^Marine 'Biological Laboratory Library 'Tilcods Oiok, Massachusetts cVoyaqes ♦ of • ("Exploration Collected ^EWcofAB (Thompson (Montjomerv 11907-1936) Vhiladefyhia architect, ncjihcu? of Ihomas Oiarrison Montgomery (1073-1912), PERPLEXITY OF SHIP'S COURSE. in the habit of accomplishing ; and what added to the uncertainty was, the incomprehensible manner in which the islands had been passed (if passed at all) without having been seen. The mountains — for such they appeared through the haze — were nearly covered with snow, the effect of the preceding night ; and some small islands could be indistinctly made out. Our course was held parallel to them, in the hope, rather than the persuasion, that they would terminate in the point which was to lead us to Frozen Strait ; but, about llh a. m., we suddenly found ourselves em- bayed, and, from the still prevailing murkiness, had barely time to get the ship round ; when it was indisputably ascertained that the coast tended far to the east. Under these perplexing cir- cumstances, I determined not to incur any risk which might endanger the safety of the ship, and directed her to be kept, under easy sail, close under the lee of the high land just mentioned, until the weather should be clear enough to justify me in acting differently. It was for- tunate that I did so ; for, having obtained the latitude at noon, and the longitude soon after- wards, we found, much to our astonishment, that we were not near Southampton Island at all, but had been deceived by great deviation in the compasses, and a powerful current, which had driven us along the eastern side of Mill Islands, and thence to the main shore of the strait* where DEVIATION OF COMPASS. £>5 in fact we had been embayed. However, we must have passed between the islands during the night, though how, or in what direction remained a mystery ; and we were thankful, as we had reason to be, for our happy guidance among them. In' the afternoon the sky became more clear; and it was then apparent, that though un- der a press of sail, we could not stem the current, which at that time (711 p. m.) was carrying us bodily away to the south and east. The variation of the compass with the ship's head N. W. was found to be six and a half points, but when N.E. only three and a half. At 10h p. m. we were to leeward of our afternoon's position, and stood in again for the main. After beating about between Mill Islands and the north shore all night, we found ourselves in the morning, the 16th, still to leeward of the former, and utterly unable to make head against the current. Near noon, being then within a mile of the shore, we could perceive a strong race, within which was an eddy sweeping the ice about in a furious manner. At the line of its junction with the regular tide there was a fall produced of at least three or four feet, which hid all but the upper surface of the ice near it. My object had been to get close in shore, from an impression that we should be less opposed by the current there than further out j but, as either E 4 56 TRINITY ISLES. current or tide was now driving us fast towards the land, it became necessary to tack, and try our fortune once more in the offing. It was evident that no ordinary cause could thus have detained us two days with a commanding breeze; and I began to think that nothing but a fair wind would release us, when suddenly the ship took a start, and just as unaccountably went away in mid channel, hurrying us in a short time abreast of the Trinity Isles of Fox. The north shore was partially covered with the snow that had lately fallen ; all that could be seen consisted of solid and barren rock, entirely destitute of herbage, or, as far as I could judge, of any thing capable of supporting life. Not an inhabitant, nor even an animal or bird was seen. By 4h p. m. the islands were upwards of ten miles astern, when the breeze left us, and we obtained soundings in one hundred and twenty- three fathoms, the bottom consisting as usual of blue mud. Soon after we had snow, and the barometer began to fall. Hardly had the necessary reduction been made in the sails, when the wind increased to a fresh gale, which speedily brought us to the edge of some heavy ice. The whole of the night was occu- pied in endeavouring to twine our way through it; and although in the morning of the 17th, from its detached appearance hopes were excited that the interruption would not be of long con- SHIP HOVE-TO. 57 tinuance, yet the favourable breeze soon brought in sight an enormous floe, the extremes of which were lost in the driving snow and mist. Un- willing to try the north end of it, as that would have led us again to the eastward, in which di- rection it trended as far as could be discerned, I determined on running along its lee side. This was almost in the direction of our course, but, as it turned out, conducted us into a labyrinth, that might have been of serious consequence had the wind at all abated ; for, after sailing for some time, we found ourselves between two floes of unknown extent ; and though if the weather had been clear we might perhaps have found a passage, yet with every thing dark a-head, and the liability to be nipped by the closing of the ice, no such chance could be trusted to. Not a moment therefore was lost in worming our way back, which after some trouble and anxiety was accomplished. An attempt was then made in another * lead ', which only guided us to a solid pack ; so that, baffled at every turn, the ship was for a time hove-to. As soon as the weather cleared — which it did with a change of wind, directly contrary to our progress, but the very best for sepa- rating and clearing away the ice — we took the only course left to us, and beat to wind- ward, towards a narrow opening, which it was thought might possibly offer a channel. Snow 58 WHALES. had fallen, which, after being partially thawed on the decks, was there solidly frozen — a result to be expected with a temperature of 29° + • Land was supposed to have been seen, in the direction of Southampton Island ; but, in the absence of good observations, no reliance was placed on the report. Persevering in plying to windward, amongst the heaviest drift ice I had ever be- held, it was not without great difficulty, and at a great sacrifice of distance, that the innume- rable masses surrounding vis could be steered clear of; nor was this always the case, since, in spite of all our care, the ship would sometimes drive on them with a concussion that made all the bells ring, and almost threw those below from their chairs. Two whales, the first seen since our arrival in these latitudes, excited the curi- osity of the novices, but did not produce among the Greenland sailors the enthusiasm which I remember to have observed with much pleasure on a former occasion. At that time they ran up the rigging, and followed every motion of the whale with the most unequivocal symptoms of delight ; and one of their number, unable to contain his joy at seeing the monstrous creature heave its bulk partly out of the water, cried out in ecstasy, " There she goes, my boys, tail up for Greenland." The next morning two other whales were seen. The remainder of the day was employed in SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND. 59 the tedious manner already described ; and in the night the ship, having little head-way, ran against, or rather dropped broadside on, a floe, from which she could not be removed without the aid of a warp, which was accordingly carried out to a projecting point. The land of Southampton Island was now distinctly made out, bearing by compass N. W. -g-N., but far away. Both com- passes were more than commonly sluggish, and required constant tapping ; a phenomenon which was observed to be more palpable with the ship's head west, than on any other point. The next day (August 18.), after beating to windward slowly till noon, the ice became so close that there was but one hole of water to work in ; nearer the land, which was now visible from the deck, looking like blue hills, it appeared to be somewhat looser, but as it was not suffi- ciently so to allow of our reaching it, we were compelled to go wherever the least chance of an opening presented itself. At length we came to a solid and unbroken pack, of such fearful extent as to throw a sudden damp on our hopes. It looked, from the crow's-nest, as if it were joined to the land, and stretching thence, west and north, glared in one undivided mass to the utmost limits of the sight. To the south and east the prospect was little better, rendering it doubt- ful whether, in a case of necessity, a passage 60 COURSE OBSTRUCTED BY could have been found in that direction. The most experienced of the seamen (many of whom had spent their lives in the Greenland trade) declared they had never beheld such heavy ice, and were confident that it had never been broken up. To me, however, it seemed to consist of numerous floes, but so wedged together as to be utterly impassable, not only by a ship but in any way ; for so ragged and piled up was the entire surface, that the height of the ridges frequently exceeded fifteen feet, and no human being could, by any exertion, have travelled over it for more than a short distance. To those who were un- accustomed to polar navigation nothing could be more discouraging; for it required more than ordinary strength of mind not to be persuaded that, in this direction at least, a limit was now put to our progress. Those, however, who had experience of the singular uncertainty of the navigation in these seas, looked forward to the accidents of the coming night — the change of wind, the tide or current, or some of those un- accountable circumstances which, in a few hours even of entire calm, create so sudden and mar- vellous a change in the scene. Still, it was a situation to call forth our most active energies ; and, though resolved to persevere by this route as long as the remotest chance was offered of success, yet I could not conceal from myself the ENORMOUS RIDGES OF ICE. 61 striking difference of the season which Sir E. Parry had experienced in passing through this channel, where he speaks of the weather as fine, and even mild ; whilst we, on the contrary, were regaled with constant snow, and had the ther- mometer at 28° + . We soon worked through the remaining part of the open space ; and all speculations of the chance of a further progress being at an end, the ship was made fast to the floe. At the same time, soundings were tried for with three hundred fathoms, but without effect. The night was cloudy, and almost calm ; but shortly after midnight of August 19th, many large pieces of ice, near the pack, were observed to be drifting away to the south-west, at the estimated rate of half a mile an hour ; and at 3h 30° a. m., finding we were likely to be hemmed in, the ship was cast off from the ice, and, by means of lines carried out and attached to pro- jecting masses, warped towards the north-east, where alone there seemed to be a lane of water. In an hour the desired spot was gained ; and, as there was every appearance, from the darkness of the sky, of a continued channel, sail was im- mediately made on the ship, and, to the surprise and joy of all, the impediment was found to have yielded to a greater power, and a path opened through what seemed an impenetrable barrier. Such are the strange incidents of polar navi- 62 OBSTRUCTION BY THE ICE, gation, which, though less striking than the wild commotions of the earthquake or tornado, are at all events calculated to excite equal gratitude to that merciful Providence whose protecting care is over all his works, — in the icy waste no less than in the thronged city. For two or three hours the sun struggled in vain with the mist, which enveloped sky and ice, still we met with no hindrance ; and, having made a few tacks to avoid the large drift pieces, at noon we were still ad- vancing to the north, the latitude, as obtained on a floe, being 64° 57' N., the variation 52° W. At length however the mist dispelled, and with it the hopes in which we had been indulging. A glance satisfied us that our further progress would be very short. The breeze had died away, and allowed the ice to pack afresh. Not a lane, not a hole of water was to be seen in any direction but the one just passed ; and again, most reluctantly, were we compelled to secure the ship to a floe. August 20th. Though the night was gene- rally calm, yet a motion in the ice, and the suspicious approach of a large floe, which seemed to threaten a squeeze, induced us to cast off and warp a little to the south ; where we once more made fast to the same extensive piece of ice. The morning gave no sign of a favourable change, and the crew were exercised, VARIATION IN COMPASSES. 63 on the floe, in firing at a mark. About llh a.m. an attempt was made by hauling the ship to an outer point of the floe, and making all sail ; but the light air was very faint, and she barely glided through the water. Observations, at noon, gave the latitude 65° O'V N., longitude 80° 44/ W., and variation 57° W.; which was so far satisfactory as showing that no ground had been lost. The compasses continued to be very sluggish ; indeed so much so, that, on one occasion, the larboard one showed the ship's head to be south, while that of the starboard made it north. The wind soon died away al- together ; and none springing up, as had usually before been the case, with the declining sun we again moored to a floe for the night. The men amused themselves by a riotous game of leap-frog on the ice ; and the disaster of one of the officers, who, in crossing a point covered with snow, fell through and took a cold bath, excited a hearty laugh. During the night, which was perfectly calm, young ice formed entirely around us. A month later this circumstance might have given me some uneasiness ; but now it was deemed of con- sequence only as adding to the delay and abridg- ing the time which we hoped to employ in the more interesting objects of the expedition. Unless, indeed, this seasor. were to be very dif- 64 SHIP IMBEDDED IN ICE. ferent from all others recorded of the climate, I felt assured that the customary westerly winds would sooner or later prevail ; and that, under their influence, the body of ice which now inter- rupted our progress would open a passage for us. None, however, were insensible to the annoyance of our position, thus hampered, and as it were fixed in a bed of ice ; and a burst of joy followed the announcement, from the * crow's- nest,' of an appearance of water towards the N. N. E. By warping and hauling till we reached the ' lead,' and then carrying studding-sails till we had exhausted it, some little way was gained ; and at noon, though the latitude was much the same as yesterday, the longitude differed. Through the remainder of the day we went on struggling with the ice, tacking continually to weather or avoid the floes, and praying for a breeze, but praying in vain. A few whales and narwals alone relieved the monotony of the scene ; and night found us again attached to a floe, and lying motionless and dark on the bright bosom of the icy wilderness. About 2h a. m., August 22d, a light air came from the north-west, of which immediate ad- vantage was taken ; and leaving the floe, we got, by the aid of warping, into a ' lead.' Studding- sails were soon hoisted, and the ship was forced through the close ice for a time, and thus soon 0CHR1SH-C0L0URED ICE. ()5 again obliged to have recourse to the lines, was at last brought into comparatively open water* The conduct of both officers and men in this arduous and irksome service deserved all praise ; and their exertions were not altogether without reward, for the land supposed to be Cape Com- fort was evidently further off; and, at noon, this conjecture was confirmed by the increase of lati- tude, which was 65° <25' N., the longitude being 81° 0e8' W. Hitherto my endeavour had been to follow the leads, in the hope of being brought out into open water ; but now, as none was in sight, I determined on steering directly towards Frozen Strait, and, singular to say, the ice opened as we advanced, though but half an hour pre- vious it was tightly pressed together. As the day drew in, the southern horizon became dark and cloudy, sending what had been long ardently desired, a south west wind. The effects of this were soon conspicuous in the ice ahead, which now began to part into holes and lanes, and en- couraged a hope among the more sanguine that we were, at length, near the edge of that vast body which had so long detained us. It was remarkable that the whole of the ice, whether detached or compact, floe or drift, was of a dirty ochrish colour, totally unlike any which we had seen before, and must therefore have been close to the land. The middle of the night being F 66 BAFFIN AND SOUTHAMPTON ISLANDS. now dark, we necessarily ran foul of many a piece of ice, and got some violent knocks ; but, depending on the strength of the ship, I could not forego the pleasure of pushing on while a chance remained, and we continued to thread our tortuous way as well as the faint gleam from the ice allowed us to pick it out. It was with considerable satisfaction that, at 4h a. m. of the 23d, I heard the announce- ment of Baffin Island bearing N. N. W., and shortly afterwards that the land of Southampton Island was made out to the westward. Had there only been a channel, even as wide as a brook, we should soon have got to the strait ; but the scene around us now presented an apparently solid sea of ice, thrown up in many parts to the height of eighteen feet, and so ragged, peaked, and uneven, as to bid defiance to any attempt even to walk over it. Had it been composed of mere drift-ice, which is invariably detached by a strong breeze, there would have been more en- couragement ; but the limits of the enormous floes surrounding us could not be discerned, and it was absolutely marvellous that we should be able to penetrate it at all ; yet, at noon, we were still moving slowly ; and the observations (for the weather was beautifully clear) gave the lati- tude 65° 42', longitude 82° 41' W„ variation 49° 5%' W. The southerly wind now freshened, CHEERLESS PROSPECT. 67 and, despite of increasing obstacles, we continued to gain a few yards. Warping was next resorted to ; but at last all failed us, and at 3h p. m. we were compelled to give up the attempt as utterly hopeless. Cheerless, indeed, was the prospect ; for, excepting within a few feet of the ship, where the black streaks of water looked like inky lines on a fair sheet of paper, far as the eye could reach all was ice. Soundings were obtained in one hundred and two fathoms, and showed a muddy bottom. The tide had little or no effect here ; but about 7h **• M«> a large floe having exhibited symptoms of moving round so as to nip us, the sails were again hoisted, and the ship forced ahead about her own length, when immediately the small opening we had quitted was closed up. It was evident that we were equally secure under canvass as without ; and as it was possible that so long as the ship could be kept the right way something might be gained, we kept the sails full, and at long intervals she moved some twenty or thirty yards, and again stopped. As the breeze grew fainter more sail was set and still forced her onwards ; but at day- break of the 24th, no change taking place, we were once more set fast, and after two hours' warping, and wedging the ship next to a large floe, which had been seen ahead, we found our- selves instantly hemmed in by the surrounding f 2 68 YELLOW-COLOURED SNOW. masses. Baffin's Island was yet in sight, about twenty-four miles off; but we had drifted a little to the north of it. I may remark here, that having procured some of the yellow-coloured snow, it was found to be caused by innumerable small grains of earth ; a convincing proof that the immense quantity passed must have been in the immediate neighbourhood of the shore, and had, in all probability, drifted down from the north. No other alteration occurred during the day than the setting of the whole body of ice to the eastward, though at too moderate a rate to carry us far away ; but about 3h of the morning of August 25th, the masses around us seemed something more apart ; and after some warping, which brought us to the edge of a floe, where, as is generally the case, the ice was less pressed together, we made sail, and " bored" through towards the south-west, in the hope of getting nearer to Southampton Island. The wind, how- ever, on which we depended, veered more to the eastward, and at the same time becoming lighter, allowed the ice to pack again ; so that, after many fruitless trials, we were forced to desist, and soon lost all traces of water. The weather was and had been for some days past extraordinarily fine ; the thermometer at mid- day being 42° + , in the sun, and 36° + , in the PICTURESQUE SCENE. 69 shade. The hours were passed in a feverish state of excitement, and many an upward glance was cast at the little vane at the mast-head ; but all was calm, and the wonder was, not how we were to get on, but how we had contrived to get here. Towards evening a light air, together with a " slack " among the ice, allowed a trifling distance to be made ; but at sunset we were stopped near to an extensive floe, where, from the effects of pressure, some ponderous masses had been heaped up, like Titanian ruins, to the height of thirty feet. The land, blue from dis- tance, and beautifully soft as contrasted with the white cold glare of the interminable ice around, reflecting by the setting sun the tints of the inter- vening masses thrown into the most picturesque groups and forms — spires, turrets, and pyramids, many in deep shade — presented altogether a scene sufficient for a time to cheat the imagina- tion, and withdraw the mind from the cheerless reality of our situation. It was past 4h a. m. of August 26th before the ship could, even by the use of warps, be forced ahead ; and then weari- some indeed was the task. A mile at the utmost rewarded our exertions ; and the wind having veered round more to the north-east, the entire body of ice swept down upon us, and the im- minent peril of being nipped was only avoided by the cativity of the officers and crew in heav- f 8 70 PERILOUS SITUATION. ing the ship into a sort of basin, formed by two projecting points of the nearest floe. Here we were again set fast. A summer's day, with the thermometer at 44° + in the sun, and a bright and cloudless sky, made us deplore more than ever our mortifying detention during weather so advantageous for work along the coast with our boats. But not the slightest improvement took place in our condition ; though at long intervals the mournful crashing of the young ice, as yielding to the larger masses it was thrown up in solid foam, gave token that all was in mo- tion. There was no wind, and evidently but little tide or current, for the bearings and dis- tance from the land remained nearly as they were yesterday ; still there was an occasional stir, and the pressure against the ship was de- cidedly increased. About midnight, though still calm, this became more perceptible by additional pieces of ice being squeezed against the bows and between the larboard side and the floe to which we were secured, producing thereby a heavy strain on the hawser, and threatening to force the stern against what had hitherto been a security, a projecting point. Another strong hawser was therefore carried out and fixed to an ice-anchor ahead, and being hove tight by the windlass, materially relieved the strain upon the other. Preparations were, at the same time, WHITE WHALES. 71 going on to unhang the rudder, which, in the event of the ship's coming astern, must have struck the floe and been carried away. Until past 1 a. m. (August 27th), we remained in suspense, which was then relieved by the ice returning again to its former position, and giving us an opportunity to warp closer to the floe. An attempt was made to remove some of the smaller masses from between the ship and the floe ; but notwithstanding repeated trials with all the re- sources in our power, we were completely baffled. Strange too at this late season, the breeze once more came from the south-east, though the height of the barometer indicated a totally differ- ent result ; and there was no hope for us until the faithless wind should round to the north- west. During the whole of the day and follow- ing night, the breeze blew freshly. Four white whales were seen playing about sunset in a pool ahead, and remained undeterred by our cries, apparently enjoying the only breathing place for many a league around. In the night there was a great pressure against the bows, and a severe strain upon the hawsers. In the morning of August 28th this abated, but in its stead the entire body became more closely packed than ever ; and the ship, having to bear a great re- sistance from the upturned pieces against her f 4 72 WINTER ISLAND. sides, gradually lay over to starboard, being, in the technical phrase, slightly nipped. I had thought it not unlikely that the force of the wind might possibly have turned round some of the heavy remote ice, and thereby have left a little clear space for the removal of that near us ; but it must have been wedged against the coast or among the islands which were visible (Winter Island among the rest) from the crow's nest. Appearances, indeed, were more unpromising than we had yet experienced ; and our devotions of that day (for it was Sunday) were tinged with an humble hope that we should shortly be released from our anxious situation. Rain fell occasionally, and towards evening the wind veered round to the south-west, directly off the floe, affording one other chance of re- moving the ice along the western shore, if any unoccupied space were left in that quarter. The effect on the ship was sensibly felt by her being forced more over to starboard ; and during the early part of the night, she was lifted up by the stern in consequence of several loose pieces of ice having got under her counter. On the fol- lowing day (the 29th), the strain on the haw- sers was as much as they could bear ; and as little or no motion could be detected in the ice, it was attributed to the tide or current, which, however* scarcely altered our position. - o ■ - 3 ■ — .■ f . ,-Z/- '"? r ' > J "Mr - v 'I z ; -x & ® I © © n - D 0 N - a ^ ■ 1 ^ v MOVEMENT OF THE ICE. 73 In the forenoon the barometer had gone down unusually low ; and as on former occasions this had been invariably followed by a southerly breeze, the same result was apprehended now ; much to our relief, however, the wind blew with some strength from the north-west, bringing with it a prospect of release ; and though, packed as the whole body south and east of us was sup- posed to be, this could only be a work of time, yet sanguine ideas were immediately entertained of yet reaching our destination early enough to do something this season. At noon, according to the observations, we were within two miles of the same spot ; but the effect of the wind was shown by two or three partial openings near the ship ; and, as early as 5 o'clock, a general movement of the ice began. It came from the westward, and immense quantities skirting the extremity of the larger -floe to which we were secured, and bearing down close upon us, were there caught within the circle of an eddy, and shortly swept away to the eastward. It is need- less to say with how much pleasure so joyful a sight was hailed, and how sincerely we prayed that both the cause and effect might continue until a passage should be cleared to the Frozen Strait. The night was dark, with frequent squalls and snow ; but on the morning of the 30th, the ice was found to be still drifting in the same 74 SEVERE PRESSURE OF ICE. direction, and the pieces were thought to be considerably smaller and lighter ; still there was no continuous 'lead' of which advantage could be taken. As the day advanced, and the breeze be- came more southerly and moderate, little further effect was produced on the ice. At noon, the ob- servations made us rather to the southward ; and as the ice appeared inclined to return from that quarter, and the wind was drawing gradually to the eastward, it was necessary to make sail and get as far as the openings would allow. This was speedily accomplished; and, with much trouble from the closing of the ice, we contrived to gain a mile or two from the floe, which had been left, and found ourselves again brought to a full stop, and in a more awkward situation than before. Warps were immediately put into requisition ; and with the aid of the capstan the ship was wedged between the opposing masses, until finding less obstruction the sails once more pressed her onwards. The severity of the shocks as we encountered the ice, notwithstanding our familiarity with them, was on this occasion ab- solutely startling. But there was no help for it, nor any other chance of getting on ; for the channel we ploughed before us closed ere the ship had gone twice her length, and cut off all retreat, even had retreat been thought of. To complete the catalogue of annoyances the i SINKING OF THERMOMETER, J 5 breeze veered directly east, and came charged with abundance of snow, which fell incessantly, and filling up the hollows and crevices of the ice, baulked the sight by an appearance of uni- formity. As the wind was fresh, we might possibly, with the advantage of daylight for se- lecting the right * leads,' have got well in with the land ; but this the night frustrated, and having pushed on till 10 o'clock, p. m., we were unable to get farther ; still the topsails and fore- sail were kept hoisted and set, in the hope that on the turn of tide an opening might be made. August 31st came, but with no friendly aspect, for snow fell thick and fast, and the thermometer sunk to 26° + , accelerating the formation of young, and serving to cement the old ice, in an alarming manner. However about 4 a. m., a kind of ' slack ' was observed, and, after four hours' labour, it was conjectured that one mile of distance had been gained. Then being again stopped, and not a pool of water in sight, the sails were partly taken in. The hour arrived when it was expected that the tide might have some beneficial effect in loosening the wedged masses, but arrived in vain : so the useless sails were furled ; and in the midst of increasing snow, and the worst and dreariest weather that could have befallen us, we submitted in silence to what no human power could control. At sun- 76 WATER SKY. set the sky became clear, and Baffin Island was seen bearing N. 87° W., and a hill on Southamp- ton Island S. 41° W. ; a water sky * too was re- ported to the south-west, but scarcely succeeded in again cheating us into hope. The night was more than ordinarily cold, for the temperature of the air was only 19° + , and that of the water 23° + : an omen as gloomy as unlooked for at this early season, when Sir E. Parry, in the same latitude, was enjoying almost the warmth of summer. But the startling fact could not be concealed from ourselves, that the rigour of a precocious winter was thrust upon us, at the moment when we were almost in sight of our port. * Produced by the dark vapour from the water, and used in opposition to " ice-blink." 77 CHAP. II. Steer for Southampton Island. — Conjectures respecting the Ice. — Islands. — Pressure of the Wind. — Ship immove- able. — Cutting away the Ice. — Snotv. — Drifting towards Land. — Accident to Rudder. — Aspect of contiguous Coast. — New Moon. — Recreations of the Crew. — Chase of a Bear. — Hawser carried away by Ice. — Icebound in sight of Land. — Wind veers to South-west. — Prospect of Re- lease. — Hopes disappointed. — Ship driven nearer Land. — Mr. Gore shoots a Fox. — Ship in extreme Peril. — Frightful Increase of Pressure. — Providential Delivery. — Exploring Expedition. — A Dock cut in the Ice. — Con- sultation of Officers. — Rapid Destruction of the Floe. — Bow of the Ship split. — Hopes of progressing baffled. This detention, so irksome to the officers, though, as it seemed, little regarded by the men, continued throughout the forenoon of the 1st September, the observations at noon showing no perceptible difference in our situation, which, considering the manner that the Hecla and Fury* were whirled about in the same place, is another proof of the capriciousness of polar navigation. The wind, however, gradually drew round to the westward of north ; yet, though tolerably fresh, it was long before it made the smallest impression on the ice. At last at 5 p. m. the * See Parry's Narrative. 78 STEER FOR SOUTHAMPTON ISLAND. cemented masses near us suddenly broke asunder, and disentangled the ship from the thin crust that had surrounded her. This change, which was evidently the effect of the breeze, was gra- tifying, as showing that three days' continuation of it would, in all probability, clear the whole of Frozen Strait, and, as it was, a clear channel on the following day was confidently anticipated. During the first part of the night, the wind con- tinued to blow freshly; but early on the following morning it moderated, and the ice at once returned to its former position ; yet again, about 6 a. m., with unaccountable eccentricity, the entire body half a mile round was in agitation. Prompt to seize the lucky moment, we warped to a spot where the sails could be advan- tageously used, and, contrary to all the ex- pectations of but an hour before, found ourselves making headway. As the day grew clearer the same dark-bluish grey clouds were observed in precisely the same bearing as had been noted two days ago, strengthening the opinion already expressed that they were the certain signs of open water. Fortunately the * leads/ narrow and hampered as they were, took a direction towards the desired point, and allowed us to hold a course directly for Southampton Island, which I was the more eager to attain, from a conviction in my own mind that a passage existed along shore, close in CONJECTURES RESPECTING THE ICE. 79 with the land. Hitherto, indeed, every attempt to approach it, since leaving Mill Islands, had been thwarted by consolidated bodies of inter- vening ice, but at the moment this was not regarded. It was the opinion of Sir E. Parry, that the ice adheres to the shores of the con- tinent and Southampton Island, unless blown off by a strong breeze ; and in this opinion I entirely concur as applicable to the appearance of ice there in ordinary seasons ; but in our case it was obvious that some other explanation was to be looked for of the extraordinary impediments by which we had been beset. To me it seemed almost certain that the great body of ice had not been broken up at all in the previous year 1835, and that having, with the accumulations of the following season, been detached from its bonds by the storms of the spring, it had been driven, probably by the combined action of the wind and current, from the bays and harbours of the north to the place where we found it. That there were two distinct kinds of ice could not be doubted ; since the most cursory observer could not fail to remark that the one was massive, old, and irregular, with huge piles tossed up in picturesque confusion — the other light, clean, and comparatively smooth. The time too which had been consumed amidst the laby- rinths of the old ice, with so trifling a change of 80 FOOT-PRINTS OF A BEAR ON THE ICE. situation, convinced me that any further delay among it would be fatal, and all these consider- ations made me, as I have said, most desirous to close in with the land. With this object, and a favourable wind, we ' bored' the whole of the forenoon through the lighter kind of ice, making occasional circuits as the accident of shape required. Still no water appeared, though the Greenlandmen did not lose their faith in the dark clouds which yet hung upon the skirts of the horizon, seeming to recede as we slowly approached them. The fresh foot-prints of a bear which had crossed the ice within the last twenty-four hours was the novelty of the day ; and a goose was seen where perhaps none but a goose would have been seen. At noon the difference in longitude amounted only to four miles ; the latitude remaining the same. Indeed, by the increasing closeness of the ice, the difficulty of advancing in any di- rection was becoming hourly greater. For some time we were entirely stopped ; but by keeping a press of sail set, and with the aid of a freshening N. E. breeze, we forced our way by a few hundred yards at a time, proceeding in this manner with little variation until midnight. The wind then increased considerably, compelling us to take in sail ; but that which, under more favourable circumstances, would have facilitated, now only ISLANDS. SI served to impede our progress, for the strong breeze packed the ice. September 3d brought a cold and chilling day, with a temperature of 25° + , and a surface of young ice on all the pools around. Every attempt therefore to move was as useless as laborious ; and, after carrying away a warp in trying to change the situation fifty paces forwards, we were obliged to yield to necessity, and desist altogether. The sails were taken in ; and our stock of fresh water being almost exhausted, the crew were employed in refilling the tanks, a task which was completed in the forenoon. The sky, which had been dark and hazy towards the land and to the eastward, had become clearer, and enabled us to see Southamp- ton Island somewhere about Cape Comfort, which was high and much covered with snow. On this side of it, and within perhaps twelve miles of the ship, Fife Rock wTas also visible ; while far away to the eastward of North, was Baffin Island. In fact, after all our labour, we found by the observations that we had only got twelve miles to the south. A Burgomaster, or Glaucus gull, was seen ; and a golden plover, blown off the shore by the force of the wind, was shot. Towards sunset several pools of water were formed, one of which, on the lee-bow, was of some extent. That nearest G 82 PRESSURE OF THE WIND. to us was, for a few minutes, an object of attrac- tion, owing to the sudden appearance there of three or four white whales. It now blew a fresh gale, accompanied by squalls, and though cold, the weather was clear. On trying an anemometer, kindly lent to me by Mr. Rice of Chatham dockyard, the pressure on a square foot of canvass was found to be equal to four pounds. The night brought no change ; but, on the morning of September 4th, we were glad to perceive that the ship, and consequently the whole body in which she was beset, had drifted much nearer to Southampton Island, which was now visible from the deck. We had also passed Fife Rock. The frost, however, was so severe that a hole was obliged to be cut along- side to draw water from. As this was Sunday, after the usual muster at divisions, Divine Ser- vice was read, with an appropriate sermon, which was listened to with becoming attention, and as I hope and believe, with the devotion befitting the perilous uncertainty of our situation. At noon, the observations both by lunar and chrono- meter made us a little to the east in longitude, and the latitude showed that we had been set fifteen miles south, the distance from Fife Rock being west five miles, from Southampton island about twenty-four miles, and from Repulse Bay SHIP IMMOVEABLE. 83 not more than one hundred and thirty-six miles ; so that with but a moderate share of westerly winds to open the ice from the land, there was still good reason to look forward to the accom- plishment of the passage before the close of the season, though the thermometer was as low as 20° + in the night, and but 27° + during the warmer part of the day. Some hours elapsed without the slightest variation in the ice, but at 6h p. m. an extraordinary movement took place, which with astonishing celerity dispersed it inshore so much as to leave a wide and long lane, and we were not without hope that a branch of it might even have reached us. Not, however, that we waited for such a consum- mation without putting our shoulders to the wheel ; for, besides the sails well filled with a fresh breeze, our strongest hawsers were fas- tened to the ice, and then hove round by the capstan. The united force was of course very great, and no device was left untried to heave the ship ahead; but so firmly had the ' sludge' been frozen quite round the bends, that all our efforts were unavailing, and not an inch could we stir her. To see open water within one hundred yards, and yet be unable to reach it, was a type of the torment of poor Tantalus : but so it was, and there was nothing left but to sub- g 2 84 CREW EMPLOYED IN mit. The sails were furled, and the ship again thrown on the chances of what might befall The wind decreased during the night, and at daylight of September 5th there was a calm. We found also that we had drifted considerably nearer the land, which was high, and thinly and partially covered with snow. Fife Rock was just visible to the north. Lanes of water were seen at different points of the compass along shore ; and, though they were rather far apart, and of no great extent, the usual trial was made to reach them, but again without success. The last resource therefore was adopted. The whole of the officers and men were despatched, under the orders of Lieutenant Smyth, to the only open water at all near ; and with axes, ice chi- sels, handspikes, and long poles, began the la- bouring process of cutting away the ' sludge ' that bound the pieces together, and removing them into the clear space. In this service they were frequently obliged to fasten lines to the heavier masses and haul them out \ and, though slipping and tumbling about, yet the light-hearted fellows pulled in unison to a cheer- ful song, and laughed and joked with the un- reflecting merriment of schoolboys. Every now and then some luckless wight broke through the thin ice, and plunged up to his neck ; an- 4, 1 8 3 ! to d 0 0 a CO - 1} N CUTTING AWAY THE ICE. 85 other, endeavouring to remove a piece of ice by pushing against a larger mass, would set him- self adrift with it, and every such adventure was followed by shouts of laughter, and vociferous mirth. In this way considerable progress was made, and in the meantime the weather be- came warmer, and the wind veered to the south- ward. It became therefore more desirable than ever that the ship should be liberated, and, if possible, got closer to the shore, to avoid being drifted with the pack away to the north, as we knew must happen if the breeze should freshen from the quarter in which it now was. At noon, the latitude was something south of yesterday's, and the longitude a mile or two west. The temperature was 33° + . In the afternoon, the wind drew more to the eastward, and destroyed the hope of warping the ship out in the channel which we had been employed in cutting ; but as it was by that process alone that we could hope to get clear, the task was resumed with undiminished ardour in a direction immediately to the westward, where the ice was not quite so tightly pressed as elsewhere. The work went on cheerily, and as the breeze increased the sails were hoisted, and much to our satisfaction forced the head round, when the ship gradually gathered way, and went slowly g a 86 snow. towards the land. There was indeed an infinite expanse of ice, but every dark spot of water encouraged the hope that an off-shore wind would soon place us in a navigable channel. Accordingly as the masses separated from time to time, the hawsers were got out, and the ship hove between them, and thus, about 10h p. m., we suddenly emerged into a free space. This proved to be nearly four miles long ; but there was no opening beyond it, and again, in the morning of September 6th, all was closed. The wind freshened, but brought with it snow, the most unwelcome thing which could befall us ; nevertheless the warps were tried, and with them and the sails together we managed to push, perhaps a mile altogether, towards the land. It was then noon, and hazy; no land in sight ; ther- mometer 29° + • The effect of the E. S. E. breeze was shown in the slow setting of the ice upon the coast ; and, as many of the pieces were of sufficient dimension to entitle them to the name of floes, their motion created occasional lanes, which, if we had been able to see but a few hundred yards ahead, might perhaps have been followed with advantage. Even with all the uncertainty and risk, I confess the tempt- ation to gain a single mile was almost irresistible. That the prudent course was the best was soon, APPEARANCE OF THE LAND. 87 however, exemplified ; for the whole of the ice within range of sight shortly after closed, and hemmed us in. For an hour it was doubtful whether we should not be nipped, but by warp- ing into a bight accidentally formed by the overlapping of one floe over the point of another, we fortunately escaped. The wind too increased, so the sails were furled, and the ship secured to the largest floe. Soundings were struck in one hundred and twenty-nine fathoms, the bottom being composed of sand and shells, and by the line it appeared that the ship was drifting N.byE. The night was dark and cheerless from the snow, which continuing to fall clogged the rigging and decks. At daybreak, there was no opening in any direction, east or west ; and the ice had been packed against the land, which could be traced from south-east to north ; Fife Rock being still visible E. N. E. Our distance from the land was about ten or twelve miles ; but, not to speak of the icy barrier which se- parated us, there was nothing which invited to a nearer approach. The soft blue tint which, twenty-four hours ago, had cheated the imagin- ation, was gone ; and now there was the chilling1 reality of precipitous black rocks streaked with snow, and a mantle of the same cold whiteness spread over the whole of the head land. g 4 88 DRIFTING TOWARDS LAND. It was now the 7th of September, and, with so premature a winter, I could not fail to be more than ordinarily anxious about our situation. I was aware that Sir E. Parry had been within a few miles of the same spot on the 17th of the same month on his return to England ; but at that time the temperature — the season — in short, every thing was different; whereas we were lying power- less as a log, and nothing was left to my choice but to sail through the first favourable opening that offered. So much snow had fallen, that the better part of the forenoon was taken up in clearing it from the decks. At noon, the wind had veered to N. E. by E., which was dead on the land. Soundings were found with one hundred and fifty-five fathoms. Temperature 29° + . Soon after, there was a perceptible move- ment in the ice near us. At first, I thought it was the re-action produced by the intensity of the pressure ; but the blocks and pieces thrown up on the surface of resisting masses, and against the ship's sides, proved that some agent was at work, and not long after a five-inch warp, which held us to the floe, suddenly broke. At 4h p. m. we were evidently drifting much nearer to the land, though no such indication was given by the soundings, which were one hundred and fifty fathoms, with a bottom of green mud. ACCIDENT TO RUDDER. 89 Indeed, it could be owing only to the amazing pressure from the north, which ground the smaller pieces into powder, and either sunk or threw up others, at various heights and angles, upon the larger pieces, that a space was cleared for our drifting. Whatever the cause, we were set- ting directly on the shore, without the slightest means of averting it. Near 8h p. m., a general hubbub, with harsh grating sounds, announced a commotion about the stern, which being turned away from the floe, among the looser ice, was more exposed than any other part The tiller had been secured with lashings, to confine the rudder amidships, but a steep and heavy mass coming against it under the quarter, snapped the lashings like threads, and forced the rudder violently on one side, from which position it could not be re- lieved until the ice moved away. About the same time another warp was broken, after which we were not much further disturbed during the night. Sept. 8th brought no change. The same dreary weather overhung the heavens as with a veil. The coast however was dimly seen, forming, according to our position, a long bay, termi- nated abruptly to the westward by a projecting bluff point, which we supposed to be that dis- 90 ASPECT OF CONTIGUOUS COAST. tinguished in the chart by the, to us, most unappropriate name of Cape Comfort. Beyond it, a low neck of land could be made out, run- ning to the north, which was conjectured to be Cape Bylot. Fife Rock bore N. E. There was not, to use the ice mate's expression, " a sup of water in sight." All our hopes, therefore, rested on the uncertain chance of a westerly breeze, uncertain only in such a season as this, inasmuch as ordinarily the westerly and north- westerly winds are the unfailing companions of autumn in these latitudes. The barometer had been for the last fortnight very steady, scarcely varying with any difference of wind. At noon the latitude was 65° 09', and longitude S2°5V W., not more, therefore, than fifty miles from Duke of York's Bay in Frozen Strait. The temperature, which had at one time fallen to 23° + , rose again to 28° + , wind N. E. The hours which usually brought some slight alteration arrived, and passed away, leaving us as we were, so that we were driven to infer that the pressure from seaward had now attained its maxi- mum, and that the compact and boundless field of ice had vanquished tide and current, and was be- come fixed and immoveable. A mild night suc- ceeded, though at first overcast, yet by 10h p. m. some stars were seen, giving indications of a clear NEW MOON. 91 sky to the north-west. For an hour or two indeed the wind did veer as far round as N. N. W., and tantalized us by vacillating between that and N. N. E. How often did we look up at the mast-head vane, and how often presume to say that it must get to the southward and westward. In the morning (9th Sept.) all was still and motionless, though it seemed that we had drifted a little to the south along the land. At noon, a gentle air might just be felt from the south- west ; and as the breeze grew stronger, the hope deferred which had made our hearts sick was again doubtfully re-admitted. At night there was no longer any pressure, for the ship, which had been forced over considerably to starboard, now righted ; and this joyful fact the least san- guine construed into an omen of a speedy re- lease. But the next morning (September 10th) the capricious wind first drew more to the south, bringing with it snow, then veered round again to N. N. W.j and finally fell nearly calm. The only perceptible variation was the welcome sight of two or three streaks of water within a few yards from the ship. The weather now became unusually mild, the thermometer being at 35° + , and as there was to be a new moon at midnight, we fixed on that event as the harbinger of a change. The hour arrived, but not the prognos- 92 RECREATIONS OF THE CREW. ticated wind ; and, in the still serenity of the star- lit sky, yet glowing in the west with the lingering tints of a gorgeous sunset, there was a spirit of beautiful repose which seemed to mock our dis- appointment. All was uniform and motionless, save where the fickle air aloft played with the languid vane, coquetting round and round from every point of the compass, as if, in very waywardness, it knew not where to settle. The morning of Sept. 11th was also calm, and a mist overhung the barren coast. The ice had opened a few yards, and the ship was with diffi- culty hauled into the space. As the sun gained power the mist dispersed from the land, or lay in long thin clouds along its dark cliffs, but no water could be seen from aloft. Until to-day no animals had visited us ; but now two seals and some small fish appeared close to the stern. After service the officers collected in groups, and basked in the sunshine of an arctic summer day, with the thermometer at 35° + . For the last three or four evenings the people had been permitted to go on the floe alongside, where they amused themselves by playing at various games, and among others the well-known game of baiting the bear. To-day they went upon the ice for quiet exercise merely, but had not proceeded more than a hundred yards, when Mr. Green, CHASE OF A BEAR. 93 the ice mate, being on the mast-head, espied a real bear, and the alarm being immediately given, the men ran helter skelter to the ship, headed by a bull-dog belonging to the Serjeant of marines, which was first on board. Every one below, hearing the rush, flew on deck, and, learn- ing the cause, seized the first gun at hand to prepare for the attack. Meantime the noble animal (a fine polar bear) nothing startled at a hubbub which might well have frightened a legion of his kindred away, approached with deliberate steps nearer and nearer. His gait was loose, and rolling as if weak from hunger, for he rather drew than lifted his huge limbs over the rugged surface ; and still as he advanced, he now raised his black nose and sniffed, and now paused, as appetite or fear prevailed. At length he took courage, and followed up the scent ; till, at the distance of about fifty paces from the ship, he stood like a target to receive the balls which were soon showered on him. He fell, but re- covering his legs, limped, with what strength was left, a short space off. Then, all hurry to pursue, one grasped a handspike, another poised a lance, a third more heedless rushed on with a mere stick to give the coup de grace. The more pru- dent however retained their guns, and a few more shots terminated the sufferings of poor 94 DIMENSIONS OF BEAR. bruin. The sailors with their wonted fun hauled the bulky carcase over the floe, and hoisted it on board.