the notice of a cursory visitor. Towards the eastward, the land declines from the westward and northward until at Flat- foot Shore it imperceptibly becomes strand. On the north- eastern side, the shore is skirted with very lofty peaks, some of which are said to stretch their shadow across the Way gat Sound, which is in one place twenty-five miles over. Of that circumstance, however, I am not certain ; but one of those peaks is visible above the greater part of the western side of Disko. To the southward of Disko lies South-east Bay ; within which are seen some groupes of low islands. Among these the Avestern islands are situate at the south-western extremity, and are inhabited very numerously by Uskees. The whale islands are also much inhabited by the same people ; and, at the latter place, the Danish ofhcer who superintends the colony is usually resident, but oc- casionally removes to Lievely. The Dog Islands, Green Islands, and all the other islands sprinkled along the coast around South-east Bay, are peopled with Uskees, and are their favourite residence. It is not usual to find South-east Bay covered with the ice after the end of June ; but it frequently is closed until IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 267 about the beginning or middle of that month. In the latter part of the summer, after the whalers have departed, it is usually quite clear of ice, and, in the months of August and September, the numbers of whales that re- sort to this bay, on their return to the southward, are re- presented to be incredible. Tlie Waygat Sound, in the latter season, is also frequently open, and more certainly after an easterly or north-easterly wind has been for some time blowing, and is, in such case, a safe and commodious way for vessels to proceed northward. The Mallegat Sound, between Hare Island and Disko, is not safe, on account of the dangerous rocks which lie numerously near the land on both sides. North-east Bay, and Jacob's Bay, or Bight, as it is sometimes called, are principal retreats for the whale, which in some years is killed there in great number. Bergy Bay, to the northward of Jacob's Bay, is dangerous on account of the great number of ice bergs, which are carried in thither by a strong current running constantly round the point called Black Hook, and are there shoaled, and remain in their positions for years. -Black Hook is a low bluff head, with table summit, from which circumstance it is easily distinguished. For the remaining parts of the coast northward, I beg leave to refer to the second part of my Journal. From South-east Bay, many passages to the interior waters oC Greenland are known to exist : but from many 2 M 2 268 IMPORTANCE OF DISKO causes, they remain unexplored. To the supineness of the few Danes residing in those places that neglect is to be attributed. On being sent into those parts they sink into an habitual languor, more remarkable than even the characteristic tranquillity of the natives. Such habits unfit the Danes for much exertion, and they consequently drag out the years of their banishment in a state of inactivity ; whilst even such of that nation as, from their superior stiition, have an interest in remaining, scarcely do more than collect the scanty superfluities of the natives, for which some trifling articles are given in exchange. The natives moreover, intent only on their seal hunting and other aquatic pursuits, if successful, are totally regardless of the future, and give themselves no concern about nautical discoveries. To the Avhale hunters, as at present bound by law, accident only can afford an opportunity of knowing any thing of the matter. From one of the latter I suc- ceeded in extorting by some address the following com- munication, which he said he had received from an old master in the Davis's Strait trade. " In Makkelik Ouit there is an entrance to a great inland sea. So also there is a leading from Jacob's Bight, probably into the same, through which two frigates, sup- posed to be Enghsh, endeavoured to penetrate ; but one had been involved in such dilhculties that she never returned, and was lost with all on board. The name of IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 269 one was the Active, Actinix, or Actaeon. In North-east Bay a passage of the same kind is also known for more than forty miles inwards. In the latter passage the islands were observed to lie in some places not more than a mile distant from each other, but lying more remotely further inwards, when, at the distance above-mentioned, the view was open sea as far as the eye could reach." If the above information be correct, which I have little reason to doubt, from the singular value set upon the communication by the person who made it, as well as the great unwillingness evinced on the occasion, it may here- after serve some important purpose, for which end I have inserted the matter nearly in the terms in which I received it. The expectations attached to the expedition at present preparing to go into Davis's Strait, lead me to hope that the information which I have given in the foregoing pages, regarding the ice met with in those Avaters, will be found useful to those who proceed with that expedition. I am not less anxious, however, to be heard attentively on the present point, namely, the importance of Disko, as con- nected with the events arising from the expedition. I would at once propose that the British government should get possession of the island of Disko, and all the lands adjacent to south-east. The present Avretched state of that colony renders it of little value to Denmark ; but 270 LAIPORTANCE OF DISKO in the hands of Great Britain it would be rendered of great importance in many points of view. On account of the insignificant appearance of the place, as it now stands, government would find it not difficult to obtain possession of it ; and in the course of one summer it might be placed in such a state of respectability and comfort, as would enable an English colony to attach itself to such a re- sidence ; and in the event of the strait becoming more frequented, in consequence of the discovery of the north- west passage, it is indispensably requisite that a proper force should be established, either at Lievely, or some of the islands in South-east Bay, to be at hand for the protection of British commerce, in case of any future misunderstanding with other states. When the