Three Voyages for the Discovery of a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific Volume Ii Part 11

At five A.M. on the 14th we pa.s.sed Magdalena Bay, and by ten o'clock had arrived off Hakluyt's Headland, round which we hauled to the southeastward, to look, for anchorage in Smerenburg Harbour. In this, however, we were disappointed, the whole place being occupied by one unbroken floe of ice, still firmly attached to the land on each side.

Here we made fast, though not without considerable difficulty; the wind, which was now freshening from the southward, blowing in such violent and irregular gusts off the high land that the s.h.i.+p was scarcely manageable.

Walruses, dovekies, and eider-ducks were very numerous here, especially the former; and four reindeer came down upon the ice near the s.h.i.+p.

We now prepared a quant.i.ty of provisions and other stores to land at Hakluyt's Headland, as a supply for my party on our return from the northward; so that, in case of the s.h.i.+p being obliged to go more to the southward, or of our not being able at once to reach her, we should be furnished with a few days' resources of every kind. Our intentions were, however, frustrated for the present; for we had scarcely secured our hawsers, when a hard gale came on from the southward, threatening every moment to snap them in two, and drive us from our anchorage. We held on for several hours, till, at nine P.M., some swell having set in upon the margin of the ice, it began to break off and drift away. Every possible exertion was instantly made to s.h.i.+ft our stream cable farther in upon the floe; but it broke away so quickly as to baffle every endeavour, and at ten the s.h.i.+p went adrift, the wind blowing still harder than before. Having hauled in the hawsers and got the boats on board, we set the close-reefed topsails, to endeavour to hang to windward; but the wind blew in such tremendous gusts from the high land as almost to lay the s.h.i.+p on her beam-ends; so that we were obliged to reduce our canva.s.s to the main topsail and stormsails, and let her drive to leeward.[018]

The situation of the s.h.i.+p now appeared a very precarious one, the wind still blowing with unabated violence, and with every appearance of a continuance of stormy weather. Under these circ.u.mstances, it was the general opinion of the officers, as well as my own, that it was advisable to take advantage of the comparatively smooth water within the stream of ice, and to run the s.h.i.+p into the pack, rather than incur the risk of having to do the same thing in a heavy sea. This plan succeeded remarkably well; a tolerably smooth and open part of the margin being selected, the s.h.i.+p was forced into it at three A.M., when, after encountering a few severe blows from the heavy washed pieces which always occur near the sea-edge, she was gradually carried onward under all sail, and at four A.M. we got into a perfectly smooth and secure situation, half a mile within the margin of a "pack."

It was impossible not to consider ourselves highly fortunate in having thus early, and with no great difficulty, succeeded in reaching the highest lat.i.tude to which it was our object to take the s.h.i.+p. But, from what we had already seen at Smerenburg, it was also impossible not to feel much anxiety as to the prospect of getting her into any secure harbour before the proper time of my departure to the northward should arrive. However, we could only wait patiently for the result of a few more days; and, in the mean time, everybody was busily employed in completing the arrangements for our departure, so that, if an opportunity did offer of securing the s.h.i.+p, we might have nothing else to attend to. Our deer were in good order, having been thriving well ever since they came on board; they make excellent sailors, and do not seem to mind bad weather, always lying down quite comfortable whenever there is any sea.

In order to try what our chances were, at the present low temperature, of procuring water upon the ice without expense of fuel, we laid a black painted canva.s.s cloth, and also a piece of black felt, upon the surface of the snow; the temperature of the atmosphere being from 18 to 23.

These substances had, in a couple of hours, sunk half an inch into the snow, but no water could be collected. I was desirous, also, of ascertaining whether any part of the real sea-ice was so entirely fresh when melted as to be drunk without injury or inconvenience. For this purpose we cut a block of ice from a large hummock, about ten feet high above the sea; and having broken, pounded, and melted it, without any previous was.h.i.+ng, we found it, both by the hydrometer and by the chemical test (nitrate of silver), _more_ free from salt than any which we had in our tanks, and which was procured from Hammerfest. I considered this satisfactory, because, in the autumn, the pools of water met with upon the ice generally become very brackish, in consequence of the sea-water being drawn up into them by capillary action as the ice becomes more "rotten" and porous; and we might, therefore, have to depend chiefly on melted ice for our daily supply.

No change took place till the 21st, when, on the weather clearing up, we found that the open water we had left to the westward was now wholly closed up, and that there was none whatever in sight. It was now also so close in-sh.o.r.e, that on the 22d, Lieutenant Ross, with a party of officers and men, succeeded in landing without difficulty. They found a small floe of level ice close to the beach, which appeared very lately formed. Walking up to a little conspicuous eminence near the eastern end of the beach, they found it to be composed of clay-slate, tinged of a brownish red colour. The few uncovered parts of the beach were strewed with smooth schistose fragments of the same mineral, and in some parts a quant.i.ty of thin slates of it lay closely disposed together in a vertical position. On the little hillock were two graves, bearing the dates of 1741 and 1762 on some of the stones which marked them, and a considerable quant.i.ty of fir driftwood lay upon the beach.