* The condition of the teeth indicated that it had attained to some age. It was lean, and the stomach was found to be entirely empty. * The following dimensions were taken by Dr. Donovan and Mr. Mould : Ft. Inch. Length from the snout to the tail - - 6 llj Circumference round the middle From the snout to the shoulder joint From the heel of the fore-paw to the top of the back 4 From the heel of the hind leg to the top of rump Circumference of fore-paw, including claws Breadth of the fore-paw - Length from fore middle toe to knee joint Circumference of fore-leg below the knee Circumference of hind-paw - Circumference of hind-leg - Length of the hind-paw Breadth of the hind-paw - Length of hind middle toe to knee joint Length of tail - Circumference of head below the eyes - Circumference of neck - - - - Distance of snout from the eye - Distance between the eyes (internal angles) Length of axis of the eye (perpendicular) Depth of snout - Depth from snout to lower part of under jaw Breadth of septum narium - Nare elliptical - Length of ears - - - •* Breadth of aperture of ear 5 0 2 6 4 4 3 4 2 0 0 8i 0 10 1 7 2 4 1 7 0 81 0 Si 0 9 0 7i 1 10 3 u 0 9± 0 5+ 0 Of 0 1 0 7 0 Oi 0 4 0 H 0 34- WEATHER MILD AND CALM. 9«5 This novelty, trifling as it was, was sufficient to give a turn to our conversation ; and the eternal inquiries about the wind, and the speculations as to the probable quarter from which it would next come, were for an hour or two suspended ; indeed, there was little to excite us on that subject, for the weather continued very mild and calm, though towards evening it was observed that the ice had opened a little, and what was still more singular, that the ship had a slight undulatory motion. The thermometer during the night did not sink below 32^° + , and early on September 12th, finding there was a chance of getting through some lanes in the direction of Cape Comfort, the ship was with infinite trouble warped about half a mile, when the ice again Number of front teeth in upper jaw - 6 Number of canine teeth - 2 Number of molar do. - 6 Small teeth between the tusks and molars - 4> Front teeth in lower jaw - 6 Canine (one broken) - 2 Molars - - 8 Two small teeth between the canine and molars 2 Ft. Inch. Length of lower tusks - - - 0 2 Length of upper tusks - - -0 2^ Breadth between the tips of upper tusks - 0 3^- Breadth (supposed) between lower tusks 0 2^ Length of middle fore claw - - 0 2 Length of middle hind claw - - 0 2 T 96 HAWSER CARRIED AWAY BY ICE. closed, and the breeze blew, though light, from the eastward, that is to say, fromthe quarter directly opposite to what we wished: again therefore our efforts were discontinued, and the ship secured. The thermometer at noon was 35° + , and in a small pool of water astern three white whales were seen. Later in the day the weather became overcast, and brought with it a S.E. wind, thus at once overturning hopes of a week's growth, and making the pros- pect of our liberation as remote as ever. Never- theless, as the ice slacked, about 7h p.m., we warped a couple of hundred yards ahead, and then, setting the sails, endeavoured to bore through the annoying obstruction ; a little way, perhaps half a mile, we accomplished ; and even that little was gratifying, for our long detention had begun to be dispiriting. The ice then be- coming closer, the sails were furled, and on the morning of the 13th September we found our- selves rather closer in with the coast, but owing to the thick state of the weather the precise spot could not be ascertained. During the whole of the forenoon there was nothing but snow, and the breeze blew dead on the land ; the result showed itself, as was to be expected, by an in- creased pressure of the snow and ice, which tight- ened so much, that before we were aware of it the securing hawser was carried away. It was MOTION" IN THE ICE. 9/' replaced by a stronger one, but we could not venture to throw a strain even on this ; and when- ever any sudden change took place among the ice it was immediately slackened. The snow did not cease until 6h. 30ra. p. m., and then so laden were the decks with it, that the people were actively occupied more than an hour in clearing it away : the mist at the same time par- tially clearing, permitted a glimpse of the land, which was found to be considerably nearer than any one had anticipated, and proved that we had been set further than was expected to the west- ward. At 8h p. m. Cape Comfort bore by compass N.N.E., and soundings were obtained with one hundred and seventy-five fathoms of line, at a dis- tance of not more than five miles from the nearest rocks. During the night the increased violence of the wind, and its unwelcome constancy to the adverse quarter, had a direful effect on the shore ice in which we were embedded ; and though every piece was so closely and firmly packed against the other that there was not a hole large enough to admit of drawing water, yet at4h.30m. a.m. Sept. 14th, an agitative motion discovered itself among the surrounding ice, so violent, and indeed irresis- tible, that what was not crushed by its enormous force was raised up to various heights ; one pon- derous mass, with several peaks, to upwards of twenty feet. H 98 ICEBOUND IN SIGHT OF LAND. Fixed as we were, we partook of the general commotion ; and the ship being deep and too heavy to rise wTith the rest, it had to sustain the whole pressure and became severely nipped, leaning over considerably to starboard. The breeze, too, which still blew from N. E., so far from abating, came on attended by smart squalls. At this time we appeared to be not more than four miles from the land, which was broken into exposed bays, utterly without shelter from the north, and blocked up with close packed ice. Not a pool of water was visible in any direction : to the mercv of Providence alone could we look for rescue from our perilous situation. None but those who have experienced it can judge of the weariness of heart, the blank of feeling, the feverish sickliness of taste which gets the better of the whole man under circumstances such as these. Not an incident occurred to relieve for a moment the dull monotony of our unprofit- able detention. Will the wind ever come from the westward ? was the question fretfully asked and peevishly answered. This one idea had taken entire possession of the mind, and whilst even a doubt remained, no occupation, no amusement, however ordinarily gratifying, had power to please or even distract the thoughts. Not that this, or any part of it, was expressed in words, but the feeling was not the less easily detected, PARTIAL MOVEMENT OF THE MASSES. 99 As the sun set the sky became rather more bright at N. W«, and with much satisfaction the wind was observed to veer that way. A faint aurora was also seen at S. W., and as it has been often considered as a sign of wind from that quar- ter in which it appears, even that prognostic, uncertain as it is, was eagerly caught at. But although the breeze blew off or along the coast all the night, yet on Sept. 15th not the minutest change was visible, until near 8h a. m., when a very partial movement took place in about a dozen large masses immediately around us. The effect of this was so far beneficial that it released the ship from the heavy pressure she had been sustaining, and as the sunken pieces, from beneath her bottom, rose to the surface with a bound, and others glided along the sides, she gradually righted. But when we were looking with eager eyes for some little space of water, the motion stopped at once, as if arrested by the hand of magic, and left us again to hope and again be disappointed. The temperature which had been as low as 21° + , at noon rose to 23° + . The wind blew fresh along the land until evening, but it was late in the first watch before the faintest stir was heard among the ice, which then merely moved in azimuth, causing the ship to go a few yards astern. Yet to move at all was encouraging, since it proved that the pieces, though wedged h 2 100 WIND VEERS TO SOUTH-WEST. and heaped together, were not yet rivetted by the continually increasing severity of the night-frosts. Half of the month had now slipped away, and we were held still within sight of the same land as it were in the grasp of a giant. Yet the prospect though unpromising enough was not yet hopeless ; for about midnight the wind drew round to the south-west, and came with a force which, a week before, would have fulfilled our most sanguine desires. The ice now, however, was too close wedged to yield at once to its influence, though considerably loosened. Up to noon of Sept. 16. no effectual alteration took place : the thermometer had once fallen as low as 15° + , though it had now risen again to 31° + * The height of the land made our distance from shore appear less than it really wTas ; and often a proposition was made to me that a small party should endeavour to make their way across the land to the westward, and satisfy themselves if any open water was to be expected in that direc- tion. However, being myself pretty confident that there was open water, and moreover not very far away, I could not at this crisis give my consent to it. Besides the toil and difficulty which must necessarily be encountered in the attempt to traverse the country along the coast, broken as it was into ravines and vallies, ren- dered more impassable by the snow lately fallen ; PROSPECT OF RELEASE. 101 the hazard of their being separated from the ship left no room for hesitation, though I pro- mised that on a future occasion the proposition should not be forgotten. The wind now got more to the southward, and after being unsettled for an hour or two, began to blow fresh from S. by W. : still the ice did not stir. However, about 4h 30m, it opened out a little, and though no water was visible from the Crow's Nest, the breeze was so strong that it was deemed expedient to set the sails ; and answering to their power, the ship imme- diately forged ahead, generally, of course, very slowly, but wherever the ice wras smaller with a speed that brightened every countenance. It was indeed singular to behold the vast ship gliding along without any perceptible water. This could not last, and though it blew a gale of wind, yet even with warps and all appliances and means to boot, we were at length beaten by the solid mass. The last gleam of twilight, however, had just brought to sight several narrow lanes of water precisely where they were most wanted, so that the probability of a release was greater than it had been for at least three weeks. The wind veered a little to the eastward, but rather increased than diminished in violence, so that most of the sails were taken in, leaving enough to press the ship forward if the ice should give way. h 3 102 HOPES DISAPPOINTED. Morning of the 17th came, and our hopes were strongly excited. It was an auspicious day, for it was the date of Sir E. Parry's getting clear from nearly the same place on his return to England ; but there was no such good fortune in store for us. We had been forced nearer to Cape Comfort, which jutted out something to the north, forming with the wind then pre- dominating a weather shore, under the lee of which it was natural to suppose there would be a ' lead ' of water ; but contrary to experience and the expectation of all on board, the ice was found to be locked in to the very base of the rocks, and presented a barrier as insuperable as the one just before us. Still the gale from the eastward howled on, and though not a spot of water could be detected ahead, yet there was a channel for upwards of three miles formed in the place we had left ; in fact, all that was wanted was a breeze of the same kind from the west. The weather throughout the afternoon was wild and gloomy, and the evening closed in with showers of sleet. The ice was disturbed, and though too firmly wedged to open out, cracked and heaved as if seeking relief from the grinding pressure, but all in vain. The whole cemented mass, however, yielded to the general impulse, and ice and ship were borne helplessly along before the violence of the gale. Much water had been SHIP DRIVEN NEARER LAND. 103 seen along the shore to the eastward, and there seemed some likelihood of its overtaking us by daylight, if by any means we could hold on to some floe so as to let the smaller pieces drift past. But this, however desirable, was found impracticable, as the whole mass moved together. Throughout the night the wind scarcely abated, but towards morning of Sept. 18th it became moderate ; and as the heavy clouds cleared away before the rays of the rising sun, it was discovered that we had been driven past Cape Comfort about three or four miles, and at the same time had been set considerably nearer to the coast which, immediately abreast of us, was fearfully forbidding. To the north it pre- sented a towering and perpendicular front, rent into fissures, or jagged with splintery ridges, all deeply black ; whilst towards the south it receded from the summit in round backed hills, entirely (except where sharp-angled rocks peeped out) covered with snow. Farther west the land gra- dually declined with longer slopes and wider vallies, and terminated in a point, either Cape Bylot or Cape Welsford of Parry. Through- out the entire range I was unable to detect any of those marks which indicate the track of the Esquimaux in their periodical migrations. The latitude at noon was 65° 12' N., and in having been drifted thus far, we had the consola- h 4 104 MR. GORE SHOOTS A FOX. tory conviction that there must be an open space of water somewhere to the west. We knew more- over that the further we advanced in that direc- tion the more we should be liable to the influence of the high tides in the neighbourhood of the Welcome, where the changes among the ice would be more frequent, and our chance of reaching Repulse Bay consequently improved. In fact, a long narrow lane had begun to form close to the beach, reaching nearly to the extre- mity of the view, but the breeze freshening from S.S.E. forced the seaward body of ice in, and closed it up again. Baffin Island was visible from the mast-head, but there was no opening in that direction. A raven and a little snow bunt- ing came near the ship. No soundings were got with one hundred and fifty fathoms. As the sun declined the breeze freshened still more, sending the low and light scud before it with the swiftness of an arrow. It was not however till near midnight that we stirred, when the ice, driven by the wind and tide, carried us about a mile. Sept. 19th sail was set to endeavour to force the ship clear of some large pieces, which ground with a grating noise against the bot- tom, but it was to little purpose. About this time an Arctic fox, probably allured by the scent of the skeleton of the bear which was hanging to the main-stay, came so close that it 4 ■■' _ - ^?fc? -o -,-. ^ £ S J* PI § 1= t "*. SHIP IN EXTREME PERIL. lOo was shot by Mr. Gore. A raven, too, wheeled its flight twice round the ship. What must be the wearisome uniformity of a life in which inci- dents such as these become memorable ! When the haze over the land was in some measure dispersed, we found that we had been set something further towards Cape Bylot, beyond which more land could be made out, and at noon Baffin Island bore N. 50° E. The temperature continued 31° + , and the southerly wind still prevailed. Four points more to the west was all that we required. No water in sight. In the early part of the night a thick mist came on, and the wind gradually veered to east, bringing with it sleet and snow. The next morning (Sept. 20th) it drew more to the northward, and, what was worse, blew fresh, thereby setting the seaward ice down towards the land with more force than had yet been experienced. Shortly after 9h a. m. a floe piece split in two, and the extreme violence of the pressure curled and crumbled the windward ice up in an awful man- ner, forcing it against the beam fully eighteen feet high. The ship creaked as it were in agony, and, strong as she was, must have been stove and crushed, had not some of the smaller masses been forced under her bottom, and so diminished the strain, by actually lifting her bow nearly two feet out of the water. In this perilous crisis steps 106 FRIGHTFUL INCREASE OF PRESSURE. were taken to have everything in readiness for hoisting ont the barge, and without creating un- necessary alarm, the officers and men were called on the quarter-deck, and desired, in case of emergency, to be active in the performance of their duties at the respective stations then notified to them. It was a serious moment for all, as the pressure still continued, nor could we expect much, if any, abatement until the wind changed. At noon the weather and our prospects re- mained the same. The barometer was falling, and the temperature was 26° + , with unceasing snow. Much ice had been sunk under the bottom, and a doubt existed whether it was not finding its way beneath the lee floe also ; for the uplifted ruins, within fifty paces of the weather beam, were advancing slowly towards us like an im- mense wave fraught with destruction. Resist- ance would not, could not have been effectual beyond a few seconds ; for what, of human con- struction, could withstand the impact of an icy continent, driven onward by a furious storm ? In the mean time symptoms too unequivocal to be misunderstood demonstrated the intensity of the pressure. The butt-ends began to start, and the copper, in which the galley apparatus was fixed, became creased, sliding doors refused to shut, and leaks found access through the bolt- heads and bulls-eyes. On sounding the well too, PROVIDENTIAL DELIVERY. 107 an increase of water was reported, not sufficient to excite apprehension in itself, but such as to render hourly pumping necessary. Moved by these indications, and to guard against the worst, I ordered the provisions and preserved meats, with various other necessaries to be got up from below and stowed on deck, so as to be ready at a mo- ment to be thrown upon the large floe along- side. To add to our anxiety, night closed prematurely, when suddenly, from some unknown cause, in which, if Ave may so deem without presumption, the finger of Providence was manifest, the floe, which threatened instant destruction, turned so as in a great degree to protect us against an in- crease of pressure, though for several hours after- wards the same creaking and grinding sounds continued to annoy our ears. The barometer and other instruments fell with a regularity un- precedented, yet the gale was broken, and by midnight had abated considerably. Sept. ^Ist. there was a lateral motion in some pieces of the surrounding ice, and after several as- tounding thumps under water against the bottom, the ship which had been lifted high beyond her line of flotation and thrown somewhat over to port, sud- denly started up and almost righted. Still however she inclined more than was agreeable to port, nor was it until one mass of ponderous dimensions burst from its imprisonment below that she alto- 108 PRESSURE UNEXPECTEDLY CONTINUES. gether regained her upright position. On be- holding the walls of ice on either side between which she had been nipped, I was astonished at the tremendous force she had sustained. Her mould was stamped as perfectly as in a die. Asto- nishment however soon yielded to a more grateful feeling, an admiration of the genius and mechanical skill by which the Terror had been so ably pre- pared for this service. We had many old Green- land seamen on board, and they were unanimously of opinion that no ship they had ever seen could have resisted such a pressure. On sounding the well she was found not to leak, though the car- penters had employment enough in caulking the seams on deck. At last the wind got round to the westward, and though not a pool of water was visible, still expect- ation was again on the stretch ; but though a fresh breeze prevailed till the evening, and again after a partial calm blew through the night, and though the effect to be anticipated from this would be the sending of the ice to the eastward, if moved at all, yet, strange to say, the very reverse took place, as the creaking of the pressed ship gave us but too plainly to understand. On Sept. 22d. the vessel was again sharply nipped, but without straining as before. At noon the thermometer rose a few degrees from 15° +, the point to which it had fallen in the night, and EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 109 by observations, we were at the distance of twenty- five miles only from Duke of York's Bay ; but we could not possibly advance so much as twenty- five inches, or, with such a succession of untoward winds, I should long ago have endeavoured to get the ship into some place of safety. Birds of all kinds had left us, and animals too, except a solitary seal espied to-day from the mast-head : this was immediately pursued by one of the officers, but after a fatiguing walk over the ice, he found the wary seal on the look-out and, instead of waiting to be shot at, it prudently disappeared through a hole in the ice. As the scene of operations was daily growing more circumscribed, and the outward body of ice forced us further in shore, directly towards a bay, bounded at either extreme by craggy rocks ; it became important to get some knowledge of its formation, in the hope of finding a shelter behind some protruding rock or point, if circumstances should permit us to get there. Accordingly a party of officers and men, under the direction of Lieutenant Smyth, having volunteered their ser- vices, the remainder of the day was taken up in making the requisite preparations for their de- parture on the following morning. Sept. 23d came on with thick weather and snow, which, together with the quantity that had already fallen, 110 A DOCK CUT IN THE ICE. hid the looser portions of ice between the floes, and thereby rendered the destined expedition too hazardous. About 9h a. m., a relaxation in the pressure encouraged us to try to warp the ship from her present unsafe situation, and this being found impracticable, the whole crew were em- ployed to cut a canal with axes and other implements, which attempt also was after a fair trial abandoned, as the heavier masses of ice squeezed forward into each vacancy as fast as it was made. The large floe against the larboard, which was the side nearest to the land, was much piled up with hummocks, and directly alongside was upwards of twenty feet thick; and with the double view of employing the people, and to make an experiment which, if successful, might be found advantageous, it was determined to cut a dock in the pure ice. Accordingly, after the dimensions were measured, the officers and men set to work, and having, in the course of four hours, sunk a trench as many feet deep, satisfied me that, assuming the floe to be of a uniform thickness, they could finish the work in ten days at the most. On this occasion, it hap- pened, contrary to expectation, that the ice near us, and only that near us, began at that moment to open, so that by five o'clock p. m. there was a lane for two or three hundred yards, so free of HOPES AGAIN DISAPPOINTED, 111 interruption, that a whale line was made fast to the upper part of the fore-mast, and the men actually tracked the ship along. We had now been precisely a month beset, without the option of moving in any direction but where the openings occurred, or where the whole body of the ice drifted; and this at a period admit- ted to be the most favourable for navigating these seas. With every thing flattering to decoy us on within twenty miles of Baffin Island, we there found ourselves suddenly stopped; and saw the ice close behind us in an unbroken line, cutting off all retreat. It will easily therefore be con- ceived, that the phenomenon which permitted even this trifling advance was hailed with exult- ation ; and though we were soon arrested, yet three or four cracks between the floes and packed body ahead, intimated that some- thing favourable might be expected from the returning tide. The weather, too, continued mild, and a light air blew from the west. Still, though there were occasional fluctuations in the ice during the night, Sept. 24th came without the consummation so eagerly anticipated. By some unaccountable caprice, scarcely had the narrow opening begun to enlarge when the ice suddenly stopped, and then with a reaction truly alarm- ing, pressed against the ship, so as to heave her over considerably on one side to the no small risk of the part nipped, which creaked and com- 1 1^2 CUTTING AWAY ICE WITH AXES. plained bitterly ; it was some hours before she righted again. It was now an object so to place the ship, that the excessive pressure, aided as it was by the spring tide, should be received equally on every part of her ; and as this could not be effected without the ice saws, they were shortly made ready, and having been fixed to large tri- angles formed of three high poles, were worked by means of a pulley. With one saw and some axes we were enabled to cut away a sharp piece which had already caused much annoyance, and were about removing it, when the ship which had been warped there, was suddenly set by the ice against it, and in a short time crushed up the whole mass. From that moment the pres- sure was very great, and after midnight of Sept. 25th, the timbers were strained so severely that there was a general creaking. Happily it did not last, for the crack again opened out and permitted our hauling a few yards ahead, and thereby to escape being caught by an extensive floe which, after sinking all smaller pieces, had forced its way to us. The rudder had borne an amazing force with scarcely any injury, but as there was no longer any reason for expos- ing it, it was unhung and slung under the stern. We were nearly half way between Capes Comfort and Bylot, were in sight of each side of Frozen Strait, could clearly distinguish Cape Welsford CONSULTATION OF OFFICERS. 1 IS and the dark water sky over Duke of York's Bay, were only five or six miles from the shore, which would have afforded us some shelter, and yet here we were fixed, compelled to endure the furious buffets which each successive tide brought upon us, and at the mercy of the mighty power that bound us. The temperature had varied from 18° to 23°, and the wind had drawn round to the east, though this was now become of tri- fling importance, as the westerly wind on which so much reliance had been placed had not even separated the floes, much less driven them from the land ; and in fact, according to our united opinions, had made no impression whatever. Deeply sensible as I was of the growing peril of our situation with days contracting and the prospect of a speedy decrease of temperature, I now made an official demand on the officers of his majesty's ship, for their respective opinions in writing, upon the probability of any further progress being made by our own exertions in the present season, to- wards Repulse Bay. Their unanimous convic- tion, from the experience of the thirty-four days in which the ship had been beset, was, that any thing more, with that view, was utterly im- practicable, and they suggested the adoption of certain precautions in the event of any sudden contingency obliging us to have recourse to the* boats for safety. In this opinion I entirely coin- i 114 RAPID DESTRUCTION OF THE FLOE. tided, and considering that the period had now arrived for taking a decisive step, had deter- mined to cut a dock in a favourable part of the floe which we had quitted ; that being the largest, and, according to the ice mate, the only one sufficiently strong for the purpose. I felt assured that, if this could be accomplished, the ship would be protected so long as the floe held together, and in short it was my only resource. The resolution thus adopted was to have been car- ried into execution, but the following night, with- out the aid of any strong breeze, produced the most extraordinary changes yet witnessed. There was a general commotion; and the entire body by which we were hampered separating into single f pieces, tossed into heaps or ground to powder whatever interrupted its course, and finally, in the early morning of the 26th, rushed violently to the westward, directly up Frozen Strait. The ship bore well up against the hurly burly, and when daylight broke, and we could distinguish objects, we looked in vain for the floe. In the wild convulsion of the night it had been broken and scattered with many other ponderous masses, which now lay piled in ruins around us. It was evident, too, that the ship had been set nearer to Cape Bylot, for the coast beyond it, as well as Baffin's Island, were plainly seen from the deck ; so that, for aught we knew, we might still be 12 I ' 5 ^4 ^ 8 h . I* * '■ H BOW OF THE SHIP SPLIT. 11,5 carried even to the goal of our wishes without any effort of our own. One fact, at all events, was incontrovertible, that, now the ice, though heavy enough to do great injury, was not exten- sive enough to shelter us as I had designed, and that there was nothing left but to drift with it until Nature in her own good time should release us. The ice remained unusually tranquil the whole of the afternoon ; but as the night ad- vanced the north-east wind increased, and at llh p.m., when the flood-tide made, the ship became sharply nipped : fortunately it did not last long, and on Sept. 27th she was free again. The effect of the breeze which still continued, accompanied with snow, had been to drive us nearer to the land, but without any inconvenience from pressure ; and we were congratulating our- selves on this, when, at llh a.m., the creaking of the beams and sides abaft the main-mast inti- mated that the ice was in motion. On looking over the stern, a heavy piece, driven on by several others, was seen crashing or sinking everything before it, and being now checked by the ship, which it struck under the quarter, raised her at once several feet out of the water, the bow at the same time being pressed with such force against a mass ahead as to split it in two or three directions, the whole going bodily i 2 116 PREPARING FOR AN EMERGENCY. forward. In this alarming manner the ice brought up, leaving the stern elevated seven and a half feet, and the bow jammed against the ponderous masses ahead. Nothing could be done by us to relieve the ship ; and as there were no floes of sufficient surface on which to place boats and provisions, if driven to that necessity, I decided on hoisting out the two whale boats from the skids, and hanging them up alongside, so that these with the third and the two cutters, might be lowered at a moment's notice. A fur- ther quantity of provision also was to be got up, with ammunition and other necessaries to sup- port life in case of the worst. As for the barge, though in itself the most suitable boat, her size and weight would have rendered her totally un- manageable on the broken and moving ice which surrounded us. The day was spent in executing these arrangements, and I waited with anxiety for the hour when the returning flood-tide should again act. With the wind dead on shore, it was not very likely to loosen the ice ; and if it packed it still more, who could calculate on the result ? As midnight drew near, an occasional sharp crack about the counter warned us that something was giving way, but it passed ; and on Sept. 28th, though the breeze had rounded more to the eastward, the ship had not altered her inclination. Much snow fell, and it blew 14 ANNOYANCES OF THE SITUATION. 117 Fresh till the morning, when the task of com- pleting the requisite outfit for the boats was resumed. The top-gallant-yards and masts were lowered on deck, that the ship might be as light as possible about the mast-heads ; and if by any turn of fortune a channel should still open, we could always set the topsails and courses, which would be amply sufficient to take us to an anchorage. At noon the ice was stationary, and we therefore motionless. The thermometer kept up to 29° + with an easterly breeze, from which I inferred that there was open water at no great distance in that bearing, notwithstanding we could not see it from aloft. On the 29th the only change was, that the wind had veered more to the south, and that although the ther- mometer was above the freezing point (viz. 33° + ) so much snow fell that the whole forenoon was occupied in clearing it from the decks and boats. It was a tedious and annoying situation to be placed in, not above three miles from the shore, yet unable to get the ship there — bays and harbours apparently within reach, and still obliged to be prepared for being wrecked. The ship remained in the same inconvenient position, the slope and slippery state of the lee side of the deck causing many falls to those who were passing along. Sept. 30th was calm, and a depo- sition of hoar-frost and small spicuke coated the i 3 118 HOPES OF PROGRESSING BAFFLED. rigging and spars. As this was to be expected for many months, and the consequent difficulty of walking the decks was to be guarded against, I set up the housing cloth between the fore and main masts, and thus made an excellent shelter, and a dryplace along the gangways for the people to take exercise. Not that all idea of moving had been abandoned, for I was determined to push up the Strait whenever the slightest opportunity should be given, whether now or in the middle of winter. Nor, placed as we were, was such an opportunity improbable, since Sir E. Parry had throughout the whole winter, remarked more or less open water to the south east of his anchorage at Winter Island. About 10h 40m a. m. a very narrow sepa- ration of the in-shore ice was seen, proving the reasonableness of such expectations, especially if a westerly gale, which some were yet sanguine enough to hope for, should at last come to our relief. During the afternoon the same ice closed again without in any way affecting us. Thus ended a month of vexation, disappointment, and anxiety, to me personally more distressing and intolerable than the worst pressure of the worst evils which had befallen me in any other expe- dition. 119 CHAP. III. Lane of Water discovered, — Prospect of wintering on the Ice. — Violent Concussions experienced. — Employment of the Crew. — Erection of an Observatory. — FavourablePosition of the Ship. — Disruption by a Gale. — Expansion of open Water. — Officers build Snow Houses. — Excursions to Land. — An exploring Party. — Experiment of wearing a Mash. — Survey of a Harbour. — Pass Cape Comfort. — Risk of being crushed. — Robbed by Foxes and Shrimps. — Ther- mometer rises. — Huge Mass of Ice. — Amusements. — Thermometers tested. — Accident to the Carpenter. — School for the Crew. — Curious Phenomenon. — Register TJiermometer. — Rein-deer killed. — Fearful Storm. — Floe cracks. On the 1st of Oct. the vessel gradually righted, and from that day to the 6th not a single incident occurred worthy of being recorded, except that the ship got an awkward list to starboard. The weather was singularly calm, the tempera- ture did not fall lower than 14° + , and the ice remained almost motionless, or moved, if at all, bodily towards the land without creating the smallest noise. One faint and flitting aurora was seen. On the 6th, a party of four, consisting of two officers and two men, left the ship early in the morning, with the intention of making an excursion on shore, whence they returned about i 4 120 A PARTY GO ON SHORE. 4h p. m. They described the walking as very fatiguing, on account of the state of the ice, thrown as it was into a heap of peaks and ridges, with the exception of one floe about three quarters of a mile broad, the whole way to the shore, the distance of which was estimated to be about four miles. The sludge ice between the larger masses was frozen hard enough to bear them ; and though painful to the feet, was considered the most favourable for travelling on. They did not perceive any open water near the shore, but found some difficulty in reaching it, on account of a chasm between the ice and the nearest rocks, which however at last they con- trived to leap over. After resting awhile, they endeavoured to ascend the hills, but were soon discouraged by the excessive fatigue of toiling through snow, already in many places two and three feet deep. Not a single track of an ani- mal was seen to allure them on or cheer their exertions ; and under these circumstances, they very wisely retraced their steps to the vessel, where they arrived well fagged with the trip. On landing they had fired several shots, but the sound did not reach us, though more than one were watching their motions. The whole line of coast to Cape Bylot seemed to them to form a moderate bay, and the ice between the ship and shore they thought decidedly more LANE OF WATER DISCOVERED. 121 packed than further to seaward. The specimens of rocks which they brought were gneiss, with a considerable mixture of red felspar. They had not seen a blade of grass, nor a symptom of vege- tation of any kind. No marks wrere observed on the rocks, indicating the rise and fall of the tide. The day was clear and fine, and the land beyond Cape Welsford, as well as Vansittart and Baffin islands, was so much thrown up by re- fraction, that had we not certainly known the passage through Frozen Strait, we might have concluded that we were at the entrance of some deep bay or inlet. In the course of making some changes for the more suitable accommodation of some of the warrant officers, we found the roof and sides of the vessel so damp, as to have contracted in many parts a deposition of blue mould, caused, in all probability, by the vapour from the cook's copper close by. This led to a closer examina- tion of other parts of the ship ; and on looking narrowly at the heel of the bowsprit, it was dis- covered to be sprung from the knight-heads inwards six feet. How or when the injury had been done it was impossible to ascertain : it was, probably, the effect of the weight and strain which must have been thrown upon it, whenever the ship was hove suddenly aback with a slack- 122 SHIP RIGHTS. ened bobstay among heavy ice, or it might have been occasioned by running on and lifting against elevated masses. During the after- noon of the 9th the wind freshened from the westward, and early the following morning, much to the astonishment of those who first descried it, a long lane of water was formed in shore at the distance of not more than a mile from the ship. The body in which we were beset had, in fact, separated from and moved away from that nearer the land, leaving a perfectly clear channel to Cape Bylot within fifteen miles from Duke of York's Bay, which I was most anxious to reach in order to place the ship in safety for the winter. The returning ebb closed the lane in a great part, though not entirely, and we continued as firmly beset as ever, yet not without hope that the next three or four days might materially improve our prospects. The same action and reaction suc- cessively occurred at each change of tide ; but on the 11th, the weather being exceedingly mode- rate, various transverse cracks and small openings began to appear over the greater part of the ice, and at length actually reached the ship. Towards evening, several pieces of ice slowly moved from under her bilge, and at llh 30ra p. m., the com- motion having considerably increased, she first forged a little ahead, and immediately righted. Had it been light enough to send the men on the PROSPECT OF WINTERING ON THE ICE. 123 ice to make fast the hawsers, such was the rapid change going on, that it is possible we might have gained a few hundred yards ; but among other grievances was this also, that the most favourable opportunities invariably occurred when advantage could not be taken of them. October 12th. — At daylight the different articles which for convenience had been deposited on the ice alongside were brought on board, and unwilling to lose the slightest chance of advancing, an effort was made to warp, but without success. At noon we were almost in the same place as before ; with this difference however, that the entire body of ice was broken or separated into single pieces as when we first entered it. The wind had veered to north-east, the thermometer remaining at 22°-j- ; and its unwelcome influence wTas felt at the very next flood, when it drove the moving ice dead on the land, of course inclosing us in the general pressure. But, in truth, we now hardly knew what to hope, or what to wish. If the ice separated there was danger ; if it remained compact, there was the recurring commotion of every spring- tide, and the conjectural effect of the storms which sooner or later must come upon us. These reflections, and the responsi- bility which devolved on me, embittered the hours which I had fondly hoped to have passed very differently. Plans for spending the winter, 124 VIOLENT CONCUSSIONS EXPERIENCED. (supposing we were compelled to remain out) had been concerted during the passage across the Atlantic. Observatories were to be erected on shore, experiments were to be made, much in short was to be done from which interesting re- sults might have been obtained ; and though I did not yet altogether despair of accomplishing these designs, since, by possibility, the ship might still be set close to some bay or other place conveni- ent for the purpose, yet it could not be concealed that the probability was hourly diminishing. The night of the 13th October was rough and boisterousjust at the very time of the highest tide, and wedging the ice against and under the ship, occasioned many severe concussions. A little past llh I was reading in the cabin, when I felt so violent a shock directly under the quarter, that 1 thought it must have been stove in. The attack (if I may so express myself) was repeated at regular intervals, and lasted for upwards of two hours. On the 14th October there was no other change than that brought by snow, and a depres- sion of the thermometer to 14° + . One faint au- rora had been seen, During the two succeeding days, at the flood-tide, the same concussions were indicated by a slight trembling of the ship. As the tides became weaker the effect ceased, and we remained thenceforth undisturbed. It was not till October 17th that the tempera- bo X o s REPAIRING HEATING APPARATUS. 1<2.5 ture fell below zero. On that day, however, it was 9°m — , with a clear sky and a very light air from the N. N. W. The aurora was observed at the same time. The planking and timbers, &c. of the ship cracked from the contraction of the cold, and the temperature of the officers' cabins being below the freezing point, the vapour froze until the hatches were shut down, and when this had been done, caused more inconvenience still by returning to its former state, and running down from the beams and sides in streams, I now, therefore, gave instructions for the constant use of the warming apparatus, which on three pre- vious trials had answered satisfactorily. Not long, however, after the fire had been put into the furnace, it was discovered that the heat circulated only along one side of the ship, and upon examination, a portion of the liquid, con- sisting of brine, was found to have escaped. The work of repair was forthwith commenced by taking down the outer brickwork of the furnace, between which and the latter was the worm of the iron pipe that formed the heating apparatus. It was a flaw or opening in this worm that had allowed the liquid to escape, and this imposed on us the additional trouble of putting the forge together, which was accordingly done under a canvass shed on the ice alongside. Here the armourer, who had been supplied to us from 126 EMPLOYMENT OF THE CREW. Chatham Dock-yard, an industrious and active man, set to work with seeming delight, and in a few days the worm was replaced and again bricked up. I determined, however, on a gene- ral inspection of the whole range before the fire should be again lighted. In the meantime the steam and vapour on the lower deck spread over the whole upper surface and sides, as well as on the beams and stanchions, and then becoming condensed and falling in every direction, acted something like a shower bath. Rather than suffer this, the consequences of which on the general health might soon have been felt, the hatches were again thrown open, and the clouds of dense vapour suffered to escape. It was my intention, in case the heat generated by the warming apparatus should not be adequate to the absorption of the moisture, to have iron tanks placed on the upper deck as condensers ; but the plan for the present was delayed, for being quite ignorant of what the next spring-tides might produce, I was more tardy in making final ar- rangements for the winter as well as in organis- ing occupations for keeping up the health and spirits of the crew, than was consistent with my own wishes. Not a day, however, had been suf- fered to pass without some active employment, either in the duties of the ship, or on the ice, where healthy exercise was turned to profitable ERECTION OF AN OBSERVATORY. 1^7 account in constructing paths and one general road towards the shore. The officers kept their regular watches ; nor in the peculiar situation of the ship, and the uncertainty of what might hap- pen in case of any sudden storm, were the men at present discharged from the performance of the like duty. The temperature had hitherto been registered every two hours, but on October 18th two large spirit thermometers previously tested and found to agree, were placed on each side of a thick post fixed on the tafrail, in a direction due north and south ; the southern thermometer having its bulb freely exposed, and the northern one having the brass guard usually thrown over the bulb by the makers. These were now to be registered every hour, and at 2h p. m. October 20, with a clear sky and a light air from west, the north shewed 4° -h and the south 22°+. The follow- ing day at 6h p. m., wind light at N. N. E,, the temperature fell to 15° by both. An hour after, the weather became overcast, and they rose to 8°. The risk of the ice separating had induced me to defer the erection of an observatory, but now I yielded to the urgency of Lieutenant Stanley, who was eager to commence a series of astronomical observations, and a party of officers and men, under his directions, set about the work on a 128 UNSOCIABILITY OF THE CREW. small floe, less than two hundred yards from the larboard quarter. The site chosen had every appearance of solidity, and yet, to my surprise, I confess, after the sharp weather of the past few days, they came to water on removing snow, a foot or two from the surface. At first it was thought to be fresh, but when they had dug about five inches through ice, the sea-water rushed up, thus proving how great is the pro- tection afforded by a covering of six or eight inches of snow. The ice formed on the fire hole* in a single night but three days before was just five inches thick. Meantime we were not unobservant of the habits and dispositions of the crew, hastily ga- thered together, and for the most part composed of people who had never before been out of a collier : some half dozen, indeed, had served in Greenland vessels, but the laxity which is there permitted, rendered them little better than the former. A few men-of-wars-men who were also on board, were worth the whole together. The want of discipline, and attention to personal comfort, were most conspicuous ; and though the wholesome regulations practised in His Majesty's service were most rigidly attended to in the Terror, yet such was the unsociability, * Fire hole — hole for drawing water in the event of fire. CHARACTERISTICS OF A BRITISH SAILOR. 12Q though without any ill-will, that it was only by a steady and undeviating system pursued by the first lieutenant, that they were brought at all together with the feeling of messmates : at first, though nominally in the same mess, and eating at the same table, many of them would secrete their allowance, with other unmanly and un- sailor-like practices. This was another proof added to the many I had already witnessed, how greatly discipline improves the mind and manners, and how much the regular service-man is to be preferred for all hazardous or difficult enterprises. Reciprocity of kindnesses, a gene- rous and self-denying disposition, a spirit of frankness, a hearty and above-board manner — these are the true characteristics of the British seaman ; and the want of these is seldom com- pensated by other qualities. In our case, and I mention this merely to show the difference of olden and modern times, there were only three or four in the ship who could not write. All read ; some recited whole pages of poetry, others sang French songs. Yet with all this, had they been left to themselves, I verily believe a more unsociable, suspicious, and uncomfortable set of people could not have been found. Oh ! if the two are incompatible, give me the old" Jack Tar, who would stand up for his ship, and give his life for his messmate. K 130 A GENERAL MASQUERADE. Nor were the efforts of the first lieutenant con- fined to the enforcement of discipline or the regu- lations of the mess; for, as I felt the importance of amusing the minds of the crew during so many hours of forced inaction by every innocent device, he kindly undertook and personally super- intended the getting up of a general masquerade. The affair 'came off' on the 22d October; and if the entertainment was not of a very refined cha- racter, at all events it answered its purpose ; for the fun was hearty and the laughter loud. Some of the devices, as well as the contrivances to give the necessary variety of costume, with the scanty means at our command, did great credit to the ingenuity of the performers ; and alto- gether it was a gratifying scene, as showing how the native elasticity of the mind can triumph over circumstances the most cheerless and dis- couraging. October 23d. After divine service, which was listened to with a stillness that evinced, more than words could have done, the devout feeling created by the impressive and beautiful language of our liturgy, as the weather was very fine, the people, under the direction of the officers, were sent on the ice for exercise ; and I too, putting on a pair of Chippewyan snow-shoes, sallied out and made towards the land, which I reached after more than two hours of great fatigue. FATIGUING EXCURSION TO SHORE. 1S1 There was nothing besides the novelty of having been on shore, to repay me for the trouble and falls which I met with in getting there. A bare jutting or rounded piece of granite was visible here and there, the rest was covered with snow, steep and inaccessible, and dipping to the water's edge. It was a desolate solitude which, from the absence of all tracks, seemed to be equally abandoned by man and animals. At that part, at least, there was no shelter ; and when I reflected on the dangers by which we were encompassed, and the casualties which might befal us, I could not refrain from casting an anxious look towards the ship, whose masts alone were in sight above the peaked hummocks, and imploring the protection of heaven. The fatigue I experienced from my walk did not arise from the distance, which at most could not exceed six miles, but from the unevenness of the surface, which, from the smooth and in some places deep coating of snow that covered it, was extremely deceitful. In stepping forward, it often happened that my show-shoe was canted over by some sharp piece out of sight, and I myself thrown dowm ; but worse than this were the ridges and hummocks, which being heaped up to a considerable height demanded the ut- most exertion to surmount. On one occasion I slipped, and falling headlong into the snow, k 2 132 FAVOURABLE POSITION OF THE SHIP. found that I was between two thick masses of ice, with my face down, and that I hung only by the right snow-shoe, which, fortunately for me, had turned so as to fix itself across two pieces strong enough to support me. From this awkward situation I was eight or ten minutes in extricating myself, and congratulated myself not a little on my escape. The fact is, that I ought not to have been alone ; but as I was at present the only person who could boast of a pair of snow-shoes, no one could keep pace with me. Every thing which I saw between the ship and the shore, the heavy floes in some parts, and the extreme pressure that must have existed in others, served to reconcile me to the position in which accident, or something better, had thrown the ship, as affording a more favourable chance of getting away than if we had been nearer to the land. October 24th, being the day of the full moon, had been looked forward to with more than ordinary interest, on account of the spring- tide; though, from the cold we had experienced, the snow which had fallen, and the uniform compactness of the ice in every direction, it was thought that it might now affect us but little, if at all. The hour of change was ushered in by a fresh westerly, or off-shore breeze, which passed harmless over the surface of the vast 12 DISRUPTION BY A GALE. 133 body, only raising in its fury clouds of drift, particularly about the land to the east-ward of the ship. Scarcely, however, had the sun crossed the meridian when a change came on for the worse, and soon settled into a downright gale, such as a fortnight ago would most likely have taken us to Repulse Bay. Until 4h p.m. it had not made the faintest impression on any part of the ice, but at that time a lane of water was observed between us and the shore, precisely where I had walked over yesterday. Aided by the gale, which some- times burst in heavy squalls, the channel went on gradually expanding until night closed the view. About 8h p. m. however, a crack directly ahead and another on the starboard quarter were heard, seeming to announce a general disruption, the effect of which, at that hour of darkness and at so late a season, it was impossible to foresee. Sleep was banished, at least from me, and when the morning of October 25th arrived, a continuous sheet of water was seen extending from the before-mentioned lane to Cape By lot, and thence to seaward abaft our starboard beam. Two or three other small openings were seen ; and the ship unable to resist the power of the gale, had worked a clear space of three inches along the whole of the starboard side. By noon the cracks ahead and astern were something enlarged, and the lane of water on the starboard side k 3 134 EXPANSION OF OPEN WATER. seemed to be nearing us. The wind now began to abate, and having caught a glimpse of the land, we found that the ship had been driven together with the pack to the eastward. The temperature from 3°+ had risen to 26° + , the breeze still prevailing from the west. During the afternoon the sky continued over- cast, and the wTind freshening up from the same quarter, the ice began to set to the northward as well as eastward, so that after a boisterous night, we found ourselves much nearer to Cape Comfort. The water too had increased considerablv, reach- ing now from Cape Bylot to Cape Comfort ; a second lane had been formed which, branch- ing to seaward in a semicircular shape, joined the principal opening near its two extremes, and thus completely insulated the pack in the centre of which the ship was fixed. How far the channels led, and whether, supposing we could have entered them, serviceable use could have been made of them, was at best matter of conjecture merely ; but on the other hand, it was clear, that the separation of the ice, so as to admit of the trial, would have exposed us to the irresistible crushing of the consolidated masses around, masses very different from the straggling pieces which formerly knocked against us, and cemented into vast floes, whose momentum the ship, strong as she SHIP CONTINUES FIXED. 135 was, could scarcely have withstood. Upon the whole, therefore, it was gratifying to me to see the ice, forming the pack in which we were, remain firm ; for so long as that was the case, however incommodious our position, it was at least safe. Meantime we continued to drift as before, until the wind getting round into the east began to send us back again. The temperature was 27° + , and the weather extremely gloomy. By the morning of the 27th we had not only altered the bearing of the ship's head from west to east, but had drifted so far out as to have a distinct sight of the land forming the extreme point of the bay eastward of Cape Comfort. There was also much more of clear water along shore leading directly up Frozen Strait, where, hanging over the Western Hills, were dense clouds, similar to those near us, indi- cating, beyond doubt, a continuation of the same channel. That, therefore, for which we had so long and anxiously waited — that which, in two days at the most, would have terminated our labours by allowing a free and unobstructed passage to our anchorage, was now before us, and we were helpless and immovable, fixed in the solid mass as it were in a block of marble. Again, the heavy clouds to the far east showed open water in that direction also, so that at this time, with an offshore breeze, a vessel might have k 4 136 OFFICERS BUILD SNOW HOUSES. sailed without impediment (so far as we could judge) from one extremity of Southampton Island to the other. In the direction of Baffin Island indeed, and to the north, the horizon was still white with ice ; but the fact of our having drifted so far from the land proved, beyond question, the existence of a clear sea thereabouts: and though no immediate advantage could be ex- pected from this circumstance, yet in conjunction with what was daily passing near us, it afforded the hope of a departure early enough for carrying into effect the objects of the expedition in the course of the following year. To behold the open water so near, without a possibility of reaching it, was mortifying enough, but we made a virtue of necessity, and suppressed our feelings. The usual occupations in cleaning the holds, re-stowing and getting provisions for six months at hand, with other necessary duties, were followed up on board ; whilst for the preservation of health, a moderate share of walking or rather working exercise was taken on the ice. The officers found employment and amusement in building snow houses for various purposes, and among others for an observatory, instead of that which had been already put up with a sail covering, too valuable to be risked upon so uncertain a found- ation. My plans, as to magnetical observations, were for the present completely frustrated by WANT OF FUEL PREVENTS EXCURSIONS. 