Narrative of an Expedition to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1846 and 1847 Part 2

After breakfast next morning we pulled round the east end of some rocks near which we had lain at anchor during the flood tide, and kept on our course across Whale Cove. Some small pieces of ice were seen floating about; the thermometer in the shade 55, water 36. A fog, which had been thick all the morning, cleared up at half-past ten, and we saw some islands at no great distance right ahead, and a smoke a few miles inland on our beam, probably made by Esquimaux, but we could not see any tents.

Our lat.i.tude by observation was 62 11' 23" N. Temperature of air 55, of water 37.

The weather was very variable, with calms and light breezes alternately.

At a little after 7 in the evening we were off the south point of Corbet's Inlet. It rained hard almost all night; we, however, continued our course, and at 7 A.M. got among a number of reefs and islands that lie near the south point of Rankin's Inlet. In attempting to pa.s.s between two of these our boat got aground, and as the tide was ebbing she could not be shoved afloat again; but, as the greater part of the cargo was carried on sh.o.r.e before the water fell very far, no damage was done. An excellent observation of the sun gave lat.i.tude 62 35' 47" N., variation 6 6' W., Marble Island bearing east by compa.s.s. The black guillimot was in such numbers here that four or five were killed at one shot. Many eggs were collected, and one nest was found having two eider and three long-tailed ducks' eggs in it. The eider had possession, but whether the birds had a mutual understanding, or whether the stronger had driven out the weaker possessor, it is difficult to say.

At 4 P.M. we floated and ran across the inlet, the traverse being 15 miles. We landed at its north point, as the wind and tide were both against us. There were numerous signs that this place is often visited by the Esquimaux; the bones of various animals and the remains of some stone "caches" being every where visible. A little before midnight a deer was shot by Corrigal. During a walk I fell in with a large white owl (_strix nyctra_). As is usually the case it was very shy, and could not be approached within gun-shot.[3]

The rise of the tide was 14 feet.

At half-past two A.M. on the 13th we landed at Jalabert. The morning was delightful, being quite calm with a sharp frost. While we lay here waiting the change of the tide, Ouligbuck shot a fine large buck. Many seals were sporting about, and a shoal of salmon were seen swimming close to the beach. Having taken on board our venison, we pulled with the tide now in our favour. We saw upwards of a dozen Greenland whales, all apparently busy feeding, some of them very large. At noon we were in lat.i.tude 63 6' 14" N. The variation of the compa.s.s 8 52' W. In the evening we pa.s.sed Chesterfield Inlet. Great numbers of rocks lie out fully eight miles from the sh.o.r.e on its north side. The wind continued fair and moderate all night, and at 6 in the morning, when in the large bay S.W. of Cape Fullerton, a single Esquimaux visited us in his kayak.

He had been at Churchill last year, but did not intend to go thither this season, although he had a number of wolf, fox, and parchment deer skins at his tent. A present of a knife and a piece of tobacco made him quite happy, and he left us shouting so loudly as to show that his lungs were in good order. The party to which he belongs consists of ten families, their hunting-grounds being situated on the borders of Chesterfield Inlet, where they spear a great number of deer whilst swimming across in the autumn. At some distance inland, woods are found. A number of walruses were observed lying on a small ridge of rocks. They were grunting and bellowing--making a noise which I fancy would much resemble a concert of old boars and buffaloes. We did not disturb their music. Obtained a meridian observation of the sun, which gave lat.i.tude 64 3' 42" N. As the refraction was great and the natural horizon used, this is probably erroneous; if it is not, Cape Fullerton is not properly laid down in the charts, being too far to the south.

Temperature of the air 58, water 41.

When doubling Cape Fullerton, we were obliged, by the numerous granite reefs, to keep six or seven miles from the mainland. At 7 in the evening we landed to replenish our water casks, and had an unsuccessful chase after two deer. The horizon being clear, I saw Cape Kendall on Southampton Island, bearing S.E. by S. magnetic.

