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Mom the seaboh AprPB i.„ ■ ™„ ro™ ™-4T ™ ^-^ 1878-1876. Br Tlfic AUTHOR OF "THE MEDlTERn.^. ^L-U^ii , > A tf'C. Trtt::,:^-'-''^''e.t afforded for the space of a week; when ee n. that the year was far spent, and also " ver^ evil welt L, S;.™? ""' T:"- "'""^" ■' '"'^^^ *" " p Bur^dav f7 ''T r' '" ^^'^ "" "'•^'^ l-'t^- ther . But aa day followed day, each darker and drearier than nozen solitudes and icy wastes, the bmve adventurers ll ten d T '^ ""'■ '"" "''"^ "'-*''^ afterwards th whUened bones were discovered by some Russian fishe men^ Thus the work of Arctic Discovery began as it has been carried on, with sore human suffering '^ *s^i^.iaS£Aim^sKi._ 18 FUOBISHEKH FIUST VOYAOK. SIR MARTIN FROBISIIER. For several years the problem of the North wua left untouched; owing, probably, to the unsettled state of England during the reign of Mary Tudor and the early years of Queen Elizabeth. But in 1575 the old thirst for Discovery revived; and certain "studious heads," moved with a commendable desire to discover the "more remote regions of the world and the secrets of the ocean," stimulated some " well-moneyed men," who were actuated partly by love of knowledge and partly by hope of gain, " to find out whether there were any strait in the noith part of America through which men might sail to the rich country of Cathay, and so the wealth of the East and West might be conjoined by a mutual commerce." For this purpose they fitted out two small barques, the Gabriel, of thirty-five, and the Michael, of thirty tons, with a pinnace of ten tons; and these they placed under the command of Martin Fro- bisher, the son of a Yorkshire gentleman, who had won }i good repute for courage, resolution, and nautical skill. In these little "cockle-shells," carrying in all some thirty-five or forty officers and men, he sailed from the "silver Thames" on the 8th of June 157G. As he passed the Queen's palace at Greenwich, he saluted Her Majesty with a volley of ordnance ; and Elizabeth, with that wonderful tact of hers, which served her better than the profoundest political sagacity, waved her hand to the adventurers from her palace window, and sent them a gracious message, in which she thanked them for their loyalty, and desired Frobisher to take leave of Mnx QUEEN ELIZA HKTH'h F OH ELAND. her on the t'o]l very flattering reception >wing day. This ho did, and IS) mot witli a On the 12tl,, Frobisher was clea,- of tl.o rivor and bent h.s ccu^o to the northward. On tho 25th ho passed to stormy Shetland «r„up, where e to k n fresh water, and refitted the Oah-iel. Sailin. to tl 1 westward, he sighted, on the lltl, of July ome'"h W and rugged land rising like pinnacles ofsLZ" w t e woul fain have rested his crews, but wZp'ovlS ■omfindmg a convenient port by the great store „f ice at lay along the coast, and the tlncktgatherin. 1^ oVorti::;-^ was probably the southern exCty seaThe Z'T' '"^- ''" ™^ ""'""«'' *« '"-encumbered of aid the ilf '""T' "'"■' ""^ "''^^ '^^i" '-ard rSd wi;^.t """' ^'"?''' ^'''^''^' -« they reached what is supposed to have been Labrador Then, m t^.e belief that Frobisher had been wricked as t .ey could discover no traces of him, they put thJ ship about, and returnpd t„ i? i , ^ Bristol on tL 1st ofteXber ''"''"'' ^ ""^'"^ ^* The Ga6H4 with only eighteen officers and men on s:vtirriiir 7"d ^"^^- -^ ~ «uiy reacned tlie island-group ]vincr fn llin south-west of Davis Str«,-f tt i.- i *^ ^ ® 1 x^civis fstrait. frobisher suDDo-^pd if +^ feiiT:^^:o' "^'f^ ^r-'^ — '- «^' ^'- ■> ^ntedTv fn^ . '"'"''*'''^ ^"■^'^"'^' Ho -- Fe- w loie aichipelago in the hope of discovering » l> w-'ere he might refit his sLttered velr^T: ttimrmmmmmi fc' 20 INTKHVIKW WITH THE ESKIMOS. found at last in an inland which ho christened after Hall, the master of the Gabriel, who, with four sailors, Hrat disembarked on it on the Ist of August. After repairing his ship, Frobisher pushed forward into the more southern of the two bays in Cumberland Island, and named it Frobisher Strait. He was under the be- lief that it would carry the navigator to the western coast of America. The neighbouring land he christened Meta Incognita. Here one of his crew saw some " mighty deer " which seemed to be " man-kind ! " They ran at him, and it was with difficulty he escaped from their attacks. Here Frobisher discovered traces of the frequent visits of the natives. "And being ashore upon the top of a hill, he perceived a number of small things floating in the sea afar off, which he supposed to be porpoises or seals, or some kind of strange fish ; but coming nearer, he discovered them to be men in small boats made of leather. And before he could descend from the hill, certain of these people had almost cut off his boat from him, having stolen secretly behind the rocks for that purpose; where- upon he speedily hasted to his boat, and went himself to his halberd, and narrowly escaped the danger and saved his boat. Afterwards he had sundry conferences with them, and they came aboard his ship, and brought him salmon and raw flesh and fish, and greedily do voured the same before our men's faces. And to show their agility, they tried many masteries upon the ropes of the ship after our mariners' fashion, and appeai^ed to be very strong oi" i'reir arms and nimble of their bodies." It was the fonil iltJusion of Frobisher thnt he was i! ?d after ■ sailors, 1 After ■ nto the fl Island, 1 tliG be- ■ western 1 cogiiita. 1 * wliieli 1 , and it 1 Here 1 3 of the hill, he sea afar ^ o Dr some ■-'$tk ^ covered 1 ^ . And m f these m having 1 where- V himself 9 er and 1 erences 1 )rought fl ily de- :B show 1 e ropes s ai^ed to M )odies." wM le was m —MM^s-ML xsmiiMMmBm Hi RETURN TO ENGLAND. „ now in the neighbourhood of the wished-for Cathay and to explore the surrounding coasts he undertook rrX T Tf ""^' ^•*'>^^ ™ ' rowing-boat or n the Gabnel. In the coui^e of theae he often came m contact with the natives, whom he described" strange iniides, whose like wa« never seen, read, nor heard of before ' "with long black hair, broad faces and flat noses, and tawny in colour, wearing seal-skins; the women marked in the face with blue streaks dowil the cheeks, and round about the eyes." One of these Eskimos he convoyed to England, where he died of a "aUiTl f ;1-'""^''* "* ''''■ ^'-- ''-ts were all made of seal-skins, with a keel of wood within the skin The proportion of them was like a Spanish shallop, save only that they were flat in the bottom and sharp at both ends." Having lost his only boat, with five men in her, Tro- bisher felt that it was useless te proceed farther and resolved on returning to England, in the hope of resum- ing his researches in the following year. The Gabriel arrived at Harwich on the 2nd of October, after an absence of four months, in which time she had sailed father north than any previous expedition, with the exception of that commanded by John Cabot On the 3rd of October the adventurei^ reached London where they were joyfully received with the ..reat Z' m,-t.on of thepeople, bringing with them their"" strange ■ such " 7 "" '"^"'^' "' --^.-both being -api^encd .he hKe great matter to any man's knowled<,e " ii 24 frobisher's second voyage. ii But Frobisher had with him something which proved of greater interest to those whom the thirst for know- ledge or greed of gain induced to concern themselves about a short north-west passage to Cathay. This was a stone picked up by one of the seamen, which, when the seaman's wife had contemptuously thrown it into the fire, "glittered with a bright marcasite of gold." Being afterwards tested by some of the London gold- refiners, it was pronounced to contain a large quantity of the precious metal. Now, indeed, the hopes of merchants and adventurers flamed up brightly, and everybody believed that the path to Cathay. had been opened up to English enter- prise ; or if not to Cathay itself, at least to some land equally abounding in treasures. A second expedition was straightway determined upon ; and receiving the sanction of Queen Elizabeth and her great minister, Cecil, a company was incorporated to carry it out, and to prepare for the conquest and settlement of such new lands as might be discovered. Frobisher was appointed "Captain-General by sea and Admiral of the ships and navy of the Company ;" and three ships were got ready, the old Gabriel and Michael, and a much larger vessel! lent by the Queen, the Aid, of 180 tons, manned by sixty-five sailors and twenty-five soldiers. The two smaller ships carried about twenty-five men between them. Frobisher weighed anchor at Blackwall on Whit- monday, the 26th of May, and dropped down to Graves- end, where, in a true spirit of devotion, the crews received the sacrament, and were duly prepared to act as o-ood THE " STORMY DECADES." 35 Christians towards God and resolute men for all fortunes He stayed three days at Harwieh, quietly getting rid of those whom he suspected to be neither resolute men nor good Christians, and then bore away for the Orkneys The people of these bleak a«d storm-beaten islands seem in Frobishers days to have touched but the borders of civilization. When he landed, they fled from their poor cottages m a panic of fear,-which is not to be wondered at when we remember how frequently they suflered from the attacks of pirates. Their houses are described as very simply 1 uilt of "pebble stone," without any chim- neys, the fire being kindled in the centre. Wood was unknown and for fuel they used manure and turf The gocdman, wife, children, md other of the family' eat and sleep on the one side of the house, and the cattle on the other; very beastly and rudely, in respect of civihty. They have corn, bigg, and oats, with which they pay their king's rents, to the maintenance of his house. They take great quantities of fish, which they dry in the wind and sun. They dress their meat very filthily and eat it without salt. Their apparel is after the rudest sort of Scotland. Their church and religion IS performed according to the manner of the Scots."" Frobisher quitted the " stormy Orcades " on the 8th ot June, and sailed onward steadily for six-and-twenty days, much buffeted by contrary winds and rolling seas but cheered by the constant daylight that prevaile,].' tie fell in with some huge glittering icebergs, and with trunks of trees borne by the currents from the American coast; and on the 4th of July there was "great firin.. of 26 MOUNT WARWICK. guns" and much rejoicing on board the Michael, its mariners mistaking an unusually great array of bergs, looming whitely through the mists, for the snow- burdened shore of Greenland. That shore, however, was really sighted in the evening ; but it brought no comfort to the wave- worn adventurers. Frobisher vainly attempted to find a port into which he might convey his ships ; and after three days' delay, was forced to leave behind him the long range of snowy mountains and of gloomy valleys, filled with slow rivers of ice labouring downwards to the very margin of the sea. Directing his course to the strait discovered in his former voyage, he reached Hall Island on the 17th. Here he laid up his barques, and while his miners and refiners were collecting the supposed gold ore, he em- barked in a couple of boats, with forty of his men, and made several exploring voyages. Landing, on one occasion, on the northern shore of Frobisher Strait, lie ascended a high hill, which, after oflfering up suitable prayers, and arousing the echoes with the blare of trumpets, ho named Mount Warwick, in recognition of one of his patrons, the Earl of War- wick. On the summit a cairn of stones was raised. After descending its rugged side, he encountered a party of the natives, who showed a truly friendly disposition, and shouted joyously, and danced and leaped at the sound of the English trumpets. Neither Englishman nor Eskimo knew a single word of the other's lanjxuac^e ; but gestures and smiles are a language which is under- stood all the world over. An exchange of presents took place, — pins and other trifles being accepted h-^^ the MAKING ENEMIES. ., 27 tr^T-"'^ '1''^°' Sratifieation. Their manner of traffic IS thus described :-They laid down of their merchandise upon the ground so much as they meant to part withal, and so looking that the other party with whom they traded should do the same, they did them- selves depart, and then, if satisfied, came again and tol m exchange the other's wares. In this simple commercial transaction the En «ie both vessels «3act:. Zt^L t^ a'^oTs^r^' bor. within two hou« of one another ^'P'^'"- Davis's expedition had been rl„l> • i-esults. For the firat ti^^ t j '" ^^"g^aphical coast of Greeid and he' l^ 7'""' ''"' ^""*'-™ channel of Davis StraTt Th T""""^ *''« g'^'^' M,n out were so p W ' J^M'Sa l"" '^ '^"* by his suecess, that they resolvd on he "?''""™^"' another expedition in tho f ii eq'»pment of ported in Lr vel^^t rfoC ^^^ T ^P" merehants in the west of fiLland '^ " °^ '"""^ tbfr,:S S inr>''!;"'« ^»-*- -d Imndred and tlentv , '"'''''7' *''« ^«^H of one i>inuaee of LCrV"f f' ^'^"^ ^""•' » ••"!« 7th of May. WW .''.r'"^ /^ ^''^™''""' «" tbe ">e7thofi„:rd:Mrd,Se "i"""^'""-^-" ing the ,%„fe, „,, ,,rZ^"f ^'J"»<''on. despatch- ° -'-^ '^^fns/tt/ie aim the iVbr^A ^^ar on a voyage along 42 pope's voyage. I< f. ' Vi -I the eastern coast of Greenland ; while he himself, with the Mermaid and the Moonshine, sailed in the track of his previous voyage. We will first follow the Sunshine and the pinnace, under the charge of Richard Pope, He sailed round the southern and we°^:rn, eoa^t« of Iceland, and at North Cape had some irJ*» '♦ ?se with its natives. Their dwelling-houses he iound to be made, on both sides, of stones, with wood laid over them, and " turfs of earth." The roofs were flat. The boats were made of wood and iron all along the keel, like our English boats ; and they had nails to nail them withal, and fish-hooks and other things " for to catch fish." They had also " brazen kettles, and girdles and purses made of leather, and knops on them of copper, and hatchets, and other small things as necessary." Pope reached Greenland on the 7th of July, but was prevented from landing by a firm barrier of ice. He ascended as far northward, it is said, as lat. 80°. The apparently impenetrable character of the ice-floes, how- ever, so daunted this somewhat incompetent explorer, that he hastily turned to the south, doubled Cape Fare- well on the 31st of July, ran into Gilbert Sound — the rendezvous appointed by Davis — quarrelled with the natives, three of whom he cruelly murdered, and then made the best of his way home to England. The Sun- shine arrived in the Thames on the 6th of October ; but the little pinnace was lost sight of in a terrible storm on the 3rd of September, and never more heard of. Davis, after leaving Pope on the 7th of June, pro- Hgw IN on.BERT Sonne. 43 ceeded to Gilbert Sound, where he dW „„» • .intil the 90H. • , , '"^'^ "" ">d not arrive until the 29t ,, owing to bad weather, and the bin drance offered by n^asses of iee, whicL the clI" brought down fro™ the north. He was wa:^X "e eeived by the fnendly natives, whose confidenee hf hid won on has former visit by his honest dealing "ij the boats went sounding and searching," he says "the people of the county having espied hem fame in the,r eanoes towards them, with mLy shoute and erieT But after they had espied in the boat some of o„r company that were here the year before with us tC presently rowed to the boat, and took hold on tr^ o2 and hung about the boat with sueh eomfortable j„y ^ Z Xr ^ '7,''-~ *» ^^ uttered. 7,Ty came with th uoats to our ships, maiing signs that iihtSr iv'r *'^* *'^ '-'' ^^^- ^^^^^ ot us, myself with the merchants and others of the ompany went ashore, bearing with me twenty Icni "^ anoes L"""" ■"'•' '"* ''"''' '"'^^ -* "^ ^^r canoes, and came rumiing to me and the rest and em si ups being surrounded by fully a hundred e^oes which brought abundant supplies of newlvkntdT and birds, besides loads of .skfns and foT"^ ''"• "^ occ!lLf 1 "'f ' """^l ''T''' '" ""^ P'--t haven, T^JZlZn\! "^''"■'"y^^^ along the coast ae a^ertamed that between the shore and the inland belt of mountains lay a varvino- tr«„f f eoiintr,,. 1 J. -i ^ ™rying tract of open, ei-assv country, but >* was apparently uninhabited, and^^th 44 ABOUT THE OUEENLANDERS. i I' out any signs of permanent settlements. He discov- ered, however, a large grave, protected from the weather by seal-skins, and containing a number of dead bodies. His amicable intercourse with the Greenlanders still continued. " I was desirous," says Davis, " to have our men leap with them, which was done; but our men did over- leap them. From leaping they went to wrestling. We found them strong and nimble, and to have skill in wrestling; for they cast some of our men that were good wrestlers. They are of good stature; in body well-proportioned ; with small, slender hands and feet ; with broad visages and small eyes, wide mouths, great lips, close-toothed, and the most part unbearded. Their custom is, as often as they go from us, still at their re- turn to make a new truce, in this sort : holding his hand up to the sun, with a loud voice he crieth " Iliaout" and striketh his breast, with like signs. Being pro- mised safety, he giveth credit. They are idolaters, and have images, great store, which they wear about them, and in their boats, which, we suppose, they worship. They are witches, and have many kinds of enchant- ments, which they often used, but to small purpose, thanks be to God ! They eat all their meat raw ; they live most upon fish ; they drink salt water, and eat grass and ice with great delight." But a change came over the spirit of the scene. The Greenlanders were as far from perfection as civilized nations ; and their appreciation of the rare gifts of their visitors bred in them such a desire to obtain possession of them that they did not hesitate to appropriate them, A FRAY WITH THE NATIVES. ^^ English seamen, that C;! Jd «;"" "«^""^*« ._«ssolve the precarious I^^eJ^' ZT'""'^ "" Davis was wiser than his foUowlrand ifnn ?. "''"• thievish propensities of the nl'raiZ' **'^ ranee of the laws that govern the ItT . ° '«°°- -iety was „nwilli„; toX\ 1^""^° St tried what could be dnnA J.,. + -i- . '^* °^*' ^® them, and fired avoZtT^'"^ 1*''°"'-J"ring «.em like a flock If dTveT T^l -'-h scattered Laving recovered from eTr ^II }"'"" f*"'^'"^'' entreated a peace; and wTen thk "^ "^ ""' brought seal-skins IndsalXr Zr'^': *'^^ nature" by force, it will surelfr Lfr ilT T' soon as tlie Greenlander „„ • , " '^^^^i and a« ". Davis tiJij r rn r:r *"/^"'^'' treating the simple creatures Twt """"^ "'■ source of infinite power and\f„ ""^ """ ^'^ "^ « stricter watch over'theL p^:'^,^^ ' '"' *" ''"P '^ It IS impossible to peruse the record nf r, ■ . ages without being struck bv ll 7 ^"^ ' ""y" than by the skill iTf ^ ' ^"'* '^""='*y. »<> less "y tne sKm and humanity with whi^), i. ducted all his intercourse with Z J^ IT' were othe. of the ElizabethTn seamen tT:.v "^ even more adventurous- v, ^ 'seamen as brave, and "0 much of the 2;:"; l^dU '"'7',.'''^^'^^^'' characterize a great'naval' "mm S 2" "^- "''■^'' forcibly of the most illustrious of • ! ""^^ "' i«* imistrious of navigators, Captain 40 AFTER A STORM, A CALM. til II fi It Cook ; and on the " bead-roll " of Arctic explorers his name must always occupy a foremost, if not the very first place. Having been absent on one of his short boat- voyages, he returned to his ships on the 9th, to find his mariners complaining heavily of the Eskimos, who had stolen an anchor, cut one of the cables very dangerously, and assailed the Englishmen with volleys of large stones. Davis went ashore, and " used them with much cour- tesy ; " after which they followed him on board, were kindly treated, and allowed to depart freely. But after sunset they resumed their annoying practices, and with slings threw stones very fiercely into the Moonshine, knocking down the boatswain. Davis ordered out his boats, and chased them, but could not overtake their light kajacks. On the 11th, five of them came to make a new truce. " The master acquainted me," says Davis, " with their coming, and desired they might be kept prisoners until we had our anchor again ; and when he saw the chief ringleader and master of mischief was one of the five, he was very urgent to have him seized. So it was determined to take him. He came crying * lliaout,' and, striking his breast, offered a pair of gloves to sell. The master offered him a knife for them. So two of them came to us : one we dismissed," the other was detained. The stolen anchor was then given up ; but for some reason, which Davis has not recorded, he re- solved on carrying his captive to sea with him. As he was well-treated, he seems not to have regretted his loss of liberty . and his " new suit of frieze of the Eng- L FAINTING HEARTS. 47 ral use. .ado lunn^ 'Z^'^XtTPl'' 'T ^-«- Gilbert Sound was quitted on the Iltl, „f t i c days later, the two ships fell in I .f ^ ^''^ ..uge, and so boldly marked aLgirl^^:^ f't " and capes, that Davis at fi.^t conLrenfA " ^^" shrouded island which had bin.. . '* *° •>« » snow- men began to desmTr wb '"""''■"' ^^'^''P^d notice. His mass of solid ice TdtT; ^"^ '^'""'^'''^ ^ ^ a after day tli^wtSedir t '"T'' '' "^^ of a tremendous feld r.f ! . ^ ""S^ *''" ^'^S* that they co„ d see notM "Tr' '" "^ '"°" ^» "^-^ and so fold that tlr ™?3 X-? "7" *''^'"' were frozen, and seemed T\ ? ' '""* *''»"* great was the influence „i)a "t:' '"^^'*'- «" du«t think of muUnv hff h *''"* """« "^ «"'™ daily task with ev dTn't ll "" T"' '''^""^h their they went forward ti: '^ "'' ""'' ''^ '»■''' i.im to retn™ Wht s '' q-rter-deck and implored conquerable deniV'jf' '""f ''g^'"^' the „n- our, they would^ ^ely ^^ Zt '" '^'V"''"'- boldness, brin<, down L„ i • ' ^'""S'' ""'^ '>^^>^- "';;^ widows JrheTerctrer^ "'^ -^-^ «^ vere with such timM = * " ""^ "^^''^ '^ *» ?«««■ e-ingiy,st"X:i:s:s^^^^^^^^^ shore, which proved to be that of Sl^t o^r nm M hi ii I 48 IN ESKIMO BAY. lai, or about five Imndiea miles to the north of Gil- bert Souiul, ho proceeded to divide his crews and provisions. On board the Mei^iald he embarked all the v'cak-hearted, with a sufficiency of stores, and de- spatched them homeward. He himself, with his bolder and more loyal followers, removed to the MoonsJdne, and on the 12th of August resumed his explorations. Crossing to Cumberland Island, he forced his way into CumbeSand Sound, and sailed up it for some eighty leagues. He came to the conclusion that out of this sou°nd might be found a passage to Cathay ; but as it was late in the season, and his vessel was much shattered, he resolved to defer the quest of it to the followiiig year. Turning back on the 20th of August, he examined the coast-line southward with much care and accuracy. Thus he sailed past Meta Incognita, and crossed the mouth of the great channel now known as Hudson Strait>— prevented, perhaps, by the accumulating ice-floes from recognizing its importance— and edging along the coast of Labrador, discovered Davis Inlet— or, as it is now called, Eskimo Bay— where he rested fi'om the 28th of August until the 1st of September. Here up- wards of forty great cod were caught with the sound- ing-lines, and some long spike-nails made into hooks. The land seemed fertile; at all events, it abounded in animal life,— bears, deer, pheasants, partridges, wild ducks, and other game. Resuming his coasting voyage, Davis sailed as far south as Ivuetoke Inlet, in 54° 30' lat. ; and then, on the 13th of September, having lost his only anchor in a sudden storm, and two of his men in a skirmish with L- PAVIS's TKtUD VOYAdE. „ the native, of «„ i.,,,,,,,, „„• i,,i,,„,,„ ,,^ p.wtowanl, England. A pvosperous voy.ZZrZ tlio Atlantic broiifflit hin. i„fn iL • . ° of Durtmoutl. on the 1st of October. tief r."""'- ''f "'"r ^'"'"" '"^ -faordina,y abili- to cos of the ex|,e:ge to Cathay, and began to dream that the road to the north wa^ thenceforth free and without impediment. ..lu.ion. On the l,t ot July l,i» progress was barred 62 BEATEN BY NATURE. by a huge field of ice; and when he had laboriously worked his ship around it, another rose up before him, — another, and yet another. Vast icebergs drifted southward in grim array ; and it tasked all his seaman- ship, and all his calm courage, to carry his vessel safely through the labyrinth. In spite of every effort he was forced backward, and on the 29th he put into Cumber- land Sound. Here, for three days, he sought for an outlet, but, like the great bay beyond, it was covered with masses of ice, — and the inertia of Nature (so to speak) triumphed over the energy of Man. There was nothing to be done but to return home ; and with his battered, leaking ship, Davis "shaped his course for England, and, unhoped for of any, God alone relieving him, arrived at Dartmouth," on the 15th of September 1587. In 1602, Captain Weymouth adventured a voyage to the north-west, under a contract to forfeit all pay if he did not discover the passage to China. An English- man, James Hull, served as chief pilot in a Danish expedition fitted out in 1605, which had no other result than a survey of some part of the Greenland coast. We next arrive at the name of HENRY HUDSON. Like Davis, Hudson ranks high among Arctic navi- gators, and his discoveries were of real importance. Ho ^ade, in all, four voyages, sailing due north, north-east, and north-west; and his enterprise may be traced all along the American coast, from New York to the north HUDSON'S DISCOVERIES. 53 «f the g.^at bay, or sea, which preserve, his name. His tet voyage was made in 1607, under the direction of the Muscovy Company; and the order he recede" straightforward and simple in the extreme: .'^^"0 ^ the North Pole." And this orfer he attemptTd to can-y out m a smaJl decked boat, with a crew 0I ten men and a boy! He steered due north along tTe sho^! lor want of provisions, and owing to the aDnro.Pl, J wm or, wa. fo.ed to return, wlien w coS .^e pen'ous character of the navigation of these no a, L . we cannot but marvel a. we record that Hud InC SpSr^™^ -'-'' '" ">^ ^''-- - «' '-«^ norl"lSctr; ']^t'^'^- ^»t took a lar^rer and hi '^'""'"•, ^'^ >*'>'? ^as somewhat laiger ajid his crew numbered fourteen men But he ascended no h o-her than '7';o „„j j. , in August. ' ''''"™'^'* *» ^"gl*°d His thirf voyage, in 1609, waa made in the Dutch baffled by the ice-drifte, he sailed west, and touched th: American coaat in the neighbourhood of New Yoi Sam? tr7f, *"; "°"^ "™^ -'™" ^«" bears r iH r .*"'' ^^*^'^''"^' ^-tMinhed a colony flou, ^ ^ M '"'' ""'•"S their descendants lon^ flounshed w,ld .strange legends of Hud.son and his me"r It was affirmed," says Washington Irvine ■'thli groat Hendrik Hudson, the tirst t.i.scov J rrf t t iv : nd eountry, kept a kind of vigil there evl ."ntv J-s, „.,th his crew of the Hulf-Moon; being "er- 64 A MUTINOUS CBEW. mitted in this way to revisit the scenes of his enter- prise, and keep a guardian eye upon the river and the great city called by his name." In 1610, he made his fourth and last voyage, in a vessel of fifty-eight tons, stored and provisioned for six months. Frobisher Strait was gained on the 1st of June. Then came a desperate struggle against floating ice and contrary winds ; but Hudson kept perseveringly to the westward, reached the extreme point of Labrador, which he called Cape Wolstenholm, and discovered an island- group to the north-west, the southern headland of which he named Cape Dudley Digges. Here a vast sea broadened before his astonished gaze ; and the restless waters for the first time rolled and seethed under an English keel. Into this great bay or sea he sailed for several hun- dred miles; and winter coming on, he encamped his crew upon Southampton Island, and hauled his ship aground. The hardships he and his men endured were terrible, for they were ill-fitted to contend with an Arctic winter, and had neither sufiicient provisions nor stores. Hudson bore the trial uncomplainingly, sus- tained by a noble enthusiasm ; but his followers grew discontented, and then mutinous, and on Hudson's attempting to resume the enterprise at the return of spring, they seized upon him, his son, and several sick sailors, and threw them into an open boat, in which they had previously stowed a fowling-piece, some gun- 1 'der and shot, a small quantity of n J, and an i 1 pot (June 21, 1611). The castaways were volun- tarily joined by John King, the carpenter, who refused LATER EXPEDITIONS. 56 BYLOT, BAFFIN, AND JAMES. Notwithstanding Hudson's unhappy fate hi- di, eovery greatly i„,pressed the imagi'lLn of to eon toniporanes, who concluded th»f W „ ;■ great open water we now Iw 1 1 a Str" t reach the Chinese shore T„ *!, ^' ^''^^ *»")d a*™ Ik, c„p.., ».: 7.,l,•j:J'„tS.''■• health by keening !l ^ Preserved in good bodyan7n^T!„XTi;r£-"7:' """' '" =ttt-K"'?"^-^^^^^^^^ He reaped ^tgL-Thelrwi; J:SL-- 56 BAFFIN'S GREAT DISCOVERY. Bylot, which resulted in the discovery of Whale Sound, Sir Thomas Smith Sound, Alderman Jones Sound, Sir Thomas Lancaster Sound, and Baffin Bay. These were notable additions to the chart of the Arctic World, which British enterprise was gradually defining and filling up; but by Baffin's contemporaries they were discredited. As Mr. Markham observes, the memory of a bold and scientific navigator had to wait many weary years for that full justice v4iich comes at last. It was exactly two centuries* before another vessel forced her way into the " North Water " of Baffin Bay, and the great pilot's discoveries were almost forgotten. On maps published as late as 1818, may be seen a circular dotted line to the west of Greenland, with this legend, — "Baffin's Bay, according to the relation of William Baffin in 1616, but not now believed." The all-important discovery made by Baffin was that of the great channel leading out of his bay in a northerly direction, and opening upon the vast and still unknown region which stretches towards the Pole. He named it after Sir Thomas Smith, the governor, we may almost say the creator, of the East India Company ; and a man of great sagacity, liberality, and enterprise. Of this sound Baffin says : — " It runneth to the north of 78° and is admirable in one respect, because in it is the greatest variation of the compass of any part of the world known ; for, by divers good observations, I found it to be above five points, or 66°, varied to the west- ward, so that north-east by east is true north, and so of * Ross and Tarry reached the "North Water" on August 8, 1818, in the Alex- ander and Isabella. CAPTAIxN THOMAS JAMES. g; the rest Also this sound seemeth to be good for the kTlhng of whales, it being the greatest and largest in aU this bay. It IS now regarded as affording the only practicable route to the open Polar Sea; and we shall refer to it frequently enough when we come to speak of Kecent Polar Voyages. AN INTERVAL. Little will be gained by dwelling upon the voyages of Steven Bennet (1603-1610), Jonas Poole (1610-1613) and Captain Luke Fox (1631),_the last of whom dis- covered Fox Channel, and penetrated other waters to the north and west, but did not penetrate as far north as Bamn. In 1631, Captain Thomas James was des- patched by the Bristol merchants, and his voyage is rema^-kable for its misadventures if not for geogmphical remits He seems to have been unacquainted with the difficulties and dangers of Arctic navigation; and wa^ driven to and .to by adverse winds and icebergs, until winter compeUed him to land his crew on Charlton Island, and haul his ship ashore. Here they had bitter experience of the severity of an Arctic winter. Though they maintained a good fire in the hut they had con- structed their very beds were covered with frost, and water froze in a pan placed in front of the stove Living almost wholly upon salt meat, they suffered much from scurvy; and it wa^ with difficulty they contrived to build a boat, and at the return of summer escape from their ice-prison. They succeeded, however m ettecting their return to England. For fully a century no further attempt was made to 58 EAST AND WEST, *i;ii solve a problem which men had come to consider as in- soluble ; and the maritime enterprise of England was principally directed to the colonization and survey of the Atlantic coast. When the great work of Discovery was again resumed, it was under the superintendence of the Russian Government, and in the North-East instead of the North-West. In 1741, Vitus Behring, a Dane by birth, but an officer in the Russian service, explored the coast of Kamtschatka. He was the discoverer of the straits which bear his name, and thus established the fact of the separation of Asia from America. Other Russian expeditions follow^ed, which threw much light on the variatio; of: the magnetic needle and other phenora.ma, and slo\/ly but surelj' increased men's knowledge of the shores of the Arctic Ocean. The most important was the sledge-journey of Baron von Wrangell and Anjou m 1820-1823, which contributed some valuable facts to the treasury of physical science. Fighting against climatic hostility, they pressed for- ward, across the ice-bound plains of Siberia, to latitude 70° 51' N., and longitude 155° 25' W., where they found before them an open sea, which figures in their narrative as the "great Polynia." They were informed by a Tchuktchi chief, that from a point near Cape Chelagskoi, on a clear summer's day, snow-crowned mountains might be seen at a great distance to the north. This unknown northern land was invisible to Wrangell, but wfus sighted by Captain Kelutt; and afterwards, in 1867, by Captain Long, an American whaler, who approached it from Behring Strait. It is now laid down on the maps as Wrangell Land. BRITISH EXPEDITIONS. 0*7 Of tl.e labours of the Russian explore,^ generallv „f t h .r work have existed in the physical difficu W s tribrtr 't f '^ "^"'^^^ ^''"^ «^ No^ ™ sdentMe .„,,,''' I'*""'"^ '"^^« ^'^^ overcome by Siv Th""; •™." resolution, and unquailing persistency. Thus it is that we owe t« Russian ex ttr ^^^''r'-"- -d careful survfy „ re" BBITISH EXPEDITIONS In 1713. the British legislature stimulated the enthu siasm of tlie nation, and recalled the attention „f Ssh" seamen to the gaJlant and successful laboulofthl ancestors in the Polar World hv tZ T ? " of £20 OOn fc- *!, J- ' ^ *"^ °''<"' »f 1 reward mine River, whh he t^ed ! 7""' ^"^ "'"P"^^" Captain Phipps (a^!^:! ^MZre. '" '"''i out by the Admiralty with orderltaS \,rN:rt Pole, as his primary object; and to take all s"a^: 80 scoresby's entekpkise. iietie and meteorological observations, and to collect all such scientific data as might possess a distinctive value, as his secondary object. Phipps took the Spitzbergen route, but penetrated no farther north than 80° 48'. Nelson served as a midshipman on board this expedi- tion, and met with the characteristic adventure with a Polar bear which Southey has described so pleasantly. Baffled, but not discouraged the British Parliament now offered (in 177G), in addition to its previous pro- posal, a sum of £20,000 for the actual. discovery of the Pole, a similar sum for the discovery of uny communi- cation between the North Atlantic and North Pacific, and £5000 to any person who should attain within one degree of the Pole. The last voyage undertaken by Captain Cook was in this direction. He passed through Behring Strait, but got no farther than 70° 45'. In 1789, the Mackenzie Kiver was discovered by Sir George Mackenzie. The next name on the glorious record is that of Captain (afterwards Doctor) William Scoresby, well known as a successful and adventurous whaler. In one of his voyages (in 1806), while lying-to for whales in what are called the "Greenland Seas," on the east side of Greenland, he resolved to deviate from the beaten track and push towards the "Polar Sea," in the exist- ence of v^^hich he strongly believed. Forcing his way through the pack-ice with almost increc ble boldness and energy, he actually succeeded in clearing the for- midable barrier, and entering " a great openness or sea of water," reached the high latitude of 81° 30' N. In AHCTIC HIGHLANDERS 01 no succeeding vovao-o ,i\a u„ achievomentrbut h: Jf,, '"P."'' ""^ remarkable mud. valuable and interest' V :"''=""»'l''ted physical phenomena and „,» . "'""*''"' "^ "^e hutod to keep alivH I P"^'"^"f' °"'' ■»»'-«'>ver, eontri- ...aritime dis!ov I^ J d td '"'''"' " "" "°* °^ the celebrated expfdi iltf 'p^r °' '« ?'-% to oi rairy, Ross, and Franklin. Sill JOHN ROSS. I" 1818, the Brifi^ili P« onergetieefforttodWern 7"""* ''"'^"*^ »" «"> and for this pur„o 17 "'V:"^-^'^''^''-'""'- Passage; two stout and'Tf i ^f'"^ """^ '"^^ ^'^'^"nlr o.-de.ofCaptaiu1i"C;'f:':.«™ '^Tt ""'^^ *"« '■ad some experience n7 '., if^' ''^° ^'■'^ ■^'■'eady ■«an of strong character !, ^ ^ lieutenant Parry, a The two shipt sS on ^ Z^VfT "''""• took the u,.ual Baffin b"v ™!. t , ^^"^ ^^^^' *'«1 Ross fell in ^ith " P,V^ f ^t ° '''*''"'^« ''»" 5*' N., seen the whil m" f '""" '"""^ 7''° '««» -ver before luiries, -Who are ' r. t """ "'"' *''« '"" fromthesunorthelon^Ttr^"""- '' '' gave the name of "Arctin W; i , ''" ^'^S"^ Ross a eon,pliment to theta ' ; Jet t^C ?/ '^ "° '»^'- ""■•th,ho came upon a ifne „T f i^*'"'""* *'"t'>er -ow= a phenomLon noTitVr:.'"''