137 the motion of the ice, though I did not despair of yet doing something in that respect during the winter. At noon the weather was very gloomy, with smoke-black clouds hanging over the water, and seeming more heavy from mingling with a greenish pale yellow which canopied the snow- clad hills beyond. The wind was from the south- ward and the thermometer showed 28°-f . The next day the water remained still open, and in the opinion of the ice-mate had greatly increased towards the upper end or western extreme of Frozen Strait. From alongside the ship how- ever, to the nearest edge of the pack connected with the water, the distance was at least a mile, the whole of which was a succession of hum- mocks, wedged and cemented by sludge and snow into a mass so firm, as to defy any human efforts to separate them. Yet so tempting was that channel, so doubtful its re-occurrence when we might be at liberty to avail ourselves of it, that had there been wood, or the means of pro- curing fuel around Repulse Bay, I could hardly have resisted an attempt with the boats, whereby half the object might have been accomplished by the time the ship could have forced her way to an anchorage. But without fire, the thing was utterly impracticable, so I was compelled unwil- lingly to submit. The warming apparatus, of the repair of which I 138 FURTHER REPAIR OF HEATING APPARATUS. spoke, had again been bricked np around the furnace, and was now to undergo another trial, which, it is painful to add, was equally unsuc- cessful with the former. This second failure was attributable to the shortness of the nuts and the fineness of the threads of the screws, and fresh leaks in the pipes ; a combination of evils which, if not overcome by the skill of our armourer, would reduce us to three common stoves, and these, it is scarcely necessary to say, would be utterly inadequate for warming the whole ship. The damaged parts having been repaired, and the whole once more replaced and tilled with brine, the furnace was lighted ; but now, one side only was warmed, the temperature of the other being scarcely raised. The cause of this was found to be the insufficiency of the liquid forced into the circulating pipes, and this being remedied, there was for a short time a prospect that all would go right. But it was for a short time only, for a fresh leak soon discovered itself, and once more arrested the proceedings. The people annoyed at these interruptions, and the complication of the whole affair, with charac- teristic humour, nicknamed it the infernal machine, and prayed that we might not all be blown up. Fortunately for us, the thermometer was still high, viz. 26°-f . The wind being light, we did not seem to vary INCONVENIENCE OF THE VAPOUR. 139 our position much during the night, and yet in the morning of the 29th it was evident that the ice near the shore had by some means or other di- minished in quantity, either by drifting away, or from having been broken up by the tide. At all events, the channel of water was certainly nearer, and we ourselves closer to the land, which remained shrouded in sombre clouds. Much inconvenience was now experienced from the great accumulation of moisture on the lower deck. When the warming apparatus began to throw out its heat this had partially disappeared ; but that complex and most vexatious piece of mechanism, after performing its office with tolerable regularity for a few hours, again, with an inexplicable caprice, confined its action to the larboard side, and soon after, though there was no visible defect, or any want of fire, grew cold altogether, and consequently useless. To remov7e the vapour for the present, two hang- ing stoves were placed on the lower deck, which answered the purpose, but half stifled with their smoke those who were below. The wind which had set in in the morning from the N. E. blew with increasing strength as the day closed ; and when the moon shone out, a dark lane of water was supposed to be descried between our pack and the coast which we were rapidly nearing. Here, as at the more westerly 140 EXCURSION TO LAND. part, the ice had almost entirely disappeared, so that there was every reason to suppose we should be brought up by the inner edge of the pack striking the rocks. If this were realized, it was to be expected that the concussion would not only detach and pulverize the extremity imme- diately in contact, but that the reverberation of the shock might extend itself even to the ship, free her from her icy bonds, and leave her once more to the mercy of drift ice. This was a consummation not to be wished, and I passed a restless night. More than once it was thought that the pack had actually struck the land, but in the morning of Sunday, Oct. 30th, the appearance was found to have been a delu- sion, occasioned by the high and dark line of the coast on this part of Southampton Island which has been already described as adjacent to Cape Comfort. After the accustomed examination, and the religious duties of the day, the whole of the crew, under the guidance of the first lieu- tenant, made an excursion towards the nearest land which, however, they were unable to reach, on account of the interposition of a few feet of water between the pack and the bay ice and sludge adhering to the rocks. The distance from the ship to the spot whence they returned, which was considered about half way, was estimated at something more than a mile. At noon, the ANOTHER EXCURSION. 141 thermometer having been at 3°-+- rose to 9°+, the wind from the westward. In the early morn- ing two prismatic lunar halos had been seen. The pack was now arrested by the young ice, which on the following day I went to examine, in company with a small party of the officers, who continued their wralk to the shore. They re- turned in the evening with an account of the toil they had had in scaling the precipitous sides of the rocks, which, there, were of red granite. Seals and a recent track of a bear were seen, as well as the excrement of Alpine hares. From the summit of the hills, the young ice could be traced ahead or to the eastward of the ship, almost surrounding the pack, which was decidedly the heaviest in sight. The weather being obscure to the westward, nothing could be ascertained in that quarter. On November 1st, the thermometer was 10°+, and the ice stationary. The holds having now been arranged, as well as the coals would allow with more advantage, the articles liable to injury from the frost placed in midships, and six months' provisions stowed near the hatches ; there remained little of duty to occupy the at- tention beyond the important one of setting to rights the warming apparatus. Assuredly, no pains were "spared to solve the puzzling question, why it would not act. Some of the 142 TROUBLE OF HEATING APPARATUS. pipes were again repaired and a volume of hot salt-water having been driven with a forcing pump from one extremity to the other, its entire reparation was thought to be conclusively established. The fire therefore was lighted, and, as the warmth spread throughout the ship, it was considered that all obstacles were finally over- come, when suddenly, to our great and serious disappointment, first the starboard side cooled rapidly, and ten or twelve hours later the larboard followed the example. The evil now began to press on us the more heavily as our remedies were failing ; for, not foreseeing nor imagining such a succession of disasters, we had been sup- plied only with such a quantity of mortar as might be sufficient for making good any fracture in the furnace, the whole of which was expended ; so that it was necessary to leave it untouched until some substitute could be discovered. As there was reason to suppose that the pipes had become foul or partially obstructed, I directed that a stream of hot water should be forced through the whole range of pipes for several hours with- out interruption, and went myself to superintend the operation. Half an hour's trial, without visible result, convinced me that, to do anything effectual, a part (at least) of the tedious con- trivance must be unscrewed and examined, and this, notwithstanding the confusion it would AN EXPLORING PARTY. 143 create in the officers' cabins through which it passed, and the doubt of our being able to put it together again, was accordingly directed to be done. In the mean time the temperature had fallen to 22°—, throwing the lower deck into a most uncomfortable state, and yet not so bad as the after cabins, which were dripping with moisture. Much to the credit of the officers no complaints were heard, nor was the health of any one affected. Moreover, under every dis- advantage, the deck was kept perfectly dry. November 4th. I accompanied a party of officers to the land for the purpose of satisfying our curiosity respecting an opening about three miles from the ship, which had the appearance of a harbour. The result in some measure verified our conjecture, for we walked upwards of a mile from the entrance to the further end, where, providing the holding ground were good, any vessel would be securely sheltered. From a bold perpendicular rock, one of the many by which it is girt in, the echo was so clear, that an unhappy wanderer in these dreary solitudes might have listened to his own voice, and fan- cied himself no longer alone. We attempted to ascend a sloping side to gain the heights above ; but all except myself being unprovided with snow-shoes, sunk so deep in the snow that the effort was found too laborious, and was therefore abandoned for another opportunity. In this 144 EXPERIMENT OF WEARING A MASK. excursion a few tracks of bears, wolves, and foxes, and our old acquaintance the raven were seen ; and though the weather was fine, yet a moderate breeze from the westward was quite cold enough to freeze slightly the faces of two of the gentlemen, which, however, the application of a little snow soon restored to their former florid hue. By way of experiment Lieutenant Smyth put on a common mask, and at first con- sidered it rather comfortable, until . getting heated with exertion, a cake of ice was formed inside, which, not being the kind of lining he preferred, was immediately rejected, aid from the face the mask was transferred to the end of a boarding pike, the point being thrust, through one of the eyes, and carried in that way over his shoulder. With such a Gorgon's head, it was laughingly remarked, we need not fear to face a troop of bears. In the afternoon wre returned on board. There was a broad sheet of bay ice from the shore to the pack, but although now firm enough, wre could form no opinion of what might be when acted on by the ensu^g spring- l !e. There was not the least sign of any tide- mrrk along the rocks, though a cracking of the iv as if it were sinking, was heard. On inspection of the pipes it turned out, as I anticipated, that a considerable quantity of rust and dirt had accumulated in the starboard return pipe, and this having been cleared out, tiie ANNOYANCES FROM VAPOUR. 145 apparatus was again put together, and for a time threw out a general heat. But after two days' trial the heat, though occasionally as high as 60°+ between decks, was found to be too irre- gular for the purpose mainly intended, of keep- ing the interior dry by the action of a uniform temperature. On the contrary, it rather seemed to favour the generating of vapour, which now ran in streams from every part. The officers' cabins, gun-room, and midshipmen's berth were miserably uncomfortable. It was in the after- part, esp' cially near the first Lieutenant's cabin, that the greatest accumulation of moisture was observed, and there, as there seemed to be no chance of an improvement, a stove was now : permanently fixed. For the rest, the deck was partly covered with snow, well beaten down, and in default of gravel or sand, strewed with saw- dust. Besides this, the after-hatchway or com- j panion was closed, and a tank placed over it for a condenser, while the ladder was transferred to the main I .tchway, having a fearnought screen round it L:.4ow, and a regular door entrance above on deck. With these, and numerou other precautions of a like kind, it was hope 1 we might contrive to get through the colde months of the winter. After service on Sunday, November 6th, the people strolled on the ice, many extending their L 116 SURVEY OF HARBOUR. walk to the land. On the following day a party under the orders of Lieutenant Stanley, was directed to make a survey of the harbour. This was completed by the evening. It was ascertained to be one mile and a half long, and half a mile broad, by admeasurement ; exposed to a north-north-east wind, but sheltered from all others. The echo-rock was six hundred and fifty feet high ; some others varied from that to eight hundred and fifty feet ; these again were backed by the coast range, running generally from one thousand to fourteen and sixteen hun- dred feet above the level of the sea. Neither the depth of water nor the nature of the bottom could be got, on account of the under layers of ice intercepting the lead. I called it Smyth's Harbour, after the first Lieutenant of the Terror. Some of the gentlemen ascended the hills by the vallies, and observed on their way numerous tracks of animals, — bears, wolves, foxes, and rein- deer. A few willows were also seen, near which were the tracks of partridges. The pack in which we were frozen had now remained so long unmoved, and the bay ice had attained such a solidity, that many concluded we were definitively fixed for the winter ; but on the 8th November a fresh gale ushered in the new moon, and before night drove the huge pack from the inshore ice, leaving between the PASS CAPE COMFORT. 147 two a dark lane of water. The land was effectually shut out from view by the whirls of drift raised by the gusty wind, but on the following day, November 9th, a partial clearance showed that the pack had not only drifted out, but was also setting to the eastward, Cape Comfort being at that time full on the beam. After this, the same kind of weather continu- ing throughout that day prevented us from ascertaining the precise situation of the ship, till daylight of the 10th, when we found we had just passed Cape Comfort. Our pack, in leaving the station where it had been so long undisturbed, had carried away a considerable portion of the bay ice attached to its edges, and had now turned round about ninety degrees, placing the stem of the ship towards the land, and consequently leaving her head true north. From the crow's nest much young ice was observable on every side, but only in lanes intervening between the heavier bodies, of which it was remarked that our pack was the most extensive. The thermometer still retained an elevation which we thought high, viz. 11° + . It may well be imagined that these spring-tide changes of position gave rise to no little specu- lation whither we might be driven by the time the ice commonly breaks up. During the three succeeding days we were blown backwards and l 2 148 DRIVEN TOWARDS CAPE COMFORT. forwards until the pack set in towards the shore a little to the westward of Cape Comfort, and here it was hoped we might remain undisturbed up to the time of the next spring-tide : but not so ; for a strong north-westerly breeze coining on with heavy squalls and much drift, we wrere again set in motion to the eastward, in an oblique direction towrards the land, which, when seen at intervals through the drift, appeared to be nearer than we had yet approached. The tem- perature now fell to 14°—, and this, though not in fact so low as on some previous occasions when the crew had walked out for exercise, was found, with the aid of the breeze, too biting to be faced without great discomfort ; and, conse- quently, after our accustomed assemblage at divisions and church on the 13th, the men were directed to walk under the housing. Through- out the latter part of the day and most of the night, heavy squalls were frequent from the same quarter, and though these had considerably abated by the 14th, yet, to our astonishment, the pack had taken us, according to Lieutenant Stanley's measurement, within three thousand six hundred and fifty yards of the inaccessible cliffs of Cape Comfort, against which, therefore, there was reason to apprehend that the ice might strike, break up, and wreck the ship. The extra- ordinary disappearance of extensive bodies of 12 RISK OF BEING CRUSHED. I'M) inshore ice, and the occupation of their places by the still heavier ones from seaward, seemed at first quite unaccountable, till the fact was established that two thirds of it were actually ground and r pressed up to the height of twenty feet, in a solid mass against the unyielding rocks. What fatal consequences, therefore, might not be appre- hended if any untoward fracture of the pack should unmoor us from our present bed ! A small hole of water was all that was visible from the mast-head, but happily that was off the point to the eastward, and between the pack and the shore there was yet a weak barrier of drift and bay ice to fend off any serious concussion. The drift had spread such a uniform carpet over the entire surface of the ice, that it seemed like one immense floe, A vast proportion of it had evidently been drifted down from the north- ward, and having wedged itself between the western extremity of our pack and Frozen Strait, was thus, in combination with the wind, gradually forcing us out : situated as we were, this was a consummation most devoutly to be wished, for our return to the strait was clearly impossible, even if the wind should veer to the eastward ; and any change of place was ob- viously better than a position immediately off an iron-bound cape. And now again the annoyance returned which l 3 150 HEATING APPARATUS CONDEMNED. has been already mentioned oftener than I could wish. In spite of every attention, our trouble- some warming apparatus could not be made to answer. Scarcely did it begin to throw out a little heat than one pipe or other gradually cooled, and left us teeming with vapour which it had just had the power to generate. Not a day passed without a complaint of its inefficiency. In its best state the officers' cabins were drip- ping, and a stove was necessary to dry the deck. I had been most reluctant to abandon it altogether, but at last, on repeated represen- tations of its failure, I issued an official order to the proper officers to survey it, and on their report pronouncing its condemnation, I directed the furnace and its appurtenances to be dis- mantled, and availed myself of the lead and cop- per attached to it, for fitting up a Fraser's stove a little before the main-hatchway on the lower deck. November 16th. We continued to move ac- cording to the direction of the wind, off the point of Cape Comfort, with some holes of water round the pack, caused by its own motion, but did not get beyond it, either to the east or to the west. I examined the recently formed ice near the land, which wTas broken into slabs, and piled up in the utmost confusion, so steep and irre- gular as to be almost impassable. Just at the DRIVEN FARTHER OUT. 151 edge of the pack, while keenly following the fresh track of a bear, in the company of three of the officers, we suddenly came to some gravel evidently thrown up by the lower ice, and look- ing more attentively round, observed that the adjacent ice was in a raised and spherical form, as if resting on a rock or bank of similar shape. The pack was only a few yards from this, and had evidently been arrested by it, as was further demonstrated by a crack about twenty feet from its edge. To get away from the shoal, there- fore, would require an off-shore breeze ; nor was this long wanting, for on the very same night it blew fresh from the westward, and urging the ice along the land, faster than might have been expected in a neap-tide, by the fore- noon of the 18th we had completely rounded the Cape, and were considerably farther out than we had been since the early part of last month. On making an excursion with a small party, I observed that our pack had received ano- ther shock, and that an extensive crack on the side nearest the land was the consequence. Again I saw the same convexity of surface, terminated by huge mounds of splintered fragments amount- ing to hundreds of tons in weight, each piece or fragment, though of this year's ice, being from two to two and a half feet thick. The exist- ence of shoals was manifest, since the pressure l 4 152 ROBBED BY FOXES AND SHRIMPS. causing the accumulation referred to, ceased abruptly where this and other similar remark- able elevations appeared. Beyond that line, and occupying a full mile in breadth, was a sheet of young ice, alternating with heaps of a different character, and extending towards the land, which, however, we were prevented from reaching by a narrow lane of water. Tracks of bears, wolves, and foxes were noticed, of which the last mentioned alone ever ventured to ap- proach the ship. Indeed these met with no very friendly reception, having put an end to all relations of amity, by stealing sundry pieces of beef, left carelessly by the owners outside on the snow. To do them justice however, they were not the only depredators, as they soon ex- perienced who, having been taught to mistrust the honesty of the foxes, afterwards to be very safe, sunk their allowance of beef in the " fire hole." Alas! to adopt the pathetic lament of old Shylock, M There be water thieves and land thieves :" and here a greedy colony of shrimps made such havock, that when in the morning one of the men went to draw up the meat intended for the dinner of his mess, he found in its place a few miserable shreds, to which the pirates still clung with un- satiated appetites. The temperature fluctuated from 0° to about 21° — , but there were neither aurora nor other phenomena to excite attention DRIVEN CLOSE IN SHORE. 153 and employ the mind ; and all attempt to make magnetic observations, except in occasional in- stances, was frustrated by the constant moving of the pack. This indeed was a serious disappoint- ment, as we had many experiments in view, which could not have failed to be highly interesting. November 19th. The wind veered to the south- east, and some signs were observed of water in the opposite quarter, occasioned, as we knew, by the motion of our own pack. The night was unusually calm, yet it was apparent to every one that some disturbing force was carrying us rapidly towards the frowning precipices not a gun-shot distant. The attention of those on deck was riveted to sounds distinctly heard of breaking ice, crashing and grinding with a discord the more horrible, as with that exception nature was in dead re- pose. When day dawned it appeared that we had been driven to the westward, and close in shore, where the bay ice was still in tumultuous agi- tation, having been thrown up against the rocks in some shelving places, to the height of thirty or forty feet. After church a large party went to the edge of the pack, or floe, as it was now termed, and witnessed the work of destruction as it went on. It was a spectacle indeed not less sublime than appalling ; filling the mind with awe, and at the same time inspiring it with devotional gratitude to that Being whose Pro- 154 THERMOMETER RISES. vidence watched over us and preserved us in the midst of such fearful perils. On the 21st Novem- ber we moved but little, though close in with the point of Cape Comfort, and therefore exposed to the influence of those alternate tides which worked so much confusion amongst the bay ice. The wind however began to blow fresh and steadily from the south-east, with the same degree of force which had hitherto characterized it on the days of full and change. In consequence of this change the thermometer showed a dis- position to rise, and on the 22d was 9° + , the weather being overcast, and the ship farther off shore. Still, notwithstanding the continuance and strength of the wind, we did not increase our distance from the land so much as might have been expected, a circumstance which can only be accounted for by supposing that its influence was partial, or that ice had accumulated in the north so as to prevent any egress in that direction. Whatever it was, we certainly had not been drifted more than five miles ; and after the period of full moon, an opposite breeze sent us again in shore, altogether to the westward of the Cape. On making holes at two places, a quarter of a mile apart, the thickness of the ice beneath the covering of snow, wras found to be not more than two and two and a half feet. Much snow now fell, and even with a fresh northerly wind, the 14 HUGE MASS OF ICE. 155 temperature was 11° + , So mild did the weather continue, with every wind, for several consecutive days, that the snow remained fleecy and soft, and, obliterating every trace of the old tracks, perplexed us considerably in our daily exercise. Our floe had undergone a change of form from the pressure on the extremities, and having been forced against the compact and solid ice off the western low point of Smyth's Harbour, a large portion of it had broken and separated from the main body. On examining it myself, I saw that there were cracks in all directions, and concluded that two more such encroach- ments would infallibly extend to us : nor was it possible to avoid the reflection that no art could save us, if we were once exposed to the grinding pressure of the mass against the rocks. Communication with the shore was cut off ; but having followed the channel some way to seaward, it was found to be connected with another open space of more than usual extent, though now fast becoming coated with thin ice. Nor was this distant from the ship ; and within a few hundred paces was an accumulation of ponderous masses of ice, the interstices between which were filled up with snow drift, so firmly cemented, and of such height, that it might well have passed for a berg. From its summit 156 RAPID MOTION OF THE ICE. I looked down into the Terror's main-top. One of the crew saw some fish in the water which he described to be as large as salmon, but we were unable to set lines, owing to the overlap- ping of the ice below the surface. November 28th. There had been a dark steel- coloured sky, extending from about Winter Island to the situation of Repulse Bay, so ex- actly resembling that which indicates open water, that we could not forbear imagining the ice in the centre of the Welcome to have broken up. That some such occurrence must have taken place was indeed evident, for the ice was now perpetually in motion, and we were driven occasionally five or seven miles. A strange refraction of the horizon to the north was remarked about sunrise, or rather when the sun was seen just above the south-eastern hills. At the part to the north the sky was a dark grey, and the icy horizon appeared in detached horizontal lines at a very acute angle. The temperature fell to 1G° — , with a moderate wind from the westward. Without much vari- ation in the state of the weather, a very sensible diminution was brought about on the edge of the floe by the successive action of the in- shore ice against it. But as the temperature had fallen to 30°— of Pastorelli's thermometer, AMUSEMENTS. 157 and 38°— of Newman's, it was rather thought that the detached pieces might again unite and form a stronger bulwark of defence than before. It has been already mentioned that the crew were daily exercised on the ice ; and as it seemed better that the mind should be fixed on some object, the accomplishment of which might be looked forward to with a sort of interest, the whole were directed to build up snow walls and galleries in different directions from the ship. These being destined for the comfort of all, the work was cheerfully undertaken, and the operators were rewarded with a proportion- able stock of health. Good, however, as was the general health, it was necessary to relieve the monotony of scene and occupation ; and in this view the officers kindly undertook to perform a play for the amusement of the men. Accordingly, on November 29th, a day speci- ally selected on account of the gallant action off Pelagossa, 1811, (such had been the deep impression left by Sir J. Gordon's good offices and urbanity), every preparation that our limited means would permit having been made, it was announced that the Farce of Monsieur Tonson would be acted that evening. The exhibition at the appointed hour, ushered in by an appropriate prologue from the first lieutenant, and set off by scenery from the brush of the same accomplished performer, occasioned hearty 158 CRUSHING OF ICE. laughter, plentiful plaudits, and in conclusion, three hearty cheers. After the performance, the dramatis personam, with the other officers, passed a few hours together ; and I question whether in any other quarter of the globe, an equal number could be found more free from care than were the merry group so assembled. The sea, however, was not charmed into inac- tivity, for the usual grating noise was heard by the watch on deck, and in the morning the floe was found to have turned in more towards the shore. A drift was skimming over the ice, which rendered walking, even with the advan- tage of snow-shoes, a more severe task than was agreeable ; but being desirous to see what effect had been produced by the uproar of the night, I went to our nearest boundary, and found that it had suffered further encroachment, and was crushed and thrown up like the rest beyond it. Dark, and therefore recently formed ice, occu- pied some conspicuous openings, though this could scarcely last beyond the next tide. December 3d. The temperature now began to decrease rapidly. The difference between Pastorelli's thermometer and mine, made by Newman (the same which I had with me on my last expedition), amounted to eight degrees, the former being 31°-, and the latter 42° — . I determined to test them by exposing a saucer of mercury to the atmosphere. In the course THERMOMETERS. 159 of an hour it became dull in colour and flat- tened at its edges, and in two hours and a half more was frozen. In the interval Pasto- relli's had fallen to 35° 5' — , and New- man's to 44° — . After this test the one last mentioned was fixed on a post about seventy paces from the ship, and thenceforth registered as the standard thermometer ; the others, how- ever, north and south, as well as one contained in a tin case perforated with holes and hoisted to the mast-head, being also noted in the log- book. The cold was now sufficiently severe to freeze some of the people as they were employed on the ice ; the temperature being 49° — . However, being desirous to satisfy my doubts about the practicability of getting on shore, and as to the extent of the bay ice near us, I went on snow-shoes, and on arriving at the boundary of the floe, which just at that part was unaltered, found a narrow lane of water kept from freezing by the agitation caused by the moving ice. Thinking that the lane did not extend far, I skirted along it, first towards the west, and then more north, until I lost sight of the ship. In this distance, perhaps about six or seven miles, the breadth of the lane was much reduced, but a continuous crack, in places large enough to admit a boat, ran in an easterly direction fur- ther than I could venture alone. But what 160 ACCIDENT TO THE CARPENTER. most excited my attention was the comparative thinness of those portions of floe ice which had been detached from what we considered as our property ; for though upon a hasty glance it looked thick and solid, yet a nearer inspection convinced me that this appearance was owing solely to a compact crust of snow, the ice itself being certainly not more than sixteen inches deep. Coupling so important a fact with the numerous fractures for three hundred yards from the extremity of the floe, there did not seem much reason to apprehend a protracted detention in what had hitherto proved a place of refuge and security. A thick misty haze from the water impeded the view towards Frozen Strait, but up to the most distant point there was a mixture of old and young bay ice, so that in the event of a fresh easterly breeze, there would be nothing to oppose our setting again towards Cape Bylot. The cold was so piercing that, although to prevent being frost- bitten I walked fast enough to keep up a drip- ping perspiration, yet on regaining the ship one of my toes was rather sharply touched. December 4th. After divine service the people went to walk, according to custom, and being close to the young ice, one of them, a carpenter, was thoughtless enough to step upon it, and immediately sunk to his arms, which, B ■ >. GOOD EFFECTS OF THE DUCKING. 1()1 being extended, checked his further descent. His cries attracted the attention of Lieutenants Smyth and M'Murdo, who, with^Mr. M'Clure, being close by, instantly rescued him. The temperature at that time was 43°— in the air. He spoke of the immersion as having given a sen- sation of pleasant warmth, doubtless attributable to the difference (15°) between the water and the atmosphere. On being placed on the ice, his first request was to be permitted to sit down, and as in the absence of the officers he would in all probability have done so, he would inevi- tably have been frozen, perhaps to death. They, however, so far from acceding to his wish, com- pelled him to run ; and when he was no longer able to do so from fatigue and the stiffness of his icy garments, he was forcibly pushed forwards until he reached the ship, where blankets had been prepared for his reception. These he declined, as he well might, for on disencum- bering him of his clothes, it was seen that he was in a profuse perspiration, and thus, all apprehension being removed, the whole affair was converted into a jest. It was not, however, without a good effect, as affording a warning against incurring unnecessary risks for the future. December 8th. The interval since the last spring-tides had been free from any striking dis- M 162 SCHOOL FOR THE CREW. turbance of the ice, and now that they had come round again, we were nearly in the same place as before, the only change being, that the ship's head was turned something more in shore. The calmness of the weather, so different from what had hitherto been experienced at this period, excited general observation. On most former occasions the usual attendants of the spring-tides were squalls and boisterous gales, charged with snow and drift. But now every thing was still except the dull grinding of the ice along the rocks — a sound which time and use do not familiarize, but which still comes like a warning, useful, perhaps, though disagreeable. It was odd enough, that having made a large kite for the express purpose of sending up a register thermometer, we had not even wind enough to raise it. A faint aurora was seen during the night for a short interval, but that phenomenon, so vivid and brilliant in the territo- ries of the Hudson Bay Company, is evidently rare in this locality. An evening school for the men was instituted under the superinten dance of the first Lieutenant and occasionally visited by myself. I ought to mention, that though our sub- stitutes of stoves on the lower deck answered tolerably well, yet they did not keep the place effectually dry \ for notwithstanding our tank TIDE SEPARATES ICE. 103 condenser and other precautions, the most unre- mitting attention of the proper officers could not altogether prevent the accumulation of mois- ture in particular spots. In such cases, our only remedy was to use the stoves belonging to the boats, and as these, having no funnels to carry off the smoke, almost suffocated us, it will be readily believed that nothing but necessity induced us to resort to them. It was found, moreover, that the hot air from below froze against the inside of the housing, producing a most disagreeable efflu- via : to counteract this, a square hole was cut in the roof of the housing, whicli being opened occasionally had the desired effect. But these inconveniences were trifles in comparison with what might have been expected from the failure of the heating apparatus. Though the clear weather which so unexpect- edly continued was free from fresh winds, yet the tides separated the ice, so as to leave open places in various directions. Through the night there had been a squall or two from the south- east, and on the morning of the 10th a broad lane of partly open water was seen to extend round the floe to seaward, and to maintain a continuous line directly towards the land, east of Cape Bylot. Ice and a water sky were observable beyond that again, but there was no connecting channel or opening from the one lane to the other* m 2 i(H CURIOUS PHENOMENON. Our own position was something nearer the rocks, and moreover a little to the westward. There being now, as was thought, wind enough for the kite, it was sent up, but as in repeated trials it only mounted about two hundred and fifty feet, we desisted. It was evident, indeed, that the wind only prevailed to that height, which was also, according to appearance, nearly the height of the dark vapour surrounding us. It had been remarked for a considerable time, that though the water immediately froze every- where else, yet on the larboard beam of the ship, about ten or twelve feet from the bends at the base of the snow embankment, there was always sludge, or on its removal, salt-water in its place, though the ice beneath was solid. I remember three in- stances of the same kind in rivers, where, not- withstanding the low state of temperature, the surface for some distance, near particular spots, was invariably so moist, that our snow-shoes were coated with ice, which it was necessary to scrape away. In the present instance, the phe- nomenon was not confined to any precise period, but existed through the neap as well as the spring tides. The days now dwindled fast away, the sun being only visible for a few minutes at 11 o'clock. It rose above the edge of a serrated hill, and in favourable weather, brightened the gloomy outline. Its altitude wras 2° 10'. REGISTER THERMOMETER. 165 December 12th. The floe had nearly resumed its old position, and was steadier than of late. In consequence of this, two of the people reached the shore over the bay ice, which for upwards of a mile was much thrown up and packed. To sea- ward, indeed, a very visible reduction of the floe had taken place from sheer pressure, which in many parts had ploughed it up and broken it into comparatively small pieces. The wind having increased enough to accomplish the rais- ing of the kite, it was sent up with a self-regis- ter in g thermometer. This showed a difference of eight degrees greater cold at twelve hundred feet perpendicular than on the ice, the figures being zero, and eight degrees minus. It may be remarked, also, that the spirit thermometer at the mast-head, which had hitherto during the recent weather, when the wind did not extend beyond the surface, indicated less cold than those on deck, stood, when the kite was up, at three degrees plus, or greater cold than below, agree- ing in this respect with Six's. December 13th. The ice remained almost stationary, and enabled one of the officers to reach the shore. Here he saw a reindeer, which at first bounded from him, but soon, as if not quite convinced that it had cause for alarm, turned round and trotted back again, gazing and moving slowly on until Mr. Gore, having crept m 3 166 REIN-DEER KILLED. on his hands and knees near enough, killed it at the first shot. His exploit had been witnessed from the ship, and some men were immediately dispatched with a sledge to bring on board the unlooked-for addition to our Christmas fare. It was very lean, and when skinned, only weighed 60 lbs., the head included. This event, how- ever, raised the emulation of our sportsmen, of whom several started early on the following day, but they saw only three wolves, which made the vallies echo with their howling. The weather was still fine, and the thermometer high, varying from 20° — to 5° — , which, without wind, we thought satisfactory enough. The extreme edge of the sun's upper limb was barely visible now above the lowest hill. A tranquil interval of uninterrupted clear weather followed, and all anxiety was set at rest by the firm adhesion of the ice to the land, which was nowT almost daily visited either for exercise or amusement. A few more deer were seen, and a Polar hare as well as two white partridges shot. Lines also were set for fish, but in this attempt we failed. A young fox had been slightly wounded and caught. It was put into an open snow hut and secured, but though in the night it got loose, it made no attempt to escape ; on the contrary, it diverted itself by running round the ship, and quietly retreated to RAPID FALL OF THERMOMETER. I67 the hut, where it soon burrowed. When any one attempted to caress it, the little creature made a half stifled snarl, and snapped, but not viciously, at the extended hand. It rejected biscuit, but devoured a tallow candle with avidity and seeming satisfaction. From our proximity to the shore, the sun had not been visible since the 12th instant, when its altitude a few minutes after llh was 1° 40' ; yet, according to our perception, little if any difference was observed in the diminution of daylight. At length the 21st December arrived ; and as the moon would be at full on the following day, we began to fancy that another spring- tide would pass by with impunity. Indeed every circum- stance concurred to confirm the opinion, until towards night, when the barometer began to fall with such precipitation as to prepare the minds of all for some uncommon occurrence. The mercury which had stood at 30 inches, had, in the course of eighteen hours, which brought it near the time of change, fallen to 28. 26. During this interval the wind had been light and unsteady, veering round the compass, but at llh a. m., December 22d, it settled at S.S.E., and soon blew hard. While these changes were in progress the whole sky had become overcast, and a dense haze, occasioned by the partial falling of snow, limited the view M 4 168 FEARFUL STORM. to a very few yards. Hearing a rustling noise like the rushing of water apparently beneath us, we supposed that the floe was already separated, and that the consequences would soon be ma- nifested alongside, but very shortly all specula- tions were merged in the reality before us. Since our departure from England no such storm had been experienced. Within an hour it raged with such fury, that not a man could face it. Several who endeavoured to perform some duty outside the ship were instantly frost- bitten, and obliged to return, and the officer of the watch in merely going from the housing to the tafrail to register the thermometers had the whole of his face frozen. Not that the tem- perature was so low as it had been a few days previous, for it was then 53° minus, and now only 30° minus, but the rapid extraction of heat was beyond endurance, and a very short expo- sure would have been certainly fatal to the hardiest. As nisfht advanced the barometer indicated a change, but the storm still raged like a hurri- cane, and covered the ship with snow drift. Our topmasts shook like wands, and the lee rigging was forced out like a bow : piles of snow were whirled on the lee side of the housing, until the chain which sustained the rough spar that formed the ridge pole broke, and the FLOE CRACKS. 169 accumulated weight fell ; but the end of the spar fortunately striking the windlass, was stopped in its descent, and thus saved the barge, which otherwise must have been severely if not irre- parably injured. As the wind was directly off shore, there was no great cause for appre- hension as to the holding together of the floe, unless indeed the drift should cause sufficient open water to admit of any sea rising, for in that case the result was certain. Though the fury of the tempest gradually abated, it was not entirely exhausted until the 24th. Then the sky was again serene, and a tolerably clear view showed us that instead of having been driven out towards Frozen Strait, we were actually twelve or fourteen miles to the eastward of Cape Comfort. This can be accounted for only on the supposition that the flood-tide had come from the Welcome through Fury and Hecla Straits, and, taking the channel of the Frozen Strait, had met the course of the gale nearly at right angles, and thus produced a mean line of direction for the ship between the two, which in fact answered to the position. Our floe was slightly cracked within a few yards from either side ; but in other respects it looked more extensive and firmer than ever. This was verified by examination, for the high tide had raised the entire body of old and young ice to 170 GLOOMINESS OF THE CREW. the very rocks, and with the aid of the gale, the whole mass having been driven away, an interval was produced, which was already firmly frozen over. As to the rest, no water was visible ; but what gave us infinitely more pleasure, the sun peeped over the distant moun- tains, gladdening us with his returning beams, after a short absence of twelve days. It was a glorious and a joyful sight, when we considered that each day would make its influence more felt, and that at last, having liberated us from our crystal bonds, it might light us to a happy issue of our labours. Sailors, it is proverbial, are naturally light hearted, and have in general a great flow of animal spirits ; but in this respect ours most assuredly differed from their brother tars. Whe- ther this arose from the services in which they had been brought up, or from their never having been subject to the salutary influence of naval discipline, I know not, but certainly their want of cheerfulness was not attributable to any lack of example or encouragement on the part of the officers. For about six hours every day except Sundays, they were kept at some easy work on the ice, as was absolutely requisite for their health ; but it was in vain that we endeavoured to lead them into the wholesome habit of amusing themselves with games or dancing, to cheer their THEATRICALS OF THE MEN. 171 spirits, and while away the long hours of our winter evenings. The most trivial cold or other complaint induced despondency, and an attack in the joints of the legs and limbs attended with extravasation of blood, for which it may be re- marked there was some difficulty in accounting, excited the most discouraging apprehensions. Under these circumstances, I was not a little delighted when informed that they had contrived, in imitation of the officers, to get up a play, and had appointed Christmas Eve for its performance. In due time two farces were announced for representation, the " First Floor" and the * Be- nevolent Tar ;" and these went off with unbounded applause in a stifling atmosphere between decks, though outside the thermometer stood at 30° — . Christmas Day which succeeded, was duly and religiously observed ; neither were the personal comforts, more majorum, neglected, for, as we were on two thirds' allowance, I directed a double portion to be served of all but spirits, and thus gave the men a treat without intoxication. The officers also dined together ; and, among other luxuries which the providence of the caterer had furnished, was a haunch of the rein-deer, shot by Mr. Gore, and what every one most anxiously looked forward to, a smiling plum pudding, the considerate and substantial gift of Sir James Gordon's amiable family, who in this way had 172 FOOTBALL. largely contributed to our comforts. With these incitements to enjoyment, no wonder that care was forgotten ; mirth prevailed, friends were toasted, home remembered, and the evening passed quickly and happily away. December 26th, some occasional gusts of wind came from the south-east, and as well as the mist over the land would allow us to judge, we seemed to have gone a little to the eastward. The severity of the cold daily increased : the temperature was. 44° — ; and as the effect of this was aided by strong winds and gales from the north-west, it is not surprising that we felt it more acutely than formerly. All occupation outside the ship, except for amusement merely, was now abandoned, for notwithstanding the unremitting endeavours of the officers to keep the men in sufficient exercise for the rapid circulation of the blood, such was their perverseness or sluggishness, that though constantly frost-bitten from mere want of exertion, they would lounge about, when left to themselves, with the listlessness which be- longs to a tropical climate. One expedient pro- posed was the game of football, and every day, the whole crew were made to play at this active and amusing diversion with the officers, who left no- thing untried to encourage them. Still in spite of all our efforts, fresh men were daily seized with numbness of limbs, affections of the gums, SCURVY. 173 and other symptoms of scurvy. The gunner, Mr. Donaldson, was in a very feeble state, not being able to walk more than a quarter of an hour without assistance ; and many more were limping and complaining of general debility. As the most sedulous attention had been bestowed, both as to the quantity and the quality of the clothing of every one, we were satisfied that this unwel- come visitation, from which recent voyages to this quarter have been for the most part happily exempted, could not be attributed to any defici- ency in these respects. Neither could it be as- cribed to any deficiency in quantity or sameness in kind of food, since fresh preserved meat with maccaroni or rice, pickles and lime juice, had been issued twice a week. But that nothing might be omitted towards the eradication of the evil, the last named article was now directed to be served out three times, and an extra quantity of preserved soup, cranberries, and other fruits in our possession, considered to be anti-scorbutic, were likewise placed at the disposal of the medi- cal gentlemen. As it was necessary to prohibit the use of spirits to such as were attacked, a privation which few sailors like, they were apt to conceal their situations, until detected by their limping. I therefore directed Doctor Donovan to examine the whole crew, when only two or three additional cases, and those slight, were dis- 174 ANNOYANCES FROM STOVES. covered : this system was continued afterwards at stated times, independently of the daily in- spection at divisions. Hitherto the officers had escaped every complaint, although two were now temporarily indisposed from a return of attacks to which they had been previously subject in other climates ; yet as these would probably have manifested themselves anywhere else, they did not create the same uneasiness as the former. I do not feel my self competent to pronounce in what the malignant disease had its origin with us ; but when it is considered that the difference of temperature, between the outside and inside of the ship, amounted frequently to one hundred and ten degrees, that the air outside was pure and extremely dry, whilst that inside was fetid and excessively moist, there seems to be good ground for presuming that this was, if not the source, certainly a great aggravation of the evil. The total failure of the warming apparatus had indeed proved a serious misfortune. The stoves were just sufficient to produce a warm current about the central line of the deck, whilst the sides were cool enough to convert this into vapour, which, having accumulated within the cabins, streamed down the sides and from over head, until they were half afloat. If open stoves were brought down to dry up the vapour, we were half suffo- cated by the sulphuric odour of the coals ; and CANVASS FUNNEL. 175 the sick, who had no other retreat, were tortured. Condensers of various kinds had been tried and some wrere still continued ; but at last it occurred to me that it w I fr CHAP. V.] SHIP REMAINS NIPPED. 239 mocks, mounds, jagged and warted masses, splinters, walls, and ramparts, with here and there, at far intervals, the remains of some floe not yet entirely broken up ; — such was the picture which saluted us on every side, teach- ing the lesson of humility and resignation to the will of Heaven. Much ice was forced un- derneath the bottom on the starboard side, and often bounded up with severe concussions along the run abaft, making the ship tremble at each successive shock. The angle of inclination on that side was nine degrees. Up to noon scarcely any alteration took place, the vessel remaining heavily nipped. It had been remarked during the last eight or ten days, that from the early part of the day until a few hours past noon, we had been regularly set to the west ; but now, the ship's head had not only been turned more out, and consequently in a better direction for going along the coast, but we were drifted by the ice to the north west until 3h 30m p. m. when we seemed to be stationary. Among the numerous cracks around, were several astern, that after a temporary separation generally closed again ; but an entirely new one now opened, from fifteen to twenty feet wide, within the short distance of thirty paces from the quarter : not far from this, and completely isolating the high hummock which under the name of Mount 240 LANES CLOSED. [CHAP.V. Pleasant, had for the. whole winter, served as a look-out station, was another lane ; and this again was bisected by a third, that cut in two the snow hut first made, the two parts of which were, on a shifting of the lane, carried different ways. A larger and more distant hut was already partly crushed, and only awaited the advancing roll of the rampart, now within a few feet of it, for its final downfal. Between the hours of 6h and 8h p. m. the rushing 'bore,'* was faintly audible to the westward, and after various checks seemed to resume its course with increased violence, setting in motion whatever impeded its progress. The lanes adjacent were all closed, and began Grinding down their edees, which were speedily thrown up into bordering mounds. The cracked ice on either side was also agitated, and saved us considerably by affording a channel for the bore. Our anxiety indeed was not of long duration, for the ice immediately adjoining the stern was more pounded and the ship less affected than on any of the recent assaults. The sky was clear over- head, and almost calm, and midnight came with- out any more disturbance than an occasional rustling at the extreme barriers. This tran- quillity remained until about 6h a. m. of the 23d, when a remote sound indicated another commo- * The bore is a sort of rampart or wall of water, thrown up by the opposition of the current and the set of the tide. CHAP.V.] CONTINUED PRESSURE. 241 tion ; but this effect was neither serious nor lasting, and up to noon there was no annoyance. The ship, however, had still the same inclination, about three feet four inches to starboard, and consequently remained nipped; and the bread room having been cleared for an examination abaft, a knee-chock on the larboard side was found wrenched f of an inch from its position on the after part, above which the deck was raised § of an inch. Three shores were fixed on each side of the bread room, as an additional support. The weather was calm, and to a certain height misty, from the great increase of minute frozen particles. The difference between the two ther- mometers on board, (those on the ice having necessarily been taken down,) was at a little past noon 27° ; the one being 19°—, and the other 8°-f . The high land was still in sight, and evidently nearer ; the extremes being from S. to W. N. W. The latitude was 64° 14' 50" N. The ice con- tinued setting to the N. W. until 4h p. m., then remained stationary until 6h, after which there was disturbance at intervals, in the direction of the north east, but without any material effect, except that a short cracking sound indicated extra pressure on the ship. The 24th was comparatively tranquil, and at noon the ship remained with precisely the same inclination. Still, as the wind was now directly on R 242 doctor's report. [chap. v. shore, there was no saying at what moment a nip might come on ; and as the upper deck had been more affected than any of the others, the first Lieu- tenant suggested a method of lashing its beams to the stronger ones of the lower deck, to prevent them from rising up, as they had always a tendency to do, when under the influence of heavy pressure amidships, or on the topsides. The people were forthwith set to work in canting the barge and clearing the booms for that purpose. The wind had set us towards the land abeam ; and that ahead bore S. 3° E., distant about eight or ten miles. After inspection to-day, Doctor Dono- van made a favourable report of the health of the crew, which he considered to be manifestly improving. One only was added to the list, whilst many of those who had been affected were so far recovered, as to stand in no further need of an extra quantity of acid. Until 5h p. m. the ice was generally in motion, and setting fast to the westward ; at that hour the motion ceased, and was succeeded by a noise to the northward, occasioned, as was supposed, by the freshening breeze breaking up the ice in that quarter. Soon after the cracking of the pitch and timber about the stern frame gave notice of fresh an- noyance ; and, though nothing could be detected by the officer of the watch denoting any action on the surface, the cracking became more vehe- CHAP.V.] VIOLENT STRAINING. 