The Project Gutenberg eBook, Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 1 (of 2), by Sir William Edward Parry
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Title: Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and Narrative of an Attempt to Reach the North Pole, Volume 1 (of 2)
Author: Sir William Edward Parry
Release Date: September 22, 2004 [eBook #13512]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THREE VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, AND NARRATIVE OF AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE, VOLUME 1 (OF 2)***
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THREE VOYAGES FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC, AND NARRATIVE OF AN ATTEMPT TO REACH THE NORTH POLE, VOLUME I
by
SIR W. E. PARRY, CAPT. R.N., F.R.S.
In Two Volumes.
1844
[Illustration CAPTAIN W.E. PARRY R.N.]
PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT
The two volumes herewith presented to the public contain an uninterrupted narrative, in Captain Parry's own words, of the five voyages made by that distinguished navigator, under the sanction of the British government, in search of a passage from the eastern to the western side of the American Continent, through the Arctic Ocean. Although abbreviated, the curtailment has been effected, not by any change in the language of the original writer, but merely by omitting all such details as were not inviting to the general reader; and, in a word, changing the character of the work from that of an official report to that of a narrative. The effort has been to preserve all interesting and amusing particulars; to record all facts and transactions of importance; to present an accurate though brief notice of all valuable accessions to geographic as well as general knowledge, effected in the progress of the voyages; and, at the same time, to keep the reader's attention ever on the alert by the rapid and uninterrupted succession of striking incidents.
It is hoped that the aim here designated has been accomplished; and that, in the abridged narrative of Parry's Voyages, there will be found matter, not only to interest the reader for amusement, but also to improve. The scenes and adventures recorded by the navigator are in the highest degree novel and remarkable; and it cannot be other than profitable to know what perils were encountered, what courage, firmness, and ingenuity were displayed, what moral and physical influences were developed, and what triumphs of human skill were achieved, in the progress of voyages undertaken solely to advance the interests of science.
H. & B.
New-York, May, 1840.
CONTENTS
of
THE FIRST VOLUME
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
Passage across the Atlantic.—Enter Davis's Strait.—Unsuccessful
Attempt to penetrate the Ice to the Western Coast.—Voyage up the
Strait.—Passage through the Ice to the Western Coast.—Arrival
off Possession Bay, on the Southern Side of the Entrance into Sir
James Lancaster's Sound.
CHAPTER II.
Entrance into Sir James Lancaster's Sound of Baffin.—Uninterrupted Passage to the Westward.—Discovery and Examination of Prince Regent's Inlet.—Progress to the Southward stopped by Ice.—Return to the Northward.—Pass Barrow's Strait, and enter the Polar Sea.
CHAPTER III.
Favourable Appearances of an open Westerly Passage.—Land to the Northward, a Series of Islands.—General Appearance of them.—Meet with some Obstruction from low Islands surrounded with Ice.—Remains of Esquimaux Huts, and natural Productions of Byam Martin Island.—Tedious Navigation from Fogs and Ice.—Difficulty of Steering a Proper Course.—Arrival and Landing on Melville Island.—Proceed to the Westward, and reach the Meridian of 110° W. Long., the first Stage in the Scale of Rewards granted by Act of Parliament.
CHAPTER IV.
Further Examination of Melville Island.—Continuation of our Progress to the Westward.—Long detention by the Ice.—Party sent on Shore to hunt Deer and Musk-oxen.—Return in three Days, after losing their Way.—Anxiety on their Account.—Proceed to the Westward till finally stopped by the Ice.—In returning to the Eastward, the Griper forced on the Beach by the Ice.—Search for, and Discovery of, a Winter Harbour on Melville Island.—Operations for securing the Ships in their Winter Quarters.
CHAPTER V.
Precautions for securing the Ships and Stores.—For promoting Good
Order, Cleanliness, Health, and Good-Humour among the Ships'
Companies.—Establishment of a Theatre and of the North Georgia
Gazette.—Erection of an Observatory on Shore.—Commence our
Winter's Amusements.—State of the Temperature, and various
Meteorological Phenomena.—Miscellaneous Occurrences to the Close
of the Year 1819.
CHAPTER VI.
First Appearance of Scurvy.—The Aurora Borealis and other
Meteorological Phenomena.—Visits of the Wolves.—Reappearance of
the Sun.—Extreme low Temperature.—Destruction of the House on
Shore by Fire.—Severe Frostbites occasioned by this Accident.
CHAPTER VII.
More temperate Weather.—House rebuilt.—Quantity of Ice collected on the Hecla's lower Deck.—Meteorological Phenomena.—Conclusion of Theatrical Entertainments.—Increased Sickness on board the Griper.—Clothes first dried in the open Air.—Remarkable Halos and Parhelia.—Snow Blindness.—Cutting the Ice round the Ships, and other Occurrences to the Close of May.
CHAPTER VIII.
Journey across Melville Island to the Northern Shore, and Return to the Ships by a different Route.
CHAPTER IX.
Occurrences at Winter Harbour in the early Part of June.—Gradual
Dissolution of the Ice upon the Sea and of the Snow upon the
Land.—Decease and Burial of William Scott.—Equipment of the
Ships completed.—Temperate Weather during the Month of
July.—Breaking up of the Ice near the Ships.—Move to the lower
Part of the Harbour.—Separation of the Ice at the
Winter Harbour.
CHAPTER X.
Leave Winter Harbour.—Flattering Appearance of the Sea to the Westward.—Stopped by the Ice near Cape Hay.—Farther Progress to the Longitude of 113° 48' 22.5", being the Westernmost Meridian hitherto reached in the Polar Sea, to the North of America.—Banks's Land discovered.—Increased Extent and Dimensions of the Ice.—Return to the Eastward, to endeavour to penetrate the Ice to the Southward.—Re-enter Barrow's Strait, and Survey its South Coast.—Pass through Sir James Lancaster's Sound on our Return to England.
CHAPTER XI.
