Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Volume I Part 13

CHAPTER IX.

Increased Extent of open Water in the Offing.--A Travelling Party despatched to the Northward.--Unsuccessful Attempt to raise Vegetables on Sh.o.r.e.--Decease of James Pringle.--A Party of Esquimaux build Huts near the s.h.i.+ps.--Return of the Travellers, and Account of their Journey.--First Appearance of the Plants.--Birds become numerous.--Commence cutting a Ca.n.a.l through the Ice for liberating the s.h.i.+ps.--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.

As there was an increased extent of open water in the offing, and the weather being now, to all appearance, tolerably settled, I determined on sending away a travelling party under Captain Lyon.

It consisted of Lieutenant Palmer, five seamen, and three marines, the whole being victualled for twenty days, and furnished with a tent, fuel, and every other convenience of which such a journey would admit. The baggage was placed on light sledges, resembling those used by Captain Franklin on his late journey to the sh.o.r.es of the Polar Sea, made out of staves shaved thin, six feet eight inches long, fourteen inches broad, and turned up before. Being secured entirely with thongs of hide sunk by grooves into the wood to keep them from wearing, they were perfectly flexible, so as to be in no danger of breaking on uneven ground. Each individual of the party was furnished with one of these, which also served to sleep and sit upon; the weight dragged by each of the men being about one hundred and twenty pounds, and that of the officers from ninety to ninety-five. Each person had also a pair of snow-shoes, a deerskin jacket and boots for sleeping in, and another pair of boots of water-tight sealskin.

The general tenour of Captain Lyon's instructions was, "after crossing to the continent, to proceed along that coast to the northward, carefully examining any bend or inlet he might meet with, so as to leave no doubt, if possible, of its actual extent and communications, thereby preventing the necessity of the s.h.i.+ps entering it on their arrival there." I added, also, the necessary directions for remarking everything of interest relating to the tides, and the natural productions of the country; and I limited Captain Lyon to the end of the month in returning, to avoid the possibility of detaining the expedition.

Their preparations being completed, our travellers left the s.h.i.+ps under a salute of three cheers from both the crews, and accompanied by a large party of officers and men to a.s.sist them, for the first few hours. A day or two after their departures a supply of provisions was lodged on sh.o.r.e, according to a plan previously agreed on, in case of our being forced out to sea with the ice before their return. Arrangements were also made for putting an officer and two men on sh.o.r.e, as a guard to this as well as to the clock, tent, or any other articles that might be left behind, in the event of an occurrence of this nature.

In the course of the forenoon of the 15th, a message to our medical gentlemen announced the fall of James Pringle, one of the seamen of the Hecla, from her mizen-topmast-head to the deck; and in a few minutes after I was much shocked in receiving Lieutenant Hoppner's report of his death, no sign of life having indeed appeared in him from the first moment after his fall. On examination, it was found that the base of the scull was fractured, and the neck also dislocated. A grave was directed to be dug near the observatory, and arrangements were made for the funeral taking place on the following Sunday.

On the 16th, Ewerat, with his wife and family, arrived at the s.h.i.+ps, bringing with them all their goods and chattels, and with the intention of taking up their abode upon the ice near us. They accordingly built their hut about a hundred yards from the Fury's stern, but whether with the view of living upon us, or the seals that frequent the bay, we were at first at a loss to conjecture.

Ewerat's household consisted not only of his own family, but of Appokiuk and Itkamuk, the former of whom having no husband, and the latter no relative, they both seemed to be fairly "on the parish." Besides this establishment, a second, on a smaller scale, also made its appearance in our neighbourhood, consisting of a very little man, named _Koo-il-li-ti-uk_, nicknamed by the sailors "John Bull," and his pretty little wife _Arnal=o=oa_, whose zeal in bringing up her husband's share of the seahorses I have before described. These persons, being eight in number, had determined on travelling to Amitioke for the ensuing summer, influenced probably, in some degree, by the hope of falling in with us again, as they knew that we were going in that direction. Be this, however, as it may, it was soon evident that they intended making the most of us while we remained neighbours; for, on the 17th, though the weather was favourable, and they had no food of their own, they made no effort to procure any, except from the s.h.i.+ps, to which the women brought their _ootkooseeks_ for bread-dust. Though I objected to encouraging this, and told them we should give them nothing if they did not also labour for themselves, they were all such favourites with our people that I believe they found it answer very well; contriving not only to get plenty of food, but also a number of useful presents. They made, indeed, some return for this, by the usual barter of mittens, of which our people were now furnished with an abundant supply.

