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

The animals met with here during the Hecla's stay were princ.i.p.ally reindeer, bears, foxes, kittiwakes, glaucus and ivory gulls, tern, eider-ducks, and a few grouse. Looms and rotges were numerous in the offing. Seventy reindeer were killed, chiefly very small, and, until the middle of August, not in good condition. They were usually met with in herds of from six or eight to twenty, and were most abundant on the west and north sides of the bay. Three bears were killed, one of which was somewhat above the ordinary dimensions, measuring eight feet four inches from the snout to the insertion of the tail. The vegetation was tolerably abundant, especially on the western side of the bay, where the soil is good; a considerable collection of plants, as well as minerals, was made by Mr. Halse, and of birds by Mr. M'Cormick.

The neighbourhood of this bay, like most of the northern sh.o.r.es of Spitzbergen, appears to have been much visited by the Dutch at a very early period; of which circ.u.mstance records are furnished on almost every spot where we landed, by the numerous graves which we met with.

There are thirty of these on a point of land on the north side of the bay.[023] The bodies are usually deposited in an oblong wooden coffin, which, on account of the difficulty of digging the ground, is not buried, but merely covered by large stones; and a board is generally placed near the head, having, either cut or painted upon it, the name of the deceased, with those of his s.h.i.+p and commander, and the month and year of his burial. Several of these were fifty or sixty years old; one bore the date of 1738; and another, which I found on the beach to the eastward of Hecla Cove, that of 1690; the inscription distinctly appearing in prominent relief, occasioned by the preservation of the wood by the paint, while the unpainted part had decayed around it.

The officers who remained on board the Hecla during the summer described the weather as the most beautiful, and the climate altogether the most agreeable, they had ever experienced in the Polar Regions. Indeed, the Meteorological Journal shows a temperature, both of the air and of the sea water, to which we had before been altogether strangers within the Arctic Circle, and which goes far towards showing that the climate of Spitzbergen is a remarkably temperate one for its lat.i.tude.[024] It must, however, be observed, that this remark is princ.i.p.ally applicable to the weather experienced _near the land_, that at sea being rendered of a totally different character by the almost continual presence of fogs; so that some of our most gloomy days upon the ice were among the finest in Hecla Cove, where, however, a good deal of rain fell in the course of the summer.

The Hecla was ready for sea on the 25th of August; but the wind blowing fresh from the northward and westward prevented our moving till the evening of the 28th, when, the weather improving, we got under way from Hecla Cove, and, being favoured with a light air from the S.E., stood along the coast to the westward. On the evening of the 29th, when off Red Beach, we got on board our boat and other stores which had been left there, finding them undisturbed and in good order. The weather was beautifully fine, and the sun (to us for the first time for about four months) just dipped his lower limb into the sea at midnight, and then rose again. It was really wonderful to see that, upon this whole northern coast of Spitzbergen, where in May and June not a "hole" of clear water could be found, it would now have been equally difficult to discover a single ma.s.s of ice in any direction. This absence of ice now enabled us to see Moffen Island, which is so low and flat that it was before entirely hidden from our view by the hummocks. On rounding Hakluyt's Headland on the 30th, we came at once into a long swell, such as occurs only in places exposed to the whole range of the ocean, and, except a small or loose stream or two, we after this saw no more ice of any kind. On the 31st we were off Prince Charles's Foreland, the middle part of which, about Cape Sietoe, appeared to be much the highest land we had seen in Spitzbergen; rising probably to an elevation of above four thousand feet.

We had favourable winds to carry us clear of Spitzbergen; but after the 3d of September, and between the parallels of 70 and 60, were detained by continual southerly and southwesterly breezes for a fortnight. On the evening of the 17th we made Shetland, and on the following day, being close off Balta Sound, and the wind blowing strong from the S.W., I anch.o.r.ed in the Voe at two P.M., to wait a more favourable breeze. We were here received by all that genuine hospitality for which the inhabitants of this northern part of the British dominions are so justly distinguished, and we gladly availed ourselves of the supplies with which their kindness furnished us.

Early on the morning of the 19th of September, the wind suddenly s.h.i.+fted to the N.N.W., and almost immediately blew so strong a gale that we could not safely cast the s.h.i.+p until the evening, when we got under way and proceeded to the southward; but had not proceeded farther than Fair Island, when, after a few hours' calm, we were once more met by a southerly wind. Against this we continued to beat till the morning of the 23d, when, finding that we made but little progress, and that there was no appearance of an alteration of wind, I determined to put into Long Hope, in the Orkney Islands, to await a change in our favour, and accordingly ran in and anch.o.r.ed there as soon as the tide would permit.