15th.--We made but little progress last night, there being no wind. The weather was rather cold, the thermometer standing at 40, and the water being only 4 above the freezing point indicated the proximity of ice. A short time afterwards a large _pack_ was seen about five miles distant.

On approaching nearer, we found that it extended along sh.o.r.e as far as the eye could see. At 2 P.M. we ran insh.o.r.e, and took shelter under some grey-coloured granite rocks twenty feet high. Deer being noticed at no great distance, two or three sportsmen went after them, and succeeded in shooting a doe. A very large whale was observed.

Finding our present position far from being a safe one, at high water we pushed along sh.o.r.e among ma.s.ses of ice during a thick fog, and entered an inlet which opportunely presented itself, and which proved to be an excellent harbour about 200 yards wide, from four to six fathoms deep, and nearly four miles long. The bottom being sand and mud would afford excellent anchorage for much larger craft than ours. As there were many seals swimming about, I was led to infer that salmon or trout were abundant; two nets were put down, but no fish were caught.

During a two days' detention here I traced, for eight miles, the course of a considerable river which empties its waters into the inlet. I found it to be a succession of rapids and deep pools, and running as nearly as possible in a S.S.E. course. Near its mouth upwards of thirty seals were lying basking in the sun; a ball fired among them sent the whole party walloping into the water at a great rate, more frightened, however, than hurt. One of the men had accompanied me, and during our walk we met with a hen partridge (_tetrao rupestris_) and her brood. I have seen many birds attempt to defend their young, but never witnessed one so devotedly brave as this mother; she ran about us, over and between our feet, striking at our hands when we attempted to take hold of her young, so that she herself was easily made prisoner. Although kept in the hand some time, when let loose again she continued her attacks with unabated courage and perseverance, and was soon left mistress of the field, with her family safe around her.

We were fortunate in finding some willows fully an inch in diameter, which were far superior for fuel to the sea-weed and short heath we had been using for the last two days.

Hutchins geese breed here in numbers, and as no Canada geese were seen, I presume that they do not usually come so far north along the coast.

The sh.o.r.es have a very rugged appearance, there being numerous high ridges of primitive rocks running far out into the sea in an east and west direction, the line of stratification dipping to the south at an angle of 75 with the horizon. In many places these rocks were thickly studded with small garnets. The rise and fall of the tide was 13 feet.

During the whole of the 16th the weather was cloudy, and it rained heavily all night; but on the 17th the wind increased to a gale, the sky cleared up, and a satisfactory observation was obtained by the artificial horizon, which placed us in lat.i.tude 64 6' 45" N. As we were more than ten miles north of the situation where I had observed the lat.i.tude on the 14th, the difference between the lat.i.tude obtained then and that of our present situation shews the uncertainty of observations made with the natural horizon when there is much refraction, or when there is ice in the neighbourhood. The variation of the compa.s.s was 20 10' W. The gale continued all day, and being from the westward much ice was driven off sh.o.r.e.

18th. Last night the wind moderated a little, but about 2 A.M. it blew more strongly than before. The forenoon was sufficiently fine to permit me to observe the dip of the needle 86 36' 5" N.

In the afternoon, when collecting plants, I discovered some willows of a larger growth than those we had before found, and I carried a load of them to the boat. In the evening there was no ice to be seen either along sh.o.r.e or in the offing, but it still blew too hard for us to get under weigh. The temperature of the air to-day varied from 50 to 55.

Just as I had turned in for the night, it was reported that two white bears were close at hand. I immediately got up, and set off "sans culottes" to have a share of the antic.i.p.ated sport, when I soon discovered that two harmless deer in their winter coats had been mistaken for bears. It was high water to-day at 11h. 40m. A.M., the rise being 15 feet. By this it will appear that 3 o'clock is the time of high water at full and change of the moon.