Progress down the Western Coast of Baffin's Bay.—Meet with the
Whalers.—Account of some Esquimaux in the Inlet called the River
Clyde.—Continue the Survey of the Coast till stopped by Ice in
the Latitude of 68¼°.—Obliged to run to the Eastward.—Fruitless
Attempts to regain the Land, and final Departure from the
Ice.—Remarks upon the probable Existence and Practicability of a
Northwest Passage, and upon the Whale Fishery.—Boisterous Weather
in Crossing the Atlantic.—Loss of the Hecla's Bowsprit and
Foremast.—Arrival in England.
SECOND VOYAGE.
PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.
CHAPTER I.
Passage across the Atlantic.—Removal of Stores from the Nautilus
Transport, at the Margin of the Ice.—Departure of the Nautilus
for England.—Enter the Ice in Hudson's Strait.—Perilous
Situation of the Hecla, and Loss of her Anchor.—Meet with the
Hudson's Bay Ships.—Passage up the Strait, and Communication with
the Natives inhabiting the Northern Shores.—Pass the Trinity
Islands of Fox.—Arrival off Southampton Island, where the
Researches of the Expedition commence.
CHAPTER II.
Review of the Geographical Information obtained by the Researches
of former Navigators on the Coast of the American Continent, in
the Neighbourhood of Wager River.—Discover and enter the Duke of
York's Bay, supposing it to be a Passage into the Sea called the
Welcome.—Leave the Duke of York's Bay, and proceed to the
Northwestward.—Passage of the Frozen Strait and Arrival in
Repulse Bay.—Continuity of Land there.—Observations on
Shore.—Remarks concerning the Geography, Tides, and Natural
History of this Part of the Continental Coast.
CHAPTER III.
Return to the Eastward through the Frozen Strait.—Discovery of Hurd Channel.—Examined in a Boat.—Loss of the Fury's Anchor.—Providential Escape of the Fury from Shipwreck.—Anchor in Duckett Cove.—Farther Examination of the Coast by Boats and Walking-parties.—Ships proceed through Hurd Channel.—Are drifted by the Ice back to Southampton Island.—Unobstructed Run to the Entrance of a large Inlet leading to the Northwestward.—Ships made fast by Hawsers to the Rocks.—Farther Examination of the Inlet commenced in the Boats.
CHAPTER IV.
Hoppner's Inlet entered and surveyed by the Boats.—Continuity of Land there determined.—Proceed to examine another Opening leading to the Westward.—Favourable Appearance of a continued Passage in that direction.—Meet with some Esquimaux.—Arrival in Ross Bay, being the Termination of Lyon Inlet.—Discovery and Examination of various Creeks.—Return to the Ships, after finding the Land entirely continuous.—Some Account of the Natural History of this Part of the Coast.
CHAPTER V.
Farther Examination in the Boats for the Purpose of Connecting the
Shores of Lyon Inlet with that of Gore Bay.—Continuity of the
Land determined.—Fresh Detention by the Ice.—Boats carried over
Land.—Return to the Ships.—Progress out of the Inlet prevented
by the Ice.—The Fury grounds upon a Rock.—Anchor in Safety
Cove.—Heavy Easterly Gales.—Proceed out of the Inlet.—Arrival
in a Bay on the south Side of Winter Island.—Ships secured in
Winter-quarters.
CHAPTER VI.
Precautions for the Security of the Ships and their Stores—And
for the Health and Comfort of the Crews.—Establishment of
Theatrical Entertainments and Schools.—Erection of an Observatory
and House on Shore.—State of Health at this Period.—Partial
Disruption of the Ice in the Bay.—Anchors and Cables taken to the
Shore.—Gradual Increase of Cold, Appearance of the Aurora
Borealis on several Occasions, and various other Meteorological
Phenomena to the Close of the Year 1821.
CHAPTER VII.
Many Foxes caught.—Continued Open Water in the Offing.—Partial
Disruption of the Ice in the Bay.—Meteorological Phenomena, and
Temperature of Animals.—Arrival of a Tribe of Esquimaux.—First
Meeting and subsequent Intercourse with them.—Esquimaux in Want
of Provisions.—Supplied with Bread-dust.—Some Account of a
Sealing Excursion with them.—Fresh Disruption of the Ice in the
Bay.—Closing of the Winter Theatre.—Meteorological Phenomena
till the End of February, 1822.
CHAPTER VIII.
A Journey performed across Winter Island.—Sufferings of the Party by Frost.—Departure of Some of the Esquimaux, and a separate Village established on the Ice.—Various Meteorological Phenomena.—Okotook and his Wife brought on board.—Anecdotes relating to them.—Ships released from the Ice by sawing.
CHAPTER IX.
Increased Extent of open Water in the Offing.—A Travelling Party despatched to the Northward.—Unsuccessful Attempt to raise Vegetables on Shore.—Decease of James Pringle.—A Party of Esquimaux build Huts near the Ships.—Return of the Travellers, and Account of their Journey.—First Appearance of the Plants.—Birds become numerous.—Commence cutting a Canal through the Ice for liberating the Ships.—Illness and Decease of John Reid and William Souter.—Breaking up of the Ice in the Bay.—Account of Winter Island.—Abstract of Observations made there.
TECHNICAL TERMS PECULIAR TO THE NAVIGATION AMONG ICE
BAY-ICE.—Ice newly formed upon the surface of the sea. The expression is, however, applied also to ice a foot or two in thickness.
BESET.—The situation of a ship when closely surrounded by ice.
BIGHT.—An indentation in a floe of ice, like a bay, by which name it is sometimes called.
BLINK.—A peculiar brightness in the atmosphere, often assuming an arch-like form, which is generally perceptible over ice or land covered with snow. The blink of land, as well as that over large quantities of ice, is usually of a yellowish cast.
BORE.—The operation of "boring" through loose ice consists in entering it under a press of sail, and forcing the ship through by separating the masses.