We found lying here his majesty's revenue cutter the Chichester; and Mr.

Stuart, her commander, who was bound direct to Inverness, came on board as soon as we had anch.o.r.ed, to offer his services in any manner which might be useful. The wind died away in the course of the night of the 24th, and was succeeded on the following morning by a light air from the northward, when we immediately got under way; but had not entered the Pentland Firth, when it again fell calm and then backed to the southward, rendering it impossible to make any progress in that direction with a dull-sailing s.h.i.+p. I therefore determined on returning with the Hecla to the anchorage, and then taking advantage of Mr.

Stuart's offer; and accordingly left the s.h.i.+p at eight A.M., accompanied by Mr. Beverly, to proceed to Inverness in the Chichester, and from thence by land to London, in order to lay before his royal highness the lord high admiral, without farther delay, an account of our proceedings.

By the zealous exertions of Mr. Stuart, for which I feel greatly obliged to that gentleman, we arrived off Fort George the following morning, and, landing at Inverness at noon, immediately set off for London, and arrived at the Admiralty on the morning of the 29th of September.

Owing to the continuance of southerly winds, the Hecla did not arrive in the river Thames until the 6th of October, when I was sorry, though not surprised, to learn the death of Mr. George Crawford, the Greenland master, who departed this life on the 29th of September, sincerely lamented by all who knew him, as a zealous, active, and enterprising seaman, and an amiable and deserving man. Mr. Crawford had accompanied us in five successive voyages to the Polar Seas, and I truly regret the occasion which demands from me this public testimony of the value of his services and the excellence of his character.

Having finished my Narrative of this Attempt to reach the North Pole, I may perhaps be permitted, in conclusion, to offer such remarks as have lately occurred to me on the nature and practicability of the enterprise.

That the object is of still more difficult attainment than was before supposed, even by those persons who were the best qualified to judge of it, will, I believe, appear evident from a perusal of the foregoing pages; nor can I, after much consideration and some experience of the various difficulties which belong to it, recommend any material improvement in the plan lately adopted. Among the various schemes suggested for this purpose, it has been proposed to set out from Spitzbergen, and to make a rapid journey to the northward with sledges or sledge-boats, drawn wholly by dogs or reindeer; but, however feasible this plan may at first sight appear, I cannot say that our late experience of the nature of the ice which they would probably have to encounter has been at all favourable to it. It would, of course, be a matter of extreme imprudence to set out on this enterprise without the means of crossing, not merely narrow pools and "lanes," but more extensive s.p.a.ces of open water, such as we met with between the margin of the ice and the Spitzbergen sh.o.r.es; and I do not conceive that any boat sufficiently large to be efficient and safe for this purpose could possibly be managed upon the ice, were the power employed to give it motion dependant on dogs or reindeer. On the contrary, it was a frequent subject of remark among the officers, that reason was a qualification scarcely less indispensable than strength and activity in travelling over such a road; daily instances occurring of our having to pa.s.s over difficult places, which no other animal than man could have been easily prevailed upon to attempt. Indeed, the constant necessity of launching and hauling up the boats (which operations we had frequently to perform eight or ten, and, on one occasion, seventeen times in the same day) would alone render it inexpedient, in my opinion, to depend chiefly upon animals; for it would certainly require more time and labour to get them into and out of the boats, than their services in the intervals, or their flesh ultimately used as food, would be worth; especially when it is considered how large a weight of provender must be carried for their own subsistence.[025]

In case of employing reindeer, which, from their strength, docility, and hardy habits, appear the best suited to this kind of travelling, there would be an evident advantage in setting out much earlier in the year than we did; perhaps about the end of April, when the ice is less broken up, and the snow much harder upon its surface than at a more advanced part of the season. But this, it must be recollected, would involve the necessity of pa.s.sing the previous winter on the northern coast of Spitzbergen, which, even under favourable circ.u.mstances, would probably tend to weaken in some degree the energies of the men; while, on the other hand, it would be next to impossible to procure there a supply of provender for a number of tame reindeer, sufficient even to keep them alive, much less in tolerable condition, during a whole winter. In addition to this, it may be observed, that any party setting out earlier must be provided with a much greater weight of warm clothing in order to guard against the severity of cold, and also with an increased proportion of fuel for procuring water by the melting of snow, there being no fresh water upon the ice in these lat.i.tudes before the month of June.