advantages .of such a design come to be known sufficiently, this plan will appear the more necessary. The situation of Lievely is peculiarly adapted for the establishment of such a colony, as it possesses a snug harbour, naturallj^ protected by islands on the west side, and the high rock of Disko, called the Black Land, which overhangs the sea to the eastward of the harbour, and defends it from the ice. The skirt of Disko on the south side is low, in comparison with the general elevation of the mountain which rises almost in a perpendicular front, and at an average distance of two miles from the sea to where the rock rises most abruptly. The approach to the IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 271 bold rock from the shore is extremely irregular, and shelving in extensive beds, bearing a rude resemblance to roads unskilfully hewn from the rocky ascent. This low broken skirt extends nearly from the Black Land to Fortune Bay, and consists entirely of bare rock, in many places covered with lichens of beautiful colours, and in- terspersed with a timid willow (salix reticulata), which creeps along the face of the rock, unable to rise before the bleak and withering winds. Numerous alpine plants are exposed when the sun has dissolved the snow, but these experience but a transient existence, and can be collected only during a short period in summer. At that season the sun exerts surprising force along this space, in which Lievely is of course included. The accu- mulation of heat is then so great that all vegetable life is rapidly evolved, and the situation of Lievely becomes pleasant. The whale ships having already arrived, or proceeded to the northward, increase the comfort of the natives by the coarse articles which thej' give them in exchange for their seal-skin dresses, and all becomes bustle, activity, and enjoyment. It is then also the Greenlander experiences that happiness which attaches him to his dreary home, which he would not exchange for such useless luxuries as warmer chmates could afford. Such he wants not, nor covets, unless in the pernicious consequence of having been enticed to know them. A 272 BIPORTANCE OF DISKO curious circumstance attends even a temporary residence in those regions. Any person who has once visited those places feels an unaccountable desire to see them again, until frequent visits render it almost habitual. For this reason, I am inclined to think that, were a British colony settled there, enjoying the superior comforts which they could command every year by the return of the whalers, in a few years the people would be not only reconciled to their situation, but even attached to the place. If well provided, and properly trained for the purpose, the colonists might, in the latter season, kill so many whales as would enable them to amass large fortunes, when, if they chose, and the necessary regulations would permit, they might return to spend the rest of their life in affluence and ease. This is by no means an idle specu- lation, as I am certain many of the persons now engaged in the whale trade would be found ready to embrace such a proposal, and furnish active and skilful hands to take ^advantage of the after season, if secure and comfortable accommodations during winter were provided. Ships going out in the spring could convey the necessary materials of wood and other articles for building, by way of ballast, and carry also such clothing and provisions as would be wanted at the colony, taking back the produce of the whale in return. Or were Newfoundland made an entrepot between the colony and home, more than one IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 273 voyage every summer might be effected between Disko and Newfoundland, which, affording greater faciUties, would add much to the importance of the new colony. Here however I deem it adviseable to guard against the mis- chiefs of monopoly, not to suffer a few interested indi- viduals to take advantage of that station, as such a proceeding would defeat the valuable consequences arising from the passage by the north-west, or rather by the arctic shores of North America. Government, by holding the place in possession for the common benefit of all, will thereby make it a national concern, and the public at large will benefit by the measure. The stone materials for building are so easily raised, as they lie loosely on each other in basaltic form, that in the course of an incredibly short time a respectable fortress might be erected in any point the most eligible, at, or near Lievely, as may be determined by a competent engi- neer. Those materials will not require much labour to bring them into shape, and may in the first instance be placed in their natural form, and the building can after- wards be beautified in proportion as the advantages of the colony may be known. By that means a mole may be easily extended across the islands at Lievely, which will serve both as a military defence, and a shelter for vessels which may happen to remain there for the winter. A similar work will protect that little harbour on the eastwardj 2 N 274 IMPORTANCES OF DISKO it will then afford anchorage for fiftj^ ships, and be a secure retreat in every season when the ice is broken up. The situation of Lievely is commanded only from the lofty summit of Disko, which, from its great elevation, is nearly inaccessible, and can be approached only from the south-eastern extremity at Flat-foot shore ; and to this latter place an enemy could not venture to approach without being seen from Lievely, and counteracted in his plans. A single observation will decide that point. During the summer months there is no night at Disko, as every person in the least acquainted with the globe must know. During that "period therefore the regular succession of guard could not fail to detect the presence of any hostile force, and precautions could be easily taken to render any attempt unavailing. Disko, therefore, becomes important in consideration of its capabilities of aft'ording a comfortable residence during the winter, at which time the N.W., N. and N.E. winds prevail, against the severity of which a colony fixed at Lievely would be completely sheltered ; and if well housed with plenty of fuel, coal being found in the lands to the east ward of South-east Bay, the business of casking the whale fat (blubber) might well be carried on during the winter, and the ships made ready