*"'^ abundant presence in il ^ '^"« to the called the P.t^!"oL V™'^ "*■ " """"te lichen, (544> g f 62 A nnEAT INLKT. At the farthest point wliich ho reached, Rosa was too far south to discern more than the outline of the land near Sniith Sound ; but he named the bold headlands wliich guard the entrance to this famous channel after his two ships, Cape Isabella and Cape Alexander. Descending the west side of the bay, he found the waters clear of ice, and extremely deep. The land was high, and the range of mountains, in general, free from snow. A noble inlet, nearly fifty miles wide, with cliffs on both sides, now offered itself to view, and the ships entered it on the 29th of August. But they had scarcely accomplished thirty miles when Ross, to the surprise and vexation of his officers, declared that he saw land stretching across the inlet at a distance of eight leagues, and ordered the ships to tack about and return. To this imaginary land he gave the name of Croker Mountains. Parry, on the other hand, was of opinion that this great inlet, now recognized as the Sir James Lancaster Sound of Baffin, was no land-locked bay, but a strait opening out to the westward ; and on the return of the two ships to England he openly declared this opinion. The English public supported the energetic Parry; and, after a vigorous wordy warfare, the Government resolved to place him in charge of the Hecla bomb-ship and the Griper gun-brig, with which he sailed for the North on the 5th of May 1819. SIR JOHN PARRY. On the loth of June he came in sight of Cape Fare- well, and then steered northwards, up Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, as far as latitude 73°, where he found him- -Hl l WJBJf parry's success self hemmed i„ by masses of ice On tl o-„ , oven a *ay opened up and P^. .' '"'' ''""- boldly and energeti Jw 71 ^"^ ^'"^ ^'"^^"^- Sound. Here he^ar^f «!> ^'/"^^""^ ^''"^ter the expedition of Z^^LT^f "t '"'"''''' ^^ determine whether Eo,,r ^ I ' '™'' '^'^ ^o™ to •eal existence "l! '"^^"'"^ """"t-'"' ""-d any describe," says' Parrv ,r'^ ""^ *° ^^^'"^ "'» which ^as no;S; in '"™' '"''"''^^ -=^'ety the breeze incr^a^ dt a frrhlr*^"'"''^' "'"'«■ ^ the sound." ^'''''' "^^ '''"» q«i-Uy up v^Sotr^.^j-'- ^-'«-" <^-p. mouth of a o-reat inll "f^T ^^''^^''^'^ '"^ ^^ "^ « e Entering thifhe sated J" "'""^^ ^"™- Strait, which, ^ith i ,s ™ °"? *" ^™"^ ^<'g«°* Inlet, and surveL ona?"' \T' ""^ islands, he named actual) no^rlh po^ ^21;'': ""'="""" ^""* '"^' almost useless by tl e •JT..'""P'^'^ "-endered Great was 'henThr } "^ ^"^tion " of the needle and thlliltV;™ r; t? "7'^'' '-" ''^'■' September 4th aft»r enthusiasm when, on longitude pi t: """^""^ "'"''"" °^ "« W- 6 i^uutj, jrarry announced to his Tno« +1 x ^, , earned the Government gr.nt of iJooo "' ""^ '"^ -H-ed to pass the'^S' ""f ^'"' ^^^'^nd. Parry re- thaw did not set in unti .Tnl . '"'""'"^ year, the Parry released 1 i shTps T^n^b ' "" ^"^"^' "^''o- on arriving in Er,. and ah f.. •"'''' *■" ''°"'«' and igoo - .^'and, about the middle of No-p^'^ '**' "'^ '■^c'^ived with a hearty welcom'e. '"^""' 66 AN ESKIMO VILLAGE. His success led to his appointment to the command of another expedition in 1821. His ships, the Hecla and Fury, were equipped with every appliance that scientific ingenuity could suggest or unlimited resources provide. They sailed from the Nore on the 8th of May; they returned to the Shetland Isles on the 10th of October 1823. In the interval— seven-and-twenty months— Parry and Lyon (his lieutenant) discovered the Duke of York Bay, numerous inlets on the north- east coast of the American mainland, Winter Island, the islands of Annatook and Ooght, Hecla and Fury Strait, Melville Peninsula, and Cockburn Island. A glance at the map will show the reader how far to the westward these discoveries carried the boundary of the known region. While encamped on Winter Island, the English were visited by a party of Eskimos, whose settlement they visited in turn. There they found a group of five snow-huts, with canoes, sledges, dogs, and above sixty men, women, and children, as regularly and to all ap- pearance as permanently fixed as if they had occupied the same spot the whole winter. The astonishment with which the English surveyed the exterior aspects of this little village was not diminished by their admis- sion into the interior of the huts composing it. Each was constructed entirely of snow and ice. After creep- ing through two low presages, having each its arched doorway, the strangers found themselves in a small circular apartment, of which the roof formed a perfect arched dome. From this central apartment three door- ways, also arched, and of larger dimensions than the outward ones, opened into as many inhabited apart- re FnANKLlN-s OVERLAND JODHNEY. 69 against ibeZn^'T:/''''] ^'^^^^ »„ L^ bed, lamp, with all he'r d'Lt 1"m ""'^ ''^P'- <>- children quickly crept Tehind^'''' '''""' ''^■•- ^he ^Iu.k into the 'o„,e^'in1:"- """""^^ '"« '^^^ ^^mitrrirtLr^t ^^^^^-^"'^ "- - formed byeepa^te ulCLZuTJ^t' ' '""'' larity and no small inffenuitv T u «''^''* ''^g"- >^'.ape requisite to buld n^: '"t ^"S <="' >"*<> the ^even to eight feet llh t L 'f^*^""*' «»•>- from Bupport thfn this p Sil!f r "' '"' "'"' "O''*'^- fieient light was admitt d bv a " T^ '"^P""' «"<■- -% Htted into the ro:fo^e:r:;:i:r-^^- ^^ OVERLAND JOURNEY We must now return ir. +i British Government titsd T '''"' ^"^^^ ^^^ quest of the North Poll?"'! *^ """?'«'« «>« con- P'orationassuppi'tl TSZI''-'-'' - resolved to survev tho ^„. » . ^ *®a It was mine River to IZZTT^T" ''""^ ^^^ Copper- -peditionwasequtpfd 'r r'"' '"' t''- P^'Poff an iin as leader; Dr Srr'"^'"^'™'^''*°*Frank. ^■'if- of high chtS-Kirs''- rr"- and two picked English seamen ^ """^ ^'^^ ' -..d C W,,„, ^_^ ^^^JJ-f eptember; a.d V Co,u,a„y s sett,o„.ents, on the ..2nd of JetotrT 70 AT FORT ENTERPRISE. having accomplished a journey of 690 miles in forty-two days. After resting for awhile, Franklin and Back went forward by themselves to Chipewyan, near the. west point of Athabasca Lake, in order to superintend the preparations being made for their intended adven- ture. It was a terrible journey. The cold was fright- ful, and beyond measurement, because the thermometer wtis frozen. Provisions were scarce, and every move- ment caused intense physical pain. But moral courage carried them over every difficulty, and Chipewyan was reached at last. Here they waited until the rest of the party came up ; and then, attended by a train of Canadian boatmen and Indians, they moved onward some 500 miles to Fort Enterprise, where a small hut was built of pine- wood to shelter them during the winter. It stood on a gentle ascent, at the base of which slept the frozen cur- rent of Waiter River. Here the explorers employed themselves in killing reindeer, and in preparing with their fat and flesh that dried, salted, and pounded comestible called pemmican. About one hundred and eighty animals were killed. But even this number did not furnish an adequate supply for Franklin's party; and as the expected stores of tobacco, ammunition, and blankets did not arrive, Mr. Back, with some Indian and Canadian attendants, returned to Chipewyan for them. Having obtained them, he once more rejoined the party at Fort Enterprise — after an absence of five months and a journey of 1104 miles, "in snow-shoes, and with no other covering at night in the woods than a blanket and deerskin." THE NORTHERN COAST. 71 It was the middle of June 1821 before the ice broke up in the Coppermine River. Then Franklin began his journey, passing down the stream in light birch-canoes, and occasionally pausing to hunt the reindeer, musk- oxen, and wolves which frequented its banks. Havincr reached the mouth of the river, the twenty adventurers launched their barks into the Polar Sea, which they found almost tideless, and comparatively free from ice. The extreme westward point at which, after many l)erilous experiences, Franklin arrived, was situated in lat. 68° 30', and he appropriately named it Point Turn- agam. Between this headland on the east and Cape Barrow on the west, a deep gulf opens inland as far south a^ the Arctic Circle. It was found to be studded with numerous islands, and indented with sounds afford- mg excellent harbours, all of them supplied with small rivers of fresh water, abounding with salmon, trout, and other fish. The survey of George the Fourth's Coro- nation Gulf- to adopt Franklin's barbarous nomencla- ture—being completed, the explorers prepared to return to Fort Enterprise. The overland part of the journey was attended with the most terrible hardships. They suffered from the combined afflictions of cold, hunger and fatigue. They were so reduced in bodily strength that It was with difficulty they could drag along their languid limbs ; and when at last within forty miles of tlieir winter asylum, they found themselves at their last ration. No food, no shelter, and the severity of an Arctic winter pressing upon them ! Mr. Back, with three of the stoutest Canadians, gallantly started for- ward to seek assistance ; and were followed in a few 72 A TRAGIC TALE. 'A 'i days by Franklin and seven of the party— leaving the weakest, under the care of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, to proceed at leisure. Four of Franklin's companions,' hov, ever, soon gave up the attempt from absolute physi- cal incapacity. One of these— Michel, an Iroquois— returned to Dr. Richardson; the others were never again heard of Franklin pushed forward, living on berries and a lichen called tripe-de-roche, and reached the hut; but it was without an inhabitant, without stores, and nlocked up by snow. Here he and his three companions lingered for seventeen days, with no other food than the bones and skin of the deer which had been killed the preceding winter, boiled down into a kind of soup. On October 29th Dr. Richardson and John Hepburn, one of the seamen, made their appear- ance. But where were the rest of the party ? Dr. Richardson had a tragic tale to unfold. He stated that for the first two days after Franklin's de- parture his party had nothing to eat. On the third day Michel arrived with a hare and partridge, which afforded each a small morsel. The fourth day they fasted. On the 11th Michel offered them some flesh, which he declared to be part of a wolf; but they after- wards had good reason to suspect it was the flesh of one of the unfortunate men who had left i ..anklin to return to Richardson. They noticed that Michel daily grew more furtive and insolent, and were convinced that he had a supply of meat for his own use. On the 20th, while Hepburn was felling wood, he heard the report of a gun, and, turning quickly round, saw Michel dart into the tent. Mr. Hood was found dead ; a ball A PAMINE-WORN PARTY had penetrated the baek of his skull • tt. be the shadow of a doubt ♦!..*«■; ""^ <"'"''* "<>' now grew more sJn.V ^'"'"' '"^ ''•■«' ''■ He tion that heirsTfetr i7 "''^ "* "'^ «»"-'«- convinced of the :eS::;'7; 'T '7'" *°""^"^ take the whole resnoS-f "^ '^'''"'^"' ''<'*. *» mediately upon M ctr ^ ^ "^'^ "y^«'^' '«''' ™- cloak. On the evti'^^f l^^^^^ ^ f ' ^^I^'^ *- of the fort, and at fir,t In ^ *"""" " ^'g''t -eing the'smoke isle fti':,77-'''« P'— on absence of an vfootnri!t/!^ '""°^y- ^"t the wifh sad foreboding J". '"°^ ""^^ ""'i^ ^^-^ts they entered SS Inf "'i: '""^ "'^''^^'^ ^^en reigned there. '^^ "'^ wretchedness that these could W surviv ™' t *" ^"'''*° = ''■^^ that ■Absolute weaknL arreHf jr^''^^^ ''■"■" *■>- 7tli of November thr.»T i "^^ ^"PPily, on the had despatclTed fr'^c^f '™^ *™^^'^' ^'>«"> «- Back «■«. ^nL the sioSs; r:^ .7:"^^ ; -^ enough to return to tl,P F„ ,. f """•'" ^^re strong t'.is way was accompli Lf ft ""'~ ^"^ ■» mostly over a bleak Tnd ban!'?™? °' '''' ""^^^ inclement sky. with terribSo" o n,, ""^ 'f r^' ''" costot pliysical and mf^ntol M I 74 FOUn EXPEDITIONS. suffering, and with mucli loss of life, but with results which greatly eulargeu the boiiiMLiries of googrnphical knowledge. EXPLORATIONS liV SEA AND LAND. Four expeditions — or, more correctly speaking, one expedition in four divisions — set out from T^aigiund oarly in 1824. Parry was sent to explore Prince Regent In- let ; Franklin wa& ordded to descend the Mackenzie River to the sea, and then, dividing his party, to des- patch one half to the eastward, wliile he hid the other half westward to Behring Strait ; Captain Beechy was commissioned to sail to Behring Strait vid Cape Horn, and thence to Kotzebue Sound, where he was to wait for Franklin ; and Captain Lyon was directed to keep .southward of Southampton Island, up Rowe's Welcome to Repulse Bay, and across Melville Isthmus to Point Turnagain. The object in view, as the reader will sur- mise, was to ascertain the exact configuration of the northern shore of the American continent. Cantain Lyon met with many disasters, and, when within eighty miles of Repulse Bay, was compelled by the ice-drift and the adverse winds to abandon the enterprise. Parry, with the Hecla and Fury, reached Lancaster Sound, but, being caught in the ice, was forced to winter at Port Bowen. In the following season the Fury was driven ashore by the pressure of accumulated masses of ice, and so damaged that Parry was obliged to remove her crew and stores to the Hecla ; after which he re- turned to England. I'U.sHiNo NonruwAHU ,, Franklin was not ,„ucl, more successful. Accom- l«med by Dr. Ricl.ardson, Rvck, and Mess.«. KenZl and Drummond, he arrived at Fort Chipewyan in July l»^o■ and thence proceeded to Great Bear Lake where >e wintered. Wheu the spring returned he blnti™ descent of Mackenzie River, and, after a voyageTl04 mde^re^hed the sea in lat. 69° 14' N.. and long. 135" W W. He then undertook the westward route, while Richardson travelled eastward. In long. 149° 39' W Frankhn was arrested by a barrier of rock and ice' winch he named Repulse Reef, and, being short of pro-' ZT nt ^""'' ''^'""'■»"' "' *'■« f-"' that CapLn Beechey had brought his ship, the Blossom, up to PoinI » rrow, or only 146 miles distant from him. Franut after su.^eymg the coast for 374 mile.,, and a^complisl^ st IntL f n "'' '" "'"^ J"'"^'' ^y »^- K->>-d- tor the appomted rendezvous; but Franklin meanwhile was on Ins way back to England. In 1827 the indefatigable Parry started with an expe- ac tended by his daring attempt to cross the pack-ice in l.g.t boate and sledges; the former being used in the water-ways and pools, the latter in travelling over th Wn plams. Nothing but the strongest e'nthusia^^: could have rendered this enterprise possible. When he explorers arrived at a gap in the ice, they launched the.r boats and embarked. On reaching tife oppodta -de they landed, and by sheer force hauled Tt,^ i! 78 ICE-FIELDS AND HUMMOCKS. I"! ,1 Mt boats; a laborious process, occupying so much time, and making such demands on the men's strength, that only eight miles were accomplished in five days. They could not travel except by night, on account of the glare of the snow, which threatened them with blind- ness. Breakfasting soon after sunset, they laboured for some hours ; then made their chief meal ; and towards sunrise halted, lighted their pipes, wrapped themselves up in their furs, and laid down to rest. The reader must not suppose that the ice-fields of the Polar regions are as smooth and level as the frozen surface of an Ener- lish river. They are intersected by "lanes" of water, and broken up by rugged hummocks of ice, which can be crossed only with extreme difficulty. In spite of every obstacle, Parry pressed on, ambitious to reach the 83rd parallel of latitude. But at last he became aware of the startling circumstance that, faster than he moved forward, the ioe was carrying him backward ; in other words, it waa slov ! drifting southward beneath his feet; and bearing him and his party along with it. To struggle against an adverse Nature was ? opeless. In lat. 82° 45' he gave it up ; for though they had travelled nearly 300 miles over the rugged ice and through half- frozen water, they had advanced no more than 172 miles from the Hecla. MINOR EXPEDITIONS. Steam was first used as an agent in Arctic explora- tion in 1829, when Sir Felix Booth placed a steamship, the Victory, under tlie conmiand of Sir John Koss, and liis nephew Sir James. The Victory made her way t*^". > 1: !■ i: m i - w ' IMPRISONED IN THE ICE. farthest p in f ,™ *'" ''"' "^"''^-^ ^-z' along a preWouslv^2 / /""""P"'''^'' ««« »"'«= October LntTntlTr'" """^'' ''"'' °" «"« ^th of ^Jie long imprisonment in the ice hn^ k *i,- .. Beriously affected the health of the crew aL "/r^ was no chance of reloasinff th. =1 • T \ ^ """■<= abandon her and effoTf- ''' ^^ determined to tudes in boaL Id sJdlTrd T ^ ^°'^'- ^""■ of the i-^^, i„ ordc:tf Lfhri o"? hf T ""* materials : and aftpr o f. -ui • ''^'' ^*^^^« ^'^"^^ so spent Ind bi d rtr/7"""^'* "' ^"* impossible. Here he wintered If ^T '"'"^"'^ "- going the most fearfiT „ ^ ' '"''"''" P^^^^ ""^er- With the firTtatl'oTr" ""' "^^™' "^^"'8. wuiia aays ot the summer of IS'IQ *i • i»o))es reviv'nH Ti.^ , ""ici oi loj^} their on tne loth of August gained tlie open sen .n^ * i to their boats. At midnithf thev ^.,^\^ ^"'^ -i_,!!,, incy piissed Edwin Bay I h 1 1 82 A SHIP IN SIGHT. and next morning reached the farthest point to which they had advanced in the preceding year. Finding an open " water-lane," they kept to the northward, and in the evening were tossing off the north-eastern point of the American continent. On the 17th great was their joy to see before them the ample expanse of Barrow Strait; and with a favourable wind they now steered to the south, passing Cape York and Admiralty Inlet, and on the 25th reaching the eastern shore of Navy Board Inlet. At four o'clock on the following morning the look- out man announced that a ship was in sight; but as the breeze was blowing freshly, she bore away under all sail, leaving them behind. Fortunately a dead calm succeeded, and by dint of hard rowing our explorers approached so near that their signals were descried, when the ship heaved-to and lowered a boat, which made directly towards them. The mate in command asked them if they were in distress, and offered assist- ance, adding that he belonged to the Isabella of Hull, once commanded by Captain Ross, but then by Captain Humphreys. He was with difficulty convinced that his former commander stood before him, — declaring that it was all a mistake, for he had certainly been dead two years. When finally satisfied, he hastened back to his ship with the glad tidings, and immediately her yards were manned, and three ringing cheers greeted the captain and his party. As soon as possible Captain Humphreys steered for England, and on the 12th of October reached Stromness in Orkney. The intelligence of the rescue so happily H Z ID ^ o rw? CAPTAIN BACK'S VOYArjE. 85 crowds, like a gene mi frl^ 7 T' '^ -""--tic He fully ' «on Captain Backand his £ """'^- ^" ""^ P-" enduring severe hard!) . '^ P'^'"''' "'« winter, by violent gZ ""• ""' ^"^'^""y disquieted Towards the close of Februarv fl,„ fl with a commotion whi.', !. ? ""'' ''''"* «««nder, into dust Hitter Tnd tl,i '"''^''' '" ''™^'' "- «'"P ""^-•ng againstl:!! r'gil^ "r^" ~ «^ giincling and crashing to- H 80 DRIVEN TO AND FRO. gether with the most appalling sounds, — now lifting the ship clean out of the water, now dashing against her sides with a force which made her reel from stem to stern. This series of disturbances extended into March. On the 16th they reached a crisis. A mad onset of floating ice raised the quivering vessel hard upon the floe. " Scarcely ten minutes," says Back, " were left us for the expression of our astonishment that anything of human build could outlive such assaults, when an- other equally violent rush succeeded, and in its way toward the starboard quarter threw up a rolling wave thirty feet high, crowned by a blue square mass of many tons, resembling the entire side of a house, which, after hanging for some time in doubtful poise on the ridge, at length fell with a crash into the hollow, in which, as in a cavern, the after part of the ship seemed imbedded. It was indeed an awful crisis, rendered more frightful from the mistiness of the night and dim- ness of the moon." During this long and gloomy period of disaster, the unfortunate Terror was driven to and fro over a ranjre of from twenty-six to forty-eight miles north-west of Seahorse Point; but after the 16th she kept away from shore, and set toward the south-east. Another month passed by, and still the ice held her in its grip. Then it parted for a while, and Back seized the opportunity to refit his shattered vessel. Once more it closed in, and so continued Irom the 7th of May till the 2nd of June, when it finally broke up, but without any violent commotion. Then the ship's hull was calked and coated with tar ; and a channel havmg been cut through m PEIULOU.S POSITION. ,, tl.e broken %. i„to the o„en „.., the Terror flnallv She . as now .ear Charles .„„ ; that i,, about m.dway between Cape Comfort auU the n.o„th o Hudson Strait Wha. .as to be done? A Wu sr Th '"^ '''^'''"'' ^-^^ -- — "^ questioa There was nothing for it but to turn her whether she would ever gain in b fety a British port fot eZ T"^'''^ "'"''• ''"''~' -'^^y' "'i'l'^O ^ -d with the grinding ice-ma^es had been a more perilous expenence than her voyage across the northe™ 1 " bent' 17 "" *' '"'''"' ""'• "^'y -''! '">- «'- bent before eveiy gust of wind! When she reached «.e north-west coast of Ireland, she wa. actually sink- ng by the head, so that it was found necessary to run Had sl^e been three hours longer at sea, she would assuredly have foundered. edge of the geography of the Polar World- but it '-nished a brilliant illustration of the resoluti;n cou age, and endurance of British seamen. It occupy page m Arcti. History which is comparativ^' "ti: l^nown ; yet it is a page of the highest interest. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S LAST EXPEDITION Fr^nklt '^""° "^''*'' *''' ^'■''"'' ""der Sir John FrankUn, accompanied by the Terror under Captain IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /> ///. ^ {./ A t/i ^ >4> A 1.0 I.I 1.25 JlIM iim !if *- IIIIM - aifi i 20 .8 ill U i 1.6 — 6" Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14500 ,716) 87!2-4S03 J f » ] 00 LAST WORDS OF FRANKLIN. Crozier— both ships being carefully fitted out and pro- visioned for three years— sailed from the Thames. The crews numbered 137 picked men. On the 8th of June they left the Orkneys, steering for the extreme point of Greenland known as Cape Farewell ; where, indeed, the adventurer does, as it were, bid farewell to the security and liberty of the civilized world. A month later they lay at anchor in the middle of a group of rocky islets on the east side of Baffin Bay. Yet another fortnight, and we may see them with "the mind's eye," as some whalers saw them, gallantly struggling with the ice which impeded their progress across the B^y of Baffin to Lancaster Sound. Seven officers man a boat and drag her across the ice to visit the whalers. They go on board the Prince of Wales of Hull. "All well," they report; and express the blithest, cheeriest confidence in the success of their enterprise. After a hearty hand-grasp, they say good- bye and return to their ships. On the same evening (July 26th) the ice breaks up, the westward route lies open, and the Arctic expedition ploughs the waves for Lancaster Sound. Thereafter a cloud descends upon it ; it passes into the heart of the grim solitudes of the Polar World, and men hear of it no more. Whither it bent its course, and how it reached Cape Riley and Beechey Island, or what mishaps befel' the two stout ships composing it, are problems of which the solution even no'v is £a,r from complete. THE SEARCH. When two years hed elapsed without any tidings of SEAUCUINQ EXPEDITIONS. „ the expedition reaching England, the public mind grew senously alarmed. Expectation deepened into anxL- aaxiety darkened into fear. When the winter of 1848 pa^ed away, and still no tidings came, it wa« felt that t^h'^JTr. T"''' ^ intolerable. Hitherto the great object had been the discovery of the North- West Passage; now the thoughte of men were all directed to a search after Franklin and his companions. Strangely enough Providence had so ordered it that in the search atL^fZ" ""^''^'" °' ''"""^ " '■'^ ^"'-^ °y-* -« An expedition in search of the missing heroes was dspatched under Sir James Ross; and another undo S.r John Richardson: both added to the stores of geo- wS r'''^'' ''"' ""'""S ■"»«• These iad worked from the eastward; Captains Moore and Kellet worked from the westward, entering Behring Strnt. and actually reaching, by their boats, the mouth oi Macken;ae River. In the spring of 1849. the British Government offered a reward of f 20,000 to any private explorers, of any nation, who should discovered suc- cour the wanderers; and Lady Fiunklin, out of her own resources organized several relieving parties. So .t happened that, in 1850, no fewer than twelve vessels, led by Ross, Ra«, M'Clure, Osborne, CoUinson, Penny Austin, Ommaney, Forsyth, and De Haven, besides boat and sledge companies, plunged deep into the far North- ern wildernesses tK) trace the footprinte of the lost The Admiralty orders to Franklin had been, to pass through Lancaster Sound into Barrow Stmit; thence to Cape Walker; and from Cape Walker, by such coui« f 92 AT BEECH EY ISLAND. as he might find convenient, to Behring Strait. The general opinion was, that he had got to the west of Melville Island, and then been caught by the ice among the numerous islands lying in that part of the Arctic Sea. And it was supposed that he would be engaged in an effort to cross the ice, and reach either one of the Hudson Bay settlements, or some whaling-station. Dr. Kae therefore started for Banks's Island, with the intention of pushing on to Cape Walker. Captains Collinson and M'Clure sailed for Behring Strait, in order to take up the eastward route. Captain Austin in the Resolute, Captain Ommaney in the Assistance, and Lieutenants Cater and Osborne in the Pioneer and Intrepid, proceeded to Baffin Bay, in order to follow up Franklin's track; while other westward-bound ex- peditions, such as the Felix, under Captain Sir John Ross, Captain Forsyth in the Prince Albert, Captain Penny in the Lady Franklin, started for various points of Banks Land and Boothia. An American expedi- tion, fitted out by Mr. Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant, and consisting of the brigs Advance and Rescue, under Lieutenant De Haven, sailed also for Banks Land and Melville Island in May 1850. It was in this year that the first traces of the miss- ing voyagers were discovered, through the accidental detention at Beechey Island of two of the searchino- expeditions, — namely, those of Austin and Penny. When these, in August 1850, had reached the mouth of Wellington Channel, they were driven, by the large ice-fields sweeping out of it and out of Barrow Strait, to seek shelter in a great bay formed at the eastern TRACES OF THE LOST. «ty of birds- bones '.MZ^.TCLTr ' srb::s.r:f xrOT .^°- W However, to identify thesrtitith tnK exped.t.on When Captain Penny heard of th "S " Hav n rZ G •" T"""*'"" "'*'' L- Jant 1 Haven (of the Gnnnell expedition), to prosecute a care- ful search -the vicinity of Wellington Channel. Wh e the explonng ships were lying under the west pS o go ashore. On landing, they sauntered towards , low projecting spur which sti^tches to the norTSos ng a convenient spot to cross the huo-e rid<,es Z ly.ng pled up along the beach. They werf L ' t mount the ridge or backbone of the noint fn , ! afterwards they were observed lomTe'sL """T Z^Ztrf " T ™'»«'i-t«lyM that fresh rtoleXr::i'r '^ ™';;'''" ''^"^^ '""'^ -fully construLTi, "a" idtJlL^'- : base consisted of a series of preserved meat t^^ fin I w.th gravel and sand, and mle meat-tTns tore s! t -god as to taper upwards to the summit,::;:;: 7 94 Austin's expedition. fixed the remnant of a broken boarding-pike. But no record could be found; nothing to connect it with Sir John Franklin. Presently, as they looked along the northern slope of the island, other strange objects caught their eye. Another rush of eager, breathless beings, and all stand in silence before three graves. Some of them are unable to refrain from tears as they mutter the words inscribed upon the rude tablets, "Erebus and Terror" On the 27th of August, as if drawn by some magnetic attraction, no fewer than ten searching-vessels met at Beechey Island, and several lay there during the winter, with the view of resuming their work in the spring of '51; but no additional discoveries were made. Sledcr- ing-parties were sent out in all directions, and along the shores of Wellington Channel, the coasts of Banks Land, and the waters from Barrow Strait to Melville Island, 675 miles of new coast-line were surveyed. The outcome of all this labour and adventure was represented by the generally accepted conclusion that Franklin, after leaving Wellington Channel, had moved in a south-west direction. Special reference should be made, however, to the skilfully organized sledge-expeditions of Captain Austin. These were designed to explore the coasts and islands along Parry Strait, the sea-belt westward from Barrow Strait to Melville Island, and the north end of Banks Land; Wellington Channel being reserved for Captain Penny. The westward party, numbering fourteen sledges and one hundred and four men, started, under 1 .11 i THE SLEDOINO-PAETIES. ,; Captain Ommaney, on tho 11th of April 1851, to an en- campment on Griffin Island, where they were carefully nspected by Captain Austin. On the evening of the 15th they set out, with kites and sails attached to the SCroJJr ■""'" ^'"^'"^ '"^"'^ -'"'« "-'-S ''' Three of the parties proceeded along the southern and three along the northern shore. The record of thei^ achievements runs as foUows:_No. 1, under Captain Ommaney travelled 480 miles, of which 205 were prl" vicusly untnown, and was absent 60 days. No. 2, under Lieutenant (.flerwards Admiral) Shemrd Osborne, dis- ^vered 50 mjes, travelled 606 miles, was absent 58 days ^0. 3, under Lieutenant Browne, traveUed 375 miles discovering 150 miles of coast, and was absent U days Three went to the southward. Of those which took a northerly course, No. 1 travelled 550 miles, discovering 70 miles of coast, and was absent 62 days. No 2 com manded by Lieutenant M'Clintock, travelled 760 miles discovered 40 miles of coast, and was out for 80 days' Lieutenant M'Clintock pushed as far westward as Ifw M ""'' ''*" ^^' ^'- ""-l '""gita^le "4° 669 mil., r ' """^^ ^'"'^'""' ^™'^<"^' t-^velled 669 miles, discovenng 135, and being absent 80 days The achievements of these parties show what may be expected from the sledge-joumeys to be undertaken in connection with the present Arctic expedition (1876) Ihe other sledges were absent only for periods vary. ng from twelve to thirty-four days; their business bein. to form depots of provisions, ascertain positions, and take observations. But though their work seems easier • 08 EXPLORING WELLINGTON CHANNEL. I? i than that of the farther-reaching parties, they suffered much more severely ; for no fewer than twenty-eight of their men were fVost-bitten, and one of the leaders died from cold and fatigue. After receiving and considering the reports sent in by his officers, Captain Austin came to the conclusion tuat the expedition under Franklin had not proceeded either to the southward or westward of Wellington StraH. The sledge-parties appointed to explore Wellington Channel were six in number, and consisted of forty-one men, led by Captain Stewart, Messrs. Marshall, Reid, and J. Stuart, and Surgeons Sutherland and Goodsir, under the general superintendence of Captain Penny They started on the 27th of April, but soon met with stormy weather, and after having been sore buffeted for several days were forced to return. They rested awhile, and then, on the 6th of May, set forth again. Some made so bold a circuit as almost to touch the most northerly of Captain Austin's parties ; but their princi- pal feat was the discovery of a wide westward channel of open water, extending along the further side of the lands which bound Barrow and Parry Straits. In this discovery Captain Penny was personally con- cerned, and he made vigorous efforts to follow it up. Following the coast-line of Wellington Channel, he reached latitude 75° 22' N. at Cape Duhorn, from which he struck ten miles north-westward to Point Decision. Thence, on the 15th of May, he crossed the ice, still in a north-westerly direction, to an island which he named Baillie Hamilton. On the l7th, after completing the circuit of this island, he reached the open strait, saw in "THE MAD YANKKE." „ it twenty-fivo miles of clear water, and discovered a head- land m the distance, with a dark sky over it, indicating open water on the further side. This point wa. found to be m latitude 76» 2' N., and longitude 95° 55' W and the strait was designated Victoria Channel Dr. Kane, the surgeon accompanying Lieutenant De Havens expedition, about this time fell in with what he conceived to be traces of heavily-laden sledges; and he formed the opinion that Franklin had gone north from Cape Riley as soon as the ice broke up in 1846 and from Wellington Channel had pushed right into' the Polar Sea. Accordingly, in this direction the Ad- vance made her difficult way a^ far as possible. Dr. Kane displaying an almost reckless courage which gained him the sobriquet of "the mad Yankee" No more relics, however, were then discovered; though atterwards, a record found at Point Victory confirmed the accuracy of Kane's conjecture, and showed that Frankhn had attempted that course, though driven back by insuperable obstacles. Several expeditions followed one another in heroic efforts to wr^st from the icy North the solemn secrets It so jealously preserved. But no further information wa« obtained of Franklin and his companions. Whether they had turned homeward and perished in Baffin Bay whether, as Kane supposed, they had advanced to the north-west by Wellington Channel; or whether (a. was indeed the case) they were ice-bound in Melville Island were problems, the solution of which seemed destined to remain an impossibility. 100 DEATH OF BELLOT. ''■{'■. 1 The Wellington Channel route was again explored, in April 1852, by Sir Edward Belcher, who had five vessels under his command, — the Assistance, Resolute, North Star, Pioneer, and Intrepid. In the same year Lady Franklin despatched the Rattlesnake and Isabel to Behring Strait to assist Captains CoUinson and M'Clure; while Dr. Kae undertook another survey of Boothia; and Captain Inglefield, with the Lady Franklin and Phoenix, repaired to Barrow Strait in support of Sir Edward Belcher. But, as an American writer remarks, it is singular that not one of these expeditions, whether equipped by the Government or by private generosity, w^as despatched to Melville Sound, the very spot where the lost seaman might be expected to be found if ho had carried out the instructions he received from the Admiralty. " It was not," says Mr. Blake, " until five years after the question of Franklin's safety was mooted that Dr. Eae penetrated to Cape Walker ; and beyond that there seemed a fatality, brooding over all the explorers, which tabooed the only true and proper course to the south and west of Melville Sound. Every place to which he was not sent was thoroughly ransacked; whither he was sent, not a single ship or man was ordered." A melancholy incident must be recorded in connec- tion with Captain Inglefield's expedition. It was accompanied by a gallant and enthusiastic young Frenchman, Lieutenant Bellot, as a volunteer ex- plorer; but during a terrible gale of wind he was blown from a piece of fioating ice, and drowned (August 18, 1853). rf Tj' liiiiiiiuii v<«hi-' V ."^Sjl m i H-o. ■ )/ .' 'J v; . ' /// ./^ Ji ■'i^' /i^/ J^^'i f' f I m 1. THE SMITH SOUND ROUTE. 