At 3 next morning, the wind having moderated, we started, and ran along sh.o.r.e at a fine rate for ten miles; but here the coast turning more to the westward we could not lie our course, and were compelled to put ash.o.r.e until the flood tide made; for it was found that, contrary to what we had previously experienced, the current ran to the northward during the flow of the tide, and in an opposite direction during the ebb, this being probably caused by the strait north of Southampton Island being blocked up with ice. After an hour's stay we got under weigh again at a few minutes after seven, and turned to windward. Our lat.i.tude at noon was 64 20' 51" N. It now fell calm; but this had not continued more than half an hour before a light breeze sprung up from the east, and at 1 P.M. we pa.s.sed Whale Point. A great many whales were seen to-day, and one of them was swimming amongst a large flock of king ducks, apparently amusing itself with the confusion that it caused when rising to breathe. Temperature of the air 50--water 38.

20th. It being calm for some time during the night, we came to anchor whilst the tide was against us; but at 6 A.M. we again continued our route. There was much ice lying along the sh.o.r.e of Southampton Island, its proximity being indicated by the temperature of the water (35) this morning. Some more large whales were noticed. The ice was again too close packed to permit us to advance; we therefore landed, and the lat.i.tude 64 56' 33" N., and the variation of the compa.s.s 36 13' W., were observed. The musquitoes were very numerous and troublesome, but, nevertheless, the sportsmen succeeded in shooting five deer.

On the 21st and 22d we had a continued struggle amongst heavy and close-packed ice until we reached Wager River Estuary, where we were detained all day by the immense quant.i.ties driving in with the flood and out again with the ebb tide, which ran at the rate of 7 or 8 miles an hour, forcing up the floes into large mounds, and grinding them against the rocks, with a noise resembling thunder.

During the ebb tide the eddy currents once or twice brought in the ice with great force, which would have smashed our boats, as they lay in rather an exposed situation along the face of some steep rocks, had it not fortunately taken the ground before it reached us. During our stay, a meridian observation of the sun by artificial horizon gave lat.i.tude 65 15' 36" N., variation 48 13' W.

23d. There was a thin coat of ice on the water this morning, the temperature of which at midnight was 2 below the freezing point, that of the air 36. As our position was far from safe, we were kept on the alert all night, and got under weigh at half-past three, for the purpose of finding some safer harbour. To get to a small bay a mile and a half to the west of us, we had more than once to pull for our lives, as the eddy currents already spoken of caused such sudden and uncertain movements among the ice that there was no telling on what side we were to expect it. With much difficulty we entered our harbour, and pulled half a mile up, so as to be safe from the ice, which we had reason to expect would come in with the flood. The lat.i.tude of our new anchorage was 65 16' 8" N. This is the most northerly point on the south side of Wager River, which appears to be not very correctly laid down in the charts. The channel is not more than four or five miles broad. In the evening, being wearied with delay, as soon as the flood tide slacked, we pushed out into the stream, and when in mid-channel had the advantage of a fine breeze, which enabled us to stem the current that still ran at the rate of five miles an hour. The boats had some narrow escapes, and the Magnet received a severe squeeze, but fortunately sustained no injury, and we were soon in safety on the north side of the channel.

24th. Having pulled along sh.o.r.e all night, we cast anchor at half-past five this morning to take breakfast and give rest to the men. Our course since crossing Wager River had been among a number of small rocky islands, between which we had some difficulty in threading our way, but we did not see any signs of a second opening into Wager Bay, although a sharp look-out was kept. A light air of fair wind springing up, we got under weigh at a few minutes before 8, and stood on to the northward, the ebb tide again running with us. At mid-day the temperature of the air was 45, water 32.

In the afternoon the breeze increased, and at a quarter-past seven we rounded Cape Hope, and ran into Repulse Bay. By an amplitude of the sun whilst setting, the variation of the compa.s.s 62 40' W. was obtained.