for sea at the first opening of the ice. Besides, as a convenient depot for goods con- veyed by ships sailing by the new passage, and carrying IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 275 on an intercourse with the Pacific Ocean, the importance of Disko becomes incalculably great. When viewed in this regard, and its facilities duly con- sidered, it will be evident that the earliest opportunity should be taken to secure the possession of a place of such importance to the British interests. In fact a due regard for the concerns of expected commerce with the Indian nations by the northern route, will demand the possession of that particular station for the proper pro- tection of that commerce, as it may be confidently asserted that both the American, and the Russian commerce will be pushed into the Indian seas by the same course, and a rivalry of trade will be among the consequences. The dignity of the crown and of the nation is moreover deeply concerned, not to suffer the national honour to be compromised or insulted, to both which evils that honour is exposed, unless such a station as Disko is secured, for no other place in Davis's Strait so well suits that object. The Danish government, crippled by the late naval war, was unable to extend her protection, even if so inclined, to her Greenland subjects. This was evident in a pro- ceeding which was little creditable to the assailants. The master of one of the whale ships, in the course of the war, not having had success in his voyage, landed at one of those miserable settlements, and plundered the people of whatever oil, blubber, whale-bone, or skins, they possessed, 276 IMPORTANCE' OF DISKO and carried the spoil on board iiis ship in triumph. No opposition could be made ; the poor people therefore submitted, being informed that England and Denmark were at war. No inquiry was ever instituted on the subject, and restitution, I believe, never made to the persons so plundered. A schooner and a small sloop are the only Danish vessels usually seen at Lievely, and they are kept for the purpose of collecting the produce of the miserable trade at present existing there. It may therefore be in- sisted that little difficulty can lie in the way of obtaining the transfer of Disko from the Danes, as it appears to them rather a burden than a benefit, and a trifling equiva- lent must be sufficient to satisfy their claim regarding it. The unwillingness of that government to maintain a con- nexion with Greenland has appeared invariably in every period of its history ; and the placing of the poor Uskees under the advantages of the EngUsh constitution will be to them the greatest blessing. This I mention with the greater confidence from the partiality Avhich they even now evince towards the crews of British ships, and their hesi- tating not to express their dislike of the Danes. The natives of Greenland will have a strong inducement to accept of such a change, as the importation of English cloth amongst them will help to increase their comforts. The coarsest kind will be acceptable to them, and their industry will be encouraged to provide for the market the IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 277 seal-skin dresses, which, prepared in the Uskee manner, are indispensable to the sailors frequenting Davis's Strait. The Uskee Jackets (called watry pook, probably an imita- tion of the word water proof) are impermeable to water ; so also are the trowsers, gloves, and boots, which are all made of the skins of seals deprived of the hair. The form in which the Jackets are cut is very neat, and the whole dress looks well when decorated with seals' teeth, which is usually done in a very tasteful manner. When the sailor apprehends wet or severe weather he is generally dressed in the Uskee fashion, and is then regardless of the storm, having all his under dress dry and comfortable. There are numerous other advantages accruing to the native Greenlanders from such a change ; but to those it may be considered superfluous to draw the reader's attention. To the design of taking possession of Disko, it may be obiected that the distance at which it lies from any British port, and its being for so many months locked up by ice, would render the expense of retaining a barren spot like it unprofitable. To this a satisfactory reply is ready. The animals which abound in the seas all around Disko, will, by their capture, repay much more than the expense even of establishing a colony there, were no ulterior object in view ; and a little labour will be sufficient to make it, as a military post, impregnable. As to the objection about its being so long locked up by ice, the same might also be 278 IMPORTANCE OF DISKO urged against the Baltic and Archangel trade. Such ob- jections are, therefore, weak and unavailing to such as seriously consider the importance of the subject. The comfort of the colony in winter can be rendered as com- plete in Disko as it is in many northern parts of the Rus- sian empire, where the use of stoves counteracts the effects of cold as great, I am confident, as will be ever experienced at Disko. The late inventions of the uses of steam in heating apartments may be applied to the same purpose in Disko as elsewhere ; so that a Greenland habitation may hereafter be found comfortable even to a luxurious degree. In the event of the north-west passage being determined, vessels aided by easterly and northerly winds in the be- ginning of the season may run across westward, probably before the heavy ice comes down, and in their return east- ward, the westerly and northerly winds, which prevail much on the American side in the latter season, together with the current, which is always in a southerly direction, will enable them to effect their passage across the arctic sea. In both those instances Disko will present a favour- able resting place, either to remain at during winter, or to leave such goods as may be thought necessary for the colony, or for the purpose of procuring a supply of water, which is constantly flowing from the summits of Disko through some of the numerous channels in its rocky sides. 8 ' IN THE CASE OF SUCCESS. 