243 ment, accompanied with a splitting of part of the lining. It was evident, therefore, that there was considerable pressure existing about the larboard quarter ; and, a few minutes before 8h p. m., the cause announced itself by a succession of loud rushing noises, followed bv the rending of the ice near us, and the squeezing of the ship. For two hours more there was incessant motion of one kind or other, bearing the ice hard against the larboard side, particularly the quarter, and at midnight the ship was straining much. February 25th. During a brief interval we were relieved from anxiety by a general stillness, but the same unwelcome sounds soon returned ; the vast bodies pressed more closely together, producing complaints from the larboard quarter. When the sun rose the ship was carefully exa- mined, but notwithstanding all the sound and fury heard in the night, no marks of external violence were discovered. Early in the forenoon the ship began to set towards the S.S.E. As the low land abreast could now be distinctly made out, it seemed that we must have neared it ; the blue bluff ahead bearing due south was dim from the quantity of small snow which was flying about, causing a penetrating cold that all complained of. The wind kept to the north with a moderate force, and the temperature was 33°— ; but the southern thermometer being r 2 244 SEVERE SHOCKS. [CHAP.V. sometimes shaded by the rigging, and having no other place so free from radiation to put it, the register was not to be depended on. Baro- meter, 29. 94. Latitude, 64° 14' 20" N., and longitude, 81° 27' 15" W. During the entire part of the afternoon the ice appeared to set in a northerly direction, though at 5h p. m. the high land was far more distinct than I had hitherto seen it, many breaks and inequalities being observed which were not previously visible. For a couple of hours there were irregular movements near us, and between 7h 30m and 8h the usual rushing sounds were heard in the north-west quarter. The cracking ice marked the course of the disturbing force whatever it was, which, though frequently de- viating and interrupted for a few seconds, again broke onward with increased violence, bear- ing down all opposition. Such were the severe attacks the ship had continually to withstand, and that too, at the weakest point. She cracked much around the quarter, and was otherwise heavily pressed. February 26th. During several hours, the ice, though to all appearance close jammed to- gether, was often in motion, and came with such sudden shocks, that few were able to sleep. Many, indeed, lay down in their clothes, ready to start up at a moment. Our devotions this CHAP. V.] SERMON. 245 day were tinged with a solemnity becoming the precariousness of our condition ; and a sermon, upon the appropriate text "It is the Lord : let Him do what seemeth Him good," was listened to with the most profound and serious attention. At noon the high land was much nearer, and we had now opened the deep bay, inlet, or strait, mentioned before. The land there was very low, not unlike the description of the coast to the south of Evan's Inlet. The bluff, which had been denominated the blue bluff, from the tinge always seen on it, could now be made out perfectly clear, and was not more than ten miles off, and the distance of the nearest low land did not exceed four miles. Soundings were found in seventy- two fathoms, having a bottom of rock and sand. Some of the gentlemen thought they saw the track of a fox, which, if so, must have taken more than common trouble to make so long a journey, and would find itself but poorly requited after all. As usual, in the afternoon, the ice eased off a little astern, and, after afew concussions underneath, began to set in a body to the north- west. While this was in progress, there was an evident disposition in the broken masses of ice, under the stern, to rise up ; and as they would undoubtedly have staved in the cabin windows, if nothing worse, some thick planking was nailed across them, which, with the dead r 3 246 TURMOIL. [CHAP.V. lights, was considered to be strong enough to resist any ordinary force. There was no move- ment of any consequence until between 9h and llh, when after many and various sounds, the entire body around to the Northward began to be agitated. The motion would suddenly cease, and then as suddenly recommence ; sometimes far off, more frequently near the ship ; squeezing up ridges of ice, and causing a most distressing creaking and splitting of the lining along the larboard side. The aurora showed itself in the south-west in the form of an arch, from which beams darted up to the zenith. February 27th. The time of the lowest neaps having arrived, we naturally expected a few days' respite, at least for the night, a boon which would have been most joyfully accepted; for, the quan- tity of clothing which the cutting cold rendered necessary required so much time to put on, that few lately had ventured to disburthen them- selves of the whole, when seeking to snatch a few hours of rest. It was not, however, our fortune to be so indulged ; for about lh a. m. the commotion and turmoil recommenced, and soon forced the ship, embedded as she was, about two feet astern. The creaking and crashing of the ice in that short space was horrible, nor did it en- tirely desist, until again closing it held us in a still tighter grasp than before. After a pause of four CHAP. V.] SET OF ICE. 247 hours, by opening out a few inches alongside, it allowed the ship to come more upright, still, however, with a considerable inclination. Some narrow lanes of water appeared nearer the ice, which was at present immovably fixed to the low land, forming the western entrance to the deep bay or inlet, and along the edge of which we seemed to be setting to and fro. The frost smoke from these lanes in some measure obscured the land which however we seemed to have approached ; thus making it apparent that the flood tide came from the north-west, and without any aid from wind (of which for two days there had been very little), continued to drive us bodily along towards Hudson's Straits. Up to llh a. m. the seaward ice which encircled us passed rapidly to the south- east, along the outer edge of that wedged against the land at the entrance of the opening : at that hour it stopped, and in the concussion produced by the reaction, several pieces ground along and underneath the bottom of the ship, but without producing any corresponding action on the sur- face. At noon all was once more silent. The crew, for employment, were ordered to make each a small sledge of the staves of casks, and to sling the tin cases of pemmican. Our in- valids were generally better, except two on the sick list, who, probably from despondency, did not improve as rapidly as their companions. r 4 248 SHIP RIGHTS. [CHAP.V. About lh40mp. m. the retrograde action com- menced, and after compressing the masses nearer together, a temporary obstacle within twenty paces from the starboard quarter squeezed up a small ridge twelve feet high. We kept driving to the north-west until 6h p. m., from which time until midnight we enjoyed almost uninterrupted quiet. February 28th. The Aurora appeared in the form of an arch in the south-east quarter, and, as before, sent up beams towards the zenith, but without colour. At lh 40m a.m. the reaction took place, and once or twice pressed us closely, though soon after the ice began to be more dis- engaged, and that near the edge of the fixed shore ice appeared to be going to the west- ward. Between 4h and 8h a. m. there was some grinding, but the cracks and openings grew wider, and the ship gradually righted. The sea- ward body again set to the S.E. ; but a large and remarkable hummock, stationary among the land ice abreast of us, showed us that our progress had not been much, as the same mark had been observed under a similar bearing about an hour earlier the day before. Two or three narrow lanes close to the vessel, and a continuous one along the outer edge of the land ice, extending as far as the farthest point of coast, gave me reason to hope that the ice ahead was slowly finding an outlet by the strait, which, with a CHAP.V.] IMPROVING PROSPECTS. 249 westerly wind, there seemed every probability of our soon reaching. In fact, had it not been for the uncertainty respecting our being nipped, and the apprehension that the whole frame-work would, by constant repetition, get daily weaker, nothing could be more desirable, or, as far as I could judge, more favourable for my intention of trying the passage by Sir Thomas Roe's Wel- come, than our gradual approach towards Sea- horse Point. How far the ship might be battered by floating ice, and cross tides or currents, when within the influence of Fox's Channel, the Strait, and Hudson's Bay, not to mention the races and strong sets of the Welcome, was a consideration which I did not choose to dwell upon ; satisfied that if we once got into open water, the difficulties generally encountered on such occasions would assuredly be overcome. The ice within us was considerably more rent by every fresh pressure, though that on the north- east side, which sometimes served as a bulwark of defence, and at others as an engine of attack, remained, together with an adjoining part of our old floe, the most imposing piece around. There was one fact, however, as evident as it was new and satisfactory, namely, that the aspect of the ice originally forming our floe, — the very solid properties of which we had so disagreeably tested in our serious nip of last September, — was &50 SLABS OF SNOW. [CHAP.V. now completely changed. The identical pieces, with the marks of the ship's side, were still within a few paces of us ; and some of them were fractured sufficiently, to show that a very great reduction in thickness had taken place upon the under surface. In every direction where huge masses were upturned, or ridges and barriers thrown up, it was observed by the ice mate, and those who had had most expe- rience in the Greenland seas, that there was comparatively little solid ice, and that mostly of this winter's formation. It was slabs of frozen snow adhering to and covering most of these masses, which gave them the formidable appearance they assumed. It may, therefore, be inferred that the rushing of currents and tides, the sounds of which were distinctly heard under- neath our floe, even when to the westward of Cape Comfort, had the beneficial effect of grinding down or wearing away the irregular under-surfaces of the ice, as they chafed against any obstructions to their course. This, if, as seems probable, a correct explanation, will, in connexion with other ascertained facts to some of which I have before adverted, aid in accounting for the occasional disappearance of ice, and consequent facility of navigating these seas during particular seasons. The crew were kept employed, and one of them had a narrow escape from drowning, from CHAP. V.] FINE WEATHER. &51 having incautiously, whilst crossing a narrow opening, stepped on some slabs of snow, which broke under him : he fell into the water, and in a few moments would have been gone for ever, had not Mr. Vaughan, the boatswain, seen him, and run immediately to his succour. Before noon the ship was free from pressure, but the ice checked by the tide, drove her back again towards the N. W. We were evidently farther off shore than before, though still nearing two remarkable round hills, having each a small dome- shaped mound rising from the termination of the slope, and forming the summit. To the north and west, and seemingly connected with them, was the blue bluff, now on our starboard bow ; farther south was another point, the ex- tremes of which and the land astern were S. E. and N. W. by W. The weather was fine and calm, and some icicles formed on the ship's side. At lh 20ra p. m., a mercurial thermometer, hung against the sunny side of the ship, rose to 11° 5 + ; the spirit one on board in the sun being 15° — , and the one in the shade 21° — . In the latter part of the day the ice set slowly to the N. W., but about 8h p. m. stopped, and closed a little on the starboard side of the ship. This was the lowest neap tide ; and as the weather was calm, we looked forward to the comfort of a quiet night. In this however we were disappointed. 252 LANES OF WATER. [CHAP.V. From 10h p. m. there was no peace, but on the contrary, harsh rubbing, smart explosions, and other varieties of discordant sounds, quite suf- ficient to keep the mind on the alert. As day- light gleamed, several narrow lanes of water were perceived running from the quarter, in- shore, directly ahead of the ship, and precisely in the same crack, which we hoped to have got through last year, when the ship's head was the other way. Under any circumstances they were not wide enough to afford us a passage ; and a few minutes wTere sufficient to coat them with young ice, which of itself barred all progress. So long, however, as they remained open, they aided the work of destruction, by allowing space for the large bodies to grind against each other ; but the ship was what is termed free in her dock ; that is to say, she was from two to three feet away from the walled sides of ice and snow which usually hemmed her in, the clear interval below being frozen hard with young ice. Whether from the current of air thereby permitted to circulate round the bends, or from the removal of the snow covering and embankment, or both, the water in the pump-well was found for the first time frozen. Its temperature was 30° -j-, and that of the lower deck 58° + . The land was clearly seen from the deck, running out to a point in the extreme distance, bearing CHAP.V.] PARHELION. 253 S.E. ^ S., but during the last twenty-four hours we had not gone much if at all towards it. At noon there was a moderate breeze from the north, which increased so as to predict a gale, a result least of all to be desired from that point of the compass, as it would have infallibly brought down an immense pressure upon the leeward ice packed against Southampton Island. Happily it declined with the setting sun, and subsequently fell quite calm. In the afternoon there was a beautiful parhelion, with an outer circle and one mock sun. The subtended angle of the latter was 45°. It is to be observed, that for some time past wre had regularly been set backwards and forwards, along shore, with the flood and ebb, generally gaining upon the whole some trifling advantage with the former, as proved by our gradual approach to the land ahead. To-day, however, owing, as was supposed, to the op- posing wind, there was no retrograde motion to the westward at all ; and it was reasonable, there- fore, to calculate at the turn of tide on some acquisition of distance. Nevertheless the hour passed without the slightest alteration ; but, at 10h p. m., several sudden jerks in the cabin warned me that something was going on ; and, ac- cordingly, near an hour after, a general rumbling was audible to seaward and astern. After some alternations of commotion and pauses, and when 254 DREADFUL COMMOTION. [CHAP.V. all was still and apparently ended, suddenly the vast bodies in contact with, and immediately sur- rounding the ship, were in fearful agitation, rising up in grinding conflict, piece thrown over piece until the ponderous walls tumbled over, and the whole accompanied with a screeching and howling and whining which was absolutely hideous : such was the violence of the pressure that the ship was lifted up abaft, and both hull and rigging trembled violently. Another pause ensued ; the stars shone brightly ; a faint gleam of aurora was playing near the zenith, and so beautiful and hushed was every thing, that nature seemed, as it were, in a trance. But scarcely had the idea flitted across the mind, when the war burst out again with more fury than ever, and huge frag- ments and masses seemed to be rolling down upon us with an impetuosity that threatened immediate destruction. Repose was impossible : many started from their beds, preferring, though they could do nothing, rather to see than merely hear the danger. The current rushed irre- sistibly to the stern ; and, taking the hull fore and aft, forced a complete stream of broken ice under the bottom, lifting the after part still higher up than before. While the first Lieu- tenant was below with the carpenter and his crew, anxiously observing the beams and decks as the heavy strain came upon them, to see which 14 CHAP. V.] HUBBUB CEASES. Q55 most complained, and to be ready in the event of injury if possible to repair it ; I was standing on the tafrail, watching the approach of a solid mass, part of our late floe, which was forcing another huge mass, like an advancing wave, over a hard piece, already noticed as having oppressed our starboard quarter last year. At length, the ship became so completely hampered by ice underneath, that the remainder of the floe, on either side, moved about eight or ten feet ahead, leaving the ship fixed in the midst, and wedged up in every direction. This was another novelty to our Greenlandmen, who, in the strange and unaccountable phenomena which now presented themselves, grew daily more puzzled. At 2h a. m., March 2d, the hubbub ceased, and we slept until morning without further inter- ruption. As daylight broke, the havoc was more clearly seen, and a wild scene of confusion it was. About a mile ahead the frost smoke betrayed an opening that led along the land- packed ice to abeam of the ship ; and this, with a few other lanes, was the only dhTerence in that respect which was observable. The land was much raised by refraction, and we seemed to have neared it a little. I say seemed, for, in consequence of a gentle undulatory motion of the ice close to the ship, which, though imper- ceptible to the eye, was proved by the mercury 256 THERMOMETERS. [CHAP.V. in the artificial horizon, the observations could not always be relied upon as exact. The sun was acquiring power daily ; for, at 10h 30m a. m. we saw the vapour rising from the southern aspect of a snow wall, and at llh 30m a.m. a mercurial thermometer with a blackened bulb, placed against an empty coal bag, rose to 28° + , while that on board (spirit and clear bulb) was 19°__, and the one in the shade 27° — . The sky was free from clouds, a light air prevailed from the S.W. ; and, whether from the wind being off shore, or some other local cause, we were free throughout the day from annoyance of any kind, except a distant sound, as of a rushing towards the south. March 3d. The same sounds continued, and at 2h 30m a. m. reached the ship, but without producing any thing more serious than rubbing and sliding loose pieces of ice against the sides. This soon subsided, and again we remained per- fectly quiet up to noon, when the mist which had hitherto concealed the land cleared away, and the bearings placed us a little to the east- ward of our position of yesterday. At lh p. m. the wind still slanting off the land, a lane of water was observed to open about half a mile distant from the ship. It was fully a quarter of a mile broad, and extended a long way towards the point. From this fact, there was reason to CHAP. V.] A LULL. C25J suppose that, however close and packed the ice might be in our vicinity, there either could not be such a continuous body to the northward as we conjectured, or, that it must be interrupted by lanes and other openings sufficiently extensive to allow of its being put into motion even by a light wind. Towards evening the ice closed a little, but until 6h a. m., March 4th, remained perfectly quiet, and thus allowed us the enjoy- ment of a sound sleep. Neither at that hour was there any thing more than a slight rushing ahead, occasioned probably by the change of tide, as the ship began immediately to drift to the N.W., and so continued to do until noon. The approach of the new moon kept us alive to every symptom of change in the weather ; and when the wind drew more round to north, caus- ing a trifling movement among the ice in that quarter, apprehensions began to be entertained that a breeze would come from the same point. Meantime the ship drifted backward and forward with the tide, without encountering any annoy- ance. We had now thirty-six small sledges made, which completed our arrangements for whatever might happen. After a passing alarm in the early morning, the 5th of March went quietly over until 6h p, ivl, when a noise was heard in the north-east direction. The breeze also had freshened, and often came in s 258 CONCUSSION. [chap. v. squalls. A little past 8h the disturbance reached the ship, bringing down the heavy bodies to windward with a fearful pressure, ploughing up the small quantity of young ice alongside, and lifting other large fragments up to the chains, from the starboard quarter to the bow. During two hours and a half our situa- tion was exceedingly precarious, and it seemed every moment as if the ship were making her last struggle. For a few minutes she was forced up by the ice fifteen feet forwards, and then thrust resistlessly astern. Hardly was this over when the large pieces on the star- board side moved slowly forward, and the still more ponderous ones to windward closed at right angles, thus subjecting her to the severest trial. All this time the bottom was continually thumped and hammered by the huge calves struggling to get free, each blow shaking the whole frame so violently as to be sensibly felt on deck ; and, not knowing what the effect might be, the hands were turned up and the sick dressed, to be ready for the worst. The thermometer at the time was 25°— , and the weather decidedly cold. By midnight there was a pause, and at lh a.m. March Gth, a relaxation on the starboard side, where two cracks had separated sufficiently to show the water. The submerged masses, now CHAP.V.] ICE HILLS. 25Q more at liberty, sought release from their im- prisonment ; and finally, the ship freed by these various secessions, righted. Still however the disturbance continued, and at 3h a. m. the ice again closed with the same almost intolerable pressure. When daylight broke, the land was discovered bearing from S. E. by E. to N. W. 7} W., and apparently we had gone somewhat to the eastward. From what had occurred in the last twelve hours a more than ordinary change was expected, nor in vain ; for besides several fresh barriers, masses of many tons' weight were seen riding on the top of mounds which even before had been considered very high. But the most striking effect had been produced along the walled side of the shore ice, where, for several miles, actual hills fifty feet high had been thrown up. We were also nearer than before, but hoped that the several considerable pieces which yet interposed, would, for some time, perhaps entirely, prevent our being driven on the land. At 9h 30m a. m. as the tide turned, we of course suffered, but not materially as compared with what had just passed, and up to noon all was tolerably quiet. The wind was still north, the barometer 30.37, thermometer at 21° — , difference in the sun 14°. Latitude 64° 12' N. and longitude 81° 16' W. At lh 45m p. m. the ice ceased its drift to the N. W., and after some cracking alongside, s Q 260 ANXIETY. [CHAF, V at £h p. m. it set at the rate of between two and three miles an hour to the S. E. The barometer indicateda further rise, and therefore fine weather ; but though clear overhead it grew misty about the horizon as the sun went down ; and the breeze freshening in squalls brought a proportionate pressure from the entire body to windward, which caused much straining and cracking on the lar- board side and quarter. The ice too alongside and near became agitated, occasioning consider- able annoyance. On this day of the new moon, indeed, such effects were to be expected, but our fear was that, having commenced earlier than was expected, they betokened something more serious afterwards. Our anxiety {for there is no becom- ing indifferent to this kind of trial) lasted till 8h p. m., during which interval we had drifted closer to the fearful looking wall of what was called the shore ice. About 9h p. m. the ship suffered many shocks and hard rubbings from afresh disturbance, and we should doubtless have been kept in a state of restlessness all night, had not a sepa- ration taken place in a crack about fifty paces from the ship, which allowed a lateral escape to the pressure of the opposing parts. On the following day, March 7th, we were un- usually quiet until 5h a.m., whenanother commotion began, and again made the poor ship crack and tremble violently. This was accompanied by a CHAP. V.] FURTHER AGITATION. 26 1 grinding and heavy thumping abaft under the larboard counter, where I understood from the officer of the watch, a very compact gallery, built on a solid mass, was forcing itself underneath and lifting the ship over. Going on deck, I found she had risen two or three feet, and was cer- tainly suffering under severe pressure. Mean- time she was carried by the ice rapidly to the S. E. We had the land more broad on the bow, and could clearly distinguish the farthest point ahead from the deck ; but we were not, as I thought, nearer the wall, which however was very distinct, and perpendicular as well as high. Hitherto it had been supposed to be attached to the land ; but Mr. Green, the ice mate, now detected the movement of an inner body, by ac- cidentally seeing two hummocks cross each other, the outer one steady, the inner one moving. It was evident, therefore, that we were at the edge of the strongest set of the current and tides, and, could we have been divested of other anxieties, were perhaps in the very best situation for getting early into open water. After a tranquil day, the ship setting backward and forward with the tide as before, at 5h 50m p. m, she was thrown up three inches higher than before. This was the beginning ofa series of strange and unaccountable convulsions, which to any less fortified ship would assuredly have proved fatal. The northerly and N. N. E. s 3 £62 APPALLING SHOCKS. [CHAP.V. fresh breezes which had brought the ice down for more than three hundred and sixty miles, had fallen calm, and given way to a more west- erly and very light air ; an interval too of more than twelve hours had elapsed to check the im- petus so given, and it was, therefore, reasonable to conclude that no impediment would occur to a peaceable progress. In this, however, we were cruelly deceived. From 6h p. m. ominous rush- ing sounds were heard far off to the north east and north west. These gradually drew nearer, as the flood made its way either under the com- pact bodies that withstood the shock, or along the cracks and openings — gaining in these latter a furious velocity, to which every thing seemed to yield. It happened that there were several of these around the ship ; and, when they opened on us like so many conduits pouring their con- tents to a common centre, the concussion was absolutely appalling, rending the lining and bulkheads in every part, loosening some shores or stanchions, so that the slightest effort would have thrown them down, and compressing others with such force as to make the turpentine ooze out of their extremities. One fir plank placed horizontally between the beams and the shores, actually glittered with globules. At the same time the pressure was going on from the larboard side, where the three heaviest parts of the ruin CHAP. V.] BOLTS, &C. LOOSENED. Q6o of the iloe remained, cracked here and there, but yet adhering in firm and solid bodies. These of course were irresistible ; and after much groaning, splitting, and cracking, accompanied by sounds like the explosion of cannon, the ship rose fore and aft, and heeled over about 10° to starboard. On sounding the well there appeared a trifling in- crease of water, amounting in the day to cl\ inches, a proof that she was loosened. Below indeed, during the pressure, a part of the bulkhead of the steward's room had fallen out into the after cockpit ; while three of the lower deck beams eighteen inches square, abreast of the larboard fore chains, had been lifted half an inch from the shelf-piece : the bolts that fastened them were drawn a quarter of an inch, and several treenails also were much loosened. Even when the weather became calm the agitation of the ice did not subside, but continued up to midnight, assail- ing the ship with almost unremitted violence. Nor on the following day, 8th March, was there much abatement; and at 7h a.m. the ice closed, and again straining the ship, raised her several inches higher, making in the whole four feet three inches. A light air was now blowing from the S. W. which was nearly off shore, but wedged as the vessel now was we could scarcely expect to escape all annoyance. In fact, not a hole of water was visible from the mast-head \ and, with s 4 264 FLIGHT OF BIRDS. [CHAP.V. the ice so jammed in every part, it must have required an astonishing impetus in the first in- stance to make the effects felt so far. Nothing indeed but a current from the north co-operating with the tide, could in my opinion possibly have brought about such a result. We had decidedly gone more towards the outer point, which, even when thrown up by refraction as all the land was, appeared too low to answer the descrip- tion of high coast given by Captain Lyon as forming the Seahorse Point of Button. The land formerly called the blue bluff was now nearly abeam, and appeared, as well as the snow per- mitted me to judge, to be composed of rocks, in some of which were gullies. It seemed the eastern entrance to the Inlet, Strait, or Bay frequently alluded to before ; and receding from it further south and east, the land bending in a semi-lunar form terminated in two bold and tolerably high hills, which are perhaps the most remarkable along the whole coast as far as Cape Bylot. Their dome-like summits assumed a more an- gular outline as we altered the bearings, and the coast had some bays and cliffs. A novelty presented itself in the shape of a flight of birds, supposed to have been dovekies, which were seen flying from the land towards the north, most likely in search of open water. At noon the black thermometer was 36° + , the plain one CHAP. V.] GALE. 265 7° + , and the one in shade 14° — . At lh p. m. the blackened thermometer was as high as 41° + . The day passed quietly over, and at last, for the first time for many nights, I enjoyed the comfort of unloading myself from a stack of clothes. At noon of the 9th a visible progress had been made along the land, the south extreme of a high bluff bearing S. 38° W. The afternoon was rather fine ; and though there was no perceptible motion on the surface, yet the two large pieces of ice opened apart almost athwart the stern, and within only a few paces from it. This was done quietly, and directly against the force of the wind ; but when the ship began to set to the S.E., as she did at a little past 4h p. m., they closed again, occasioning a strain upon the larboard quarter. From that time the breeze freshened rapidly from the N.E., a point from which it was least desired, as it brought the whole force of the windward ice against the broadside. At 7h 30m p.m. there was a strong gale, and squalls in quick succession, driving the low scud over the young moon with great velocity. The natural accompaniments were not remote, and soon announced in grating sounds their impetuous and destructive march. I beheld two enormous masses, one of which had hitherto resisted every attack to thrust it from its place, hurled onward across the stern, 266 TREMENDOUS HUBBUB. [CHAP.V. in a line for the shore ice, which there seemed little prospect with such a gale of long avoiding. The ship cracked and shook violently, and no longer able to offer direct resistance rose several inches. It was a boisterous and restless night, passed in wearisome listening to the incessant crashing, which, for aught known to the contrary, indicated the final dissolution of our hope and stronghold, the floe. The hubbub at length reached its climax. A hollow grinding, as from the onward motion of some vast body, came louder and louder on the ear, and, speed and sound increasing as it approached, finally burst with deafening fury on the ship, causing such fearful cracks and ominous tremblings, that all waited the result in painful suspense. A little more and she must go ! What of human con- struction could withstand the violence of such an onset ! Still she continued to rise as the pressure increased. In an instant it ceased, and all was still as death. After midnight, March 10th, the wind veered more to the north, blowing heavily in squalls ; and, in the north-west circle of the heavens, a beautiful meteor was seen shooting athwart the sky in an elliptic course, with a brilliant pale blue light. After this we were indulged with a few hours of repose, but from 4h to 8h a. m. we were again disturbed, and again listened with CHAP. V.] SET OF ICE. 267 anxiety to the severe complainings of our excel- lent ship. On examination, the proper officer found that she had been lifted up forward three and a half feet, and one and a half abaft. No injury, beyond an indentation from the pressure, could be detected outside, and with the excep- tion of two or three trifling leakages in the upper deck, there had been no mischief below. During the remainder of the day nothing mate- rial occurred. The ship was set backwards and forwards with the tide along the mural edge of the in-shore ice, still advancing towards the S.E., but more slowly to-day in consequence of the course of the wind along the elbow of the wall. About 9h 30m p. m. there was an easing of the ice from the sides, and a free space created of three feet on one, and nearly two on the other side, whereby the ship was allowed to slide a little astern and come more upright. We were favoured with a tranquil night, and on March 11th, after a slight commotion, the whole body set fast to the S. E. At llh 40m a. m. this ceased, and at noon again set N. W. By the bearing of the land we had gone a little to the eastward. Though there was not much change in the ice inside of us, that to seaward certainly looked less high than formerly, while the reaction which had made the whole body thereabouts ease out, indicated open water to the north. Indeed 268 NAUTICAL ARTISTS. [CHAP.V. the fact of our being driven to this distance from Frozen Strait, explains at once how it was that Sir E. Parry saw so much open water off Winter Harbour. In all probability it was at this very moment equally free from all but young ice, as the prevalent winds would have cleared it from every more solid impediment. At lh p. m. the black thermometer was 43° + . The ice con- tinued perfectly still, and the day being fine, some of the men amused themselves by cutting out figures from blocks of snow, bringing them as they were finished within a few feet of the star- board bow, and depositing them on a smooth piece of solid ice for exhibition. The oddity of the grouping provoked a smile. The most con- spicuous figure was that of a female, favoured with a most liberal allowance of bust, arms akimbo, a very slender waist, great deficiency of hips, and legs deplorably curtailed. Injustice however to the delicacy of the artist, it ought to be observed that the limbs were supposed to be enveloped in a straight tight gown, ornamented with a fringed apron falling so low as to disclose only the sub- stantial feet and still more substantial ankles. Grouped around this principal personage, were various little boys in hats and trowsers ; houses, forts, vessels; and a heavy piece of ordnance, doubtless intended as the symbol and guarantee of her sovereignty. She was attended, moreover, CHAP. V.] TURMOIL. 209 I should rather perhaps say guarded, by a sort of fierce wolf dog, which amidst all changes main- tained its post by its mistress's side. I encouraged this humour of the men, glad to perceive that their minds were free enough from care to indulge in it. Indeed the first warmth of the sun and the tranquillity of the ice had dispelled the notion of immediate danger, and the light-hearted sailors yielded to their feelings and enjoyed the hour while it lasted. After 6h p. m. the tide set towards the S. E., and notwithstanding the calmness of the weather and the decreasing flow and ebb, there were at long intervals, distant sounds, that portended nothingfavourable. As these increased in strength and rapidity, the various cracks and openings near us gradually drew closer, but without squeezing the ship. At length, after many rushes and many sudden pauses, the larger remnants of the floe to seaward came slowly nearer, preceded by ruins which, though insignificant as compared with what had been, were still massy enough to make a fearful clamour as thev were sunk beneath and wedged against the ship's bottom. At this time (past 9h p. m.) she showed symptoms of suffering in the hull, which was evidently undergoing a severe ordeal. Inexplicable noises, in which the sharp sounds of splitting and the harsher ones of grinding were most distinct, came in quick 270 INTENSE SUSPENSE. [CHAP.V. succession, and then again stopped suddenly, leaving all so still that not even a breath was heard. In an instant the ship was felt to rise under our feet, and the roaring and rushing recommenced with a deafening din alongside, abeam, and astern, at one and the same instant. Alongside, the grinding masses held the ship tight as in a vice ; while the overwhelming pres- sure of the entire body, advancing from the west, so wedged the stern and starboard quarter, that the greatest apprehensions were entertained for the sternpost and frame-work abaft. Some idea of the power exerted on this occasion may be gathered from this : — At the moment which I am now describing, the forepart of the ship was lite- rally buried as high as the flukes of the anchors in a dock of perpendicular walls of ice, so that in that part she might well have been thought immovable. Still, such was the force applied to her abaft, that after much cracking and per- ceptible yielding of the beams, which seemed to curve upwards, she actually rose by sheer pressure above the dock forward, and then with sudden jerks did the same abaft. During these convul- sions many of the carpenters, and others stationed below, were violently thrown down on the deck as people are in an earthquake. It was a mo- ment of intense suspense ; and to avoid con- fusion, the hands were called, and the officers CHAP. V.] SHIP STRAINED. 271 with their respective crews stationed at their boats, ready for lowering and securing them on the larger parts of the floe. All this was done by the first Lieutenant, under my inspection, with the utmost coolness and promptitude ; and thus prepared, we waited the result. Heaven, however, again protected us, and at llh p. m. all was in dead repose. An examination for the purpose of ascer- taining what injury had been sustained was immediately commenced by clearing the bread- room ; and, so far as our compact and heavy cargo would permit the inspection (for we were afraid to move it lest the solidity and means of resistance should be weakened below), little was detected on the larboard side and right aft. But on the other, at eight feet from the round of the quarter, one of the stringers, nine inches thick, was found severely split, though the extent of the mischief could not be seen, owing to the diagonal doubling across it. Four of the lower- deck beams also had been lifted from their pillars three-eighths of an inch. The well was sounded every five minutes, and at first we thought she did not leak \ but the unwelcome truth was forced upon us, when, from five to ten inches were reported. This was soon cleared out, and subsequently she made about an inch and a half of water an hour. It was now, therefore, certain that the ship had 272 DIVINE SERVICE. [ciIAP.V. been seriously strained ; and as it would be necessary for the future to inspect narrowly the complaining parts, I caused the bread, which had hitherto been stowed there, to be taken up, and placed, carefully covered over, on deck. March 12th. The ice began to set to the eastward, and at the dawn of day a narrow lane of water was descried ahead, extending north and south. On going outside, the ship was seen fairly lifted on the ice forward, and fearfully wedged up abaft. She was in fact four feet eight inches above her usual line of flotation. The ice was much pressed up at certain points, and closely jammed in all ; a circumstance easily accounted for by the fact, that as we were nearer the mural ridge, this also had undergone a change in its outline : for though still, at unequal distances, thrown up in smooth and perpendicu- lar cliffs, terminated by peaked or jagged tops, there were spaces between these corresponding with the rest of the crushed masses around. We fancied, moreover, that farther inshore there was another similar ridge. We assembled at Divine Service as usual on Sunday, and returned thanks for the protection which had been so signally and mercifully afforded us ; and in this, if I might judge from the earnest and devotional tone of the responses, there was no want of sinceritv. Noon came peacefully. We had undoubtedly advanced along CHAP. V.] FIXING SHORES. TJ3 the high land, and were bringing the lower point ahead clearer into view. The weather was calm: the latitude 64° 8' 30" N., and longi- tude 81° 5' W. After midnight, March 13th, there was a com- motion heard to the northward, but it did not extend to the ship, and again we had the luxury of a quiet night. In the morning the ship was found to have settled down a few inches, although, with the exception of the tidal lane, there was no open water in sight. One of the officers attended by a couple of men attempted to reach the shore to the eastward, but after a rather tedious walk of two or three hours, he found so much inter- ruption from narrow but open cracks leading into the principal lane, that he halted. He had seen the fresh tracks of an enormous bear. About 8h 30m p. m. I heard a faint rush under the stern, and from that time until midnight there was considerable under pressure, which, with occasional cracking, in that part especially, raised the vessel up an inch or two more. Find- ing that, notwithstanding the shores which had been fixed in the bread-room and elsewhere, there was still an immense strain fore and aft, we determined on increasing the number, and for that purpose immediately selected the best and fittest spars on board. Thrown up and nipped as we were under the resistless action of three 274 GENERAL ORDER. [CHAP.V. hundred miles of drift ice, it was obvious that if any thing did happen, it would be as sudden as in all probability it would be serious ; and I therefore issued a general order to the officers in charge of the boats, to the following effect : that whenever it should be considered necessary to lower the boats, they were to see them first removed far enough from the ship's sides to avoid accidents from any motion which might be going on, and, if there were time, to lighten them of the stores always kept there ; they were then to be hauled to separate pieces of the largest ice, and placed, together with the stores, in temporary safety. The invalids (if the case were urgent) were to be taken care of by the crews to which they severally belonged, and the medical officers were to see that such coverings and protection from the weather were provided them as the pressure of circumstances might permit. A man was to be left in charge of eacli boat and cargo ; after which, the officers and their respective mates and crews were to return on board and make their reports to me. On the 14th March the barometer continued to fall, and the wind increased to a fresh gale, accompanied by snow and much drift. At in- tervals, indeed, the ship was quiet, but more frequently cracked and strained, in a manner that showed how severely she was suffering. ■ H C=5 v 6 o M "': F ■ FJ fa FJ - ~- T - -: ' «a i r^ =d (=3 "a s n 0) V CHAP. V.] HEAVY WEATHER. Tj5 This was more particularly felt in the after cock- pit and bread-room ; and four more shores, with diagonal bracings from the stringers to the orlop beams, were fixed up. The ice was too close to get soundings, and the weather too misty from small snow to allow the land to be seen, or observations to be got. We seemed, however, very little nearer the mural edge. At noon the wrind was N.N.E., squally, and at times blowing a gale. The thermometer (air) 3° — . Almost immediately after there was a visible motion ahead of the ship, and the ice then began to set slowly to the westward. At 2h 30m p. m. the weather cleared enough to allow of our see- ing the land, a point of which bore S. 22° E., while the centre of the blue buff was S. 62° W. The gale continued unabated, blowing very hard in squalls, with occasional lulls. A little after 7h p. m. the advancing ice began to press hard upon and underneath the stern and quarter, causing considerable cracking fore and aft. No motion, however, could be detected at the surface, For the following four hours the pressure at times was alarmingly severe, lifting up the lower-deck beams three-eighths of an inch, and twice throw- ing down all the upright shores. After this had passed, the ice was forcibly driven to the east- ward, and though we were never entirely free from pressure, yet the cracking sounds were not t 2 2J6 BLOWS A GALE. [CHAP.V. so loud. March 15th. — The ship seemed suffer- ing much below, though again no motion was perceptible from the deck on the surface of the ice. The leak also had slightly increased. In the morning the weather was still thick and misty with the same sort of small snow, resem- bling the sort of spray or congelated vapour ex- perienced when to leeward of open water; the gale continuing to blow hard in squalls. That we should make some advance, therefore, was not surprising ; but, considering the extreme closeness of the ice, no one certainly had expected to see the ship not far from the low point which formed the eastern extreme of yesterday. Such, how- ever, was the irresistible power urging the entire body forwards, that we were now actually within four miles of the low land on the beam ; and from 8h a. m. the ice drove rapidly along this shelving beach, composed, apparently, of coarse gravel and stones. No rocks were seen. It was of importance to get soundings, but after a fore- noon's trial, and with the loss of ice chisels, &c, the utter impossibility of cutting through the underlayers of ice, compelled us to abandon the attempt. Near the shore the ice was thrown up in some places from twenty to thirty feet ; and the mural line, which had for a space disappeared, here began again and stretched out to another low point almost ahead. As we rounded the 12 Ajtt ■ ' f V K: ^ "-:..* - . &•.:;.'.£, '^ ■ 0 *a © • « F=l IP ' 1 , JP s> w 0 ■_a t S 13 s * t I CHAP. V.] TREMENDOUS RUSH. 077 curve of the land the pressure and strain were violent on the larboard quarter and bow, forcing the ship upon the ice, and raising her so much as to bring the eleven feet water mark in sight fore and aft. Several rushes succeeded and lifted her up more by the stern, again raising the beams and causing a severe strain on the diagonal shores. The whole of the ice continued to set eastward, producing in its progress a jerking motion as it was checked by the shore ice and the land. At noon the weather was misty, with the wind blow- ing fresh in squalls from N. W. by N. : barometer 29. 17» always falling; latitude observed 64°. 9 N. Up to this day, however anxious, we were yet safe ; but we were now destined to witness trials of a more awful kind. While we were gliding quickly along the land — which I may here remark, had become more broken and rocky, though without attaining an altitude of more than, perhaps, one or two hundred feet — at lh 45ra p. m. without the least warning, a heavy rush came upon the ship, and, with a tre- mendous pressure on the larboard quarter, bore her over upon the heavy mass on her starboard quarter. The strain was severe in every part, though from the forecastle she appeared to be moving in the easiest manner towards the land ice. Suddenly, however, a loud crack was heard below the mainmast, as if the keel were broken t 3 278 IMMINENT PERIL. [CHAP.V. or carried away ; and simultaneously, the outer stern post from the ten feet mark was split down to an unknown extent, and projected to the larboard side upwards of three feet. The ship was thrown up by the stern to the seven and a half teet mark ; and that damage had been done was soon placed beyond doubt by the increase of leakage, which now amounted to three feet per hour. Extra pumps were worked, and while some of the car- penters were fixing diagonal shores forward, others were examining the orlops and other parts. It was reported to me by the first Lieutenant, Master and carpenter, that nothing could be detected inside, though apprehensions were en- tertained by the two former, that some serious injury had been inflicted. In spite of the com- motion, the different pieces of our floe still re- mained firm ; but being unable to foresee what might take place in the night, I ordered the two cutters and two whale boats to be lowered down, and hauled with their stores to places considered more secure ; this was accordingly done, though not under two hours and a half, even with the advantage of daylight. The ship was still setting fast along shore and much too close to the fixed ice ; but it was not till past8h p. m. that any sus- picious movement was noticed near us: then, however, a continually increasing rush was heard, which at 10b 45 m r. m. came on with a heavy CHAP. V.] ANOTHER HUSH. #79 roar towards the larboard quarter, upturning in its progress and rolling onward with it an im- mense wall of ice. This advanced so fast, that though all hands were immediately called, they had barely time, with the greatest exertion, to extricate three of the boats, one of them, in fact, being hoisted up when only a few feet from the crest of the solid wave, which held a steady course directly for the quarter, almost overtopping it, and continuing to elevate itself until about twenty-five feet high. A piece had just reached the rudder slung athwart the stern, and at the moment, when, to all appearances, both that and a portion at least of the frame work were ex- pected to be staved in and buried beneath the ruins, the motion ceased ; at the same time the crest of the nearest part of the wave toppled over, leaving a deep wall extending from thence be- yond the quarter. The effect of the whole was a leak in the extreme run, oozing, as far as could be ascertained, from somewhere about the stern- post. It ran in along the lining like a rill for about half an hour, when it stopped, probably closed by a counter pressure. The other leaks could be kept under by the incessant use of one pump. Our intervals of repose were now very short ; for at 12h 50m a.m., March 1 6th, another rush drove irresistibly on the larboard quarter andsternr t 4 280 THE CRISIS. [CHAP.V. and forcing the ship ahead raised her up on the ice. A chaotic ruin followed ; our poor and cherished court yard, its wall and arched doors, gallery, and well-trodden paths, were rent, and in some parts ploughed up like dust. The ship was careened fully four streaks, and sprung a leak as before. Scarcely were ten minutes left us for the expression of our astonishment that any thing of human build could outlive such assaults, when at lh a. m. another equally violent rush succeeded ; and in its way towards the star- board quarter threw up a rolling wave thirty feet high, crowned by a blue square mass of many tons, resembling the entire side of a house, which, after hanging for some time in doubtful poise on the ridge, at length fell with a crash into the hollow, in which, as in a cavern, the after part of the ship seemed imbedded. It was indeed an awful crisis, rendered more fright- ful from the mistiness of the night and dimness of the moon. The poor ship cracked and trem- bled violently ; and no one could say that the next minute would not be her last and, indeed, his own too, for with her our means of safety would probably perish. The leak continued, and again (most likely as before, from counter- pressure) the principal one closed up. When all this was over, and there seemed to be a chance of a respite, I ordered a double allowance of pre- CHAP. V.] COMMOTION SUBSIDES. 281 served meat, &c. to be issued to the crew, whose long exposure to the cold rendered some extra stimulant necessary. Until 4h a. m. the rushes still kept coming from different directions, but fortunately with diminished force. From that hour to 8h a. m. every thing was still and the ice quite stationary, somewhat to the westward of the singular point, terminating as it were in a knob, which was the farthest eastern extreme yesterday. We certainly were not more than three miles from the barren and irregular land abeam, which received the name of Point Terror. To this was attached a rugged shelf of what for the time might be called shore ice, having at its seaward face a mural ridge of unequal, though in many parts, imposing height, certainly not less than from fifty to sixty feet. Such had been the diminution of our nucleus, that the ship was now within four hundred yards of the water line of demarcation between the floe and the land ice. I was naturally anxious to ascertain as far as possible the amount of damage received; and, on inspecting the outside of the ship with the first Lieutenant and carpenter, we saw that the fore-foot was completely exposed, the ship having been literally lifted up on the surface of the same ice, which had formerly, as I have said, imbedded her up to the flukes of the anchors. How far she was 282 CREW IN COUNCIL. [cHAP.V. from the water's edge could not be ascertained, though it was seen from the marks, that she was heaved up seven feet abaft, whilst on deck the ascent in walking forward was considerable. The larboard side was found to be flattened and indented in such a manner, as to make it proba- ble some injury had been sustained about the timbers near the line of flotation, in a direction six or eight feet from the main channels forward, and the quarter on the same side was bolstered up as high as the tafrail by one of the largest floe pieces, which pressed severely on one of her weakest points. These appearances with the facts of the damaged stern post and the leaks, raised a doubt in my mind, how far the ship might be trustworthy when the ice should slacken off sufficiently to let her down to her bearings ; and, though every precaution had been adopted with respect to the provision, &c. on deck, which was ready to be thrown on the ice upon any sudden emergency, and other prepara- tions had been made for the worst ; yet, when instead of the ice remaining, as we had fer- vently hoped, stationary, it began again to move in a body to the eastward, and there was every reason to expect during the night a similar visi- tation to that of yesterday ; I thought it my duty to collect the opinions of the officers, the ice mate, and some of the leading men, who had CHAP. V.] THEIR OPINIONS. 283 had much experience among ice. They agreed that a light boat with provisions should, if possible, be landed, to serve as a last resource to com- municate with the Hudson's Bay Company's Factory, in the event of the loss of the ship. Other opinions were also given, creditable to the good sense and firmness of those who uttered them ; and as the greater part of them coincided with my own, I felt more comforted and assured. All that could be done immediately, was to get on deck some more sails, with flour and other provisions, and one of the cutters having been removed to a firmer piece of ice, the two whale boats were again hoisted up for greater security. In the meantime we were ra- pidly setting to the eastward, and by noon had passed the point, and opened another line of higher and more hilly coast, with ranges above and bevond the land forming the beach. The crew were now put on full allowance of provision. The weather continued misty, with abundance of small snow : the top of the highest land in sight was S. 63° W. ; latitude 6i° 4' ; wind N. W. by W., fresh at times ; barometer, 2Q. 25, thermometer 12°—. During the remainder of the day there was some disturbance, not very material, and in the evening we appeared to be crossing a bay and nearing higher land ahead. During the 284 st. Patrick's day. [chap. v. night rushing noises were occasionally heard astern and to the north, and though these once or twice intimated their approach by some sus- picious sharp cracks, yet we reached the morn- ing of the 17th without serious molestation. The wind then came all at once from S. E. by S. nearly ahead, bringing with it a load of vapoury mist, small snow and drift. The land was not visible, but it was evident we had got much nearer to the edge of tidal ice ; for several well- marked hummocks, which had been our com- panions for months and weathered out every gale, had in the comparative stillness of last night disappeared altogether, taking with them very liberal portions of the surrounding ice. The wind had the effect of setting us slowly to the westward, and though it gradually drew ahead, yet there was no squeezing of the ice, and St. Patrick's day was one of compa- rative enjoyment ; nor in the midst of our own disasters did we forget to wish all prosperity to the " Gem of the Sea." The only drawback was the incessant clanging of the pump, which was still found indispensable to keep the ship clear from water. Meantime there was no lack of employment, especially on the outside, where a large party with pickaxes, ice chisels and shovels were fast reducing the bulk of the towering wave that propped up the stern. To- CHAP, v.] COAST. 