I now clearly saw that there was, for the present, no reasonable prospect of our getting towards any harbour; and I could not but feel confident that, even if we did get to the entrance of any, some time must be occupied in securing the s.h.i.+p. It may be well imagined how anxious I had now become to delay no longer in setting out upon the main object of the expedition. I felt that a few days at the commencement of the season, short as it is in these regions, might be of great importance as to the result of our enterprise, while the s.h.i.+p seemed to be so far secure from any immediate danger as to justify my leaving her, with a reduced crew, in her present situation. The nature of the ice was, beyond all comparison, the most unfavourable for our purpose that I remember to have ever seen. It consisted only of loose pieces, scarcely any of them fifteen or twenty yards square; and when any so large did occur, their, margins were surrounded by the smaller ones, thrown up by the recent pressure into ten thousand various shapes, and presenting high and sharp angular ma.s.ses at every other step. The men compared it to a stone-mason's yard, which, except that the stones were of ten times the usual dimensions, it indeed very much resembled.

The only inducement to set out over such a road was the certainty that floes and fields lay beyond it, and the hope that they were not _far_ beyond it. In this respect, indeed, I considered our present easterly position as a probable advantage, since the ice was much less likely to have been disturbed to any great extent northward in this meridian than to the westward clear of the land, where every southerly breeze was sure to be making havoc among it. Another very important advantage in setting off on this meridian appeared to me to be, that, the land of Spitzbergen lying immediately over against the ice, the latter could never drift so much or so fast to the southward as it might farther to the westward.

Upon these grounds it was that I was anxious to make an attempt, at least, as soon as our arrangements could be completed; and the officers being of the same opinion as myself, we hoisted out the boats early in the morning of the 27th, and, having put the things into one of them, endeavoured, by way of experiment, to get her to a little distance from the s.h.i.+p. Such however, were the irregularities of the ice, that, even with the a.s.sistance of an additional party of men, it was obvious that we could not have gained a single mile in a day, and, what was still more important, not without almost certain and serious injury to the boats by their striking against the angular ma.s.ses. Under these circ.u.mstances, it was but too evident to every one that it would have been highly imprudent to persist in setting out, since, if the ice, after all, should clear away, even in a week, so as to allow us to get a few miles nearer the main body, time would be ultimately saved by our delay, to say nothing of the wear and tear, and expense of our provisions. I was, therefore, very reluctantly compelled to yield to this necessity, and to order the things to be got on board again.

Immediately after we had, on the 27th, proved experimentally the extreme difficulty of transporting our boats and stores over the ice which now surrounded us, I made up my mind to the very great probability there seemed to be of the necessity of adopting such alterations in our original plans as would accommodate them to these untoward circ.u.mstances at the outset. The boats forming the main impediment, not so much on account of their absolute weight as from the difficulty of managing so large a body upon a road of this nature, I made preparations for the possible contingency of our having to take only one, continuing the same number of men in our whole party. All that I saw reason to apprehend from having only a single boat on our outward journey, was some occasional delay in ferrying over s.p.a.ces of water in two trips instead of one; but we considered that this would be much more than compensated by the increased rate at which we should go whenever we were upon the ice, as we expected to be nine days out of ten. The princ.i.p.al disadvantage, therefore, consisted in our not all being able to sleep in the boat, and this we proposed to obviate in the following manner.

We constructed out of the Lapland snow-shoes fourteen sledges, each sledge consisting of two pairs well fastened together. Upon these we proposed dragging almost all the weight, so as to keep the boat nearly without any cargo in her, as we found by experiment that a man could drag about three hundred pounds on one of the sledges with more facility than he could drag the boat when his proportion did not exceed one hundred pounds. Upon these sledges we proposed lodging half our party alternately each night, placing them under the lee of the boat, and then stretching over them, as a sloped roof, a second awning, which we fitted for the purpose. Upon this plan we likewise could afford to make our boat considerably stronger, adding some stout iron knees to the supports of her runners, and increasing our store of materials for repairing her.

The weight reduced by this arrangement would have been above two thousand pounds, without taking away any article conducive to our comfort, except the boat and her gear. I proposed to the officers and men who had been selected to accompany me this change in our equipment; and I need scarcely say that they all clearly saw the probable necessity of it, and cheerfully acquiesced in its adoption, if requisite.