279 A further reason may be adduced why that situation for a colony is very adviseable, nay most necessary : accidents may occur in the arctic seas, from which serious con- sequences may arise to vessels engaged either in the whale fisheries, as they are called, or in the Pacific Ocean trade ; and in such circumstances the ports of Disko, pre- senting a favourable retreat, can be said to offer an en- couragement to the distressed mariner to make every endeavour in overcoming his difficulties in order to reach such a secure asylum. The dangers of those seas would thereby become diminished, as the increasing information, derivable from the numerous and varied courses of shipping, would ascertain the real, and remove the imaginary dangers of the voyage. Such beneficial consequences would not be confined to Davis's Strait alone, much less to the shores of Disko. The experience of each succeeding year, by adding to the stock of nautical and philosophical science, would enable the navigator and the closeted philosopher to unite in effecting a junction between experience and abstract reasoning, mutually beneficial to the cause of commerce and of general science, and productive of a third good effect — the advancement of the great cause of humanity. I shall proceed to examine, in as concise a compass as possible, the probable results of the expedition. In this respect I have to hope that the vanity of prophecy may 280 IMPORTANCE OF DISKO IN CASE OF SUCCESS. not be ascribed as my motive. Having seen much of the arctic seas, all the varieties of ice formation, as well as under what peculiar causes its destruction is every year effected, and having pointed out to observation the desti- nation of such portions as are not usually dissolved in the early parts of the season, it may be allowable to indulge a little effort of imagination in tracing out a line across the arctic ocean, in which the famed passage is most Hkely to be effected. 281 CHAPTER X. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. The various attempts hitherto made for the discovery of the north-west passage to the Indian seas are aheady before the reader. The causes of disappointment in these attempts have been Ukewise detailed. One only point appears to remain unexplored, which, unfortunately for the meritorious Baffin, was not examined in his last expe- dition. It is not fair to attribute that failure to Baffin, or even Bylot. Any one little conversant with the perpetual annoyance of obstacles occurring in icy seas, and such as early navigators in those regions have to experience, cannot be supposed well able to determine on the conduct of such men as Baffin and Bylot when involved among ice, and remote from lands with which they Avere familiar, and in quest of others " which' they knew not of." The greatest praise is due to such men for their intrepidity, and to them particularly who made such a mighty attempt 2 o 282 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS even before the legislature had decreed the sum of money which has been since held forth as an inducement to the completion of the discovery. It must have been somewhere near Devil's Thumb that the route of Bathn was continued, as related, to the seventy-eighth degree ; but as the land along that quarter is low and declining rapidly in descent as it approaches the Pole, and also verges much to the eastward, such a course could not be productive of beneficial consequences to inquiry after the north-west passage. Such a way was likely to be as unsuccessful as the design of sailing to the North Pole. The relation of the return of those navigators is equally mysterious. Whether, in their return from lands in the seventy-eighth degree, they had suc- ceeded in sailing to the nortliAvard of the chain of the Linnaean Isles, and consequently to the northward of the great accumulation of ice beyond them, is not known. That thejr saw on their return some islands, which are called Gary's Islands, and sounds (of course lands) on the western side of Davis's Strait, or Baffin's Bay, is a cir- cumstance which is also involved in obscurity. With that however the present question has no immediate concern : but I cannot let the term Baffin's Bay pass without remark. Any water, to constitute a bay, must be embraced by land ; such for instance, as is Hudson's Bay ; but if there appear no land to the northward of Baffin's Bay, as I presume is ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, 283 the fact, then future geographers will designate that portion of the globe difl'erently from what has been heretofore done. The present expedition, if properly furnished with men of scientific qualification, as I have no doubt it will be under the direction of the Royal Society, Avill return with store of materials to furnish the most accurate and ample information on this subject. Mr. Ellis, in his voyage with the Dobbs and California, found the current always setting from the northward, even in places where no opening in that direction was per- ceiveable. It is true, he also observed the tide running successively the contrary way ; but still his mind was im- pressed with the firmest conviction that a sailing passage must be found in a northern direction in the bottom of Hudson's Bay. He even pointed out the choice of two places where the passage was to be effected ; and that, from his view of the great supply of water always coming from the northward. It does not appear that any attempt has been since made on Mr. Elhs's suggestion ; and as no refutation of his opinion can be advanced, his suggestion remains in undiminished credit. Mr. Hearn, in traversing a portion of the North American continent, came in view of the sea, which then appeared extending interminably to the northward, and free from ice. This was probably some great bay belonging to the Arctic Ocean, and which will most likely be traversed 2 o 2 284 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS by the ships of the expedition. That this expectation is not unsupported by facts will not be denied. In the fnst phice, the voyagers in Hudson's Bay found a northern current setting into that bay to the southward. Ice bergs have been also seen in Hudson's Bay ; but, as Mr. Elhs relates, rarely to the northward ; his directions being to keep as much to the northward as possible, those parts being usually free from ice. Now we have seen that ice exists only in tranquil water, and, of course, where a strong current, or much agitation of the sea, is observable, the dissolution of ice is a certain consequence. If there- fore Mr. Ellis found the ice less frequent in the northern parts of Hudson's Bay, where a strong current