CALF.—A mass of ice lying under a floe near its margin, and, when disengaged from that position, rising with violence to the surface of the water. See TONGUE.
CLEAR WATER.—Any part of the sea unencumbered with ice.
CROW'S NEST.—A small circular house like a cask, fixed at the masthead, in which
DOCK.—In a floe may be natural or artificial; the former being simply a small "bight," in which a ship is placed to secure her from the danger of external pressure; and the latter, a square space cut out with saws for a similar purpose.
FIELD.—A sheet of ice generally of great thickness, and of too great extent to be seen over from a ship's masthead.
FLINCHING.—The operation of stripping a sea-animal of its skin and blubber.
FLOE.—The same as a field, except that its extent can be distinguished from a ship's masthead. A "bay-floe" is a floe of ice newly formed.
FLOE-PIECE.—An expression generally applied to small pieces of floes, not more than a furlong square.
A HOLE or POOL of Water.—A small space of "clear water," when the rest of the sea is covered with ice.
HUMMOCK.—A mass of ice rising to a considerable height above the general level of a floe, and forming a part of it. Hummocks are originally raised by the pressure of floes against each other.
LAND-ICE.—Ice attached to the land, either in floes or in heavy grounded masses lying near the shore.
LANE of Water.—A narrow channel among the masses of ice, through which a boat or ship may pass.
LEAD.—A channel through the ice. A ship is said to "take the right lead" when she follows a channel conducting her into a more navigable sea, and vice versâ.
MAKING-OFF Blubber.—The operation of putting it into casks.
NIPPED.—The situation of a ship when forcibly pressed by ice.
PACK.—A large body of ice, consisting of separate masses, lying close together, and whose extent cannot be seen.
PANCAKE-ICE.—Newly formed ice, assuming the peculiar conformation of numberless patches of "sludge," and giving the surface of the sea the appearance of a handsome pavement.
PATCH of Ice.—The same as a pack, but of small dimensions.
SAILING-ICE.—Ice of which the masses are so much separated as to allow a ship to sail among them.
SALLYING a Ship.—The operation of causing her to roll, by the men running in a body from side to side, so as to relieve her from the adhesion and friction of the young ice around her.
SLUDGE.—Ice of the consistence of thick honey, offering little impediment to a ship while in this state, but greatly favouring the formation of a "bay-floe."
STREAM.—A long and narrow, but generally continuous, collection of loose ice.
TONGUE.—A mass of ice projecting under water from an iceberg or floe, and generally distinguishable at a considerable depth of smooth water. It differs from a "calf" in being fixed to, or a part of the larger body.
WATER-SKY.—A dark appearance in the sky, indicating "clear water" in that direction, and forming a striking contrast with the "blink" over land or ice.
YOUNG-ICE.—Nearly the same as "bay-ice," but generally applied to ice more recently formed than the latter.
VOYAGE FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTHWEST PASSAGE
INTRODUCTION.
Lieutenant Parry was appointed to the command of his majesty's ship the Hecla, a bomb of 375 tons, on the 16th of January, 1819; and the Griper, gun brig, 180 tons, commissioned by Lieutenant Matthew Liddon, was at the same time directed to put herself under his orders. The object of the expedition was to attempt the discovery of a Northwest Passage into the Pacific. The vessels were rigged after the manner of a bark, as being the most convenient among the ice, and requiring the smallest number of men to work them. They were furnished with provisions and stores for two years; in addition to which, there was a large supply of fresh meats and soups preserved in tin cases, essence of malt and hops, essence of spruce, and other extra stores, adapted to cold climates and a long voyage. The ships were ballasted entirely with coals; an abundance of warm clothing was allowed, a wolfskin blanket being supplied to each officer and man, besides a housing-cloth, similar to that with which wagons are usually covered, to make a sort of tent on board. Although the finding a passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific was the main object of the expedition, yet the ascertaining many points of natural history, geography, &c., was considered a most important object, never to be lost sight of. After they had passed the latitude of 65° north, they were from time to time to throw overboard a bottle, closely sealed, containing a paper, stating the date and position at which it was launched. Whenever they landed on the northern coast of North America, they were to erect a pole, having a flag, and bury a bottle at the foot of it, containing an abstract of their proceedings and future intentions, for the information of Lieutenant Franklin, who had been sent on a land expedition to explore that coast from the mouth of the Coppermine River of Hearne.
According to the official instructions, the interests of science were not neglected, and many important facts were made out; among the most curious, it may be mentioned, that it appears to be proved that the North Pole is not the coldest point of the Arctic hemisphere, but that the place where the expedition wintered is one of the coldest spots on the face of the globe.
CHAPTER I.
Passage across the Atlantic.—Enter Davis's Strait.—Unsuccessful
Attempt to penetrate the Ice to the Western Coast.—Voyage up the
Strait.—Passage through the Ice to the Western Coast.—Arrival
off Possession Bay, on the Southern Side of the Entrance into Sir
James Lancaster's Sound.
In the beginning of May, 1819, the Hecla and Griper were towed down the river; the guns and gunner's stores were received on board on the 6th; and the instruments and chronometers were embarked on the evening of the 8th, when the two ships anchored at the Nore. The Griper, being a slower sailer, was occasionally taken in tow by the Hecla, and they rounded the northern point of the Orkneys, at the distance of two miles and a half; on Thursday, the 20th of the same month.
Nothing of moment occurred for several days; but the wind veered to the westward on the 30th, and increased to a fresh gale, with an irregular sea and heavy rain, which brought us under our close-reefed topsails. At half past one, P.M., we began to cross the space in which the "Sunken Land of Buss" is laid down in Steel's chart from England to Greenland; and, in the course of this and the following day, we tried for soundings several times without success.
