Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Volume Ii Part 5

Light northerly winds, together with the dull sailing of our now deeply-laden s.h.i.+ps, prevented our making much progress for several days, and kept us in the neighbourhood of numerous icebergs, which it is dangerous to approach when there is any swell. We counted from the deck, at one time, no less than one hundred and three of these immense bodies, some of them from one to two hundred feet in height above the sea; and it was necessary, in one or two instances, to tow the s.h.i.+ps clear of them with the boats.

From this time, indeed, the obstructions from the quant.i.ty, magnitude, and closeness of the ice were such as to keep our people almost constantly employed in heaving, warping, or sawing through it; and yet with so little success, that, at the close of the month of July, we had only penetrated seventy miles to the westward, or the longitude of about 62 10'.

_Sept_. 9th.--I shall, doubtless, be readily excused for not having entered in this journal a detailed narrative of the obstacles we met with, and of the unwearied exertions of the officers and men to overcome them, during the tedious eight weeks employed in crossing this barrier.

The constant besetment of the s.h.i.+ps, and our daily observations for lat.i.tude and longitude, afforded a favourable opportunity for ascertaining precisely the set of any currents by which the whole body of ice might be actuated. By attending very carefully to all the circ.u.mstances, it was evident that a daily set to the southward obtained when the wind was northerly, differing in amount from two or three, to eight or ten miles per day, according to the strength of the breeze; but a northerly current was equally apparent, and fully to the same amount, whenever the wind blew from the southward. A circ.u.mstance more remarkable than these, however, forced itself strongly upon my notice at this time, which was, that a _westerly_ set was very frequently apparent, even against a fresh breeze blowing from that quarter. I mention the circ.u.mstance in this place, because I may hereafter have to offer a remark or two on this fact, in connexion with some others of a similar nature noticed elsewhere.

With respect to the dimensions of the ice through which we had now scrambled our way, princ.i.p.ally by warping and towing, a distance of between three and four hundred miles, I remarked that it for the most part increased, as well in the thickness as the extent of the floes, as we advanced westward about the parallel of 71. During our subsequent progress to the north, we also met with some of enormous dimensions, several of the floes, to which we applied our hawsers and the power of the improved capstan, being at their margin more than twenty feet above the level of the sea; and over some of these we could not see from the masthead. Upon the whole, however, the magnitude of the ice became somewhat less towards the northwest, and within thirty miles of that margin the ma.s.ses were comparatively small, and their thickness much diminished. Bergs were in sight during the whole pa.s.sage, but they were more numerous towards the middle of the "pack," and rather the most so to the southward.

CHAPTER II.

Enter Sir James Lancaster's Sound.--Land at Cape Warrender.--Meet with young Ice.--s.h.i.+ps beset and carried near the Sh.o.r.e.--Driven back to Navy-board Inlet.--Run to the Westward, and enter Prince Regent's Inlet.--Arrival at Port Bowen.

All our past obstacles were in a moment forgotten when we once more saw an open sea before us; but it must be confessed that it was not so easy to forget that the middle of September was already near at hand, without having brought us even to the entrance of Sir James Lancaster's Sound. That not a moment might be lost, however, in pus.h.i.+ng to the westward, a press of canva.s.s was crowded, and, being happily favoured with an easterly breeze, on the morning of Sept. 10th we caught a glimpse of the high bold land on the north side of the magnificent inlet up which our course was once more to be directed. From the time of our leaving the main body of ice, we met with none of any kind, and the entrance to the Sound was, as usual, entirely free from it, except here and there a berg, floating about in that solitary grandeur, of which these enormous ma.s.ses, when occurring in the midst of an extensive sea, are calculated to convey so sublime an idea.

On the morning of the 12th we were once more favoured with a breeze from the eastward, but so light and unsteady that our progress was vexatiously slow; and on the 13th, when within seven leagues of Cape York, we had the mortification to perceive the sea ahead of us covered with young ice, the thermometer having, for two days past, ranged only from 18 to 20.

The next breeze sprung up from the westward, drawing also from the southward, at times, out of Prince Regent's Inlet, and for three days we were struggling with the young ice to little or no purpose, now and then gaining half a mile of ground to windward in a little "hole" of open water, then losing as much by the necessity of bearing up or wearing (for the ice was too strong to allow us to tack), sallying from morning to night with all hands, and with the watch at night, two boats constantly under the bows; and, after all, rather losing ground than otherwise, while the young ice was every hour increasing in thickness.