On the 19th, after an impressive sermon delivered by Mr. Fisher, the last mournful duties were performed over the remains of our deceased s.h.i.+pmate. Nothing worthy of notice occurred till the evening of the 21st, when, soon after eight o'clock, Captain Lyon and his party were seen on their return over the hills, and, being met by a number of the officers and men from the s.h.i.+ps, arrived on board before ten, when I was happy to find our travellers in good health, excepting a little snow-blindness and "foot-foundering,"

of which they soon recovered. The result of this journey of Captain Lyon's served to excite very reasonable hopes that he had seen the northeastern extreme of the great peninsula, round which we entertained the most sanguine expectations of shortly finding the desired pa.s.sage into the Polar Sea.

On the 23d, our neighbours the Esquimaux, who had long, by their own account, been setting off for Amitioke, at length began in earnest to pack up for their departure. As soon as their preparations were finished, I sent for them all on board, and gave them one of their own sledges, of which they were much in want, for carrying their goods, a couple of boarding-pikes, some knives, and several tin canisters filled with bread-dust, for their journey. These presents had scarcely been made them, when we had reason to apprehend so sudden an influx of wealth might produce serious effects, especially upon the women, whose joy threw them into immoderate fits of laughter, almost amounting to hysterics, which were succeeded by a flood of tears. The men seemed thankful, though less noisy in the expression of their acknowledgments. As soon as some degree of composure was restored, we accompanied them to their baggage, which they had stowed on two of the small travelling sledges given them by Captain Lyon, but which they now s.h.i.+fted to their own. When all was ready, and some other valuable presents had been added to their stock by Captain Lyon, they proceeded to the northward, the women a.s.sisting to drag the sledge, for they had only one large dog and one puppy. On taking their departure, these good-humoured and ever-cheerful people greeted us with three cheers in the true Kabloona style, a mode of salutation they had observed once or twice among us, and frequently practised for their amus.e.m.e.nt and ours. On the 24th, we found they had only proceeded a few miles, as "John Bull" once more made his appearance on board, and returned to his companions in the evening. From this specimen of their travelling, of which we had, as yet, little experience, we had great reason to hope that their days' journeys would be found but short ones, and that, therefore, our distance round the northeastern point of the American continent was not very considerable. The show fell softer, and more melting was going on to-day than on any before observed, though only a few black tips of the rocks were yet visible on sh.o.r.e. The animals now began to appear in greater numbers; for on the 25th, a flock of nearly two hundred long-tailed ducks were swimming about in the open water to the southeast of the point. Some of the Esquimaux who came from the nearest western village also reported having seen a great many reindeer; but they had not yet succeeded in killing any.

At the close of the month of May it was a matter of general observation, and, of course, of general regret, how few symptoms of thawing had yet appeared, either on sh.o.r.e or on the ice.

Naturally pursuing our usual comparison with the circ.u.mstances of the former winter pa.s.sed in these regions, it was impossible not to recollect that Melville Island had, on the same day two years before, advanced full as far as the country now before us in throwing off its winter covering. The parts of the land which were now the most bare were the smooth round tops of the hills, on which here and there occurred a little pool of water, from which, taking all together within half a mile round the s.h.i.+ps, we should at this time have had great difficulty in filling half a tun.

There were also on the lower lands, a few dark uncovered patches, looking, when viewed from the hills, like islets in an extensive sea. Vegetation seemed labouring to commence, and a few tufts of the _saxifraga oppositifolia_, when closely examined, discovered some signs of life. A botanist, in short, might have considered vegetation as begun, but in the popular acceptation of the word it certainly had not. Such was the state of things on sh.o.r.e at the conclusion of the month of May. Upon the ice appearances were not more promising. Except in the immediate neighbourhood of the s.h.i.+ps, where, from the constant trampling and the laying of various stores upon the ice, some heat had artificially been absorbed, it would have been difficult to point out in what respect any advances towards dissolution had been made upon the upper surface, where six or seven inches of snow yet remained in every part. Here again, without any undue partiality for our old winter-quarters, it was natural, as well as reasonable, to bear in mind, that before this time we had there experienced several hours of hard rain, than which nothing proves more effectual in dissolving the ice. The consequence was, that for the last week in May, at Melville Island, the surface of the ice had a.s.sumed quite a green appearance; while here it was still as white as a covering of snow could make it.