103 Our narrative now brings us dovrn to one of the most remarkable of Recent Polar Voyages; that which, in 1853, was undertaken by the able and intrepid American surgeon and naturalist, Dr. Kane. He adopted the Smith Sound route, from a conviction, based on his discovery of the sledge-tracks at the' mouth of Wellington Channel, that Franklin had steered northward through these waters until he had reached the Polar Sea, and that he was there imprisoned among the ice. i" CHAPTER 11. m ,Jii H DE. ELISHA KANE. A.D. 1863. SECOND American expedition in search of Sir John Franklin was fitted out in 1852, and placed under the command of Dr. Elisha Kane, who had already served in 1850 under Lieutenant De Haven, and w^as well fitted for the arduous and honourable post offered to him, by his ability, resolution, power of endurance, and enthusi- asm. Having accepted the conduct of the enterprise, he proceeded to enlist volunteers, and to mature his plans. Believing that the peninsula of Green- land extended far to the northward, approaching the Pole in all probability nearer than any other known land, and that in this way he would obtain easier access both to the east and wst than from Wellington Channel, he resolved on an overland route in as direct a line north as it was possible to follow. In other words, he proposed to start from the most northern attainable point of Baffin Bay, and thence, pressing on toward the Pole as far as boats or sledges could carry him, to examine the coastlines for vestiges of the lost party. "*^»*^*'^'^ff-7-;- KANE'S EXPEDITION. ,55 His little company consisted of eighteen officers and men,-molud.ng Dr. Hayes, surgeon; August Sonntag astronomer ; and Henry Brooks, first officer On the 30th of May they left New York in Mr Gnnnells bng, the Advance; in eighteen days reached St Johns, Newfoundland, where they took on board a noble team of Newfoundland dogs, the gift of Governor Hamilton; and thence proceeded to Baffin Bay On the 1st of July they entered the harbour of Fiskemaes, m Danish Greenland; a little colony of fishermen, who deal in cod, and enipefiah, seal a«d shark c«ls, and live a hfe of hardship and enteiprise, in which the profits seem utterly incommensurate with the risks Here Dr. Kane engaged an Eskimo hunter, one Hans Christian, notably expert both with kajack and javelin • tat, good-natured, and, except when stimulated by the excitement of the hunt, as stolid and impassive as a Nor h American Indian. Thence they kept along the coast to Sukkeitoppen, a great dep6t for reindeer-skins- and on the 10th of July put to sea, steering to the' north and west in the teeth of a heavy gale Seventeen days later the expedition reached Melville Bay, a basin which is celebrated both for the number of Its icebergs and its whales, and has witnessed the loss of maiyr a goodly vessel. Keeping to the west- ward. Dr. Kane resolved to double Melville Bay bv keeping outside of the belt of broken land-ice; but the voyage proved both difficult and dangerous. The floes gathering round his brig, he anchored her to an iceber,. to prevent her from being completely imprisoned. Bui tliey had scarcely enjoyed a ■' breathing spell " before they 106 IN SMITH SOUND. were startled by a succession of loud, crackling sounds; followed by a shower of ice-fragments, not larger than a walnut. They accepted the warning; hauled in their anchors ; and put out into the open just as the face of the berg fell down in ruins, with a report like that of near artillery. On the 1st of August they made fast to another large berg, "a moving breakwater, of gigantic proportions:" this carried them steadily to the north; and when all danger from the drifting ice was over, they got under way, and through a tolerably clear channel took their course to the north-eaa,t, while the heavens were lighted with the glory of the midnight sun, and the surround- ing ice-fields glittered like one great resplendency of gem- work, — blazing carbuncles, and rubies, and molten gold. Keeping a mid-course through the bay. Dr. Kane succeeded in reaching the North (or Cape York) Water on the 3rd of August, and saw before him Smith Sound, which is now universally recognized as the great high- way to the Arctic Pole. On the 5th he passed the "Crimson Cliffs" of Sir John Koss; so called from the masses of rose-red snow which lodge in their ravines and gorges. Hakluyt Island, with its tall spire of gneiss about 600 feet high, was the next station; and on the 6th he sighted Cape Alexander and Cape Isa- bella, the two promontories which guard the entrance to Smith Sound. He found the aspect of the coast singularly uninviting. To the west the snow descended with heavy uniformity to the water's edge, and was only here and there relieved by glimpses of the green- MEMORIALS OF THE PAST. 107 Clad soil. On the right rose an array of cliffs, the frowning grandeur of which would have fitly dimiified the threshold of " the proudest of southern seas." Their average height varied from 1200 to 1500 feet with some of their precipices rising sheer and unbroken for oOO leet. On Littleton Island Dr. Kane determined to establish his first depot of stores, for use on the return voyage. The hfe-boat was loaded with provisions, blankets, and other articles and then buried. Along her gunwale were placed the heaviest rocks the men could handle • and after the interstices had been filled up with smaller stones and sods of andromeda and moss, sand and water were poured among the layers. All this, frozen at once mto a solid mass, would be hard enough, it was hoped to resist the claws of the Polar bear. To the surprise of our explorei-s, they discovered that they were not the first human beings who had sought a slielter in this desolate spot. It was evident, from a few rumed waUs here and there, that it had once been the seat of a rude settlement; and in the little knoll cleared away to cover in the deposit of stores were tound some human remains. Nothing, says Dr. Kane, can be imagined more sad arid homeless than these memorials of extinct life Hardly a vestige of growth wa^ traceable on the bare and ice-scarred rocks ; and the huts so closely resembled the broken fragments around that H, was almost difficult to distinguish one from the other. Walrus-bones lay about m all directions, showing tliat walrus-meat had been the principal food of the inhabitants. There wore ^P' ,1 Is 'I .• r' •'! 108 AT REFUGE HARBOUR. remains, too, of fox and narwhal, but no signs of seal or reindeer. The Eskimos, unable to restore their dead to the em- brace of their mother-earth, seat them as in the atti- tude of repose, with the knees drawn close to the body, and then enclose them in a sack of skins. The imple- ments used in Hfe are grouped around : they are covered with a rude dome of stones, and a cairn is piled above. Thus a cenotaph is formed, which remains intact for generation after generation. The Eskimos never profane the resting-place of the dead. REFUGE HARBOUR. Continuing his adventurous course. Dr. Kane pressed through the drifting ice to some distance beyond Cape Lifeboat Cove, and took shelter in a beautiful little bay, landlocked from east to west, and accessible only from the north, which figures conspicuously in his narrative under the name of Kefuge Harbour. It was some time before the ice broke up sufficiently to permit of his effecting his escape; and even after he had once more got out into the channel, he had a daily fight with bergs and floes. At one time, while anchored off" a rocky island which he called "Godsend Ledge," a perfect hurricane came on ; and though he had three hawsera out, they snapped one after the other, like mere threads, and the Advmice drifted to and fro at the mercy of the " wild ice." His only hope of safety lay in mooring close to a berg ; and this eflfected, the brig was towed along as by a gigantic courser—" the spray dashing over hk windward flanks, and his forehead ploughing up the s n m a w o ■n •B a o o z o r m o D m or a a tl sa ID gi w ki an pi an< as tw jai A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY. ni lesser ice as if in scorn." Drifting maases. broken up 7 i .'°^'""' ^y " f-ome-'dous storm, threatened them wth destruction; and the explorers were thank- ful when on the 22nd, the gale abated, and they ca«ied their httle vessel into comparatively smooth water, sheltered by the ice-belt which lined the rocky and mountainous coast. Having secured a haven of safety for the Advance. Dr. Kane resolved to make a personal inspection of the coaM. in order to select a convenient winter-station from which he might start on his sledge-journeys in the followmg spring. For this purpose he had caused his best and lightest whale-boat to be fitted with a canvaa coyer, that rendered it not less comfortable than a t«nt. A supply of pemmican was packed in small ca«es and a sledge taken to pieces stowed away under the thwarts. The boat's crew consisted of Brooks, Bon- sall, M'Gary, Sonntag, Biley, Blake, and Morton. Each Ze fi nT'""';:'' " '"" '" ^'^«P-g-g-r, carried a girdle full of woollen socks to keep them dry by the waxm h of the body, and slung a tin cup and a sheath- knife to his belt. A soup-pot and lamp for the mess and a single extra day suit as common property, com- pleted the outfit. J'' ^ '" A SLEDGE-JOUBNEY. Leaving Ohlsen in command of the Advance, Dr. Kane and his httle company pushed ofl' in the Forlorn Hone ns she wa« christened ; and after a cruise of about twenty-four hours reached the ice-belt, where they Imuled her up. and stowed her away snugly under the m 112 A NOBLE RIVER. II ■I ii shelter of a large hummock ; after which they pushed forward in the sledge. Their journey across the rugged surface of the ice was by no means without let or hindrance. It is easy to glide over the frozen level which encrusts one of our British lakes or streams in a severe winter ; but the icy wastes of the Arctic region are broken up by gullies, water-ways, and hummocks, rendering the traveller's passage one of considerable difficulty. In five days Dr. Kane advanced only forty miles; and finding the obstacles almost insurmountable, he abandoned the sledge, and the whole party proceeded on foot. Witli the exception of their instruments, they carried no bur- den but their pemmican and one buffalo-robe. The weather, as yet not far below freezing-point, did not make a tent essential to the bivouac; and being so lightly equipped, they were able to make twenty to twenty-four miles a day. On the 5th they came upon a noble bay, perfectly open, and in strange contrast, therefore, to the ice out- side. The cause of this at the time inexplicable pheno- menon, was afterwards found to be a roaring, tempestu- ous river, which, issuing from a fiord at the inner extremity of the bay, thundered irresistibly over a rugged bed of rocks. This river, which appears to be the largest as yet known in North Greenland, was about three-quarters of a mile wide at its mouth, and sensible to the tidal influence for about three miles. Its course was afterwards traced to an interior glacier, from the base of which it welled in many streams that AWAY NOKTU. ,jg flowed into a single Cannel about forty „>iles aWe ita Here, in the heart of the dreanr snowscane tl,„ traveller, met with an Aretic flower-growt , of co! suierable variety of form and colour. The intiltra ion he nuiT 1 1 ""f """■■ '"^'^-^ grosses, brightened the purple lyehn.s and sparkled the white stem of the e uekweed ; together with a gra^ful hesperis, remindL across to a north-eastern headland, which he named pea^e Thackeray. It was the ta station on the coast wWch Kat „ !, n^°"' ^'"^'""^ '^ '»% h^-dland, wmcli Kane named Cape Francis Hawke. pound m this vicmity wa^ most impressive. It ex- fftthetfl, T^^ on on the left lay the western shore of the Sound re- ed.ng towards the dim. misty north. To the r"l a rohng country led on to a low, dusky, wall-like IdL wh,ch he afterwards recognised as the Great GlL r^; Humboldt; and still beyond this, reaching norXwlrd from the north-north-east, lay the land whi low bears the honoure.l nf„„p of W..,i,:- ... .. °^ -....IB oi >'nSi1„igH)n— Ita most pro- !) 114 RETURN TO REFUOK HARnoUR. jccting headland, Capo Andrew Jackson, bearing about fourteen degrees from tlie farthest hill on the opposite side. Capo John Barrow. All between was one vast sheet of ice. Close along its shore, almost looking down upon it from the crest of their lofty station, tho explorers could see the long lines of hummocks dividing the floes like the trenches of a beleaguered city. Far- ther out, a stream of icebergs, increasing in numbers towards the north, presented an almost impenetrable barrier ; but beyond these the ice seemed less obstructed and obstructive, and patches cf open water glimmered on the distant horizon., Dr. Kane now led his party back to the brig, resolved to winter in the secure bay he had found for her, and to occupy the dreary months in expeditions to different points, so as to obtain a complete knowledge of the neighbouring coast. When the ice broke up in the en- suing summer, he trusted to resume his onward course. FIRST WINTER IN THE ICE. Winter was approaching rapidly. By the 10th of September the thermometer had fallen to 14°, and the ice-floes had been welded by newly-formed ice into a compact mass, with an unbroken surface. About sixty paces north of the ship an iceberg had been caught in the toils, was frozen in, and remained the gigantic neigh- bour of the adventurers as long as they remained in Rensselaer Harbova , ' The rocky islets around were fringed with hurnu < »* .js: *\tid as the tide fell, their sides were coated with cn/aque crystals of bright white. The ^*««fe/- A CANINE CFrARACTKUrsTIC. 115 birds had gone : tl 10 8ea-Hwal , . /. ^** — wliicli abounded w..on wo f.,.t ..cacLod horc-and eve,, tl.o young b 1- -tem feu.1,) that lingered after then, had Jl Uke„ these are tlu. I„«t to migrate of all the Aretic birds." Th. chief portion of the ship's cargo waa now un- V.go ous efforts were made to inercaie the supplies of ..ovisions Steaks of salt junk, artistically cuVwe^ strung online^ .. like a countrywoman's drfed aJes" and itV" *'?"™ '""'''' *''" ■- T'.o salmon' ut and odfish purchased at Fiskernacs were placed in babels perforated to permit a constant circulat n Z water through them. The "pickled cabbage" was to twelve hours of alternate soaking and freezin,. th„ |ce-cr„st being removed from them'previourte^IS immersion. ^" A dog-house was also erected on Butler Island; but tiation of the canine character. The Eskimo dogs could not be persuaded to sleep away from the vessel They P eferred the bare snow, where they could lie with^ «tof fffT^''. ■"'^'' *'"'' ">'' dog-distinguishing trait of affee ion for man should show itself in an animal can hardly be caught when wanted U^ll'^^^^^^^^ r^, 'f ^ ^^'^-^ -d Newfound- i--n....... C. the la«. ne had ten, wiiich he wa^ carefully -"^.^ 116 ERECTING AN OBSERVATORY. i lii tmining in a light sledge to drive (unlike the Eskimos) two abreast, with a regular harness, a breast-collar of flat leather, and a pair of traces. Six of them made a powerful travelling team ; and four could carry Dr. Kane and his instruments, for short journeys around the brig, with considerable facility. The sledge was built of American hickory, thoroughly seasoned, and skilfully combined the three paramount considerations of lightness, strength, and diminished friction. It was named the "Little Willie." Another and stronger sledge, made after a model furnished by the British Admiralty, was called the " Faith." It mea- sured thirteen feet in length and four in breadth, and could carry fourteen hundred- weight of mixed stores. THE OBSERVATORY. An observatory was also erected. The islet on which it stood measured some fifty paces long by forty broad, and rose about thirty feet above the water-line. Here the adventurers raised four walls of granHe blocks, cementing them together with moss and water, and the never-failing assistance of frost, wiiich converted the most heterogeneous materials into a compact mass. On the whole was laid im substantial timber roof The pedestals for the support of the various instruments in use consisted of a conglomerate of ice and gravel, well rammed down while liquid in iron-hooped pemmican casks, and quickly hardening into solidity. Adjoining was a magnetic observatory, with wooden floor as well as wooden roof; and upon the open ice-field, about one iiundred and forty yards froia the ship, a niGtooroiogical A SUDDEN CATAMITY. jjy l^::^' ^"^ **'~^*^-- '™*^™^. -«1 other The perils to which Dr. Kane and his party were exposed may be estimated from the following SidelT wh:ch we shall allow him to describe in his LZt^ We have narrowly escaped," he says, " being burned hres ht under my own eye, should be regularly in- pected; bat through a misadyenture the watch W for a bme pretennuted opening the hatches. As I owered a lantern, which waa extinguished immediatly a suspcou. odour reached me, a. of burning wo7d I descended at once. Beaching the deck of the fore cattle, my first glance towards the fires showed me t^t al waasafe there; and though the quantity of smot •ecent kmdhng But at this moment, while passing on my return near the door of the bulkhead, which kads to the carpenter's room, the gas began to affect me I ran by the bulkhead door, I saw the deck near it a could no teU how much farther it extended, for I be- came quite insensible at the foot of the laider and ar.faSretr-'^------«-H:n^ mc_Brooks Ohlsen, Blake, and Steyenson. I T.f a l-nnportant to ayoid confusion. We sh„t tl,„ ^oo.^ of U.C gaUay, so as to confine the rest of the'crew and ill 118 THE ARCTIC WINTER. officers aft, and then passed up water from the fire-hole alongside. It was done very noiselessly. Ohlsen and myself went down to the burning deck ; Brooks handed us in the buckets; and in less than ten minutes we were in safety. It was interesting to observe the effect of steam upon the noxious gas. Both Ohlsen and my- self were greatly oppressed until the first bucket was poured on ; but as I did this, directly over the burning coal, raising clouds of steam, we at once experienced relief: the fine aqueous particles seemed to absorb the carbonic acid instantly. " We found the fire had originated in the remains of a barrel of charcoal which had been left in the car- penter's room, ten feet from the stoves, and with a bulk- head separating it from them. How it had been ignited it was impossible to know. Our safety was due to the dense charge of carbonic acid gas which surrounded the fire, and the exclusion of atmospheric air. When the hatches were opened, the flames burst out with energy." A RIGOROUS CLIMATE. Gradually the severities of an Arctic winter made themselves more and more keenly felt ; and those ex- posed to the weather, notwithstanding every precaution, with difficulty escaped very painful touches of frost- bite. Of a party who had tra^^elled some sixty miles to establish a caxihe, or depot of provisions, north of Cape Bancroft, not a man but was more or less affected. This is not to be wondered at, when we reflect that the temperature had sunk to 25 degrees helow zero. The darkness advanced with insidious steadiness ; and early NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE. jjg St'':;":,:: -iS,- *^^ - -" On the rth of November, we find Dr K«n. i i . mg that « our dartn^ca i. • ^^"^ calculat- we shaU get back "1 f T*^ '^^^ *^ ^"^ ^^^^ got up a fancy ball; and they published ,n 1 . newspaper. K^ Ice-Blinlc, with the tnl • ? ''" -" In tenebris servare fidel" I t™eT T!^' was somewhat limited- but th.V^ 'Recirculation worthy of a wider pubhV A J ''"''' '"'"'' °°* ™- got up, and other measures were i^rd 7 T ^ depression which is the naturalist H "'""'"'* " I j I. II 11 !^l'll *: Ml! ii 120 EFFECTS OF THE LONG DAliKNKSS. zero — that is, 92° to lu7° below freezing-point! At such temperature chloric ether became solid, and even chloroform exhibited a kind of granular skin or pellicle upon its surface. Spirit of naphtha froze at -54° and oil of sassafras at -49° The exposed portions of the human body were surrounded with a wreath of vapour by the quick condensation of its exhalations. The air, when inspired, was perceptibly pungent, and imparted a sensation of dryness to the air-passages. It was noticeable that every man involuntarily breathed in, as it were, a guarded manner, with compressed lips. The first traces of returning light were observed at noon on the 21st of January, when a tint of orange lighted up, very briefly, the southern horizon. Neces- sarily, the influence of the long and intense darkness was very depressing, and was felt even by the lower animals, many of the dogs dying from " a mental dis- ease," clearly due to the absence of light. The symp- toms of this disease were very peculiar, and deserve to be indicated. The Li?.ore material functions of the poor creatures went on, it would appear, without interrup- tion, — they ate voraciously, retained their strength, and slept soundly. But, otherwise, they acted as if suffer- ing from lunacy. They barked frenziedly at nothing, and walked in straight and curved lines with anxious and unwearying perseverance. They fawned on their masters, but without seeming conscious of the caresses lavished upon them in return. Their most intelligent actions seemed automatic ; sometimes they clawed you, as if seeking to burrow into your seal-skins ; sometimes they remainad for liours in moody silence, and then C o ■n H Z m V I nii AN ARCTIC "INTER ;R.'» ^^^ ttl:! '""""^ " '' P"'^"^'^' ''"'^ ^- -P -d down AN ARCTIC "INTERIOR" On the 21st of Februarj. Dr. Kane started forth on an expedition to welcome back the sun. He forgot Id! he behe d the glorious orb of day, and nestled in it« gW with a sensation of de%ht, like that of bathing n reeledloT^'"- ^""'^'"'^ ^"^'"'^ "' *"« ™" ' * seemed to inspire our explores with new life fresh strength, resh hope,-body and mind were quf kenel and recruited by the invigorating r.ys; and by deZs sixtcr '^^ " '""^ °^ --^ *»« -^^ A day in March was spent after the following routine -and the description is generally applicablf TZ' z:r,:r "' '""' "^"*^^-"'^ "^"-^ ^^^ ^-■ At half-past seven all hands rose, washed on deck rb:l?fL'''Tn r "''*'"''■ "^-^ ^'^^^ -■>* "''- tor breakfast. As fuel was scarce, the cookinff was done lu the cabin. Breakfast-for all fared al^eir ca^y, tea and coffee, with a delicate portion of raw Afterwards, those who smoked indulged in their nine until nine ; then all hands tumed to-idle^r fdTe workei. to work; one to his cai^-enter's bench, ano hi; to his "preparations" in canvas; one to play te W another to make shoes ; one to skin birds, one to tSr and tlie rest to tlio " Office." "nKer, M 124 HOW THE DAY WENT. Let US take a peep into tlie " Arctic Bureau." One table, one salt-pork lamp, with rusty chlorinated flame; three stools, and as many waxen-faced men, with their legs drawn up under them, the deck at zero being too cold for the feet. Each has his department. Kane is writing, sketching, and projecting maps ; Hayes copying logs and meteorologicals ; Sonntag " reducing " his work at the observatory, A fourth, as one of the working members of the hive, has long been defunct, — you will find him in bed, or studying " Littell's Living Age." At twelve took place a business round of inspection, and orders were issued sufficient to fill up the day with work. Next came the drill of the Eskimo dogs, — a dog-trot specially refreshing to their driver, whose legs creaked with every kick, and whose rheumatic shoulders chronicled every descent of the whip. And in this way the captives went on until dinner-time ; when their fare was much the same as at breakfast, with the exception of pickled cabbage and dried peaches being substituted for tea and coffee. At dinner, as at breakfast, raw potato was introduced as a hygienic luxury. Yet, like most medicine, it was not as appetizing as it was wholesome. Even when grated nicely, with the ugly red spots omitted, and oil freely added as a lubricant, the partakers were fain to shut their eyes and "bolt" it, like Mrs. Squeers's molasses and brimstone at Dotheboys Hall. Sleep, exercise, amusement, and work at will, carried on the day till six o'clock supper ; a meal something like 1 s e If b THE ICE-FOOT. jg^ a7t:l the T"""l'"^« *■--. on'y more sparing; report " '*"'"""''' '° ^^- ^"^"^ t^e day's These dismissed, a game at cliess or cards was in du Iged m. or ight reading for those who pr feTred ,t" Then the watch waa set, and "silence reigned arould." THE ICE-FOOT. A peculiar feature of the Arctic reo-ion i« +i called "ice-foot" (Danish, e«.>.),«,:rTf/':hi:t tretches along the shore from the Arctic cLk fa away .nto he uttermost North. To the south it bits up under the genial influence of summer, and event Ingh as Uper^avik or Cape Alexander i dil" L but n higher latitudes it is a perennial growth cZ' ng to the bold faces of the cliffs, and IZ^nfZ curves of tl. bays and the indentations of theri Though ,t changes with the seasons, it never whollv passes away-that is, to the north of Cape TexaS forms a broad and secure platform, a iLl highly of travel, elevated above the grinding ice of th TeT "ice-be? ^*^''"^«''™^'"'i«"*^«P«akofita.the sTeS of «,! "f .^^*P»™«»". " measures the with the first inclemencies of the fading summer if ennches with curious and fantastic frost-wo!k le u„du '.older shapes by collision with the drifting floes and «7 11 w 19 i I t r. : 126 " WHERE ARE YOUR COMPANIONS ? rocks falling from the cliffs which bound it. Before the advent of the rigid winter, it is already solidified into an impenetrable rampart ; and so it continues to gain in size and strength with the successive freezing uf the tides, until summer returns, and its progress is arrested by the melted snows and rushing water-torrents. During Dr. Kane's first winter at Rensselaer Harbour, the ice-belt grew to three times the size it had pre- sented on his arrival; and by the middle of March the islands and adjacenUshores were blocked up by a con- tinuous icy terrace, nearly 27 feet high, and 120 feet wide. In mid-winter, however, the ice-foot is not an un- broken level. Like the floes, it has its barricades, serried and irregular, which can be traversed only with toil and difficulty. A TERRIBLE JOURNEY. On the 20th of March another party was sent out to establish a depot of provisions, and Kane and the rest of his followers waited only for their return to begin the transit of the bay. Late at night on the 31st, they were working cheerfully by the glare of their lamps, when a sudden noise of steps was heard above, and immediately afterwards Sonntag, Ohlsen, and Petersen came down into the cabin. If there was something startling in their unexpected arrival, much more start- ling was their appearance. They were swollen, haggard, and scarcely able to speak. Where were their companions ? Behind in the ice,— Brooks, Baker, Wilson, and Pierre, —all frozen and disabled; and they themselves had risked their lives to carry the pitiful news. Where HASTE TO THE RESCUE. 127 were their comrades lying ? With cold white lips they muttered that they could not tell; somewhere in among the hummocks to the north and east; the snow was drifting round them heavily when they parted. " Irish Tom " had gallantly remained to feed and care for them ; but of their recovery there was little hope. It was use less to put additional questions ; they were too exhausted to be able to rally their ideas. Not a moment was to be lost. While some attended to the feeble wayfarers, and made ready a hasty meal, others rigged out the " Little Willie " with its tent-like cover, and placed in it a supply of pemmican. Then Ohlsen, as the least exhausted, was strapped on the sledge, encased in a fur bag, with his legs wrapped in dog-skins and eider down, and away went the rescue- party. It consisted of nine men and Dr. Kane. The thermometer, when they set out, stood at -41°, or 78° below freezing-point. A tower of ice, called by the men the "Pinnacly Berg," served as their first landmark; other colossal icebergs, extending in long beaded lines across the bay, helped to guide them for some distance ; and it was not until they had travelled for sixteen hours that they began to lose their way. That their lost comrades were somewhere in the gloomy area before them, and within a radius of forty miles, they knew ; but this was to know little. And Mr. Ohlsen, who now woke from a prolonged slumber with unequivocal signs of mental disturbance, seemed to have lost the bearing of the bergs, — which, indeed, in form and colour, continually repeated themselves. 128 A PAINFUL JOURNEY. i " Passing ahead of the party," says Kane (and there is a deep patlios in his siniplo unadorned narrative), " and clambering over some rugged ice-piles, I came to a long level floe, which I ibouglit might probably have attracted the eyes of weary men in circumstances like our own. It was a light conjecture ; but it was enough to turn the scale, for there was no other to balance it. I gave orders to abandon the sledge, and disperse in search of footmarks. We raised our tent, placed our pemmican in cache, except a small allowance for each man to arry on his person ; and poor Ohlsen, now just able to keep his legs, was liberated from his bag. The thermometer had fallen by this time to -49°.3, and the wind was setting in sharply from the north-west. It was out of the question to halt, — it required brisk exercise to keep us from freezing. I could not even melt ice for water; and, at these temperatures, any resort to snow for the purpose of allaying thirst was followed by bloody lips and tongue: it burned like caustic. " It was indispensable, then, that we should move on, looking out for traces as we went. Yet when the men were ordered to spread themselves, so as to multiply the chances, though they all obeyed heartily, some painful impress of solitary danger, or perhaps it may have been the varying configuration of the ice-field, kept them closing up continually into a single group. The strange manner in which some of us were affected I now attribute as much to shattered nerves as to the direct influence of the cold. Men like M'Gary and Bonsall, who had stood out our severest m.arches, were I FOUND ALIVE." 120 rt breath exam pi sound seized with trembling fits and s spite of all my efforts to keep up bearing, I fainted twice on the snow. "We had been nearly eighteen hours out without water or food, when a new hope cheered us. I think it was Hans, our Eskimo hunter, who thought he saw a broad sledge-track. Tlie drift had nearly effaced it, and we were some of us doubtful at first whether it was not one of those accidental rifts which the gales make in the surface-snow. But as we traced it on to the deep snow among the hummocks, we were led to foot- steps ; and, following these with religious care, we at last came in sight of a small American flag fluttering from a hummock, and lower down a little masonic banner hanging from a tent-pole hardly above the drift. It was the camp of our disabled comrades. We reached it after an unbroken march of twenty-one hours." They found the little tent almost buried in the snow. When Dr. Kane came up, his men, who had outstripped him, were standing in silent file on each side of it. With a delicacy of feeling which is almost characteristic of sailors, and seems instinctive to them, they expressed a desire that he should enter alone. As he crawled beneath the tent-curtain, and, coming upon the darkness, heard before him the buret of welcome gladness that came from the poor prostrate creatures within, and then for the first time the cheer without, his weakness eind gratitude almost overcame him. " They had expected him," was their exclamation ; " they were sure he would come ! " There were now fifteen souls in all ; the thermometer 130 PREPARING TO RETURN. ii was 75° below the freezing-point ; the sole accommoda- tion a tent barely able to contain eight persons : con- sequently, more than half the party were compelled to keep from freezing by walking outside while the others slept. The halt, however, was not prolonged. Each refreshed himself by a two hours' sleep, and then the homeward march began. They carried with them nothing but the tent, furs to protect the rescued party, and food sufficient for a journey of fifty hours. Everything else was abandoned. Two large buffalo bags, each made of four skins, were doubled up, so as to form a kind of sack, lined on each side by fur, closed at the bottom, but opened at the top. This impromptu sack was laid on the sledge, of which the tent, smoothly folded, served as the floor. The sick, with their limbs sewed up carefully in reindeer-okins, were placed upon the bed of buffalo-robes, in a half- recumbent posture ; due warmth was maintained by a plentiful supply of skins and blanket-bags; and the whole was so lashed together as to leave only a single opening opposite the mouth for breathing. These preparations completed, a short prayer was utteud, and the brave little company started on their return. The difficulties they met with, however, were such as severely tested their courage and endurance. A great part of their track lay among a succession of hummocks, some of them extending in long lines, fifteen or twenty feet in height, and all so steep that to ascend them was impossible. The sledge had to pursue a wind- ing course in and cut of these serious obstacles, frequently driving through gaps filled with, recentlv-fallen snow, DANGERS ON THE WAY. 131 which hid the fissures and openings in the ice beneath. These, says Kane, were fearful traps to disengage a limb front, for every man was painfully aware that a fracture or even a sprain might cost him his life. In addition, the sledge was top-heavy with its load, which weighed not less than 1100 lbs., while the maimed men could not bear to be lashed down tight enough to secure them against falling off. Yet, for the six hours, the progress of this undaunted band was cheering. They advanced nearly a mile an hour, and reached the new floes before they were ab- solutely weary. "Our sledge," says Kane, "sustained the trial admirably. Olilsen, restored by hope, walked steadily at the leading belt of the sledge lines ; and I began to feel certain of reaching our half-way station of the day before, where we had left our tent. But we were still nine miles from it, when, almost without pre- monition, we all became aware of an alarming failure of • )i our energies Bonsall and Morton, two of the most robust of Kane's party, besought permission to sleep. They declared that they did not feel cold, and that all they wanted was a little repose. Presently Hans was found frozen almost into rigidity under a drift; ana Thomas, standing erect, had his eyes closed, and could scarcely articulate. Soon afterwards, John Blake threw himself on the snow, and refused +-> rise. They made no complaint of feeling cold ; but it was in vain thab Dr. Kane " wrestled, boxed, ran, argued, jeered, or reprimanded;" he found that an immediate halt was unavoidable. I! 132 kane's narrative. Again we quote from his own narrative, on the simpli- city of which it is not possible to improve : — "We pitched our tent with much difficulty. Our hands were too powerless to strike a fire; we were obliged to do without water or food. Even the whisky had frozen at the men's feet, under all the coverings. We put Bonsall, Ohlsen, Thomas, and Hans, with the other sick men, well inside the tent, and crowded in as many others as we could. Then leaving the party in charge of Mr. M'Gary, with orders to come on after four hours' rest, I pushed ahead with William Godfrey, who volunteered to be my companion. My aim was to reach the half-way tent, and thaw some ice and pemmican before the others came up. " The floe was of level ice ; the walking excellent. I cannot tell how long it took us to make the nine miles, for we were in a strange sort of stupor, and had little apprehension of time. It was probably about four hours. We kept ourselves awake by imposing on each other a continued articulation of words, though such utterances must necessarily have been incoherent. Godfrey and I afterwards retained only a very confused recollection of what preceded our arrival at the tent. We both, however, remember a bear walking leisurely before us, and tearing up as he went a jumper that Mr. M'Gary had improvidently thrown off the day before. He tore it into shreds, and rolled it into a ball, but made no attempt to interfere with our progress. God- frey, who had a better eye than myself, looking some miles ahead, could see that our tent was undergfoino- the same unceremonious treatment. I thought I savv it too, I i ARRIVAL AT THE TENT. 133 but we were so drunken with cold that we strode on steadily, and, for aught I know, without quickening, our pace." * Probably their approach proved the safety of the con- tents of the tent; for on their arrival they found it uninjured, though the bear had overturned it, and tossed pemmican and buffalo-robes into the snow; only a couple of blanket-bags were missing. With great difficulty they raised it, crawled into their reindeer sleepmg-bags without a word, and for three hours en- joyed a dreamy but intense slumber. When Dr. Kane awoke his long beard was a mass of ice, frozen fa^t to the buffalo-skin; and Godfrey had, literally, to cut him out with his jack-knife. Water was melted and some soup cooked befpre the party arrived ; they accomplished the nine miles in five hours, were doing well, and, considering the circum- stances, m excellent spirits. The day was calm, and the sun clear, so that the journey was less onerous than it might have been. The new-comers enjoyed the refresh- ment that had been got ready for them; the crippled were repacked in their robes, and the whole party sped briskly toward the ranges of ice-hummocks that lay between them and the Pinnacly Berg. These hummocks came properly under the designa- tion of squeezed ice. A great chain of bergs stretchin^r rom north-west to south-east, moving with the tides had compressed the surface-floes, and reared them upon their edges in a singularly fantastic manner. Desperate efforts were required on tlie part of our 134 CROSSING THE FLOES. worn and weary travellers to carry them across the rugged area; desperate indeed, for their partially re- suscitated strength failed them anew, and their self- control began to desert them. They could no longer refrain from eating snow ; and, as a consequence, their mouths swelled, and some of them became speechless. They must have perished had not the day been warmed by a clear sunshine, so that the thermometer rose in the shade to within four degrees of zero. As they grew weaker and weaker, their halts neces- sarily became more frequent ; and they would fall, in a semi-somnolent condition, on the snow. Strange to say, these brief intervals of slumber proved refreshing, so that Dr. Kane was induced to try the experiment in his own person, taking care that Eiley should arouse him at the end of three minutes. Afterwards he timed the men in the same way. They sat upon the runners of the sledge, and fell asleep immediately, but were startled into wakefulness the moment their three minutes had elapsed. At eight in the evening the wayfarers were clear of the floes, and gained some new hope at the sight of the well-known Pinnaely Berg. Brandy, which sometimes proves an invaluable resource in emergeucies, had already been administered in table-spoonful doses. After a final and stronger dram, and a longer rest, they resolved on a last effort to reach the brig, which they attained at one hour after noon. But words are inadequate to describe their sufferings RETURN TO THE BRIG. 135 in this last stage of their journey. They were com. pletely delirious, and no longer entertained any clear apprehension of what was transpiring. Like men in a dream they staggered onward, blindly, uncertainly. From an inspection of their footprints afterwards, it wtis seen that they had steered a bee-line for the brig, guided by a kind of instinct, for they remembered nothing of their course. When about two miles from the brig they were met by Petersen and Whipple, with the dog-traces, and a supply of restoratives, for which Kane had sent a message in advance by Bonsall. As soon as the frozen, wayworn creatures were safe on board. Dr. Hayes took them under his charge. All were suffering from brain- symptoms, functional not organic, and to be rectified by rest and abundant diet. Ohlsen was for some time afflicted with blindness and strabismus; two others underwent amputation of parts of the foot, but without dangerous consequences ; and two died, in spite of every attention. The rescue-party had travelled between eighty and ninety miles, dragging a heavy sledge for most of the distance. They had been out for seventy- two hours, and halted in all eight hours. The mean temperature of the whole time, including the noontide hours of three days, was about -41° or 73° below freezing-point. Except at their two halts they had no means of quenching their thirst, and they could at no time intermit vigorous exercise without freezing. It is difficult to find a severer " experience " of the perils of Arctic winter-travelling, when all the circum. m I 'm 186 ESKIMO VISITORS. Stances are taken into consideration ; and the reader will readily admit that Dr. Kane showed as much decision, sagacity, and heroic resolution as any leader of a " forlorn i-.