Towards sunset on the 17th we became more and more hampered, and were eventually beset during the night. The sea was covered with ice between us and the sh.o.r.e, all of this year's formation, but now of considerable thickness and formidable appearance. The wind continuing strong, the whole body was constantly pressed in upon the land, bearing the s.h.i.+ps along with it, and doubling one sheet over another, sometimes to a hundred thicknesses. We quickly shoaled the water from seventy to forty fathoms, the latter depth occurring about a mile from the beach; and after this we drifted but little, the ice being blocked up between the point and a high perpendicular berg lying aground off it.

Under such circ.u.mstances, it evidently became expedient to endeavour, by sawing, to get the s.h.i.+ps as close in-sh.o.r.e as possible, so as to secure them either to grounded ice, or by anchoring within the shelter of a bay at no great distance inside of us; for it now seemed not unlikely that winter was about to put a premature stop to all farther operations at sea for this season. At all events, it was necessary to consult the immediate safety of the s.h.i.+ps, and to keep them from being drifted back to the eastward. I therefore gave orders for endeavouring to get the s.h.i.+ps in towards the bay, by cutting through what level floes still remained. So strong had been the pressure while the ice was forcing in upon us, that on the 20th, after liberating the Hecla on one side, she was as firmly cemented to it on the other, as after a winter's formation; and we could only clear her by heavy and repeated "sallying."

After cutting in two or three hundred yards, while the people were at dinner on the 21st, our ca.n.a.l closed by the external pressure coming upon the parts which we had weakened, and in a few minutes the whole was once more in motion, or, as the seamen not inaptly expressed it, "alive," ma.s.s doubling under ma.s.s, and raising those which were uppermost to a considerable height. The ice thus pressed together was now about ten feet in thickness in some places, and on an average not less than four or five, so that, while thus forced in upon a s.h.i.+p, although soft in itself, it caused her to tremble exceedingly; a sensation, indeed, commonly experienced in forcing through young ice of considerable thickness. We were now once more obliged to be quiet spectators of what was going on around us, having, with extreme difficulty, succeeded in saving most of our tools that were lying on the ice when the squeezing suddenly began.

A sudden motion of the ice, on the morning of the 22d, occasioned by a change of the wind to the S.E., threatened to carry us directly off the land. It was now, more than ever, desirable to hold on, as this breeze was likely to clear the sh.o.r.e, and, at the same time, to give us a run to the westward. Hawsers were therefore run out to the land-ice, composed of some heavy ma.s.ses, almost on the beach. With the Hecla this succeeded, but the Fury being much farther from the sh.o.r.e, soon began to move out with the whole body of ice, which, carrying her close to the large berg off the point, swept her round the latter, where, after great exertion, Captain Hoppner succeeded in getting clear, and then made sail to beat back to us. In the mean time the strain put upon the Hecla's hawsers being too great for them, they snapped one after another, and a bower-anchor was let go as a last resource. It was one of Hawkins's, with the double fluke, and immediately brought up, not merely the s.h.i.+p, but a large floe of young ice which had just broken our stream-cable.

All hands were sent upon the floe to cut it up ahead, and the whole operation was a novel, and, at times, a fearful one; for the ice, being weakened by the cutting, would suddenly gather fresh way astern, carrying men and tools with it, while the chain cable continued to plough through it in a manner which gave one the idea of something alive, and continually renewing its attacks. The anchor held surprisingly; and after this tremendous strain had been put upon it for above an hour, we had fairly cut the floe in two, and the s.h.i.+p was riding in clear water about half a mile from the sh.o.r.e.

I was in hopes we should make some progress, for a large channel of clear water was left open in-sh.o.r.e; a breeze blew off the land, and the temperature of the atmosphere had again risen considerably. We had not sailed five miles, however, when a westerly wind took us aback, and a most dangerous swell set directly upon the sh.o.r.e, obliging me immediately to stand off the land; and the Fury being still to the eastward of the point, I ran round it in order to rejoin her before sunset.