On the 29th I sent Lieutenants Foster and Crozier, with the greater part of the s.h.i.+p's company, and with a third or spare travelling-boat, to endeavour to land her on Red Beach, together with a quant.i.ty of stores, including provisions, as a deposite for us on our return from the northward, should it so happen, as was not improbable, that we should return to the eastward. It is impossible to describe the labour attending this attempt. Suffice it to say, that, after working for fourteen hours, they returned on board at midnight, having accomplished about four miles out of the six. The next day they returned to the boat, and, after several hours' exertion, landed her on the beach with the stores. What added to the fatigue of this service was the necessity of taking a small boat to cross pools of water on their return, so that they had to drag this boat both ways, besides that which they went to convey. Having, however, had an opportunity of trying what could be done upon a regular and level floe which lay close to the beach, everybody was of opinion, as I had always been, that we could easily travel twenty miles a day on ice of that kind.

It will not be wondered at if the apparent hopelessness of getting the s.h.i.+p free for the present again suggested the necessity of my own setting out: and I had once more, on the 1st of June, after an anxious consultation with my officers, resolved on making a second attempt, when the ice near us, which had opened at regular hours with the tide for three or four days past, began to set us much more rapidly than usual to the eastward, and towards a low point which runs off from Red Beach, near its western end, causing us to shoal the water in a few hours from fifty-two to twenty fathoms, and on the following morning to fourteen and a half. By sending a lead-line over the ice a few hundred yards beyond us, we found ten fathoms water. However unfavourable the aspect of our affairs seemed before, this new change could not fail to alter it for the worse. The situation of the s.h.i.+p now, indeed, required my whole attention; for the ice occasionally opened and shut within twenty or twenty-five yards of us on the in-sh.o.r.e side, the s.h.i.+p herself was still very firmly imbedded by the turned up ma.s.ses which pressed upon her on the 19th, and which, on the other side, as well as ahead and astern, were of considerable extent. Thus she formed, as it were, part of a floe, which went drifting about in the manner above described. This was of little importance while she was in sixty fathoms of water, as she was for the first fourteen days of our besetment, and a distance of five or six miles from the land; but now that she had shoaled the water so considerably, and approached the low point within two or three miles, it became a matter of importance to try whether any labour we could bestow upon it would liberate the s.h.i.+p from her present imbedded state, so as to be at least ready to take advantage of slack water, should any occur, to keep her off the sh.o.r.e. All hands were therefore set to work with handspikes, capstan-bars, and axes, it being necessary to detach every separate ma.s.s, however small, before the larger ones could be moved. The hara.s.sing and laborious nature of this operation is such as nothing but experience can possibly give an idea of, especially when, as in this case, we had only a small pool of clear water near the margin in which the detached pieces could be floated out. However, we continued at work, with only the necessary intermissions for rest and meals, during this and the two following days, and on the evening of the 3d had accomplished all that the closeness of the ice would permit; but the s.h.i.+p was still by no means free, numberless ma.s.ses of ice being doubled under her, even below her keel, which could not be moved without more s.p.a.ce for working.

Painful as was this protracted delay in setting out upon the princ.i.p.al object of the expedition, the absolute necessity of it will scarcely, I think, be doubted by any person conversant in such matters. So long as the s.h.i.+p continued undisturbed by the ice, nearly stationary, and in deep water, for several days together, I had, in my anxiety to lose not a moment's time, ventured to flatter myself with the hope that, in a case of such unlooked-for emergency, when every moment of our short and uncertain season was of importance, I might be justified in quitting my s.h.i.+p at sea; and in this opinion the zeal of my officers, both those who were to accompany me and those who were to remain on board, induced them unanimously to concur. But the case was now materially altered; for it had become plain to every seaman in the s.h.i.+p, first, that the safety of the Hecla, if thus left with less than half her working hands, could not be reckoned upon for an hour; and, secondly, that no human foresight could enable us to conjecture, should we set out while she was thus situated, when or where we should find her on our return. In fact, it appeared to us at this time, as indeed it was, a very providential circ.u.mstance, that the impracticable nature of the ice for travelling had offered no encouragement to persevere in my original intention of setting out a week before this time.

For the two following days we continued closely beset, but still driving to the eastward across the mouth of Weyde Bay, which is here six or seven miles in breadth, and appeared to be very deep, the land in the centre receding to a distance of full eight leagues. In the afternoon of the 6th, we had driven within five miles of a point of land, beyond which, to the eastward, it seemed to recede considerably; and this appearing to answer tolerably to the situation of Muscle or Mussel Bay, as laid down in most of the charts, I was very anxious to discover whether we could here find shelter for the s.h.i.+p. A lane of water leading towards the land at no great distance from us, I hauled a boat over the ice and then rowed on sh.o.r.e, accompanied by Lieutenant Foster and some of the other officers, taking with me another small store of provisions, to be deposited here, as a future resource for my party, should we approach this part of the coast.

Landing at half past six P.M., and leaving Mr. Bird to bury the provisions, Lieutenant Foster and myself walked without delay to the eastward, and, on ascending the point, found that there was, as we had supposed, an indentation in the coast on the other side. We now began to conceive the most flattering hopes of discovering something like a harbour for the s.h.i.+p, and pushed on with all possible haste to examine the place farther; but, after three hours walking, were much mortified, on arriving at its head, to find that it was nothing but an open bay, entirely exposed to the inroads of all the northern ice, and therefore quite unfit for the s.h.i.+p. We returned to the boat greatly disappointed, and reached the Hecla at 1.30 A.M. on the 7th.