As soon as we pa.s.sed the Cape a great change in the temperature of the air and water was observed, the former being 56, and the latter 46.

25th. We continued under sail all night, and at 6 in the morning were within seven miles of the head of the Bay, and cast anchor between a small island and the sh.o.r.e to get some fuel and cook breakfast. Our lat.i.tude was 66 26' 57" N. Variation of compa.s.s 59 10' W.

In the afternoon, the wind being ahead, we plied to windward, and when entering Gibson's Cove, observed with much joy four Esquimaux on the sh.o.r.e. I immediately landed near them, and taking Ouligbuck's son with me as interpreter, joined the party, and calling out Texma (peace), shook hands with them. They were at first in great fear, and appeared half inclined to run away, but on our kind intentions towards them being explained they became quite at ease, chatting and laughing as if we had been old acquaintances. They were good-looking, of low stature, and much more cleanly than those in Hudson's Straits. Their dresses were made of deer skin, of the form so often described, the coat having a long tail somewhat resembling that of an English dress coat. Their legs were encased in waterproof boots made of seal-skin, and they all wore mittens, which they seldom took off their hands. There were two of them middle-aged, Oo-too-ou-ni-ak (who had a formidable beard and whiskers) and Kir-ik-too-oo; the other two were lads from eighteen to twenty years of age; and we were soon after joined by a fine young fellow with ruddy cheeks and sparkling black eyes, having an expression of exceeding good humour in his laughing countenance. Our new friend wore round his head a narrow leather band of deer-skin ornamented with foxes' teeth, and appeared to be somewhat of a dandy in his own estimation. None of the party had ever visited Churchill, and they had neither heard nor seen anything of Sir John Franklin. From a chart drawn by one of the party, I was led to infer that the sea (Akkoolee), to the west of Melville Peninsula, was not much more than forty miles distant in a N.N.W.

direction, and that about thirty-five miles of this distance was occupied by deep lakes; so that we would have only five miles of land to haul a boat over--a mode of proceeding which, even had the distance been much greater, I had intended adopting, in preference to going round by the Fury and Hecla Straits.

A small river empties its waters into the Bay within a hundred yards of the place where we landed: this stream, up which the boat was to be dragged, issues from one of the lakes through which we had to pa.s.s.

Leaving all the men but one to unload the boats, I went some miles inland to trace our intended route. After walking about five miles along the stream already mentioned (the current in which was very strong), we arrived at the first lake, a long and narrow body of water, having steep and in some places rocky banks, which we traced for two miles, and returned late in the evening to our companions.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] These birds breed in great numbers among the rocks in Orkney, and are much attached to their young. By chasing the latter in a boat they become so fatigued as to be easily caught. When one of them is taken into the boat the parent bird approaches within a few feet, dives under and around the boat in all directions, and whenever it comes up to the surface utters a peculiarly melancholy note, at the same time turning its head in a listening att.i.tude as if expecting to hear an answer from the prisoner. The anxiety of the mother has always the desired effect, and it is pleasing to observe the joy with which she swims away with her recovered young one, nestling it under her wing and never permitting it to stray a foot from her.

[3] An excellent plan of shooting these birds, and one that I have often successfully practised, is to roll up a bit of fur or cloth about the shape and size of a mouse, and drag it after you with a line twenty yards long. The owl will soon perceive the decoy, although half-a-mile distant; and after moving his head backwards and forwards as if to make sure of his object, he takes wing, and making a short sweep in the rear of his intended prey, pounces upon and seizes it in his claws, affording the sportsman a fine opportunity of knocking him down. I have sometimes missed my aim, leaving the owl to fly away with the false mouse (which the sudden jerk had torn from the line) in his claws. The Indians, taking advantage of this bird's propensity to alight on elevated spots, set up pieces of wood in the plains or marshes with a trap fastened to the top. In this way I have known as many as fifty killed in the early part of winter by one Indian. The owl is very daring when hungry. I remember seeing one of these powerful birds fix its claws in a lapdog when a few yards distant from the owner, and only let go his gripe after a gun was fired. The poor little dog died of its wounds in a few days.