285 wards evening a lane of water opened not far from us towards the shore, which, however, soon closed, and the night set in beautifully clear and tranquil. At daylight of the 18th the coast line was dis- tinctly traced from S.E. by E. \ E. to W. by N., the nearest land abeam being about four or five miles distant. The character of the country was now shelving, with hills of moderate altitude ; on the regular and apparently even summits of which were isolated cones, and other steep and rounded hills, totally covered with snow. Extending to the eastward the appearances were similar ; only, that over a point, and something to the south of it, was a distant range of high mountainous land, answering the description of that about Seahorse Point, from which we were now not thirty miles distant. We experienced, moreover, that pecu- liarly keen cold against our faces, known by the term of the " barber," which must have come from the eastward, as the lane of water was all but closed. At 7h a. m. a slight rushing noise was heard to seaward, and more faintly alongside. The ice was then setting slowly to the westward, and about llh 10m a.m. a second weak rush just reached us, and the motion stopped. At 2h 30m p. m. the ice began to set slowly to the eastward, and from its closeness to the wall made a low grinding noise. For the rest of the day it con- 286 CALM WEATHER. [CHAP.V. tin lied quiet; but the wind being very light from the westward, a faint disturbance was heard in the first watch, supposed to arise from an attempt of the ice to open a little. March 19th. The same sounds, but more distinct, were audible more or less frequently until the forenoon, and sometimes they were accompanied by rushes that set every one on the alert. Indeed, on looking minutely round, a few fresh cracks were discovered, and we were obviously much nearer to the tidal lane, or rather wall, the interval between the two bodies of ice not exceeding two feet, though how this had happened we were somewhat puzzled to understand. There was much frost smoke rising from small cracks around, which rendered the land rather indistinct. After 8h a. m. we drifted west again, with rather an accelerated motion. Divine service w7as not omitted, and at noon the weather was fine but cold, out of the sun, the thermometer in the shade being 20°—. At lh 30m p. m. the ice commenced setting to the eastward, the wind then being light from the land. Soon after 4h there was a small lane or opening between the ship and the wall ; and about the same time a great noise was heard in the direction of the starboard bow. Every thing was again quiet by midnight, when the wind veered to the south. CHAP. V.] ICE SETS EASTWARD. 287 March 20th. As the tide changed a grinding sound was produced along the mural edge, and at broad daylight, though there was a very hazy atmosphere, occasioned by the frost smoke, we could see that there was a lane of icy water half a mile broad, separating the sea from the land ice, and that it extended in a direction north- west and south-east as far as the eye could reach. A little past 7h a. m., when the tide made to the westward, it grew narrower ; and, on a nearer inspection, we found we were getting continually closer, in consequence of pieces streaming off at our boundary. On the other hand, the surface of the water became immediately covered with young ice, infinitely too thick to move a ship through. The people were employed in clear- ing away the higher portions of ice thrown up alongside to starboard, as well as in stopping a leak over my cabin. At lh 15m p. m. the ice set to the eastward, and during the latter part of th'e day the bay ice increased very fast, from whence it was concluded that we were driving further off the land, which the density of the frost smoke concealed from view. March 21st. Many had been the forebodings of what was to be expected from the coincidence of the full moon with the equinoctial day ; yet nothing more had occurred than a freshening breeze from S. by W., which drove us easily off, 288 PLEASANT TEMPERATURE. [CHAP.V. or backwards and forwards, along the coast. The latter was still obscured by frost smoke, which rose in dense clouds from the ever-shift- ing black lanes of water, instantly converted, on the least cessation from action, into firm bay ice. The sensation was that of intense cold, when ex- posed to the breeze charged with frozen vapour, but the temperature was not only bearable, but even pleasant, when under the lee of ice, and open to the warmth of the sun. Our cutters were still on the floe pieces, for the ship remained precisely in the position into which she had been thrown on the night of the 15th, and one pump was quite equal to keep her dry; but as it was uncer- tain when she might come upright by the easing away of the ice which bound and poised her up, I had every thing in readiness to hoist them to the davits, and to set additional pumps at work without a moment's delay. About 10h a. m. a glimpse was caught of the land ; but as only the lower part was discernible, the precise whereabouts could not be determined. Neither holes nor vapour were seen to the north-east. At noon, it could not be ascertained in which direction the ice was setting, so great was the haze. The barometer had risen to the height of 30. 58. Wind south, moderate. Thermometer 10° — , and in the sun 11°-|-. This was the day for the examination of the CHAP. V.] HEALTH. 289 crew ; and I was much gratified to learn from Doctor Donovan's report that, with the excep- tion of the three on the sick list, who were themselves improving, the rest were in a fair state of health, notwithstanding the lameness which still, though without pain, oppressed some of them. To occupy the crew they were de- sired to remove the mounds and other irregular heaps of ice round the ship, and to dig down below the bows. The forefoot being thus par- tially cleared was found to be much worn away, and judging from the state of the bolts, was considered to have received considerable injury. The ice which imbedded the starboard bow was, therefore, quickly cleared away ; and on a nearer inspection, the carpenter recommended cutting away the protruding part of one bolt to prevent its catching against the ice, and at the same time suggested the propriety of placing some iron plates over that portion of the injured part which was out of the water. By evening this was accomplished ; two more plates, three feet four inches long, and nine inches wide, being secured with eighteen iron deck spike nails on the fore- foot, immediately beneath the iron sheathing of the bow, which was all that, under existing cir- cumstances, could be done. The keel could be just felt at the length of an extended saw under water ; and the carpenter was always of opinion u 290 SQUALLS. [CHAP.V. that it had received little or no damage. There was a great deal of frost smoke between us and the land, and up to midnight all was tranquil. March 22d. At daylight we seemed from the bearing of a known hill, to have been set off and rather along the shore to the eastward. As before, only black lines of open water ap- peared to windward, though the extent of bay ice was evidently greater, and certainly at the nearest part, not more than four or five hundred yards from the ship, which, however, fortunately continued fixed in the same position. During the forenoon we drifted westerly, and again in the afternoon slowly to the eastward ; the conical hill at 3h 30ra, bearing S. 31° W. About 8h p. m. the wind gradually drew more to the east, and began to blow fresh in squalls with every appear- ance of a gale ; but subsequently, March 23d, settled at south-east, and moderated. The ice had again set to the westward, with no other altera- tion than that of causing several lanes in the bay ice. Up to noon, all was quiet. The weather to- day was warm enough, with the thermometer at 10° + in the shade, and 32° + in the sun, even to be oppressive ; the blackened thermometer was as high as 39°+ • In walking to the bay ice, some of the officers saw the fresh track of a bear not very far from the ship. We had drifted so much off shore, and in the afternoon more particularly, CHAP. V.] LUNAR HALO. £0,1 had gone so far to the north west, that at4h p. m. the blue bluff seen on the 11th, was in sight, and the fact of an opening between it and the nearest land of Point M'Clure, being now evident, it was called Gore Island. The high hills too, which were noted about the same time, were equally visible, and proved to be the same, the principal of which we had hitherto been calling the Conical Hill, but now distinguished by the name of Mount Minto, after the first Lord of the Ad- miralty, and which every one had considered to be quite distinct from those that had been passed. At our first station two rather deep bays were clearly made out, with low land to seaward, and here the low land was somewhat nearer to us than the high ; so that, although it was impossible to discern whether there was any ice between the two, I am not certain that the former may not be islands stretching out from the latter. As night drew on the wind got round to the N. E., by which means the pack that inclosed the ship became detached in one or two places from the more seaward body, causing a lane of water to appear. On the other hand, we commenced going eastward, slantingly towards the shore. March 24th. There was a prismatic lunar halo with paraselenae. In the morning we were more to the eastward, but began to retrograde at 10h. By noon we had drawn closer to the land, and u 2 292 SUSPICIOUS CRACKINGS. [CIIAP.V. were evidently ploughing up the intervening bay ice. About 7h 30m p. m. a slight noise was heard on both quarters, the wind then having got more to the westward, from which however it sub- sequently changed to N. E. with light snow. A faint glimpse was caught of the aurora in the same quarter. March 25th the body of ice again moved easterly, and at daylight, some suspicious cracking was audible to seaward ; while the wide lane of bay ice, which had intervened between our pack and that fixed to the shore, was now diminished to three hundred yards of squeezed up pieces, which, for the present, served as a fender against the wall along shore. The weather was too thick to make out objects distinctly ; but from the appearance of the nearest land, we seemed to have almost reached the place from which we were blown off when the southerly wind came. A crack in one of the remaining large pieces was detected during the forenoon ; and, in the early part of the afternoon, the ice to seaward of the crack on the quarter began to open out a little, allowing us to get soundings, which were found in sixty-four fathoms, on a bot- tom of gravel, consisting of grey granite and small particles of limestone. The snow which fell a few hours afterwards, was of a soft and flaky kind, different from any we had seen since the autumn, and betokening, as we hoped, a southerly wind. CHAP. V*] SNOW. 293 In the evening two more narrow openings were observed ; the one about a hundred paces from the larboard bow, which it crossed, joining the principal lane along shore ; the other a little farther astern, stretching out to the N. N. E., where it ran into the one on the quarter. These separations were the more remarkable, as the wind latterly had been from the north and east, and might have been expected, therefore, to bind the ice against the shore. However, as we were at no great distance from Hudson's Straits, the ice east of our position might have streamed away into that opening, leaving the body behind it more space for motion. The room thus made caused no parting of the heavy pieces, between which the ship was lifted up, and notwithstanding a grinding noise heard from the north, we did not alter our position in the least. March 26th. Small snow continued to fall throughout the night ; and although when morn- ing came it was too thick to see the land, it was evident we were setting to the eastward. There was an opinion that less water found its way into the ship, but on ceasing to use the pump for forty-five minutes it was found that twelve inches had accumulated. The men, however, were not kept so constantly at work as before, so that either the leak was reduced, or they contrived to throw more water out in a given time. About u 3 294 MISTS. [CHAP.V. noon soundings were obtained in ninety-four fathoms, with a bottom of green mud, which im- plied a change of situation ; still the weather was so misty from small snow incessantly falling, that no land could be made out. The narrow lanes closed quietly. The temperature was 20° + at the north, and 29° + facing the south. About 4h p. m. the land was in sight from S. E. by S. to N. W., distant at the nearest part about three miles. Nothing occurred during the night, beyond a slight rumbling of the ice to the east about the turn of the tide. March 27th. The weather was tolerably fine, though misty from the same cause as before. The land was barely visible. We were now separated only by a narrow breadth of bay ice from the tidal wall, which was ground perfectly smooth, curving very gently to a distant point ; and, on looking carefully at the shore ice, we were delighted to observe the surface much clearer and more free from points and inequalities. There certainly could not have been the same sort of grinding and confusion here, as we had so lamentably experienced to the north-west. When Mount Minto bore S. S. W. |W., sound- ings were found in one hundred and twenty fathoms, the ground being yellow mud, with small pebbles of felspar. A single raven flew round the ship, and again made for the land CHAP. V.] LANE AHEAD. 2Q«5 whence it had come. Sunday afternoon, the breeze veered a little to the south ; and as we set westward, the seaward body of ice drew off, so as to leave a perceptible channel within us. In the evening the weather became suddenly overcast ; and the wind drawing round to the south, came first in gusts, then in heavy squalls, which, with the intelligence that a lane had opened ahead, made me apprehensive of some sudden change. The boats and stores, therefore, on either floe were frequently visited, and scouts were sent to examine the cracks that on other occasions had been known to open. At this time, however, they were closed. It may be here mentioned, that as soon as the gale had fairly set in the barometer began to rise very rapidly, that is to say, with a southerly ivind, in the same way that it had often previously done with a northerly one. It varied in the ascending scale considerably in a few hours, and still continued to rise; never- theless, the gale blew with much violence througho^1* the night, at the same time lowering the temperature. March 28th. The ship cracked so as to induce an idea that she was easing down ; but, in all probability, it was merely the effect of the gale coming full on her uplifted bulk, and causing her to shake at every squall. However, at break of day our inclination was precisely the same, though u 4 296 RE-STOWING. [CHAP.V. we were farther away from the land — a change which the proximity of the two icy boundaries yesterday had taught us to appreciate. There was still a mist hanging over objects in that direction ; but a dark gleam of water was visible, forming a part of the lane now much encumbered with old pieces of ice, that must have been detached from larger masses to the eastward. To seaward was still one unbroken body. In the forenoon the sky became clear, the wind having shifted to S. E. A few wTell-defined clouds were remarked upon as a sight which had not for a long time been observed. Our decks were naturally much lumbered from the store of provisions which I considered it still ne- cessary to keep there ; but as the small snow which constantly fell was found to injure them, and particularly the bread, the whole was now restowed, and covered well over writh sails. As night drew on the wind again got round to the N. E., and at intervals came in heavy squalls which drove the ship fast towards the land. March 29th. The weather became more threatening ; and in a short time a cracking noise was heard to windward, accompanied by a grinding sound among the bay ice just within us. At 5h a. m. the narrow lane about forty paces astern suddenly opened from fifteen to twenty feet, again partially closing a few hours after. CHAP. V.] ICE FLUCTUATES. #97 The ship creaked more than usual from the force of the breeze, indeed so much that it was thought possible we might have set against the land ice ; and in truth, when daylight came, we were closer to the shore itself than at any other period. But the most extraordinary fact was, the great dis- tance that the ice had drifted, with the wind abeam, to the westward ; for we now found our- selves, much against our wish, in the precise spot where we had been so roughly treated on the night of the L5th. For a considerable in- terval the ice remained motionless, so far as the tide was concerned ; though on going to sound, which was done in sixty fathoms, the loose youno- ice was observed to rise and fall between the edges of the larger pieces as it would have done in a sea or swell. Afterwards for two hours and a half, the entire body set very slowly to the eastward, and then stopped. The wind was N. N. E., and blew fresh in squalls : thermo- meter 16° +, and in the sun 22° + . The next twenty-four hours nothing occurred worthy of notice ; and at noon of March 30th, the onlv alteration near the ship was in the lanes ahead and on the larboard quarter, which presented a considerably larger open surface. It was remarked that as one edge receded from the other, calves and smaller pieces of old yellow ice emerged from beneath into the temporary free space. 298 DOVEKIES. [CHAP.V. Our acquaintances, the ravens, paid us daily visits, and sometimes perched on the pinnacle of the most elevated hummock, apparently watching the movements of those on board. We explored the surface of the lanes for seals or other ani- mals, but in vain, until a couple of curiously speckled dovekies appeared playing about, though, from whence, no one could tell. A wish was expressed to shoot them, to which I — whom their lively motions and seeming enjoy- ment amused and gratified — was unwilling to accede. The mottled plumage, however, was too great a temptation, and finally one of the offi- cers set off to secure them ; he waited for some time in ambush gazing at them, and hoping they would come within shot, till at last wearied and cold, he was fain to relinquish the attempt. In the evening much snow fell, and two fresh holes of water appeared on the starboard quarter with- in a short distance of the ship. March 31st. The ice remained perfectly tran- quil round the ship, though daylight showed a greater difference than had been noticed for a long time. There were several lanes of open water immediately surrounding our pack, while near the same places, but to seaward, were holes and openings in various directions ; most of them at right angles to the land. In addition to these, some of the waves of ice had CHAP. V.] SEAL. 299 eased down ; and to our no small astonishment, in one instance, no sooner had the ponderous mass fallen into the opening space, than a seal started up from beneath, in evident alarm. Up to noon, the wind being moderate from the westward, the ice moved a little in the opposite direction. Soundings were obtained in fifty-six fathoms, having a hard bottom. The weather was always thick : thermometer 12°+ and 13°+; barometer 30. 31. All continued tranquil; and as the western tide made, the ice closed about the lanes, &c. turning our pack, and, consequently, the ship's head about three points more to the south. April 1st. The wind came from E. N. E., and about 5h a. m. the ship's head was veered more to the west, almost dead on for the land ; the ice then moving slowly to the westward. The change in the weather was such as to thaw the snow on the sails and housing, from which we beheld the novel sight of water dripping and running along the decks. And although there was not the least alteration in the uncomfortable position of the ship, yet it was gratifying to ob- serve the pump less constantly in action, and still more enlivening to behold the people clear- ing the wet deck and removing the accumulated rubbish of a winter's gathering. At 2h p. m. the temperature in the sun was 35° + , and 29° 5 +in 300 MILD WEATHER. [CHAP.V. the shade ; and, such was the effect of the transi- tion, that large well trodden cakes of ice adher- ing to the anchors and round the bows, which a week before would have remained firm under the blows of a sledge hammer, now peeled off with little effort, enabling us entirely to clear the upper works. The breeze increased to a gale during the night, and at one time a faint aurora was visible in the N. W. During the 2d of April we were set rather to the west tinder the influence of the easterly wind. In the night the wind veered to N.N.E., and on the 3d, a slight commotion was heard to windward, but without result. At daylight several small holes of water were seen, and there was a manifest diminution in the height of some of the waves and mounds, though in other respects the ice was perfectly close. The weather continued overcast, though the tempera- ture was 25° + and even 30 on the south side. A slight difference was perceptible on the hills from the effect of the mild weather. The season was now rapidly advancing, and under different circumstances I should have commenced making the necessary preparations for more active employment. As it was, although the ship remained cradled precisely as before, it was deemed prudent to caulk where there was no strain from external pressure. Accord- CHAP. V.] CAULKING. 301 ingly, the carpenters were set to work in board, and some slight leaks on the quarter were stopped. The largest unbroken remnant of our former floe, which lay between us and the shore on the starboard side, as yet had borne every encounter ; but at 4h p. m. to-day, with- out visible cause adequate to such an effect, it split in two, and the parts opened out about eighteen inches. The crack ran close to the cutter, which, together with the stores, was quickly removed nearer the ship. On the following day, 4th April, the medi- cal officer following up the system acted on throughout the past winter, carefully inspected the whole crew ; and with the exception of two men, before spoken of as still labouring under scorbutic symptoms, they were reported free from positive illness and rapidly improving in appear- ance. In fact, the mild weather, though still gen- erally below the freezing point, had produced a visible alteration for the better in all of us, This was the night of the new moon ; and, rendered wary from the past, we could not entirely divest our- selves of every anxiety, though there was nothing immediately prognosticating further change. However, on the next day, April 5th, all was tran- quil, and from daylight to 8h a. m. the ship was carried something more to the east than before, but the ice obeying the returning tide soon 302 SOUNDINGS. [CHAP.V. retrograded. Much light snow had fallen ; and for a short interval when the sun had power to dart its rays through the misty atmosphere, it melted at once, so that water was to be seen lodged in the hollows of the boats' coverings. Soundings were found in one hundred and thirty fathoms. By 7h p. m. we had passed two fresh barriers thrown up on the mural edge of the land ice, and at 8h we were stationary, having been set considerably farther to the eastward than at any former period since last August. April 6th. All was still quiet ; and when day broke, it was seen that we had gained more ground to the eastward, being apparently drifted along the tidal edge of the land ice, which here- abouts was smoother than that more to the west. Unfortunately the land was obscured by a mist, but, from the faintness of the receding outline, it appeared to form a curved bay, across which we were setting to and fro with the variations of the tide. In the evening we had neared some high land ; and at llh 30m a. m. soundings were obtained in twenty-seven fathoms, which were the least we had yet found. At noon the weather continued misty, but a point of land bore S. 24° E., and a black mark on a distant hill N. 79° E. Wind N. by E., moderate. The sun shortly broke through, and partly dispersing the mist, showed us actually within a mile from 14 CHAP. V.] CURRENT OF ICE. 303 the beach, where numerous huge fragments of dilapidated floes were strewed about in con- fusion. They occupied the space lying between the tidal edge and the land, and did not appear to have been of recent production. The density of the atmosphere had deceived us in other respects also ; for that which, from its white smooth glare, had been set down for land ice, now turned out to be the even shelving side of the snow-clad coast. After 5h p. m. a lane of water opened out on the larboard bow of the ship, and this seemed to be the beginning of a general movement immediately around us ; for soon after, the ice in every direction was evidently easing down from those formidable ramparts into which it had been thrown, and settling into a freer space. We were at the time crossing the bend of a bay, and it was observed that the ice was set by the tide and current in a circle, as if within the influence of an eddy ; but as this, from the straight line of bearing of the southern land, was scarcely probable, the effect may have been produced by the meeting of counter cur- rents from the north and south. Be the cause, however, what it might, we were in momentary expectation of seeing the two remaining floe pieces on which we were partly poised, separate, so as to allow the ship to settle into the water ; especially, when the outer portion of the cracked 304- PROSPECTS. [CHAP.V. floe, on the starboard side, suddenly parted from its better half, and glided mysteriously away among the still rugged but looser fragments near. But when our favourite look-out, which we had jestingly denominated Mount Pleasant, the faithful companion of our wanderings from Cape Bylot to this spot, staunch and unshaken amidst the crash and ruin which had surrounded it ; when this, too, departed, and became lost and indistinguishable amongst other peaks and hummocks, what could we look for but an utter dissolution of all the parts of our system ? In spite, however, of all these defections, in spite of upper or under current, spring or neap tide, for the present we remained firm as a rock ; the only alteration being, that the direction of the ship's head was exactly reversed, having been turned round from the south to N.W. by W., in much the same manner as had been the case last autumn at the western end of the island. All these things plainly demonstrated that the eastern ice was gradually drifting through Hudson's Straits into the Atlantic, and making way for our liberation ; which I still sanguinely hoped would take place, so as to enable me to carry into effect some of the objects of the expe- dition. A narwhal was supposed to have been seen in one of the adjoining lanes, and was described as being spotted, like those seen last CHAP. V. 3 PARHELION. 305 year. During the night there was repeated noise among the ice ; but as it was rather that of easing down than the harsh grating of pressure, it did not much affect us. Twice we sounded in thirty fathoms, and about two miles off shore in twenty- two fathoms, the bottom being com- posed of rock, shells, and mud. Daylight of the 7th showed that we had already gone and were still going rapidly to the south-east, along a hilly coast, apparently con- sisting of barren rocks with precipitous cliffs, based upon a low shelving slope, which passed imperceptibly into the shore ice ; both being covered with snow, and only distinguishable, in some places near the margin, by the black tops of protruding rocks. Here, then, was a totally different formation from the smooth and rounded low tract lately passed, and answered better to the land about Seahorse Point. There was a beautiful parhelion for a short time, while a W. S. W. breeze was blowing: about a great quantity of small snow, but it soon disappeared. At noon the coast was distinctly seen from S. E. £ S. to Mount Minto at W. ^ N., terminating at the furthest east abruptly in a bluff point. There was another bluff something nearer to us. In the afternoon lanes of water opened out between us and the shore ; but as the wind blew very fresh off the land, it only x 306 sir j. Gordon's bay. [chap. v. bound us the more against the sea ice. As he tide changed, these places soon closed ; and again at daylight, April 8th, opened much wider than before. We drifted past the high point, which was then ascertained to be the north-western extremity of a fine open bay, called after Sir James Gordon ; which making a sweep of about two miles, with a radius from three quarters to one mile, formed a second point, and thence stretched to the farthest land in sight. Much frost smoke was rising from the open water beyond this land ; and in conse- quence of the mist it caused, we were unable to make out satisfactorily whether two comparatively low spots were continuous with the main coast, or islands off it. One fact, however, was beyond question, viz. that the land ended there ; and that the boundary, therefore, must be Sea Horse Point. Could the ship have been once freed from her icy fetters, I should soon have set the mat- ter at rest ; since the fresh gale of the night, combined with a favourable juncture of tide, had so marvellously dispersed the inner, and indeed some of the outer ice, that there was no other impediment sufficient to have prevented our getting entirely round it. As it was, I had no choice but to remain quiet until nature should set us free ; satisfied for the present if I could purchase exemption from nipping. Every day, CHAP. V.] INVALIDS. 307 however, the sun had more power, and another month or six weeks might effect much. My object was to try the Welcome. A wind coming from the land at west, chilled us all; but the thermometer did not fall below 10° — : and as the wind veered more to the north it speedily rose again. A couple of large seals were seen, but neither fish nor birds, notwithstanding the expanse of water along the coast. At noon there were soundings in fifty-eight fathoms, by which time there was scarcely any water to be seen, and the ship had considerably neared the land, being not more than two miles off. Though, as I before observed, our invalids generally con- tinued to improve, yet some of the number could not yet conquer the obstinate rigidity of the muscles of the leg. Of the two who re- mained still on the list, Alexander Young (who was also the person first affected) was now in so low a state as to make his recovery extremely doubtful — much to the regret of us all ; for his happy disposition and steady conduct as gun- room steward had made him a favourite with the officers, who left nothing undone to minister to his comfort. Every thing on board favoured the health of the crew ; for, since the adoption of the funnels for carrying away the vapour, and still more within the last ten days, during which the hatchways and fore scuttle had been thrown x 2 308 RUSH OF ICE. [CHAP.V. open in the day-time, our lower deck had been perfectly dry and pure. Until 8h the ice was quiet ; but about, that time, there being a light wind blowing from the north, a low grinding was heard at the outer edge of the outer floe-piece, and soon after, the two or three holes of water in that quarter closed up. The commotion was followed at 10h p. m. by a heavy rush of the seaward ice against the same piece, on which it not only made encroachments, but shook it throughout its whole dimensions so as to intimate the effect on board by the short cracking of the after part of the ship. Ultimately a barrier was thrown up about eighteen feet high. It became prudent, therefore, to secure the provisions and stores, which were alongside the cutters, and to have the latter in readiness to hoist up ; since, notwithstanding the immense masses still appear- ing in every direction, there was not another piece proper to receive them. Nothing further occurred at that time ; but when daylight came, on April 9th, the starboard floe-piece was found to be cracked in several parts. At 5h a. m. the ice was setting to the east, and the temperature had fallen to 26°—. However, at 8h it had risen to 10° + . Shortly afterwards the seaward ice became agitated, and ground so suspiciously against our diminishing territory, that it was considered prudent to hoist up both the cutters. In the CHAP. V.] AGITATION CONTINUES. 309 interim we continued to drift east, and being almost across Sir J. Gordon's Bay were unques- tionably farther in that direction than at any time before. With the turn of the tide the direction of the drift changed as usual, and until 4h p. m. we were setting rapidly to the west. April 10th. It was too obscure to see what was going on ; but at 4h 50m the wind had got to the northward, and the ice commenced setting to the east. The breeze increased rather more than was desirable, and the ice being extremely close packed began about 8h a. m. to make a grinding noise. This soon became louder as larger masses were thrown up ; and looking towards the tidal edge of the shore ice, we observed an immense piece, many tons in weight, forced up vertically to a height of between twenty and thirty feet. Scarcely had we had time to remark this, when a heavy rush of the seaward ice from the windward called our attention to the opposite side ; and, after watching many piled-up mounds tumbling with a rattle on our starboard floe-piece, we were greatly surprised at seeing the latter slowly assume a convex form, and, after gradually attaining a moderate elevation, splinter into fragments, one-third of the' original piece breaking off and sailing heavily away to the eastward. While this was going on, a similar inroad was made in a line towards the starboard x 3 310 PERIL OF TWO SAILORS. [CHAP.V. bow, and matters were beginning to wear a serious aspect, when, in an instant, the noise was hushed. The whole body, the weight of which, greatly augmented by the breeze, we had to bear our part in sustaining, was brought up by the curve of coast where wt were em- bayed. Indeed it could not be otherwise ; for any wind coming from between N.W. by W. and N.N.E., must of necessity drive the entire body of northern ice to this its only place of egress into the Atlantic. While the turmoil was going on, two of the men carelessly loitering about soon found themselves separated from us, and it required some activity in scrambling over the moving mounds before they succeeded in reaching the ship. The wind blew fresh and keen from N. by W., the temperature being at 0°, though 23° + in the sun. The carpenters now commenced caulking wherever they could outside the ship. At 7hP. m. a slight noise was heard among the ice about a mile to the westward of the ship, which, for the succeeding two hours, drove fast towards the straits ; but as the tide grew weaker the onward motion of the ice was of course checked, while the breeze urged the whole western body with irresis- tible force against it ; the effect of which was, that at 9h p.m., while we were making the curve of a bay, our rloe-pieces were suddenly assailed by a CHAP. V.] DREADFUL COMMOTION. 311 powerful rush of the seaward ice, which, thrust- ing us close to the tidal wall so as to cause almost a dead pressure, began to grind and plough up the edges on every side. Fre- quently during the process there were brief intervals of cessation in one part or another, followed by a quick repetition, in a direction perhaps exactly opposite. Again, there would be a general pause, not unlike the silence which succeeds a heavy crash of thunder ; but sud- denly, when hope was beginning to whisper that all was over, on it came again with a burst of deafening roar, destroying every thing in its furious course. Wherever our eyes were turned they were met by rising waves of ice rolling their burdens towards the ship. One in particular, not more than thirty paces away, had reared itself at least thirty feet on our inner floe-piece, which, strong as it was, gave way under the accumulated weight j and a mass of several tons being thus upturned and added to the original bulk, the whole bore down slowly upon our quarter. The ship herself was high out of the water on the ice, but this over- topped her like a tower. Meantime we were getting nearer and nearer to the land ice : large rents were showing themselves in the ice, at right angles, on each side of the fore chains : the ship unable to right herself began to complain, x 4 312 IMMINENT PERIL. [CHAP.V. and the scene every moment became more dark and threatening. Extra purchases were fixed to the pumps ; the hands were turned up ; the sick provided for ; and though nothing effectual could be done for our preservation, the attention of the men was occupied in hoisting two of the boats higher up. On former occasions there were large pieces of ice around, any one of which would have afforded a sufficient deposit for boats, provisions, or whatever in the exi- gency of the moment might have been placed upon it. Now, on the contrary, we were sur- rounded by crushed and broken ice, some, indeed, ponderous enough, but all too angular and fractured to trust a boat upon : nor could we ourselves have found footing so long as every part was more or less in motion ; or, even if some of the more active and hardy had succeeded in doing so, still they could not possibly have reached the land. Knowing this, and feeling acutely for the many beings entrusted to my charge, it may be conceived with what intense anxiety I listened to the crashing and grinding around. The strength of the ship, tried and shaken as it had already been, could hardly be expected to withstand the overwhelming power opposed to it ; and, what the result of that night might have been it is impossible to say and painful to contemplate, had not an overruling CHAP. V.] TUMULT ARRESTED. 313 Providence mercifully averted the crisis, by sud- denly, and at the moment of greatest peril, arresting the tumult. In less time than it could be spoken, there was the stillness of death, and we were saved! The watch was called, the crew dismissed ; and I trust that none that night laid his head on his pillow without offering up a devout thanksgiving for the mercy which had been vouchsafed him. April 1 1th. About half an hour after midnight the wind having veered more to the west, the ice was observed to slacken out ; and this it continued to do so rapidly, that at daylight the large wave and other ramparts of ice on the larboard side had considerably subsided, and ultimately they dis- appeared, leaving only some straggling pieces to mark the scene of so much terrific grandeur. To seaward no alteration had taken place, and we had leisure to contemplate the devastation that a few short hours had brought home to the very side of the ship. The cracks were wider apart, and our territory greatly diminished ; we were, however, further off shore, and at 5h 50ra a. m. were driving quietly to the east towards the low point. In our progress a deep bay or, possibly, inlet was seen, for there might be a passage through its south-eastern termination, though the land ap- peared continuous from the crow's-nest, whence ice was made out on the other or eastern side of 314 ISLANDS. [CHAP.V. it. The high land which joined it, and along which we were setting, rounded down to a point, between which and one or two islands, for we could not satisfactorily make them out, was unquestionably an icy channel. Soundings were found in forty-eight and fifty fathoms, with a muddy bottom. At noon the ice was stationary. At 12h 45m the ice began to set slowly to the westward, and the breeze freshening at the same time forced it off shore ; so that in a few hours a lane of water was plainly discovered along the mural edge of the land ice, while that within us, and bordering our floe piece, was ' brash,' such as under favourable circumstances might have been sailed through. At 6h p. m. we were going slowly towards the east ; and, being now at a different angle with the land, thought that there certainly was a passage through the bay just mentioned, which had been concealed before by the overlapping of two projecting points. At daylight of the 12th we found ourselves still farther off shore, and the breeze had not only kept us more than usual to the west, but had caused several holes of water to open in different places. There was indeed a continuous channel in shore for several miles, extending however, no farther than the point. Beyond, all was compact ; the necessary consequence of a leeward situation, such as this would be with the CHAP.V.] REFLECTIONS. 315 wind blowing slantingly from Hudson's Bay and the Straits. Considerably to the west, near the spot where we had passed the last three weeks, was a dark water sky, and accordingly from the crow's-nest, water was seen in the direction and to the extent so pointed out. It seems, therefore, certain that on this coast the first place where a channel is to be looked for is along the land, though probably with some winds not extending far, unless on favourable occasions, such as the one experienced in the last autumn, when an un- hampered vessel might have sailed round the island. Farther out, whatever the prevailing wind, a ship must be immovably beset, and dependent altogether upon the drift of the entire body of ice : if that take her into clear water, well ; if not, she must submit to the event. Undoubtedly a vessel is more secure when beset than when comparatively at liberty. In the former case, so long as the ice remains firm, she is exempted from serious pressure, and tolerably safe; whereas along the land, every rock, bank, or projecting point, catches the moving mass, and subjects the unhappy vessel to all the disastrous effects. It is in this sudden stoppage, or in nautical phraseology, ' bringing up,' that all the danger lies. April 13th. The wind had veered a little to the east, and freshened, so that by noon we had been 816 SQUALLS. [CHAI\V. driven so far to the west, as to bring into sight land that we scarcely expected, and, in truth, did not wish to see again from this side of the island. It was gratifying however to find ourselves much farther off shore, as well as to behold a greater portion of the intervening space occupied by fresh ice, forced in by the wind and tide from the Straits, which would serve as a barrier to keep us off from the mural edge, in case a change of wind should drive us near our former station. On the next day we found ourselves set still farther to the westward without other alteration, but during the afternoon and night the barometer indicated a change in the weather. Accordingly at night it blew fresh from N. by E., and on the 15th the gale increased with squalls and snow. The slightest change in the direction of the wind had always an immediate effect on the ice, and we were set nearer to the land, though from the mistiness of the atmosphere we could not say how much. About 9h a. m. the young ice, formed around, rose up under an easy pres- sure to the height of a foot upon the edge of our inner floe, now but forty paces distant from the ship. This however did not continue long, and at noon all was quiet, except the fresh breeze which came stronger after every lull. Snow of a soft and flaky kind, unlike the glittering chrystals of the winter months, fell lightly but CHAP. v.] doctors' report. 317 incessantly, and obscured the land. At 2h p. m. some of the ice near us became again agitated for about ten minutes, and then ceased, after which the breeze gradually diminished in strength, and towards midnight drew more round to the east. April 16th. Every thing was quiet The weather was overcast, and after divine service, examining the north thermometer, I was delighted to find it exhibiting a temperature of 32^° + , being the first time this year that it had risen above the freezing point. Little lines of water soon dribbled from the snow on the weather side of the deck and other places ; and great was the pleasure with which I remarked that instead of instantly congealing as usual, it maintained its liquid form. Sir E. Parry had the same degree of temperature at Winter Island, a little more than two degrees north of our situation, on the 27th, u e., exactly one week later in the year 1822. On the 17th and 18th the weather was mild, but still so overcast that the points of the land could not be distinguished. Again on the 19th all was tranquil. The crew were inspected by the medical officers and reported to be in an improving state. Three however were still far from well, and one (Jones) had rather retrograded. Several others, though 318 FLOCK OF BIRDS. [CHAP.V. able to do their duty and free from pain, con- tinued to walk lame from the rigidity of which I have so often spoken. April 20th. The outside caulking of the ship was completed as far as practicable j and though under some disadvantage, on account of the pressure of our inclined position, yet the carpen- ters were desired to proceed with the same operation along the water ways and upper deck. The sails were also under examination, and had prudence permitted us to restow the six months' provisions, which sadly lumbered the quarter deck and gangways, we might soon have assumed something of a ship-shape appearance. This however could not be until the ship was fairly afloat, and it was necessary therefore to be satis- fied with having all in readiness for good or evil. At noon the ice, affected by the con- stant blowing of the northely wind, wrhich had prevailed since the day before, was found to have gone considerably to the eastward. A large flock of birds, supposed to be ducks, though more likely dovekies, was observed flying north- ward. At daylight of the 21st, it was found that the spring tide had set us farther east than we had yet been : a hole or two of water also was seen within a few hundred yards of the ship, and the ice had the appearance of easing down, 14 chap. v.] lyon's remarks. 319 a natural consequence of the offshore wind. The temperature which had been lowered by a breeze from the N. W. to 2° + rose again as the sun gained power, and at noon was 18° + and 53° . At 2h p. m. the ice commenced setting to the east, and by 6h p. m. we had drifted so far to the south east, as to bring into view some new land, low, and apparently forming a shoal point, inasmuch as at some distance off, there were four rounded mounds of high and heavily packed ice, thrown up upon what we con- cluded to be sand banks or reefs. As the bearing (true) was S. 37° W. it was certain that we were opposite to Seahorse Point, which was in latitude 63°43'N., longitude 80° 10' W., and variation, 49° 00 W. This is the most eastern part of Southamp- ton Island, but too low to be visible from Point Ley son, though, as Captain Lyon remarks, the heights behind might be seen from thence ; and it seems to me most likely that the high land which he saw, and had supposed to be the continuation and boundary of the range terminating in the other extremity at Cape Comfort, was really Mount Minto, which is fully one thousand feet high, and the adjacent ridge that was still within view of the ship. It had always been an interesting speculation with me what would be the direc- tion taken by us, or rather by the ice driven by 320 FLOCK OF DUCKS. [CHAP.V. the current, on arriving at this spot ; for it was difficult to say whether we should be set round the point along the coast towards Caryswan's Nest, or to the East of Mansfield Island to- wards Labrador, or, directly through Hudson's Straits into the Atlantic. Confiding in the observations of those who had preceded us, and assuming, therefore, that the meeting of the tides from the Welcome and Fox's Channel was some- where about Caryswan's Nest, I held to the first opinion; conjecturing further, that the nu- merous detentions likely to be encountered from different winds, eddies, or other causes, would eventually lead us near open water, perhaps quite as early as any practical use could be made of it. In the course of the evening a flock of fifty ducks was seen approaching, but after coming within five hundred yards, they wheeled round and flew away to the south east. At2h a.m. of April 22d the ice in its course to the eastward eased out so much, that many calves sprung up from beneath the pack, and soon after a few holes of water were seen. By 8h a. m. the south point bore S. 5UZ° W. ; but the ice, as usual, with the change of tide setting again in the contrary direction, at noon, the ex- treme point bore S. 32° W., and Mount Minto N. 80° W. The wind was moderate from the S.W., CHAP. V.] A WHITE BEAR. 321 and though otherwise fine the temperature was only 24° + . April 23d found us twelve or fifteen miles off Seahorse Point, which, nevertheless, we did not get beyond, the wind being light and very un- steady. Certainly either the tide was not strong, or the whole body of ice moving together pre- vented our observing it. Some ducks were seen, apparently looking for open water. About 4h p. m. the ice slackened considerably round the ship and to the southward, causing in the course of two hours several lanes and holes of water, but too far disconnected to have aided our escape, even had we been at liberty. It was not a little singular that with so much water there should have been no appearance of seals, sea- horses, whales, or any other denizen of the Arctic regions. This evening, however, a visitor was announced in the following manner. De- tached groups of the crew were sauntering about the ridged and extremely uneven ice that formed the nucleus of our floe-pieces, when the Cor- poral of Marines, who was somewhat apart from the rest, gazing listlessly upwards at the peaked hummock above his head, saw, to his amaze- ment, quietly looking at him, a white bear. At the first glimpse he started off with all the speed which circumstances permitted, leaped a wide opening, which, on common occasions, Y DRIVEN OFF SHORE. [CHAP.V. he would not have attempted, and in breathless agitation announced the intruder. Instantly were heard a hundred voices in all varieties of tone, from the shrill scream to the hoarse bawl : the news flew fast, and gathered as it flew ; so that, by the time it had travelled from the fore- castle to my cabin, it saluted me with the intel- ligence, that two bears, an old and a young one, were close to the ship. On reaching the deck I saw, indeed, a young bear about ninety paces ahead of the ship, shaking and eating a piece of an old jacket which it had just picked up. The first Lieutenant and Mr. Gore fired, and, both balls taking effect, the animal staggered away about forty paces and fell dead. It was a female cub of last year \ and though on being opened the stomach was found entirely empty, there was still some fat adhering to the flesh. To us the adventure was a novelty, and gave occasion to some jests. By midnight the wind blew fresh from the south-east, soon closing the holes near us ; and during the next twelve hours, so far had the ice taken us off shore, that at noon, when the sun was fortunately clear for a few minutes, it was evident that the ship's head was now pointing E.N.E., in a line directly for Mill Islands, and that we were not less than seven or eight leagues from Seahorse Point. In this new posture of affairs it was deemed expedient imme- CHAP. V.] RESTOWING PROVISIONS. 323 diately to refit, so far as could be conveniently done. The small sails and geer had already been put into order, and now the topsails under- went an inspection, while the bulwark inside was caulked, the seams paid over with a layer of resin, scraped, and primed with a coating of yellow paint. The tanks were also ordered to be cleansed in order to their being filled ; and, as the com- paratively small dimensions of the fragments of ice which now surrounded us, as well as its loose and disconnected state, would necessarilv render futile any attempt to save a stock of provisions, &c, in case of accident, and there no longer, therefore, existed any reason for keeping it on deck, I gave directions that every thing should be restowed ; except a sufficient supply of pemmican, preserved meats, &c, to be kept on deck for each boat in readiness for any emergency, against which it was still necessary to provide, as it was uncertain whether the ship would float, when once more in open water. At all events, whenever that time should arrive, whether soon or late, and whether with good or evil fortune, it was clear that the promptest activity would be required from all on board ; and that it was necessary, therefore, to have all prepared beforehand. Up to noon on April 25th nothing occurred worth mentioning. We were perhaps a little farther from the land, the nearest part of which y 2 324 DEATH OF A SAILOR. [CHAP.V. bore S. 85° W., distant by estimation twenty- three miles. Mount Minto was once seen, and by admeasurement was forty miles away. To- wards evening the breeze became steady from south-east, and gradually freshened as night drew in. A small bird, supposed to be a snow bird, flew near the ship. In the early part of the 26th the wind increased to a gale from the southward, and placed us in latitude 63° 57' 02" N. ; but the horizon being rather misty no land was seen, and the sun was not clear enough to get sights. This day terminated the life of Alexander Young (marine), who had been long slowly sinking under his fatal malady. There had been occasional fluctuations which afforded a ray of hope ; but, at length, after lingering on the verge of disso- lution during a wearisome period, in which he displayed no want of mental energy or proper resignation, he yielded to the overmastering disease, and with some appearance of suffering closed his mortal career. At his own request the body was opened by Messrs. Donovan and Mould, who found the liver affected and very much en- larged. The blood was poor and extremely serous, almost indeed separated into two parts ; and some water was lodged in the region of the heart. The following day, April 27th, the last sad offices were paid by the officers and crew, and a third poor shipmate was committed to the deep. CHAP. V.] FORGE AGAIN ERECTED. 