I do not remember to have ever experienced in these regions such a continuance of beautiful weather as we now had, during more than three weeks that we had been on the northern coast of Spitzbergen. Day after day we had a clear and cloudless sky, scarcely any wind, and, with the exception of a few days previous to the 23d of May, a warm temperature in the shade, and quite a scorching sun. On the 3d of June we had a shower of rain, and on the 6th it rained pretty hard for two or three hours. After the 1st of June we could procure abundance of excellent water upon the ice, and by the end of the first week the floe-pieces were looking blue with it in some parts, and the snow had everywhere become too soft to bear a man's weight.

On the 7th, the s.h.i.+p, still closely beset, had drifted much more to the eastward, being within a mile of the spot where the provisions had been deposited the preceding evening. There was now no other ice between us and the land except the floe to which we had been so long attached; and round this we were occasionally obliged to warp, whenever a little slackening of the ice permitted, in order to prevent our getting too near the rocks. In this situation of suspense and anxiety we still remained until the evening of the 8th, when a breeze at length springing up from the southward began to open out the ice from the point near which we lay. As soon as the channel was three or four hundred yards wide, we warped into the clear water, and, making sail, rounded the point in safety, having no soundings with twenty fathoms, at one third of a mile from a small rocky islet lying off it. In the mean time the wind had been driving the ice so fast off the land as to form for us a clear communication with the open water before seen to the eastward; and thus we were at length liberated from our confinement, after a close and tedious "besetment" of twenty-four days.

The weather continued so thick, that, impatient as we were to stand in towards the eastern land, we could not venture to do so till eleven A.M.

on the 10th, when we made sail towards Brandywine Bay, the wind being now from the W.S.W., or nearly dead upon that sh.o.r.e. The weather clearing up at 1.15 P.M., we saw the eastern land, and soon after discovered the grounded ice off Low Island; Walden's Island was also plainly in sight to the N.E. The bay seemed deeply indented, and very likely to afford nooks such as we wanted; and where so large a s.p.a.ce of open water, and, consequently, some sea, had been exerting its influence for a considerable time, we flattered ourselves with the most sanguine hopes of now having access to the sh.o.r.es, sufficiently near, at least, for sawing into some place of shelter. How, then, shall I express our surprise and mortification in finding that the whole of the coast, from the islands northward to Black Point, and apparently also as far as Walden's Island, was rendered inaccessible by one continuous and heavy floe, everywhere attached to the sh.o.r.es, and to the numberless grounded ma.s.ses about the island, this immense barrier being in some places six or seven miles in width, and not less than twelve feet in thickness near the margin.

The prospect from our masthead at this time was certainly enough to cast a damp over every sanguine expectation I had formed, of being _soon_ enabled to place the Hecla in security; and more willingly than ever would I, at this period, have persuaded myself, if possible, that I should be justified in quitting her at sea. Such, however, was the nature of this navigation, as regarded the combined difficulties arising from ice and a large extent of shoal and unsurveyed ground, that, even with our full complement of officers and men on board, all our strength and exertions might scarcely have sufficed, in a single gale of wind, to keep the s.h.i.+p tolerably secure, and much less could I have ensured placing her ultimately in any proper situation for picking up an absent party; for, if once again beset, she must, of course, be at the mercy of the ice. The conclusion was, therefore, irresistibly forced upon my mind, that thus to leave the s.h.i.+p would be to expose her to imminent and certain peril, rendering it impossible to conjecture where we should find her on our return, and, therefore, rashly to place all parties in a situation from which nothing but disaster could reasonably be expected to ensue.

After beating through much ice, which was all of the drift or broken kind, and had all found its way hither in the last two days, we got into an open s.p.a.ce of water in-sh.o.r.e, and about six miles to the northward of Low Island; and on the morning of the 13th stretched in towards Walden Island, around which we found, as we had feared, a considerable quant.i.ty of fixed ice. It was certainly much less here, than elsewhere; but the inner, or eastern side of the island was entirely enveloped by it.

Having from twenty-six to twenty-four fathoms at the distance of four miles from Walden Island, I was preparing two boats, with the intention of going to sound about its northern point, which was the most clear of ice, and not without a faint hope of finding something like shelter there; but I was prevented by a thick fog coming on. Continuing, therefore, to beat to the northward, we pa.s.sed occasionally a good deal of drift ice, but with every appearance of much clear water in that direction; and the weather clearing about midnight, we observed in lat.i.tude 8043'32". The Seven Islands were in sight to the eastward, and the "Little Table Island" of Phipps bore E.N.E. (true) distant about nine or ten miles. It is a mere craggy rock, rising, perhaps, from four to five hundred feet above the level of the sea, and with a small low islet lying off its northern end. This island, being the northernmost known land in the world, naturally excited much of our curiosity; and bleak, and barren, and rugged as it is, one could not help gazing at it with intense interest.