^—- " 1 • 1 .... hope," marching to certain death under ai r^nemy'f^ fire. From the depression that followed these .^ents, Kane and his party were roused by a visit from the Eskimos. The first who presented himself was a tall, powerful, well-built fellow, with swarthy complexion and piercing black eyes. He wore a hooded capdte of mixed white and blue fox-skins, arranged with some degree of taste ; and booted trousers of white bear-skin, which, at the end of the foot, terminated grimly with the animal's claws. This visitor was quickly followed by a number of his countrymen. He showed himself both frank and fear- less, and went on board the brig alone. Dr. Kane having satisfied himself that no mischief was intended, invited his companions, and some eight or nine at once accepted the invitation. Others, meantime, as if contemplating a long visit, brought up from behind the hummocks as many as fifty-six fine dogs, with their sledges, and secured them within two hundred feet of the brig, thrusting their spears into the ice, and picketing tht dogs to them by the seal-skin traces. It was evident the animals understood the mearJng of the operation, and as soon as it commenced they lay down quietly. The sledges were made of small fragments of porous bone, very skilfully fastened together by thongs of hide,' the runners, which shone like burnished steel, were of highly-polished ivory, obtained from the tusks of the walrus. ader will decision, " forlorn Tiy's fire. its, Kane Eskimos. >owerful, piercing }d white of taste ; ' the end 's claws, r of his nd fear- ! havinof invited accepted iplating ocks as es, and le brig, ing the ^ent the on, and ^ The s bone, liide; were of of the TROUBLESOME CURIOSITY. ,o» 187 caSi^i" T: ""''""^ '"""^ '^°'^-' -''-h they carred m their boots; and lances, which they lathed TheZ '°"% '''r '^"^^ -"^ '^ fonnidable a™ The staff was made of the horn of the narwhal, or eke of the bear's thigh-bones lashed together: w^od wL not used. As for the knives of tSe party a l^k rusty hoop from a current-drifled cask m^ht W furmshed them all; but the lancet-shaped tiprof tl^ .pears were made of steel, and rivetted not Zi^ml the tapenng bony point. This steel was obtained from the more southern tribes ootamed When the Eskimos first came on board, they showed themselves som.^.hat rude, rough, and unruly. Zly poke, three or four at a time, to ea.h other and to the.r Amencan hosts, laughing heartily at not bein" befme. They were perfect representatives of perpetual mot.on, go.ng everywhere, trying doo.., and brc"n' their way through dork passages, round casks and boxes,, and out into the light aglin, anxiousT to"h and handle everything they saw, and soliciting or en' leavounng to secrete everything they touchfd. Dr Kane found rt the more difficult to restLn them as he ™s anxrous they should not suppose him alarmeTbl that It became necessary at last to use something like foTO to keep it within proper bounds ^ Dr. Kane's whole company was mustered and kent gently, and the utmost ^ood-h,imnnr nr^-iilpd Ti Eskimos still continued to run inand aL; te veS 138 ENTEIITAINING THE GUESTS. J'.y mil bringing in provisions, and carrying them out again to their dogs on the ice ; and this occupied them until tlie afternoon, when they lay down to sleep like tired children. Dr. Kane ordered them to be made comfort- able in the hold ; and a large buffalo-robe was spread for their convenience in the vicinity of the galley- stove. In this stove blazed a fire of coal ; and the new fuel, too hard for blubber, too soft for freestone, filled them' with amazement. They saw, however, that it would work quite as efficiently as seals' fat, and borrowing an iron pot and some melted water, proceeded to parboil a couple of pieces of walrus-meat. The main portion of their meal— that is, five pounds of meat a head— they preferred to eat raw. It was observed that they did not all eat together, but each man as he listed ; and when he had done eating he lay down to sleep, his raw chunk of meat lying beside him. When he awoke he took a few additional bites, and then to sleep again ! They did not lie down as Europeans do, but adopted a sitting posture, with the head drooping on the breast, and snoring (most of them) famously. In the morning they departed, after selling four of their dogs and all the walrus-meat they could spare for some needles and beads and a supply of old cask staves. DISCOVERIES. At the end of April, leaving ten of his party in the brig, Kane, with seven men, started on an exploring expedition, resolved to follow up the ice-belt to the Great Glacier of Humholdt, there obtain a replenish- EAST COAST OP SMITH SOUND. ,39 me^t Of pemmican from ti.e cache made in ti.e previous October, and then make an attempt to cro^ the iee to the American shore. This was to be the " crownina ex pedihon" of the campaig„,_to attain the Ultima Thule of the Greenland shore, measure the dreary frozen waste hat spread between it and the unknown West, and hunt round the furthest ice-circle for an opening into the mysterious regions beyond. It was not carried out m Its entirety, but it resulted, nevertheless, in geo- graphical discoveries of great interest. Let us trace the eastern coast-line of Smith Sound now acknowledged to be the sole highway to the Pole' beginning at Refuge Harbour. Cape Alexander may be taken as the westermnost point of Greenland. Thence the shore strikes nearly north and south, like "the broad channel of which it j^ the boundary;" but on reaching Refuge Inlet it bends nearly at a right angle, and runs from west to east until it has crossed the 65th meridian. Two indentations occur between the cape and the inlet: the first_ near the Etah settlement, which was visited in 1850 by a Rescue Expedition under Lieutenant Hart- stene, and bearing his name; the other, the Lifeboat Cove of Dr. Kane's charts. In both the great dead- white glaciers strike down to the water-line, having slowly forced their way from the gorges among tlif rocky hills of the interior. ° Besides these gaps or indentations, the coa^t-line is varied by a series of headlands differing much in char- acter, and at Cape Hatherton sinking into „ndulatin_. hills. All aiong it lies an archipelago of islands, wherl iNr 140 A BOLD LINE OF CLIFFS. the eider, the glaucous gull, and the tern, breed in countless numbers. Cape Hatherton is a lofty and conspicuous mass of porphyritic rock. North of Refuge Harbour the coast assumes a very different character. There are no deep bays, no de- scending glaciers ; and the deep fiords and inlets do not reappear until we approach Rensselaer Harbour. Here the geological structure changes also, and the cliffs are distinguished by their bold diversity of form, remind- ing the spectator of ruined temples, or the shattered fa9ades of glorious cathedrals and minsters. Their height sometimes exceeds one thousand feet. This grand and impressive structure extends as far as the Great Glacier, except where diversified by the sweep of four great bays, each communicating with deep gorges, which are watered by streams from the inland ice-fields. The average elevation of the table- land bordered by these cloven, rugged, precipitous cliffs is about 900 feet ; but far away, in the direction of the mer de glace of the unknown interior, it rises to 1900 feet. According to Dr. Kane, the most picturesque portion of the North Greenland coast is met with between Cape George Russell and Dallas Bay. Here the warm red sandstones contrast agreeably with the cold white- ness of the snow-fields and the ice-plains, and into the dreary Arctic landscapes introduce something of the character of more genial climates. The influence of the seasonal changes has worked on the cliff's till thev have assumed the appearance of jointed masonry, whicl. a' TENNYSON MONUMENT. ^Il il 1 1 1 TENNYSON MONUMENT. ,^j irr^'''™""' '^^''^"^«'""'^'<'- -•«-"'■""- A remarkable feature of this part of the coa^t was In li^;,.. '•"^''y P^««'pie<> -ose at the mouth of a , i ^fl i/?''^'" "''° "'" '■''"'*^"'= ^semblance of a Tfita "'"' '"•"" '■""^™' '""<"y -«• «•-% Beyond this p„i„t. i„ lat. 79", a single clitf of green- stone rose from a crumbled base of sandstones, like t.^ bold y chiselled rampart of an ancient fortress Atl northern extremity, on the edge of a profound raving wb,ch the a.t.on of ice and water had excavated in Z strata, stands a solitary column or minaret-tower L sharp ly fin.shed as if wrought by the chisel of tl" 480 feet, and its pedestal or plinth was 280 feet high I remember well," writ... Dr. Kane, "the emotions of my party as it fir.t broke upon our view. Cold and s.ck as I was, I made a sketch of it, which may have interest for the reader, though it scarcely suggests the .mposing dignity of this magniHcent landmark Thos! who are happily famUiar with the writings of Tenny- son, and have communed with his spirit in the solitudes of a wi demess, wUl apprehend the impulse that in- scribed the scene with his name." Beyond this Tennyson Monument lies the Advance Archipelago; and to the east extends the Great GWer at ha^ received the name of the illustrious German philosopher and traveller Humboldt, ft seem.s impo,- ^^^•^ ?^<-.;"'' 144 THE HUMBOLDT GLACIER. ( sible to convey in words any adequate idea of the vast frozen river which connects* instead of dividing the two continents of America and Greenland. Its curved face, from Cape Agassiz to Cape Forbes, measures fully sixty miles in length, and presents a grand wall or front of glistening ice, kindled here and there into dazzling glory by the sun. Its form is that of a wedge, the apex lying inland, at perhaps " not more than a single day's railroad travel from the Pole." Thus it passes away into the centre of the Greenland continent, which is occupied by one deep unbroken sea of ice, twelve hundred miles in len^h, that receives a perpetual in- crease from the water-shed of vast snow-mantled moun- tains. A frozen sea, yet a sea in constant motion, rolling onward slowly, laboriously, but surely, to find an outlet at each fiord or valley, and to load the seas of Greenland and the Atlantic with mighty icebergs, until, having attained the northern limit of the land it over- whelms, it pours out a mighty congealed torrent into the unknown Arctic space ! The discoveries which we have thus summarized r MMMM * aJBE m ^^^H f ' jrf \ ^^1 i ' i '^ ■ ' f, 1 ! li i 1. is. i„ * "\^n^ T''? o: Humboldt Glacier as connecting the two continents of Amer ica and Greenland. The expression requires explanation. Allof Arctic America north of Dolphin ^nd Union Straits is broken up into large insultr masts anS l^M o r'"^r f ^ '"''* '"•<='»P«'^«- While, therefore, a liberal definition would assign these land-masses to the American continent, Grinnell Land cannot stnctly be regarded as part of the continent of America. Washington Land seems .n physical character and position, to l,e a sort of middle ground, which, according to the different views of geographers, may be assigned indifferently to either of the two great divisions. Prom the American land-masses it is separated by a channel of but th.rty-flve miles in width; and at this point Greenland, losing its peninsular character, partakes in general character with tl-.e land-masses of the West A water-channel not wider than Lancaster Sound or Murchison's, which have hereto- fore not been regarded as breaking a geographical continuity, is all that intervenes " — vr. Kane, p. 504. "^ KANE'S ILLNESS. j^g were not made witl.out much suffering on the part of IJr. Kane and his follower. The heroic leader, indeed almost succumbed to the terrible hardships of this' adventurous journey, and was earned back to the sledge m so prostrate a condition that recovery seemed hopeless. It may be doubted, indeed, whether his strength was ever thoroughly recruited, though the *.ll and attention of Dr. Hayes, and his own undaunted spmt, rescued him from the jaws of death. All the men were more or less afflicted, and in the middle of June only three were able to do duty, and of the oflicers Dr. Hayes alone was on his feet The Great Glacier had effectually terminated the tabours of the explorers in that direction; and Dr Kane determined that their future search should be made to the north and east of Capfaiin Inglefield's Cape Sabme. He still cherished a belief that some, at least, of the hardier members of Sir John Franklin's expedi- tion must be alive, and, having made their way to the open spot of some tidal eddy, had set bravely to work under the teachings of an Eskimo, or one of their own whalers and trapped the fox, speared the bear, and killed the seal, walrus, and whale. HXPLOHATIONS. Dr. Hayes and William Godfrey started on the 20th of May and returned on the 1st of June. Through abyrinths „1 rugged hummocky ice they gallantly stiuggled; frequently in crossing the ridges' which were from twenty to forty feet in height, their sled..e would capsize and roll over and over, dogs, cargo, and 146 THE NORTH-EAST PARTY. all, into the drift below. Dr. Hayes suffered greatly from snow-blindness, and Godfrey's energies completely broke down. They succeeded, however, in crossing to the west coast of the channel, which they explored for about two hundred miles, from Cape Frazer to Franklin Pierce Bay; and then returned across the ice to the east coast, striking land at or near Cape Inglefield, and then keeping along the ice-belt to Kensselaer Harbour. Dobbin Bay was discovered in the course of this adven- turous journey. Another expedition was immediately resolved upon, with the view of discovering an outlet to the north from the great bay or basin of ice, since called Kane Sea — a continuation of Smith Sound — in which the explorers were involved. This expedition was desig- nated the North-East Party ; and consisted of M'Gary, Bonsall, Hickey, and Riley, under the direction of William Morton, and accompanied by Hans the Eskimo. Their orders were to push forward as far as the base of the Great Glacier, and there fill up with provisions from the cache. M'Gary and thioe men were then to attempt to scale and survey the glacier, while Morton and Hans crossed the bay in the dog-sledge and ad- vanced along the north-west coast. During their absence signs of summer daily grew more numerous. Bird, insect, and vegetable began to make their appearance. The songs of the snow-birds filled the air with melody. The verdant sap revived in the andromeda ; the willows hung out their downy catkins; and liehonR, starwort and drabas put forth ABOUT SEALS. 147 their tender shoots beneath the snow. The seals now showed themselves on the ice-floes, and furnished a welcome dish at the table of our winter-worn explorers They were chiefly of the rough or hispid species,' whose flesh is eaten universally by the Danes of Green- land, and IS almost the main sustenance of the Eskimos When raw it has a flabby look, more "like coagulated blood than muscular fibre ;" but when cooked it assumes a sooty colour. It is described as close-grained, but solt and tender, with a flavour of lamp-oil ; a mere soupfon, however, for the blubber, when fresh, is sweet and delicious,— at least, in the early summer. The seal are shot as they bask in the sun by their atluks or breathing-holes. At first they are exceedingly shy and timid, but towards midsummer it becomes easier to approach them ; and this more particularly because the sun-glare frequently renders them nearly blind. •^ Each seal yields a considerable supply of oil : on an average, about five gallons. The only other species that frequented Rensselaer Harbour wa^ the Fhoca harhata, or large bearded seal; the muk of the Eskimos. This animal frequently at- tains the length of ten feet, with a circumference of eight feet, and owing to its unwieldy bulk is frequently mistaken at a distance for the walrus. The netsik, or hispid seal, will not perforate ice of more than one season's growth; and the hunters search tor it, therefore, in places where the water was open in the previous year. But the umk or bearded seal, ha« no atluk, or opening. For purposes of respiration it trusts i n Mi t ■ 118 SEAL ANi) iJEAlt. to iissiiies and chasms in the ice, and lience it is found wherever the bergs or floes have boen in motion. Their range, consequently, is much more extensive than that of their little " sun-basking brethren," who herd together in large numbers, so as in some places to cover the ice with a dark dense mass of living animals. " On one occasion," says Kane, " while working my way towards the Eskimo huts, I saw a large usuk bnsking asleep upon the ice. Taking off my shoes, I commenced a somewhat refrigerating process of stalk- ing, lying upon my belly, and crawling along step by step behind the little knobs of floe. At last, when I was within long rifle-shot, the animal gave a sluggish roll to one side, and suddenly lifted his head. The movement was evidently independent of me, for he strained his neck in nearly the opposite direction. Then, for the first time, I found that I had a rival seal-hunter in a large bear, who was, on his belly like myself, waiting with commendable patience and cold feet for a chance of nearer approach. " What should I do ? The bear was doubtless worth more to me than the seal ; but the seal was now within shot, and the bear 'a bird in the bush.' Besides, my bullet once invested in the seal would leave me de- fenceless. I might be giving a dinner to the bear and saving myself for his dessert. These meditations were soon brouglit to a close; for a second movement of the ." so aroused my liunter's instincts that . gulled the t! ger. My cap alone exj)loded. Instantly, with a houndering splash, the seal descended into tlie deep, and the bear, witli tl iree uv four rapid leaps, stood dis- ner ice I ■g AUOUT THE POLAK BEAR. ,5, consolately by the place of Lis descent. For a single moment we stared each other in the face, and thL, with that discretion which is the better part of valour the bear ran off in one direction, and I followed his' example m the other." PHYSIOLOGY OF THE POLAR BEAR. The Polar bear is an animal of original character; .emarkable as philosophei-s would say, for his strong mdivrfuality. His curiosity is insatiable, and it tl quently leads him into difficulties from which he cannot always extricate himself successfully. One night, durin. t..e sledge-joumey of Bonsall and M'Gary, they had en- camped in the usual manner, and taken refuge from the seventies of the weather under the roof of their tent Ihey were enjoying a sound sleep after the day's fo -gues— hen, about half an hour after midnight, MGary became conscious of a movement in the snow immediately by his head. Waking hastily, he wa. able to make out that a large animal was prowling round the tent. His shout of surprise aroused hi^ companions; but a. they had left all their guns in the sledge, a httle distance off, they felt femselves in a predicament. What wa^ to be done ? Egress was im- possible, for the bear had taken up a position at the tent-opening; and displaying the utmost indifference to lighted matches and brandished torches of news- paper, proceeded to regale composedly on the carcass of a seal which had been shot on the previous day One of the besieged, however, Tom Hickey by name bethought h,m.,elf at last of an approved miliLy strata.' 152 URSINE CURIOSITY. gem; and while the enemy kept watch in the front, he escaped in the rear, through a liole whicli he cut in the canvas of the tent. Seizing a boat-hook that lay out- side, he dealt Bruin a blow which constrained him to retreat some paces beyond the sledge. Tom then sprang forward, seized a rifle, and fell back in safety on his comrades; handing the weapon to Mr. Bonsall, who deftly loaded it, and brought down the enemy with a bul et through his body. The last cach^. of provisions, on which Dr. Kane had relied for the supply o." this reconnoitring-party, was found to have been rifled by the bears, though it had been ereoted with much care and labour. No obstacle, however, could overcome the strength and curiosity of these « tigers of the ice." Not a morsel of pemmican remained except in the iron cases, which, being round, with conical ends, had " defied both claw and teeth." Yet they had been rolled and tossed in all directions, like so many footballs, though over eighty pounds in weight. An alcohol-case, bound strongly with iron, was split up into small fragments. A tin can of liquor was twisted into a ball; the bear's strong claws having pierced through the metal as if it had been so much paper. Salt meats they evidently did not relish; but ground cofiee had pleased their palate; and so keen was their appetite for old canvas, that even the flag of the ex- pedition had been gnawed down to the very staff! They bad 3videaily e:ijoyed themselves thoroughly; tying up iheJieavy india-rubber ciotli into hard knots,' Morton's exploring journey. 153 and rolling about the bread-barrels after the fashion of boys with their marbles. Morton's expedition. Some interesting results were obtained from the expedition under Morton. Their progress across the ice was not unattended with danger; but these ex- plorers were men not easily daunted. They clambered up hillocks, and bridged broad chasms, and wound in and out of towering bergs, with equal skill and in- trepidity ; well seconded by their dogs, which showed as much sure-footedness as mules. At Cape Andrew Jackson they reached what appeared to be the ftirthest limit of the ice; and, looking northward, up Kennedy Channel, saw a broad expanse of open water. The landscape was also of a brighter character than any they had recently seen ; a long low plain spreading between large headlands, and relieved here and there by ranges of rolling hills. Down the valley came a flock of brent geese with whirring wings; and the waves were darkened by the shadows of ducks and dovekies. Tern abounded, and the air literally echoed with their shrill cries. The great channel of open water continued to spread to the northward. Broken ice was floating in it, but with passages fifteen miles wide, and perfectly clear. "There would have been no difiiculty," it is said, "in a frigate standing anywhere." Pushing forward boldly, Morton and his companions entered upon a bold deep curve in the eastern shore, which they designated Lafayette Bay. Beyond it lay ^' ft ' . I 154 A REMOTE PEAK. WO islands, wind. Dr. Kane afterwards named in honour of Sir Jol.n Franklin and Captain Crozier. The ne plus ultra of their adventurous journey was Cape Constitution, where tlie ice-foot seemed nearly tr, terminate. Here the eliffs were about two thousand feet m height, nobly guarding the water-way which apparently led to the enchanted region of the North role. Morton attempted to pass round the cape but as there was no ice-foot his efforts were in vain / and lie found It impossible to ascend the lofty cliffs' So he fastened to his walking-staff the Grinnell fla^ of the Antarctic~a well-worn relic, which had ali4dy fluttered in two Polar voyages-and rearing it on hic.h los weather-worn folds floated freely « over the highest northern land, not only of America, but of the globe " Straining his gaze into the misty distance, Morton could dimly see, far away on the western shore, a bare trun- cated peak, which is supposed to be 2500 or 3000 feet in height. This peak, says Kane, the most remote northern point of Earth, takes its name from the ^reat pioneer of Arctic travel. Sir Edward Parry It is allowable to suppose that the future explorer who shall succeed in reaching the mighty mass, and in ascending to its summit, will be able to survey, with- out let or hindrance,, the free broad waters of the open sea that rolls around the Pole ! A RECONNAISSAXCE. All the sledge-parties were once more on board ship, and the season for Arctic exploration was over So far as Kane and his followers could judge, between H C ■i O J ^i .1, j^J s i B ■, i m^ ^ 4-|]ir^^ : IJHtt :'1«l •'■P » ijIiJi i . 1 •I m i^ i i' iiifi 1 Jlij 1! uu ii^ THK AUCTIC SEA-«IUJ).s. ,„ 157 tl.oi.- sUtiu., ,u Ken.,„|aor „„d the no.tl, w.t.r of liHftn Bay extended one vast banier of u„l„.„k „ i/e Advance or retreat seen.ed alike impo»siblc yZ Z g.owu,g .scarcity of provisions rendered it nle sa l that tl.ey should establish a e«n,nnmication wit Z.e point where fresh supplies could be obtained ■ and Zr 1^ hor-'^'t"',*''^ „,,,,„„,,, ,,,,„., J 2'-,;*;; fall in with the squadron under Sir Edward Belcher ™erge ,c and experienced of his party; and havin,. lehtted , r,gged up his old boat, started, about tl^ ^Und he observed some flocks of ducks, and by follow- 2 J>- «P to their breeding gr-ounds olLTL abundan supply Dr. Kane furnishes a striking pictu iiomestead. Their progeny, already full-fledged and ZZT' Tt' "" S'~'"'»ed rocks;'and t wi d al r '""^'^ ■■'"'' S'^P"'"" y«»- bills, swooped above the peaceful shallows of the eiders eennngly just as their want« required. A nTore inagined The gull would gobble up and swallow a young eider with almost indescribable rapidity For a momen might be seen the paddling feet'of L pi h^e wretch protruding from the mouth ; then canin ^'tT °' "'" "^'^'^ - '^ descended into the stomach 158 CAUGHT IN A GALE. a few moments more, and the young gulls were feeding on the ejected morsel. The mother-duck, of course, nearly distracted, battled gallantly and perseveringly ; but she could not always reassemble her brood, and in her efforts to defend one, uncovering the others, was frequently left as desolate as Niobe. I' • iilM Continuing his course, Dr. Kane got out of the strait, and passed into the open sea-way, where his boat was tossed to and fro in a manner that added neither to the comfort nor composure of his companions. While steer- ing for Cape Combermere, a headland on the west coast of what is called the North Water, they were overtaken by a tremendous gale from the north, which nearly capsized them. Their escape was due to the skill and tenacity with which M'Gary handled that whaler's marvel, the long steering-oar, heroically remaining at his post for two-and- twenty hours. Great was the relief when they entered the drift-ice, obtaining some protection from the rolling waves ; and fastening to a small ice-floe, rode out the storm under a warp and grapnel. When the weather abated, they resumed their voyage, and after descending as far south as Clarence Head laid their course for the Greenland shore. But after reach- ing Northumberland Island they encountered the great enemy of Arctic navigators — the pack-ice. Steadily they forced their way through such narrow channels as presented tliemselves, accomplishing in three days about fifteen miles. At Cape Parry, however, the soutliern III lie A SEA OF CRYSTAL. jgg boundary of Whale Sound, and one of the great land- marks of the Greenland shore, they came to "a dead mt . A solid mass lay before them, extending onward to the remote horizon. "There were bergs in sight to the westward, and by walking for some four miles over the moving floe in that direction, M'Gary and myself succeeded in reaching one. We climbed it t« the height of a hundred and twenty feet," says Kane, " and, lookh,. out from It with my excellent spy-glass I the south and west, we saw that all within a radius of thirty miles was a motionless, unbroken, and impenetrable sea " In the Apocalyptic record of St. John we read, with won- der, of a "sea of gla^." Here was a sea of crystal- level, rugged, solid, immovable; which defied the navi- gator even more surely than the roek-bound cliffs defy tne summer waves. Until this vast waste broke up, or underwent some change, farther progress was impossible; and Kane re- turnee, to Northumberland Island, in order to rest and refresh his men. Here he discovered a colossal glacier winch from an interior ice-lake, slowly rolled ite huge' bulk down the labouring valley, to the very brink of the sea. In many places it could be seen overflowing as It were, the very crest of the rocks, and depending n mmense icy stalactites seventy and one hundred feet iu length. These, through the action of the continuous overflow, were still increasing in size; some of them breaking off as their weight became disproportionate to from the interior, but throwing off' broken masses with an mcciisant clang and clamour. The plain below these II •H r! 1 ^^ff m\' Mji 1 ^ . i 1 i ^ P' ■ 1 if "! i , I il 1 II : 1 ; i ■ j I 1 1 y ilL 160 ANOTHER WINTER. ice-cataracts was lieaped up with tlie wreck and refuse, while torrents of foaming, muddy water poured along the rugged surface, carrying rocks and gravel downward to the sea. A SECOND WINTER IN THE ICE. They now returned to the brig, which for eleven months had been imprisoned in the ice, and undertook some operations, with the view of effecting her release ; or, at least, of warping her toward Butler Island. In this latter eftbrt they succeeded, and having attained a more convenient and sheltered position, they hoped a heavy wind would accomplish their entire liberation. But August was far advanced ; winter threw its dreary shadows before; the young ice began to close in all round ; and no change in their condition was brought about either by favourable winds or high tides. Kane found himself face to foce with the question which so often perplexes the boldest and readiest, What is to be done ? He was compelled to own that the release of the brig was impossible : should he essay another win- ter on board, or should he attem])t to reach the Danish settlements on the coast of Greenland ? He resolved to give his crew their cho^'ce, announcing at the same time his intention of standing by the brig until the following spring. After some deliberation, eight out of the seven- teen survivois of the party elected to remain with their courageous leader; namely. Brooks, M'Gary, Wilson, Goodfellow, Morton, Ohlsen, Hickey, Hans Christian. The others started on Monday, the 28th, in the old boat, determined to push their way south, if it were at GUARDING AGAINST THE ENEMY. i6l all possible ; but one of them, George Riley, returned a few days afterward. The rest passed, as it were, into a cloud and the shadow of darkness; and many weary months went by before the veil was lifted. ^ Over the incidents of Kane's second winter ip the but little from his former experiences. Taking a hint from the Eskimos, he turned his ship into an igloe, or hut: padding the quarter-deck with moss and turf until It formed a ner.rly cold-proof covering; and below, enclosing a space of some eighteen feet square within walls constructed of the same material The floor was calked carefully with plaster of Paris and common paste, and covered with Manilla oakum a couple of inches deep, and a canvas carpet. The en- trance was from the hold, by a low, moss-lined tunnel corresponding to the tossut of the native huts. But no preca^ition could guard them eff-ectually against the terrible cold of an Arctic winter, and they suffered severely; their pains being aggravated by the preva- lence of scurvy among them, and the want of proper and sufficient food. ^ ' Communications were established with the Eskimos At first, owing to their disregard of the distinction be ween meum and tuum, the course of friendship did not run smooth ; but Dr. Kane's energy and resolution effected a satisfactory settlement. A treaty of peace was concluded, by which tlie Inuit, or Eskimos, pro- mised :-" That they would not steal. That they ;ould bring f^-csh meat. That they would sell or lend them '; ,ii , hK U\l\ 162 A TREATY OF PEACE. dogs. That they would keep them company whenever they wanted them, and show them where to find the game. On the other hand, the " Kahlunah, or white men, swore : — " We promise that we will not visit you with death or sorcery, nor do you any hurt or mischief what- soever. We will shoot for you on our hunts. You shall be made welcome aboard ship. We will give you presents of needles, pins, two kinds of knife, a hoop, three bits of hard wood, some fat, an awl, and some sewing- thread; and we will trade with you of these and everything else you want, for walrus and seal meat of the first quality." Bear-hunting, seal-hunting, walrus-hunting; visits to Anoatok, the Eskimo settlement, — these were the main features of the winter-life of the ice-bound explorers. There is a sad monotony about them ; and it is impos- sible to read page after page of Dr. Kane's journal with- out feeling that one of the greatest trials of himself and his companions must have been the dreary sameness of the long, dark, winter months, and the constant recur- rence of familiar objects, familiar scenes, and phenomena which, by their frequency, had lost most of their in- terest. Dr. Kane himself, however, was to some extent sup- ported by his keen interest in Nature, and even in the Arctic night could find much at which to wonder. The intense beauty of the Arctic firmament, he says, can hardly be imagined. It seemed extended imme- diately above their heads, with its stars magnified in glory, and the very planets Mhiiiing with a rudiaui.'e SUFFElUNrxS OF THE EXPLORERS. 163 that proved unfavourable for astronomical observations. "I am afraid," he says, "to speak of some of these night-scenes. I have trodden the deck and the floes, when the life of earth seemed suspended— its movemenis! Its sounds, its colouring, its companionships; and as I looked on the radiant hemisphere, circling above me as if rendering worship to the unseen Centre of light, I have ejaculated in humility of spirit, 'Lord, what' is man, that thou art mindful of him ? ' And then I have thought of the kindly vorld we had left, with its re- volving sunshine and shadow, and the other stars that gladden it in their changes, and the hearts that warmed to us there, till I lost myself in memories of those who are not— and they bore mo back to the stars again V As the winter advanced, the condition of the prisoners —for such they were— daily grew worse, and most of them were brought to the very verge of the grave by scurvy. In December not more than three were capable of active work; and to increase the gloom of the pros- pect, they found their store of fuel insufficient, and Dr. Kane saw that they would be compelled to have re- course to the outside oak-sheathing of the brig. It is almost impossible to enter fully into their suffer- ings, because we gentlemen of England who live at home in ease have no standard by which, as it were, to appraise them. We have never experienced a temperature fifty degrees bolow zero; know nothing of the agonies of scurvy; have never spent week 'after week uncheered by the genial sunlight; have never been imprisoned in tl.e bonds of an Arctic winter ! We can say no more 'if 1^ ' I m. W \ P, \k- •III! 104 JOURNEY TO ETAH. than that they had much to bear, and that they bore it lieroically. On February 25, 1855, the sun once more rose above tlie long, deep, gloomy night of an Arctic winter. Early in March they obtained a supply of walrus-meat, which probably saved tne lives of the whole party. A brief entry in Dr. Kane's journal, under the date of April 22nd, " speaks volumes " as to the wretched con- dition of these brave men, who had adventured into the Arctic wilds on a tnission of love and charity. Here it is : "I read our usual prayers ; and Dr. Hayes, who feels sadly the loss of his foot, came aft and crawled upon deck to sniff the daylight. He had not seen the sun for five months and three weeks ! " Dr. Kane now undertook a sledge-journey to Etah, an Eskimo settlement, in order to effect the purchase of a fresh supjjly of sledge-dogs. Here he was hospitably- re- ceived. A visit to an Eskimo hut, however, is not one of pleasure. Such an "amorphous mass of compounded liumanity " is nowhere else to be seen: men, women, and children, with little but their native dirt to cover them, crowded together in a close stifling cell, fifteen feet by six ! As Kane failed to obtain the dogs, he was forced to abandon the further exploration he had meditated. PREPARATIONS. For with the spring had returned Dr. Kane's all-ab- sorbing desire to accomplish the object of his enterprise — the discovery of some traces of the Franklin exj/cdi- tion, or, as he hoped, of its survivors. His work cod id not be regarded as finished, he felt, until the furtlier H O I •tl )er ;l^ ■l d 1 ' ! il» If iii ■ uble of moving it. The routine established was most precise : Daily prayers both morning and evening, all hands gathering round in a circle, and standing uncovered during the short exercise ; regulated hours ; fixed duties and positions at the track-lines and on tf halt; the cooking to be taken by turns, the captains ol the boats I 'i m 1 ■ if! :!'i 11 LL... 170 DAY BV DAY. alone being excused. The charj,'o of tlie lug was cou- tiiled to Dr. Haye.s, and of the running wurvey to Mr. Sonntag; of the boats and sledges to boatswain Bro(jks, a man of tried courage and proved fidelity. Up to the evening of the 23rd, the progress made by the adventurous little company had scarcely exceeded .i mile a day for one sledge. On the 24th both sledges arrived at First Ravine, a distance of seven miles ; and the dog-sledge had brought on to this point the buffalo bags and other sleejjing appliances which had been pre- pared for the winter. That they should sleep in com- fort was essential to the well-being, nay, the very existence, of the adventurers ; and it was a rule, there- fore, from which few departures were permitted, that a new day's labour should not be begun until all had recovered, as far as possible, from the fatigues of the previous day. Their halts were regulated by the con- dition of the men, and not fixed by arbitrary hoinrs : sleep was proi)ortit)ned to the length and trials of the march. The thermometer still ranged below zero ; but the housed boats, well crowded, and fully stocked with sleeping-gear, were comfortable enough to weary men ; besides which, they slept by day, when the sun was warmest, and travelled when they would be safe from the injurious effects of its reffected glare. Over the earlier jiortion of the escape journey wo need not linger. The first five v/eeks were occupied in short stages, in intercourse with the Eskimos, in long halts for the comfort of the sick, in the replenishment ALL IS NOT SMOOTH. 