CHAPTER III.

Receive a visit from a female party--Their persons and dress described--Crossing the Isthmus--Drag one of the boats up a stream--Succession of rapids--North Pole Lake--Find a plant fit for fuel--Christie Lake--Flett Portage--Corrigal Lake--Fish--Deer-scaring stones--White wolf--Stony Portage--View of the sea--Exploring parties sent in advance--Their report--Long Portage--Difficult tracking--Miles Lake--Muddy Lake--Rich pasturage and great variety of flowers on its banks--Marmot burrows--Salt Lake--Visit Esquimaux tents--Discouraging report of the state of the ice--Esquimaux chart--Reach the sea--Ross inlet--Point Hargrave--Cape Lady Pelly--Stopped by the ice--Put ash.o.r.e--Find a sledge made of s.h.i.+p-timber--Thick fog--Wolves--Walk along the sh.o.r.e--Remains of musk-cattle and reindeer--Nature of the coast--Danger from the ice--Irregular rise of the tide--Deer on the ice--Fruitless efforts to proceed northward--Cross over to Melville Peninsula--Gale--Again stopped by the ice--Dangerous position of the boat--Return to starting point--Meeting with our Esquimaux friends at Salt Lake--Deer begun to migrate southward--Walk across the isthmus to Repulse Bay.

The morning of the 26th was fine, with a fresh breeze from W.N.W. A visit which I had intended paying to the ladies was antic.i.p.ated by their coming over to our side of the river, bag and baggage. They were accompanied by a very old man named Shad-kow-doo-yak, who was extremely infirm, being obliged to move about in an almost horizontal posture, supported by a stick. There were six women, (three old, the other three young,) the whole of them married. One of the latter appeared quite like a girl of ten years, and was rather good-looking, having more regular features, and being cleaner and more neat in her dress than the others.

They were all tatooed on the face, the form on each being nearly the same, viz. a number of curved lines drawn from between the eyebrows up over the forehead, two lines across the cheek from near the nose towards the ear, and a number of diverging curved lines from the lower lip towards the chin and lower jaw. Their hands and arms were much tatooed from the tip of the finger to the shoulder. Their hair was collected in two large bunches, one on each side of the head; and a piece of stick about ten inches long and half-an-inch thick being placed among it, a strip of different coloured deer-skin is wound round it in a spiral form, producing far from an unpleasing effect. They all had ivory combs of their own manufacture, and deer-skin clothes with the hair inwards; the only difference between their dresses and those of the men being that the coats of the former had much larger hoods, (which are used for carrying children,) in having a flap before as well as behind, and also in the greater capacity of their boots, which come high above the knee, and are kept up by being fastened to the girdle. Some needles, beads, and other trifles were given them, at which they manifested their joy with loud shouts and yells, differing from the men in this respect, who received what was given them in silence, although they were evidently much pleased.

In the forenoon we were joined by two fine-looking young fellows who had just returned from hunting deer, in which they had been successful, having driven a large buck off one of the islands into the water and speared it there.

One of the women had been on board the Fury and Hecla, both at Igloolik and Winter Island, and still wore round her wrist some beads which she had obtained from these vessels. This party consisted of twenty-six individuals, there being four families.

All the cargo being placed in security and the Magnet well moored in our little land-locked harbour, the party, a.s.sisted by four Esquimaux, commenced dragging the North Pole up the stream.

The lat.i.tude of our landing place was found to be 66 32' 1" N., being about seven miles further south than it has been laid down on the charts. The variation of the compa.s.s by an azimuth was 58 37' 30" W.

This I afterwards found to be erroneous, probably arising from local attraction. The rate of the chronometer had become so irregular that it could not be depended upon for finding the longitude, and during the winter it stopped altogether.