At midnight on the 14th we had reached the lat.i.tude 815'32" Our longitude by chronometers at this time was 19 34' E., Little Table Island bearing S. 26 E. (true), distant six or seven leagues, and Walden Island S. 4 E.[019] The depth of water was ninety-seven fathoms, on a bottom of greenish mud; and the temperature at ninety-five fathoms, by Six's thermometer, was 29.8, that at the surface being 31, and of the air 28. All that could here be seen to the northward was loose drift-ice. To the northeast it was particularly open, and I have no doubt that we might have gone many miles farther in that direction, had it not been a much more important object to keep the s.h.i.+p free than to push her to the northward.

We now stood back again to the southward, in order again to examine the coast wherever we could approach it; but found, on the 15th, that none of the land was at all accessible, the wind having got round to the W.N.W., and loaded all the sh.o.r.es with drift-ice.

Walden Island being the first part clear of the loose ice, we stretched in for it on the 16th, and, when within two miles, observed that about half that s.p.a.ce was occupied by land-ice, even on its northwestern side, which was the only accessible one, the rest being wholly enclosed by it.

However, being desirous of obtaining a better view than our crow's-nest commanded, and also of depositing here a small quant.i.ty of provisions, I left the s.h.i.+p at one P.M., accompanied by Lieutenant Foster in a second boat, and, landing upon the ice, walked over about three quarters of a mile of high and rugged hummocks to the sh.o.r.e. Ascending two or three hundred feet, we had a clear and extensive view of the Seven Islands, and of some land far beyond them to the eastward; and the whole sea was covered with one unbroken land-floe, attached to all the sh.o.r.es extending from the island where we stood, and which formed an abutment for it each way along the land as far as the eye could reach. After this discouraging prospect, which wholly destroyed every hope of finding a harbour among the Seven Islands, we returned to the place where the men had deposited the provisions, and, after making the necessary observations for the survey, returned immediately on board.

Observing from the island that the sea was perfectly clear to the northward, we now stood for Little Table Island, with some slight hope that the rock off its northern end might afford shelter for the s.h.i.+p; at all events, being the most exposed, on account of its situation, it was the most likely to be free from ice. A thick fog prevented our getting near it till the morning of the 17th, when, having approached it within a mile and a half, I sent Lieutenant Ross on sh.o.r.e to a little islet, which was quite free from ice, where he deposited another small store of provisions, but found nothing like shelter for the s.h.i.+p.

Having no farther business here, and the easterly wind still continuing, I thought the best thing we could do would be to run again to the southward of Low Island, and try once more to approach the sh.o.r.es about the entrance of the Waygatz Strait. We therefore bore up under all sail to the southwest.

It would be vain to deny that I had lately begun to entertain the most serious apprehensions as related to the accomplishment of our princ.i.p.al object. The 17th of June had now arrived, and all that we saw afforded us the most discouraging prospect as to our getting the Hecla into harbour; while every day's experience showed how utterly rash a measure it would be to think of quitting her in her present situation, which, even with all her officers and men, was one of extreme precariousness and uncertainty.

On the evening of the 18th, while standing in for the high land to the eastward of Verlegen Hook, which, with due attention to the lead, may be approached with safety, we perceived from the crow's-nest what appeared a low point, possibly affording some shelter for the s.h.i.+p, and which seemed to answer to an indentation of the coast laid down in an old Dutch chart, and there called _Treurenburg Bay_.