Early in the morning of the 18th of June, in standing to the northward, we fell in with the first "stream" of ice we had seen, and soon after saw several icebergs. At daylight the water had changed its colour to a dirty brownish tinge. The temperature of the water was 36½°, being 3° colder than on the preceding night; a decrease that was probably occasioned by our approach to the ice. We ran through a narrow part of the stream, and found the ice beyond it to be "packed" and heavy. The birds were more numerous than usual; and, besides the fulmar peterels, boatswains, and kittiwakes, we saw, for the first time, some rotges, dovekies, or black guillemots, and terns, the latter known best to seamen by the name of the Greenland swallow.
On the clearing up of a fog on the morning of the 24th, we saw a long chain of icebergs, extending several miles, in a N.b.W. and S.b.E. direction; and, as we
The weather being nearly calm on the morning of the 25th, all the boats were kept ahead, to tow the ships through the ice to the westward. It remained tolerably open till four P.M., when a breeze, freshening up from the eastward, caused the ice, through which we had lately been towing, to close together so rapidly, that we had scarcely time to hoist up the boats before the ships were immovably "beset." The clear sea which we had left was about four miles to the eastward of us, while to the westward nothing but one extensive field of ice could be seen. It is impossible to conceive a more helpless situation than that of a ship thus beset, when all the power that can be applied will not alter the direction of her head a single degree of the compass.
A large black whale, being the first, was seen near the ships. It is usual for these animals to descend head foremost, displaying the broad fork of their enormous tail above the surface of the water; but, on this occasion, the ice was so close as not to admit of this mode of descent, and the fish went down tail foremost, to the great amusement of our Greenland sailors.
While in this state a large white bear came near the Griper, and was killed by her people, but he sunk between the pieces of ice. This animal had probably been attracted by the smell of some red herrings which the men were frying at the time. It is a common practice with the Greenland sailors to take advantage of the strong sense of smelling which these creatures possess, by enticing them near the ships in this manner.
The swell had somewhat subsided on the 29th, but the ships remained firmly fixed in the ice as before. In the course of the day we saw land bearing N. 69° W. about thirteen leagues distant, appearing from the masthead like a group of islands, and situated near to the entrance of Cumberland Strait: the soundings were one hundred and thirty-five fathoms; the temperature of the sea at that depth 30°; that of the surface being the same, and of the air 34°. On the 30th the ice began to slacken a little more about the ships; and, after two hours' heaving with a hawser on each bow brought to the capstan and windlass, we succeeded in moving the Hecla about her own length to the eastward, where alone any clear sea was visible. The ice continuing to open still more in the course of the day, we were at length enabled to get both ships into open water, after eight hours' incessant labour.
On the 1st and 2d of July, we continued to keep close to the edge of the ice without perceiving any opening in it. Its outer margin consisted of heavy detached masses, much washed by the sea, and formed what is technically called "a pack," this name being given to ice when so closely connected as not to admit the passage of a ship between the masses. Within the margin of the pack, it appeared to consist of heavy and extensive floes, having a bright ice-blink over them; but no clear water could be discovered to the westward. The birds, which had hitherto been seen since our first approach to the ice, were fulmar peterels, little auks, looms, and a few gulls.
On the morning of the 3d the wind blew strong from the eastward, with a short, breaking sea, and thick, rainy weather, which made our situation for some hours rather an unpleasant one, the ice being close under our lee. Fortunately, however, we weathered it by stretching back a few miles to the southward. In the afternoon the wind moderated, and we tacked again to the northward, crossing the Arctic circle at four P.M., in the longitude of 57° 27' W. We passed at least fifty icebergs in the course of the day, many of them of large dimensions. Towards midnight, the wind having shifted to the southwest and moderated, another extensive chain of very large icebergs appeared to the northward: as we approached them the wind died away, and the ships' heads were kept to the northward, only by the steerage way given to them by a heavy southerly swell, which, dashing the loose ice with tremendous force against the bergs, sometimes raised a white spray over the latter to the height of more than one hundred feet, and, being accompanied with a loud noise, exactly resembling the roar of distant thunder, presented a scene at once sublime and terrific. We could find no bottom near these icebergs with one hundred and ten fathoms of line.
At four A.M. on the 4th we came to a quantity of loose ice, which lay straggling among the bergs; and as there was a light breeze from the southward, and I was anxious to avoid, if possible, the necessity of going to the eastward, I pushed the Hecla into the ice, in the hope of being able to make our way through it. We had scarcely done so, however, before it fell calm; when the ship became perfectly unmanageable, and was for some time at the mercy of the swell, which drifted us fast towards the bergs. All the boats were immediately sent ahead to tow; and the Griper's signal was made not to enter the ice. After two hours' hard pulling, we succeeded in getting the Hecla back again into clear water, and to a sufficient distance from the icebergs, which it is very dangerous to approach when there is a swell. At noon we were in lat. 69° 50' 47", long. 57° 07' 56", being near the middle of the narrowest part of Davis's Strait, which is here not more than fifty leagues across.
On the 5th it was necessary to pass through some heavy streams of ice, in order to avoid the loss of time by going round to the eastward. On this, as on many other occasions, the advantage possessed by a ship of considerable weight in the water, in separating the heavy masses of ice, was Very apparent. In some of the streams through which the Hecla passed, a vessel of a hundred tons less burden must have been immovably beset. The Griper was on this and many other occasions only enabled to follow the Hecla by taking advantage of the openings made by the latter.
A herd of seahorses being seen lying on a piece of ice, our boat succeeded in killing one of them. These animals usually lie huddled together like pigs, one over the other, and are so stupidly tame as to allow a boat to approach them within a few yards without moving. When at length they are disturbed, they dash into the water in great confusion. It may be worth remarking, as a proof how tenacious the walrus sometimes is of life, that the animal killed to-day struggled violently for ten minutes after it was struck, and towed the boat twenty or thirty yards, after which the iron of the harpoon broke; and yet it was found, on examination, that the iron barb had penetrated both auricles of the heart. A quantity of the blubber was put into casks, as a winter's supply of lamp-oil.