171 ()t'sup[)lie8. Gnulually, however, tlioy jitlvancod to the Houthwanl; and their progress was expedited, on the 0th of June, by tlio coining up of a fresh breeze, whieii enabled them to hoist their canvas and sail their sled'^es across tlio ice. This was a new sensation to tlie foot- sore wayfarers. " Levels which, under the slow labour of the drag-ropes, would have delayed them for hours, were glided over without a halt. They thought it dangerous work at first, but the speed of the sledges made rotten ice nearly as available as sound. The men could see plainly that they were approaching new land- marks, and leaving old ones behind. Their spirits rose : the sick mounted the thwarts, the well clung to the gunwale ; and for the first time for nearly a year broke out the sailor's chorus, ' Storm along, my hearty boys !' " DIFFICULTIES. J3ut all was not smooth, as the following extract from Dr. Kane's journal will show : — " From this time," he says, " we went on for some days, aided by our sails, meeting with accidents occa- sionally — the giving way of a spar or the falling of some of the party through the spongy ice — and occa- sionally, when the floe was altogether too infirm, labour- ing our way with great difficulty upon the ice-belt. To mount this solid highway, or to descend from it, the axes were always in requisition. An inclined plane was to be cut, ten, fifteen, or even thirty feet long ; and along this the sledges were to be pushed and guided by bars and levers with painful labour. These are light tilings, as 1 refer to them here ; but in our circum- 172 CROSSING THE FLOES. stances, at the time I write of, when the breaking of a stick of timber was an irreparable liarm, and the delay of a dii.y involved the peril of life, they wero grave enough. Even on the floes the axe was often indis- pensable to carve our path through the hummocks ; and many a weary and anxious hour have I looked on and toiled while the sledges were waiting for the way to open. Sometimes, too, both on the land-ice and on the belt, we encountered heavy snow-drifts, which were to be shovelled away before we could get along ; and within an hour afterward, or perhaps even at the bottom of the drift, one of the sledge-runners would cut througli to the water. " It was saddening to our poor fellows, when we were forced to leave the ice-belt and push out into the o\)en field, to look aheac" t the salt icQ-marshes, as they called them, studded with black pools, with only a white lump rising heve and there through the lead-coloured surface, like tussocks uf grass or rushes struggimg through a swamp. The labour would have been too much, for us, weary and broken as we were, but for the occasional assistance we derived from the Eskimos. I remember one J a sbdge went so far under, carryii g with it several of the party, that the boat floated loose. Just then seven of the natives came up to us — five sturdy men and two almost as sturdy women — and without waiting to be called on, worked with us most efficiently for more than half a day, asking no reward." X J> O c a X ^ z On the 12th of June the expedition reached Little- ton Island, wlicrc they found their depot of provisions -I X o c a X ^ z A HALT AMONG THE ESKIMOS. 176 in excellent order. Olilsen, one of the bravest and most intelligent of Dr. Kane's crew, at this point succumbed to disease, and was buried decently in a little gorge ; his remains being duly protected from fox and bear. After this sad ceremony the march was resumed ; but as they neared the Eskimo settlements it became less toilsome, assistance being freely given by the children of the Arctic World. They volunteered their aid at the drag- ropes; they carried the sick upon hand-sledges; they poured in abundant supplies of fresh food, the quantity of little auks they brought being characterized as " enormous." They fed the explorers and their dogs at the rate of eight thousand birds a week, all of them caught in thc'r little hand-nets. No wonder that, under such favourable circumstances. Dr. Kane and his fol- lowers threw off their gloom for a time. The men in- dulged in their old forecastle songs ; the sledges began to move merrily ahead ; and tlie old moody silence gave way to laugh and jest. I! RESUMING THE VOYAGE. On the ICth of June the boats reached the open water. The deep blue horizon glimmered before tlie longing eyes of the wanderers ; the roar of the billows came up from the icy beach ; the odour of the sea was drunk in as if it carried with it new strength and life. They encamped in the immediate vicinity of Cape Alexander, at the southern entrance of Smith Strait. Against the rugged sides of the dark headland the surf beat tumnltuously ; and every man longed to be ploug])ii,g th.rougli it, and steering onwards to that 176 ON THE OPEN WATER. I ■ genial South where lay safety, and friends, and honour, and home. A month was occupied in a careful repair of the boats, which, split with frost and warped by sunshine, had opened at the seams, and required calking, and swelling, and launching, and stowing, before the crews could embark. After an unsuccessful attempt on June I7th, which was defeated by a sudden gale, the boats got under way at four P.M. on the 19th, Dr. Kane leading in the Faith. She was followed by the Red Eric on his quarter, and the ffope astern. In the Faith were M'Gary, Petersen, Hickey, Stephenson, and Whipple ; in the Hope, Mr. Brooks, Dr. Hayes, Sonntag, Morton, Goodfellow, and Blake ; in the Eric, Bonsall, Riley, and Godfrey. The wind freshened as they doubled the westmost point of Cape Alexander ; and as they looked out upon the broad expanse of the open sea, they could perceive the kittiwakes, and the ivory-gulls, and the jagers dipping their strong wings in the foam-crested waves. They seemed the very same birds— so, at least, the adventurous voyagers thought- -they had left two yeai-s before, filling the air with their shrill cries, and catching fish in the beautiful water, They sought tc rest for the night at Sutherland Island ; but a precipitous wail of ice prevented them from landing. Then they stood away for Eakluyt Island,— not an agreeable voyage, as a '•' short chopping sea" wa.s running from the south- east. The Red Eric was quickly swamped ; but Eiley and Godfrey contrived to strugj^ia to the Faith, and Bonsall to the Hope. It wa.s impos.sible to removy NORTHUMBERLAND ISLAND. 177 the cargo of the little boat. All they could do was to keep her from sinking, and tow her behind the larger craft. The Hope was also leaking rapidly; but just then the boats got in among the floating ice — which always affords some protection against wind and cur- rent — and fastened alongside an old floe. The weary mariners then turned in to sleep, without hauling up the boats. The next morning they quitted their temporary refuge, and proceeded to extricate themselves from the ice-labyrinth ; afterwards rowing across the open water to Hakluyt Island. Here the boats were dragged asliore and calked. A tent was rigged up for the sick ; a nd the bill of fare, " bread-dust and tallovr," was varied by a few birds. On the 22nd, through a blinding suov/-storm, they pushed on to Northumberland Island ; where they were g/eeted by a myriad of auks, .^nd retv \ the greeting by an invitation (which they found irresistible) to grace their table. A fox also saluted them with an admirable imitation of the " Huk-huk-huk," or cry of distress, which never falls in vain upon the ears of an Eskimo; but the sly fellow, after enticing them a mile and a half in pur- suit, escaped their gurs. The boats entered % 1 ide patch of open water that conducted them to the beach, immediately below one of the hanging glaciers. These formed a curious and very interesting spectacle. It seemed as if an ice caldron inside the coast ridge was boiling over, and flinging its crust in huge fragments from the overhanging lip into the sea boiow. 178 INSUFFICIENT DIET. •HI On the 23rd, partly by rowing through windino channels, and partly by dragging the boats over the rugged ice, they succeeded in crossing Murchison Cirannel, and encamped for the night on the land-floe at the base of Cape Parry. Next day brought them to the neighbourhood of Fitz-Clarence Kock, " one of the most interesting monuments that rear themselves along this dreary coast : in a region more familiar to men, it would be a landmark to tlis i-avigator. It rises from a tield of ice like an Egyptian pyramid surmounted by an obelisk." It is astonishing that such progress was made as is here indicated, when we consider how scanty and how insufficient was the daily allowance of food on which these gallant men subsisted. At this tim.e each man's rations consisted only of six ounces of bread-dust and a lump of tallow about the size of a walnut; to which W£S added a cup of that great restorative, tea, when they could run their boats under the lee of a berg and till their kettles with snow, so as to procure fresh water. Dr. Kane says they drank immoderately of this stimu- lating beverage, and derived great advantage from it. Stni, the- effects of a diet so imperfect were gradually seen in the decline of their muscular power. The men themselves seemed scarcely aware of it, and the difficulty they experienced in dragging and pushing they referred io supposed obstacles in the ice and sludge rather than to their own weakness. But one morning— the 2Gtli— as they endeavoured to push forward through the fo"" and found tliemselves hemmed in on all sides by ice°fields so distorted and rugged as to defy all at- A NARROW ESCAPE. 179 anil tempts to cross them, the truth seemed to burst simul- taneously upon every mind. They had lost the sensa- tion of hunger, and were almost satisfied with their pasty broth, and the large draughts of tea which ac- companied it. "We were sorely disheartened," says Kane, "and could only wait for the fog to rise, in the hope of some smoother platform than that which was abouL us, or some lead (that is, channel) that might save us the painful labour of tracking. I had climbed the iceberg, and there was nothing in view except Dalrymple Island, with its red brassy face towering in the unknown distance. But I hardly got back to my boat before a gale struck us from the north-west, and a floe, tacking upon a tongue of ice about a mile to the north of us, began to swing upon it like a pivot, and close slowly in upon our nar- row resting-place. "At first our own floe also was driven before the wind, but in a little while it encountered the stationary ice at the foot of the very rock itself. On the instant the wildest imaginable ruin rose around us. Tho men sprang mechanically each one to his station, bearing back the boats and stores; but 1 gave up for the moment all hope of our escape. It was xiot a nip, such as is familiar to Arctic navigators ; but the whole plat- form where we stood, and for hundrf^s of yards on every side of us, crumbled, and crushed, and piled, and tossed itself madly under the pressure. I do not believe that, of our little body of men, all of them disciplined in trials, able to measure danger while combating it, — I do not believe there is one who this day can explain how X., ■ 11 4 ^Jfr'- r ■ Hi th I Hi 1 1 'i / Si 1:1 1 ^fi k i I 1 ir n 5i i:: 180 BOKNE ALONG BY THE FLOE. or why — hardly when, in fact — we found ourselves afloat. We only know that, in the midst of a clamour utterly indescribable, through which the braying of a thousand trumpets could no more have been heard than tiie voice of a man, we were shaken, and raised, and whirled, and let down again in a swelling waste of broken hummocks ; and, as the men grasped their boat- hooks in the stillness that followed, the boats eddied away in a tumultuous skreed of ice, and snow, and water. " We were borne along in this manner as long as the unbroken remnant of the in-shore floe continued revolv- ing, utterly powerless, and catching a glimpse every now and then of the brazen headland that looked down on us through the snowy sky. At last the floe brought up against the rocks, the looser fragments that hung round it began to separate, and we were able by oars and boat-hooks to force our battered little flotilla clear of them. To our joyful surprise, we soon found our- selves in a stretch of the land- water wide enough to give us rowing-room, and with the assured promise of land close ahead." But as they appioached it they saw that it was fenced round by a precipitous wall of belt-ice, in which was neither an opening of access nor a nook of refuge. The gale rose, and all that could be done was to get a grapnel out to the ice, and hold on until the tide came up. In tliis perilous position, and with winds and waves raging around them, the voyagers were kept hard at work to bail out their leaky boats, which strained every timber, and seemed on the point of foundering. ii ;' i : H<" 1 ^"^^iS!;PH| i 1 ■■ ■ ■I ! '- ri tmi*. AN If Y RAVINE 183 At three o'clock the tide Lu ustu «o Jiigli that they found themselves able to scale the Ici cliff. One by one the boats were huule*^ ,p on a narrow ledge, and dragged into a deep, na.row ^urge which provided an effectual shelter. Here the little company ensconced themselves, the cliffs warding off the fury of the gale. Just as they had "encaved" n,e last boat, the Med Eric, their ears were saluted wi Jie long-unheard but familiar and welcome sound of a passing flock o. ciders, whose whirring wings almost darkened tin sky with' their shadows. Intense was the joy of the wave- worn adventurers, for they knew the breeding-grounds of the birds must be close at hand; and as they turned in, "wet and hungry," to their long-coveted sleep, it was only to dream of "eggs and abundance." In the icy gorge they remained for three days, and "eggs and abundance " they did indeed enjoy, gathering as many as twelve hundred eggs in a day. Outside"! the tempest still let loose its violence, and the egg- hunters found it difficult to keep their feet; buC a merrier set of gourmands than were gathered in the crystal cave, ftir away in these bleak regions of the desolate North, never "surfeited in genial diet." Though the snow-shower was still heavy, on the 3rd of July the wind began to abate; and on the following morning, after a moderate libation in honour of the da^^ which is a memorable one in American annals, they lowered their boats, and bade a grateful farewell to " Weary Man's Rest." For some days they slowly fought their way to the III I IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 2.5 ■- ilM I ^ ilia " tii 12.0 18 LH lllliu. nil 1.6 w ^^o /. ^ Va M ^ ^<' ::! riiuiugiupiuL. Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 87i2-4S03 ^ V' iV iV f 'J^rtV *^o- o- y j%f % ^. ^ f/i ^ 4 184 AT PROVIDENCE HALT. south, along the narrow water-ways which opened be- tween the belt-ice and the floe. Owing to the dulness of the weather, they could take no observations, and they had arrived off a huge glacier, throwing its spur far into the sea, before they discovered that it was im- possible any longer to follow up the shore. Their pro- gress was arrested by great chains of bergs, interspersed with barricades of icy hummocks. For sixteen hours they sought, and in vain, a mode of egress. The whole sea was a mass of rugged, broken ice. PROVIDENCE HALT. The birds, which had been so abundant when they left Dalrymple Island, and had seemed to promise a continuous supply, had been driven off by the storm. The voyagers were again reduced to short daily rations of bread-dust, which did not fail to influence unfavour- ably their strength and energies. Dr. Kane was fearful, therefore, to put out into the open sea; and, in spite of the barriers of ice, determined to prosecute his in-shore route, which alone offered a prospect of game. They occupied two-and-fifty hours in forcing this rugged passage: an arduous and painful labour, which would have been insupportable but for the disciplined endur- ance of these gallant explorers. After this diflSculty had been conquered, they had the satisfaction of finding the water-channeis broadening before them, and on the 11th came in sight of Cape Dudley Digges. At first their hearts rejoiced, in the belief that their troubles were ended ; but a glacier, not laid down in the charts, suddenly thrust out its' icy AN ARCTIC SCENE. 185 tongue before them, and seemed to defy their advance. Their first resolve, says Kane, was to double it at all hazards, for the crews were too much weakened to undertake another wearisome "tracking" across its hummocky surface, and the soft snow which covered the land-floes was an insuperable obstacle. But on approach- ing the glacier they found a spot where it was broken up into fragments of ice and half-melted "sludge," and the boats accomplished the passage. This done, the condition of the frozen sea before them forced upon Kane's mind the conviction that further advance was impossible, and that they must patiently watch and wait until the advancing summer had done its work, and opened up to them a channel of escape. Therefore they made for the cliffs. Grim and gloomy was their aspect, but it was better to rest beneath their protecting shadow than to await the fruitless ventures of the sea. Here, at the base of a lofty precipice, still adhered to the re .k a fragment of the winter ice-belt not exceedino- five feef in width. The tides broke over it, and the waves incessantly lapped it, but it aff'orded a safe resting- place for the boate. Above, Pelion seemed heaped upon Ossa; cliff piled over cliff, until in the high distance the rocks looked "like the overlapping scales of ancient armour." They attained an elevation of at least eleven hundred feet, and their summits were wi-eathed in fog and mist ; their rugged sides, broken with cleft and ledge and crag, were tenanted by innumerable birds The nests were thickest on the rocky shelves some fifty yards above the water; but "both lumme and tridactyl if Ui' ■' tl I- \ ^^ 186 AN IMMENSE GLACIER. gulls filled the entire air with glimmering specks, caw- ing and screeching with an incessant clamour." The harsher features of the scene, however, were somewhat relieved by a natural bridge which opened on the right into a little valley cove, beautifully tapestried with soft green mosses, while beyond and above it rose the cold white wall of the glacier. At its seaward termination, this glacier, this huoe river of ice, measured seven miles across; it sloped upward and inward for about five miles, and then, following the irregularities of its rocky substructure, suddenly rose into a steep crevassed hill, mounting in terraces, one above another. Then came two basins, as it were, of less rugged ice, from which the frozen river passed into the great mer de glace, or ice-sea, of the interior. From a high craggy hill to the northward it was possible to obtain a view of this wonderful congealed ocean, which apparently forms the continental axis of Greenland ; " a vast undulating plain of purple-tinted ice, studded with islands, and absolutely gemming the horizon with the varied glitter of sun-tipped crystal." According to Dr. Kane, the water-flow from the lower surface of the glacier exceeded that of any of the north- ern glaciers, except the Humboldt and one near the Eskimo settlement of Etah. One torrent which poured across the ice-foot was two to five feet deep, and broad- ened upon the floes for several hundred yards ; another, finding its outlet near the summit of the glacier, dashed merrily over the rocks, and fell '., abounding cataracts upon the beach below. THE CLIFFS AT PROVIDENCE HALT. THE VOYAGE SOUTHWARD. 189 The ranunculus, saxifrages, duckweeds, numerous mosses, and Arctic grasses, throve vigorously near the level of the glacier's first declivity ; stone-crops some two hundred feet higher. The thermometer marked 90° in the sun, but only 38° in the shade. Such were the physical characters of the scene. For- tunately for our wanderers, it was not deficient in the attractive element of animal life. The lumme, nearly as large as the canvas-back ducks of America, and even more nutritious and savoury—their eggs, highly esteemed as delicacies on the Labrador coast— the cochlearia, grow- ing richly in the guano-fertilized soil,— and all these, in endless abundance, added to the attractions which it possessed in the eyes of Dr. Kane and his followers. On the 18th of July, after a week's delightful rest at Providence Halt, the voyage was resumed. Preparation had been made for it by laying in a store of lumme ; two hundred a^d fifty of which had been duly skinned, spread open, and dried on the rocks, to vary the diet of bread-dust and tallow to which the crew would be again restricted. Their course stiU lay along the margin of the shore-ice. After passing the Crimson Cliffs of Sir John Ross, the voyage seems to have assumed quite a holiday character. The birds along the coast were glad in the sunshine of the young summer, and bright streams of water from the ice-fields above poured their crystal threads over each verdurous cape. Our sportsmen, says Dr. Kane, would clamber up the cliffs, and come back laden with little auks; great generous fires of turf, that cost nothing but the toil of gathering, blazed with a (644) 13 < I I I 190 AT CAPE YORK. cheerful radiance and a generous warmth; and our happy oarsmen, after a long day's work, made easy by the prospect of peace and plenty, would stretch them- selves in the sunshine, and indulge in happy dreams, until roused to morning prayers. Doubtless, the enjoy- ment was all the keener because everybody knew that the festival could not last. INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. The end of it came at Cape York. Here, owing to the late development of the season, the coast-ice pre- sented a solid, unbroli^n surface, traversed by none of those " leads " or water-ways which had hitherto served the voyagers so well. A fast floe stretched out before them, with numerous tongues extending to the south and east. The only question was. Should they halt again until the shore-ice opened, or abandon the coast and venture into the open water ? Dr. Kane soon decided that rest was impossible, for at this part no birds were to be found, and the stock of provisions was now reduced to 640 pounds, exclusive of the dried birds ; or about 36 pounds per man. Of fuel there remained, including the empty provision-bags, a supply for about three weeks. The boats having been hauled up and refitted, the crews re-embarked, and pushed south by west into the ice-fields. The navigation was rendered exceedingly difiicult by the huge hummocks which obstructed the view ahead, and the frequent fogs. After a while they found themselves blocked up, the canal into which they had strayed having no cutlet, and closing up behind AMONG THE ICE-FIELDS. ,j, built '^Z 'f "'""'■ '''""■'' ^'^■' """""g to be done nt^? "'"'•• "^^ »"'^ '"° ^-« available, tl.e Red B„c was now cut up and stowed in pieces on b^ard 'Uagged them over the broken iee until they reached an oi«n channel, and were able again to launel hel ward c ou^e "p "'""' *" *"" '^'''- -"-<» '<« --'" scarce thetn ^"""^"^^^^'^^^^^r.glovr; birfs were scarce the allowance of fuel was sadly restricted. Under «.e influence of insufficient rations [he strength of the - taiio.. andtLtf .^rrraiirSd^ allowed as a day's ration for each man! AndTws L a ngorous climate, and under the trying ei^umsi! of constant exposure and incessant t«il I'ungei. The first symptom is loss of power often s„ ™^r.p.bly brought on that only an aLrnttll .^iiemXrdti':^^^^^^^^^^ the wetness of L sl^tlT^^^ TwS^e" outs.de and I was extremely anxious to get her on t« f larger floe to prevent being drifted ofi; I lightened ter cargo and set both crews upon her. In fhe land of promise off Crimson Cliffs, such a force would have 102 A PKRILOUS COURSK. trundled her like a wheelbarrow : we could almost have borne her upon our backs. Now, with incessant labour and standing-hauls, she moved at a snail's pace." It was on this occasion that the little company nearly lost their best boat, the Faith, which drift3d away from the ice-floe. The sight produced an almost hysterical impression, for she had on board all their stores. Hap- pily, before they could fully realize all the consequences of her probable loss, a flat cake of ice eddied into the vicinity of the floe. M'Gary and Dr. Kane sprang upon it, and succeeded in floating it across the chasm in time to secure the boat. Then the rest of the crew rejoined her, witli emotions of thankfulness which the reader may well imagine. ;tf As they continued their voyage, things grew worse and worse. The men began to suffer from their old difliculty of breathing, as well as from swollen feet, and, what was still more serious, inability to sleep. When it is remembered that they were now in the open bay, in the full line of the great ice-drift to the Atlantic, and in boats so shattered and leaky that even constant bailing would hardly keep them afloat, it must be owned that their position was as dark and hopeless as can well be imagined. At this conjuncture, however, when hope seemed hopeless, they discovered a large seal, asleep, and slowly floating on a small patch of ice. If it could be captured, they were saved ! Oh, how carefully, how cautiously and silently, with stockings drawn over their oars as mufflers, they crept down upon the wished-for prize ! As they drew CAPTURE OF A SEAL. ,„ near so intense became the excitement timt they could lund.ed yards; the oars were talccn in: and with „. B.ng.e scull as,.™ they dropped stea.thily'in:: tlTe c J! rent. Petersen was ,„ the bow. with the large Enirlish n^ " SuS"' r 'T'"' "P»" "^» -ve andS: ness Suddenly the seal rose on his fore-flippera irazed at the advancing boat with startled euriositTa'ff pared for a plunge. Would they lose him"^^ No' a that moment the report of the rifle disturbed the ;t>l a r a„d s.mnltaneously with it the seal relaxed hi h " eL felU n '"^; r ' "' '"" "'-y '"''^ "' *"« «- nis Mead fell helplessly to one side floes. Eager hands seized the precious booty, and lifted .e upon safer ice. The men, as if lost in a delirium of for th« Tr • ""' ""^ ""'""^ '"""' l-iokly prepa J A ^a„d ^ i""« ""' "^^ ""« I^^-'y 'elished. A grand cooking fire was kindled, md the famished v^age.. enjoyed that night a strange, almost a savaje RELIEF AT HAND. mcdente of the journey. On the 1st of August Dr Kane sighted the Devil's Thumb, and was soon in waters that axe familiar te every whaler. Passing t^ the south Cape Shackleton, the voyage,^ foUo^wed up he quiet-water channels that run parallel to the coast occasionally killing a seal or some birds, and at night encamping upon the rocks. 196 OFF UPERNAVIK. m If 8 ^4 I' ih Two days later, as they were slowly rowing throucrh the mist, a familiar sound— the cadence of a " halloo "— came to them over the waters. With joyous heart.^ they puUed in the direction of the sound, and in about half an hour could make out the single mast of a small shallop. «'Tis the Upemavik oil-boat!" cried Peter- sen, half kighing, half crying. And such, indeed it proved to be. In a few minutes they were on board oi' her, and m the embraces of old friends. "Here," says Kane— and the conclusion of his wonder- ful narratl- j is best given in his own words— "here we first got our cloudy, vague idea of what had passed in the big world during our absence. The friction of its fierce rotation had not much disturbed this little out- post of civilization ; and we thought it a sort of blunder as Carlie Mosayn told us that France and England were leagued with tlie Mussulman against the Greek Church ' He was a good Lutheran, this assistant cooper, and all news with him had a theological complexion " But ' Sir John Franklin ' ? There we were at home again. Our own delusive little speciality rose upper- most. Franklin's party, or traces of the dead which represented it, had been found nearly a thousand miles to the south of where we had been searching for them. ^^^ ^^ we 'out oars' again, and rowed into the fogs. "Another sleeping-halt has passed, and we have all washed clean at the fresh-water basins, and furbished up our ragged furs and woollens. Kasarsoak, the snowy top of Sanderson Hope, shows itself above the mists and we hear the yelling of the dogs. Petersen had H I C S a WELCOME HOME. ]j„ been foreman of the settlement; and he calls my at- tention with a sort of pride to the tolling of the work- mens bell It is six o-clock. We are nearing the end of our trials. Can it be a dream ? "We hugged the land by the big harbour, turned the comer by the old brew-house, and in the midst of a crowd of children hauled our boats for the last time upon the rocks. "For eighty-four days we had lived in the open air Our habits were hard and weather-worn. We could not remain within the four walls of a house without a distressing sense of suffocation. But we drank coffee that mght before many a hospitable threshold, and listened again and again to the hymn of welcome which, sung by many voices, greeted our deliverance." *.."!^'*f To"** **'' ^"^^ '■"""""'^ ** Upemavik until the 6th of September, when they embarked on board theMarmnne for the Shetland Isles. But putting in at Godhavn, they caught sight of an American squad- ron, under Captain Hartstene, which had been de- spatched in quest of them, and soon afterwards found themselves under the shelter of the national flag. At New York Dr. Kane received the honourable welcome to which his courage, his fertility of resource, his patient resolution, and his noble purpose had entitled him. And though he had failed to discover Sir John tranklin, he had deserved well of the civilized world havmg considerably enlai^ed its knowledge of the' Polar Regions. !.^ i "■; ^^^■l,f OBHh! f ^ ^^H' ^^ !iJi p 1 ^^B~:^^ i Hi it' ^^^^^K '.' il^Ht ^^^B r ^Bl 1^ i CHAPTER III. VOYAGES OF M'CLURE AND M'CLINTOCK. HE year 1853 witnessed the solution of the geographical problem which had so long engaged the'curiosity of the scientific mind, and the discovery of that North-West Pas- sage from which so much had at one time been ex- pected Captain M'Clure, in the Investigator, enterin<. the Polar Sea^ by Behring Strait, pushed forward to I pomt near Deary Island; and thence making his way across the ice, encountered Lieutenant Pim, one of the officers of Captain Kellett, who had entered by Baffin Bay. This memorable event occurred on the 19th of AprJ. Twenty days later, the passage wa^ completed by Captain CoUinson, in the Resolute; who afterwards turned to the south-east, explored many sounds and inlets, and discovered some relics of Franklin's party It should be added that M'Clure, having wintered in 1850 near the spot where the connecting waters could be traced, had proved the feasibility of the passage, by ob- servation, as early a^ October 31st of that year M'Clure was knighted as a reward for his services ; and Collinson (now Vice-Admiral) received an honorary medal. M'CLtNTOCK's EXPEDITION. jo, west sideTfi VI "f""""' '^'^''^^ -?•»-! the M'CUNTOCK'S EXPEDITION. These discoveries accomplished, and all hope of a, certaimng the fate of Fr^nilin and his folIoX LZ .ng chimerical, the British Government shovel 7Z unwdl,ng to risk more Mves and treasure lon^ he frozen wastes of the North. But Lady Fn^^Tn Jth work She expended the remains of her private for tune in the purcha.,e of a stoutly built screllooner" the Fox ^i called f„r Wunteem to man it mZ^ «.ose who ^erly offered their valuable s rvict^Z Captem M'Clintock. Since 1848 he UA ^ ■, constantly employed in Arctl 1 L^a H^X' mgu^hed himself by his sagacity, courage ani .' expedition being defra^Tbylslitirhrwri t«^ from England in the summer of 1857 He reached Melville Bay without difficulty • but here he enc„„„t a the familiar enemy of Arctic ^n^^ he der:f «" ^ "" ■"■ "" """^"-'i *» -2 Mvinel;! ,-T^/°'^ *^'*''"'^ -■"«- And that JJmne mercy which ha« so often and so wonderf-ullv been vouchsafed *„ *],„ i, , ,. . "Juaenujiy a to tlie ,,croes of JNorthern Discovery 202 VOYAGE OF THE "FOX." a ' 1 1 watched over the little Fox and her crew of five-and- twenty men. " The ark which bore the hopes of a loving wife and the prayers of so many friends, wa,s not to be swallowed up in the wreck-strewn depths of Baffin Bay." So the winter passed, with the usual discomforts and painful experiences of an Arctic winter; and in July 1858 the Fox was able to resume her voyage, and reach across to Lancaster Sound. She anived at Beechey Island on the 11th of August. Here M'Clintock found the dep6t of provisions left by various expeditions, as well as boats, huts, stores, and clothing, in excellent preservation, and with' much satisfaction replenished his diminished supplies. Once more the voyage wa« resumed; and past the ice-bound shores, and through floating masses and glit- tering bergs, the stout little Fox went on her way,— westward, beyond Cape Hotham; westward, beyond Griffith Island; southward, through Peel Channel; be- tween the bleak and snow- crowned cliffs of Capes Bonny and Walker,— until again her course was ar- rested by the insuperable and ubiquitous barrier. Then M'Clintock retraced his course as far as Bellot Channel, the water-way which leads from Regent Inlet into that great Arctic bay whose waters wash the American coast from Great Fish River to Behring Strait. From the 20th of August to the 6th of September the gallant explorer patiently watched for an opportunity of pene- trating into the channel. Its entrance was a mile wide, and guarded by lofty cliffs of granite, over which tlie shadows of noble hills dominated. Through this TIDINGS OF THE LOST. 5,3 majestic portal the restless watera rolled huge blocks and bergs of ice, sweeping them along with a Tel six-knot tide; but the Fo. escaped evfiy danger and passed through the strait. ^ ^ ' ^ bJr.'^'u'^ ^^'""^^ ^^' '"'; but only to be S r ^ ' f*"' '^" °' ^^^ -«• ^-« -1- in laif™ 1°*!' 7'^:'' "'^ adventure,.; and having ^ible '" ; "f y *='^»-- - a« -cure a position af Po^ible, MChntock prepared to organize boat and ^eclge^e^peditions for the e.plo.tion ff the nei^boTr' TRACES OF THE LOST YounA'i '^^ ^""'■y 1«^9. l>e and Captain Allen Young his second in command, left the ship to estab- ..h their dep6t« of provisions for the mediWed jour- See oT ™ T Y"*r' ""*«• •" o"'- *- --" bv Mr p/ ^^'' "'^^' ^'CUr-tock, accompanied in a southerly direction to the Magnetic Pole Their » intense that the mercury froze in the barometer. Yet they were cheerfully carried out, for the exploreiB found that at la.t they were on the right track. IT . ^ ned f ;V °°|- '^ ^- ^''P*^" M'Clintock ascer. tamed from the Eskimos that, some year« before a lint W ''Tl' 'I ''' '^^ "^ *^^ -^'^ <=- fe a in safety, and travelled across to the 204 SEARCHING-PARTIES ABROAD. 'Mi! ' f Great Fish River, where they died. The natives showed him some wood which they had obtained from a boat left by the white men on the said river. At last, then, there was some hope that the mystery which had so long enshrouded the fate of the Erebus and Terror would be dispelled; and on the 2nd of April the searching-parties proceeded from Bellot Strait. Captain Young struck to the north and west, so as to survey the unexplored region lying between Bellot Channel and Sir James Ross's farthest point in 1849, on the one hand, and Lieutenant (late Rear-Admiral) Osborn and Brown's extreme limits, in 1851, on the other hand. His work was carefully done, but proved fruitless of result. More successful were M'Clintock and Lieutenant Hobson They both struck across to King William Land from Point Victoria ; and learning from some natives that a second ship had been sighted off this land, they separated, so as to explore it tho- roughly,— Hobson taking the western and M'Clintock the eastern side. The latter swiftly and steadily proceeded on his way, and from King William Land crossed to Montreal Island; then rounded the estuary of the Great Fish River, and visited Point Ogle and Barrow Island. No fragments of wreck were found, no bones of the lost crews ; but M'Clintock fell in with many of the natives, who gave him all the information they themselves possessed, and gladly bartered away their relics of the Erebus and Terror. Resolving on completing the cir- cuit of King William Land, M'Clintock now turned to the north-west; and landing on the north side of X m w O z 111 f.M natives led from mystery ) Erebus 2nd of >t Strait, so as to I Bellot in 1849, Ldmiral) on the proved ^lintock cross to [earning sighted it tho- !Jlintock on his [ontreal at Fish id. No :he lost natives, naselves of the :lie cir- turned side of 1 H TRACES OP FRANKLIN'S EXPICWT.ON. j„, Sunpson Strait, ,nade for the cairn erected hv *1, * ^• -nfortuni'it rbrCe^rrrr^ ^"^ lost expedition, had evident^ Men thindT 1 ''' mg party, and perished in hilslude "" "'""'■ ^eidTthT aX?r tir ""^ •«- «.at the wanderers had plied in ^ '"T"""'^ the natives ha. subsequen^Hl ""''' ""''='' !:tiri:srviEe^'rif^*':^^^^^^^^^ miserable condition. He froV 2' !k '"^ ''"'' tsnant Hobson from th. IT \ °"*''' *"<* I^^"" the whole oTm^Z:nLT^,f^^'''T' ^^'"^^ -y be briefly indicated as SZL" "'^"^ '"'■»'> BeiytiTn'tfrvr' *■'*'' «"* -"»«' ■" ^uej^ isiana, m the spot discoverer! hxr *].« i- t.on under Capteins Austin and fZC^LT ously explo^d Wellington Channel ^'farTy^N" -t.atthese^rter.j::r;rs:i^^^^^^ for the purpose of prosecuting his south wT* ' f- Cape Walker i„ o^JJ^tlTtrlS. 