When about to put on a pair of Esquimaux boots, one of our female visitors, noticing that the leather of the foot was rather hard, took them out of my hands and began chewing them with her strong teeth. This is the mode in which they prepare and soften the seal skin for their boots, and they are seldom without a piece of leather to gnaw when they have no better occupation for their teeth. At half-past nine P.M. the men returned from the boat, having been absent since half-past seven in the morning. They had with much labour dragged her three miles through a succession of rapids, the channel being so obstructed with large boulder stones and rocks, that the most of the party were obliged to be almost continually up to the waist in ice-cold water. The boat had received some severe blows and rubs, but no material damage. The worst part of the river had been pa.s.sed, and it was only a mile and a-half farther to the lake (named by the Esquimaux Chi-gi-uwik) from which it takes its rise. The Esquimaux who had a.s.sisted us were paid with a large knife each.

Two nets that had been set produced four salmon, but the best season for catching these fish was over, as they had now returned to deep water.

The evening was cloudy with a strong and chilly breeze from N.N.W.

Temperature of the air at 10 P.M. 35.

27th. As soon as the men had finished breakfast they carried each a load over the rocks to where the boat lay.

I this morning tried some of our male friends with a little tea and biscuit, which they did not relish nearly so well as the ladies had done the previous evening. Indeed, one of the latter, whom I have already mentioned, knew what biscuit was the moment she saw it, and said she had eaten some when on board Captain Parry's s.h.i.+ps. I remained at our landing-place until the afternoon to obtain some observations. That for lat.i.tude gave a result different only 4" from that of yesterday. Having engaged three Esquimaux to carry up some things that were still to be taken, at one o'clock I followed my men and came up with them some distance up the lake. As we could not prevail on any of the Esquimaux to accompany us as guides, they left us here, and I sent back John Folster and Ouligbuck to take care of the property left behind.

Our course was nearly N.N.W., but a gale of head wind impeded our progress greatly. The temperature of the air was 52; water of lake 40.

A few hours' poling, pulling, and tracking brought us to the end of the lake, which is about six miles long, from two hundred yards to half a mile broad, and in some places thirty fathoms deep. The lake, as well as the stream up which we had come, was named after our boat. We now turned to the westward and entered a narrow pa.s.sage one-and-a-half miles long, which connects the lake we had pa.s.sed through with the next one; the current was strong, but between poling and tracking we soon got into still water. Our course now turned again to the N.N.W., and after proceeding a mile in this direction, we put on sh.o.r.e for the night in a small bay, where we found a good supply of a plant (_andromeda tetragona_), which answers very well for fuel.

28th. We did not get under weigh this morning until 6 A.M. as the men had a hard day's work yesterday, and did not get to rest until a late hour. The lake continues to trend in the same direction as before, but the banks are neither so high nor so rocky, being covered with short gra.s.s in many places instead of moss. The wind still kept ahead, so that it was past ten in the morning before we arrived at a portage, and while two of the men were preparing breakfast, the others were employed carrying over some of the baggage. This portage, which I named after Flett, one of the steersmen, was half a mile long; and being in some places soft and in others stony, it was half-past four before we were afloat in the lake on the other side of it. It being calm, great numbers of fish were seen in this small body of water, which was narrow and only two-and-a-half miles long, with a deep bay on each side, which gave it the form of a T. It received the name of Corrigal, after one of my men.

We lost our way here for a short time, having entered a wrong arm of the lake. At 8 P.M. we arrived at another portage, which being a short one was soon got over. We pulled in a N.W. direction across this lake for about three miles to a shallow streamlet that flows from it; here we were to make our third and I hoped our last portage. We left this for our next morning's work, as it was now half-past 10 P.M. There was a great number of stones set up here for the purpose of frightening the deer into the water. A large white wolf was seen.

The morning of the 29th was raw and cold, with a gale of wind from N.W.