In the kind of provisions proper to be employed in such enterprises--a very important consideration, where almost the whole difficulty may be said to resolve itself into a question of weight--I am not aware that any improvement could be made upon that with which we were furnished; for I know of none which appears to contain so much nutriment in so small a weight and compa.s.s. It may be useful, however, to remark, as the result of absolute experience, that our daily allowance of provisions,[026] although previously tried for some days on board the s.h.i.+p, and then considered to be enough, proved by no means sufficient to support the strength of men living constantly in the open air, exposed to wet and cold for at least twelve hours a day, seldom enjoying the luxury of a warm meal, and having to perform the kind of labour to which our people were subject. I have before remarked, that, previously to our return to the s.h.i.+p, our strength was considerably impaired; and, indeed, there is reason to believe that, very soon after entering upon the ice, the physical energies of the men were gradually diminis.h.i.+ng, although, for the first few weeks, they did not appear to labour under any specific complaint. This diminution of strength, which we considered to be princ.i.p.ally owing to the want of sufficient sustenance, became apparent, even after a fortnight, in the lifting of the bread-bags and other heavy weights; and I have no doubt that, in spite of every care on the part of the officers, as well as Mr. Beverly's skilful and humane attention to their ailments, some of the men, who had begun to fail before we quitted the ice, would, in a week or two longer, have suffered very severely, and become a serious enc.u.mbrance, instead of an a.s.sistance, to our party. As far as we were able to judge, without farther trial, Mr. Beverly and myself were of opinion that, in order to maintain the strength of men thus employed for several weeks together, an addition would be requisite of at least one third more to the provisions which we daily issued. I need scarcely remark how much this would increase the difficulty of equipping such an expedition.

I cannot dismiss the subject of this enterprise without attempting to explain, as far as I am able, how it may have happened that the ice over which we pa.s.sed was found to answer so little to the description of that observed by the respectable authorities quoted in a former part of this volume.[027] It frequently occurred to us, in the course of our daily journeys, that this may, in some degree, have arisen from our navigators' having generally viewed the ice from a considerable height.

The only clear and commanding view on board a s.h.i.+p is that from the crow's-nest; and Phipps's most important remarks concerning the nature of the ice to the north of Spitzbergen were made from a station several hundred feet above the sea; and, as it is well known how much the most experienced eye may thus be deceived, it is possible enough that the irregularities which cost us so much time and labour may, when viewed in this manner, have entirely escaped notice, and the whole surface have appeared one smooth and level plain.

It is, moreover, possible, that the broken state in which we unexpectedly found the ice may have arisen, at least in part, from an unusually wet season, preceded, perhaps, by a winter of less than ordinary severity. Of the latter we have no means of judging, there being no record, that I am aware of, of the temperature of that or any other winter pa.s.sed in the higher lat.i.tudes; but, on comparing our Meteorological Register with some others kept during the corresponding season and about the same lat.i.tude,[028] it does appear that, though no material difference is observable in the mean temperature of the atmosphere, the quant.i.ty of rain which we experienced is considerably greater than usual; and it is well known how very rapidly ice is dissolved by a fall of rain. At all events, from whatever cause it may have arisen, it is certain that, about the meridian on which we proceeded northward in the boats, the sea was in a totally different state from what Phipps experienced, as may be seen from comparing our accounts--his s.h.i.+p being closely beset, near the Seven Islands, for several days about the beginning of August; whereas the Hecla, in the beginning of June, sailed about in the same neighbourhood without obstruction, and, before the close of July, not a piece of ice could be seen from Little Table Island.

I may add, in conclusion, that, before the middle of August, when we left the ice in our boats, a s.h.i.+p might have sailed to the lat.i.tude, of 82 almost without touching a piece of ice; and it was the general opinion among us, that, by the end of that month, it would probably have been no very difficult matter to reach the parallel of 83, about the meridian of the Seven Islands.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES

[001] This name being applied by the Esquimaux to several other portions of land, all of which are insular, or nearly so, it is probable that the word simply signifies an island.

[002] The expression "fixed ice" appearing better suited to our present obstacle than that of "land ice," I shall in future adopt it in speaking of this barrier.

[003] Lest it should be thought that this account is exaggerated, I may here state, that, as a matter of curiosity, we one day tried how much a lad, scarcely full grown, would, if freely supplied, consume in this way. The under-mentioned articles were weighed before being given to him; he was twenty hours in getting through them, and certainly did not consider the quant.i.ty extraordinary.

lb. oz.

Seahorse flesh, hard frozen 4 4 Ditto, boiled 4 4 Bread and bread-dust 1 12 ________

Total of solids 10 4 The Fluids were in fair proportion, viz.: Rich gravy-soup 1-1/4 pint.

Raw spirits 3 wine gla.s.ses.

Strong grog. 1 tumbler.