325 Soon after the mournful ceremony was con- cluded, a little snow-bunting was observed to hover for a few seconds over the aperture through which the body had been lowered, and then to fly away. For the preceding eighteen hours the wind had freshened considerably from the south- west, and at noon the weather being dark with snow no observation could be got, neither was any land in sight, though we con- sidered we were setting with the entire body of ice towards Mill Islands. The people were occupied in refitting different parts of the ship, and our winter housing was taken down. So great indeed was the quiet we now enjoyed, that the forge was again erected on the ice, for the purpose of making and repairing several articles of which we stood in need. No water was visible : another flock of ducks passed near. In the evening the wind veered to W. N. W., and occasionally blew fresh in squalls. Early on April 28th a few holes of water were observed, but soon closed again. What how- ever was more interesting, was an island faintly distinguished from the mast-head, bearing south- east. At noon it was no longer in sight, in con- sequence of the ship having drifted to the south- ward. The temperature had once fallen so low as 1° — , but subsequently rose again to y 3 326 ISLANDS IN SIGHT. [CHAP.V. 5°+- The latitude was 63° 58' N.,' and longitude 79° 04/ 15" W., which made us about twenty-five miles from the western extremity of Mill Islands. The wind still blew from the same quarter, neither was there any change around the ship. April 29th. At daylight land was descried to the south-east, and at noon the bearings, as taken from the crow's-nest, were Mill Island E. \ N , Salisbury Island S. E. \ E., and north- east end of Nottingham Island S. £ E. We still remained undisturbed, though apparently drawing nearer to Salisbury Island, which the haze of the evening shut out from our sight. Another large flock of ducks was observed flying towards the north-west. April 30th. The wind had veered to north ; but from the dullness of the weather our precise situation, with respect to the land, could not be ascertained. One large hole of water was made out about three miles to the eastward, but this soon afterwards closed, giving place to two of smaller dimensions, which opened something nearer to us. The operations of the last week had clone much to clear and cleanse the vessel, and. the upper deck having been scraped, there was an air of comfort and neatness, to which the climate not less than the anxieties of the winter had for many months rendered us strangers. The coldness of the westerly winds, which in CHAP. V.] ADVANCE OF SEASON. 3^7 the night reduced the temperature below zero, and in the day seldom suffered it to rise much above, had proved an annoying drawback to the exertions of the first Lieutenant; unfor- tunately, however, we were not pressed for time, for at present there was nothing around but one wide range of closely packed ice. Still the end of the month had arrived ; the sun beamed brightly and travelled far in its diurnal circuit ; the heralds of spring had flown beyond us towards the north, and the gladness of ad- vancing summer was felt by all of us. At 6h p. m. a part of Mill Islands was seen, bearing N.E. by E.^ E., and some other land near it, most likely one of the group. The breeze freshened from N.N.W. in the night, and on May 1st the weather was keener than it had been for some time. A momentary glimpse was caught of the land on the starboard beam, but the haze prevented our distinguishing what part it was. The boats, which it may be remembered had been hoisted high up the rigging to keep them above the frowning masses which then threatened to overwhelm us, were now removed to the davits, in the hope that danger of that kind was past. The horizon was still obscured at noon ; but from sights with the artificial horizon, the latitude was found to be 63° 49' N., and longitude 78° 54/ SO* W.; thus giving the anomalous result of our having been Y 4 328 PROBLEM. [CHAP.V. set to the westward against a westerly wind, and with fresh squalls from the north a progress south of only four miles. For this, I am at a loss to account in any other manner than by sup- posing the passage between the islands to have been closely blocked up ; so that the southern ice, acted upon by the floods which attend the dis- ruption of the spacious lakes and rivers of the in- terior, had been pressed forward with such force as to resist even the vast body of ice bearing down upon it from the north. The mast-head thermo- meter, which throughout the winter had been in a position eighty-seven feet above the sea now varied so little from those on deck, seldom more than 2° or 3° at the most, that it was taken down and the registering of it discontinued ; and I may take this opportunity of observing that there were very few occasions which on trial were found favourable for flying a kite with an appended self-registering thermometer, during the former portion of the winter when the floe was un- broken, and that the operation was utterly im- practicable in the latter part, when the ice was ground into thousands of peaked and irregular heaps, mounds, and barriers, which defied the activity of the most alert. The weather continuing obscured, nothing could be distinguished beyond a mile or two from the ship, and on May L2d there was no change ex- CHAP. V.] CHARTS DEFECTIVE. 329 cept a fresh layer of snow, and a south-east wind instead of a northerly one. Several large flocks of ducks flew past us to the north, and one flock was seen resting in a small hole of open water about a mile to the south, Land was indistinctly seen abeam. The latitude at noon was 63° 39' N., but the few miles gained to the south would probably be lost again from the change in the direction of the wind. The difficulty which we experienced as to the exact bearings of the land would have been in a great degree obviated, had the observations and charts of the only navigators who, as far as I know, have ever passed between these islands been transmitted to posterity. " Purchas," says Sir John Barrow, in his Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions, " is blameable, to a certain degree, for the meagreness of Baffin's Journal, and the suppression of a chart which accom- panied it; for he admits, in a marginal note, that * this map of the Author's for this and the former voyage, with the tables of his journale and sayling, were somewhat troublesome and too costly to insert.' " The consequence was, that the true places of these islands were not inserted in the maps ; and though the hiatus thus left has been in part filled up by other sea- men, and among these, recently, by Sir Edward Parry and Captain Lyon, yet from the fact of 330 Baffin's observations. [chap. v. all these officers having passed north, south, or east of the islands, and none to the west, their remarks, however excellent in themselves, were compara- tively without value to us. It is therefore, I repeat, much to be regretted that the entire account of Baffin's voyage in 1615 has not been handed down to modern times ; for we find it stated that, after getting beyond Cape Comfort, they " tacked and turned the shippes head homewards, without any further search;" and again that, after this, they " passed Nottingham's Isle, near which they remained till the 27th of July, observing the set of the tides, the time of high water, &c., and taking in ballast. From thence they proceeded between Salisbury and Nottingham Islands." For our embarrassment, however, as to the width of the channel between the islands, its depth and dangers, we were compensated by not experiencing any of those turbulent commotions of the ice which had so painfully harassed us before. We now drifted to and fro with the mass, on which the ship was still poised, with little inconvenience beyond the awkwardness of our position and the irksome monotony of the scene. On May the 3d we were much nearer the land, the north-west point of which bore S. 20° E. The sky was blue, the weather nearly calm ; and at noon the temperature was 24° + , and 55° + CHAP. V.] GULLS, DUCKS, &C. 331 in the sun. But that which most pleased me, was the sight of a gull flying towards the north-west. I had never known these birds to arrive earlier than the 7th ; and at Fort Reliance, at the east end of Great Slave Lake, more than a degree to the soutli of our position, the same birds did not appear before the 15th of the month. Hence, though no water was visible from the mast-head, I felt confident that there must be some at no great distance from us. The evening was over- cast, and snow continued to fall throughout the better part of the night, but on the next day the sun dispersed the gloom, and the weather, for the first time these several months, became plea- sant. Two rather extensive lanes of water opened out on either side, about a mile away from the ship, and at noon Nottingham Island was still in sight. Some flocks of ducks beino* detected, two of the officers, unable to resist the temptation, went in quest of them. They re- turned in the course of the afternoon, sunburnt and weary, with the acquisition of two loons instead of ducks ; and I cannot but suspect that what before had been taken for ducks were also loons. A few dovekies and three gulls were the only other kinds of birds that had been seen ; but later in the day a white whale showed itself for a few minutes. As the temperature in the shade at,2h p. m, was 46° + , it was not surprising 332 WATER ANKLE-DEEP. [CHAP.V. that they should have experienced much diffi- culty in picking their way over a surface so extremely rugged, but I was scarcely prepared to hear, as was the fact, that water had been found ankle deep. This was the effect of one day's sun ; and if the thaw continued at the same rate, there seemed every probability that a large portion of the lighter pieces of ice would soon be resolved into water, and that our release would be earlier than we had anticipated. May 5th. We appeared to be something nearer to Nottingham Island, which, from being high and hilly, now declined by an easy slope to the southward. A lane or two of water was still open ; and, besides many extensive floes in shore, one, at least a mile and a half long and quite even, was discovered at no great distance from us. Such floes could not have subsisted where we had been ; and it was therefore inferred that, up to that time at least, there had been no violent pressure in this quarter. This was the more remarkable, as it is a fact well attested that, about the spring tides, when the ice has space to move about in, the violence and irregu- larity of cross sets, together with that unac- countable " bore," or furious rush of waters, of which I have so often had occasion to speak, have been experienced by all who have fre- quented these straits, perplexing the Commanders, CHAP. V.] REFITTING. 333 and hampering their vessels so as to create alarm for their safety. Sir Edward Parry men- tions the bufferings his ship received from the eccentric motion of masses of ice, which, under the influence of a fresh working breeze, he was unable to avoid ; and on several occasions Captain Lyon was so startled at the sudden tumult of waters around the Griper, that he was under great anxiety to know where the " wild eddy" would carry her ; once, indeed, he says, " a noise as of a beach surf was heard, and the fog being very heavy, the boats were lowered to tow our head off the supposed shore, but the sky was suddenly cleared by the breeze, and no land was seen in any direction." The crew were kept employed in refitting, &c, and in the evening the top gallant masts were swayed aloft and pointed. The next day, May 6th, brought a rather fresh breeze from the westward, and, at noon, the south-west point of Nottingham Island in sight, bore S. E. by S. J S. But one lane of water was seen, and that was to the south ; beyond it, however, there appeared to be a water sky. On May 7th the ice was perfectly close, and at noon we had been set nine miles to the south, and five to the west ; the extremes of land at 8h a. m. having been from N. 84° E. to S. 60° E. For the whole of the day the ice carried us to the 334 HILLY COAST. [CHAP.V. southward, but still not a drop of water was in sight. Three burgomasters (Larus Glaucus) flew past, and were followed by some flocks of loons. May 8th, There was no change in the ice, but several flocks of birds were observed winging their flight to the west. At noon we had gone nine miles to the south of yesterday's position. On clearing away the booms to caulk the deck, the seams were found more open than was antici- pated, and numberless rents were discovered between them, all of which were now filled up and made tight. The ice remained perfectly quiet, and on May 9th there was no water in sight, nor could the land be seen on account of the haziness of the weather. About 7h 30m p. m. before sunset, the sky became clearer, and showed us the coast of this part of Nottingham Island, extending farther than we had yet seen to the south-east. The distinct view now afforded us, gave an outline more marked than any hitherto passed, for irregularity and sinuosity, ravines and isolated hills. Of the hills, many had an elevation of no less than one thousand or fourteen hundred feet, and it is probable that some, in the interior, were still higher, as their peaks also were faintly visible. One, the nearest of the detached heights, sprang abruptly from the comparatively smooth summit of a shelving slope that rose CHAP. V.] FLOCKS OF LOONS. 335 from the yet lower land abutting the sea, and in shape resembled the roof of a large barn. Two others, differing from the first in having more ridged and rounded extremities, next caught the eye, which, from these, wandered over a more regular surface, until arrested by a gorge or pass. To the north and west of this succeeded a range of uneven heights, extremely varied and novel. The southern termination appeared like an island, but was supposed, in fact, to be con- nected by a small ridge of low land. The summits and rounded tops of a portion of this extraordinary island were still enveloped in their winter mantle, but innumerable patches proved the influence of the advancing season. May 10th brought no change : not a living creature was seen, nor a drop of water detected within scope of the horizon ; the ice, so far as we were conscious, was motionless, though our observations assured us that we were drifting gradually to the south east. As dusk drew on, two holes of water were seen in a south east di- rection, but up to midnight they were not en- larged. Very early on the 1 1 th an immense number of loons flew towards the west, and were shortly afterwards followed by additional flocks which seemed to pursue the same course. The sky was overcast, and the land consequently indis- tinct ; but there was little doubt that we had 336 SQUALLS. [CHAP.V. moved slowly towards the southern point of the island. Soon after a light breeze sprung up from the south west, and several lanes and holes of water shortly appeared in that and other direc- tions, though the ice immediately round the ship continued exactly the same. Over all these places there was a dark horizontal cloud. The atmosphere being favourable for seeing remote objects, it was observed, that beyond what had been thought the termination of Nottingham Island, there was an extensive line of low circuit- ous coast, apparently dipping into the water, or rather losing itself in the ice ; and to the right of it, at a bearing of S. 35° E., other land was de- tected, which could be no other than one of Diggers Islands. May 12. After midnight the breeze freshened from E.S.E. and drifted us somewhat to the N.W. along the land, now within a moderate distance ; a fact curious enough, since no pressure had occurred inshore to make any va- cant space for an admission. Such, nevertheless, was the case. In the forenoon the wind veered to south and blew with considerable violence in squalls, bringing light snow which dissolved on the deck as it fell. An interesting event was noticed by one of the officers yesterday evening : Lieutenant M'Murdo was outside the ship on the ice, and his attention being awakened by a CHAP. V.] RAIN. 337 shrill screaming overhead, he looked round, and saw a large white hawk with the tips of the wings and the end of the tail black, chasing, what he imagined to be a solan goose, but which, from his description, I considered to be one of the northern divers. The hawk kept always above and repeatedly struck at it but without accom- plishing its purpose, when, scared by the sound of Lieutenant M' Murdo's dog- whistle, it wheeled round and went off slowly towards the south, in a direction for the coast of Labrador. The only hawks of a similar description that I remember to have seen, were a few, found on the rocky borders of Artillery Lake in latitude 6C2° 56' N. and longitude 108° 24' W.; and it maybe worth remarking that the broad feathers of the tail are held in such high estimation by the more war- like tribes of Indians, that there is scarcely any thing they will not give to obtain them. In the latter part of the day the snow was converted into drizzling rain, the first we had had for more than eight months, and in date corresponding with remarkable precision to the same circumstance in the interior of the Hudson Bay Company's territories. At Fort Franklin, in latitude 65° 1 V5&f N. and longitude 123° 08'52" W. in 1826, the first shower of rain fell on the 11th of May. At Fort Enterprise in 1 820, being in lati- tude 64° 28' 24" N., and longitude 113° 06 '00" W., z 338 SHIP LEAKY. [CHAP.V. and at Fort Reliance in 1834, in latitude 62° 46' 29" N. and longitude 109° 00' 39" W., rain fell about the same period; and now off Nottingham Island, in latitude 63° 11' 44" N. and longitude 78° 56' SO" W., it came on the 12th May 1837 ; so that, in this respect, two degrees of latitude and forty-four of longitude occasioned far less difference than might have been expected under circumstances and modifications so various. A solitary raven and some large flocks of ducks or loons were seen going to the north-west, probably to open water somewhere thereabouts. The rain, which ran down the rigging and across the deck, served to tighten the former, and to prove the leaky condition of the latter. It was, indeed, to be expected that, twisted and shaken as the ship had been, to say nothing of the chinks occasioned by the climate, some leaks would show them- selves, especially about the butt ends ; but the water found its way through so many places, that unfavourable as the position of the ship was for caulking, it seemed prudent to do so at once, even though a further repair might be required hereafter when she came upright. Accordingly on the 13 th the carpenter com- menced operations, and the temperature being much higher than usual, the opportunity was taken to rattle down the rigging. No open water was made out, but many dark clouds were CHAP. V.] RAPID THAW. 339 hanging round the horizon. In the afternoon the weather was much clearer though the sky remained overcast, and there was certainly more land free from snow than on the previous day : the ice, too, surrounding the ship was hourly becoming more honeycombed on the surface ; fresh water found its way into the cracks ; several pools gratified the sight ahead and astern as well as in the cavities between the huge mounds ; and, such was the softness of the under ice in some few places, that both officers and men, while en- deavouring to pass along, frequently sank above the knee into water, until stopped by the sub- stratum of ice. At 8h p. m. some long lanes of water towards the south-west and Digge's Islands appeared, and the whole sky in those points assumed a dark steely-blue hue, which, as it prognosticated, brought about midnight abun- dance of rain, the thermometer being then at34° + . May 14th. The welcome rain did not abate, and the surface of the pack, stripped of the frozen snow, displayed a variety of tints, by which the age of its component parts might easily be detected ; among these, it was not the least interesting to observe the dim and sombre hue of irregular mounds, ridges, or peaks of age-stricken ice, peering out conspicuously amidst the more recent and brighter formations, like z 2 340 GLOOMY WEATHER. [CHAP.V. feudal castles frowning over a level waste. After attendance at divine service, I was in- formed by the officer of the watch that the ship had settled down three inches forward, but an alteration so trifling was not apparent on deck ; and, what was far more consolatory was the fact that the leak had taken up so much, as to make it an easy task to keep it free with one pump, used four or five times a day. At noon the weather was thick and gloomy, with light rain, the temperature being 35° + . Drizzling rain, ultimately succeeded by snow, fell during most of the night, and at daylight of May 15th water could be made out from the crow's-nest, extend- ing from south-east to west. The thermometer did not fall lower than 29°+ during the night, and began to rise rapidly after 8h a. m. For the first time this season the sails, which had been wetted by the late rain, were loosed to dry. The land was dimly visible and the sky still overcast, but the same dark horizontal clouds were always seen to the south-west. The breeze freshened as the day declined, and some lanes of water displayed themselves to the southward as usual. May 16th. When the land could be made out, it was seen that we had set more to the south, and by noon we were opposite the rounded rocky hill, which had formed the terminating CHAP. V.] IMPROVEMENT IN CREW'S HEALTH. 341 point of view on the 10th of May. It was remarked that a lower continuation of land ran beyond it, and now, a still more sloping part ended in what, judging from some grounded and up-turned pieces of ice lying off it, we imagined to be a shoal. However, we were evidently drifting clear between it and Digge's Islands, which from the mast-head were seen to bear directly astern, but the main land was not visible. Countless flocks of loons, ducks, and teal were winging their way to the northward, all flying low, and what struck me as strange and unusual, there was not a single one to be found on the water ; for though they not unfre- quently passed across and round it, as if tempted to bathe and sport awhile, yet restrained, as it seemed, by some more powerful motive, they pressed onward to their destination. At noon the temperature was 36° + , and even in the night, under the influence of the north-west wind, it only fell to 26°. Upon inspection by the medical officers the crew were reported to be in reasonably good health : one alone was unable to do duty, though three or four more, perfectly well in other respects, had not yet recovered the complete use of their limbs. Indeed, Barker's leg was as inflexible as stone. As the sky cleared we were rather surprised to find ourselves full in sight of Digge's Group, z 3 342 ISLANDS. [CHAP.V. with high craggy land stretching to the eastward. Between the latter and Nottingham Island were several lanes of water, which, either from the change of tide, or some other cause, began gra- dually to close, but were again found open early on May 17th, the ship having by that time been drifted more to the south-east. Vast numbers of birds whizzed through the grey haze of the morning, which, from a heavy lurid glare, min- gled with a dull red tint, had all at once saddened to mist. The sun, however, struggled through it ; and as the vapour passed away we were glad- dened by the sight of a lane of water in a manner surrounding our pack, besides others not very remote, and dark cloudy patches along the horizon denoting still more. Salisbury Island was also seen beyond the point of Nottingham, as were Digge's, and the wild-looking land a little to the east of Cape Wolstenholm, which must be much higher than was supposed by Captain Lyon, whose description, however, gives an excellent idea of it. " The land here- abouts," he says, " has a very remarkable appearance, being broken into high perpen- dicular bluffs, of from six to eight hundred feet, between which the rocks were split into deep ravines, descending abruptly to the water's edge, and, at a few miles' distance, giving the idea of their being the entrances to narrow CHAP. V.] POOLS OF WATER. 343 fiords. The rocks are apparently of gneiss, the strata of which dip, with a considerable curve, to the northward." I may add to this account, that the land behind rises into round and high acclivities, which wrere then in many parts free from snow. By noon the ice a few miles off assumed a more detached appear- ance. Speculation as to when and where the eagerly desired event of our liberation would occur was now over, for it was evident that no one could, with any show of reason, assign any preference of place. The wind having set in from the eastward slowly checked the outward passage of the ice, though by the evening we had altered the bearings of the different re- markable bluffs and other projections more than four points of the compass. During the whole of May 18th we remained much in the same position between the Labrador Coast and the Islands, the temperature at noon being 36°, and 51°+ in the sun. May 19th. There was no alteration in the ice, and the ship was almost in the same place. About 6h p.m. the ice commenced setting fast to the eastward, and near the main land seemed to be easing out. Numerous flocks of loons flew towards the south, and one snow bunting was seen. Pools of water formed from the melting of the ice and snow around the ship. The wind having veered round to the north-eastward z 4 344 DIMINUTION OF SNOW. [CHAP.V. brought drizzly rain ; and, as the temperature fell during the night to 31° + , the rigging on May 21st was partly coated with ice, which, as the day grew warmer and the breeze freshened, fell on the deck like a shower of glass. The weather cleared up enough by noon to allow of our seeing Salisbury Island, which, notwithstand- ing a wind directly against us, we seemed to have neared. This, as well as Nottingham Island, were much more free from snow than when seen two days before ; and, indeed, a manifest diminution was visible over the surface of the ice ; yet no lanes were in sight, and but one solitary hole of water in any direction. A lonely raven visited us for a few minutes, but no other birds appeared. One seal, the first seen for a long time, was observed to rise in a hole of water. The temperature at noon was 36°. The next twenty -four hours produced no change but that which was afforded by continued snow and sleet, eventually subsiding into rain ; and on May 2£d, exactly eight months since we had ceased to have the control of the ship's motion, there was not a hole of water to be seen from the mast-head, nor was our position at all altered. The temperature had been as low as 29° + , but got up to 38° + . Wind east. The land was seen in the evening, but no change worth mentioning occurred ; and after a night of snow and sleet, May 23d found us almost in CHAP. V.] CAPTAIN'S STEWARD ILL. 345 the same place. We were then set back a few miles to the westward, until the wind, veering to W.S.W., brought us to our former position, at the same time separating the ice into lanes, which opened and closed more or less through- out the night. May 24th. The sky was overcast, but about noon Salisbury Island could be just distinguished, and by the bearing we seemed to have been drifted to the east. The temperature was 23° + , but subsequently rose to 37° + . After the favour- able account which I had so recently received of the health of the crew, I certainly did not expect to hear of any fresh attack, but I was now given to understand that the malady had fastened on my steward, though no one had been more regular in taking exercise, or more particular about his diet and comforts. The symptoms, it is true, were at present but trifling ; but as they had displayed themselves in the same place and manner as in all the former cases, there could be no doubt of the nature of the malady, against which, therefore, there seemed to be no security. The decks were not only well ventilated and dry, but extremely clean and comfortable, and there was certainly no want of anti-scorbutic diet or generous nourish- ment. I was the more distressed by this new case as fearing that it might extend further, at a time when the active services of every one 346 SNOW. [chap.v. would assuredly be required. It was observed that we had gone more to the eastward in the latter part of the day than during the whole of the last fortnight, and as the evening closed Nottingham Island bore astern, making that of Salisbury more abeam. The wind veered half round the compass and brought abundance of snow, which continued without interruption until noon of the 25th, when, from the obscurity that prevailed, no land could be seen. The ice looked white and wintry, the fresh- water pools were all hard frozen ; and, with the solitary exception of one opening, probably the effect of the tide, the whole surface was again one compact mass. The temperature was as low as 22° + 5 wind westerly. By the 26th we had gone sufficiently to the eastward, to be in sight of the extremity of Salisbury Island as well as of a very high and rocky part of the Labrador coast. On the 27th the ship was set a little to the north-east, or in a direction nearly across the straits. No water was in sight, but immense flocks of loons kept flying to the south. On the 28th the weather was warmer but yet no lanes ap- peared, though the entire body of ice had assumed a more even appearance and was evi- dently easing down. Two large birds like swans flew past to the north. The temperature rose at noon to 45° + . A couple of loons were CHAP. V.] MR. GORE SNOW-BLIND. 347 shot by Mr. Gore. The day was dedicated to the celebration of His Majesty's birth, the crew being allowed an extra store of good things to quicken their loyalty. There was little wind, and therefore little change of any kind. On the 29th the temperature, which had sunk to 27° + , ran up the scale until at noon it reached 48°, and in the sun 64° + . Our sportsman, Mr. Gore after about ten hours' exposure on the ice, became snow-blind. No water was to be seen. On the 30th the weather was thick with light snow, which shut out the land from sight. The crew were again examined by the medical officers, and reported to be a little improved, though there was not one instance of perfect recovery, and my steward was quite lame. At 6h p. m. the east bluff of Salisbury Island bore N.N.W., by which it seemed we had been set something to the N.E. In the night the wind blew fresh from the S.E., and snow fell without cessation ; nor up to noon on May 31st was there any change. Still no water in sight, until at 5h p. m, while the ice in the distance was perfectly close, we were surprised by the sudden opening of a serpentine lane thirty yards astern, extending to either side of the ship. The wind blew fresh in squalls during the night, and the entire body of the ice appeared to be setting to the north-east. 348 [chap.vl CHAPTER VI. Feast of Loons. — Mr. Vaugharis Path. — Perilous Ex- cursion. — White Whales. — Carpenters busy under- mining Ship- — Result of Labours. — Polar Expeditions. Nariohales. — Report of Health. — Cannonading Floe. — Cheerfod Labours in sawing away the Ice. — Employ- ment for Armourer. — Impediments from Calves. — New Rent discovered. — Report of the Ships Drift. — Ship bursts her Bonds. — Novelty of Scene. — Stern-post shattered. Officers' Opinion in favour of Return to England. — Awkwardness of Situation. ■— Expedition frustrated. — Ship's Draught increased. — Visited by Esquimaux. — Ship struck by a Floe. — Shattered Condition of Ship. — Sail for England.— Arrival at Chatham. In the diary of the last month I have had few incidents to record, and I am sensible that to the general reader it may have presented little to attract attention. It is, however, the duty of navigators to detail with some minuteness such facts as, however in themselves uninteresting, may hereafter be found useful as guides to those who follow in the career of adventure, and I proceed therefore with my journal. June 1st. The temperature fell to 23° + , but the lane astern, as well as two or three others, continued open, and some loons and seals being discovered, several parties went in quest of them, but without much success. Much light snow CHAP.VI.]] FEAST OF LOONS. 349 fell during the night, but the weather cleared up on the 2d ; and shortly after 8h a. m. the lanes, or rather the one close to the ship, opened so much, that some of the officers went out in the dingy, while others made a long circuitous walk. The party altogether shot upwards of thirty loons, which being first skinned, and allowed to steep for two days in salt and w^ater, were then dressed like jugged hare, and with red wine sauce and currant jelly, were esteemed by us as nearly equal in flavour. At all events we found them a grateful change from the preserved meats and other cured stock in our possession. At noon the lane began to get narrower, but in the course of three hours I had watched no insignificant quantity of detached pieces of ice stream without noise from the main body, and drift rapidly to the north-east as far as the lane would allow. This was encouraging, as betokening the facility with which a general separation would take place, whenever the barrier farther down the straits should ease off sufficiently to allow of it. Salisbury Island bore directly ahead, and the Labrador Coast was merely in sight. The temperature varied from 22° + to 42° + . The ice became more slack, and began to assume a promising look to the eastward. Numerous parties were tempted by the novelty to try their skill in shooting, and as the cheerfulness 350 MR. vaughan's path. [chap. VI. which the sport was calculated to excite was valuable at the moment of recovery from indis- position, I encouraged the inclination. There were, however, other substantial advantages ; for such was the success of the day, that a sufficient number of loons were killed to allow of the dis- tribution of an extra allowance to each mess in the ship. Many, too, were the anecdotes related on the occasion. The Larus Glaucus, or Bur- gomaster, seemed to defy the powder and shot of the ablest marksman, contenting itself, when struck, with merely looking round, uttering a short guttural screech, and flying deliberately to the nearest wounded loon, which he dispatched in so artist-like a manner as to leave no other remnants than the clean bones and a few of the larger feathers. But the boatswain, Mr. Vaughan, had met with the oddest adventure. Having walked over soft and hard ice along the margins of the different lanes, sinking to various depths in treacherous holes, and always holding a charged gun, ready to fire at the first thing that came within hail, but all to no purpose ; he very resignedly stuck the butt end of his piece into the snow, and thrusting both hands in his pockets, walked up and down so much after his usual methodical fashion, that he had soon beaten down a path the exact length of the forecastle of the ship. In this mechanical perambulation CHAP. VI.] A WALRUS. 351 some time passed away, and probably his thoughts were wandering to far other scenes, when sud- denly, from among the pieces of ice at his feet, up sprang a walrus. The stranger startled the boatswain beyond measure ; and, far from attempting to touch his gun, he stood staring with riveted astonishment at the long tusks, and, to use his own language, the "grey beard," of the apparition before him, until the walrus having sufficiently breathed itself, and less curious than the astonished seaman, quietly sank again to the dark recesses of the deep. He then remembered it was a sea-horse, and came on board with the account. Towards night the ice opened, and streamed away to the eastward past the ship, insomuch that it became necessary to dispatch the boat for some parties, who suddenly discovered that, in- stead of being on the main pack, they were slowly floating away on detached masses. The utmost extent of water was not more than two miles, in a south-west direction towards Hud- son's Bay, and this, during the night, was par- tially closed, though on June 3d there was an appearance of many slack places in the same quarter. The officers amused themselves in en- deavouring to kill an immense seal, that incau- tiously rolled across a piece of ice within three hundred yards from us ; but, notwithstanding 352 PERILOUS EXCURSION. [CHAP.VI. the correctness of their aim, it contrived to reach the margin and plunge into the water. Those of the crew who had been sporting were equally unfortunate, having met with few birds ; among those shot, however, may be mentioned a fat dovekie, and a kind of widgeon. The weather cleared and showed us Salisbury Island, which bore N.W. h W. At 2h p. m., it being th en spring-tide, the ice, gradually slackening beyond our pack, set to the N.E. for two hours, after which it partially closed again, leaving, however, a few holes, to which some of the officers and men went off, for the purpose of shooting what- ever they might find. But about 8h p. m. there was a partial slacking out of the ice between them and us, and the water being soon covered with brash and sludge, which lay thickly between the larger pieces, it was impossible to send out a boat. The officers, who, being disappointed of their sport, were nearer the ship, found no dif- ficulty in returning ; but the men, who had straggled farther, were very differently situated. They had not only a lane to cross, but had to pick their way from piece to piece over two miles of loose ice ; a labour which we, unable to render the least assistance, watched with no little uneasiness, lest those who were less alert should fall into the water or be disabled. They managed, notwithstanding, to arrive on board CHAP. VI.] ICE MORE COMPACT. 353 shortly after llh p. m., of course much fagged with their exertions. June 4th. The ice closed at 4h a. m., and, with some trifling variety, remained so till noon, when we were about four miles south, and two east, of our former position. The tem- perature had ranged from 23° + to 42° +, with a light south-east wind. There was no favour- able change of any description, either in the afternoon or throughout the night, the ice being rather more compact than heretofore, a fact which I was unable to comprehend, as the wind was much too light to affect it in any way, still less when subject to the counter influence of a spring- tide. The most probable conjecture seemed to be, that this very tide might have dis- lodged some heavy bodies of ice from the many friths and bays to the north of Resolution Island; and that, aided by the southerly current, together with the light winds which had prevailed of late between south-east and south, those bodies might have been driven against, or partly into, the mouth of Hudson's Straits, and so blocked up the space between that and our position. Certain it was, we had scarcely altered the bearing of Salisbury Island, which at noon was N. 60° W. In the afternoon, while occupied in exercising the crew at small arms, and afterwards in reefing and furling, the wind came from the eastward A A 354 snow. [chap. vi. with more than usual violence, bringing with it so much snow, that, in the course of four hours, it lay eight inches deep on the deck ; deeper, that is to say, than had been the case on any previous occasion, in the same time. The ice was closely wedged, without a single hole of water so far as we could see. On June 6th there was a partial slackening out, within a few hundred yards of the ship, but the whole soon closed again, forming one un- broken body in every direction. That such had not always been the case in other seasons we are assured from the fact, that Bylot and Baffin found little or no impediment to their sailing past this very spot in June. Still, the Hudson's Bay Company's ships, admonished no doubt by experience, seldom or never leave the Thames earlier than the 6th June ; and, without ques- tion, last year they must have found that date quite soon enough. At noon the weather, which had been misty, cleared a little, but not suf- ficiently so to enable us to see land. The tem- perature varied from 25° to 49° +. The wind now veered to west, and, like that from the op- posite quarter, brought snow, from which indeed we were seldom exempted. The ice presented an appearance of opening, and with a fresh breeze down, or, in other words, out of the Straits, it might have been supposed that CHAP. VI.] STRONG WINDS. 855 this would continue for several hours ; yet our conjectures in this, as in many other cases, were wrong, and it closed again almost immediately. Neither was there any improvement during the night, and on June 7th the whole surface was more compact than had been observed for a month past ; not a drop of water was to be seen. The thickness of the weather intercepted our view of the land, though, from a hasty glimpse, Salisbury Island seemed farther to the north. The wind, which continued to blow steadily from the same quarter, but with increasing vio- lence, at length began to have some effect on the immense surface surrounding us ; and al- though at midnight no water was visible, shortly after, on June 8th> a lane opened out astern, extending, with some interruption, three or four hundred yards to the south-west, in which di- rection several large holes were subsequently seem The ice immediately astern and adjoining the lane was more loose and disengaged from the larger compact masses than it had previously been, so that there was fresh reason to hope that the seaward body was streaming away from the entrance of the Straits and the neighbourhood of the Labrador coast. At noon we had drifted, by estimation, about eleven miles : Salisbury Island was no longer to be seen. The latitude placed us one mile to the south of yesterday's a a 2 356 WHITE WHALES. [CHAP.VI. position. All repairs about the ship and rigging being completed, there was little occupation to be found for the crew, who, by way of ex- ercise, were regularly drilled by the Sergeant of Marines, under the inspection of Lieutenant Smyth, and made to march quick and travel hard round the upper deck, for an hour or more, until they had been properly breathed for the day. Having now more pemmican than with our weakened crew could be made use of on boat service, and as this was a perishable article, I ordered it to be issued once a week, in the place of preserved meat ; the store of which, if not required, might be appropriated hereafter in any manner Government thought proper. In the afternoon it blew a gale which separated the ice so far as to leave a considerable space of open water, where, for the first time this season, some white whales were observed. At 6h p. m. land was descried to the south, the bearings of which were from S.W. to E.S.E. June 9th. There was much loose ice to the eastward, mingled with several smooth and regular floes, which evidently had neither been exposed to pressure nor otherwise disturbed, except as we now beheld them. The ice form- ing our pack was unaltered in area, though slightlv diminished in thickness from the in- creased temperature of the day. At night the CHAP. VI.] THICKXESS OF ICE. 357 pools still froze, being invariably found crusted with ice in the morning ; still, from the effect of the sun and the heat radiated from the sides of the ship, upwards of two feet of ice and frozen snow had slowly sunk away, thus almost exposing the keel from the fore-foot to the fore- chains, while a deep trench resulting from the same cause extended quite round, exhibiting above it the ruins of the ponderous waves, in the hard gripe of which the whole of the after part of the ship lay immovably wedged. There were no means of ascertaining the actual thickness of the accumulated masses, which in so extraordinary a manner cradled us up, but some of the pieces floating in the clear space were estimated at forty feet beneath the line of flotation ; and, indeed, from the force applied during the convulsions so providentially escaped, when the ship with all her heavy load was felt rising under our feet, it could hardly have been less, while from the irresistible pressure that drove one mass under another, it might have been even more. It seemed, therefore, indispensable, that before we could get free, the weaker bodies surrounding us and as yet adhering, should be entirely detached, so as to afford room for our supporters to glide away easily. An operation of this magnitude could only be accomplished by natural means ; but in order to divert the A A a 358 OFF CHARLES ISLAND. [CHAIWI. minds of the crew, they were set to work with pickaxes, spades and axes, to reduce the for- midable summits of the nearer waves, and mark out the most feasible line of escape, when acci- dent or time should favour us. There was a great deal of loose ice between us and the land, which the fineness of the day brought clearly into view. It turned out to be Charles Island > so that the late gale had driven the ice rapidly to the eastward, and, as regarded the ship, some- thing to the south. At noon the land bore from 8.S.W. to E.S.E. ; and, as seen from the deck, had the appearance of three islands. The ice closed again. The adverse direction from which the breeze came kept the ice much closer than of late, and for a few hours we seemed to retrograde ; but in the night this ceased, and up to noon> June 10th, we might be said to be stationary, the ice then being very compact. The temperature varied only from 30° to 38° 4-. The following night we were set a few miles off the land in conse- quence of the breeze having veered to south- east, and increased in strength ; and though for a brief interval some openings were observed, yet they soon closed again, and in the morning of June 11th, the ice was again perfectly com- pact. However, soon after divine service, the weather became so fine, that little rills of water CHAP. VI.] BRIGHTENED HOPES. 359 were pouring down from the more elevated pieces of ice into the hollows and thence into the sea. Before noon, a hole had appeared within fifty paces of the starboard quarter, and, singular enough, without other apparent cause than a trifling motion in the looser floating ice. About the same time, and without any noise, a ser- pentine lane of water unexpectedly broke on our sight, at no greater distance than one hundred and sixty yards. It was connected with the hole just referred to, and extended across the bow towards some brash and mixed ice to the south-west, in the limit of which direction, for some days past, a dark lane of water had been more or less visible. The appearance, as if by magic, of an opening so near the ship, was pro- bably the most fortunate event that could have happened, for until some such occurrence, we could indulge but slender expectations of a speedy release ; whereas, now, the hopes which frequent disappointment had dimmed suddenly bright- ened, and cast an enlivening gleam on the future. The temperature had not been lower than 30° + . Up to noon of June 12th, the only further change was another separation between two of the heavier floe pieces, still nearer to the star- board side of the ship ; after which another twenty-four hours of tedious uniformity rolled heavily away amidst a dead calm and thick a a 4 360 DIMINUTION OF ICE. [CHAP.VI. atmosphere. One novelty indeed there was in those stagnant hours, and that a suffi- ciently gratifying one, viz. that the temperature remained above the freezing point through- out the night, the lowest having been 33°-{-. At noon of June 14th it was 54° + , the sky being still overcast and no land in sight. Some lanes of water appeared, but none of any conse- quence. Within the last few days the upper portion of the ice had undergone a perceptible diminution from increased warmth, but there was still an immense thickness to be dissolved ; and one summer, such as this region could be expected to afford, might not suffice for the destruction of so vast and, as it seemed, inter- minable a body, without the co-operation of some more powerful and speedy influence. The im- potence of our own efforts had been already mani- fested in the attempts in which, although zeal and self-interest had prompted every man to do his utmost, we found ourselves unable to effect more than to level down some of the inequalities of the surface near the stern, or on either side of the ship. Nothing, indeed, favourable could be ex- pected, until the ice should become slack enough to allow the imprisoned under pieces to rise to the surface. The period had again arrived for examining the crew, who were reported to be in much the CHAP.VI.] INVx\LIDS. 36l same state, some still continuing lame, and Gibbs, poor fellow, barely able to walk once or twice along the deck by the aid of a stick in one hand, and resting on the bulwark, or whatever else he could grasp for support with the other. Jones also was unable to do any duty, though in a less degree affected, while Barker and Anderson continued to complain of the stiffness of their legs. Smith (my steward) was still suffering, and walked very lame, and two more were tem- porarily on the sick list. Indeed, the knee or ankle joints of two-thirds on board were more or less affected with shooting pains or twitches, betokening weakness, and few could take even ordinary exercise without sensations of languor and uneasiness. The lowest temperature of this day was 32° + . The prevalence of the northerly breeze, though moderate, was sufficient to bind the whole of the surrounding ice on the Labrador side, and consequently our change of position, at the most, did not exceed two miles to the south. Some few holes of water were occa- sionally seen as the ice varied in its movements, but generally speaking it was more packed and forbidding than had of late been customary. Much, however, was expected from a westerly wind, whenever it might come, and in the mean- time there was some satisfaction in witnessing 362 CARPENTERS BUSY. [CHAP.VI. the diminution of the upper ice, which wasted away from one to two inches in the twenty-four hours. On June 15th not fewer than twenty-six planks of the ship's side could be counted from the fore chains directly down to the ice, and as this had dissolved enough to bring within reach of the carpenters several more streaks, prepara- tions were made to caulk and coat them with coal tar like the rest. It was found, too, that we could, by removing the ice down to the water level, reach the upper part of the damaged stern- post, though this was not to be accomplished without hard labour, since the mere pressure had formed an icy cement so tough and adhesive, that fragments stuck to the planking, even be- tween the narrow breadth of the strokes of the pickaxe. It looked, indeed, as if the ship had been placed in a bed of some plastic compo- sition, which time had indurated into the solidity, and almost the substance, of limestone rock. However, under the direction of Lieutenant Smyth, the men contrived to get below the ten feet mark, and it was then ascertained that the doubling as well as the split stern-post were more twisted from their true positions than when last seen about three months ago. The water in some measure interrupted the proceedings, but with the assistance of the fire engine it was kept CHAP. VI.] UNDERMINING SHIP. 363 so much under, that the work could be con- tinued, while a second party, co-operating with the former, went on steadily undermining the fore-foot, which has been described as resting upon the surface of the ice. It will be readily understood that the object of these proceedings was to remedy, as effectually and speedily as pos- sible, whatever portion was accessible of the seri- ous injuries which it was probable the keel and lower section of the hull had sustained ; and, though nature would in time have effected the same thing without labour of ours, yet it was of moment to be ready for any of those extraor- dinary changes which, through the disruption of the surrounding ice, would sooner or later launch us into freedom. Three swans, a flock or two of ducks, and an occasional plover or snipe passed towards the north, while a few loons and two or three kinds of gulls flew round or hovered over the different holes of water. At noon Charles Island was just distinguishable from aloft, and soundings were obtained in forty-six fathoms on a rocky bottom with small pebbles, and a part of some crustaceous animal. This corresponded exactly with the soundings, as given in Captain Lyon's chart, and also those of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany in our possession. The labour of excavation was carried on with 364 RESULT OF LABOURS. [CHAP.VI. cheerful alacrity, and by the incessant use of draining machines, in the shape of the engine, boats' pumps, and buckets, we contrived to penetrate as low as the seven feet mark; but the sea water then beginning to ooze through the under ice, rendered abortive any further attempt to keep the space clear. This result, however, had been gained. It was ascertained that the doubling, and a portion of the stern-post below, projected over to the larboard side several feet ; and that another portion, from the ten feet six mark to seven feet five, was incapable of repair. It was, consequently cut away. The night passed tranquilly, and a flock or two of geese flew past towards the north. No change trans- pired among the ice until early in the morning of June 16th, the anniversary of our sailing from the Nore, when it began to slacken round the heavy ice which we were partly entrenched in and partly upon. The weather, too, cleared, for the wind came lightly from the south, and the distinctness of the blue land (the snow being now gone) of Charles Island, was a convincing proof that we had been drifted a few miles in that direction. Still there was not the faintest indi- cation or promise of an open space ; for, let the eye roam where it would, there was one wide glare of dazzling white but too familiar to our senses. It is not a little remarkable to reflect on the CHAP. VI.] POLAR EXPEDITIONS. 365 various ineffectual attempts that have been made by different commanders in modem days, to fill up the small blank on the northern charts, between the bottom or south part of Regent's Inlet and Point Turnagain. Parry's and Frank- lin's achievements are too well known to require observation or eulogium from me ; yet the former could not penetrate through Fury and Hecla Strait, and the latter found it imprac- ticable, from the damaged condition of his canoes, the want of provision, and the advanced state of the season, to proceed beyond Point Turnagain. Of Sir John Ross's eventful expe- dition all have heard. My own, in search of him, is also before the public. Captain Lyon, in trying to reach Repulse Bay by the Welcome, was baffled by a succession of bad weather and heavy gales ; and now again, I, acting upon the united experience of most of the distinguished names just mentioned, under circumstances con- sidered favourable, after getting nearly within sight of my port, am stopped by drift ice, at what is generally the very best period for navi- gating the Polar Seas — am frozen fast, in Octo- ber 1836, at the entrance of Frozen Strait — and now, Junel6th, am carried into Hudson's Strait, on some of the very same ice that originally begirt the ship, without having had it once in my power either to advance or retreat. In 366 DIVERSIONS. [chap. VI. short, from north, south, east, and west, the attempt has been made, and in all equally with- out effect ; and yet, with a tolerably open season, the whole affair is within the accomplish- ment of six months. The crew were variously employed, but principally in removing the ice from under the fore-foot, the bend of which was literally above the level of the sea, now ascertained by the bursting up of the water from beneath ; on the other hand, the stern-post was immersed or imbedded a little more than nine feet. The officers also had their occupations : some of the keener sportsmen lurked for the chance of a shot ; others were speculating on the possibility of coaxing the ship's peas to germinate in a heterogeneous composition of coal dust. A fishing line, too, was set, but the most per- severing had not been rewarded even by a nibble. My aim was to encourage every thing that could relieve the mind by abstracting it from a too fixed attention to our situation ; and as there were no complaints, it is fair to pre- sume that the end was in a great measure attained. Though the temperature at noon was 4G° + , and witli a blackened bulb thermo- meter 66° in the sun, yet it had been as low as 29° + in the night, and consequently the fresh and brackish pools were once more coated with CHAP. VI.] INCREASE OF WATER. 