Under these circ.u.mstances I came to the determination, now that the s.h.i.+ps were ready for sea, to try what could be effected towards their release, by sawing and cutting the ice; for it was vexatious to see open water daily in the offing, and not to be able to take advantage of it. Arrangements were therefore made for getting everything, except the tent and instruments, on board the next day, and for commencing this more laborious occupation on the following Monday.

On the 1st of June, having launched a boat at the mouth of the bay, I went to sound in that neighbourhood and along the eastern side of the island, preparatory to marking out the intended ca.n.a.l.

A good deal of ice still remained attached to the land; but as far as we could distinguish to the N.N.E. there was a lane of clear water wide enough for the navigation of the s.h.i.+ps.

On the morning of the 3d, at six A.M., both the s.h.i.+ps' companies, under their respective officers, were set to work upon the ice. A line was accurately marked out from each of the Fury's quarters, where they were fifty feet apart, diverging to two hundred and fifty at the edge of the floe, the latter being distant from the s.h.i.+ps two thousand and twenty feet, or just one third of a nautical mile. It was proposed to make a cut through the ice with the saws, along the two lines thus marked out, and then a transverse section here and there, the divergency of the sides being intended to facilitate the removal of the pieces thus detached by first pulling them out with strong purchases, and then floating them down the ca.n.a.l to the sea without. Nothing could exceed the alacrity with which this laborious work was undertaken, and continued daily from six in the morning till eight at night, with the intermission only of mealtimes: nor could anything be more lively and interesting than the scene which now presented itself to an observer on the southeast point. The day was beautifully clear, the sea open as far as the eye could stretch to the northward, and the "busy hum" of our people's voices could at times be heard mingling with the cheerful though fantastic songs with which the Greenland sailors are accustomed at once to beguile their labour, and to keep the necessary time in the action of sawing the ice. The whole prospect, together with the hopes and a.s.sociations excited by it, was, to persons cooped up as we had been, exhilarating beyond conception.

In the course of the first week we had completed the two side cuts, and also two shorter ones in the s.p.a.ce between the s.h.i.+ps; making in all a length of two thousand three hundred feet on each side of the intended ca.n.a.l, the thickness of the ice being in general four feet, but in one or two places (where the junction of the sea-ice with the bay-floe occasioned some squeezing) above ten feet and a half, scarcely allowing our longest saws to work.

Laborious as this part of the operation had been, we soon found it likely to prove the least troublesome of the whole; for, on endeavouring to pull out the pieces in the manner at first intended, every effort failed, till at length we were reduced to the necessity of cutting each block diagonally before it could be moved from its place. After a week's experience, we also learned that much time had been lost in completing the whole of the lateral cuts at once; for these, partly from frost, and partly by the closing together of the sides of the ca.n.a.l, all required sawing a second, and in some places even a third time. It was surprising, also, to see how powerful a resistance was occasioned by the "sludge" produced in sawing, or, as the sailors called it, the "sawdust," continuing in the cut, and appearing to act, like oil interposed between two plates of gla.s.s, in keeping the ma.s.ses united. In some cases, also, a saw was squeezed so tight by the pressure of the ice in the cut, that it became necessary to enter a second in order to release it, by sawing out a circular plug of ice completely round it. Fatiguing as this work proved to the men, I directed it to be continued to-day, the sea remaining so open on the outside as to give every encouragement to our exertions.

One of our people, in walking over the island, met with a swan's nest, which Captain Lyon went out to see, and made a drawing of it. It was built of moss-peat, being no less than five feet ten inches in length, four feet nine inches wide, and two feet deep.

The hole of entrance in the top was eighteen inches wide. Two eggs, each weighing about eight ounces, were found in the nest, in which the old birds were also sitting at first, but too wild to be approached. The eggs are of a cream or brownish white colour, in some parts a little clouded by a darker tinge. The female subsequently laid a third egg, and soon afterward both birds appeared to have wholly deserted the nest.