On the following morning I proceeded to examine the place, accompanied by Lieutenant Ross in a second boat, and, to our great joy, found it a considerable bay, with one part affording excellent landlocked anchorage and, what was equally fortunate, sufficiently clear of ice to allow the s.h.i.+p to enter. Having sounded the entrance and determined on the anchorage, we returned to the s.h.i.+p to bring her in; and I cannot describe the satisfaction which the information of our success communicated to every individual on board. The main object of our enterprise now appeared almost within our grasp, and everybody seemed anxious to make up, by renewed exertions, for the time we had unavoidably lost. The s.h.i.+p was towed and warped in with the greatest alacrity, and at 1.40 A.M. on June 20th, we dropped the anchor in Hecla Cove, in thirteen fathoms, on a bottom of very tenacious blue clay, and made some hawsers fast to the land-ice, which still filled all the upper part of the bay. After resting a few hours, we sawed a ca.n.a.l a quarter of a mile in length, through which the s.h.i.+p was removed into a better situation, a bower-cable taken on sh.o.r.e and secured to the rocks, and an anchor, with the chain-cable, laid out the other way. On the morning of the 21st we hauled the launch up on the beach, it being my intention to direct such resources of every kind to be landed as would render our party wholly independent of the s.h.i.+p, either for returning to England or for wintering, in case of the s.h.i.+p being driven to sea by the ice; a contingency against which, in these regions, no precaution can altogether provide. I directed Lieutenant Foster, upon whom the charge of the Hecla was now to devolve, to land without delay the necessary stores, keeping the s.h.i.+p seaworthy by taking in an equal quant.i.ty of ballast; and, as soon as he should be satisfied of her security from ice, to proceed on the survey of the eastern coast; but, should he see reason to doubt her safety with a still farther diminution of her crew to relinquish the survey, and attend exclusively to the s.h.i.+p. I also gave directions that notices should be sent, in the course of the summer, to the various stations where our depots of provisions were established, acquainting me with the situation and state of the s.h.i.+p, and giving me any other information which might be necessary for my guidance on our return from the northward. These and other arrangements being completed, I left the s.h.i.+p at five P.M. with our two boats, which we named the Enterprise and Endeavour, Mr. Beverly being attached to my own, and Lieutenant Ross, accompanied by Mr. Bird, in the other. Besides these, I took Lieutenant Crozier in one of the s.h.i.+p's cutters, for the purpose of carrying some of our weight as far as Walden Island, and also a third store of provisions to be deposited on Low Island, as an intermediate station between Walden Island and the s.h.i.+p. As it was still necessary not to delay our return beyond the end of August, the time originally intended, I took, with me only seventy-one days provisions; which, including the boats and every other article, made up a weight of 268 lbs. per man; and as it appeared highly improbable, from what we had seen of the very rugged nature of the ice we should first have to encounter, that either the reindeer, the snow-shoes, or the wheels would prove of any service for some time to come, I gave up the idea of taking them. We, however, constructed out of the snow-shoes four excellent sledges for dragging a part of our baggage over the ice; and these proved of invaluable service to us, while the rest of the things just mentioned would only have been an enc.u.mbrance.

Having received the usual salutation of three cheers from those we left behind, we paddled through a quant.i.ty of loose ice at the entrance of the bay, and then steered, in a perfectly open sea, and with calm and beautiful weather, for the western part of Low Island, which we reached at half past two on the morning of the 22d.

Having deposited the provisions, we set off at four A.M., paddling watch and watch, to give the people a little rest. It was still quite calm; but there being much ice about the island, and a thick fog coming on, we were several hours groping our way clear of it. The walruses were here very numerous, lying in herds upon the ice, and plunging into the water to follow us as we pa.s.sed. The sound they utter is something between bellowing and very loud snorting, which, together with their grim, bearded countenances and long tusks, makes them appear, as indeed they are, rather formidable enemies to contend with. Under our present circ.u.mstances, we were very well satisfied not to molest them, for they would soon have destroyed our boats if one had been wounded; but I believe they are never the first to make the attack. We landed upon the ice still attached to Walden Island at 3.30 A.M. on the 23d. Our flat-bottomed boats rowed heavily with their loads, but proved perfectly safe, and very comfortable. The men being much fatigued, we rested here some hours, and, after making our final arrangements with Lieutenant Crozier, parted with him at three in the afternoon, and set off for Little Table Island. Finding there was likely to be so much open water in this neighbourhood in the autumn, I sent directions to Lieutenant Foster to have a spare boat deposited at Walden Island in time for our return, in case of any accident happening to ours.

The land-ice, which still adhered to the Seven Islands, was very little more broken off than when the Hecla had been here a week before; and we rowed along its margin a part of the way to Little Table Island, where we arrived at ten P.M. We here examined and re-secured the provisions left on sh.o.r.e, having found our depot at Walden Island disturbed by the bears. The prospect to the northward at this time was very favourable, there being only a small quant.i.ty of loose ice in sight; and the weather still continuing calm and clear, with the sea as smooth as a mirror, we set off without delay, at half past ten, taking our final leave of the Spitzbergen sh.o.r.es, as we hoped, for at least two months. Steering due north, we made good progress, our lat.i.tude by the sun's meridian alt.i.tude at midnight being 80 51' 13". A beautifully-coloured rainbow appeared for some time, without any appearance of rain falling. We observed that a considerable current was setting us to the eastward just after leaving the land, so that we had made a N.N.E. course, distance about ten miles, when we met with some ice, which soon becoming too close for farther progress, we landed upon a high hummock to obtain a better view. We here perceived that the ice was close to the northward, but to the westward we discovered some open water, which we reached after two or three hours' paddling, and found it a wide expanse, in which we sailed to the northward without obstruction, a fresh breeze having sprung up from the S.W. The weather soon after became very thick, with continued snow, requiring great care in looking out for the ice, which made its appearance after two hours' run, and gradually became closer, till at length we were stopped by it at noon, and obliged to haul the boats upon a small floe-piece, our lat.i.tude by observation being 81 12' 51".