A large bear being seen on a piece of ice, near which we were passing on the 10th, a boat was despatched in pursuit, and our people succeeded in killing and towing it on board. As these animals sink immediately on being mortally wounded, some dexterity is requisite to secure them, by first throwing a rope over the neck, at which many of the Greenland seamen are remarkably expert. It is customary for the boats of the whalers to have two or three lines coiled in them, which not only gives them great stability, but, with good management, makes it difficult for a bear, when swimming, to put his paw upon the gunwale, which they generally endeavour to do;
On the 17th, the margin of the ice appearing more open than we had yet seen it, and there being some appearance of a "water-sky" to the northwest, I was induced to run the ships into the ice, though the weather was too thick to allow us to see more than a mile or two in that direction. We were, at noon, in latitude 72° 00' 21", longitude 59° 43' 04", the depth of water being one hundred and ninety fathoms, on a muddy bottom. The wind shortly after died away, as usual, and, after making a number tacks, in order to gain all we could to the westward, we found ourselves so closely, hemmed in by the ice on every side, that there was no longer room to work the ships, and we therefore made them fast to a floe till the weather should clear up. The afternoon was employed in taking on board a supply of water from the floe. It may be proper at once to remark that, from this time till the end of the voyage, snow-water was exclusively made use of on board the ships for every purpose. During the summer months, it is found in abundance in the pools upon the floes and icebergs; and in the winter, snow was dissolved in the coppers for our daily consumption. The fog cleared away in the evening, when we perceived that no farther progress could be made through the ice, into which we sailed to the westward about twelve miles. We were therefore once more under the necessity of returning to the eastward, lest a change of wind should beset the ships in their present situation.
A thick fog came on again at night, and prevailed till near noon on the 18th, when we came to a close but narrow stream of ice, lying exactly across our course, and at right angles to the main body of the ice. As this stream extended to the eastward as far as we could see from the "crow's nest," an endeavour was made to push the ships with all sail through the narrowest part. The facility with which this operation, technically called "boring," is performed, depends chiefly on having a fresh and free wind, with which we were not favoured on this occasion; so that, when we had forced the ships about one hundred yards into the ice, their way was completely stopped. The stream consisted of such small pieces of ice, that, when an attempt was made to warp the ships ahead by fastening lines to some of the heaviest masses near them, the ice itself came home, without the ships being moved forward.—Every effort to extricate them from this helpless situation proved fruitless for more than two hours, when the Hecla was at length backed out, and succeeded in pushing through another part of the stream in which a small opening appeared just at that moment. All our boats were immediately despatched to the assistance of the Griper, which still remained beset, and which no effort could move in any direction We at length resorted to the expedient of sending a whale-line to her from the Hecla, and then, making all sail upon the latter ship, we succeeded in towing her out, head to wind, till she was enabled to proceed in clear water. The crossing of this stream of ice, of which, the breadth scarcely exceeded three hundred yards, occupied us constantly for more than five hours, and may serve as an example of the detention to which ships are liable in this kind of navigation.
Early on the morning of the 21st the fog cleared away, and discovered to us the land called by Davis, Hope Sanderson and the Woman's Islands, being the first land we had seen in sailing northward into Baffin's Bay, from the lat. of 63¾°. We found ourselves in the midst of a great number of very high icebergs, of which I counted, from the crow's-nest, eighty-eight, besides many smaller ones.
Having now reached the latitude of 73° without seeing a single opening in the ice, and being unwilling to increase our distance from Sir James Lancaster's Sound by proceeding much farther to the northward, I determined once more to enter the ice in this place, and to try the experiment of forcing our way through it, in order to get into the open sea. Being therefore favoured with clear weather, and a moderate breeze from the southeastward, we ran into the ice, which for the first two miles consisted of detached pieces, but afterward of floes of considerable extent, and six or seven feet in thickness. The wind died away towards midnight, and the weather was serene and clear.
At six A.M. on the 23d, a thick fog came on, which rendered it impossible to see our way any farther. We therefore warped to an iceberg, to which the ships were made fast at noon, to wait the clearing up of the fog, being in lat. 73° 04' 10", long. 60° 11' 30". At eight P.M. the weather cleared up, and a few small pools of open water were seen here and there, but the ice was generally as close as before, and the wind being to the westward of north, it was not deemed advisable to move.
The weather, being clear in the morning of the 25th, and a few narrow lanes of water appearing to the westward, the Griper was made fast astern of the Hecla; and her crew being sent to assist in manning our capstan, we proceeded to warp the ships through the ice. This method, which is often adopted by our whalers, has the obvious advantage of applying the whole united force in separating the masses of ice which lie in the way of the first ship, allowing the second, or even third, to follow close astern, with very little obstruction. In this manner we had advanced about four miles to the westward by eight P.M., after eleven hours of very laborious exertion; and having then come to the end of the clear water, and the weather being again foggy, the ships were secured in a deep "bight," or bay in a floe, called by the sailors a "natural dock."
Early on the morning of the 26th there was clear water as far as we could see to the westward, which, on account of the fog, did not exceed the distance of three hundred yards. We made sail, however, and having groped our way for about half a mile, found the ice once more close in every direction except that in which we had been sailing, obliging us to make the ships fast to a floe. At half past three P.M. the weather cleared up, and a few narrow lanes of water being seen to the westward, every exertion was immediately made to get into them. On beginning to heave, however, we found that the "hole" of water in which the Hecla lay was now so completely enclosed by ice that no passage out of it could be found. We tried every corner, but to no purpose; all the power we could apply being insufficient to move the heavy masses of ice which had fixed themselves firmly between us and the lanes of water without. In the mean time, Lieutenant Liddon had succeeded in advancing about three hundred yards, and had placed the Griper's bow between two heavy floes, which it was necessary to separate before any farther progress could be made. Both ships continued to heave at their hawsers occasionally, as the ice appeared to slacken a little, by which means they were now and then drawn ahead a few inches at a time, but did not advance more than half a dozen yards in the course of the night. By our nearing several bergs to the northward, the ice appeared to be drifting in that direction, the wind being moderate from the southward.