809 THE BOAT AND THE SKELETONS. without leaving a single record. In 1840, tlio two ships entered Peel Chnnnel, but on the 12th of September were caught in the ice off King William Land. In May 1847, Lieutenant Graham Gore and Mr. Des Vcbux landed and erected a cairn a few miles south of Cape Victory, depositing in it a document to say that all the crews were then well, and Sir John" Franklin in com- mand. But in less than a month afterwards the heroic leader was stricken down : a merciful fate for him, as it spared him the terrible experiences which awaited his followers. As the ice did not break up, the two vessels wore held fast for another winter, — the winter of 1847-48 during which no fewer than nine officers and fifteen men died. C a the 25th of April, the survivors came to the resolution of abandoning the doomed ships; and, one hundred and five in number, and led by Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, they started for Great Fish River. The vast quantity of articles left at the point of de- parture is a significant evidence of their enfeebled con- dition. From this spot to a point about half-way between Point Victory and Point Herschel nothing important wa^ discovered ; and the skeletons and relics were all deeply embedded in snow. At the hali-w ./ point just spoken of, however, Lieutenant Hobson 'ruv/ii sight of a piece of wood projecting from the snow; and on digging round it exhumed a boat, standing on a very heavy sledge. Within it were two skeletons : one, lying in the bottoL i£ the stern-sheets, and covered with a quantity oi :i}v h'-^; the other, half^ercct in the bows, as if the poov fellow had crept there to look out, and in o o < m < in liii ^M HllHI mm III i|li iJital Mm |«:i mm s m k- 1 < ft* I m I ADDITIONAL DETAILS. , 2,, that position iuvd yielded to the slumber which knows no waking. A couple of guns, loaded and ready cocked Stood c^se at hand, apparently prepared for use against wild animals. Around this boat was found another ;tccumulation of cast-off' articles; and M'Clintock con- jectured that the party who had dragged the sledge thus far were retu'.-mnf, to tU Alps, having discovered them- selves unequal to the terror of the journey they Ud 1ST: ™''^P-'^'«= butweinlJdlylS wtl. another boat, and that some reached Montreal Mand and ascended Great Fish River. On this subject we shall have more to say when we come to speak o Captain C. P. Hall's adventures among the Eskimos FURTHER PARTICULARS. wJh ^^^*' "[•.^^' ■" >»« overland expedition, feU in with some Eskimos who spoke of having seen fo ty men dragging a boat near the Fish F.iver, under the leader- ship of a tall, stout, middle-aged man; a description fairly agreemg with the appearance of Captain Fitz- ames. Sherard Osboi. is of opinion, therefore, that the strongest of the survivo,^, under Fitzjames, pashed .n to perish in the dreary wildernesses of the Huln B y ten^oiy for relies have been found on the Fi 1 w ak if ^ '"T " ^'"'''"^ ^^'*"'')' -"■ '■i'' - only m time to see them wi-ecked by the breaking up of tl.e ice in the autumn of 1848. We know fL the Eskimos that one shin sank • „„,i .i-h P-,. -h I J /. , . , ' ' — lijriu Cue utlier. on board of which was one dead person, "a tall, large- ii WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN. boned man," was driven ashore. These wrecks, how- ever, could not have occurred on the coast between Capes Victory and Herschel ; for in that ca^e the natives would assuredly have appropriated the relics discovered by M'Chntock and Hobson. We come, therefore, to MChntocks conclusion, that the wrecked ship went ashore somewhere within the region frequented by the J^ish River Eskimos; and that in the years 1857-58 the ice had probably swept her away again, and finally de- stroyed her. *^ Let the reader remember, as a commentary on the vanity of human wishes, that the point at which the Erebus and Terror were caught in the ice in 1846 wa^ but ninety miles from the point reached by Dea.e and Simpson m their boats in 1838-39. So that had Franklin and his foUowers but accomplished those ninety miles of open water, they would have won the prize for which they had dared and endured so much, and have returned home to enjoy the weU-earned applause of their country- men. But Providence had decreed otherwise '-'Thev were to discover," says the historian of their labours the great highway between the Pacific and Atlantic' It was given them to win for their country a discovery for which she had risked her sons and lavishly spent her wealth through many centuries ; but they were to die m accomplishing their last great earthly task; and still more strange, but for the energy and devotion of the wife of their chief and leader, it would in all pro- babihty never have been known that they were indeed the i^irst Discoverers of the North.Wp«f p.,c„„_ » .ks, how- between e natives iscovered efore, to lip went i by the 7-5S the lally de- ■ on the lich the i46, was ase and i-anklin y miles [• which Jturned )untry- "They arbours, klantic. covery ' spent '■ere to ; and, ion of 11 pro- ndeed CONCLUSION OF THE SEAllCH. 213 THE END. pioration in the r^irl J ^™diew from farther ex- gained suen^ItSr^lf^Sf'""'^'"'™^'''^ shaU foUow with in Jl the »^ f "^ ^"^ ^' Swedes, Germans S "'" ''^^«»t"'*» of Americans, ^e co.pie:ri:\rrrn;i is'h"^^^ «H spirit ha« again revived inTf !' ^^'"'"^^ *'''= 1875 witnessed the equiDment nf P ''' """^ '^' ^""^ tion, weli-manued XeToffiied :rr ' T'''- pected worthily to uphold t^T»n tf"''' '" Let us hone flvif if ;. a ^- V^ ^ ®^ *^"^ »avy. work C„ b! 1' 1 : *" '"'"'"''' *'' ^''* cguii oy iinglish seamen upward'! nf ♦!,„„» tunes ago, and that British keels 171*^? "'"" plough that open Polar Sea wl.T^ T . *''* ^'■'' ^ ■ I': CHAPTER IV. THE VOYAGE OF DR. HAYES. UR readers will be familiar with the name of Dr. Hayes as that of the bold and skilful surgeon of the American expedition com- manded by Dr. Kane. The hardships lie underwent and the dangers he confronted in that re- markable expedition having in nowise chilled liis spirit of adventure or quenched his thirst for knowledge, he began, about 1858, to prepare for a new exploration, the object of which was to complete the survey of the north coasiP of Greenlana and Grinnell Land, and to push his researches as ftir as practicable in the direction of the North Pole. His proposed base of operations was Grinnell Land, wliich he had discovered in 1855, and had personally traced beyond the parallel of latitude 80°. His experi- ence had led him to the conclusion that if once the ice- Ijelt in Smith Sound could be passed, it was possible to reach the open sea beyond; for that the sea about the North Pole was not frozen, had come to be accepted as a fact by the most cautious physicists. Having laid his schemes before various scientific THE FIRST ICEBEUG. 2I6 societies, it received an amount of support which en- abled Dr. Hayes and his friends to purchase and fit out a strong, weU-built schooner of 133 tons burden, named the United States. Accompanied by Messrs. Sonntag and Radcliffe as astronomer and assistant-astronomer and with a crew of twelve officers and men, he sailed trom Boston on the evening of the 6th of July I80O, and on the following day was once more tossing on the waves of the broad Atlantic. All went well with the courageous voyagers, and on the 30th of July they crossed the imaginary boundary of the ^.rctic Circle. Enveloped in cloud lay the Green- land coast, at a distance of about ten leagues. The monotony of the voyage was now interrupted by their ineetmg with their first iceberg. It was floating directly m their course,-an irregular pyramidal mass, about three hundred feet at its base, and perhaps half as high with the white clouds curling about its spiral summit' —but they contrived to clear it. Then came the rouo-h' passage of Davis Strait; and on the 2nd of August they lay becalmed for a while ofi* the Greenland coast, contem- plating with eyes of admiration and wonder its broad valleys, its deep ravines, its frowning cliffs, its general aspect of desolate magnificence. As the mist cleared away to the westward, the bj-uad oosom of the sea lay exposed to their gaze, with iceberg after iceberg drifting across its surface, like fairy towers They seemed to have been suddenly admitted to a glimpse of the marvels of the land of the Northern Gods Here was the Valhalla of the old Vikings, and .he city of the sun-god Freya, and the eery caves of Alfheim If i m' llrii 'i i ^ 210 A GLORIOUS PICTURE. and the silver roof and golden wall« of Glitner; and yonder, piercing the clouds, rose Himinborg, the Celes- tial Mount, where the bridge of the gods reaches across to heaven. No doubt these strange creations of the Norse poetry were suggested by some such scenes as spread, awful and yet beautiful, before the eyes of our voyagers- the mingled wonders of land and sea might well inspire a poet s fancy; the rolling waters and their flashing castles of ice, the snow-shrouded mountain-peaks and the deep valleys between them. The details of the picture are sketched by Dr. Hayes with much graphic force and vivid colouring. The fol- lowing description is adapted from his eloquent pages :— BEAUTY OF THE ICEBERGS. The air was almost as warm as that of a southern summer eve ; and yet before them were the icebergs and the bleak mountains, with which it is impossible m this land of green hills and waving woods, to associ- ate any other idea than that of cold repulsiveness. l^right and soft was the sky, and as strangely inspiring as that of Italy. The bergs had lost their cold, frozen ook, and glittered in the glow of the brilliant heavens like masses of solid flame or burnished metal. Those near at hand seemed to have been wrought out of Parian marble, and incrusted with shining gems of pearl and opal. One in particular challenged attention by Its grandeur. Its form was not unlike that of the Roman Coliseum, and it lay so far away that half its height was buried beneath the rim of the " blood-red m. 1: VI n • BOMANTIO SCENE. a' I iiRROs AND nmios. J,, watem." As the sun, in it, e«u.^e along the horizon ,™.sed behmd it, one might have thoughl that Z2 Ron.au ru.n had broken out into a sudden oonflagn.- Where the bergs east their silent shadows the water wa. a neh green; and nothing could be softer or more tender than the gradual colouring of the sea as it shoaled on tl,e slopmg tongue or spur of each floating mass Where the ,ce overhung the water the tint deepened' and a cavern m one of the nearer bergs exhibited the sohd colour of the malachite mingled with the tran pareney of the emerald; while, in sti^nge contrast . broad streak of cobalt shot diagonally thro^ugh itsTody The romantic character of the scene was increased by the numerous tmy cascades which leaped into the sea from hese floating islands; the water Ling discharged from lakes of melted snow aad ice which tranquSy reposed far up i„ the valleys separating the icy ridges of their upper surface. From other bergs large piefes were occasionally detached, crashing into the wftei with deafening roar, while the slow ocean-swell resounded hoarsely through their broken archways. The breeze rising, Dr. Hayes was able to make the harbour of Proven, escorted by a flotilla of those famous Greenland boats, to which frequent reference has already been made,— the kajaks. •' o,Z^t !' '^ ^f^ ■ ^PP"«"«y. «'« fr'ulest of all cmft that ever dared the sea. It measures eighteen feet in length, and as many inches in width; and tapers eurvmg upwards, to a point at either end. Its frame- i '! :i '::- -\v:\ i!Hi! 220 TnK greexlandkr's KAJAK. work, or Hkeleton, is of wood ; which is covered with tanned seal-skin, sewed together, very deftly and strongly, by the native women— so deftly and strongly that not a drop of water can find its way through the scams ! The boat is about nine inches deep, and covered at the top as at the bottom, with the exception of a small space in the centre, which admits the boatman as far as his hips. This central space is surrounded with a wooden rim, over which the kajaker laces the lower edge of his water-tight seal-skin jacket, so as to fasten himself m, and keep the water out For the purpose of propulsion he uses a single oar, about six feet lono- terminating at either end in a blade or paddle. This Xxq grasps with firm hand in the middle, and dips in the water alternately to right and left. Buoyant beyond all belief, impervious to water, light as a feather, graceful as a duck : such is the Greenlander's kajak. But as it has neither ballast nor keel, it is necessarily top- heavy; and both skill and courage are needed to man- age it. The kajaker, however, seems born to the art; and in this gossamer-like canoe rides across billows which would swamp an ordinary boat, and dashes through breakers which close over his head. At Proven Dr. Hayes stayed only long enough to purchase a team of dogs, and he then pushed on to Upernavik, where he arrived on the 12th of August. Here more purchases of dogs were made, and each member of the crew was carefully provided with all the necessaries of an Arctic wardrobe. Three native hunters were also engaged, and an interpreter, who was perfectly s o fi^ \ •cd with tly and strongly )ugli the covered ion of a tman as ed with e lower fasten purpose et long, This he in the beyond graceful But as ly top- man- lie art; billows dashes igh to on to -Ugust. eacl) ill the unters •fectly ni 1' A NEST OF ICKHEUQS. ^,33 uu.-i u , ^ "'^vt^'- An addition of two Danisli ^.lo.. brought „,. the „,„„„,ic,.l ,.ta.,,«th „f d" Zw "ty totwctysoulH. Their ...epanUion, be n"co, Ple^d. they .,uitted U,,en,avik, an.idst the hert^v ^ ."ewe 1 to the comforts of civilisation. Now i„,lee f Ley began in earnest tl,eir difficult cntorpTir u i' S^'i T'"' among the danger, of A^ ■n:^ w re nf t v'"™"^''' *''" ^"yS"^ t»''«^ leave, as it were, of the Known world, and entem upon the IJn known; or, at le..t, he passes into a regionTcl d Z oeen traced with any degree of certainty. A NARROW ESCAPE. It was no easy task to guide the schooner through inconvenient raniditv T)r ti„ , , ^ lowered »n,1 . • , ^^ '"'''"'"•^ ■"' '"«'' t" be ^wered, and a moonng-eable to be run out to a ber- tl^jtl ^ u ' '''^ ''"*''« ''°"''' «'« ^"''ooner grazed he side of a berg which rose a hundred feet above her then ice-poIes, changed to some extent the schooner's nei dnlt, and she struck, with her starboard n„.,,„. 224 DANGEROUS QUARTERS. the dreaded mass, disengaging huge blocks of ice which would have crushed her had they fallen upon her. The berg now began to revolve, and was " settling slowly " ov r the threatened vessel. Sinall lumps of ice began to rattle down on the after-deck, and drove the crew and officers to the forecawtle for safety. At lengtli the berg itself saved them fron) ruin. An imnietise mass broke away from the submerged portion, and this, jit least a dozen times larger than the schooner, rose up within a few yards of her, with a tremendous volume of foam and water flying from its sides. The revolution of the berg was checked by this rupture, and the berg settled down in the opposite direction. But now another danger occurred. A long tongue was projecting immediately underneath the schooner; and the keel slipped and giinded upon it, until it seemed probable that the ship would be hurled into the air, or else capsized. Here again the berg proved their safety. A loud report was heard; another and another followed in swift succession ; the roar seemed to fill the air with a thousand echoes. The opposite side of the berg had split off, piece after piece, tumbling a vast volume of ice into the waves, and sending the revolving berg back upon the ship. The movement now was quicker; frag- ments began again to fall; and, already sufficiently alarmed by the dissolution which had taken place, Dr. Hayes and his followers were in momentary expectation of seeing the whole side nearest to them give way, and crash down upon tho. steamer, — in which case she would inevitably be cairied down beneath it; doomed as surely DISRUPTION OF A BERG. 225 as a sliepherd's liut beneath an Alpine avalanche. As Coleridge says, — " The ice was here, The ice was there, The ice was aU around ; It ci'eaked and growled. And roared and howled Like demons in a swound. ' The men in charge of the boat had by this time suc- ceeded in planting an ice-anchor and attaching a cable ; and the crew on board the schooner began to haul in ; a long, a strong, and steady pull, for they knew they were pulling for their lives. Seconds seemed minutes ; minutes seemed hours; but at length they began to move off. Scarcely were they twenty yards distant when the expected disruption occurred. The side nearest to them split off, and crashed wildly into the sea, raising a tremendous swell, and covering the agitated watei*s with fragments of ice. But they were safe, and as they gradually receded they could look back calmly on the scene of their terror. The shattered berg, or so much as was left of it, rocked and rolled like a tempest-tossed ship. At each wild spin, fresh masses were disengaged; and as its sides came up with long sweeps, great cascades fell from them into the sea wiiu a strange hissing, seething noise. After several hours of this incessant agitation, the wreck of the once colossal berg settled down into quietude, and (he sea began to flow with its usual calmness. VIEW FROM AN ICEBERG. Having moored his schooner to a berg which seemed li\ I !f!i i I n . iMh 226 A WORLD OF ICE. to offer a sufficiently secure asylum, Dr. Hayes clam- bered up its frozen slope, and reached the summit. The view commanded from this elevated point was not less remarkable than extensive. To the south-east a rocky headland flung its shadow upon the water, and the sunlight was separated from the shade by a boundary so distinct that it wa.s difficult not to look upon the margin of radiance as the edge of a "fathomless abyss." To form an idea of the immense quantity of ice which was enclosed within the visible horizon is not easy. Dr. Hayes found an enumeration of the separa; j bergs im- possible, giving it up in despair when he had counted five hundred. Near at hand the eye could distinguish the harsh ruggedness of their sharp outlines. Farther off, they seemed to melt away into the soft gray sky, or the sea of liquid silver, suggesting by their very indis- tinctness the strangest and most wonderful images of bii'ds and beasts, of human forms, of gigantic architec- ture,— spires touched with golden gleams, vast airy domes, or buttressed towers radiant with unearthly light ! To the east, the bright bosom of the sea was gemmed with tiny islets ; and in the channels which intersected them, the icebergs, great and small, thronged in close array, massing together in the distance until they were absorbed, apparently, in a snow-covered plain, and this again, in its turn, disappeared in a cloud of bluish white- ness. Yes ; far away against the horizon, like a vague white cloud, lay the vast mer de glace, of which "we have already spoken as occupying the whole interior of IN MELVILLE lUY. 227 the Greenland continent. The snowy slope was one of its dependent glaciers; and this glacier, the reservoir from which had been discharged, at irregular intervals, most of the icebergs scattered so thickly over the scene. MELVILLE BAY. Continuing his voyage among the bergs and islands, Dr. Hayes entered Melville Bay on the 23rd of August, and had the gratification of finding it free from ice. Melville Bay, for the seaman, comprehends all that expansion of Baffin Bay which begins southward with the "middle ice," and terminates northward with the " North Water." The North Water is sometimes reached at Cape York, in lat. 76°, but generally higher up ; the "middle ice," or, to use the well-known term, made so familiar by the narratives of so many Arctic voyagers, the " pack," not infrequently stretches down to the Arctic Circle. This " pack " consists of drifting ice-floes, which vary in extent from feet to miles, and in thickness from inches to fathoms. Sometimes these masses are closely pressed together, with few or no interspaces; sometimes they are wide apart, according to the various influences of wind and tide. They are always more or less in motion, but drift in whatever direction winds and currents may sway them. To penetrate this formidable barrier is the work of weeks, nay, of months ; but since Baffin discovered the great sea named after him, in 1616, it has been annually undertaken by a fleet of wha,ling-ships. The route is a dangerous one, but the whalers prefer it ; for though many a stout ship goes down with lier sides crushed in I i 228 now PACK-ICE IS FORMED. .;? h i ■ ' by the merciless ice, those winch escape disaster almost invariably return with ample cargoes of oil and blubber trom Lancaster Sound and the neighbouring waters As the summer draws on, the " middle ice " bi-aks up in such wise as to afford a tolerably clear channel, and gradually the land-ice, or shore-belt, gives way to a considerable extent. A narrow strip, or "ice-foot" as Dr. Kane calls it, usually remains to the very close of the season; and along its margin the whalers and explonng-vessels make their way, so as to avoid beinc. beset m the terrible " pack." '^ The formation of the pack is thus explained by Dr Hayes:_The great Polar Current, which comes down through the Spitzbergen Sea and along the east coast of Greenland, heavily laden with masses of ice, and with a sparse supply of drift-wood from the Siberian n vers for the use of the people of Greenland, sweeps around Cape York, and there diverges to the westward ?>wollen by the ice-encumbered current which issues from the Arctic Ocean through Smith, Jones, and Lancaster Sounds, it strikes to the southward, past Labrador and Newfoundland, receives a tributary from Hudson Strait, "wedges itself in" between the Gulf Stream and the shore, cools the waters of Newport and Long Branch, and finally disappears in the great ocean oil the headlands of Florida. Now a glance at the map nv ill show that this move- ment of the current forms, where the " middle ice " is found, a kind of slow-moving whirlpool ; and in this the ice IS churned and carried round so as to prevent Its rapid movement southward. By the end of Aiu^.t It Hih IN SMITH SOUND. 229 nevertheless, it is considerably reduced in dimensions owing to the combined action of the sun and the waters' August, therefore, is, in one sense, the most favourable month for navigators, because the water-way is com- paratively open. On the other hand, the winter is close at hand ; and should it come on suddenly, the ice quickly gathers in, north, south, and east and west, and the vessel caught within its iron grasp has no chance of escape for the next nine or ten months. IN SMITH SOUND. Dr. Hayes was fortunate enough to cross Melville Bay m fifty-five hours, and standing in-shore at Cape York, succeeded in picking up an Eskimo hunter named Hans, who had served in Dr. Kane's expedition. He also, with characteristic good-nature, took on board the hunter's wife and baby, though afterwards he had cause to lament his generosity. Dashing on through group after group of icebergs, the schooner swiftly progressed along a line of bold and rugged coast, broken by deep gorges, and relieved by numerous streams of ice. One of these, the Petowak Glacier, measured fully four miles across. Then came Booth Bay, where Dr. Hayes established his winter- quarters in his boat-journey of 1854 and underwent many bitter experiences of an Arctic winter. Passino- Whale Sound, outside of Hakluyt Island, which ficmres m the record of Dr. Kane's expedition, the adventurers saw before them the darkly-frowning headlands which guard the entrance to Smith Sound ; Cape Alexandp,- on the east, and Cape Isabella on the west. With beni-s ■ 230 AN AROTIC STOKM. ■ I to tlie light of iliem, bergs to the left of thorn, they pressed forward; but a terrible gale rising middenly, and a heavy pack of ice barring their course, they were compelled to run in-shore and take shelter under tlio land. The scene at night was - ;-kpJ by an awful grandeur. A dark cloud lowei;.. , the northward brought the white slopes of Cape Alexander into bold relief Great sheets of drifting snow rolled over the cliffs, and streams of it swept down every gorge and valley. Whirlwinds raised it from the hill-tops, and carried it through the air like a storm of white spray. A glacier descending through a ravine to the bay below was covered with a broad shroud of "revolving whiteness." The sun went down beneath a black and ominous horizon. Out at sea the aspect of Nature was still more dreadful. Off i.ie cape the wild waters were lashed into a weltering mass of spray. Words, indeed, cannot convey any adequate idea of the " vast volume of foam " which quivered over the deep, and rose and fell with each throb of the varying wind, or of those rush- ing terrible clouds which swept across the heavens in the path of the storm. Upon the air were borne shrieks and lamentations, dreary and loud as those of the scurrying blast which, down in the second circle of the Inferno, appalled the imagination of Dante ; and the clouds of snow and va)iour were tossed upon the gale, like the condemned souls upon that "tyrannous gust."*' * See tlie Inferno, Canto V. :^ Bellowiiiff there groaned A noise, as of a sea in tempest torn Hy warring winds. Tiie stormy blast of Iiell With restless fury drives the spirits oti, DR H4VES' VEETI NQ WITH HANS. THE SCHOONER ICE-BOUND. 238 The hurricane continued for two or three days, and forced the scliooner out of the Sound. On the' Srd another attempt was made, and proved successful. After a desperate struggle, the brave men fought their way into Hartstene Bay, where the shattered ship was I)atchcd up as well as possible. Dr. Hayes then made an effort to cross the Sound, as his object was to explore the western coast, but in this he failed ; and as the ice was rapidly accumulating, and the season near its close, he resolved to take up his quarters for the winter in a sheltered little cove within the bay, which he named Port Foulke. It was situated about twenty miles by latitude, and eighty miles by the coast, from Dr. Kane's encampment at Kensselaer Harbour, and about eight miles north-east from Cape Alexander. The ice soon closed in upon the schooner. Calmly accepting the inevitable, the crew now set to work to land the cargo, and shelter it in a storehouse of stone, which was erected on a terrace some thirty feet above the tide-mark. Three of the Greenlanders were detailed as an organized hunting force ; Mr. Sonn- tag and his assistants took charge of the scientific department. The schooner, when unloaded, was care- fully and thoroughly fitted up as a winter-home. Sails being unbent, yards lowered, and topmasts housed, the upper deck was roofed in so as to form a house, eight feet high at the ridge and six feet six inches at the sides. Every chink and crack were closed up with Whirled round and dashed amain with sore annoy When they arrive before the ruinous sweep, There shrieks .are lieard, there lamentations, moans, And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in heaven." 234 MAKING READY FOR WINTKR. ' i. I «. ra-ti tarred paper; four windows jirovided for light (while tlie light lasted) and ventilation. The crew found accommodation in the hold, which was suitably scrubbed floored, and whitewashed. In the centre stood the cooking-stove ; and above it w^is suspended a siuiple apparatus for melting water from the snow or ice - namely, a funnel-shaped double cylinder of galvanized iron connected with the stove-pipe at one extremity and opening at the other into a large cask. So far as provisions were concerned, the imprisoned explorers had at the outset no cause for discouragement Ihe riggmg of the schooner looked like a well-supplied game-store-a dozen reindeer, and clusters of rabbits and Arctic foxes, hanging invitingly from it. Nor did the supplies diminish, for daily the hunters returned with the abundant spoils of their rifles. They reported the pleasant tidings of reindeer in lierds of tens and fifties still hngering in the pasture-valleys, so that both men and dogs were well provided. Near the storehouse was erected an observatory eight feet square and seven feet high-a structure of canvas, snow, and skins- the interior of which was handsomely equipped with scientific instruments; and Mr. Sonntag and his assistants found ample scope for the spirit of inquiry. All around the schooner spread a sea of ice over whose level surface the dogs careered with much satisftiction. From the upper deck to the frozen sea a superb stairway of slabs of this same "cheaj) Arctic alabaster" was constructed; and the snow was piled around the schooner's sides in a solid em- AX ESKIMO DOCI-SLKUGE. 235 l..nikiiR'iit, which greatly added to the warmth of the iuterlur. It may here be noted that the sun sank out of sight behind the southern hills on the 15th of October; itnd the little company of brave men were face to face with the long winter di rkness of the Polar World. At first a kind of soft twilight prevailed, and the golden glow of the unseen orb of day rested on the mountain-toi)s ; but surely and steadily the partial radiance lessened,' and slowly and surely came on the sad obscurity of the' Arctic night. Dr. Hayes occasionally amused himself with taking his team of dogs on an excursion. They were twelve iu number, healthy, strong, and swift of foot. They would carry the sledge over the ice at a tremendous speed, accomplishing six miles in twenty- eight to thirty-three minutes. But to manage them is quite an art, for they are guided solely by the whip and voice. On the outside are placed the strongest dogs; and the team sways to right and left, according as the whip foils on the snow to the one side or the other, or as it touches the leading dogs. The voice aids the whip, but the experienced driver relies more upon compul- sion than upon persuasion. This whip is a wonderful mstrument. Its lash is about four feet longer than the traces, and tipped with a "cr. cker" of hard sinew, quite capable of phlebotomizing a refractory animal.' Its material is simply raw seal-hide, and it is attached to a light whip-stock only two feet and a half in length Hence, to roll out the lash to its full length is a traly mdJ } ; J 'Mi ' ' '. I i ihi ii; 236 A DIKFUULT TLAM. (liHicult urKlnt.'ikiMM;, „,„l i„ tliis, as in other aits, it is prnctit'o only that makes porfoct. JJriviiin- an Kskiino team, take it all in all, seems to be, JUS Dr. Hayes deseriljes it, tlie very hardest kind of hard work. Incessantly must the driver ply his whip, and ply it mercilessly as well as incessantly, or it will avail him nothing. The legist hesitancy or weakness on the driver's part is innnodiately d(!tected by his dogs, and they act accordingly. Unless fully convinced that the soundness of their skins is at his mercy, they Avill indulge in the greatest liberties. "If they see a fox crossing the ice," says Dr. Hayes, "or come upon a bear-track, or 'wind' a seal, or sight a bird, away they dash over snow-drifts and hummocks, prick- ing up their short ears and curling up their long bushy tails for a wild, wolfish race after the game. If the whip-lash goes out with a fierce snap, the ears and the tails drop, and they go on about their proper business ; but woe be unto you if they get the control. I have seen my own driver sorely put to his mettle, and not until he had brought a yell of pain from almost every dog in the team did he conquer their obstinacy. They were running after a fox, and were taking us toward wh.-it appeared to be unsafe ice. The wind was bloM'ing hard, and the lash was sometimes driven back into the driver's face; hence the difficulty. The whip, however, finally brought them to reason ; and in full view of the game, and within a few yards of the treacherous ice, they came first down into a limping trot, and then stopped, most unwillingly. Of course this made them very cross, and a general fight, fierce and angry, now ■%35;;-<;-;: r ; 1 a *■ ■ ' i ^ 4. i- ' ■ 11 J l»^ 1 B n iJfii J- ) * II I CHARACTER OF THE ESKIMO. 2S-•" r I.,., nut and lake what he needed Contrary to the statements of some of our Arctic 240 CHARACTER OF THE ESKIMO. Mn explorers, Dr. Hayes affirms that the Eskimos neither beg, borrow, nor steal; though he qualifies his state- ment by the admission that this wonderful independ- ence, this stainless honesty, is not exhibited in their dealings with the white man. It may be doubted whether it always holds good in their dealings with one another. It is in harmony with their strange impassiveness that they never fight; but from this it must not be inferred that they are free from the universal passions of hatred, envy, and jealousy. Only, they conduct their quarrels somewhat after the old Italian fashion, — secretly harpooning a decrepit old man or woman who has become a burden, or a more successful com- petitor in the chase, or a person whom they choose to regard as bewitched. They do not hesitate to kill their own children, if they think their family grows too numerous, or if any of them should be born with some marked physical defect. At least, such are the habits, says Dr. Hayes, of those tribes who have not been reached by the influences of Christian civilization, or have not caught somethiiig of the aggressive spirit of the old Norsemen, who, from the ninth to the four- teenth centuries, lived and fought in South Greenland. Ilfi! ;ii!i[ii mu A JOURNEY ON THE GLACIER. The great glacier which Dr. Kane had named, in allu- sion, we suppose, to John Bull, " Brother John's Glacier," descended into the valley near the head of Foulke Fiord, a deep inlet of the sea lying to the north of Port Foulke. Dr. Hayes resolved to attempt its exploration. BKOTHEK JOHN'S OLACIEK. 2,, Taking with l,im Mr. Knorr, three of his crew (M'Donald Heywood. Petei-sen), and one of liis Eskimos (Peter) he started on the 22nd of October. The sledge was lightly Men with a small canra. tent, two buffalo-skins for bedding, a cooking-lamp, and provisions for eight days Progress, therefore, was rapid, and the foot of the glacier was reached on the same day. After a halt the sledge was unloaded, and its equipment carried on the mens shoulders to the top of the glacier; then the sledge Itself was hoisted up; and the journey being resumed, five miles were accomplished before the el plorers rested for the night. The Mowing day they continued the ascent, and travelled thirty miles; next day, twenty-five miles; and then they began to experience the very woret in- conveniences of Arctic travelling. The temperature had sunk to 30° below zero, and so fierce a wind blow in their teeth that they were compelled to pitch their tent and take refuge in it. At this time they were |>08ted five thousand feet above the sea, and seventy miles from the coast, in the midst of an apparently boundless frozen waste. Neither hill nor gorge was in sight; nothing but ice and snow-the rugged, slopin. surface of the glacier. And so intense was the cold^ that to remain within the tent motionless was as im- possible as to persist in face of the biting, murderous gale. There was no alternative but to return ; and hastening down the declivity, they ran a race against They had travelled upwards of forty miles, and de- scended about three thousand feet, before they ventured f 242 A GLORIOUS PROSPECT. |!:> i 11' ) i'' (y ii4 :;< to halt. Here they found the wind much milder, and the temperature twelve degrees higher. Once more they pitched their tent, and enjoyed a sound night's rest. Tliey accomplished the latter part of their journey by moonlight. At the base of the glacier a delightful calm prevailed; and the homeward route, down its lower face, and across the valley, and over the frozen ice-bridge of the fiord, lay through a scene as pic- turesque as it was unusual. Sheets of drifting snow tlitted above the white-topped hills like squadrons of phantom riders. They were signs and witnesses that the gale still raged on the heights, though all was hushed and calm below. The azure arch of heaven was wholly cloudless; and the stars which studded it, like gems of purest ray serene, shone reflected in the tranquil mirror of the valley-pool. How white, how cold, how impas- sive looked the glacier! Who, from its silent, death- like aspect, could surmise that, like a river, it wtis rolling its burden down the shuddering gorge ? What a contrast between its moonlit surface and the shadows of the frowning cliffs ! Besprinkled with islands, the dark fiord noiselessly wound its way between the swarthy headlands, and gave up its ice-clad waters to the restless summons of the all-absorbing sea. The lofty snow - shrouded mountains of the west coast loomed in the horizon like the walls of a palace of the gods. Upon the sea lay the cold white mist, obeying in its undulations the impulse of the wind,— occasion- ally revealing the huge mass of a slowly-floating ice- berg; occasionally flashing with the strange reflections '■ HOW ICE IS FOUMED. 