36? ice. Little transpired throughout the night, but on June 17th the wind veered to the N.W., and the ice began to open out all round, ex- posing by noon considerably more water than had yet been seen. A fog soon rose from it, which so completely darkened the sky that we neither saw land nor got observations, and were consequently ignorant whether we were drifting down the Straits or not. The ship appeared to have risen bodily up one inch during the twenty- four hours ; but this of course was attributable to the thawing of the ice on the surface. A small fish was found in the mouth of a gull (boatswain), and more ducks and geese flew towards the north. By 4h p. m. the ice was again cemented, and subsequently Charles Island was seen, the position indicating that we had been set a short distance to the south and east. Dark patches of sky created by the vapour from open water appeared all round the horizon, except towards the main land, in the direction of which were some extensive floes of a remark- ably even surface. One or two, of minor dimensions, could be just descried to the east- ward ; and as a conclusive proof that there was something more than a mere opening and shutting in of the ice by the action of successive tides, several pieces of broken and discoloured mounds, quite new to us, were swept near and 368 A GALE. [CHAP.VI. ultimately past the ship. The temperature sank to 30°+ in the night, and the pools of fresh water froze over. Much small snow also fell without intermission up to noon of June 18th, with a temperature of 43° + . The ice again moved about with great irregularity, flattering us one hour by its loose and disconnected aspect, and annoying us the next by resuming its compactness. Yet these transitions, unsatis- factory as they were, betokened an activity of some sort towards the entrance of the Straits, which might therefore be clearing so as to allow the western ice to drift down. The haziness of the weather concealed the land, but the latitude made us still farther south. In the afternoon soundings were obtained in eighty-five fathoms, on a rocky bottom. The ice opened out towards night, and a solitary walrus showed its huge frame above water but made no long stay. About midnight, and on June 19th, the wind blew from the E.S.E., and, increasing to a gale, speedily set the ice in motion all round us. Occasionally, streams of drift-pieces drove, at the rate of two miles an hour, against the corners or edges of our heavy floe-ruins ; and though without any perceptible shock or injury at the time, yet, as it afterwards appeared, with effective force, since, at llh a. m., a large strip silently separated itself from our CHAP. VI.] BOLT STARTED. 369 general mass. It was then that numerous lanes and holes of water ranged themselves in a line exactly across the direction of the wind, almost up and down the Straits ; and the land becoming visible during a partial cessation of sleet, snow, and rain, with which we had been refreshed, the ice-mate, Mr. Green, imagined he could make out several conical tents, from whose tops smoke, as he thought, issued. Unfortunately, dark clouds soon obscured that part of the land, which seemed like an island, depriving us, for the present, of the satisfaction which the realization of this idea would have afforded. On inspecting the hull, as was customary, it was discovered that one of the copper bolts, situated in the eleventh plank below the fore part of the main chains, on the larboard side, had started, and projected one- eighth of an inch outside the doubling ; a cir- cumstance that made it necessary to cut beneath the head and clinch it afresh. Again, while em- ployed in clearing out the fore part of the bread- room, for the purpose of getting at coals and provisions, just below the broken stringer on the starboard side, one of the through bolts of the lining was found to have started, and, from the mere collapsing of the after part of the ship, one of the casks had been actually pressed to such a degree, as to stick into the lining. Prudence, therefore, required that the stowage should not B B 370 ICE MORE OPEN. [CHAP.Vr. be disturbed until we were afloat, for the ship still inclined over as before, and it might be that, at intervals, a strain was thrown on that particular part. The east end of Charles Island bore S.W., and the weather was dark and gloomy, with a temperature of 31° -f . The ice, this after- noon, was more detached and open than it had been during the season ; and had the ship been freed of her bonds, there was space enough to have moved two or three miles to the westward. But, as it was uncertain when that consummation so devoutly wished wTould take place, or what might be her state when afloat, as it was possible that she might be near the land, or in a situation requiring to be immediately worked, I thought it right to make such preparations for steering her, as the urgency of the occasion might demand. From what had been already seen, there were reasons for apprehending an insuperable difficulty in shipping the rudder ; and, indeed, if, as was conjectured, the split stern-post projected three or four feet at right angles to the keel, to say nothing of the doubling forced up, it seemed evident, that even if the old rudder could by any management be fixed in its place, it would serve only for an additional purchase to weaken the already broken parts thereabouts. To provide against a contingency so serious as well as proba- CHAP. VI.] RUDDER CONTRIVED. 371 ble, it was requisite to devise a rudder of an en- tirely different construction, yet so contrived as to lose little of its power, and such a one was ingeniously hit upon by Lieutenant Smyth. It was effected by the simple operation of transposing the wood, forming the lower part or heel of the rudder, to that forming the upper part, thus giving to it when finished an oblong form, not much unlike that used by a Thames barge rigged with sails, and at the same time the desirable property that it could be hung on the strongest part of the stern-post. Having a spare rudder on board, which had fortunately been put together in pieces for the convenience of stowage, as it was divided into two portions, an upper and lower, just where the division was wanted, the thing was half done to our hand*, some iron work and a few fittings for putting it together being all that was required. Throughout the night the ice kept opening and closing, and the temperature sank to 30° +. In the early part of June 20th, however, it became very slack to the westward, especially along the shore of Charles Island, to which we were much nearer. The Strait, never- theless, was completely blocked to the north and east, though the ice, at least that near us, was certainly drifting slowly down towards the * The rudder had been made in this way to provide against accidents. B B 2 37^ SOLIDITY OF FLOE. [CHAP.VI. entrance. We now began to cut through the mounds at the edge of the floe pieces, and to open a communication with the visible parts of those cracks extending diagonally from one ex- treme to the other, and in one instance crossing the ship's bows ; for as it was mere speculation how deep or tortuous these flaws might be beneath the surface, it was at all events an equal chance whether our operations might not ac- celerate their rupture. Some snow had fallen which was succeeded by a south-west wind, and at noon thick weather came on that hid the land. The temperature was only 35° +. The wind became variable, coming sometimes in fresh gusts accompanied by snow and rain : partly from this cause and partly from the tide, there was a more than common stir among the ice, which now separated itself into detached streams and single pieces, exposing a checquered surface of water to the west- ward, most cheering to the eye. During the night the ice was, what the Greenland sailors term, running about ; and, though firmly con- nected pieces of various dimensions, from one to three or four hundred feet in diameter, struck our floe with considerable violence in passing by, yet such was its solidity and weight that the effect was merely to grind away insignificant points along the edges. CHAP. VI.] TRENCHING THROUGH ICE. 3^3 June 21st came in with snow and a tempe- rature of 30° + . At 5h a. m., all hands were employed in trenching through the mounds, and cutting as low into the water as they could. Saws unfortunately were altogether useless, on account of the thickness of the ice, which being measured with a line, as far down as a projecting tongue, was found to be thirty-three feet, and was conjectured to be, in the whole, between forty and fifty at that particular place. Some large calves rose up from beneath the starboard floe piece, which indeed was the most vulnerable, and we now marked out a line of work at three t different places, which were ultimately to be connected, so as to form an upper channel of communication with the sea. I would willingly have trenched down and cleared away the frozen snow, which adhered so tenaciously to the after part of the ship, but for the impracticability of shoring her up, and the risk that must have attended the disturbance of the shores on the parting of the floe ; all that could be done, there- fore, was to conduct a channel of water within a few feet of the starboard side, to which she inclined, in the hope that a severance might be effected by some sudden jerk through the entire depth below. By noon, we were rather nearer to the east end of Charles Island, which was quite bare of snow, except in fissures and ledges. The b b 3 374 EXTRAORDINARY EDDIES. [CHAP.VI. temperature was only 40° + , the weather calm but hazy with snow, the barometer 29. 5 1 . Much ice drifted past and as far as the ship in the afternoon, among which, were several perfectly even floes of six to seven hundred yards long, of a pale blue colour, and evidently of last winter's formation \ while, contrasting with these, were others more soiled and channeled, that had ap- parently strayed from the northern lands at the head of Fox's Channel, bearing on their shoulders the ruins of other floes which had been broken and borne over them in the convulsions of , those extraordinary eddies. These did not re- main ; for in the early morning, a little after the close of the longest day, with the last rays of which the sky was yet tinted, they swept by, leaving us as usual fixed in our unyielding bed. There was a dead calm, and even on the day of the summer solstice, the temperature sank to 27° + . The crew, under the immediate direction of the first Lieutenant, were set to work at 5h a. m., and performed the novel duty with good humour and perseverance. By noon we had been drifted to the eastward, the latitude being 62° 54' 50", and longitude 74° 40' 30". The character of the shore was comparatively low, even, and rocky, about the eastern extremity, but farther west, was more hilly, and if not com- posed of more than one island must possess some CHAP. VI.] MASS BREAKS OFF. 375 very deep bays. The last twenty-four hours, the leak had increased twelve inches. By a sud- den change, the weather had become sultry, the thermometer in the sun being 62°. A very few birds, but not a fish or animal was seen. The ice merely opened and closed with the flood and ebb tide, without further effect. On June 23d, the crew were employed in cut- ting away the outer mound on the starboard side of the ship, and made such rapid progress in their early labour, that the edge of the floe rose two feet six inches out of the water, and this was immediately followed by the appearance of a transverse crack between them and the ship. At 10h 15m a. m., while steadily occupied at their work, the disconnected body of ice was observed to run with considerable velocity past the stern of the ship, directly towards the part they were reducing, and an enormous piece coming in sud- den contact with a projecting point, that had been purposely formed by cutting away the ice about it in the morning, the whole mass broke off with the concussion, and rolled partly over in conse- quence probably of the upshooting of several im- mense calves from underneath it and the floe. At the very moment of disruption a number of men were working on the separated piece, the rocking of which placed them for the time in a perilous situation. From this, however, they 376 MOTION OF ICE. [CHAP.VI. were promptly rescued by launching the clingy to their assistance, though not soon enough to save all the pickaxes, shovels, handspikes, &c, some of which were lost. This circumstance made a great difference both in the magnitude and compactness of our island floe, and encouraged a hope of getting the ship afloat earlier than had been expected ; still this was a consummation which at the present juncture was hardly to be wished, as it would have been impossible to pre- vent the running ice from striking, or the heavier bodies from nipping her ; either of which, strained and shaken as she was, it was obviously desirable to avoid. The motion of the ice on this occasion was singular, being rotatory, as if influenced by an eddy, as indeed was not unlikely to be the case about the eastern end of an island, having only a narrow passage between it and the main, so far as could be distinguished from the deck. The tempe- rature varied from 30° to 47° + , and in the sun was 73° + . The ice moved backwards and forwards as usual, but towards the close of the day was more wedged than customarily. However, at 4h a. m., 24th June, there were many lanes of water to the eastward, without a single one in the oppo- site quarter. Fresh /water ran off our floe in streams during the warmth of the day ; and, what with those and cutting away more ice on the starboard quarter, it was found by the CHAP.VI.] SET OF CURRENT. 377 marks on the stern-post that the entire mass, composing that part of the floe, had risen three inches. In the forenoon the ship was set to the eastward, and had certainly drawn nearer to the land, especially the eastern end of Charles Island, which was not more than five or six miles away. The other land, appearing at first continuous with the latter island, was now ascertained to be the dark and forbidding coast of Labrador. It is worth mentioning that even in calms we were evidently set to the southward and east- ward, but more particularly to the former, owing, probably, to the set of the current through Fox's Channel and between the islands, which would strike somewhere on the main shore be- foreyurning directly towards the Atlantic. There was no other change during the night than what was occasioned by the tides ; and on June 25th, the weather was too overcast and misty to allow our position to be ascertained. At llh30m soundings were struck in one hundred and eighteen fathoms, and the bottom was com- posed of mud and shells. It might be that the heavier ice, by which, I mean that formed in the winter, had drifted out of the Strait, as the lighter pieces which now surrounded us seemed to be the recent production of the spring, being mostly even and of but a few feet thickness, tinged with blue instead of the brownish green 578 REPAIRING FOREFOOT. [CHAP.VI. and yellow of the older formation. Three or four pieces had been lifted on the edge of our floe, in consequence, of course, of some un- seen pressure. It was thought, too, that the ship was a little more upright. The land was only dimly visible once or twice, for the day was overcast and gloomy, and towards evening settled into rain, which poured incessantly the whole night. Soundings were found in eighty- six fathoms. In consequence of the prevailing easterly wind the ice continued remarkably close, slackening, however, occasionally near the ship. Nothing, indeed, could have been done even had she been afloat, except to ascertain with some precision, as I was very desirous of doing, the extent of our damage. For this purpose, on June 26th, the crew were again employed in removing the mounds, while the carpenters were occupied about the fore-foot, which, owing to the rising of the ice, was now sufficiently exposed to allow of the broken and damaged part being examined with more exactness. It had been ground away by the action of the ice, but the stem was un- injured, and we began immediately to cut away the ragged parts, with a view of substituting more solid pieces in their stead, and finally covering the whole with iron sheathing, taken from the upper works of the bows, where ex- CHAP. VI.] NARWHALES. 379 perience had taught us it was not likely to be of service. At noon the weather was still dark, and the land invisible. A continuation of the same gloomy atmosphere prevailed, and immense floes of spring ice, not exceeding in thickness three feet, and black with water on the surface, crowded round our still solid island from diffe- rent points, but chiefly from the main or Labra- dor coast, which happened to be the windward shore. Many of these, driven forward by wind and tide, struck against us with considerable violence, but without splintering a fragment from our rock-like mass. In the evening soundings were got in one hundred and twelve fathoms (sand). All night the ice remained very close, the wind being fresh from the eastward ; and in the morning of June 27th all hands recom- menced their labour on the larboard mound, which unlike some of its neighbours was one body of solid blue ice, and though causing more hard work, yet began sensibly to diminish before the exertions of the crew. But few birds flew past, though some narwhales were seen playing about, to the great relief of the ice-mate, who, having been engaged in the Davis Straits' fishery the greater part of his life, had been almost inconsolable at the paucity of * living creatures,' as he termed them. His joy, therefore, on this occasion, was commensurate 5 and having in- 380 REPORT OF HEALTH. [CHAP.VI. tently watched their gambols to the moment of disappearance, he descended from the crow's- nest, and with evident signs of pleasure pro- ceeded to give me a minute account of their size, colour, and length of horn. By observation at noon, it was found we were eight miles north of the last latitude, and by the view of the land which was quite clear, it was equally evident the ship had been set rather east than west, though the wind blew, and had been blowing fresh from the former quarter of the compass. It follows, therefore, that the northern ice must have so completely blocked up the channels we had passed, as to prevent any thing like a retrograde action. The temperature varied from 34°+ to 39° + , and the barometer was 30*01. Wind east. The men were examined to-day by the medical officers, and reported to be free from actual com- plaint, with the exception of the few individuals mentioned before, some of whom were rather worse. At this time, in an official letter addressed to Doctor Donovan, 1 demanded his opinion of the probable consequences if the ship were detained another winter in these regions. His answer was, that it would be fatal to many of the officers and men, some of whom were even now in a pre- carious state; and he also reported that the most useful medicines for the prevalent disease were expended. The good effect of the labour of CHAP. VI. J CANNONADING FLOE. 381 the crew in throwing the weight of ice off the floe, was made manifest by the fact of the ship's having risen two inches, her immersion in the water and ice aft being 8 feet 10 inches. In the evening the ice was close, but much to our satisfaction a large piece was separated from the larboard side of the floe ; and, after midnight of June 28th, the wind then blowing fresh in squalls from the south-east, a sudden disruption took place one hundred and fifty yards ahead of the ship, and split the floe right across. We therefore returned to our task with fresh spirits ; and, as a matter of experiment, fired a couple of six-pounder shot at a mound, but without the results expected, as instead of splintering and throwing it down, the shot merely cracked it, and buried themselves deep in the substance without doing further injury. One of the shot was next day recovered from the mound. It had been discharged at the distance of twenty-one yards, with a charge of 16 ounces of powder, and had penetrated one yard and a half, splitting the mass in various directions. The land was seen once, and at noon we had drifted eight miles to the north, being nearly in midchannel ; but the whole body of the ice was very close, infinitely too much so for any vessel to have made way. The temperature varied from 30° to 36°+ ; and ice was formed on all the fresh water pools 382 CAULKING, &C. [cHAP.VI. during the night, Barometer 29-95. A few holes, some distance apart, showed themselves in the evening, but, on the whole, the ice was ex- tremely close. The carpenters completed and had made a good job of the fore-foot, which was well secured with three plates of iron. June 29th. Land was faintly seen from S. S. E. to S. W. ; tiie work went on as usual. At noon the south-east wind had drifted us a little to the west, the ice being very close and no land in sight. Temperature from 32° to 36° 4- . Nothing transpired to alter our condition, for the wind with singular constancy kept to its old point of south-east, and consequently wedged the ice closer than ever ; nevertheless all opportunities were seized to do whatever might accelerate our release from this icy cradle, and the carpenters were again busied in caulking the butt ends of the planking, as they came day by day within reach. On June 30th, four white whales appeared in a small hole of water near the ship, and occasionally a seal popped up its head. The laborious work upon the mounds went on cheerily, and though some of the men began to be affected with inflamed eyes, they did not on that account shrink from their duty. They had all along worn each a small screen of green veil ; but rinding that this did not effectually answer the purpose, they CHAP.VJ.] INAUSPICIOUS COLD. 38 g contrived to make goggles with crape over the ends, instead of glass, with other devices not without ingenuity. The most distressing event, however, was another instance of a relapse, in the person of Mr. Mould the assistant surgeon, who was very lame and altogether far from well. Gibbs, too, could not but be considered in an extremely precarious state, and his limbs, poor fellow, were dreadfully shrunk, and so weak, that he could not walk the length of the lower deck without assistance. In clearing away the ice from the fractured parts of the stern-post, apiece of its doubling two feet six inches in length, ex- tending from the four feet six inches mark to the seven feet, and consequently under water, was brought up by the carpenters, who further ascertained that the outer stern-post had been forced aft, and at the eight feet eight inches mark it had opened from the wooden ends one inch and a quarter. The night brought no change, and on July 1st the work was continued as before, but so cold had it been, that not only was ice formed on the fresh pools, but young ice was seen even round the edge of the floe on the sea water ; a strange phenomenon in the middle of summer, and not very auspicious for our hopes ; and, indeed an open passage could now hardly be expected, if we were tojudge from what surrounded us, for the entire body of ice was not only closely 384 CHEERFUL LABOURS. [CHAP.VI. wedged, but was more to the westward, more packed, and altogether more unfavourable to the prospect of a speedy release than a month before. In fact, all depended on the direction of the wind, as must ever be the case in the navigation of these seas. Unless that be favourable for driving out to sea the western packs of heavy ice, all human efforts must be vain. Land was once made out, bearing S.S.W., and the weather was dull and cold, the temperature having got to 30° + . The new moon brought us a north-east breeze, with a dark gloomy sky and abundance of rain, which did not cease throughout the niffht. One or two small calves started up from between the cracks alongside, and on July 2d the ice began to open out a little, having a limited space to move in towards the main land to leeward. The temperature varied only from 32° to 33° + . No variation of any sort inter- vened to relieve the dull aspect of affairs, but July 3d at least brought us what we had not ex- perienced for a fortnight — a fine day. We now discovered one part of the floe, on the starboard beam, less thick than the part at which we had been working ; and the men having got the ice- saw to work, and singing to time as they lifted it up and let it down, made such progress, that in the course of the forenoon, though the general thickness averaged from twelve to four- CHAP. VI.] SAWING AWAY THE ICE. 3S5 teen feet, they got through thirty feet ; whilst, on the other side of the ship, another party was busy in clearing away the ice from the crack leading athwart the forefoot to the extremity of the floe in that direction. In the meantime the ship remained precisely in the same position. The observations made us a few miles to the north and west, the latitude being 63° 17' N., and longitude 74° 39' W. Finding the ice be- came thicker as the work approached the ship, it was necessary to have a longer saw ; accordingly, the armourer, by means of the forge, formed two into one, thirty feet long, which, howTever, from its comparative thinness, wre were apprehensive would not be strong enough. No change took place throughout the night, but the ice remained so packed, that, had the season been farther advanced, the whole would most certainly have been connected into one immense body. As it wras, the temperature did not sink below freezing point, though it arrived at it, as indeed it had done for some time, within a degree or two. On July 4th the large saw was put into motion, and answered remarkably well, its own weight being sufficient to carry it down without any other incumbrance. With it, therefore, we made better progress, though the ice was often as much as twenty feet thick, and by noon, had cut to a main crack, the least pressure against c c 386 EMPLOYMENT TOR ARMOURER. [CHAP.VI. which, it was hoped, would carry away the piece altogether. The wind having veered to N.N.E., made the ice a little more slack, though it re- mained still perfectly fixed. Having sawed as far as we could, the next step was to extricate the saw itself, in attempting which, having been accidentally broken in two, it was again repaired by our industrious and zealous armourer, who never seemed more delighted than when he had plenty of work on his hands. We now made a fresh survey of the ice directly astern of the ship ; and, finding that some places were much thinner than others, we forthwith commenced digging and sinking a trench, from the edge of the floe towards, and in a line with, the keel, preparatory to trying what might be effected with the long saw. The rest of the afternoon was employed by the carpenters putting in two screw ring-bolts, about three feet from, and on a level with, the eleven feet mark, according to a plan by the carpenter, Mr. Smith, for securing the wooden ends and injured parts of the ship's dead wood. This consisted in simply passing the stream chain under the heel of the stern-post, through both ring-bolts, and securing it firmly on deck abaft, the object being to prevent any further damage thereabouts, either from the ice or sea. On July oth, land, which proved to be Salis- bury Island, was distinctly seen at N.W. by N., CHAP. VI.] LABOURS CONTINUED. 387 and some water could be made out from the mast-head, between south and west, but the ice near us was so close, that there would have been little difficulty in walking five or six miles in any direction. Indeed, it could not be otherwise with these never-ending easterly winds. As early as 4h a. m. the crew were working the long saw astern, and by noon had cut through twenty- five feet, or more, of sixteen-feet ice. On all these occasions the first lieutenant never quitted them, early or late, frequently putting his hand to the ropes himself, as did some of the mates and warrant officers ; and it is but justice to say, that nothing could exceed the cheerfulness and order in which this laborious daily toil was en- countered. The strictest regulations were ob- served respecting the changing of boots and stockings, &c, each time the men came on board, and again on returning to work, so that there were no complaints or illness of any kind from the constant exposure. Boards and planking were provided for them to stand upon, and a weak mixture of lime-juice was issued, at stated intervals, to counteract any ill effect that might arise from too copious a use of cold water. New ice was nightly formed on all the pools, and sometimes at the edges of the salt water, though, according to the thermometer, the temperature c c 2 388 IMPEDIMENTS FROM CALVES. [CHAP.VI. had only varied from 33° to 34° + , the excess having been 40°+ in the southern exposure. Notwithstanding the compactness of the ice, the ship was this afternoon whirled round several times ; and some calves becoming entangled with our floe near the part where the people were sawing, so impeded them, that the utmost achieved was only five feet. Early on July Cth the work was renewed ; but from having cut in too slanting a direction, little was then accomplished : nevertheless, such wTas their energy, that by noon fifty-three feet alto- gether were completed, through a thickness of twenty-six feet. Other parties were not behind in their endeavours, and three good sized calves were extricated from underneath heavier pieces, whilst another was heard by the first Lieutenant and myself grinding its passage out towards the edge of the floe. The entire body of the ice continued close as before, and Salisbury Island bore about W. by N., the latitude being63°20' N., longitude 75° %5f W. Nothing could exceed the gloominess of the weather ; and though from the rain that fell it might have been expected to clear, there was no improvement, and neither wind nor ice seemed disposed to change. On July 7th some rumbling noises were heard by the officer of the watch, the precise cause of CHAP. VI.] NEW RENT DISCOVERED. 889 which he was prevented by the fog from ascer- taining. The crew assembled at the customary hour, and renewed their labour cheerily, though some were obliged to stand in the water which covered that part of the ice, in order to guide the saw. Fearing the consequences of this unavoidable exposure, I took care that they were often relieved, and an extra allowance of oatmeal, with a small quantity of spirits, was issued. Pieces of ice of various dimensions were either disentangled, or started up of their own accord, from between the broad crack athwart the bow and on both sides of the ship ; and as a further encouragement to us, we saw for the first time an entirely new rent through a thick part of the floe, which opened into the line of work made with the saw. By noon another space of twenty-five feet had been cut through, although a depth of from twenty-four to thirty feet of tough solid ice had to be penetrated at every motion of the saw ; and on examining the marks on the stern-post, it was seen that the ship's draught was 8 feet 91 inches, and that she had settled down 51 inches. The general body of ice continued deplorably close, while the tempe- rature ranged between 30° and 43°-f; the wind at east, and the barometer 29*94. A single seal was seen, the only one for many days. July 8th. It was found by the marks on the stern-post, &c. that theshtphadsunk three quarters c c 3 390 RIGGING SET UP. [CHAP.VI. of an inch forward, and risen half an inch abaft. The crew were early at their work, and felt the comfort of the extra allowance. The ice main- tained a similar thickness, and by noon another twenty-two feet were gained, which made alto- gether one hundred feet since the commencement; in fact, they were now approaching the stern, and at intervals they heard loud cracks close to them, as if something were yielding underneath. Considering that the event might take place at a moment when least looked for, to the great danger of the people, I ordered ladders and ropes, to be hung from the stern within their reach, to which, if requisite, they might cling. They however seemed quite indifferent about the matter, and sang and worked as merrily as if they had been on terra flrma. Easterly winds still prevailed, as did the gloomy sky ; but though the land was often obscured, yet once the Labra- dor coast appeared bearing from S. W. to S. W. by W., and Salisbury Island from N. W. by W. to N. W. by N., making us much about the same spot where we had been a month ago. The ice was impenetrably close. At midnight there was .what seemed to be a dark water sky to the south- ward, along the coast, or it might be only the clouds, which were frequently seen hanging over the skirts of the land. On July i)th the fineness of the day tempted us to set up the rigging, and forego what we never CHAP. VI.] OCCUPATIONS. 391 did omit except on urgent occasions, the ob- servance of divine service ; but a fine day was so uncommon, that we were glad to take advantage of it under any circumstances. The ice continued as close as ever, there being only one small hole of water near the ship. Here some narwhales came to breathe ; and, as their timidity is extreme, they would scarcely have ventured so near, had there been any other place for the purpose. At noon Salisbury Island was in sight from the deck, much in the same bearing as before. The latter part of the day was employed in erecting with the spare topmasts a pair of sheers, to transport the temporary rudder aft, and get it over the ship's side, in case the original one could not be brought into use when the ship floated. At mid- night the ice round us was slightly in motion but still kept close. July 10th. Water was discovered about six miles off, from S. W. to S. E., along the Labrador coast, and at noon Salisbury Island bore W.N. W. The people resumed their sawing in the early morning ; and, although from the hardness of the ice, they did not make their usual progress, yet they kept hard at work, in the hope of reaching the stern- post in another twenty-four hours. Not far from them, others were cutting a new trench at right angles to the ship, where it was intended to saw, in order, if possible, to disunite some of the ice c c 4 89^ REPORT OF THE SHIP*S DRIFT. [CHAP.VL on which we were partly borne up. Already, indeed, it was so split by cracks, and our own exertions, that it seemed almost certain that the first commotion, when the whole body should begin to drift, would release us. The wind having blown from the east twenty- two days, at last veered to west ; the weather became fine ; and the temperature veered from 32° + to 46° + . The following statement of the drift of the ship, whilst beset in the ice, between the 1st of January and the 30th of June 1837, was drawn up by Mr. Saunders (acting Master)* Course. Distance. Between 1st Jan. and 1st Feb. S. 23° 4' E. 6 Miles. „ 1st Feb. & 1st March. S. 38° 12' E. 36 „ „ 1st Mar. & 2d April S. 62" 15' E. 29 „ „ 2d April & 1st May S. 69° 59' E. 46 „ „ 1st May & 30th May S. 60' 00' E. 70 „ „ 30th May & 30th June S. 87° 35' E. 47 ,, Latitude observed. Longitude observed. January 1st, 64° 51' 00" N. 82° 25' 00" W. February 1 st, 64° 45' 00" N. 82° 1 9' 00" W. March 1st, 64° 16' 00" N. 81° 26' 00" W. April 2d, 64° 05' 00" N. 80° 37 30" W. May 1st, 63° 49' 00" N. 78° 54' 30" W. May 30th, 63° 14' 00" N. 76° 38' 45" W. June 30th, 63° 12' 00" N. 74° 54' 00" W. Thus it appears that the aggregate drift for six months only amounted two hundred and thirty-four miles. Some more narwhales appeared again in a hole close by, and a seal drew itself on the ice, CHAP. VI.] SHIP BURSTS HER BONDS. 393 no doubt to have a quiet lounge in the sunshine. This, however, the keenness of our sportsmen would not permit; and though they failed in their benevolent intentions, they effectually frightened the visitors away. The light air from the westward had been so far beneficial as to loosen the ice, which was tranquil or in motion according to the tide, and whilst in motion several calves rose up from about and under the fore-foot. Early on July 11th Salisbury Island bore W.N.W. seven or eight leagues distant. The ice now acquired a more rapid drift ; and an old floe piece, having been driven against us, forced up some light ice by its pressure, but without breaking a morsel of our impregnable rock. The crew had resumed their customary labour ; and, as they drew nearer to the stern-post, various noises and crackings beneath them plainly hinted that something more than usual was in progress. After breakfast I visited them, and the other parties, who were busy extricating calves and cutting a trench, as previously stated. Scarcely had I taken a few turns on deck and descended to my cabin, when a loud rumbling notified that the ship had broken her icy bonds and was sliding gently down into her own element. I ran instantly on deck, and joined in the cheers of the offi- cers and men, who, dispersed on different pieces 394 NOVELTY OF SCENE. [CHAP.VI. of ice, took this significant method of express- ing their feelings. It was a sight not to be forgotten. Standing on the tafrail, I saw the dark bubbling water below, and enormous masses of ice gently vibrating and springing to the sur- face ; the first Lieutenant was just climbing over the stern, while other groups were standing apart, separated by this new gulf; and the spars, together with working implements, were resting half in the water, half on the ice, whilst the saw, the instrument whereby this sudden effect had been produced, was bent double, and in that position forcibly detained by the body it had severed. I was then informed that having cut to within four feet of the stern-post, they had ceased for a few minutes, to refresh themselves, when the disruption took place, barely giving them time to clamber up as they could for safety ; whilst in the midst of all this bustle the first Lieutenant, finding himself raised up by the ice on which he stood to the highest step of one of the stern ladders, was seen composedly mounting it to come on board. Nor were the other parties less fortunate in escaping accidents; so that our joy on the oc- casion was not saddened by any serious misfor- tune. We soon found that the ship had only sunk down to the ten feet seven inches and a quarter mark forward, and to the eleven feet nine CHAP. VI.] WELL SOUNDED. 395 inches aft, having a heel of about two streaks over to port. The first thing was to sound the well, the water in which increased four inches in a quarter of an hour; and, supposing that this might be attributable to the change of the ship's plane, whereby the water which had been lodged astern was allowed to come forward, it produced for the moment but little uneasiness. I soon however perceived that not only the offensive odour of the well water was gone, but that what there was, was equally salt with the sea water alongside. As the ship rested almost entirely on the star- board bilge, we naturally hoped that the first twirl of tide would set her fully at liberty ; and in this hope the top-gallant masts were ridded, the yards crossed, and every thing put in readi- ness to make sail. At noon the ice was still close except immediately round the ship. Mean- time an increased quantity of water found its way into the well, which in four hours, notwithstan- ding the constant use of one pump, had filled to the depth of nineteen inches. Subsequently, we gained two inches on the leak, which thence- forth kept pretty steady at ten or twelve inches. Below this, without the use of other means, it could not be reduced. The ponderous bodies that had hemmed us round for nine months and more, the objects of our terror, and yet perhaps the appointed means of safety, were now seen 396 STERN-POST SHATTERED. [cHAP.VI. floating away, dark and discoloured, among the fresh and unspotted ice. We were now able to see clearly that the stern-post was sadly shattered; entirely broken from the starboard side, and projecting fully three feet and a half over to port. What other injury there might be we could not yet divine, as the keel and lower part of the hull were firmly imbedded in solid ice on both sides, though chiefly on the starboard, where a heavy fragment of the old floe still ad- hered. Imagining that additional weight in the ship might assist in breaking the under ice away, we hauled alongside of a small floe, where there was a pool of fresh water, and having got the engine to work with a long hose, shortly com- pleted our water to nineteen tons. But finding this without the effect desired, all sail was set ; and then, after bracing the yards in the most advantageous manner for our purpose, the officers and men sallied alternately from the one to the other side, and then fore and aft, still however without effect ; for although this shook the ship it shook the ice also, and the two, forming one connected body, merely undulated slightly to- gether. Sail, however, was kept set ; and with our extraordinary appendage, we drifted gently wherever the wind, which happened to be fair, listed to take us. Our motion did not exceed a quarter of a mile an hour; and, notwithstanding CHAP. VI.] LEAK NOT REDUCED. 397 that detached pieces of greater or less dimensions were frequently encountered, they did little else than produce some deviation in the line of drift. Much water opened in sight to the southward and to the south-west, but the breeze was W.N.W., and we were driven about S.S.E. Throughout the night the pump was incessantly going, by which means, though the water at one time gained upon us, we were enabled generally to keep even with the leak, though not to reduce it. July 12th. - The wind continuing light, stud- ding sails and royals were set, the ship drifting as before. Some shores were placed under the fore chains, in the hope that they might assist to lift the ship off; but I was apprehensive that a strong purchase might have the effect of tearing away any fractured or splintered parts that should happen to be imbedded in the ice. In- deed, it was evident that great caution was required in the endeavour to release her entirely from her icy coating, as well on account of the damage which was already known, as of the further injuries that might have been sustained along the keel, which we were in no condition at that time to ascertain. It was, therefore, determined to have recourse again to the saw, which was forthwith put into order by our able armourer, the whole of the crew that could be spared from the pumps being, in the meantime, 398 PROSPECTS CONSIDERED. [CHAP.VL employed in throwing off the surface of two of the three or four solid hummocks which yet remained alongside, while others of the same party cut a trench at right angles to the ship's beam, preparatory to using the saw. At noon there were some narwhales near, and flocks of loons flew past; but there were few or no gulls. Owing to the haziness of the weather no land was in sight. As I now hoped that a few days at most would yield the Terror to my own control, it became necessary for me to decide as to the possibility of accomplishing the original purpose of the expe- dition ; and, although the altered state of the health of almost all on board made the prospect less favourable than it had been ten months ao*o, yet I had not, until recently, entertained a doubt of executing in part, if not entirely, the mission on which I had been despatched. It cannot, however, be denied that the loss of three valuable men, the entire disability of four or five others, the symptoms of disease lingering in many more — to say nothing of some of the officers who were visibly effected — had, together with Dr. Donovan's letter on the subject, already oiven me great uneasiness ; and now that the known damage of the ship proved to be far beyond what I had anticipated, or rather had hoped against hope •> this, with her leakage, and other injuries, apprehended though not known, forced me to contemplate the possibility of a different CHAP. VI.] officers' opinion. 399 conclusion. Unwilling, however, to admit a thought so destructive of all my fondly-cherished hopes and wishes, I demanded the written opi- nion of the three Lieutenants and Master. These, in separate communications, and for various rea- sons, decided that nothing was left but to get the ship to England without delay ; and my own sense of duty finally concurring in this opinion, the resolution was most reluctantly adopted. In the afternoon we got the saw to work, and by 5h p. m. had cut to within a few feet of the ship's side, when, the ice being closer ahead, sail was reduced. We then drifted alongside of a floe, round a point of which we contrived to pass about midnight, and saw much open water to the south-east. July 13th. Though there was ice in every direction, we continued to drift about a quarter of a mile an hour. Some small calves found their way from beneath our clog, and it was with great satisfaction that we contemplated the in- creased breadth of the saw line — a satisfaction not lessened by the discovery that the ship had settled more down, her draught now being abaft thirteen feet eight inches, and forward twelve feet eight. Neither, with the incessant workin cr of one pump, had the water accumulated in the well beyond eleven inches. At 9h a.m. there was a moderate breeze from the westward with ,400 DISRUPTION NEAR SHIP. [CHAP.VI. a thin mist, and, to our unaccustomed eyes a sight almost marvellous, a gentle swell on an apparently unbroken surface. It was thought the agitation, slight as it was, might crack or break the ice alongside ; but as it proved other- wise, two warps fixed to ice anchors, and lead- ing to either extremity of the ship, were firmly attached at a favourable angle for separating and entirely disuniting the entire mass ; however, while we were in the act of heaving a powerful strain on the warps, it suddenly split diagonally from a hummocky point about fifteen paces from the starboard bow, along its outer edge, to some- where near the after part of the main chains. The detached portion, on which were two men, (a third being in the dingy, close to them), was instantaneously splintered into three pieces, two of which, singularly enough, were separately occupied by the persons just mentioned, who, standing steadily on the whirling and heaving ice, thus violently discarded, gave a hearty cheer, while their companion, having lost his balance from the sudden jerking of the dingy, lay stretched at full length, and grasping the gun- whale on each side. The cheering however was turned to astonishment, as they watched the ship slowly rising and heeling over to port. We on board had been surprised that no counter action occurred, and were beginning to wonder that the CHAP. VI.] PERILOUS EMERGENCY. 401 vessel did not recover her equilibrium, but were now startled by the conviction that she was gradually going over ; and the great inclination rendering it impossible to stand on deck, every one clung on to windward as he best could. Then it was we beheld the strange and appalling spec- tacle of what may be fitly termed a submerged berg, fixed low down with one end to the ship's side, while the other, with the purchase of along lever, advantageously placed at a right angle with the keel, was slowly rising towards the surface. Meanwhile, those who happened to be below, finding every thing falling, rushed or clambered on deck, where they saw the ship on her beam-ends, with the lee boats touching the water, and felt that a few moments only trem- bled between them and eternity. Yet in that awful crisis there was no confusion ; the sails were clewed up and lowered ; fresh men from former crews were stationed in the boats, which again were rather unhooked than lowered ; the barge was hoisted out ; and with a promptitude and presence of mind which I shall ever remem- ber with admiration, the whole five were pro- visioned and filled with arms, ammunition, and clothing, and veered astern clear of danger. The pumps were never quitted, and though ex- pecting that the ship might capsize, yet the question of " Does the leak gain on us ?" was D D 402 AWKWARDNESS OF SITUATION. [CHAP.V asked, and when answered in the negative, there was still a manifestation of hope. Our fate, how- ever, yet hung in suspense, for not in the smallest degree did the ship right ; happily for us there was a dead calm, which permitted us to examine the berg. At the only part along the side, where we could effectively act, it was found to be four fathoms thick, and along this it was deter- mined to cut with the saw, if, providentially, time were spared us for the operation. On going; round outside with the first Lieutenant, I counted nearly fourteen planks below the filled- up part of the main chains to the edge of the water, the angle of inclination being about twenty-five degrees, while on the lee side I stepped from the boat's thwart on deck. Looking at the bottom, we perceived that the keel, from the fore-foot aft, was torn and ragged, but to what extent the damage extended could not yet be ascertained. The exceeding awkwardness of our situation occasioned some difficulty in slinging and placing the stages and sheers for sawing, but this was surmounted ; and by Llh a.m. the work was begun, and went on cheerily. The men were told that much depended on their exertions, and were encouraged to finish their task the same day. Provisions were issued on deck, and weak grog supplied occasionally j and thus fortified, and assisted by the officers, they CHAP. VI.] CREW HARD AT WORK. 408 sang and worked with that characteristic indif- ference to peril which has been so often admired in British seamen. While we were thus occu- pied, several seahorses came up, and after listening and stretching out their necks with a sort of curious stupidity as they drew them- selves on the ice, they seemed undecided whether to remain or not ; at length, however, they tumbled their uncouth bulks into the water, and disappeared. Meantime, considerable progress, as was imagined, was made with the saw ; but, on sounding, it was found that instead of cutting up and down it had taken a slanting course, and thus obliged us to recommence ; and the lower part, too, proved so hard, that a longer time was required for finishing the half yet undone. Seeing this, and reflecting that the heaviest part was detached, the same process was tried from aft ; and, this being found to be easier, by midnight there remained but twenty-five feet to cut, for connecting the two sections. Again the crew were supplied with food, making the third pound to each man since the commence- ment of the work in the forenoon ; but, on this occasion, hot cocoa was given instead of grog. After one hour's rest the laborious duty was re- sumed, and, stimulated with the desire of seeing the ship once more upright, they did not relax until nature asserted her prerogative. d d ^ i3 * -= 9 CHAP. VI.] GRATIFYING REFLECTIONS. 405 It was a scene not to be forgotten by the spec- tators. It wanted but one day to complete four months since the ship had been thrown upon the ice. In that period what extraordinary phenomena we had witnessed — what manifold mercies had shielded us when all seemed des- perate, and now we were free : the good ship was once more in her own element, and subject to the will of man ! I almost doubted the reality of what I saw. The crew were again alive for duty ; and having unloaded and hoisted up the boats, the termination, as we hoped, of our weary anxieties was celebrated by the distribution of a little grog to the crew, who, after three cheers, which they requested permission to give, to myself and the officers, the fine fellows were sent to their hammocks. The officers were glad to follow the example of the men : Lieutenant Smyth, in particular, must have been greatly fatigued ; for since the 21st of June he had been himself daily at work, and his exertions throughout this trying affair were as meritorious as they were harassing. Two accidents only happened, from first to last, and one of these was slight ; the other, as having befallen an invalid, was more serious, but yet not dangerous. What might have happened had the people remained on the ice it is difficult to conjecture ; but as it rose and fell against the dd 3 406 CLEARING DECKS. [CHAP.VI. ship's side, which again, on leaning over, pressed upon it, there is reason to apprehend that few would have survived that fatal crush. Wonder- ful, therefore, was the whole ! and well might we repeat with the Psalmist, " They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their busi- ness in great waters ; these men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep." Who amongst us can ever forget that day ? The ship, though tolerably upright, had a trifling list to port : her draught of water, after the consumption of one year's food, was reduced only one foot, being fourteen feet eight inches forward, and fourteen feet seven abaft. Left to her own guidance, she went slowly before the wind, avoiding, in a remarkable manner, the many pieces of drift ice which surrounded her. At noon the weather was beautiful. I now heard from the carpenter, that during the time the ship was on her beam ends, the midship part of the upper deck rose up, while both the ends were unsupported ; a trial which, in his opinion, no other vessel could have withstood, but must inevitably have broken her back, and been in great danger of sinking. As soon as the handsTwere turned up, we commenced clearing the decks, and in endeavouring to stow away the gunner's stores, it was discovered that the water was pouring into the ship in two rills, which, CHAP. VI.] PUMPS AT WORK. 407 finding their way by the stern-post, fell over the transom with a gush. Every thing was imme- diately cleared out to enable the carpenter to get at the leak, and most of the things were wet from having been under water. The casks in which bread was stowed, being water-tight, little or no injury had been sustained by this important article. The water in the well had been kept under, at first with three, and sub- sequently with two pumps, constantly at work ; and, even when the carpenters seemed to check the stream, which rushed through the leak, still those on deck could not relax in their efforts. July 15th. To the N.E. there was a pack of solid ice, and the drift ice was too thick to allow the ship to yaw about amongst it ; the little head- sail, therefore, that had been set, was taken in, and we began to pass a chain round and under the projecting part of the stern-post, heaving it so tight as to secure it against the effect of a heavy sea. The old rudder was now, by the help of the sheers erected for that purpose, taken on board, and the new one hoisted out and hung in its proper place. Sail was then set, and, having tacked under some disadvantage, we entertained a very favourable opinion of the result of the experiment. The ship, however, was very leewardly, and the shock occasioned by the first piece of ice that struck against her, D D 4 408 EXPEDITION FRUSTRATED. [CHAP.VI. showed clearly how much she was shaken and weakened. I had waited for the verification of my apprehensions, before I could bring myself finally to relinquish the object of my mission ; but my last hope having now vanished, — the ship crazy, broken, and leaky, — I had no longer a choice ; and, accordingly, assembling the crew on the quarter deck, I told them they were now going home. It may be well pardoned them that their countenances brightened at the intel- ligence, and their feelings were manifested by three hearty cheers. Thus in effect ended an expedition, from which, had it been permitted to reach its port of disembarkation, it was reasonable to expect the full accomplishment of its objects. Un- controllable circumstances prevented it. The problem itself, which it was intended to solve, remains of course unaltered. Whether, notwith- standing a repulse which may fairly be considered as accidental, a further trial is to be made, is a question for the consideration of those to whose zeal and perseverance the science of geography is already so deeply indebted. The wind having got to the eastward, the ship was kept in the open water off Charles Island, in readiness to avail itself of any lead towards the mouth of the Strait. Another leak was discovered, which again intruded on our CHAP. VI.] SLOW PROGRESS OF SHIP. 409 Sunday service. At noon, the eastern point of Charles Island bore S. \ W., and the ice con- tinuing packed to the eastward, we contented ourselves with standing off and on. The ship, however, was so leewardly, that by noon, July 17th, we were only opposite to the east end of the same island, having made but seven miles to wind- ward in twenty-four hours ; though, in smooth water, with all reefs out and top-gallant sails set. The leaks had been partially stopped ; but another passage was soon found out through and between the lining and the sides, and the same quantity of water made its way into the ship as before. As there was little prospect of much improvement in this respect, a different mode of working the pumps was adopted, and conduits were laid down and caulked, from the pumps to the ship's sides, in order to carry off the water without wetting the deck. We now sailed among loose ice, avoiding as carefully as possible any concussion ; for the shock even of a small piece made the ship's frame tremble in a manner that proved beyond doubt her rickety condition. Night as it advanced, brought rain with fog, and a freshening breeze which induced us to shorten sail, and having tacked from the edge of the pack, we hove to. Next day, July 18th, the topsails were treble reefed, and as the same misty weather prevailed, 410 RAINY WEATHER. [CHAP.VI. much caution and dexterity were required on the part of the officers in keeping clear of drift ice. All hands were yet occupied during the day in clearing those parts of the after hold ad- jacent to the leaks, and in restowing such as had already been disturbed. The carpenters detected a considerable rising in the lining of the star- board side of the bread-room, just between the sleeper and the stringer, against which there had been so violent a pressure for many months past. He secured it with sixteen long nails. Though the wind had got round to the westward, yet, thick and rainy as the weather was, all that could be done was to steer clear of the ice ; but on July 19th, the wind again veered to the north, and compelled us to beat to windward, to avoid being driven on the southern shore. At noon it rained heavily, and the ice was closely packed to the north-east. The two pumps were kept going as before, the leak making about four feet of water per hour. Temperature 35° + . In the afternoon the freshening of the breeze made it necessary to reef the topsails, and we continued skirting the edge of the pack until after midnight, when on the 20th, the ice beginning to stream off, and drift in vast quantities towards the southern land, it was requisite to make an effort to elude it, for fear of being carried with it in that direc- tion. This, of necessity, threw us into the midst CHAP, VI. J DIFFICULTY OF STEERING. 