About three A.M., Tuesday, 27th, by a sudden motion of the ice, we succeeded in getting the Hecla out of her confined situation, and ran her up astern of the Griper. The clear water had made so much to the westward, that a narrow neck of ice was all that was now interposed between the ships and a large
On the 29th we had so much clear water, that the ships had a very perceptible pitching motion, which, from the closeness of the ice, does not very often occur in the Polar regions, and which is therefore hailed with pleasure as an indication of an open sea. At five P.M. the swell increased considerably, and, as the wind freshened up from the northeast, the ice gradually disappeared; so that by six o'clock we were sailing in an open sea, perfectly free from obstruction of any kind.
We now seemed all at once to have got into the headquarters of the whales. They were so numerous that I directed the number to be counted during each watch, and no less than eighty-two are mentioned in this day's log. Mr. Allison, the Greenland master, considered them generally as large ones, and remarked that a fleet of whalers might easily have obtained a cargo here in a few days. In the afternoon the wind broke us of from the N.N.W., which obliged us to cast off the Griper, and we carried all sail ahead to make the land. We saw it at half past five P.M., being the high land about Possession Bay, and at the same time several streams of loose but heavy ice came in sight, which a fresh breeze was drifting fast to the southeastward.
The wind increased to a fresh breeze on the morning of the 31st, which prevented our making much way to the westward. We stood in towards Cape Byam Martin, and sounded in eighty fathoms on a rocky bottom, at the distance of two miles in an east direction from it. We soon after discovered the flagstaff which had been erected on Possession Mount on the former expedition; an object which, though insignificant in itself, called up every person immediately on deck to look at and to greet it as an old acquaintance.
The land immediately at the hack of Possession Bay rises in a gentle slope from the sea, presenting an open and extensive space of low ground, flanked by hills to the north and south. In this valley, and even on the hills, to the height of six or seven hundred feet above the sea, there was scarcely any snow, but the mountains at the back were completely covered with it. Some pieces of birch-bark having been picked up in the bed of this stream in 1818, which gave reason to suppose that wood might be found growing in the interior, I directed Mr. Fisher to walk up it, accompanied by a small party, and to occupy an hour or two while the Griper was coming up, and Captain Sabine and myself were employed upon the beach, in examining the nature and productions of the country.
Mr. Fisher reported, on his return, that he had followed the stream between three and four miles, where it turned to the southwest, without discovering any indications of a wooded country; but a sufficient explanation respecting the birch-bark was perhaps furnished by his finding, at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the sea, a piece of whalebone two feet ten inches in length and two inches in breadth, having a number of circular holes very neatly and regularly perforated along one of its edges, which had undoubtedly formed part of an Esquimaux sledge. This circumstance affording a proof of the Esquimaux having visited this part of the coast at no very distant period, it was concluded that the piece of bark above alluded to had been brought hither by these people. From the appearance of the whalebone, it might have been lying there for four or five years. That none of the Esquimaux tribe had visited this part of the coast since we landed there in 1818, was evident from the flagstaff then erected still remaining untouched. Mr. Fisher found every part of the valley quite free from snow as high as he ascended it: and the following fact seems to render it probable that no great quantity either of snow or sleet had fallen here since our last visit. Mr. Fisher had not proceeded far, till, to his great surprise, he encountered the tracks of human feet upon the banks of the stream, which appeared so fresh that he at first imagined them to have been recently made by some natives, but which, on examination, were distinctly ascertained to be the marks of our own shoes, made eleven months before.
CHAPTER II.
Entrance into Sir James Lancaster's Sound of Baffin.—Uninterrupted Passage to the Westward.—Discovery and Examination of Prince Regent's Inlet.—Progress to the Southward stopped by Ice.—Return to the Northward.—Pass Barrow's Strait, and enter the Polar Sea.
We were now about to enter and to explore that great sound or inlet which has obtained a degree of celebrity beyond what it might otherwise have been considered to possess, from the very opposite opinions which have been held with regard to it. To us it was peculiarly interesting, as being the point to which our instructions more particularly directed our attention; and I may add, what I believe we all felt, it was that point of the voyage which was to determine the success or failure of the expedition, according as one or other of the opposite opinions alluded to should be corroborated. It will readily be conceived, then, how great our anxiety was for a change of the westerly wind and swell, which, on the 1st of August, set down Sir James Lancaster's Sound, and prevented our making much progress. Several whales were seen in the course of the day, and Mr. Allison remarked that this was the only part of Baffin's Bay in which he had ever seen young whales; for it is a matter of surprise to the whalers in general, that they seldom or never meet with young ones on this fishery, as they are accustomed to do in the seas of Spitzbergen.
The Griper continued to detain us so much, that I determined on making the best of our way to the westward, and ordered the Hecla to be hove to in the evening, and sent Lieutenant Liddon an instruction, with some signals, which might facilitate our meeting in case of fog; and I appointed as a place of rendezvous the meridian of 85° west, and as near the middle of the sound as circumstances would permit. As soon, therefore, as the boat returned from the Griper, we carried a press of sail, and in the course of the evening saw the northern shore of the sound looming through the clouds which hung over it.
The weather being clear in the evening of the 2d, we had the first distinct view of both sides of the sound; and the difference in the character of the two shores was very apparent; that on the south consisting of high and peaked mountains, completely snow-clad, except on the lower parts, while the northern coast has generally a smoother outline, and had, comparatively with the other, little snow upon it; the difference in this last respect appearing to depend principally on the difference in their absolute height. The sea was open before us, free from ice or land; and the Hecla pitched so much from the westerly swell in the course of the day, as to throw the water once or twice into the stern windows; a circumstance which, together with other
We made little way on the 3d, but being favoured at length by the easterly breeze which was bringing up the Griper, and for which we had long been looking with much impatience, a crowd of sail was set to carry us with all rapidity to the westward. It is more easy to imagine than to describe the almost breathless anxiety which was now visible in every countenance, while, as the breeze continued to a fresh gale, we ran quickly up the sound. The mastheads were crowded by the officers and men during the whole afternoon; and an unconcerned observer, if any could have been unconcerned on such an occasion, would have been amused by the eagerness with which the various reports from the crow's-nest were received; all, however, hitherto favourable to our most sanguine hopes.