Our plan of travelling being nearly the same throughout this excursion, after we first entered upon the ice, I may at once give some account of our usual mode of proceeding. It was my intention to travel wholly at night, and to rest by day, there being, of course, constant daylight in these regions during the summer season. The advantages of this plan, which was occasionally deranged by circ.u.mstances, consisted, first, in our avoiding the intense and oppressive glare from the snow during the time of the sun's greatest alt.i.tude, so as to prevent, in some degree, the painful inflammation in the eyes called "snow blindness," which is common in all snowy countries. We also thus enjoyed greater warmth during the hours of rest, and had a better chance of drying our clothes; besides which, no small advantage was derived from the snow being harder at night for travelling. The only disadvantage of this plan was, that the fogs were somewhat more thick by night than by day, though even in this respect there was less difference than might have been supposed, the temperature during the twenty-four hours undergoing but little variation. This travelling by night and sleeping by day so completely inverted the natural order of things, that it was difficult to persuade ourselves of the reality. Even the officers and myself, who were all furnished with pocket chronometers, could not always bear in mind at what part of the twenty-four hours we had arrived; and there were several of the men who declared, and I believe truly, that they, never knew night from day during the whole excursion.[020]

When we rose in the evening, we commenced our day by prayers, after which we took off our fur sleeping-dresses and put on those for travelling; the former being made of camlet, lined with rac.o.o.n-skin, and the latter of strong blue box-cloth. We made a point of always putting on the same stockings and boots for travelling in, whether they dried during the day or not; and I believe it was only in five or six instances, at the most, that they were not either wet or hard-frozen.

This, indeed, was of no consequence, beyond the discomforture of first putting them on in this state, as they were sure to be thoroughly wet in a quarter of an hour after commencing our journey; while, on the other hand, it was of vital importance to keep dry things for sleeping in.

Being "rigged" for travelling, we breakfasted upon warm cocoa and biscuit, and, after stowing the things in the boats and on the sledges, so as to secure them as much as possible from wet, we set off on our day's journey, and usually travelled from five to five and a half hours, then stopped an hour to dine, and again travelled four, five, or even six hours, according to circ.u.mstances. After this we halted for the night, as we called it, though it was usually early in the morning, selecting the largest surface of ice we happened to be near for hauling the boats on, in order to avoid the danger of its breaking up by coming in contact with other ma.s.ses, and also to prevent drift as much as possible. The boats were placed close alongside each other, with their sterns to the wind, the snow or wet cleared out of them, and the sails, supported by the bamboo masts and three paddles, placed over them as awnings, an entrance being left at the bow. Every man then immediately put on dry stockings and fur boots, after which we set about the necessary repairs of boats, sledges, or clothes; and, after serving the provisions for the succeeding day, we went to supper. Most of the officers and men then smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boats and awnings very much, and usually raised the temperature of our lodgings 10 or 15. This part of the twenty-four hours was often a time, and the only one, of real enjoyment to us; the men told their stories and "fought all their battles o'er again," and the labours of the day, unsuccessful as they too often were, were forgotten. A regular watch was set during our resting-time, to look out for bears or for the ice breaking up round us, as well as to attend to the drying of the clothes, each man alternately, taking this duty for one hour. We then concluded our day with prayers, and, having put on our fur-dresses, lay down to sleep with a degree of comfort, which perhaps few persons would imagine possible under such circ.u.mstances; our chief inconvenience being that we were somewhat pinched for room, and therefore obliged to stow rather closer than was quite agreeable. The temperature, while we slept, was usually from 36 to 45, according to the state of the external atmosphere; but on one or two occasions in calm and warm weather, it rose as high as 60 to 66, obliging us to throw off a part of our fur-dress. After we had slept seven hours, the man appointed to boil the cocoa roused us when it was ready by the sound of a bugle, when we commenced our day in the manner before described.

Our allowance of provisions for each man per day was as follows:

Biscuit 10 ounces.

Pemmican 9 ounces.

Sweetened Cocoa Powder 1 ounce, to make one pint.

Rum 1 gill.

Tobacco 3 ounces per week.

Our fuel consisted entirely of spirits of wine, of which two pints formed our daily allowance, the cocoa being cooked in an iron boiler over a shallow iron lamp, with seven wicks; a simple apparatus, which answered our purpose remarkably well. We usually found one pint of the spirits of wine sufficient for preparing our breakfast, that is, for heating twenty-eight pints of water, though it always commenced from the temperature of 32. If the weather was calm and fair, this quant.i.ty of fuel brought it to the boiling point in about an hour and a quarter; but more generally the wicks began to go out before it had reached. 200.

This, however, made a very comfortable meal to persons situated as we were. Such, with very little variation, was our regular routine during the whole of this excursion.