was known to run, it naturally follows that the current descended from the Arctic Ocean, dissolving the ice in its progress, or leaving the congealed masses behind among the rocky channels leading from that water into Hudson's Bay. Either of those deductions is unfavourable therefore to the prosecution of a passage to the Pacific by the bottom of Hudson's Bay; the former by presenting the dithculties arising from an impetuous current, and the apprehended obstructions oi" masses of ice and shelving rocks ; the latter as leading inquiry merely into the Arctic regions. From those deductions, however, one good consequence results. The current to the southward, which appears to borrow its chief supply from the great Tartarian torrents, ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 285 which empty themselves into the Icy Ocean, and are there, in consequence of the centrifugal action of the globe, forced to continue their motion, seeking an exit by the three openings which surround the Pole, in its progress, carries along the bergs and broken ice, and either deposits them partially in the creeks and bays, or urges them to seek a passage along with its course. The waters thus cleared afford a free passage for navigation, and as Hearn saw a portion of this very sea clear and navigable, so, I trust, will the persons embarked in the present expedition merit to be congratulated on their return for having traced out the whole of the Arctic shores of North America without danger or obstruction. The north-easterly winds impel the broken ice towards those shores, and will demand the utmost vigilance to guard against such destructive company in case of con- trary winds. The prudence and caution of the mariner are in every instance praiseworthy ; but, in the present instance, I may be indulged in directing his attention most earnestly to the form and character of the clouds, and such other matters as are contained in my Journal. Previous experience or superior information may render this admonition superfluous ; but, even if it be so, I have much satisfaction in being able to communicate so much as I have done. However, assuming to myself the credit of faithfully representing those facts which have come 286 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS directly under my observation, it is very remote from my expectation, that my communications will not be con- sidered of value, both from the accuracy of detail and the intention with which they are advanced. As no doubt of the final success of the expedition rests upon my mind, we shall follow up the inquiry, by way of anticipation on the course to be pursued. Passing by the channels through which the southern current makes its progress into Hudson's Bay through Chesterfield's Inlet or Repulse Bay, and also crossing over the entrance of the great bay observed by Hearn, a tract of coast presents itself totally unknown, and upon whose border the most prominent difficulties stand. The narrow outlet for the ice by Behring's Strait is the chief cause of those difficul- ties ; because if the polar accumulation extend so far to the westward as to come in contact with the American coast, all further inquiry will be fruitless. If, however, the icy continent extend not so far, as I have much ground to imagine, from Hearn's seeing open water, the voyage will proceed prosperously, and the long desired end will be triumphantly attained. The whole, if actively investigated, will be effected within the space of one month after de- parting from the latitude of Disko : but the greatest pre- caution should be observed in noting the different state of the ice on the progress westward ; otherwise a return may be attended with disappointment and danger, in the present ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 287 infant state of the design ; particularly if the north-east winds have driven the ice towards the shores of Cumberland Isle. At future periods experience will point out the actual situation of the ice in the latter season, of which a regular record should be deposited in the care of the Royal Society, as it may hereafter be found of the greatest benefit when those seas become frequented by trading vessels. It Avould not at the first attempt be adviseable to search the coasts to the southward, Avith intent to find a passage towards Cook's River, the northern termination of which is still unknown. The expedition directed immediately to the westward towards Behring's Strait may more effectually accomplish its objects, and will probably have to com- pUment the Russian expedition, under Kotzebue, long before it will have doubled the Prince of Wales's Cape. What a prospect lies before the mind after the British expedition has passed Behring's Strait ! The vast expanse of the northern Pacific spread boundless to the view, with a surface almost trackless, containing numerous islands not hitherto discovered, whose inhabitants will receive the advantages of European commerce, and British constitu- tional laws ! The produce of those islands will hereafter amply reward the trouble of research, discoveries new to science and of value to more civiUzed society being vm- folded, the history of the earth, and a knowledge of its 288 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS population more accurately determined, and the general state of human kind ameliorated ! Islands as yet undiscovered are not classed alone as likely to participate in those advantages. The extensive and populous empires of Japan and China, beset by the true principles of civilization from the eastern and western inter- course with Europeans, will by degrees learn to lay aside their barbarous caution, and blend themselves, in the virtues, sciences, and refinements of society with the great family of mankind. The Russian empire in the east will have a new interest to cultivate in the friendship of Great Britain. The Aleutean, or Black Foxes' Islands, are the right of England in consequence of Cook's discovery ; and Bristol Bay, to the north-east of them, may be hereafter an emporium for the Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and British trade, which will turn infinitely to the advantage of the latter. The Japanese differ in person little from the Uskee-mes, seeming to spring like most other Tartar nations from a common origin. The sea is also the favourite resort of the Japanese in the same manner as of the