Our course was nearly due west, and the wind still continuing to freshen, took us in a few hours nearly out of sight of the Griper. The only ice which we met with consisted of a few large bergs very much washed by the sea; and the weather being remarkably clear, so as to enable us to run with perfect safety, we were by midnight, in a great measure, relieved from our anxiety respecting the supposed continuity of land at the bottom of this magnificent inlet, having reached the longitude of 83° 12', where the two shores are still above thirteen leagues apart, without the slightest appearance of any land to the westward of us for four or five points of the compass.
Having made the ship snug, so as to be in readiness to round to should the land be seen ahead, and the Griper having come up within a few miles of us, we again bore up at one A.M., the 4th. At half past three, Lieutenant Beechey, who had relieved me on deck, discovered from the crow's-nest a reef of rocks, in-shore of us to the northward, on which the sea was breaking. The cliffs on this part of the coast present a singular appearance, being stratified horizontally, and having a number of regular projecting masses of rock, broad at the bottom, and coming to a point at the top, resembling so many buttresses, raised by art at equal intervals.
After lying-to for an hour, we again bore up to the westward, and soon after discovered a cape, afterward named by Captain Sabine, CAPE FELLFOOT, which appeared to form the termination of this coast; and as the haze, which still prevailed to the south, prevented our seeing any land in that quarter, and the sea was literally as free from ice as any part of the Atlantic, we began to flatter ourselves that we had fairly entered the Polar Sea, and some of the most sanguine among us had even calculated the bearing and distance of Icy Cape, as a matter of no very difficult or improbable accomplishment. This pleasing prospect was rendered the more flattering by the sea having, as we thought, regained the usual oceanic colour, and by a long swell which was rolling in from the southward and eastward. At six P.M., however, land was reported to be seen ahead. The vexation and anxiety produced on every countenance by such a report were but too visible, until, on a nearer approach, it was found to be only an island, of no very large extent, and that, on each side of it, the horizon still appeared clear for several points of the compass. At eight P.M. we came to some ice of no great breadth or thickness, extending several miles in a direction nearly parallel to our course; and as we could see clear water over it to the southward, I was for some time in the hope that it would prove a detached stream, from which no obstruction to our progress westerly was to be apprehended. At twenty minutes past ten, however, the weather having become hazy and the wind light, we perceived that the ice, along which we had been sailing for the last two hours, was joined, at the distance of half a mile to the westward of us, to a compact and impenetrable body of floes, which lay across the whole breadth of the strait, formed by the island and the western point of Maxwell Bay. We hauled our wind to the northward, just in time to avoid being embayed in the ice, on the outer edge of which a considerable surf, the effect of the late gale, was then rolling.
While the calm and thick weather lasted, a number of the officers and men amused themselves in the boats, in endeavouring to kill some of the white whales which were swimming about the ships in great numbers; but the animals were so wary, that they would scarcely suffer the boats to approach them within thirty or forty yards without diving. Mr. Fisher described them to be generally from eighteen to twenty feet in length; and he stated that he had several times heard them emit a shrill, ringing sound, not unlike that of musical glasses when badly played; This sound, he farther observed, was most distinctly heard when they happened to swim directly beneath the boat, even when they were several feet under water, and ceased altogether on their coming to the surface. We saw also, for the first time, one or two shoals of narwhals, called by the sailors sea-unicorns.
A steady breeze springing up from the W.N.W. in the afternoon, the ships stood to the northward till we had distinctly made out that no passage to the westward could at present be found between the ice and the land. The weather having become clear about this time, we perceived that there was a large open space to the southward, where no land was visible; and for this opening, over which there was a dark water-sky, our course was now directed.
Since the time when we first entered Sir James Lancaster's Sound, the sluggishness of the compasses, as well as the amount of their irregularity produced by the attraction of the ship's iron, had been found very rapidly, though uniformly, to increase as we proceeded to the westward; so much, indeed, that, for the last two days, we had been under the necessity of giving up altogether the usual observations for determining the variation of the needle on board the ships. This irregularity became more and more obvious as we now advanced to the southward, which rendered it not improbable that we were making a very near approach to the magnetic pole. For the purposes of navigation, therefore, the compasses were from this time no longer consulted; and in a few days afterward, the binnacles were removed as useless lumber from the deck to the carpenter's storeroom, where they remained during the rest of the season.
A dark sky to the southwest had given us hopes of finding a westerly passage to the south of the ice along which we were now sailing; more especially as the inlet began to widen considerably as we advanced in that direction: but at three A.M. on the morning of the 8th, we perceived that the ice ran close in with a point of land bearing S.b.E. from us, which appeared to form the southern extremity of the eastern shore.
With the increasing width of the inlet we had flattered ourselves with increasing hopes; but we soon experienced the mortification of disappointment. The prospect from the crow's-nest began to assume a very unpromising appearance, the whole of the western horizon, from north round to S.b.E., being completely covered with ice, consisting of heavy and extensive floes, beyond which no indication of water was visible; instead of which there was a bright and dazzling iceblink extending from shore to shore. The western coast of the inlet, however, trended much more to the westward than before, and no land was visible to the southwest, though the horizon was so clear in that quarter, that, if any had existed of moderate height, it might have been easily seen at this time at the distance of ten or twelve leagues. From these circumstances, the impression received at the time was, that the land, both on the eastern and western side of this inlet, would be one day found to consist of islands.