243 I of the auroral light. And from behind it carne lurid magnetic gleams, irradiating the surrounding darkness, and darting fiercely among the starry groups, like " fiery arrows " shot up by evil spirits of another world. THE GLACIER-SYSTEM OF GREENLAND. What is Greenland, except along its narrow strip of shore, but one immense reservoir of ice,— a great inter- nal basin, which constantly overflows, and sends down into the sea, in all directions, its frozen torrenta and congealed streams ? What it is, it has become through the influence of the law of Circulation, which dots not more certainly prevail in the warm, green regions of the world, than among the icy heights of the Himalaya.s, the Alps, or the Andes. The ocean throws oflT its waters by evaporation. They circulate through the air, and, in these cold regions, return again to earth in the form of snow- snow which is partly converted into water, to feed the springs, and streams, and rivers; and partly into ice, to supply the mers de glace and the great glaciers. The ice thus formed is estimated to equal, in the Alps, fifty-eight inches annually. Undisturbed, the successive layers would raise Mont Blanc ^-^ur hundred feet higher in a century, and four thousand feet higher in a thousand years. But this astonishing result is prevented through the operation of the glacier-system, which carries off" the superfluous ice as the rivers carry oft' the superfluous waters. In truth, a glacier is simply a river of ice ; 241 GLACIER-MOTION. ! f 1 r u I , H )| and the " river-systems " of the warmer zones of our globe become the " glacier-systems " of the colder. The exact method of the glacier-movement has not been demonstrated to the entire satisfaction of scientific men; but it is evident that the ice possesses a com- bined ductility and viscosity, and perhaps it is allow- able to compare its motion to that of a mass of jelly. Observe, then, a beautiful instance of Nature's love of an equilibrium. The ice accumulated every year by the action of the winter-frosts is balanced every year by the quantity carried downwards in the huge frozen Hoods of the glaciers. Nothing impedes the movement of the glacier, which may be slow, but is irresistible. It adapts itself to the configuration of the lower chains of hills, and flows over their summits, or insinuates itself between their windings. Pouring into the valleys, it gradually fills them up, until they are level with the highest hills. Coming to a precipice, it leaps headlong over its brink, and streams into the plain below — a frozen cataract. So, winter and summer, it moves on its way, grinding down the rocks, and tracing its furrows like a giant plough on the mountain-side; winter and summer it continues its ceaseless course, until at length it reaches the margin of the sea. But even here it does not stop. " Pushing back the water, it makes its own coast-line ; and moving still onward, accommodating itself to every inequality of the bed of the sea, as it had before done to the surface of the land, filling up the wide bay or fiord, expanding where it expands, narrowing where it narrows, swallowing uj) the islands in its slow and I ti if ; Pi'' !■■ ■ 1 1 ■ f 1 .1 ! ili it 1 1! 1 1-: i i L GLACIER-DISIIUPTION. U7 steady course, it finally reaches many miles beyond tl i original shore-line." This is the climax of its progress. When it first emptied its frozen volume upon the coast-line, and spread into the bay which, in the course of time, it was to fill up, its face was several feet in height. But as it moved forward it gradually sank below the level of the waters; and finally its lofty front has almost dis- appeared. Then, owing to physical agencies, which our limited space prevents us from attempting to explain— physical agencies connected with the expansive properties of ice —a disruption of the glacier takes place : a huge mass IS broken off, and buoyed up to the level natural to fresh-water ice; and this huge mass, drifting slowly away with the current, floats out into the sea as an iceberg. By-and-by that iceberg will melt into the waters, and, the process of evaporation being resumed, will pass into the air; as mist and rain will again de- scend upon the earth : and in this way the great law of Circulation is everlastingly maintaining the equili- brium of the natural forces. Here we may be allowed, before resuming our narra- tive, to avail ourselves of Dr. Hayes' eloquent descrip- tion of one of these marvels of the Arctic Ocean,— the huge, grand, white masses of the icebergs :— Solemn, stately, and erect, he says, in tempest and in calm, it rides the deep. Through its broken archways the waves resound, and thunder against its adamantine walls. In the morning it is veiled in clouds as im- penetrable as those which shrouded the fair form of I 248 Aretli THE FLOATING ICRriERG. noon I, ill the beautiful Greek fable ; equips it in silver armour; in the evening it is resplen- dent with all the glowing colours ot the su iset; and in the silent night its surface glasses the heavenly orbs Drifting snows whirl over it in winter; sea-gulls make It their haunt in summer. Its lofty spires are touched with the last rays of expiring day; and when the long darkness has passed, it catches the first faint glow of returning light, and with gilded crest announces the commg of the morn. The elements combine to do liomage to its matchless beauty. Its loud voice is wafted to the shore, and the echoes carry the sound into the heart of the remotest hills. The sun steals through "the veil of radiant fountains" which shim- mers over it in spray and foam in the summer winds • and the rainbow hangs out its many-tinted banners on Its lofty crest. With wreaths of soft vapour it is gar- landed by the air, and all around it the waters shine with the rare glory of emerald and sapphire. Onward onward, to fulfil its destiny, it sails along the blue' pathway of the sea, heedless of varying winds, heedless of passmg seasons. And in the course of time suc- cumbmg to the universal law of Nature, it sinks back slowly into the all-absorbing waters from which, loner ages ago, it took its rise. Of this great law it is, int deed, a noble monument, and to the changes of time a more solemn witness than "th Egyptian Pyramids or the obelisk of Heliopolis." Before man came upon the world, which had been so carefully prepared to receive him as Its lord, the crystals of which that iceberg is built up were dew-drops sparkling in the sun, «nd ESKIMO JACOB. S49 ig snow-flakes falling through the air, like feathers frora the wings of unseen spirits ! A couple of icebergs visible from Dr. Hayes' winter- camp were named the Twins, or Castor and Pollux. Nor were they unworthy of the name ; for one rose 230 feet above the level of the sea, and the other 247 feet. THE WINTER-CAMP. We return to the camp and its " humours," which were many. The imprisoned explorers do not appear, at least in the early winter, to have suflfered from' tedium. Their occupations were distinct and various ; they were well housed and well fed ; each day brought its duties and its novel experiences; and the Eskimo members of the little company were a never-failing source of entertainment. Jacob, the youngest of the natives, furnished the men with a target for their fists. He seems to have resembled the "fat boy" in Fickivick, both in his capacity for eating and his amazing powers of sleeping. When he was not eating he was sleeping, and when he was not sleeping he was eating. Tirj necessary consequence of such a life was a remarkable increase of corpulence. His cheeks were puffed out like blown bladders, and altogetlier he answered the description of Mirabeau's fat friend, who had been created apparently for no other purpose than to demon- strate the wonderful extensibility of the human skin. One day he was sent upon deck to dress a couple of reindeer; but having succeeded in exposing a savoury morsel, he paused in his task, cut a slice off the half- 960 HANS AND HIS WIFE. fro/en carcass, and some time afterwards was found fast asleep between the two dead animals, with the last shred of his bonne bouche hanging from his lips. Some amusement was afforded, also, by the conjugal vagaries of Hans and his wife. The Eskimo lady was smgularly disinclined for work, and when invited to assist in replenishing the men's winter-wardrobe ob- stinately refused. Dr. Hayes describes her as the most dogged of her sex. She was indifferent to everythinr^ and everybody, and about once a fortnight indulged in a fit of ill-temper, in which she was wont to declare lier intention of abandoning Hans and the expedition and returning to her own people. She essayed the experiment on one occasion, and, with her baby on her back, dashed away towards Cape Alexander. Hans however, came out of his tent, ns calm and impassive a^ ever, and stood leisurely smoking his pipe, and sur- veying the receding form of his wife and child with the most provoking unconcern. Dr. Hayes thought it desirable to call his attention to his wife's straterric movement. *^ " Yes, me see." " Where is she going, Hans ? " "She no go; she come back all right." " But she will freeze, Hans ? " " She no freeze ; she come back by-by, you see." And he continued to smoke his pipe with a quiet chuckle and a complacent conviction of his knowledo-e of the ways of womankind in general, and of his wife in particular. And in about two hours the Eskimo A NEGRO COOK. 251 Mind fast, fist all rod conjugal ady was vited to •obe ob- he most ;rythin ndulged declare )edition, ^ed the ' on her Hans. ^ ipassive nd sur- d witli ught it irategic . quiet tvledije s wife Sskim.o Xantippe came back. lo<,king very blue and cold, and evidently very much sul)dued. Dr. Hayes was fortunate in tbe original character of most of the men composing his expedition. The cook was a negro, and apparently a negro of the kind one is ai)t to suppose peculiar to popular songs and amusincr anecdotes. Like Yorick, only in a very different det gree, he was a fellow of infinite mirth and fancy • and what waa more to his commander's purpose, h^ was well skilled in the culinary art. On one occasion he set before Dr. Hayes a fillet of venison, garnished with currant jelly, a perfect triumph ot taste and philosophy. "I t'inks de commander likes dis," said he, "comin^ from de cold." ^ " Fes, cook, it is really superb. Now, what can I do for you ? " I'T'ank you, sar. I t'inks if de commander would only be so kind as to give me a clean shirt, I shall be very t'ankful. He see dis one be very dirty, and I gets no time to wash him." ^ " Certainly, cook ; you shall have two." " T'ank you, sar ; " and with a marvellous doubling of the body which is intended for a bow, cook retires to\is stool and his coppers. It waa his boast that he had never been off the ship's deck since she quitted Boston " Vat should I go ashore for ?" he would exclaim. "Me fro ashore ! De land be very good place to grow de vege- tables, but it no place to be. I never goes ashore ven I can help it, and, please my hebenly Fader,! never vill !" hi £itiJi 252 CHASING BEARS. m A BEAR-HUNT. On the 6th of November Mr. Sonntag and a small company of adventurers returned from an attempt they had made to reach the Humboldt Glacier. The chief incident of the journey, which had been rendered pain- ful and perilous by the rugged nature of the ice, was the pursuit and capture of a Polar bear and her cub They were roused on the margin of a ridge of " hum- mocky ice," where they had been sleeping, and made at once for the open cracks, some four miles distant, in order to take to the water. Off dashed the dogs in tierce pursuit, with bold disregard of the safety of the sledges or of the persons seated upon them. In and out of the labyrinth of hummocks shook and clattered the two teams, sorely discomposing the drivers, and flinging Mr. Sonntag on the snow. The delays which took place gave the bears a start of fully a mile, so that there was reason to fear they would reach the open water. But the dogs seemed to be conscious of this fact as well as the hunters ; and on gaining the broad level plain they swept onward at a tremendous speed. The sledges almost fiew over the hard snow, and the chase assumed the aspect of one of those wild demon- hunts depicted in so many of the German ballads. In less than a quarter of an hour the dogs had lessened the distance between themselves and their quarry to two hundred yards ; but the water was close at hand. During all this frenzied chase the old bear was delayed by her cub, which she was evidently un- willing to abandon. Terrible was the poor creature's PrasUERS AND PUESCED. jj, agony, and her cries were painful to hear. Anxious and oi materna,! affection. " One moment," says the hi, onan of the chase, "she would rush forXd L^ the open water, as if intent only upon her own rfetv euririt^! zT '"'' - ''' ^™S& beside it n.Z '''°"*' ^^^ *^^^' «g^n, she would run TtCf in r/''""^- '""' '^^- fitting teifow Si :d "ha^tto^'t: ^""t ^"~'' ''--^ ~t was rSTyCoX S to^dd t^l embarrassments of the Bruin f J/y. th^ mtrel*: ^I rf X 1- '^ , ?*"■ ^"^^ '■'•™'*''''. seizes the end t"« Knot. At once the swift cour r"' ^'T "'■ '""'""S ■■"'^'•^'°'°g t'---«t<»-n ^ki^, lighting up the tops of (he hilk, and gradually the tesllmony of ,,r Henteon On ilT .! 'T " •'•""'» """'■''•^ Such ' lli.y new, he.,,1 .„, .S 's?, > K^,h. ""'O' h.nd, boll, p„r, and Lyon J «ell M by lto„. •uroraocms tho jta„, I, stronjlj. „niru,„a ^y ,.„.,y „ n ? ' f: I- !I1 2K4 THE ARCTIC NIGHT. I. wakomng mto life tho quiet valley, tl.o flowery plan, and the crystal stream! How he longs for the goMen noon witl. Its genial sunshine, and its soft munnurin.- ■sounds wh.eh bear testimony to natures happiness! How he longs for the purple glories of the sunset, when the great orb of day sinks serenely and majestieally below the horizon, and the earth kindles in the reflection of Its departing pomp ! How he yearns for those l,ealth- ul influences of dawn which brace him up for his daily abour; how he misses the tranquillizing power of twi- light, which soothes and encourages to rest! From day to day he finds himself possessed by a single desire : on his hps and in his heart is Goethes well-known prayer: Light light! more light!" He wearies of the con- tinual gloom ; it becomes to him a burden and a terror • l.e feels a^ if it had laid hold upon him with an icy' grasp, and would no more let him go. On the other hand, it may be conceded that tho Arebc nigh has its interesting and fascinating aspects for the cultivated mind, when it can shake off the weight and oppression of the prolonged silence and a most continual darkness. It has. as we have seen, its glorious auroral phenomena, flooding land and sea with a many-coloured radiance, which may well recall "the consecration and the poet's dream," for only in "poefs dream could anytliing so strangely beautiful have been ■magined. Then there is a charm in the keen, cold light of the stoi-s, in the eery lustre which falls upon the hill.s and icebergs, in the flashing whiteness of the snow- shrouded mountain-peaks and majestic glaciera "Nature." says Dr. Hayes, "is here exposed on a cry plain, Ijo goWcMi urmuriiiir appiriess ! set, wJieri jestically reflection le liealtii- his daily T of twi- roni day isire; on prayer : the con- Fi terror ; I an icy hat the aspects off the ice and seen, its ^ with a II "the "poet's vo been d light le hills snow- on a til it 'I', ' if GRANDErR OF THE POLAR WORLD. 2„, gigantic scale ; " that is. ™a„ stands so completely face to t^e with ,t, that he feels himself dwarfed in Z m-e sence, and recognizes for the first time the gmndeuHf ts proportions. Out of the glassy sea Hsf thell ronte of lofty cliffs, flinging their shadows over tit desert of frozen waters. Mountain-summite, which fo of man has never profaned, seem to pierce the ve.T heavens and lift to the sta,. their viigin snows ^ hug. and massive floods the glaciers roU their burden of the mnumerable ages into the sea. "The very air forth""? K ^™*'' '°"°^" "' "''''' ■=»■»-. b^-s forth, says Hayes, "a loftier majesty, and seems to fill the un>ve,-se with a boundless transparency; and th. te pierce it sharply, and the moon fil/i't with a cold refulgence. There is neither warmth nor colouring underneath this ethereal robe of night. No broad win dow opens in the east, no gold and crimson curtain falls m the west, upon a world clothed in blue, and green and purple, melting into one I,armonious whole, a tinted c oak of graceful loveliness. Under the shadow of the eternal nigh^ Nature needs no drapery and requires no adornment. The glassy sea, the tall cliff, the Inftv mountein, the majestic glacier, do not blend one with the other. Each stands forth alone, clothed only with Solitude Sable priestess of the Arctic winter, she has wrapped the world in a winding-sheet, and thrown her web and woof over the very face of Nature." MR. SONNTAO'S JOURNEY. We have recorded ti.e departure of Mr. Sonntag on a visit t„ the ne,.rc.t E.,kin,o settle.nent, with ti.e view 268 IN SEARCH OF MR. SONNTAG. ffh m ' m '1 fi P^'f^'ng ^ team of Eskimo dogs. He was accom- pamed by Hans tl.e Imnter, and their return was ex- pected m a few days. But. to the surprise at first, and to tne alarm and anxiety afterwards, of Dr. Haves December pa^edaway-a new year opened, and January was far advaneed-yet there came no news of Mr. Sonr- tag. The suspense became intolerable, and Dr Haves was preparing to start in search of him, when two Eskimos arrived with the sad news that the poor as- konomer was dead. They also infonned him that Hans with h.s wifes father and mother, was on his way back to the schooner; but, owing to the condition w? "^"S^- ^» travelling by slow and easy stages. When Hans at last made his appearance, he was accompanied, however, only by his wife's brother; for the father and mother had broken down, and were eft, along with the dogs, in the neighbourhood of the g acier. waiting for assistance. This was at once despatched, and the two old people were brought to the vessel, and properly cared for; as weU as the feeble weaiy, almost lifeless dogs, now reduced to five in number! From the story told by Hans, it appeared that the tiuvellm had easily cleared Cape Alexander, and struck across the ice to Sutherland Island, where they built a suow-hut, and rested for a few hour«. I„ due time they set out for Northumberland Island, and had proceeded on their course about five mila, when Sonntag, feelin,. somewhat chilled sprang off the sledge, and t ahead to restore himself by exercise. Suddenly Hans observed him sinking. He harl come upon some thin ice, cover. I Muv D ESKIMO HANS' JOURNEY. 269 ing a recently open tide-crack, and not perceivincr the danger, had stepped forward. The ice gave way, and he tell in. Hans hastened to his rescue, and the two then turned back for Sorfalik, wher. a snow-hut could afford them shelter. Unfortunately, Mr. Sonntag did not change his wet clothing; and when the sledge halted at borfahk, Hans discovered that his companion was stiff and speechless. Removing him into the hut as quickly as possible, he placed him in the sleeping-bag, adminis- tered some brandy, and having tightly closed the hut lighted their alcohol lamp, for the double purpose of elevatmg the temperature and making some coffee His efforts were in vain ; Sonntag never recovered con- sciousness, and in a few hours died. Having closed up the entrance to the hut, to protect the dead body against carnivorous animals, Hans re- sumed his journey, and reached Northumberland Island He found, however, that the natives had abandoned their settlement; and after a night's rest he went on to Netlik, which was also deserted. At Iteplik how- ever, some twenty miles farther, he came upon a few families. Among them were two Eskimos who had known Dr. Hayes on his former visit to the Arctic Regions, and they volunteered to carry him the news of Mr. Sonntag's melancholy fate; while Hans despatched a couple of boys with his team to Cape York, to ac- quaint the Eskimos in that locality with Dr. Hayes' presence and his wants. On their return he started again for Port Foulke; where he arrived, as we have seen, with his team reduced to five miserably attenuated dogs. (644J 18 270 THE ARCTIC FOX. ';rMi5-||;|j Such «-»;, Hans' story. Dr. Hayes did not accept it ng It. The expedition had utterly failed in its obiect besides costing hin, the life of a tnfsted companioned M fnend, and all he could hope for was that some of the wandenng Eskimos might be induced to bring him a reinforcement for his skeleton team. EXCITEMENT OF THE CHASE. Meantime, as the approach of day became more and more diseeni.ble, the imprisoned cKplorei^ found an ngreeable relief from the monotony of their occupation m the el a.e The reindeer abandoned their winter fctnesses m the remote valleys, and came down towards the shore The Polar bear and the Arctic fox hki: sc Wok their remoter haunte. and began the pui^uit f the eal and the ocean-birds; the fox general y follow jng in the track of the bear, and obtaining a pUtnTf I"s prey There are two distinct varietfes, or rat"ier eT" blue''- '■ W^ "'^ """^^ ^"^ ''"' "- The rather ha of a solid gray; but it I,a^ a bluish effect in contrast with, or reflection upon, the snow. The fu of both species is highly valued J^'a ^!f*^ f "" ^"''^^ ^^' '"■" *^ well-known for any detailed description to be necessary. Everybodv has read o its ferocity, it. courage, its amLng stren^ Us devoted attachment to its young, its curLityS te voracious appetita During the long winter-dar'^ness that appetite can very seldom be satisfied; but in the summer, when the seal make their appearance upon the En. HAITES AND THE BEAR. 27, ice-floes, it indulges in unlimited gluttony. It i, „r„l, ei. t, It does not appear to atteclc man except when Imtly pursued and driven to bay. Then, indeed, ir a dangerous opponent; for one blow from its hea;^ paw win crush a hmb or dash out it. assailant's brains Dr. Hayes relates that one day, when observing with f"o"t hi", dd ' f f "' °' "'^ ^P™S-«^- »P- '5;eTee mo nit "t'' ""' bimself confronted in the -pale f.om the hummocks, and was on the full trot towat-ds the shove. Man and bear became conscious of each others presence at one and the same moment. 1 d7 Hayes was without a rifle or other means of attack or defence, he concluded that "discretion w»s the better of lIl-oT'; ™' ^'f'' ^""^-'^ - ''- direct: o 1 e ship; feehng nmch like the village-maiden in the ballad who lances that a phantom is close-pursuing 1 r retrea ing steps. However, after a few length^^id he looked^back over his shoulder, and to lis surmi and gratification discov. I the bear m.king fTt |e open water with a celerity that satisfactorily fnd caM tlie nature of his reflections. ^ muicated THE ESKIMO GUE.STS fouTd ir'^"' "" '"'"^' "^- ^''^^ -1 >™ followers r."^es o^;- A""""'"* " ''"<'^'"=" «- 'diosyn- 'uak kI T ^'>rP^»«™iy n.'^n'ed Tchoitchen- guak, Kablunet, and Angeit The lost was a lad of m,sch,evo„s disposition, aa full of tricks as a monkey iV'il^ , 'VI f itWJ.fi* 272 ESKIMO VISITORS. and a source of infinite entertainment to the sailors, who petted him after tlieir rough, good-natured fashion. Kablunet, his mother, was an industrious and ingenious woman, expert in the manufacture of 3very article of an Arctic wardi-obe, from the outer coat to the boots. She was light-complexioned, as her name indicated — " the child with the white skin." Neither she nor her husband was prepossessing in appearance. According to our English ideas, broad faces, heavy jaws, projecting cheek-bones, narrow fore- heads, small black eyes, flat noses, and long thin lips, do not constitute the elements of physical comeliness. Their hair was jet-black, but not abundant. Short in 'Stature, their frames, nevertheless, gave evidence of muscular strength and considerable powers of endurance. Tcheitchenguak wore a beard on the upper lip and chin; an unusual distinction, the face of the Eskimo being generally as beardless as that of the Mongolian, which it closely resembles in typical characteristics. Their attire was not adapted to set off their personal charms, had they had any. An European tailor or modiste would have been shocked by its want of grace- fulness and elegance. But it was well-adapted to the climate, and so contrived as to afford tlie best possible protection against its rigour. Very little difference exists between the masculine and feminine costume of the Eskimos. It consists always of nine pieces : a pair of boots, stockings, mittens, pantaloons, an under-dress, and a coat. The man wears bear-skin boots, reachinf' to the top of the calf, where they meet the bear-skin pantaloons. Tl> ^se of the woman aspire nearly to the THEIR COSTUME DESCRIBED. 273 middle of the thigh, ,.„d are made of tanned seal-skin., but her pautaJoons are of bear-skin. The stockings are of aog-skm ; the mittens of seal-skin. The under^dress IS manufactured of bird-skins, with the feathers turned inwards for greater warmth; and the coat, which is drawn on over the head like a shirt, and ha^ no openin<. m front, of the skin of the blue Arctic fox. " The coat, we must explain, terminates in a hood which envelops the head as completely a. an Albanian capote. or a Turkish veil, or a monk's cowl. This liood is the chief mark of distinction between the dress of the two sexes. In the woman's costume it is pointed at the ton to receive the hair, which is twisted up into a hard I'oX str' " *'' """" " " ""'- ""' '^'^ "''^i Such is the Eskimo dress; at least, such wa. the dress of the mteresting couple, Tcheitchenguak and Kablunet It vanes sometimes in materials; but in it« general rcribed"" ''"'" "'■'' "'"'' '""" *'"' "'""'' -« ^"- Tcheitchenguak and Kablunet, after awhile, grew weary of Hans' tent, or of Hans' company, or of both ; and going ashore, proceeded to construct a snow-hut A beaver, however, would have contrived a more com^ forteble habitetion ! It was nothing better than a cave or tunnel fashioned in a bank of snow. Just opposite the ship lay a narrow gorge, in which the snow had accumu ated to a great depth, leaving, as it swept and eddied through the opening, a kind of cavern, forme'd by the sohd rock on the left and the snow-bank on the right and overhead. TclieJW.nno,,..!, ,*,_*.-, ,. 274 THE SNOW-HUT. I R inner side of this natural hollow, burying himself in the snow like a rabbit in the sand, and worming his way dov/n into the drift with great rapidity. After he had worked downward for about five feet, he struck off horizontally for about ten feet more. This operation completed, he began the construction of his den. Lustily did he strike his shovel into the frozen snow above his head, bringing it down in large blocks, which he hastily cleared away, and soon ex- cavated a space that enabled him to stand upright. Having attained the proper dimensions, he then smoothed and levelled the sides of his cave; fixed up a doorway, through which it was just possible to crawl on all-fours; finished off the tunnel entrance ; laid down a flooring of stones, which was afterwards covered with several layers of reindeer-skins; tapestried the white shining walls with hangings of the same description; lighted a couple of oil-lamps; suspended a deer-skin across the doorway, and exclaimed (in Eskimo), Opus consummatum est ! A few hours later, when Dr. Hayes paid a visit of ceremony, he found the " interior " quite warm and com- fortable. There was no fire, of course, but sufllcient light was given by the two lamps : the temperature had risen to freezing-point ; Kablunet was plying her needle, like a model housewife; Angeit, the sailors' pet, was regaling on some surreptitious tit-bits of venison ; and Tcheitchenguak was engaged in the repair of a harpoon. Such was the "at home" of an Eskimo family. The tools and implements of the Eskimos are neces- sarily of the simplest construction, yet they display a ESKIMO HANDICRAFT. 275 certain rude ingenuity. Tl.eir lance eonaiats of a wooden shaft or handle, with an iron spike (when proouLble) firmly secured to one end of it, and a piece of waJru tusk, shod with sharp iron, at the other. The harpoon taff was a narwhal t«oth or horn, six feet in length; a hard sohd piece of ivory, perfectly straight. The head was a piece o walrus tusk, three inches long, with a hole t rough the eontre for the line, a hole intf one end fo. the sharpened point of the staif, and at the other end an iron tip. The line was nothing „ore than strip of mw seal-skin, about fifty feet long, whieh had been cut frojn the body of the seal in a cofiinuous co Then, for the rabbit-trap: a seal-skin line, provided with numerous loops, and voild t;f f icebergs slowly careering over its waves. The winds broke up the surface into multitudinous ripples, and effectually prevented it from freezing. Light wreaths of frost-smoke rose over it, and then sailed .v^ay on the breeze to the south-west. To the left, the mountains raised their lofty summits, and near Cape Alexander the glacier-river rolled its flood downward from the mer de glace On the crests of the silent hills, and above the broad ramparts of the cape, floated lazy clouds of fleecy whiteness, through which the sun's splendour streamed 111 golden fire, until the whole southern firmament glowed with the glory of the approaching day The dark spur of Cape Alexander lay directly south of the watchers, who knew that the sun would emerge above It at exactly the meridian hour, rolling along the liorizon, with only half its sphere above the deep-blue rim of sea. Never did mother watch more eagerly by the bedside of her youngest, waiting for the warm light on the pallid cheek which should tell of danger past than these hardy adventurers for the moment of sunrise' Presently a ray of light shot through the cloud-wreaths on the brow of the morning, blending them into a mysterious mass of purple gleams, and, as it drew nc ,rer and nearer, widening in every direction this purple lustre, while the icebergs successively caught the glori- ous tidings, and arrayed themselves in silvery splendour to do homage to the god of day. No words can describe the marvel of the change which came over the face of the sea. We ourselves have seen such a scene early on a summer morning, or rather just as night was disap- rearing, and have felt as if death were suddenly trans- le winds pies, and reaths of -y on the ountains ndor the } mer de )ove the of fleecy treamed mament y south emerge 3ng the ep-blue erly by m light jr past, sunrise, v^reaths into a neirer purple glori- 3ndour ascribe face of rly on disap- trans- f A WELCOME TO THE SIJN. 277 formed into life , as if a cold shadow had pass., frou. ho boson ot Nature -nd earth and sea were once mor. /•allowed by f ... presence of the Infinite Love The dark red ciifln soon shone with a warm colouringi Hieir bes of glory; the face of ocean broke out into multitudmous laughter." It is coming-it has come t And every man, as, with a sudden impulse, he lifts his ha and hails the glorious face of the long-lost wanderer, feels that it is g( to have seen the sun. " Welcome, the lord of light and .utip of day ; Welcome, fosterer of tend, herbis green • Welcome, quickener of flourished flowers' sheen : Welcome, support of every root and vane; We come, comfort of all kind fruits and grain ; Welcome, the birds' green beild upon the brier; Welcome, master and ruler of the year • Welcon.e. welfare of husbands at the ploughs • Welcome, repairer of woods, trees, and bought; Welcome, depainter of the bloomit meads • Welcome, the life of everything that spreads." Such is the rapturous strain in which an old Scotch poet greets the great "day-god," the light-giver the parent o life and love. The watchers on' tl Jse lone^ hiUs, with wastes of Arctic ice and snow around them were conscious of even a deeper feeling of gratitude and admiration The friend of all hopeful associations, says Hayes, had returned to infuse a ne;. glow into their hearts. After an absence of one hundred and twentv- six days he poured his blessings once more on a cold and desolate world, and that world went forth to meet Inm. After a while he will rend asunder the sheet of frozen snow, and tumble it in "gushing fountains " to *# p^ <» m % > ^a ^ W «3 -"-St. y IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I L25 ill 1.4 2.5 2? M 18 1.6 6" 1 IluiMgiapiiHj Sciences Corporation /. i< ^, fA ^^^'' gC^'- \\ ^^ ^1? 6^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^^"^ ^\J^ ^ #?^ //Jh %!<•/ ^. I. S^"0 > in! 278 PURCHASE OF DOGS. the se-., and will water the earth to life and warmth, so that the flowers will bud and bloom, and turn their grateful eyes towards him, as he keeps watch over the ancient hills throughout the long summer. " The very glaciers will weep tears of joy at his coming. The ice will lose its iron grip upon the waters, aud will let the wild waves play in freedom. The reindeer will skip gleefully over the mountains to welcome his coming, and will look longingly to him for the green pastures. The sea-fowls, knowing that he will give them a resting-place for their feet on the rocky islands, will come to seek the moss-beds which he spreads for their nests; and the sparrows will come on his life-giving rays, and will sing their love-songs through the endless day." MOVEMENTS. Now that the season was rapidly approaching, and that every day brought with it an increase of light. Dr. Hayes began to prepare for his northward explorations. The chief difficulty by which he found himself confronted was the want of dogs ; and it became evident that un- less the Eskimos came up with a fresh supply, the sledges would have to be drawn by men. Towards the end of February, however, three Eskimos visited the camp; Kalutunah, Tattarat, and Myouk. By dint of some dexterous bargaining, Dr. Hayes ob- tained four of their best dogs. These visitors had scarcely departed before another batch anived, from whom two more dogs were obtained, so that a full team was now made up. Shortly afterwards Kalutunah returned, bringing with TWO ESKIMO FAMILIES. 279 him his wife, his four children, his dogs, and all his goods and chattels: namely, parts of two bear-skins which constituted the family bedding; half-a-dozen seal-skms, or the family tent; two lances and two har- poons; some harpoon-lines; a couple of lamps and pots • a small seal-skin bag, containing the implements neces- sary for the repair of the family wardrobe; a roll of dried gra^, which the Eskimos use a^ we do cork soles for the boots; some dried moss for lamp-wick; and, for tood, a few small pieces of walrus-meat and blubber With Kalutunah Dr. Hayes concluded a friendly ar- rangement,-by which it was agreed that he and his family should Hve in the hut at Etah, do all the huntincr Uiey could, and lend their dogs to the expedition; while Dr. Hayes undertook to provide them with everything necessary for their support. Another family arrived a few days later-Myouk, his wife, and baby; but as Myouk did not bear a savoury reputation, he met with a cold welcome from the " white men." Dr. Hayes wa^ now the happy owner of seventeen dogs, and he waited only for the arrival of April, with Its warm, vern.1 airs, to start on his journey northward. Meanwhile, he fed and strengthened his teams, and hunted the reindeer, and studied at his leisure the ways and manners of his Eskimo friends. Before he left the ship he wa^ desirous of recoverincr and decently interring Mr. Sonntag's body ; and in order to secure Kalutunah's assistance for this purpose, he one day drove over to the little colony of Etah. The in- formation thus obtained enabled him to despatch Mr 280 THE FIRST EXPLORATION. i> ^ Dodge, with a couple of teams, to fetch the remains of their unfortunate comrade ; and on his safe return with the melancholy freight, a grave was dug in the frozen terrace which overlooked the little bay, and the body interred, with suitable Christian rites. A neatly-shaped mound wa« afterwards raised with stones ; and at the head was placed a chiselled slab, bearing this inscrip- tion : — t AUGUST SONNTAQ. Died December 1860. Aged 28 yewra. THE FIRST JOURNEY. Preparatory to his more extended expedition, Dr. Hayes started on the 16th of March to survey the ground over which he was about to travel, and to determine whether it would be better to keep along the Greenland coast, or to strike across the sound, and make an effort to reach, on Grinnell Land, the starting-point for which he had striven unsuccessfully the previous autumn. On reaching Sunrise Point, the headland previously described in our account of the return of daylight, he found the ice very rough and insecure, and his team floundered in a tide-crack. The point, however, was doubled at last, and he bowled merrily along the frozen road as far as Cape Hatherton, where he encamped for the night. Sleep and rest were diflicult, for the tem- perature outside the tent was 40° below zero ; and every- body was glad when morning rendered possible a re- sumption of the journey. At tlie north point of Cape Inlet the attention of the A CAIRN DISCOVERED. 281 ition of the travellers was attracted by a conspicuous cairn; which, on being examined, proved to have been erected by Captain Hartstene, an officer despatched by tlie American Government in search of Dr. Kane. It was with much interest that Hayes gazed on the handwriting of his countryman, there, in the heart of the icy wilderness. The written record ran as follows :—" The U.S. steamer Arctic touuhed here and examined thoroughly for traces of Dr. Kane and his associates, without finding anything more than a vial, with a small piece of cartridge-paper, with the letters '0. K., Aug. 1853,' some matches, and a ship's rifle-ball. We go from this unknown point to Cape Hathei-ton for c. search. (Signed) H. J. Hartstene, Lieut.-Comdg. Arctic Expedition. Ei^-'ut p.m., August 16th, 1855.— P.