Water 1 gallon 1 pint.

[004] We have since heard that these s.h.i.+ps were the Dexterity, of Leith, and the Aurora, of Hull, which were wrecked on the 28th of August, 1821, about the lat.i.tude of 72.

[005] A fine lad, of about sixteen, being one day out in a boat with one of our gentlemen at Arlagnuk, reminded him, with a serious face, that he had laid a gun down _full-c.o.c.ked_. There happened to be no charge in the gun at the time; but this was a proof of the attention the boy had paid to the art of using firearms, as well as an instance of considerate and manly caution, scarcely to have been expected in an individual of that age.

[006] Most Greenland sailors use these; but many persons, both officers and men, have an absurd prejudice against what they call "wearing stays."

[007] It is remarkable that this poor man had, twice before, within the s.p.a.ce of nine months, been very near death; for, besides the accident already mentioned, of falling down the hill when escaping from the bear, he was also in imminent danger of dying of dropsy during the winter.

[008] This birch, they said, had been procured from the southward by way of _Noowook_. We never met with any of the same kind in those parts of the country which we visited, except that observed by Captain Lyon in the deserted habitations of the Esquimaux near Five Hawser Bay.

[009] Toolooak, who was a frequent visitor at the young gentlemen's mess-table on board the Fury, once evinced this taste, and no small cunning at the same time, by asking alternately for a little more bread and a little more b.u.t.ter, till he had made a hearty meal.

[010] Cervical, 7; dorsal, 13; lumbar, 7; sacral, 3; caudal, 19.

[011] Cartwright's _Labrador_, iii., 232.

[012] Ledyard. _Proceedings of the African a.s.sociation_, vol i, p. 30.

[013] The first travelling boat, which was built by way of experiment, was planked differently from these two; the planks, which were of half-inch oak, being ingeniously "tongued" together with copper, in order to save the necessity of caulking in case of the wood shrinking.

This was the boat subsequently landed on Red Beach.

[014] This article of our equipment contains a large proportion of nutriment in a small weight and compa.s.s, and is therefore invaluable on such occasions. The process, which requires great attention, consists in drying large thin slices of the lean of the meat over the smoke of wood-fires, then pounding it, and lastly mixing it with about an equal weight of its own fat. In this state it is quite ready for use, without farther cooking.

[015] The merits of this simple but valuable invention being now too well known to require any detailed account of the experiments, it is only necessary for me to remark, in this place, that the compa.s.s, having the plate attached to it, gave, under all circ.u.mstances, the correct magnetic bearing.

[016] It is remarkable, that the Esquimaux word for boot is very like this--Kameega.

[017] I find it to be the universal opinion among the most experienced of our whalers, that there is much less ice met with, of late years, in getting to the northward, in these lat.i.tudes, than formerly was the case. Mr. Scoresby, to whose very valuable local information, contained in his "Account of the Arctic Regions," I have been greatly indebted on this occasion, mentions the circ.u.mstance as a generally received fact.

[018] It was probably some such gale as this which has given to Hakluyt's Headland, in an old Dutch chart, the appellation of "Duyvel's Hoek."

[019] I have been thus particular in noticing the Hecla's position, because our observations would appear to be, with one exception, the most northern on record at that time. The Commissioners of Longitude, in their memorial to the king in council, in the year 1821, consider that the "progress of discovery has not arrived northward, according to any well-authenticated accounts, so far as eighty-one degrees of north lat.i.tude." Mr. Scoresby states his having observed in lat. 81 12' 42".

[020] Had we succeeded in reaching the higher lat.i.tudes, where the change of the sun's alt.i.tude during the twenty-four hours is still less perceptible, it would have been essentially necessary to possess the certain means of knowing this; since an error of twelve hours of time would have carried us, when we intended to return, on a meridian opposite to, or 180 from, the right one. To obviate the possibility of this, we had some chronometers constructed by Messrs. Parkinson and Frodsham, of which the hour-hand made only one revolution in the day, the twenty-four hours being marked round the dial-plate.

[021] I may here mention, that, notwithstanding the heavy blows which the boats were constantly receiving, all our nautical and astronomical instruments were taken back to the s.h.i.+p without injury. This circ.u.mstance makes it, perhaps, worth while to explain, that they were lashed upon a wooden platform in the after locker of each boat, sufficiently small to be clear of the boat's sides, and playing on strong springs of whalebone, which entirely obviated the effects of the severe concussions to which they would otherwise have been subject.

[022] We found the best preservative against this glare to be a pair of spectacles, having the gla.s.s of a bluish-green colour, and with side-screens to them.