A breeze sprung up from the
The weather was beautifully calm and clear on the 13th, when, being near an opening in the eastern shore, I took the opportunity of examining it in a boat. It proved to be a bay, a mile wide at its entrance, and three miles deep in an E.b.S. direction, having a small but snug cove on the north side, formed by an island, between which and the main land is a bar of rocks, which completely shelters the cove from sea or drift ice. We found the water so deep, that in rowing close along the shore we could seldom get bottom with seven fathoms of line. The cliffs on the south side of this bay, to which I gave the name of PORT BOWEN, resemble, in many places, ruined towers and battlements; and fragments of the rocks were constantly falling from above. At the head of the bay is an extensive piece of low flat ground, intersected by numerous rivulets, which, uniting at a short distance from the beach, formed a deep and rapid stream, near the mouth of which we landed. This spot was, I think, the most barren I ever saw, the ground being almost entirely covered with small pieces of slaty limestone, among which no vegetation appeared for more than a mile, to which distance Mr. Ross and myself walked inland, following the banks of the stream. Among the fragments we picked up one piece of limestone, on which was the impression of a fossil-shell. We saw here a great number of young black guillemots, and a flock of ducks, which we supposed to be of the eider species.
The narwhals were here very numerous; these animals appear fond of remaining with their backs exposed above the surface of the water, in the same manner as the whale, but for a much longer time, and we frequently also observed their horns erect, and quite stationary for several minutes together.
The whole of the 14th was occupied in an unsuccessful attempt to find an opening in the ice to the westward, which remained perfectly close and compact, with a bright iceblink over it.
The ice continued in the same unfavourable state on the 15th; and being desirous of turning to some account this vexatious but unavoidable detention, I left the ship, accompanied by Captain Sabine and Mr. Hooper, in order to make some observations on shore, and directed Lieutenant Liddon to send a boat from the Griper for the same purpose. We landed in one of the numerous valleys or ravines which occur on this part of the coast, and at a few miles' distance very much resemble bays, being bounded by high hills that have the appearance of bluff headlands. We ascended with some difficulty the hill on the south side of the ravine, which is very steep, and covered with innumerable detached blocks of limestone, some of which are constantly rolling down from above, and afford a very insecure footing. From the top of this hill, which is about six or seven feet above the level of the sea, and commands an extensive view to the westward, the prospect was by no means favourable to the immediate accomplishment of our object. No water could be seen over the ice to the northwest, and a bright and dazzling blink covered the whole space comprised between the islands and the north shore. It was a satisfaction, however, to find that no land appeared which was likely to impede our progress; and we had been too much accustomed to the obstruction occasioned by ice, and too well aware of the suddenness with which that obstruction is often removed, to be at all discouraged by present appearances.
On the top of this hill we deposited a bottle containing a short notice of our visit, and raised over it a small mound of stones; of these we found no want, for the surface was covered with small pieces of schistose limestone, and nothing like soil or vegetation could be seen.
On the 17th we had a fresh breeze from the S.S.W., with so thick a fog that, in spite of the most unremitting attention to the sails and the steerage, the ships were constantly receiving heavy shocks from the loose masses of ice with which the sea was covered, and which, in the present state of the weather, could not be distinguished at a sufficient distance to avoid them. On the weather clearing up in the afternoon, we saw for the first time a remarkable bluff headland, which forms the northeastern point of the entrance into Prince Regent's Inlet, and to which I gave the name of CAPE YORK. A little to the eastward of Cape Fellfoot, we observed six stripes of snow near the top of the cliff, being very conspicuous at a great distance, when viewed from the southward. These stripes, which are formed by the drift of snow between the buttress-like projections before described, and which remained equally conspicuous on our return the following year, have probably at all times much the same appearance, at least about this season of the year, and may, on this account, perhaps, be deemed worthy of notice as a landmark.
There being still no prospect of getting a single mile to the westward, in the neighbourhood of Prince Leopold's Islands, and a breeze having freshened up from the eastward in the afternoon, I determined to stand over once more towards the northern shore, in order to try what could there be done towards effecting our passage; and at nine P.M., after beating for several hours among floes and streams of ice, we got into clear water near that coast, where we found some swell from the eastward. There was just light enough at midnight to enable us to read and write in the cabin.
The wind and sea increased on the 19th, with a heavy fall of snow, which, together with the uselessness of the compasses, and the narrow space in which we were working between the ice and the land, combined to make our situation for several hours a very unpleasant one.
On the 21st we had nothing to impede our progress but the want of wind, the great opening through, which we had hitherto proceeded from Baffin's Bay being now so perfectly clear of ice, that it was impossible to believe it to be the same part of the sea, which, but a day or two before, had been completely covered with floes to the utmost extent of our view. In the forenoon we picked up a small piece of wood, which appeared to have been the end of a boat's yard, and which caused sundry amusing speculations among our gentlemen; some of whom had just come to the very natural conclusion that a ship had been here before us, and that, therefore, we were not entitled to the honour of the first discovery of that part of the sea on which we were now sailing; when a stop was suddenly put to this and other ingenious inductions by the information of one of the seamen, that he had dropped it out of his boat a fortnight before. I could not get him to recollect exactly the day on which it had been dropped, but what he stated was sufficient to convince me that we were not at that time more than ten or twelve leagues from our present situation; perhaps not half so much; and that, therefore, here was no current setting constantly in any one direction.
We perceived, as we proceeded, that the land along which we were sailing, and which, with the exception of some small inlets, had appeared to be hitherto continuous from Baffin's Bay, began now to trend much to the northward, beyond Beechey
Though two thirds of the month of August had now elapsed, I had every reason to be satisfied with the progress which we had hitherto made. I calculated upon the sea being navigable for six weeks to come, and probably more, if the state of the ice would permit us to edge away to the southward in our progress westerly: our prospects, indeed, were truly exhilarating; the ships had suffered no injury; we had plenty of provisions; crews in high health and spirits; a sea, if not open, at least navigable; and a zealous and unanimous determination, in both officers and men, to accomplish, by all possible means, the grand object on which we had the happiness to be employed.