After midnight on the 27th the wind began to moderate, and, by degrees, also drew more to the southward than before. At daylight, therefore, we found ourselves seven or eight miles from the land; but no ice was in sight, except the "sludge," of honey-like consistence, with which almost the whole sea was covered. A strong blink, extending along the eastern horizon, pointed out the position of the main body of ice, which was farther distant from the eastern sh.o.r.e of the inlet than I ever saw it.

Being a.s.sisted by a fine working breeze, which, at the same time, prevented the formation of any more ice to obstruct us, we made considerable progress along the land, and at noon were nearly abreast of Jackson Inlet, which we now saw to be considerably larger than our distant view of it on the former voyage had led us to suppose. A few more tacks brought us to the entrance of Port Bowen, which, for two or three days past, I had determined to make our wintering-place, if, as there was but little reason to expect, we should be so fortunate as to push the s.h.i.+ps thus far. Beating up, therefore, to Port Bowen, we found it filled with "old" and "hummocky" ice, attached to the sh.o.r.es on both sides, as low down as about three-quarters of a mile below Stony Island.

Here we made fast in sixty-two fathoms water, running our hawsers far in upon the ice, in case of its breaking off at the margin.

CHAPTER III.

Winter Arrangements.--Improvements in Warming and Ventilating the s.h.i.+ps.--Masquerades adopted as an Amus.e.m.e.nt to the Men.--Establishment of Schools.--Astronomical Observations.--Meteorological Phenomena.

_Oct_.--Our present winter arrangements so closely resembled, in general, those before adopted, that a fresh description of them would prove little more than a repet.i.tion of that already contained in the narratives of our former voyages.

To those who read, as well as to those who describe, the account of a winter pa.s.sed in these regions can no longer be expected to afford the interest of novelty it once possessed; more especially in a station already delineated with tolerable geographical precision on our maps, and thus, as it were, brought near to our firesides at home.

Independently, indeed, of this circ.u.mstance, it is hard to conceive any one thing more like another than two winters pa.s.sed in the higher lat.i.tudes of the Polar Regions, except when variety happens to be afforded by intercourse with some other branch of "the whole family of man." Winter after winter, nature here a.s.sumes an aspect so much alike, that cursory observation can scarcely detect a single feature of variety. The winter of more temperate climates, and even in some of no slight severity, is occasionally diversified by a thaw, which at once gives variety and comparative cheerfulness to the prospect. But here, when once the earth is covered, all is dreary, monotonous whiteness; not merely for days or weeks, but for more than half a year together.

Whichever way the eye is turned, it meets a picture calculated to impress upon the mind an idea of inanimate stillness, of that motionless torpor with which our feelings have nothing congenial; of anything, in short, but life. In the very silence there is a deadness with which a human spectator appears _out of keeping_. The presence of man seems an intrusion on the dreary solitude of this wintry desert, which even its native animals have for a while forsaken.

I am persuaded, therefore, that I shall be excused in sparing the dulness of another winter's diary, and confining myself exclusively to those facts which appear to possess any scientific interest, to the few incidents which _did_ diversify our confinement, and to such remarks as may contribute to the health and comfort of any future sojourners in these dreary regions.

It may well be supposed that, in this climate, the princ.i.p.al desideratum which art is called upon to furnish for the promotion of health, is warmth, as well in the external air as in the inhabited apartments.

Exposure to a cold atmosphere, _when the body is well clothed_, produces no bad effect whatever beyond a frostbitten cheek, nose, or finger. As for any injury to healthy lungs from the breathing of cold air, or from sudden changes from this into a warm atmosphere, or _vice versa_, it may with much confidence be a.s.serted that, with due attention to external clothing, there is nothing in this respect to be apprehended. This inference, at least, would appear legitimate, from the fact that our crews, consisting of one hundred and twenty persons, have for four winters been constantly undergoing, for months together, a change of from eighty to a hundred degrees of temperature, in the s.p.a.ce of time required for opening two doors (perhaps less than half a minute), without incurring any pulmonary complaints at all.