Uskees. The former, however, by inhabiting more genial climates, where nature presented comforts in greater abundance, have risen to higher refinement, and have a regulated society bound by a code of laws pecuhar to themselves, and which are ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 289 most rigidly enforced. Yet after this indication of ad- vancement, Europeans will still find the manners of the Japanese repulsive, and, though polite, tarnished still with barbarous shades. Their commerce with the Dutch in former times, who treated all other Europeans with jealous and treacherous enmity in order to aggrandize themselves, could not fail to impress most unfavourable notions on semi-barbarians, witnessing such conduct among strangers. With such impressions British commerce will have to contend. The same may be said of the Chinese, who are more cautious and proud, if possible, than the Japanese. Care and circumspection, and respect for their national laws and customs, may reconcile them to European manners again, and recover their confidence. A fort erected on the promontory of Alaska, or on Queen Charlotte's Island on the North American coast, would be a protection from injury, or a safe retreat in case of vessels receiving damage at sea, or other injury or danger. The whole of that immense coast, from Cook's River to New Albion and California, is the property of Great Britain by right of discovery ; and it claims particular regard, on account of the invaluable resources with which, as a country unexplored, it may be supposed to abound. That great tract of coast lies mostly in temperate latitudes, and for that reason may suit coloniza- 2 p 290 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS tion ; and the superabundant population of Europe may be there induced to form new settlements under the protection • of the British Government. Trade with the Mexican and South American States also offers the grandest inducements. The inhabitants of those countries, roused into action from their lethargy of centuries' duration, will soon afford to the speculation of the British merchant such advantages as will lead to a trade so immediate and prompt as must follow the dis- covery of the north-west passage. A consideration of the utmost importance also follows that event : a ready and direct communication will thus take place between Britain and her south-eastern colonies. New Holland, and all the islands under British dominion, will then be brought, as it were, in contact with the mother country, and the communications between all kept up with the greatest facility, economy and improvement. It is needless to point out the numerous particular advantages that must accrue to the interests of England, and the future great and immeasurable benefits that must arise to society in general, from an enlarged and multiplied intercourse with the East, by means of the present course by the Capes of Good Hope and Horn, and also by the new course to be discovered. The importance of this subject viewed in all its great ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 291 consequences demands the utmost deliberation and also liberal provision for the persons engaged in the expedition. It may therefore appear trivial, and probably be received as an unnecessary hint, that, independently of the com- forts of warm clothing, double or even greater stock of provisions, and such other indispensable articles as ex- perience or prudence may suggest, a supply of oil of turpentine should be given to each vessel, as the applica- tion of that liquid to any part of the body in a frozen state, will prevent inflammation and its miserable conse- quences. Parties going ashore, on the investigation of natural objects, or making astronomical observations, should be provided with a quantity of the same material, and they will recollect this advice with satisfaction ; and, this object in view, I have little doubt of being excused for intruding a gratuitous opinion. From a desire that the reader should form correct notions of this part of our subject, I have subjoined a sketch of the countries around the North Pole, see Chart I., which, although done on a small scale, will convey a tolerably exact view of the state of the north polar regions. The Polar Chart is not intended to display more than the outlines, and a few leading circumstances, and for particulars the reader is referred to the respective charts of those countries. 2 p 2 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS I SHALL close this volume, with the reader's indulgence, by a rapid sketch of the return of the Thomas to Hull. On the 24th of July, we started with a fresh breeze at N., when eighteen ships were in sight all proceeding to the southward. Then, for the first time since entering the strait, a rainbow appeared : such a phenomenon is very rarely seen in those latitudes, and its indication has not been ascertained. The current was now running to the southward about two miles or one mile and a half per hour : at other times, if a strong wind blow, it is known to run nearly five miles an hour : a heavy yellowish white fog bank lajr along the land : this was about 72° N. For several days the wind continued N.E., which was succeeded by a strong breeze at S. by W., which retarded the progress of the ship very much, but which did not last long : a cirrus radiation occurred, the shafts of which were suddenly converted into cirrocumulus. In latitude 62° 40' N., the Cape Hen (procellaria gravis) appeared : the ship was nearly in the same latitude on the 23d of the preceding April. On the 4th of August the wind became a steady breeze at N.E. : latitude at noon by observation 60° 33' N. About the midnight of August the 6th, much lightning 8 ON A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 293 was observed to issue from behind some heavy fog which loaded the horizon to the southward, and to this succeeded a brilHant display of polar coruscation beginning in the south-east, and traversing the southern region to the north- west. The wind about two hours afterwards shifted to the southward, and continued increasing until evening when it blew a hard gale with heavy rain. On this day, being in about the latitude of Cape Farewell, the ship's log was again resumed, which duty is suspended whilst the whale ships remain in Davis's Strait, and is only observed in crossing the ocean. Nothing of much