In the second week our progress with the ca.n.a.l had been considerable, it being now completed within two hundred yards of the Fury's stern.

At the conclusion of the day's labour on the 19th, we had every prospect of getting to sea in forty-eight hours more; but, early on the following morning, when the ebb or northeasterly tide had made, and was a.s.sisted by a breeze from the southward, the whole body of sea-ice came forcibly in contact with the bay-floe, which was now so weakened by our cutting as to split the whole way from the edge up to the Hecla's stern, a little to the westward of the ca.n.a.l, the latter being almost immediately closed with a considerable crush, but without affecting the s.h.i.+ps which lay beyond it. The closing of our artificial ca.n.a.l had the effect of partially opening a natural one at the place where the ice had just been detached; but, as this was incomplete, coming gradually up to a point astern of the Hecla, we were at a loss to know on which of the two our labour would best be employed. An attempt was first made by four strong purchases, stretched from side to side across the new crack, to pull the parts together again, and thus to leave our original ca.n.a.l _in statu quo_. All our power, however, being insufficient to accomplish this, we commenced with the saws upon the upper part of the crack, with the intention of widening it sufficiently for the pa.s.sage of the s.h.i.+ps. In this work we had made considerable progress, when, towards evening, it was perceived that _this_ was now closing, and our former ca.n.a.l reopening by the action of the wind and tide. Relinquis.h.i.+ng our last attempt, therefore, we lost no time in floating some heavy pieces of ice into the ca.n.a.l, to serve as wedges for keeping the sides apart, in case of any fresh pressure from without again disposing them to close.

At two A.M. on the 21st, the piece of the floe which formed the separation between the two ca.n.a.ls drifted bodily outward, as far as the rocks at the mouth of the bay and the ice that lay upon them would permit, taking with it a heavy-grounded ma.s.s that lay near the Hecla, and on which it had before been turning as on a pile or pivot; shortly after a second ma.s.s on the eastern side of the ca.n.a.l broke off, the separation taking place upon the line where the ice had been weakened by the sand we had laid upon it.

Our work was now at an end, and we had only to wait for a northerly or westerly wind to release us from our present "besetment," for, in fact, it was now nothing more. Directions were therefore given for closely watching the motion of the ice, both from the s.h.i.+ps as well as by regular visits to the sh.o.r.e at the end of every watch.

It now becomes my painful duty to turn from these busy occupations, where animation, cheerfulness, and hope prevailed, to the sad and solemn scenes of sickness and death; for with both of these did it please the Almighty to visit us at this period!

William Souter, quartermaster of the Fury, who, in the early part of this week, had complained of a slight sickness at the stomach, and, having been quite relieved, was, in consequence, discharged to duty, was again, on the morning of the 21st, affected in a similar manner while on deck. On the 24th, his alarming symptoms had so much subsided, that increasing hopes were entertained of his continuing to do well. These flattering appearances, however, received a sudden check about noon on the 25th, after which time he began rapidly, though gradually, to droop, and between six and seven in the evening breathed his last.

The impossibility of removing Souter from the sick bay, after the last alarming change took place, rendered his death, or, rather, the convulsive struggles which for some hours preceded that event, a dreadful trial to poor Reid, whose state had for some time past been scarcely better, the difficulty in his breathing having increased to a most distressing degree. When Souter was dying, Reid remarked that he should not be long after him; and on the 26th, when Mr. Fisher had attended and prayed with him, he said that he should go at one bell (half past six), and then enumerated all his clothes to one of the men, who, at his request, wrote them down for him. After four o'clock he did not speak, and, gradually sinking, expired at the time he had mentioned.

On the 28th, the remains of our deceased s.h.i.+pmates were committed to the earth, with every solemnity that so mournful an occasion demanded. They were interred in one grave, on a rising ground a few hundred yards from the sea to the northeastward of the s.h.i.+ps.

A handsome tomb of stone and mortar was built over the spot, having at one end a stone let in, with the usual information engraved on it. The sides were plastered with a kind of viscous clay found in one of the ponds, and the top covered with tufts of the purple saxifrage. The duties of the s.h.i.+ps now permitting it, Captain Lyon employed his men in building a similar tomb over the grave of Pringle.

END OF VOL. I.