In speaking of the external clothing sufficient for health in this climate, it must be confessed that, in severe exposure, quite a _load_ of woollen clothes, even of the best quality, is insufficient to retain a comfortable degree of warmth; a strong breeze carrying it off so rapidly, that the sensation is that of the cold piercing through the body. A jacket made very long, like those called by seamen "pea-jackets," and lined with fur throughout, would be more effectual than twice the weight of woollen clothes, and is, indeed, almost weather-proof. For the prevention of lumbago, to which our seamen are especially liable, from their well-known habit of leaving their loins imperfectly clothed, every man should be strictly obliged to wear, under his outer clothes, a canva.s.s belt a foot broad, lined with flannel, and having straps to go over the shoulder.[006]

It is certain, however, that no precautions in clothing are sufficient to maintain health during a Polar winter, without a due degree of warmth in the apartments we inhabit. Most persons are apt to a.s.sociate with the idea of warmth, something like the comfort derived from a good fire on a winter's evening at home; but in these regions the case is inconceivably different: here it is not simple comfort, but health, and, therefore, ultimately life, that depends upon it. The want of a constant supply of warmth is here immediately followed by a condensation of all the moisture, whether from the breath, victuals, or other sources, into abundant drops of water, very rapidly forming on all the coldest parts of the deck. A still lower temperature modifies, and perhaps improves, the annoyance by converting it into ice, which again an occasional increase of warmth dissolves into water. Nor is this the amount of the evil, though it is the only visible part of it; for not only is a moist atmosphere thus incessantly kept up, but it is rendered stagnant also by the want of that ventilation which warmth alone can furnish. With an apartment in this state, the men's clothes and bedding are continually in a moist and unwholesome condition, generating a deleterious air, which there is no circulation to carry off; and, whenever these circ.u.mstances combine for any length of time together, so surely may the scurvy, to say nothing of other diseases, be confidently expected to exhibit itself.

Every attention was, as usual, paid to the occupation and diversion of the men's minds, as well as to the regularity of their bodily exercise.

Our former amus.e.m.e.nts being almost worn threadbare, it required some ingenuity to devise any plan that should possess the charm of novelty to recommend it. This purpose was completely answered by a proposal of Captain Hoppner, to attempt a _masquerade_, in which officers and men should alike take a part, but which, without imposing any restraint whatever, would leave every one to his own choice whether to join in this diversion or not. It is impossible that any idea could have proved more happy, or more exactly suited to our situation. Admirably dressed characters of various descriptions readily took their parts, and many of these were supported with a degree of spirit and genuine humour which would not have disgraced a more refined a.s.sembly; while the latter might not have disdained, and would not have been disgraced by, copying the good order, decorum, and inoffensive cheerfulness which our humble masquerade presented. It does especial credit to the dispositions and good sense of our men, that, though all the officers entered fully into the spirit of these amus.e.m.e.nts, which took place once a month, no instance occurred of anything that could interfere with the regular discipline, or at all weaken the respect of the men towards their superiors. Ours were masquerades without licentiousness; carnivals without excess.

But an occupation not less a.s.siduously pursued, and of infinitely more eventual benefit, was furnished by the re-establishment of our schools, under the voluntary superintendence of my friend Mr. Hooper in the Hecla, and of Mr. Mogg in the Fury. By the judicious zeal of Mr. Hooper, the Hecla's school was made subservient, not merely to the improvement of the men in reading and writing (in which, however, their progress was surprisingly great), but also to the cultivation of that religious feeling which so essentially improves the character of a seaman, by furnis.h.i.+ng the highest motives for increased attention to every other duty. Nor was the benefit confined to the eighteen or twenty individuals whose want of scholars.h.i.+p brought them to the school-table, but extended itself to the rest of the s.h.i.+p's company, making the whole lower-deck such a scene of quiet rational occupation as I never before saw on board a s.h.i.+p. And I do not speak lightly when I express my thorough persuasion, that to the moral effects thus produced upon the minds of the men, were owing, in a very high degree, the constant yet sober cheerfulness, the uninterrupted good order, and even, in some measure, the extraordinary state of health which prevailed among us during this winter.

The extreme facility with which sounds are heard at a considerable distance in severely cold weather, has often been a subject of remark; but a circ.u.mstance occurred at Port Bowen which deserves to be noticed, as affording a sort of measure of this facility, or, at least, conveying to others some definite idea of the fact. Lieutenant Foster having occasion to send a man from the observatory to the opposite sh.o.r.e of the harbour, a measured distance of 6696 feet, or about one statute mile and two tenths, in order to fix a meridian mark, had placed a second person half way between, to repeat his directions; but he found, on trial, that this precaution was unnecessary, as he could, without difficulty, keep up a conversation with the man at the distant station. The thermometer was at this time-18, the barometer 30.14 inches, and the weather nearly calm, and quite clear and serene.