We set off on our first journey over the ice at ten P.M. on the 24th, Table Island bearing S.S.W., and a fresh breeze blowing from W.S.W., with thick fog, which afterward changed to rain. The bags of pemmican were placed upon the sledges, and the bread in the boats, with the intention of securing the latter from wet; but this plan we were soon obliged to relinquish. We now commenced upon very slow and laborious travelling, the pieces of ice being of small extent and very rugged, obliging us to make three journeys, and sometimes four, with the boats and baggage, and to launch several times across narrow pools of water.

We stopped to dine at five A.M. on the 25th, having made, by our log (which we kept very carefully, marking the courses by compa.s.s, and estimating the distances), about two miles and a half of northing; and, again setting forward, proceeded till eleven A.M., when we halted to rest; our lat.i.tude, by observation at noon, being 81 15' 13".

Setting out again at half past nine in the evening, we found our way to lie over nothing but small, loose, rugged ma.s.ses of ice, separated by little pools of water, obliging us constantly to launch and haul up the boats, each of which operations required them to be unloaded, and occupied nearly a quarter of an hour. It came on to rain very hard on the morning of the 26th; and, finding we were making very little progress (having advanced not more than half a mile in four hours), and that our clothes would be soon wet through, we halted at half past one, and took shelter under the awnings. The weather improving at six o'clock, we again moved forward, and travelled till a quarter past eleven, when we hauled the boats upon the only tolerably large floe-piece in sight. The rain had very much increased the quant.i.ty of water lying upon the ice, of which nearly half the surface was now covered with numberless little ponds of various shapes and extent. It is a remarkable fact, that we had already experienced, in the course of this summer, more rain than during the whole of seven previous summers taken together, though pa.s.sed in lat.i.tudes from 7 to 15 lower than this. A great deal of the ice over which we pa.s.sed to-day presented a very curious appearance and structure, being composed, on its upper surface, of numberless irregular, needle-like crystals, placed vertically, and nearly close together; their length varying, in different pieces of ice, from five to ten inches, and their breadth in the middle about half an inch, but pointed at both ends. The upper surface of ice having this structure sometimes looks like greenish velvet; a vertical section of it, which frequently occurs at the margin of floes, resembles, while it remains compact, the most beautiful satin-spar, and asbestos when falling to pieces. At this early part of the season, this kind of ice afforded pretty firm footing; but, as the summer advanced, the needles became more loose and moveable, rendering it extremely fatiguing to walk over them, besides cutting our boots and feet, on which account the men called them "penknives."

We pursued our journey at half past nine P.M., with the wind at N.E., and thick weather, the ice being so much in motion as to make it very dangerous to cross in loaded boats, the ma.s.ses being all very small. On this account we halted at midnight, having waded three quarters of a mile through water from two to five inches deep upon the ice. The thermometer was at 33.

At seven A.M. on the 28th, we came to a floe covered with high and rugged hummocks, which opposed a formidable obstacle to our progress, occurring in two or three successive tiers, so that we had no sooner crossed one than another presented itself. Over one of these we hauled the boats with extreme difficulty by a "standing pull," and the weather being then so thick that we could see no pa.s.s across the next tier, we were obliged to stop at nine A.M. While performing this laborious work, which required the boats to be got up and down places almost perpendicular, James Parker, my c.o.xswain, received a severe contusion in his back, by the boat falling upon him from a hummock, and the boats were constantly subject to very heavy blows, but sustained no damage.[021] The weather continued very foggy during the day, but a small lane of water opening out at no great distance from the margin of the floe, we launched the boats at eight in the evening among loose drift-ice, and, after some time, landed on a small floe to the eastward, the only one in sight, with the hope of its leading to the northward. It proved so rugged that we were obliged to make three, and sometimes four journeys with the boats and provisions, and this by a very circuitous route; so that the road, by which we made a mile of northing, was full a mile and a half in length, and over this we had to travel at least five, and sometimes seven times. Thus, when we halted to dine at two A.M., after six hours' severe toil, and much risk to the men and boats, we had only accomplished about a mile and a quarter in a N.N.E. direction.

After dining we proceeded again till half past six, and then halted, very much fatigued with our day's work, and having made two miles and a half of northing. We were here in lat.i.tude, by account, 81 23", and in longitude, by the chronometers, 21 32' 34" E., in which situation the variation of the magnetic needle was observed to be 15 31' westerly. We now enjoyed the first suns.h.i.+ne since our entering the ice, and a great enjoyment it was, after so much thick and wet weather. We rose at half past four P.M., in the hopes of pursuing our journey; but, after hauling the boats to the edge of the floe, found such a quant.i.ty of loose, rugged ice to the northward of us, that there was no possibility, for the present, of getting across or through it. Observing a small opening at 10.30 P.M., we launched the boats, and hauled them across several pieces of ice, some of them being very light and much decayed. Our lat.i.tude, by the sun's meridian alt.i.tude at midnight, was 81 23'; so that we had made only eight miles of northing since our last observation at noon on the 25th.