importance during the voyage home. Contrary winds, and frequent calms, made it very tedious, as St. Kilda's came in sight not sooner than the 26th of August, and it was joyfully hailed by the ship's crew. On the 5th of September, being kept in sight of land beating about in an easterly wind till that date, the ship an- chored in Stromness, whence, after a short stay in order to land the Orkney sailors, she sailed for Hull, and on the thirteenth of the same month, came to anchor in the Humber within the Spurn Lights, THE END. WORKS RECENTLY PUBLISHED BY BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, PATERNOSTER-ROW. CONSIDERATIONS SUR LES PRINCIPAUX EVENEMENS DE LA REVOLUTION FRANCOISE. Ouvrage posthume de Mad. la Baronne de Stael, public par M. Le Due de Broglie, et M. le Baron de Stael. In 3 Volumes 8vo. price \l. 16s. CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Posthu- mous Work of the Baronness de Stael. Edited by the Duke de Broglie and the Baron de Stael, three volumes, 8vo. 1/. 16s. THE HISTORY OF BRITISH INDIA. By James Mill, Esq. In three large volumes 4to. with Maps. Price 6/. 6j. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING A TOUR THROUGH IRELAND. By John Chiustian Curwen, Esq. M. P. In two vols. 8vo. 1/. Is. FELIX ALVAREZ ; or, MANNERS IN SPAIN. Containing descriptive Accounts of the principal Events of the late Peninsular War, and Authentic Anecdotes illustrative of the Spanish Character, interspersed with Poetry, original, and from the Spanish. By Alexander R. C. Dallas, Esq. In 3 Vols. 12nio. Price 18s. LA SCAVA ; or, Some Account of an Excavation of a Roman Town on the Hill of Chatelet in Champagne, be- tween St. Dizier aud Joinville, discovered in the Year 1772. To which is added a Journey to the Simplon, by Lausanne, and to Mount Blanc, through Geneva, by the Author of " Letters from Paris in 1791, 1792;" " The Praise of Paris in 1802 ; " A Slight Sketch in 1814 ; " " Two Tours in 1817." In 8vo. PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE SCARLET FEVER, OF MEASLES, OF PULMONARY CONSUMPTION, AND OF CHRONIC NERVOUS DIS- EASES. By John Armstrong, M. D. 8vo. Price 14«. PRACTICAL ILLUSTRATIONS OF TYPHUS FEVER, and other Febrile Diseases. By the same Author. Second Edition, enlarged, in 8vo. Price 12s. SYSTEM OF CHEMISTRY. By Thomas Thomson, M.D. F. R. S. &c. A new Edition, entirely re- composed. In 4 large vols. 8vo. Price 3/. OBSERVATIONS ON THE CANONICAL SCRIPTURES. By Mary Cornwallis. In 4 vols. 8vo. Price 2l. 2s. HARRINGTON, and ORMOND, Tales. By Maria Edgeworth, Author of " Tales of Fashionable Life," &c. &c. 3 vols. 12mo. Price ll. Is. COMIC DRAMAS. By the same Author. 1 vol. 12mo. Price 7s. ROSABELLA ; or, A MOTHER'S MARRIAGE. By the Author of the " Romance of the Pyrenees," " Santo Sebastiano," " The Forest of Montalbano," and " Adelaide, or the Counter-charm." In 5 vols. 12rao. Price ll. lOt. MANNERS; a Novel. In 3 vols 12mo. Price 18s. " Dicas hie forsitan unde Ingenium par materia;." Juv. " Je sais qu'un sot Irouve souvent un plus sot pour le lire." Fred. Le Grand. THE HISTORY OF ELSMERE AND ROSA ; an Episode. The merry matter written by John Mathers: the grave by a Solid Gentleman. In 2 vols. 12nio. Price 12s. Sic positi quoniain suaves luisceinus odores. THE QUAKERS; a Tale. By Elizabeth B. Lester. 12mo. Price 6s. " De la Vanity nait la honte." OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASED MA- NIFESTATIONS OF THE MIND, or IN.SANITY. By J. G. Spurzheim, M.D. In royal 8vo. Price 14s. with four Plates. THE COLONIES, AND THE PRESENT AME- RICAN REVOLUTION. Translated from the French of M. De Pradt, formerly Aehbishop of Malines. In 8vo. Price 12*. THE BRITISH PLUTARCH, containing the Lives of the most Eminent Divines, Patriots, Statesmen, Warriors, Philosophers, Poets, and Artists of Great Britain and Ireland, from the Accession of Henry VIII. to the present Time. A new Edition re-arranged and enriched with several additional Lives. By the Rev. Francis Wrangham, M. A.F. R. S. In 6 large V^ols. 8vo. Price 3/. 12s. boards. *»♦ Besides presenting at least one distinguished example, and frequently several, in nearly every respectable division of society, this collection of one Immlred Lives exhibits an almost coDtinuniis view of the English Anuals from the rudiments of the Reformation under Henry VIII. to the conclusion of the last century. SERMONS practical and occasional; Dissertations; Translations, including New Versions of Virgil's Bucolica, and of Milton's Defensio Secunda ; Seaton Poems, Sec. &c. By the Rev. Francis Wrangham, M. A. F. R. S. of Trin. Coll. Cambridge. In 3 Vols. 8vo. Price 2/. 2s. CHRISTIAN ESSAYS. By the Rev. Samuel Charles Wilks, A. M. of St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, and Curate of St. Marrin's, Exeter. In 2 Vols. 8vo. Price 14.s. THE LETTERS OF THE LATE WM. COW- PER, Esq. to his Friends. A new Edition, revised by his Kinsman J. Johnson, LL. D. Rector of Yaxham with Wel- borne, in Norfolk. In 3 Vols, foolscap, elegantly printed. Price 1/. Is. with a Portrait. THE ILIAD AND ODYSSEY OF HOMER, translated into English Blank Verse, with copious Alterations and Notes. By the same Author. In 4 Vols, uniform with the Letters. Price 1/. 8s. *«* These two Works, with the Poems in 3 vols, constitute the complete Works of Cow per. Price 31. 7s. THE INQUISITION UNMASKED; being an Works recently published by Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Historical and Philosophical Account of that Tremendous Tribunal : founded on authentic Documents ; and exhibiting the necessity of its Suppression, as the Means of Reform and Regeneration. Written and published at the Time when the National Congress of Spain was about lo deliberate on this important Measure. By D. Antonio Puigblanch. Translated from the Author's enlarged Copy, by Wm. Walton, Esq. In 9 Vols. 8vo. illustrated by twelve Historical Engravings. Price ll. 10s. boards. A HISTORY OF THE JESUITS; to which is prefixed, a Reply to Mr. Dallas's Defence of the Order. In 2 Vols. 8vo. Price 1/. 4s. boards. THE PRINCIPLES OF POPULATION AND PRODUCTION, as they are affected by the Progress of So ciety ; with a Mew to Moral and Political Consequences By John Wevland, Jun. Esq. F. R. S. In one large Volume 8vo. Price 1-is. A SYSTEM OF PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY By the Rev. P. Keith, F. L. S. Vicar of Bethersden, Kent, and Perpetual Curate of Mair, Yorkshire. In 2 Volumes 8vo. with Plates by Soweiby. Price 1/. 