411 of it ; and, unmanageable as the ship was, and always going to leeward, the utmost attention on the part of those on deck could not prevent her striking or grazing against various pieces, from the concussion of which she suffered greatly. Observing that the ice opened out to the north- east, in which direction I wished to go, for the pur- pose of returning along the known track of the north shore, rather than by the unfrequented, and almost unknown navigation of the south one, ad- vantage was taken of the circumstance ; and, though greatly annoyed by numerous unavoidable shocks from the drift ice, sufficient distance was gained to bring in sight the coast along which we had passed last year. Such, however, was the diffi- culty of steering clear of concussions, and so great the importance of saving our new rudder, which was in danger of being carried away, that further progress was impossible; and as by good fortune an extensive floe was near, the ship was got to it and made fast by the usual means of ice anchors. At that time, one compact sheet of ice filled the Straits from shore to shore, and extended to the utmost limit of view to the eastward. At noon Charles Island bore (east end) W.S.W. and the Labrador shore stretched to the south and east, terminating in a point. The temperature was 37°-\- , and 44° + in the sun. That of the sea water which in a free 412 ship's draught increased, [chap. VI. space was 35° -f , was, when surrounded with ice, only 31° -f. The effectual labours of the car- penter began to be manifested by a small but perceptible diminution of the depth of water in the well : in consequence, however, of the wood becoming sodden, the ship had increased her draught of water about two and a half inches. We found ourselves setting, as was supposed, fast to the south-east ; and, in the evening, the floe to which we were attached split into three pieces, though leaving our part still large enough to hang on by. July 21st. The ice had driven us nearer to the Labrador Coast, a few miles from which was an island conjectured to be that called Weggs. The main shore was high and apparently rocky, being diversified by hill and valley, where streaks and patches of snow yet remained. The channel between it and Charles Island seemed wide, and probably contributed to form some of the eccen- tric whirls, or currents, which every now and then visibly affected the ice. In the forenoon we were obliged to get more warps out, to haul the ship out of the way of such floe pieces as threat- ened to drive against the rudder; for, though the south shore might have been approached, there was not the smallest opening to the north and east, nor indeed to the west. Two whales were seen, and a narwhale, together with a few boat- CHAP. VI.] HILLY COAST. 413 swains. At noon Charles Island bore W. by N. about eight leagues distant. There was much drift ice incommoding us in the afternoon, when the ship was hauled alongside the floe to allow of our filling our tanks with fresh water. There must have been a perfect block to the east ; for, though the wind was westerly, and, consequently, down the Straits, we moved only to the south- ward with the ice, which took us nearer and nearer the shore. About 6h 30m there was a probability of getting three or four miles to the south-east, whereupon we cast off from the floe and made sail, and, having accomplished the distance at 8h p. m., we again made fast to a large floe. This had certainly been exposed to heavy pressure, for many blocks and masses of ice were thrown upon it, to the height of fifteen or twenty feet. July 22d, presented one glare of ice to the north- east and south-east from shore to shore, and at noon, we found by the observations that our drift had rather carried us in shore ; so that we had now an opportunity of beholding the coast in all its frowning grandeur. It rose into high hills, deserving the name of mountains, and these were broken into numerous vallies, that, after shelving in some places towards the sea, terminated abruptly in fearful precipices and perpendicular cliffs, accessible only to birds. 414 FLOE-PIECES Ii\ MOTION. [CHAP.VI. Some islands lay off, and, though evidently of no mean altitude, were completely in shade under these towering cliffs. Harbours and deep bights were sufficiently defined, but all were choked with ice, and unapproachable except by such pressure as we had no desire to experience. Two pumps were still required to keep the ship free. A whale was seen and several morses. Throughout the afternoon large floe pieces were observed to be setting in atmost every direction, even against the wind, which had considerably increased in strength ; and frequently we were not a little embarrassed to protect the rudder against their assault, being compelled to make use of warps to avoid them. The carpenter, on examining the lining below, found that the water trickled through still higher than before, and that, in consequence, the ship's draught was augmented to fourteen feet eleven inches fore and aft, being three inches deeper than when she righted from the ice. Finding that the ice continued in motion, and that there was a lead somewhat nearer the land, I now decided on trying it, as not the slightest probability appeared of an opening towards the north shore, where, on the contrary, the view presented only one compact body of impene- trable ice. Although, therefore, I was not with- out some anxiety of being closed in against the CHAP. VI.] FREAK OF THE SHIP. 415 shore, if, as was not impossible, the breeze should veer to the north and drive all the wind- ward ice upon us ; yet I had, in fact, no alter- native. At 8h 50m p. m. the surrounding masses began to drift to the south-east ; and, coasting off from the floe, we threaded an in-shore lead under easy sail until llh p. m., when farther progress being interrupted by the closing of the ice, the ship was kept beating to windward of the pack until the morning of July 23d, with the view of taking the first favourable opening that presented itself. The ship, however, de- cided the point herself rather more quickly than was anticipated ; for, refusing to answer the helm, which had been put a-lee for tacking, she drove bodily to leeward into the pack, to the great risk of carrying away the rudder and the remainder of the stern-post. This freak cost us some severe shocks in forcing a passage to a floe, round whose point we contrived to get by means of warping; and, as the prospect was rather more promising, sail was kept on the ship, and she bored her way with many sharp concussions and infinite windings till about lh p. m., when, having run between twenty and thirty miles, she was stopped by the usual impediment. Trifling as this distance may appear, it seemed considerable to us who had been so long driven wherever wind and tide chose to carry us. The line of 416 VISITED BY ESQUIMAUX. [CHAP.VI. coast was still mountainous and imposing, with a singularly irregular outline, partially lost in a horizontal band of fleecy clouds, which the fine- ness of the day allowed to dwell there. Nor was variety wanting; for, besides numerous dark and rugged islands extending from point to point, there were spacious bays and harbours, almost land-locked, and stretching so far inland as to lose their sombre aspect in the soft blue of the distance. In one place there was an amphi- theatre of frowning hills, the bases of which were buried in mist, while the picturesque sum- mits stood out clear and defined, touched here and there with snow, producing an effect most striking, but of which no description could give an adequate idea. Four noisy natives of the Esquimaux race had the hardihood to venture through much difficult drift ice to the ship, from whence, however, they returned amply rewarded, and the richest of their tribe. Some of the pre- sents, supplied for that purpose by government, were given to them, together with a few brass medals, having the ship's name on one side, and a figure of Britannia on the other. The north shore could be seen from deck. In the evening the ice became rather slacker, and an intimation of the freshening of the westerly wind was given by the slipping of the warp over the head of the hummock to which it CHAP.Yi.] ANOTHER INVALID. 417 was fastened, in consequence of the increased straining of the ship. Early on July 24th a tempting lead appearing in the right direction, that is to say, slanting off the shore, sail was again made, and leaving the floe, under the influence of a fresh breeze, we proceeded three or four miles without any impediment from ice. At the end of that distance, however, the ship was compelled to bore among heavy masses, and in so doing there was no possibility of escaping many serious blows that shook her whole frame, though still without apparent injury. At 9h 30m the impracticability of proceeding further became apparent, and we made fast to an extensive old floe, of the yellow tinted kind, which happened to be at hand. I ought to mention that, at one time, we fancied a brigantine was in sight, which, as the day became clearer, turned out to be an iceberg, being over towards the north shore. We had succeeded in drawing away from the land about twenty miles, and the whole of the forenoon we were set considerably to the south- east. The hope of getting entirely free of the ice and breathing a different air had diffused fresh spirits in most of our invalids ; but it was annoying to find a new patient in the list, and one, too, who had passed through the regions of the winter without evincing the least symptom of disorder. The whole affair, indeed was inex- E E 418 FLOES NUMEROUS. [CHAP.VI. plicable to the medical officers, as we had had the advantage of the best provisions, and assuredly every comfort which persons situated as we were could possess. At lh p. m. catching a glimpse of an opening we left the floe, but after some boring were stopped, and again held on by the heaviest floe we had seen since the winter. There had been immense pressure on it, as with the floes in Fox's Channel, whence, judging from its dirty yellow colour, it had in all pro- bability come. In the evening we made another attempt, which, after an hour's trial, was again relinquished, and we made fast as before to another floe, a great number of which lay in every direction. July &5th. The westerly breeze now failed us, and up to noon the ice was infinitely too close to permit our moving. After some time however, the ship was warped from floe to floe, as circumstances admitted, and at 5h p.m., just when it was thought that further progress was hopeless, and we were about to make fast, the ice gradually opened out, and sail being immedi- ately crowded on the ship, she went with hard boring between very heavy ice, at the rate of two or three knots an hour, as was imagined, directly towards the north shore. July 26th. It fell partially calm, but after 8n a. m, a light air sprang up \ and, though com- CHAP.VI.] CURRENTS. 419 pletely hampered with ice of all descriptions, for the berg was then plainly discerned from deck, yet we thumped and glided on from piece to piece, and thus contrived to make a kind of devious course to the east-north-east. The Labrador coast was thrown up considerably by refraction, and, even allowing for this, appeared much nearer than our estimated run gave us reason to suppose. At noon this was accounted for by the discovery that, though the longitude was considerably to the east, the latitude was actu- ally a few miles south of yesterday's, thus demonstrating the influence of a current set- ting from the west along the Labrador shore, directly contrary to the set described by other officers as existing on the north side of the Straits. This fact corresponded with what we had already experienced somewhere about Mill Islands, where it may be remembered some overfalls were seen, which, together with a strong set down Fox's Channel, so completely overpo wered the sailing qualities of the Terror, that for two days she was unable to beat through them. It is not improbable, therefore, that the upward current, becoming dissipated and broken along the sinuosities of the northern shore, may be finally turned by the stronger one from Fox's Channel, the effect of which would be that the set would be carried between the islands towards ee 2 420 SLOW PROGRESS. [CHAP. VI. Charles Island, and thence east into the Atlantic, as we found to be the case in fact. During the remainder of the day, and until noon of the 27th, the wind was light, but still strong enough to enable us to sail and bore among extremely heavy ice, which, from pieces of moderate dimensions, all at once changed its character to enormous floes, completely blocking up the passage across. We could therefore only coast along them, as well as the impediments permitted.* Our progress, therefore, was neces- sarily slow ; but after 9h p. m. a casual slack taking place, the ship forced her way a few miles ahead, striking with startling violence, but yet, as on former occasions, without increasing her leakage, though a great deal of oakum had worked from out the seams under the counter. The ice was of an extraordinary thickness, and had, moreover, long projecting tongues two or three fathoms below the surface, which so ob- structed our course that, though the ship's head pointed often N.N.E., we only made good a S.E. line of direction. By midnight the entire bodv of ice closed in and beset us ; and the appearance, at the same time, of a faint aurora, brought about the recollection of last autumn. * Two pieces of ice with fragments, refuse, &c. passed us. They were conjectured to have come from one of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships probably passing along the north coast. CHAP. VI.] REFRACTION OF OBJECTS. 4c2l July 28th brought no difference in our pro- spects, except indeed the unwonted presence, at this season of the year, of no fewer than nine or ten large bergs, the produce of Davis's Straits, proving the prevalence of easterly winds from seaward, although of late we had experienced westerly ones in Hudson's Strait. Bergs of this description are always described, by those employed in the Greenland fishery, to ' hold,' as it is termed, a great deal of water ; but every one of these, so far as could be discerned from the mast-head, was hemmed tightly round with ice, nor was water visible in any point of the compass, with the single exception of a narrow lane towards the Labrador shore. At noon the centre of Long Island bore S. W. There was, and had been for two days, considerable refraction of objects. The ship did not go her own length ahead, by any power derived from her sails, and at night the ice was unusually close-packed ; but what most astonished us was a gentle swell, which perceptibly agitated the whole body around us, and indicated the neighbourhood of open water, disturbed by strong easterly winds ; so that, having, in a manner, exhausted the fine westerly breeze which had brought us thus far through the seemingly end- less nuisance (for it was now one year since we first encountered it), our ship gently drifted to e e 3 422 POSITION AS BEFORE. [CHAP.VI. the south-east, in a sort of neutral territory between the confines of the polar and temperate regions. July 29th. It was in vain that topmast and top-gallant studding sails were set, for though they seemed to hug the gentle air aloft, we re- mained immovable. Daylight however proved, by the altered appearance of Long Island, that our drift had been southerly, and this was farther verified by the appearance of some flocks of ducks flying from the land towards the north. At noon our position was much the same, only that land, supposed to be Green Island, was observed to bear south-east. The temperature was 54°, hav- ing risen from 33°+. We were still completely beset, and as the day declined, the wind, gra- dually veering to the eastward, so interlocked the points of ice as to give the appearance of one vast floe. In the twenty-four hours, according to the noon observation of July 30th, our drift had been a little westerly, and full fifteen miles due south, which brought us still nearer to some low islands lying off Long Island, With every available sail set, the ship had forged ahead about twice her own length in four hours \ and though more or less sail was carried, according to the strength of the breeze, at midnight only a few hundred paces of distance had been gained. On July 31st, so close was the ice, that there CHAP. VI.] REVOLUTION OF ICE ASTERN, 423 was no possibility of keeping the ship's head in the right direction, or preventing her from drifting bo- dily towards the land : sail, therefore, was shortened, and we made fast to the largest piece near. By this measure, however, our way to the south was rather increased than diminished, and sail was again set ; when, after drifting considerably to leeward, her head was at length forced in the right direction, and she went ahead about twice her own length. Th en,flnding all further exertion useless, the for mer plan of carrying out an ice-anchor to the heaviest piece was adopted, and, the sails being furled, we remained quiet until 10h 30m a. m., when, by a sudden revolution of the ice astern, a weighty mass came in contact with the rudder, and, be- fore we could warp out of danger, had well nigh carried it away. A few minutes, however, sufficed to haul the ship's broadside to the larger piece, where we lay secure. It might have been expected, from our previous drift with a westerly breeze, that now that the wind had drawn round to the north-east we should have been driven still more to the southward, where some low rocks, apparently not much above the water, were ready to receive us. But here again was another anomaly; for, notwithstanding the drag of the ship against the ice to which she was anchored, greatly to our astonishment she went to wind- ward, almost, indeed, in the wind's eye, so that e e 4 424 PUMPS STILL REQUIRED. [CHAP.VI.: by nightfall the coast of Long Island, whose rugged rocks were contemplated eight hours before with no agreeable sensations, was beginning to assume a fainter tinge, and to give place to the loom of some uncertain land, conjectured to be Green Island, bearing about east. Heavy rain, similar to that ordinarily met with at the edge of a pack, or at least in the vicinity of open water, together with thick weather, effectu- ally screened the shore from view. This continu- ing throughout the night, on August 1st we had no means of ascertaining our position otherwise than by sounding; but as this gave one hundred and twenty-eight fathoms water, on a muddy bottom, all cause for anxiety was at an end. The ice continued to slacken about the ship and to windward, and at noon the tempera- ture was 34°. Two pumps were always required to keep the ship free ; and, notwithstanding our present sheltered situation, yet the jerking and concussions received from passing ice added to the effect of a slight swell, just sufficient to swing the broadside at intervals against the piece to which we were attached, had contri- buted to weaken still further the after part of the ship, so that, to use the carpenter's phrase, " the bolts wept ;" or, in other words, were already sufficiently loosened to allow of the waters oozing between them and the wood. 14f CHAP. VI. J SHIP STRUCK BY A PLOE. 4L25 .The result was an increase of water in the well, amounting now to a little more than five feet per hour, and an apprehension that it would be still further augmented on exposure to a rolling sea. Several heavy remnants of floes hovered for three or four hours of a rainy night alarmingly near our rudder and quarter ; and, anxious as we were to guard these tender and . important points, it was not a little curious to observe the eccentric movements of those huge masses ; now pressing directly towards us, now turning aside and athwart the previous course, as it were reluctantly retreating ; then again, as if urged by fresh vigour, turning slowly round, and gradu- ally reapproaching ; until suddenly, under some powerful but unseen influence, their whirling ceased, and they started off with accelerated speed in a straight undeviating line, immediately against the wind, ploughing up or tossing aside every impediment that crossed their way. Rain fell all night, up to noon of August 2d, the wind continuing north-east and the ice close, whilst a gentle swell occasionally agitated the ship. No land could be seen. At c2h 40ra p. m. a sudden commotion took place among the ice, perhaps occasioned by the spring tide, which drove a large floe against the ship, upon the star- board quarter, with a crash that brought most of the officers on deck* Fortunately, the blow 42G HEAVY MISTS. [CHAP.VI. was not repeated ; and, after a lapse of two hours, it floated away to the leeward, whither, indeed, all the lighter ice seemed to be drifting, in the direction of south-east. The same dark thick weather, with incessant rain, prevailed throughout the night, the ice being often very slack, and then closing again with some degree of violence. August 3d. Finding that the stern was more exposed than the bow, which had the shelter of a projecting point of our holding piece, the ship was turned round end for end, and secured ; though, such was the uncertain action of the drift ice, that it was little better than chance which was the better direction. At noon we were still in the dark as to our position ; but, judging from the numerous flocks of loons flying backwards and forwards morning and evening, it was conjectured that the land could not be very remote. Meanwhile, the easterly wind and mist continued, the temperature varying from 32° to 3r/° + . About 2h p.m. the ice closed rapidly around us ; and a heavy floe which had been at rest for some hours, acquiring instant speed, struck our holding piece so forcibly as to split it, leaving, however, a remnant sufficient for our purpose, when some necessary alterations had been made with the warp. At 4h there was a partial clearing above, and some low land CHAP. VI.] TWO BERGS DISCOVERED. 427 was indistinctly seen, bearing E.S.E. ; but the return of the mist again obscured it, and left us ignorant of what part it was. Immense flocks of loons kept constantly flying in every direction, betraying a restlessness altogether unaccountable. There was no lack of water, which, however, they seemed to disregard ; so that had not we caught a glimpse of our position, I should have certainly thought we were not far from the rocks where they roosted. Not long after this, two bergs were discovered ; and the wind having veered to north-west, and the ice become more apart, I determined on casting off from what had carried us safely through three days of mist. I was utterly at a loss to know whether the ship was north or south of her last ascertained posi- tion ; but, as the horizon was visible for about four miles, and nothing appeared to indicate land, we warped a short distance, and then made sail. The ice continued slack, and we had the satis- faction to find that the ship glided through the water, though not without the usual penalty of some severe shocks, which made her tremble to her very keel. The carpenter had been assidu- ously employed in an attempt to force up a quantity of oakum and tallow between the doubling and the rents in the stern-post, in the hope of choking some portion of the leaks thereabouts j and the experiment, so far as he 428 A SMART GALE. [CHAP.VI. could judge from the disappearance of the material used, was attended with tolerable suc- cess. At midnight there was almost a calm, and the whole body of ice began to set fast to the south. However, on the 4th, the breeze revisited us, and with more or less obstruction we went on under the same sail. The ice now lay more in streams than formerly ; and between these there was so much water, as to induce the ice- mate to suppose we had got to the edge of the pack. That this was not the fact was subse- quently proved by our being again slightly hampered at noon, when by the latitude of 67° 47' N., it was evident that notwithstanding the northern course which had been steered, we had still crept to the southward. At 4h p. m. Green Island was clearly visible from S.E. to E.S.E., considerably to the south of us, although bearing north by the charts; a circumstance easily accounted for, as it had only been seen by the dead reckoning of one of our predecessors, and marked down accordingly. Its true position; is in latitude 60° 30' north, and longitude 67° 26' 20" west. As the sun declined, the weather cleared and brought on a fresh breeze that shortly increased to a smart gale ; and the ice being closer and heavier than in the early part of the day, it became requisite to shorten sail and close-reef the top- CHAP. VI.] SPLENDID METEOR. 429 sails, to lessen the violence of the shocks unavoidably received. Some of these, indeed, were sufficiently alarming to cause anxiety for the safety of the rudder ; for, as we were in what is called a loose pack, with no piece large enough to make the ship fast to, she drifted against them broadside on, and, drawing her length along with much pressure under the quarter, threw a powerful strain on the stern- post. On August 5th, about c2h a. m., a splendid comet-like meteor appeared in the south-east, which darting from somewhere near the zenith in a brilliant prismatic blaze, and, taking a direction towards the horizon, burst about fifteen degrees above it, and after scattering rays of beautiful sparks, vanished altogether. Towards morning a ground swell was felt, and the ice becoming much slacker, and the wind lighter, ■ (though still fresh), wre made some way to the north, having passed two large bergs, which the night before were barely in sight. Green Island, too, was distant and much refracted. We now, for the first time since leaving Charles Island, got into a space of eight or ten miles of open water, and setting the main sail we beat to windward to round a point of ice, which, howrever, was not effected by noon. The latitude was found to be 60° 54', and there seemed a reasonable proba- 430 DARK-COLOURED BERGS. [CHAP.VI. bility of getting still more to the north, which I considered the only certain way of avoiding the southerly set, and accomplishing a speedy pass- age out of the Strait. Easterly winds must have been unusually prevalent hereabouts, since a large proportion of the heavy ice, recently encountered, was decidedly the produce of the deep bays and inlets in the neighbourhood of Davis's Strait, as was evident from their weather-beaten form, and the difference of colour, which was of a purer white and deeper blue than what we had been accustomed to. In addi- tion to these, there were the bergs spreading at every point, but which, with a northerly or west- erly wind, would, long before this time, have been far on their journey towards the banks of New- foundland or the Gulf Stream. After three or four tacks we reached open water at 6h p. m., at which time Green Island was but just in sight, and the north shore, with Button's isles on the other side, soon came into view. The wind having abated, all sail was crowded on the ship, and at 8h r. m., there were but three or four bergs and some straggling streams of ice to be seen, while a peculiar gloom of a leaden grey tinge, the effect of a dark sky on open water, seemed, to eyes inured to a twelvemonth's glare of Polar ice, unusually dull and heavy. But it had not power to damp the joy that CHAP. VI. J INVALIDS CHEER. 431 beamed on every countenance, at the long wished for liberation that now quickly broke upon us. Our invalids became animated; and, even the few who were seriously affected, and had long worn the sallow livery of disease, raised their feeble frames from their beds, and, with a smile, once more thought of home. Snow appeared to be still lingering on the high land from Terra Nieva to the East Bluff, the denuded parts of which were strangely striated by the refracted ice clinging close along the sinuosities of the coast. One of the lower savage islands, alone, was seen dark and solitary in the opening ; and beyond it, in colour not much deeper than the sky, was the bulky form of Resolution, the Calpe of the Strait. With more or less obstruction from adverse tide or current, we pursued our joyous course, until on August 6th calm and rain for a while checked it; soon, however, a light air again sprang up, and at noon we were hastening on- wards. We now hauled up more for the land, in order to clear the extreme point of some stream ice, but were puzzled at seeing only four hills to the north, instead of Resolution Island ; the latter, however, was at length discovered in the shape of a narrow horizontal line far up in the clouds, on the dispersion of which we found ourselves nearly opposite to Hatton's headland. Every sail that could be 3-12 EXTRA MEAL ALLOWED. [cHAP.VI. "set was spread to the breeze ; though, scarcely had we fairly launched into the wide opening of Davis's Strait, than we were compelled to put the ship under snug canvass. In the midst of one of the squalls the look-out man called out " ice ahead ;" and before there was time to perform any evolution, we were right among it: luckily, it was only the straggling edge of a loose stream, which was passed without in- jury, though it required the utmost vigilance to steer clear of the numerous bergs seen dimly through the haze of a starless night. Early on August 7th Resolution Island was just in sight, astern ; and, under the influence of a most promising westerly breeze, sail was again crowded, while active measures were adopted to hoist inboard and firmly secure our boats, anchors, &c, for the voyage across. One circumstance alone gave cause for uneasi- ness, and this was the working of the injured parts of the stern-posts and keel by which more water necessarily found admission. A strong shore was immediately fixed to counteract it, which in some respects answered well ; though it was not altogether effective, since the pumps were constantly required to keep the ship free. The arduous duty thus imposed on a weakened crew, together with other considerations, induced the surgeon to recommend an additional meal of preserved meat in the week, with more an- CHAP. VI.] SHATTERED CONDITION OF SHIP. 433 tiscorbutics. It had been observed, indeed, that the apprehension of sickness had induced most of the men to go without food, except such as they could save up of fresh provision, rather than take their regular allowance of salt meat. We now went cheerily along between ice bergs of an extent and altitude such as I had never before witnessed, until, leaving them far behind, the temperature of the sea-water gradually increased from 36° to 41° + , and indi- cated our entrance into a warmer climate. August 9th. The shattered condition of the after part of the ship forced itself hourly more on our notice, and, though yet unexposed to any thing beyond a moderate sea, the rickety state of the stern-post and other parts, such as the dead- wood, heel-hook, and heel-knee, as well as the increased leakage between the lining, rendered immediate attention necessary, before the arrival of a gale should put us to too severe a test. Con- sequently the heel chains were again set up, and being brought over each quarter were hove tight by the capstan ; and in order to prevent the scarphing of the doubling on the keel from break- ing adrift, as was apprehended by the carpenter, as well as to secure the doubling itself, a length of the stream-chain cable was passed under the bottom of the ship, four feet before the mizen mast, hove tight by the capstan, and finally im- F F 434 BREEZE OFF CAPE FAREWELL. [CHAP.VI. moveably fastened to six ring-bolts on the quarter deck. The effect was at once manifested, by a great diminution in the working of the parts already mentioned, and in a less agreeable way, by impeding our rate of sailing ; a trifling con- sideration, however, when compared with the benefit received. Another man was added to the sick list, a second showed symptoms of scurvy, and the same evening Mr. Webster, the gunner, was similarly affected. Nothing could be more favourable than the wind and weather had hitherto been since quitting Hudson's Strait, but though many additional bolts and supports had been placed abaft, yet the working of the ship, as she was thrown about by the sea or swell, began sensibly to loosen the bolt-heads in the heel-hook, while the lining was much swollen. The only immediate remedy for these unavoidable evils, was the substituting more shores to counteract the effect, and give what strength we could. August 1 1th. The stay bolts in the tiller broke, owing to a rather heavy swell from the south- west acting against a northerly breeze, which rolled us about a great deal. From that time we went on slowly, without material change, until the 15th, when, having rounded the broad point of Cape Farewell, we were all at once exposed to a swell from the north east, which, though the breeze entirely died away, increased to such a CHAP. VI. J INCREASE OF LEAKAGE. 435 degree as to resemble the sea off the Cape of Good Hope more than anything else. The con- sequences to us were serious indeed, for, from the unavoidable pitching, rolling, and straining of the ship, the entire stern frame became more and more loosened. The fastenings and bolts were rickety and twisted : this naturally slackened the preventer lashings, till that time of great utility, and an additional quantity of water, now forcibly rushing in from a variety of places, warned us how little we had to depend upon for safety, ex- cept the providential care which had hitherto been our stay and comfort. We did not however neglect to put four extra screw eye-bolts on each side of the heel-knee, through which ten turns of two- inch rope were passed for a lashing, that in some measure relieved the immense strain previously sustained by the others. Nevertheless the leaks did not abate, and owing to the quantity of coals stowed in bulk below, and the manner in which we had been thrown about, the limber holes had got choked, so that on inspection not less than fourteen inches of water were found over the casing of the water-courses. This obliged us to cut a hole through the bulkhead on the star- board side, to allow of its egress to the pump well, and when it was done, the service of the whole crew, properly divided into parties, was required for upwards of three hours and twenty f f 2 436 CRAZY STATE OF THE SHIP. [CHAP. VI. minutes, out of the four hours of each watch, to keep the ship free. In fact she was becoming daily more sodden and heavy, as was proved by her diminished rate of sailing, which now, under every advantage of wind and sea, never exceeded five knots an hour. Generally, however, she averaged from two to three, and in moderate weather with any swell still less. August 18th. The keel chain having been slackened, owing probably to the working of the damaged part, was again hove tight with the cap- stan. The effect of this was soon shown, for the shores and fastenings below, where the carpenter of the watch was stationed, were observed by him to be set firm, thus proving beyond all doubt the loosened state of the under portion of the ship. Thus patched up, while favoured with moderate weather, we made reasonable progress ; but dur- ing any abatement of the breeze, the rolling and plunging of the ship excited much anxiety, for the leaks still gained, and the altered appearance of the crew plainly evinced the change that was taking place, from their incessant labour. Nor could it be concealed that the quantity of water always rushing backward and forward below, was beginning to affect the equilibrium of the ship, which now visibly heeled over to starboard. The favourable conjunction of circumstances which had carried us thus far without any squall or CHAP. VI.] WATER REACHES MAGAZINE. 437 tempest, encouraged many in the hope that we might be altogether exempted from such un- welcome visitations. On August the 28th, however, the clouds grew dark and gloomy, whilst misty scud drove rapidly before the coming gale, and the heavy roll of the sea threw us about in every direction. The bulkheads being considerably loosened, worked so much, that it became necessary to introduce numerous wedges. These for a time answered the purpose of keeping them firm, especially when by carrying a press of sail the ship could be kept well over on one side ; but on examining below, it was found that the bolts and tree-nails in the after-part of the sail-room were started, which in consequence was so much weakened, as to allow the rushing in of a stream of water between the lining. This again de- manded immediate attention, and though the ingenuity of our able carpenter enabled him to check its progress in that particular place, it soon forced its way to another. August 31st. The continuance of the gale augmented our difficulties, for a fresh leak was discovered on the larboard side of the heel-knee, and a considerable quantity of water found its way into the magazine and injured the powder. The bread-room, too, was partially flooded, and the entire stern-frame worked with every roll, ff3 438 CASCADE IN BREAD-ROOM. £CHAP.V. to such an extent, that it seemed almost impos- sible to keep the ship from filling. The heel chains being found slack, were again about to be set up, when it was ascertained that the screw ring-bolt fixed in the outer dead-wood on the larboard side had been carried away, so that the loosening; of the chain was not to be wondered at. It was, therefore, hauled up, while the remaining one, on which alone we had now to depend, was set as tight as possible. Still the water rushed violently in below, more especially about the stern-post and heel-hook ; and oozing through different parts higher up, fell like a cascade into the bread-room and ' run.' Two more screw ring-bolts were now driven into each side of the heel-knee, which was secured by a lashing of eighteen turns of two-and-a-half inch rope, while, apprehensive that further injury had been sustained about the keel, another length of chain was passed under the bottom, and set well tight to a part of itself across the after-part of the quarter deck. The ship was becoming exces- sively uneasy ; for the unabated fury of the gale, strengthened by squalls, raised a long breaking sea, in which she plunged so heavily, that it was often unusually long before she recovered her- self. It was evident she was hourly getting more water-logged, and the straining and creak- ing of her whole frame, the working of the CHAP. VI.] SHIP SINKING. 439 bulkheads, which actually raised the officers' bed-places, the rickety twisting occasioned by the fore and aft motion, and the prolonged dull roll to windward, to say nothing of the cascade- like rushing of the water within, — all theseVere certain indications of a consummation which no exertions of ours would probably be sufficiently long to defer. Whilst thus seriously anxious, I was acquainted, shortly after midnight, by Lieutenant Smyth, that the crew were no longer equal to the task of keeping the leaks under, and that, consequently, we were sinking. Such, indeed, was for the moment the fact ; but the fine fellows, though dreadfully exhausted, again rallied, and cheered and aided by the officers, worked with renewed vigour, until once more they accomplished, and thenceforth maintained their object. Up to this moment I had intended to proceed to Stromness, but it now became absolutely necessary to make for the nearest land, and as Lough Swilly, on the Irish coast, offered the easiest access, that harbour was at once selected. However, on putting the ship before the gale, she was so difficult to steer as to compel us to take in all the sail off the main-mast, and to de- pend on a treble-reefed fore-top-sail, fore-sail, &c. : even then she was so wild as to be scarcely ma- nageable. The crew were now so harassed with f f 4 440 A SAIL DESCRIED. [cHAP.VI. unremitted work at the pumps, which could not be left for a moment, that they were fast wear- ing out. To aggravate our disasters, the ship, too, laboured so as to make it impossible to light a fire, and thus deprived us of the nourish- ment essential for the restoration of our ex- hausted energies. This, however, was in some measure compensated by a liberal allowance of preserved meats, which, on this, as on many other occasions, we had found extremely useful. The weather continued very boisterous, and so thick that Rockall, though within ten miles of us, was not seen. A heavy sea now struck the after-part of the ship, and, to complete our misfortunes, sprung the main piece of the rudder on the larboard side, not far from the deck. Happily we were enabled to get at it, and by passing seventeen turns of strong whale line round the injured part, we contrived to secure it. Still, as successive seas came rolling thickly upon us, we watched with intense solicitude the result, well knowing that if it gave way again the safety of the ship was hopeless, even if life itself could be preserved. On we struggled, crazy and waterlogged, but the gale abated; and on Sept. 3d, crowding every stitch of canvass, we descried a sail in the distance, the first we had yet seen. Under ordinary circumstances a signal would have been CHAP. VI.] CAST ANCHOR IN LOUGH SWILLY. 441 made to attract her attention, bat time was too precious with us now that we were pressing for- ward for our lives ; and about two o'clock in the afternoon, within half an hour of our calculation, the joyful sound of land was announced from the look-out man at the mast head. It was late when we closed it, and being anxious to obtain a pilot, rockets, blue lights, and guns were fired for that purpose, but no one came ; wherefore, trusting to the soundings, we glided silently past the lights of the fishermen's cottage, and near midnight anchored safely in Lough Swilly. Fifteen long months had elapsed since that pleasing sound of a falling anchor had greeted us , and when we reflected on what had passed in that interval, and, above all, on the difference which a few hours had made in our prospects, we could not but feel devoutly grateful to Pro- vidence for the mercy which had been vouch- safed us. It was impossible immediately to compose our feelings into tranquillity, and the remainder of the night was passed in a state of feverish excitement. When morning came, with what indescribable delight did we inhale the fragrance and contemplate the beauty of the land. Imagination could scarcely picture a scene so enchanting as to our weary and frost- dazzled sight appeared that soft and lovely land- scape, with its fresh green tints and beautiful 442 THE TERROR RUN ON SHORE. [CHAP.VI. variety of hill and dale. It was an enjoyment to be felt but once in a life, and how much was that enjoyment enhanced when the wind sud- denly changed and blew a gale off shore, which but a few hours earlier must have driven us back to sea, and, in all probability, terminated our labours in a different wav. Harassed and worn out by extreme toil, the crew were no longer able to work as formerly, and though ably assisted by the officers and men of Her Majesty's service stationed along the coast, and especially by Lieutenant Murray, and the officers and crew of the Wickham, yet the Terror was gradually sinking by the head, when finding that their united efforts were unequal to keep her afloat, it was deter- mined as the last resource to run her ashore on a small sandy beach selected for the purpose. It was found at low water that upwards of twenty feet of the keel, together with ten feet of the stern-post, were driven over more than three feet and a half on one side, leaving a frightful opening astern for the free ingress of the water. The forefoot too was entirely gone, besides numerousbolts either loosened or broken ; and when, besides this, the strained and twisted state of the ship's frame was considered, there was not one on board who did not express astonish- ment that we had ever floated across the Atlantic. CHAP. VI.] SAIL FOR ENGLAND. 413 Her Majesty's Government being informed of our situation and of the sickness that had pre- vailed, under the effects of which seven were still suffering, immediately sent a vessel round for the conveyance of the invalids to Devonport. They had in the meantime been committed to the care of Dr. Evans, at Burn cranah, from whose judicious treatment the greatest benefits were derived. A party of shipwrights from Chatham was also sent under the direction of Mr. Rice, in the Columbia Steamer, which was eventually laden with a part of our stores, and whose commander, a Mr. Thompson, lost no opportunity of render- ing every aid in his power. The zealous atten- tion of Mr. Rice and the indefatigable exertions of his party are best attested by the fact that the work was completed about the 18th of October, when the Terror was hauled off to the anchorage and again prepared for sea. Nor must I here omit to mention the hospitality displayed by many estimable families in the neighbourhood of Lough Swilly. To their attentions, indeed, may be attributed the speedy restoration to health of many of the officers, who, equally with my- self, will ever retain a lively recollection of their kindness. When all was ready, occasionally assisted by the Columbia, we made sail along the coast, and 444> ARRIVAL AT CHATHAM. [CHAP.VI. with only one detention at Lock Ryan, arrived first at Devonport and subsequently at Chatham, where the Terror was put out of commission and taken into dock. I -& ---> " > A 4t 5 5 4 Cat/- • r* APPENDIX. APPENDIX. The few birds and animals obtained during the expedition are so familiar to the readers of Arctic zoology as to render any notice of them altogether unnecessary ; it may be mentioned, however, that a very small halibut (the only fish seen) was found in the beak of the Lestris Pomarinus. The Temperature was taken hourly by the different officers, and carefully arranged by Lieut. Smyth, but the Monthly Means alone are inserted here. The Latitudes, Longitudes, Variation, and Dip are selected from the Observations of Lieut. O. Stanley. G G 450 APPENDIX. CO I co GO GO c3 G u O o O o u a 1 X, >.' Xi >, *J (^ -W *J -J-" -4J in d) !- OS »-c 05 Ok o s o s ■5^ ^ cs ^ V5 05 3 r» H H &o ** cs e- s; Sym. 29.70 ■r. [/I w w 05 05 05 05 05 OS 05 05 CS » 11 ai >» 1 >"» 1 t>~* 1 r*% f P*^ 1 eg e8 es >. , es -3 1 ^ 1 0) £ w rt es es : es cS cS 1— 1 -a i-s l Tj lig 1 -3 1 T3 1 pq cn — a ^d O Gl I> C75 Oi G5 1> Gl O i> Oi CM r-4 UO to cc C71 CM en Tf CM rl Ol H H -h Gl i-h Gl W H H rl ffl H 1-H l-H l-H (M l-H 1-H \ £ s i .2 t- C-co fl eS CO "* CO i—i Co CO CO CO 1-H 1> If) CM en S <» s t> CO CO CO CO i> co CO CTi CO 1> t- CO — — *H O „ en cn cn OS O Ci OS a oi o o cn en t/5 >% o s ° CI CI CM CM CM CM CM CM CM Gl CM CM CM fl ^ rt O . v "i o o O CO r* t> CD Gl 10 CC CO US o a o o o i-h CM Gl C7i O O -i CM l-H CM 05 O ,- o *— ( „ en cn Ci C75 CJ5 co co 05 C) ffl CT> O) en is CO s GG s ° CI Ol cq G^ CM CM CM CM CM CM Gl CM Gl O CO fl CO 5 rt ^,* o CO en CO •— < CO CM CC •-! t- "* CM th W v CO en Gl CO CO ^ 1> O l> CO l-H CO O fl ■" es 05 03 1—4 r. O Cn o o o o o O O O o O O rq 3 O 3 cS< S 0 co CM CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO fl es v CO Ol CO VO VO •* t^ Oj ^ H CO l-H Gl CO CO >o CO CO CO CT1 t> O O CO en cn *s s 3 „ en cn o> a% oj Oi . O CO r<*\ 00 CO M< CO rj> uo O f CO Gl rt * CI o o 1-4 CO Gl O O «-i CO 'fl CO cn J3 O s § cn m C7> O C7> CO Oi Ci CT> CT> <3) en en fl G o u cS ° CI & GJ CM Ol CM CM CM Gl Gl Gl CM CM es O 0) 05 ^ CO lO O t- o CM CO lO CO CO O t^ o X CO CD co co oo CO CO H CO T CO "* CM CS o g CI o CO o o CO CO O O CO CO o o o CO CO CO o CO o co o CO O'HH l-H o cu N O 1— H u o o r-1 es 01 1 I 4- ° 1 . co , o + CO + l> + t> + CO "^ V3 1 •- 0) +3 s* 1 1 1 I 6 id » CM 1 CM en I O I CO i CM 1 CO 1 r-c T _ H CS " i 1 1 1 cu CQ £ ' o W ■ • 1— 3 3 .3 CO cS 1 1 1 + i V) W 3 1 1 1 - * • 4 1—4 • 1 i I 1 1 1 eS o 1 » <* o CO CO 1 1 I I 1 1 1 ■4J c o s , hi r^ CD -|N -|N tH CS J ^ Ol CO CO , u, 1 CO 1 ■* 1 CO 1 r-t + r-l CO Vf) 1> 4-> 1 CO 1 IT) I Tj< 1 CM CM Gl en O — 3 • i-H Gl r— I 1 Gl 1 CO CM CM 2 " cS f5 fl «5 fl k-H a -• es ^* S 0» eS + M o o CO + Gl + G1 +G1 4. CM . Gl . V) T + CM + CM CM >o cn «5 to 3 2 H § S 3 •^ o u u >> • i ^ U ^2 pS . >» C? ' ' 1 i 1 «5 if G O k-1 »S5 CO CO >> ~,'3 O] fcJC p p — — O 525 S co g P A ^ kH ^ fe S <5 e3 o 1— M 3 Ha A 2 eS O CJ ^ APPENDIX. 451 A Table of the Latitudes, Longitudes, and Variation. Date. Latitude. Longitude. Variat". Date. Latitude. Longitude. Variatn. N. W. W. N. W. W. 1836. O ' " O 1 II O ' 1836. O I " o ' " o ' June 24 59 57 00 4 41 00 26^ Aug. 9 63 30 00 72 48 dr 25 59 58 00 7 11 00 10 63 36 dr 73 40 dr 26 59 19 00 8 47 00 23 50 11 63 33 00 73 45 00 27 59 19 00 11 46 00 24 50 12 63 24 38 73 53 00 62 15 28 59 43 00 13 28 00 13 63 26 00 74 29 30 29 60 52 00 14 31 00 14 64 10 dr 76 22 dr 30 60 45 00 13 55 00 37 42 15 16 64 06 00 64 23 00 77 19 00 77 45 00 57 37 56 3 July 1 59 55 dr 17 46 dr 41 00 17 64 42 00 80 05 00 2 59 56 00 20 19 00 18 64 57 00 81 00 00 3 60 11 DR 22 20 00 43 17 21 65 8 00 81 15 00 4 59 59 00 24 51 00 45 00 22 65 28 00 81 15 00 5 60 20 00 27 22 dr 23 65 42 00 82 00 00 49 52 6 61 08 dr 27 45 dr 25 65 47 00 82 12 30 61 11 7 60 11 DR 27 24 dr 26 65 45 00 82 12 00 61 33 8 59 50 dr 29 19 dr 29 65 49 00 82 06 00 9 60 22 dr 30 23 dr 10 59 20 00 31 41 00 44 42 Sept. 1 65 42 00 82 02 00 11 58 10 00 32 57 00 45 00 3 65 26 00 82 21 15 13 58 4 00 34 41 00 4 65 12 55 82 05 30 14 57 06 00 34 01 00 5 65 5 00 82 10 00 15 56 51 00 35 07 dr 8 65 6 15 82 43 dr 16 57 54 00 35 00 dr 41 00 9 65 7 30 82 41 15 17 58 19 00 33 42 00 10 65 5 00 82 38 00 18 57 39 00 33 39 00 18 65 12 30 83 10 30 19 57 14 00 35 07 00 19 65 14 25 83 17 00 20 56 50 dr 36 30 dr 26 65 18 00 83 40 30 21 57 13 dr 40 10 DR 22 57 26 dr 43 29 dr Oct. 5 65 15 00 83 37 15 23 57 31 00 44 17 dr 30 65 15 00 83 44 07 24 58 03 dr 46 33 dr 25 57 53 dr 48 48 dr Nov. 7 65 12 50 83 32 00 26 57 23 dr 53 28 dr 21 65 10 12 83 9 0 27 58 29 00 55 56 dr 22 65 14 30 83 20 0 28 60 02 00 58 22 dr 29 60 15 dr 61 00 DR Station I. 65 12 24 83 39 50 57 57 30 60 17 00 61 57 00 49 00 31 60 22 00 62 42 00 52 37 1837. ' Jan. 4 64 52 10 82 23 00 Aug. 1 60 43 27 63 35 30 8 64 49 30 82 13 00 2 61 15 DR 65 19 dr 3 61 39 00 67 70 00 StatnII. 64 44 38 82 07 09 4 62 4 00 68 12 30 54 00 5 62 30 16 69 33 00 | Jan. 31 64 46 15 82 06 10 6 62 39 00 70 54 00 8 63 22 00 72 23 00 58 45 , Feb. 1 | 64 45 50 82 5 45 G G 2 452 APPENDIX. A Table of the Latitudes, Longitudes , &c. — contin ued. Date. Latitude. Longitude. Variatn. Date. Latitude. Longitude. Variatn. N. W. W. N. W. \V. 1837. O 1 II O 1 II o / 1837. 0 1 II O 1 II 0 ' Feb. 4 64 57 15 81 49 0 May 7 63 28 16 78 47 00 5 64 49 31 81 48 00 8 63 19 25 78 39 45 6 64 58 36 81 38 45 9 63 14 32 78 41 15 7 64 32 5 81 33 30 53 3 10 63 11 48 77 37 00 9 64 28 50 81 31 00 51 07 17 62 58 41 77 44 15 10 64 26 18 81 28 30 18 62 59 54 77 39 50 11 64 21 07 81 25 15 19 62 59 07 77 31 55 12 64 18 58 81 24 00 20 62 58 31 77 24 47 13 64 16 0 81 21 0 23 63 01 00 77 52 25 16 64 19 34 81 23 00 24 63 3 47 77 10 01 19 64 17 50 81 18 45 26 63 2 13 76 41 53 20 64 16 47 81 15 00 28 63 6 59 76 19 35 22 64 15 17 81 13 00 29 63 9 39 76 23 00 53 00 23 28 64 14 50 64 12 00 81 15 00 81 11 30 June 4 7 63 13 44 63 12 40 75 49 00 75 35 00 Mar. 7 64 13 15 81 10 00 8 63 10 56 75 9 15 8 64 11 58 81 07 30 9 62 51 59 74 43 45 9 64 10 00 81 03 00 10 63 00 40 75 1 15 11 64 10 07 80 59 00 12 63 5 15 75 5 45 12 64 08 26 80 56 00 16 62 57 36 74 49 30 16 64 01 03 80 46 00 18 62 49 38 74 45 45 17 64 3 3 80 38 22 62 55 5 74 6 15 18 64 I 33 80 41 00 23 62 52 55 73 58 15 56 12 22 64 5 57 80 38 00 54 00 24 62 47 27 73 55 30 23 64 10 00 80 40 00 54 00 29 63 10 30 74 15 45 26 64 6 00 80 44 00 30 63 12 00 74 21 30 April 5 63 59 00 80 33 00 July 3 63 16 18 74 47 30 7 63 57 00 80 28 00 6 63 20 00 75 20 30 8 63 51 23 80 17 00 49 03 9 63 16 10 75 27 30 10 63 49 12 80 15 00 10 63 14 17 75 25 30 11 63 48 45 80 14 00 15 63 2 15 74 35 45 12 63 53 22 80 11 00 18 62 50 35 72 29 00 13 64 4 45 SO 22 00 Sunset. 21 73 07 00 14 64 5 38 80 14 00 22 62 26 47 73 10 30 20 63 55 00 80 13 00 24 61 44 9 71 00 30 21 63 52 28 80 7 87 25 61 35 17 71 12 15 22 63 51 30 79 49 0 26 61 36 9 70 48 00 28 63 58 00 79 00 00 28 61 19 41 69 21 30 30 63 54 00 78 44 00 29 61 10 16 69 21 15 May 1 2 63 48 44 63 40 51 78 45 00 78 35 15 30 31 60 58 L'O 60 58 00 69 31 45 69 10 45 3 63 43 56 78 42 15 Aug. 1 61 00 00 69 3 15 4 63 43 56 78 42 30 4 60 51 30 67 36 00- 5 63 39 37 78 48 45 5 60 55 00 66 48 00 6 63 36 47 78 47 00 6 61 17 00 65 54 00 1 APPENDIX, 453 o o o Oh « p fcJO e bin- of it. at the tvvard. 4d .fcjO o fl rt i a o CJ .a c "S » •a iQ o i— i H ftl H < o tO O •— u C3 O Cfj C3 (A • CO 1 GO GO I— 1 Eh cc? 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C3 M W W^ cu fcfl u a cu C3 cu C3 0O0O 0 000 co co VO s ° uo vrj CO CM o co o CO CM CO >J0 CM CO CO r* CO CO CO CO CO 00 CO o o 00 CO o CO s CO CO CM IQ co 1> 1> co CM CO CO CM CO o o V3 CO CT5 CO V5 >o >J0 W) «0 no tH Tt* ■* ^ CO CO CO CM CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO CO co CO CO • g 1 1 1 i 1 1 % s g S PM <=5 • Ph CO Ph Ph < Ph 6 43 43 43 co -5 "*2 CO 13 CM *3 43 H-> T3 CO CO CO i> O 1> CO 1> C7i 01 CO CO C7> CM I-H CM CO I-H CM CM ft CU CO > o « cu ■- • -H ft rt o 5 3 1-5 o cu rii CO CO 43 « ft rt cu >> 43 H-> o — £3 rt O T3 C1J a s s o H-> rt • fH >- rt cu > o i_ -u ,o CU r- CO S rt Si *" HJ C ^ rt G O CU cu T3 h O r-H 43 rt ■w CU bc-9 C 3 J s 3 © -1 CO .O ^3 *M cu •"H _-; rt 13 43 O 43 - cu cu 43 42 CU ■Sj q S - So cu ~ co 43 rt o •S 3 cu 3 ^ rt ^ co 43 -^ cu a ~ 43 rt cu •«-> J-> ». cu ST) p «33 rt cu H fi a rt 42 co 43 3 ** O co O ^ 3 cu a .3. 3 42 2 ^2 ^ 43 . cu ** O *» o cu ^ ft4^ ^3 co >» cu cu 33 o4< r? C cu 3 ** 4H -J a a s +* r? co :«a 2 o rt CU 42 •-. b rt-a 33 cu .3 ^ o a 343-h ■S .3 ** o „, >-H c s; sh •IH -— o 1> 42 cu r}n i-q ^3 «0 S C3 i § CUTS CO > CU rt hj 13 ft'co 43 a g s o cu ^co a 2^ 2^ . a rt rt ^ 43 tai ^ -^ " c8 -h CU t* «" rt rt O 43 cu *^ •»* ."3 3 rt «h a rt ^i °13 a *- 43 rt o 3 cu rt Sh 3 cu cu rt u cu H-» rt cu •— W3 456 APPENDIX. Observations with Fox's Dipping Needle. Dip. o / June 7th, 1836, in Chatham dock-yard - - 68 58 June 9th - Ditto - - - 68 58 } 89 55 August 10th, on the ice in Hudson's Strait, lat. 63° 33' N., long. 73° 45' W. - October 31st, in a snow hut in Frozen Strait, 1 ft_ A() lat. 65° 45' N., long. 83° 48' W. - -J 0/ 4U November 16th, in a snow hut off Cape Com- 1 fi7 u fort, lat. 65° 10' N. long. 83° 06' W. - J January 6th, 1837, in a snow hut off Cape! ft7 07 Fisher, lat. 64° 50 N., long. 82° 18' W. -J 0/ U/ February 9th, in a snow hut off Cape Fisher, "| ft_ ftr (Ther.l50),lat.64029'N.,long.81°31'W.J e/ Uo March 24th, on the ice off Terror Point, "I ft_ ftq lat. 64° 10' N., long. 80° 40' W. - ~ J s/ UcJ London : Printed by A. Spottiswoode, New- Street- Square. i y\ttf\ 5,0 ■f I^^H