About one o'clock on the morning of the 23d February, the Aurora appeared over the hills in a south direction, presenting a brilliant ma.s.s of light. The rolling motion of the light laterally was very striking, as well as the increase of its intensity thus occasioned. The light occupied horizontally about a point of the compa.s.s, and extended in height scarcely a degree above the land, which seemed, however, to conceal from us a part of the phenomenon. It was always evident enough that the most attenuated light of the Aurora sensibly dimmed the stars, like a thin veil drawn over them. We frequently listened for any sound proceeding from this phenomenon, but never heard any. Our variation needles, which were extremely light, suspended in the most delicate manner, and, from the weak directive energy, susceptible of being acted upon by a very slight disturbing force, were never, in a single instance, sensibly affected by the Aurora, which could scarcely fail to have been observed at some time or other, had any such disturbance taken place, the needles being visited every hour for several months, and oftener when anything occurred to make it desirable.

The meteors called falling stars were much more frequent during this winter than we ever before saw them, and particularly during the month of December.

CHAPTER IV.

Re-equipment of the s.h.i.+ps.--Several Journeys undertaken.--Open Water in the Offing.--Commence sawing a Ca.n.a.l to liberate the s.h.i.+ps.--Disruption of the Ice.--Departure from Port Bowen.

The height of the land about Port Bowen deprived us longer than usual of the sun's presence above our horizon. Some of our gentlemen, indeed, who ascended a high hill for the purpose, caught a glimpse of him on the 2d of February; on the 15th it became visible at the observatory, but at the s.h.i.+ps not till the 22d, after an absence of one hundred and twenty-one days. It is very long after the sun's reappearance in these regions, however, that the effect of his rays, as to warmth, becomes perceptible; week pa.s.ses after week, with scarcely any rise in the thermometer except for an hour or two during the day; and it is at this period more than any other, perhaps, that the lengthened duration of a Polar winter's cold is most wearisome, and creates the most impatience.

Towards the third week in March, thin flakes of snow lying upon black painted wood or metal, and exposed to the sun's direct rays in a sheltered situation, readily melted. In the second week of April any very light covering of sand or ashes upon the snow close to the s.h.i.+ps might be observed to make its way downward into holes; but a coat of sand laid upon the unsheltered ice, to the distance of about two thirds of a mile, for dissolving a ca.n.a.l to hasten our liberation, produced no such sensible effect till the beginning of May. Even then the dissolution was very trifling till about the first week in June, when pools of water began to make their appearance, and not long after this a small boat would have floated down it. On sh.o.r.e the effect is, in general, still more tardy, though some deception is there occasioned by the dissolution of the snow next the ground, while its upper surface is to all appearance undergoing little or no change. Thus a greater alteration is sometimes produced in the aspect of the land by a single warm day in an advanced part of the season, than in many weeks preceding, in consequence of the last crust of snow being dissolved, leaving the ground at length entirely bare. We could now perceive the snow beginning to leave the stones from day to day, as early as the last week in April. Towards the end of May a great deal of snow was dissolved daily; but, owing to the porous nature of the ground, which absorbed it as fast as it was formed, it was not easy to procure water for drinking on sh.o.r.e, even as late as the 10th of June. In the ravines, however, it could be heard trickling under stones before that time; and about the 18th, many considerable streams were formed, and constantly running both night and day. After this the thawing proceeded at an inconceivably rapid rate, the whole surface of the floes being covered with large pools of water rapidly increasing in size and depth.

The animals seen at Port Bowen may now be briefly noticed. The princ.i.p.al of these seen during the winter were bears, of which we killed twelve from October to June, being more than during all the other voyages taken together; and several others were seen. One of these animals was near proving fatal to a seaman of the Fury, who, having straggled from his companions, when at the top of a high hill saw a large bear coming towards him. Being unarmed, he prudently made off, taking off his boots to enable him to run the faster, but not so prudently precipitated himself over an almost perpendicular cliff, down which he was said to have rolled or fallen several hundred feet; here he was met by some of the people in so lacerated a condition as to be in a very dangerous state for some time after.