6s. *« * Tlie work consists of four books, arising out of a very nalural division of the subject. The first book heats of the ex- ternal structure of plants ; the second of tlieir internal structuit, or anatomy; the third of the constituent principles of plants; and the fourth contains an explication of the phenomena of vege- table life and death. THE LIFE QF WILLIAM HUTTON, F. A. S. S. including a particular Account of the Riots in Bimiingham in 1791 ; to which is subjoined the History of his Family, written liy himself, and edited by liis Daughter Catherine Hutton. Ill 8vo. with a Portrait. Second edition. Price 12s. MEMOIRS OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS, con- sidered ill a cdiiiinercial, political, and military Point of View ; in which their Advantages of Position are described, as well as their Relations with the Greek Continent: including the Life and Character of Ali Pacha, the present Ruler of Greece ; to- gether with a comparative Display of the Ancient and Modern Geography of the Epirus, Thessaly, Morea, Part of Mace- donia, &c. Bv Gen. Giillaume de Vaudoncour, trans- lated from the" inedited MS. by W. Walton, Esq. 8vo. 15s. boards. *«» The large Map which accompanies the work comprises the Seven Islands, South .\lbania, part of Macedonia, the Epi- rus, Thessaly, Livonia, and the Morea; it is entirely new, and filled with details which have not before met the public eye. A COURSE OF LECTURES ON DRAMATIC ART AND LITERATURE. By Wm. Augustus Schlegel. Translated from the original German, by John Black. " The present work contains a critical and historical account of the ancient and modern drama — the Greek, the Latin, the Italian, tiie French, the Spanish, and the German. The view which the Author has taken of the standard productions, whether tragic or comic, in these difl'erent languages, is, in general, inge- nious and just, and his speculative Reasonings on the Principles of Taste are often as satisfactory as they are profound." ♦ * »»*«*" We have, we tiust, said enough of this work to recommend it to the reader. We ought to add, that the trans- lation appears lo be very respectable." — Edinburgh Review, Feb. 1816. THE REPRESENTATIVE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, comprising a His- tory of the House of Conimons, and of the Counties, Cities, and Boroughs of the United Kingdom ; by T. H. B. Oldfield, Esq. Being a new Edition of the History of Boroughs, greatly enlai^ged and re-modelled. In 6 large Volumes Svo. Price 3/. 12s. **« The information contained in this work will be found practically useful in ca^e of a dissolution of parliament, as it comprises a history of all the petitions in controvL'i ted elections, i with the grounds of their decision; the number of voters in each borough, &c. ; their qualifications, and the names of patrons. PARLIAMENTARY PORTRAITS, or Sketches of the Public Character of some of the most distinguished Leaders of the House of Commons. In 8vo. Price 8s. bds. THE COLONIAL POLICY OF GREAT BRI- TAIN, considered with Relation to her North American Pro- vinces and West India Possessions : wherein the dangerous Tendency of American Competition is developed, and the Necessity of recommencing a Colonial System on a vigorous and extensive Scale exhibited and defended ; with Plans for the Promotion of Emigration, and Strictures on the Treaty of Ghent. By a British Traveller. In 8vo. Price 8s. boards. TWO SKETCHES OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND SPA, in Tours during the Summers of 1771 and 1816 ; with a Portrait of Napoleon's Guide at Waterloo. By the Author of " Letters from Paris in 1802-3." In 8vo. Price 7s. ENGLISH SYNONYMES Explained in Alpha- betical Order; with copious Illustrations and Examples drawn from the best Writers. By George Crabb, of Magdalen Hall, Oxford. In a very large Volume. 8vo. Price ll. Is. " It is to be wi>hcd that some such work as the Abbe Girard's Synonimes Francoises were undertaken for our tongue. Nothing w ould contribute more to precise and elegant writing." — Blair's Lectures. LETTERS TO A FRIEND ON THE EVI- DENCES, DOCTRINES, AND DUTIES OFTHE CHRIS- TIAN RELIGION. By Olinthus Gregory, LL.D. of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Author of " A Treatise of IVIechanics," "Elements or Trigonometry, " &c. The Third Edition, corrected and enlarged, 2 vols. 8vo. 14s. SPECIMENS OF THE CLASSIC POETS, in a Chronological Series from Homer to Tryphiudorus, newly translated into English Verse; and illustrated with Biographi- cal and Critical Notices. By Charles Abraham Elton. Elegantly printed in 3 vols. 8vo. Price ll. 16s. The following is a list of the classic authors from whom Mr. Elton has translated some of the most interesting specimens: several of them had never before been presented to the English reader. Greek Authors : Homer, Hesiod, Archilochus, Tyrtaeus, Sapi>iio, Erinna, Mimneriuus, Theognis, Aiiacreon, Simonides, Pindar, Onomacrilus, Bacchilides, Callistratus, Lycophron, Theocritus, Aratus, Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius, Cleanthes, Rhianus, Bion, Moschus, Nicander, Meleager, Dionysiiis, Op- pian, Smyrna;us, Nonnus, Mus^us, Coluthus, Tryphiodorus. Latin Authors: Lucretius, Catullus, Virgil, Gallus, Tibul- lus, Horace, Propertius, Ovid, Albinovanus, Severus, Gratius Manilius, Fhtedrus, Persius, Lucan, Valerius Flaccus, Silius Ilalicus, Martial, .Sulpitia, Statins, Juvenal, Nemesian, Calphur- nius, Ausonius, Claiidian, Avienus, Rutilius. THE REMAINSOFHESIOD THE ASCR/EAN. Including the Shield of Hercules. Translated into English Rhyme and Blank Verse. With a Dissertation on the Life and yEra, the Poems and Mythology of Hesiod, and copious Notes. Also an Appendix : containing " Selections from Chapman's ancient Version of Hesiod's Geoigics." By Charles Abraham Elion. The Second Edition, revised and enlarged ; elegantly printed in Svo. Price 12s. THE PHYSIOGNOMICAL SYSTEM OF DRS. GALL AND SPURZHEIM; founded on an Anatomical and Physiological Examination of the Nervous System in General, and of the Brain in particular; and indicating the Dispositions and Manifestations of the Mind. By J. G. Spurzheim, M.D. In Royal 8vo. Price 1/. 10s. with nine- teen Copper-plates. The Second Edition, with Additions. OUTLINES OF THE PHYSIOGNOMICAL SYSTEM of Drs. Gall and Spueziieim. In a ueat pocket volume, price 8s. o