^. Should the U.S. barque Melease find tliis, she will understand that we are bound for a search at Cape Hatherton. H. J. H." A reference to our nar- rative of Dr. Kane's adventures will show that he and his followers had left Cape Hatherton, on their return journey, before Captain Hartstene's arrival. Climbing a hill in the neighbourhood of the point. Dr. Hayes obtained a good view of the sea for miles around, and observed that in every direction, except down the coast toward Cape Hatherton, the ice was piled up in great ridges which it was almost impossible for sledges to traverse. He resolved, therefore, that if he crossed Smith Sound he \vould start from Cairn Point; and he proceeded to remove all the provisions from his sledge not needed for immediate consumption, and to deposit them in a cleft in a rock, covering them over with heavy stones as a protection against the bears. Then, the day 282 A night's lodging. being past, tlie travellers dug a cave in a snow-bank, and sought therein a little rest. This mode of spending tho night wa.s so uncomfortable, that, after another day's journey, Dr. Hayes set his in- genuity to work to construct a more effectual asylum. Selecting a snow-bank with a square side about five feet high, and starting from the top, our wayfarers dug a pit about six feet in length, four and a half feet in width, and four in depth, so that between this pit and the square side of the bank intervened a wall about two feet thick. To the reader such an excavation will seem better fitted for the reception of potatoes than of human beings ; but Arctic explorers are not fastidious ! Over the top of the pit was placed a sledge ; over the sledge one of the canvas coverings used to enclose the cargo ; over that again a three-feet layer of loose snow. Then through the thin wall was dug a hole for entrance; the buffalo-skin bedding and cases of provisions were intro- duced ; the wayfarers afterwards took up their quarters ; the entrance was closed with a few blocks of hard snow \ and aU was comfortable for the night. The alcohol lamp was lighted, and the tin kettle exposed to its glim- mering blue flame. A good strong dish of tea recruit/ i the nerves of each weary wanderer, and the appetite was satisfied by substantial rations of preserved beef and potatoes. The pipes were then Ughted, and everybody disposed himself for slumber. Slumber ! The air was so cold that it was with diffi- culty the adventurers by constant friction of their feet prevented them from freezing. Slumber! It was im- possible, with the thermometer pointing to 31° below EXCESSIVE COLD. j„ :Joro. What conld be the cause of it? Some mistakes it wa, suggested, in the construction of Dr. Haves' newlv- mventcd refuge. The snow could not have been nronerfy beaten down and solidified. The air must have entei-ed through many a chink and crevice. The mystery waa solved however, in the morning; for when Dr. Hayes exposed his thermometer to the external atmosphei-e, it sank to 68 30' below zero, or 100° 30' below the freezina- pomt oi water I It is almost impossible for the reader to realize what is meant by such a frightful extreme of Dr Hayes remarked as "a singular circumstance," tnat this great depression of temperature was not-in the open air, at least-perceptible to the senses. They gave no hint whatever that, in the blazing sunlight of the ib-ctic day, the thermometer indicated about the coldest temperature ever recorded. This was owin<. we may conclude, to the profound calm that prevailed.' Had the air been in motion, the travellers would have found such excessive cold not only inconvenient, but dangerous^ Most of us will have experienced the dis- tressing effects of a cold eaat wind, even when the general temperature ha^ remained above freezing-point The influence of a low temperature upon the snow is very striking. It becomes hardened to such a degree that It IS almost as gritty a^ sand, and consequently T,',' n ^ '^' Pledge-runner is much increased The sledge runs most easily when the snow is slightly wet, and therefore the native covers the sole of his runner with moisture. Dissolving in his mouth a baU of snow, he pours it out into his hand, and then over 284 A SECOND JOURNEY. the polished ivory sole, where it immediately forms a thin film of ice to meet the indurated crystals. Continuing liis journey, Dr. Hayes was much im- pressed by the extraordinary spectacle which the sea pre- sented. Winter had closed in while the ice was crowd- ing upon the land ; and hence, owing to the tremendous pressure, the sea was one bristling labyrinth of ice- fragments, as if, during a storm, its whirling billows had been suddenly frozen, and had resolved themselves into a succession of rugged peaks and deep valleys. Such a route was necessarily very laborious; nnd as the dogs were growing weary, and that part of the coast had been explored by Dr. Kane's parties, he de- termined on returning to Port Foulke. Ho pushed onward, first, to Rensselaer Harbour, which was asso- ciated with so many painful memories, but discovered scarcely any vestige of the discovery-ship, the Advance, which had been probably carried out to sea, crushed in the ice-floes, and sunk. THE EXPLORING-PARTY. After his return to Port Foulke, Dr. Haj-es occupied several days in preparing for the great expedition. The dog-sledges carried forward to Cairn Point such stores as were likely to be needed. Wardrobes were restored, and provisions collected. On the evening of the 3rd of April everything was ready, and the party, twelve in number, started off merrily in two sledges, " The Hope " and " The Pei-severance,"— the former drawn by eight, and the latter by six dogs. A third sledge carried a twenty-foot metallic life-boat, in which Dr. Hayes had COOPED UP I.V A DEN. j,. Vision, of navigating the Polar Sea. Ue sun wa^ nnmg bnghtly into the harbour, and every he!rt throbbed with enthusiasm. '^ This enthusiasm, however, received a severe check The! 1/ "" *°"° ™''' ^°^"^ '^ »«™"^ trial. the 6th of Aprd, they reached Cairn Point, and were comfortably housed, their spirits revived. We Tav weU be .ndulgent, however, to men who worW ha^ ma frozen desert, with the temperature below zero and xce and snow eveiywhere around them,-now plunging through a snow-drift four feet deep, now toihng across a ridge of lofty hummocks. The jouraeT waa so difficult, that Br. Hayes was fain to leave"he boat at Caarn Point, and to proceed with the two dog! ledges, and a foot-party dragging the other sledge fo He could not carry out his design for nine or ten days however, owing to a violent gale and snow-sto™ Meantime, the position of the exploring-party was m s^: able enough ; cooped up in a den in a snow-bank, a«d engaged ma twofold struggle-to kiU time, and p^. vent the cold from killing them. ^ This den was a pit eighteen feet long, by eight feet wide and four deep. Over the top were 'pula tL bol oa. to support the sledge, which was lafd across them; over he sledge wa. thrown the sail of the life-boat; and over the sa.1 a stratum of loose snow. In one e^d of th,s wretched "interior" a hole was formed for i„Ls and^egress, but filled up closely with blocks of fnZ JL ■/ 280 CLOSK QUARTKHS. !'i I ' »l 'ill H iMii when fill the ]);irty were housed. The lloor (if we may use the term) was spread with a strip of india-rubher cloth; above which lay a strip of buffalo-skins, all squared and sewed together; and, above this, another similar strip. " When we want to sleep," writes Dr. Hayes, " we draw ourselves underneath tiie upper one of these buffalo strips, and accommodate ourselves to the very moderate allowance of space assigned to each person as best we can. The post of honour is at the end furthest from the door; and except the opposite end, this post of honour is the least desirable of all other places ; for, somehow or other, the twelve sleepers below me manao-o to pull the ' clothes ' off, and have me jammed against the snow wall, with nothing on me but my travelling gear; for we go to bed without change of costume, except our boots and stockings, which we tuck under our heads to help out a pillow, while what we call ' reindeer sleeping stockings ' take their place on the foet This," adds Dr. Hayes quaintly, "can hardly be called comfort. I have a vague remembrance of having slept more soundly than I have done these last four nights, and of having rested upon something more agreeable to the * quivering flesh ' than this bed of snow, the exact sensations communicated by which are positively indescribable,— a sort of cross between a pine board and a St. Lawrence gridiron. And yet the people are merry and busy enough Several packs of cards are in requisition, and altogether we are rather a jolly party— the veiiest Mark Tapleys of travellers." All things come to an end — even Arctic storms; and (if we may iidiji-rubbcr o-skins, Jill lis, another layeH, " we 9 of these the very h person as nd furthest d, this post places; for, me manage led against '' travelling >f costume, buck under at we call %ce on the san hardly nbrance of these last bhing more lis bed of by -which between a id yet the al packs of L'e rather a sellers." arms; and CUmoUv ^TATE OF TIIK ICE. 289 on the t(mth day tl.o camp wn. broken «n and th« passage of the sound iindertakon Tf ^' Ti.« • , ""'Ji^rwiKon. It was no easy task 1.0 .CO w,« heaped up on cither ha,,., i„ iZnZe .ro«uh.r hummocks; and between these ]ay gulftof dnfted snow, in which the sledges rolled from^d to B.de like rf,.ps ,n a billowy sea. At one time thev ck,„ bored a lofty ridge, to dcseend on the other s de a rutZi - .age bei Cactiir:pa:air;:'"£' zt M^.th handsp,ko and shovel. Occasionally the IdJ would s,nk deep in the snow, and could be rescued onfv at the cost of sevenvl hou,^ of labour; or it had tote ....loaded and it. cargo carried on the d,-oopin. shoul ders of the n,en. The dogs could not alwayf ™11 the t tl.01^ the sailors fastened ropes to the sledges ind .auled at them with unconquerable goodfumour t.m,ng tl.e,r efforts by monotonous nauticS cries ' plained:- "'^ eondition of the ice is thus ex- by WiUiam Baffin upwards of two hundred rnid iiftv due ea.t and west, and measuring about one hundred it entr!" ^ " ''°^"'' ">' ^'=''*y -"- - ^readt ^ IsabeUa "' "T"' ''""^^" ^"P^ ^'^ ^er and Isabella, ,s not above thirty miles wide. At the other end, where it opens into Kennedy Channel, git way ,s of ampler dimensions. " Now, into this great ba.i„ pou.^s the current of the 290 IMMENSE ICE-FLOES. Polar Ocean, through the gateway of the Kennedy Channel ; and as the ice necessarily escapes much more slowly into Baffin Bay, it has accumulated within the borders of the sound for centuries. During the sum- mer it undergoes a partial process of disruption; and the broken pieces, pressed together, heaped upon one another, crowd in a labyrinthine confusion towards the Greenland coast. Much of the ice in Smith Sound is of very ancient formation, consisting of bergs discharged ages ago from the Humboldt Glacier. These huge masses, propelled by the current m early winter through the sea, as the new ice is rapidly forming, sweep onward like a tor- nado. The result is— chaos. Dr. Hayes speaks of an old ice-field which he measured while crossing the sound. It rose on an average twenty feet above the sea-level, and extended superficially about six miles by four. Its surface vfas exceedingly rugged, alternating between hillocks from sixty to eighty feet in height and deep tortuous valleys. The sledge-passage of such a floe was an enterpri&e of which those who dwell at home at ease, and whose only idea of an ice-suiface is derived from the winter freez- ing of pond, lake, or stream, can form no adequate con- ception. It was infinitely worse than a gallop across country. Hedges are trifles when compared with hum- mocks, and ditches not worth a thought when com- pared witb deep chasms of frozen snow. There is a certain grandeur and impressiveness about these immense plains of ice. The solid contents of the one we speak of could not be less than six thousand J ^1 IN SIGHT OF GBl.VNELL LAND. 291 one hundred and sixty feet! ^ ^.^s of solid ice one hundred a^d sixty feet thick, six miles long, four n-iles wide-what an example is this of the slow but tenible powerofFrost! It is formed, of course, by accumulation! -growing from above, layer upon layer, like a glacier, each recurrmg year mar-king a fresh deposit of snow and a new stratum of ice. In no other way could the mighty mass have come into being, for water does not freeze to a greater depth than eighteen feet. The ice is the shield and buckler of the sea, for the freezing air cannot pierce through more than a certain thickness. The 24th of April found the gallant company of Arctic pioneers whose adventures we are narrating at a distance of only thirty miles from Cairn Point. They had been absent from the schooner for two-and-twenty days, and had worked so hard, endured so much, yet accomphshed so ittle! Before them rose the elevated coast of Grinnell Land; but between them and it still intervened a dreary and aJmost impassable desert. eel that they had embarked on an enterprise in which g owmg depression of spirits probably increased the physical weariness from which they suffered. One mm was mcapaeitated from working by having sprained his back in lifting; another had sprained his ankle in falling; others suffered from frost-bitten toes and fingers; and the vit.J energies of aU were so lowered by the terrible cold that they could scai«ly atte^dt 292 THE FOUll PIONEEIIS. their own immediate necessities, much less devote them- selves energetically to the completion of a journey from which they no longer believed any result could be obtained. So, when about midway across the sound, Dr. Hayes ordered his men to return to the ship; while he himself, with three noble-hearted volunteers-Knorr, Jansen' and Macdonald— and his fourteen dogs, made a further effort to reach Grinnell Land. It was on the 28th of April this separation took place Forward— forward— forward ! Such wa^ the motto of Hayes ; and the energy and determination with which he met and conquered obstacle after obstacle, were truly chivalrous. , Will no great poet ever write the epic of Arctic Discovery, and immortalize the names of such men as he ? Baffin, Hudson, Parry, FrankUn Crozier, Bellot, Hall, M'Clintock, CoUinson, Kane, Hayes,' —what heroic spirits were theirs ! What resolution,' what endurance, what noble self-devotion ! The best qualities of humanity have been displayed in the long, long warfare against the stern Genius of the North ,' in that persistent, laborious, deadly struggle which has' brouglit the banner of Science to the threshold of the mysterious sea, and almost completed the conquest of the Pole ! The difficulties of the enterprise did not decrease as Dr. Hayes neared tiie opposite shore ; but he was stimu- lated to confront and overcome them by his enthusiastic thirst for discovery. As he approached, the prospect that developed before him lent him new courage. The great wilderness of glittering peaks wliich stretches I^ND AT LAST. 2SS along the whole extent of GrinneU Land, produced a sublimity. There the mountains rise in ranffe a,ft*r »nge of isolated cones, "looking like giant Xk' o cannon-balls, sprinkled with snow " Th! midmSt sun streams across them from the north, and wreattfs tlS^ colossal forms with many-tinted vapours m his aim. He reached the ice-bound shore of Grinnell But he found himself unable to do much more. He and u;r"ofTT7^ thedogs were exhausted; a^lthe supply of dog-food wa^ reduced to about three hundred founds or twelve days' allowance. All ho could dt^ aad this he resolved to do-wa. to explore the route to the margin of the Polar Sea, as a ba^fs for furthrex^ ploration, in the event of his reaching the west side of the sound with his little vessel late in'the sZtf Uie point at which he had touched Grinnell Land h. named Cape Hawks. Thence he stretched acVL I wide y to another headland. Cape Napoleon. He^thr c was so heaped up and jammed in upon the shore that it became necessary to strike out into the sound, »;* plod ^ext day he advanced to the north side of Cane Frazer, the farthest point reached by Kane in he ex! lt:rlT\ ^.'>-*'>eexplorers'found theirs within the boundanes of Kennedy Channel, and with Z: ut:.^^"^ '' *•'" P"'"' ™- M-d with a gentle less regularity, reater 294 LOOKING NORTHWARD. V li and forming a series of terraced benches, the highest of which may be computed at one hundred and fifty feet above the sea-level. Here Dr. Hayes discovered the remains of an Eskimo camp; a curious circumstance, which may be regarded as confirmatory of the views of those who hold that Eskimo tribes inhabit the shores of the Polar Sea. As Hayes advanced, he found that no land was visible to the eastward (from which it would appear that Kennedy Channel is of considerable and unexpected width), and that to the north-east ilie sky was dark and cloudy,— a "water-sky," with the characteristic aspect of a sky above a great sea. The temperature was remarkably mild, not sinking below -20", and at one time rising to the freezing-point. Signs of animal life cheered the onward path of the travellers; tiny snow- buntings chirped around them, and a burgomaster-gull flew over their heads on his way to the north. From a neighbouring cliff a raven croaked his note of welcome; astonished, perhaps, at the presence of man in a solitude so remote. In places where the wind had swept the land bare of snow, traces of vegetation were discovered. On the 15th of May, Jansen, the strongest man of the expedition, broke down, and Hayes determined to leave him in charge of Macdonald, and to push on with Knorr for his companion. He had now reached a position somewhat beyond that attained by Morton in Kane's expedition (June 1854) ; and was "looking out upon the same sea from a point probably about sixty miles to the northward and westward of Cape Constitution, where, only a month later in the season, his further progress A DKEARV PFCTUBE. jj, was arrested by open water." His desire increased to push as far to the northward as possible; a^d, at aU events, to reach the 83rd parallel. The coast, as he advanced, presented the same general ieatures: dark wall-sided cliffs on the left; a jagged ndge of broken ice on the right; and between them a kind of gorge, through which the two adventurers took their way Occa.,ionally the continuity of the coast- bne was broken by a bay; and as they kept to the westward, along its southern margin, a sloping termced valley opened before them, rising gently from the ice- bound sea to the^snow-shrouded base of the mountains iwf ! "''''' *''** ^^ '^'■' "^™'- ■""'■e impressed with the dreary desolation of an Arctic landscape. He had thought his situation on the summit of the Green- hnd merde glace, in that adventurous journey of his which we have already described, could leave nothing un- supphed to the imagination that was needed to complete the picture of boundless steriHty, But here the greater variety of forms seemed to magnify the mental impres- sion, and to give a wider play to the fancy. And as the eye waadered from snowy peak to peak, and rested upon the dark and weather-worn cliffs, and traced the dull line of the everlasting ice-foot, and overlooked the mystenous distant sea, which no keel had ever ploughed and m every object recognized the movement of the silent forces of Nature, through the summer sunshine and the winter darkness, constant, irresistible, unending -the explorer felt how small indeed are aU the worlS and efforts and thoughts of k,;„ ! His progress w.,,, checked at length by the rotten ice. 296 THE NORTHERN SEA. ii il ill which proved to be impassable. Hayes had reached his neplus ultra; he had not attained lat. 82° but he had actually advanced to the shore of that northernmost gulf, into which Kennedy Channel opens through a broad bay! Here the ice was broken up, and water-ways ramified across it, and led into the free ocean which, it may be, lies beyond. Climbing to the summit of a rugged cliff about 800 feet in height, Hayes was rewarded for his labours and sufferings by a glorious prospect. Standing against the dark " water-sky " at the north, rose, in dim outline, the white sloping summit of a noble headland, the northernmost known land upon the globe. He cal- culated it to be in lat. 82° 30', or about 450 miles from the North Pole. Nearer, another bold cape stood forth ; and nearer, a third headland towered majestically above the sea, as if pushing up into the very skies a lofty mountain- peak, on which Winter had dropped its diadem of snows. No land was visible except the coast which Dr. Hayes had so bravely reached. Beneatli him spread the sea in a mottled sheet of white and dark patches ; the latter being either pools of water, or patches of rapidly melting ice. They deepened in colour and increased in size as they receded, until they were blended in one uniform expanse of dark blue by the belt of the water-sky. Only the old and solid floes, some a quarter of a mile, and some several miles across, and the hummocks and ridges accumulated between them, or on their margin, preserved the whiteness and rigidity of winter. A MEMORIAL. Further progress northward was impossible, unless A MEMORIAL. 25, Dr. Hayes had been provided with a boat. Nothing to Port Foulke; a.s quickly a^ possible, for the summer was rapidly approaching, the ice wa,s yielding to the solar mfluence, and the open water wa. eating from Kennedy Channel into the ice-masses of Smith Sound m the north as well as through Baffin Bay in the south. But before tummg his back on the unexplored Polar Sea. he desired to erect some memorial of his adventures Some flags which he had brought with him were sus- pended by a whip-lash between two tall rocks; and the following record, enclosed in a small glass vial, was de- posited beneath a hastily-reared cairn of stones :_ This point, the most northern land that has ever been reach»,l by Ueorge F. Knorr, travelhng with a dog-sledge. We arrived here after a toilsome march of forty-six days from my wi^terW hour, near Cape Alexander, at the moath of Smith Sound Mv observations place us in lat. 81« 36', long. 70° 30' W. Ourf urther uavigableat Lt oXZll'l^jl^^^^ ^ ^ '^ tomber, I go hence to my winter harbour, ton^e^th^' f M to get through Smith Sound with my vesi XT ,C t ?' "P this summer. ' "^ "" "^ '"*'*' J. I. irATES. Afny 10th, ISGl. m which he describes his emotions at quitting the scene of his unprecedented achievement. "I quitted the place with reluctance," he writes- "It possessed a fascinnfinp f^r, ^. ,^. •/ ^^^^' !. .o. mc. and ic was with no 298 THE POLAR BASIN. hi ii i i' ordinary sensations that I contemplated my situation, with one solitary companion, in that hitherto untrodden desert; while my nearness to the earth's axis, the consciousness of standing upon land far beyond the limits of previous observation, the reflections which crossed my mind respecting the vast ocean which lay spread out before me, the thought that those ice-girdled waters might lash the shores of distant islands where dwell human beings of an unknown race, were circum- stances calculated to invest the very air with mystery, to deepen the curiosity, and to strengthen the resolution to persevere in my determination to sail upon this sea and to explore its furthest limits. And as I recalled the struggles which ■ had been made to reach this sea,— through the ice and across the ice,— by generations of brave men, it seemed as if the spirits of these old worthies came to encourage me, as their experience had already guided me; and I felt that I had within my grasp 'the great and notable thing' which had inspired the zeal of sturdy Frobisher, and that I had achieved the hope of matchless Parry." THE POLAR BASIN. We may pause here to estimate the value of Dr.^ Hayes' observations, and to form a correct idea of the character of the Polar Basin. A glance at the map will show the reader that tha North Pole forms, as it were, the centre, or focus, of a sea or ocean with an average diameter of upwards of two thousand miles. This sea is entirely surrounded by land, except at its outlets into the North Pacific and ' situation, untrodden axis, the 3yond the ma which wliich lay ice-girdled nds where fe circuin- i mystery, resolution a this sea icalled the his sea, — srations of these old ience had '^ithin my i inspired achieved le of Dr.v ea of the that thft )cus, of a wards of rrounded icific and A BRIEF SURVEY. 399 Nortl, Atlantic. Its shores, in truth, are generally well- known, and are laid down in our charts with „T„ , G. nnell Land and Greenland. Their distance from tho Pole ,s cunously uniform, and they all lie within 1 ! boundanes of the region of perpetual frost. They a e everywhere inhabited by people of the same ra7Z gam a subsistence by continual hunting and fishil Pohr tr '" "' *'" °"*'^'^ *''^""S'' -Wch'the i-acific. These are three : Baffin Bay Behrin,, qt.„if and the broad but almost unknown';,::'" te^n anTenirtr"' """^'^ '''^"'''- ^''^^ ^ '^^ ^^• and enable the warm currents of the Equator to enter to the eas of Spitzbergen, and force out the cold Pokr of the waters which prevents those of the Arctic World f om being chilled to 32". Hence, the warm breath of this mighty ocean spreads a genial influence throughout the northern region, and rescues it from the blighfof , perpetual winter ! ^ ^ sta!rZ"-r ''^l •""-•J'*'- reader will under- stand that It IS only the surface-water which ever reaches so low a temperature that it is changed to ice ■ and he will also perceive (to adopt the language of Dr.' Hayes) that when the wind moves the surfafe-wate he particles chilled by contact with the air minglein the rolling waves with the warm waters beneath,land h nee, hat ice can only form in sheltered pla es o. so slack, that it becomes chilled to the very bottom, or f? 800 THE BELT OF ICE. where the air over the sea is uniformly calm. As storms are no less frequent or violent in the Polar seas than in other regions of our globe, it follows that the Polar ice can cover but a small portion of the Polar waters ; that it exists in those localities only where it is sheltered by the land. It adheres to the barren Siberian shores, and springing thence across Behring Strait to America, it girds the coast of America, accumulates in the narrow channels which carry the Polar waters into Baffin Bay through Parry Archipelago, extends to Greenland, from Greenland throws its crystalline bridge to Spitzbergen, and from Spitzbergen to Novaia Zemlaia ; so that the Pole is surrounded, at a nearly uniform distance, by an uninterrupted " land-clinging belt of ice," — more or less broken in winter as in summer, and composed of masses which are in constant motion, though never far apart, — forming a barrier that seems to defy the science and the heroism of man. In many places, however, human resolution has suc- ceeded in penetrating into this formidable rampart, and its southern edge has been followed up throughout nearly its whole extent. It was in this way our ex- plorers sought to discover a north-west passage into the Pacific, and it was in this way M'Clure and CoUinson separately found it. Sir Robert M'Clure followed the coast-line from Behring Strait to Banks Land, and then pushed his way through the broken ice ; not, however, completing the voyage in his ship, but travelling over the ice for three hundred miles to Wellington Channel, and thence returning home through Baffin Bay in a vessel that had come from the eastward. CoUinson, IIKSUI.T OP IIAYKS' KXI'LOUATIOXS. ,,„, Striking from west to cast, roacl.ea witl.in a few miles of the »p„t wliero perished Franklin, who had entered the .ce fron, the o,,,K..site direetion. And in the same way the Russians have explored the coasts of Siberia, baffled only at two points: Cape Jakan, where tlie ice is insur- mountable ; and Cape Ceverro Vostochnoi, which no adventurer has yet succeeded in doubling nu. IIAVKS' DISCOVERIES. We now come to sum up Dr. Hayes' discoveries, winch we shall do very nearly in his own word.s. He came to the conclusion which Captain Incrlefield a previous navigator, had adopted,-that Smith Sound expands mte the Polar Basin. Beyond the nanow passage between Capes Alexander and Isabella, the water widens gradually up to Cape Frazer, where it expands abruptly. On the Greenland side the coast trends regularly to the eastward, until it reaches Cap, Agassiz where it dips under the glacier and is lost to observation. Farther to the north, the mer de glace has poured down into the Polar Sea; and forcing its way onward through the water, it has at length reached Ere™'' "' °™-''"-^^ -"""-' "^^^ Above Cape Sabine, Hayes discovered an inlet strik- ing westward which he named after his schooner, the Advam^ The first conspicuous headland on its .south notf . "■rt"^ ^"^ ^'''"''^' '^'"J '^' "'"^t distant point of visible land beyond, Caj* Viele. The three last conspicuous capes on the north side are distinguished in the^chart as Capes Baker S^,,j,,, ,„j stetson; the 802 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE. : ' ' bold dips in tlio coast between them, Jay Bay and Pea- body Bay. Two largo islands lying oft' the mouth of the sound figure as Bache Island and Henry Island. The coast-range of mountains which forms so bold and striking a feature of Grinnell Land, are named the Victoria and Albert Mountains. The highest point to which Hayes attained, he christ- ened Cape Lieber; and a remarkable peak towering above it, Church's Monument. The bay below is not inappropriately named after Lady Franklin. The noble headland which Hayes saw outlined against the dark " water-sky " of the open sea, he named Cape Union ; the bay curving between it and another headland, more to the south, Wrangel Bay; and the lofty peak over- looking the Polar Sea from behind Cape Eugdnie, Parry Mountain. Finally : Hayes was of opinion that Washington Land was, in truth, an island in the centre of Smith Sound ; Kennedy Channel separating it from Grinnell Land on the west, and Humboldt Glacier filling up what was once a channel on the east. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE. After a wearisome and difficult journey, which it is unnecessary to describe, as the reader now understnnds the character of Arctic travelling, Dr. Hayes regained his ship on the 3rd of June. He had been abseno iwo months; for two months contending with obstacles and enduring hardships which might well have con- quered even his chivalrous spirit, but served only to test the deptL nad o , ermastering power of his heroic WIFAT WAS TO BE DONE ? ao8 entli In ju.siasrn. in to ace of bitter wi„d«, .„d oxposed very ,V J, t y to all the rigour ofan Arctic climate ^ As soon as l>e Imd somewhat recruited his overtasked energ.os, he undertook an examination of the schooner w, h the vewof pr^^ring her for the projected navig!: ■on of fem,th Sound. But on clearing away the fee f>«n. her bows, it was discovered that her fore-timb^ wore senously damaged, and that though it m^t b" po^.b le to render her seaworthy, yet sh'e could n be trusted in among the ice. What was to be done ? that year, for the boat was too heavy to be tmnsported across such :ce as that of Smith Sound, and the ten-^e expenences of the recent journey had reduced I teams of dogs to four. I„ such circumstances, nothing Zlk -vT^f ^^ ^'"*'""S a second time at Port Foulke. The better, in fact the only plan, was to re tun. home, refit, and, what was of ^at mportencc add steam-power to the resources of the expedition .' A wonderful change had by this time come over the tm35»h;, P*'t^'-'=«'= "^oM. The temperature from 35 below zero had risen to 35° above. The cold valleys was folding up under the influence of the sun's warm rays. Down the wild gorges and from the brink m I 304 SPRING AND ITS CHANGES. >.i Jiiil ^^^^■1*- ~'kR 11 i 11 i^B^M ^^K H of lofty cliffs tumbled the foam and spray of flashing cata- racts; ard the sound of water everywhere filled the air. Along the banks of pool and stream Nature wakened into life ; the genial sap flushed the veins of the willow, tliough ice and snow yet lay around its roots. The mosses displayed their various and fanciful forms, and poppies and saxifrages revealed their buds in pro- mise of good things to come. The cliffs were white with the wings of the little auks, which the approach of summer had driven from the southern lands. Squad- rons of eider-ducks, in orderly array, sailed across the harbour, and round about the island shores. Over the surface of the sea swept the shadows of swift-winged terns. Burgomaster-gulls and ger-falcons roamed to and fro in quest of food; and where the ice was melting, from the fresh- water pools might be heard the snipe's repeated cry. Pleasant it was to hear again the chirp of the familiar sparrow ; and to watch the long lines of cack- ling geese sailing to the remote fastnesses of the Polar Sea. From the ice-rafts drifting with the current came the deep bellow of the walrus; and the gentle seal dotted the surface of the bay and fiord, revelling, as lizards revel, and rejoicing, as almost all nature rejoices, in the glory of the sun. Winter had passed away, and in the soft bland smile of summer earth and sea stirred with the consciousness of life. Nowhere does Nature show herself insensible to this great change ; but nowhere does she seem to feel it so deeply and to be affected by it so potently as in the Arctic World. It is a resurrection ; a rising again from the bondage of the grave and the sleep of death. lashing cata- illed tlie air. ire wakened t* the willow, roots. The ciful forms, buds in pro- were white he approach ids. Squad - i across the 5. Over the wift- winged iimed to and lelting, from 3e's repeated ihirp of the nes of cack- of the Polar urrent came 3 seal dotted <;, as lizards oices, in the , and in the 'ed with the jhow herself re does she ed by it so 3surrection ; -ve and the AUK-CATCHING. 807 While waiting for the ice to thcw sufficiently to admit of the departure of the schooner, Dr. Hayes made another excursion to "Brother John's Glacier." Here, too, the influence of the great change was plainly visible. Huge blocks had broken loose from its rugged face, and fallen mto the valley below; and from its soUd mass issued mnumerable rills and rivulets, tinkling in the air like so many silver bells. From observations carefully made by Dr. Hayes, it appeared that the centre of the glacier has descended six-and-ninety feet down the valley-slope. Another occupation was auk-catching, which the Eskimos pursue in a novel and not altogether agree- able fashion. The apparatus used is a small net, made of light strings of seal-skin knitted into close meshes and attached to a staff about ten feet in length. Dr. Hayes set out in company with Kalutunah, and on reaching the hill-side frequented by the birds crouched behind a rock about half-way up to the base of the cliffs. The length of the declivity where the auks congregated was about a mile; and some idea of their numbers may be gathered from the fact that they swept across it in a continuous stream. After travers- ing the whole extent in their rppid flight, they re- turned, but higher in the air; and this circuit they performed over and over again. Occasionally, a^ if in obedience to some signal, a few hundreds or thousands would drop down; and, in an instent, the rocks, for the space of several rods, would swarm all over with them the surface being undistinguishable beneath the mosaic of their black backs and pure white breasts. s » ¥■' 4 i: I (4 «i li » 308 WHOLESALE SLAUGllTEl?. ^:.i I The two fowlers having suitably ensconced them- selves so a^ not to alarm the birds, Kalutunah prepared himself for the slaughter. When a particularly dense flock swept over his head, he raised his net: half-a- dozen birds flew right into it, and, stunned with the blow, were unable to extricate themselves before Kalu- tunah had slipped the staff" quickly through his hands and seized the net. Then with his left hand he pressed down the birds, while with the right he drew them out one by one, and for want of a third hand made use of his teeth to crush their heads ! The wings were then interlocked that the birds might not flutter away; and with a triumphant air Kalutunah looked round at his white companion, spat the blood and feathers from his mouth, and proceeded with the " sport," tossing up his net and drawing it in with much rapidity, until he had captured about a hundred victims. Dr. Hayes and he then returned to the camp, and a hearty meal was made on the game which had been obtained in a manner so novel and so unsportsmanlike. A WALRU"-HUNT. One of the latest experiences of our explorers was a walrus-hunt,— a sport more exciting and difficult than that of auk-catchiniT ! Looking out from tlie hill-top, in the sunshine of a July morning, Dr. Hayes caught in the distance the bellow of numerous walrus, and observed that the pack- ice drifting across tlie outer limit of the bay was literally " alive " witli the beasts. Their numbers were beyond computation— and even conjecture, for they meed them- lah prepared ularly dense net: half-a- 3d with the before Kalu- [h his hands i he pressed sw them out made use of B were then away; and 'ound at his srs from his ising up his mtil he had lyes and lie meal was ained in a orers was a fficult than ishine of a stance the t the pack- 3 bay was nbers were , for they WALBUS-llUNTINQ. 3,, extended as far ^ ti.e eye . .uld read,, and covered almost every piece of ice. JDr Hayes hurried down the IiiU, called for volunteers and throwing a harpoon, three rifles, and a line into one of the whale-boats, h-^ and his crew quickly dragged it across the ice and launched it into open water After a two miles' pull they reached the margin of the pack, and came to an ice-raft on which about two dozen unsuspecting animals were clustered. They covered it almost completely, "lying huddled together ounging in the sun, or lazily rolling and twisting themselves about, a^ if to expose some fresh part of their bu ky bodies to the warmth,-great, ugly, wallow- ing sea-hogs, they were evidently enjoying themselves, and were without apprehension of approaching danger." Ihe attacking party approached slowly, with muffled oars; and as the distance between them and the walrus decreased, became conscious of the fact that the latter might possibly prove formidable antagonists. Their aspect was not inviting, and Dr. Hayes and his men felt a^ young soldiers feel when they first come under hre. Their tough, nearly hairless hides, which are about an inch thick, had a "singularly iron-plated look about them, suggestive of considerable powers of defence; while their huge tusks could not be regarded otherwise than as powerful and dangerous offensive weapons. The horrent ugliness of aspect, which the tusks render peculiarly forbidding, is completed by the broad flat nose, bristling with stiff whiskers,-the exact use of which our naturalists have not been able to determine. 312 A FIERCE MELEE. In the herd now slumbering or basking on the ice- raft were two old bulls, who appeared to vary their naps by jamming their tusks into each other's face,— a strange kind of amusement, which both regarded with obvious indifference. As the hunters drew near, they raised their heads, took a leisurely and contemptuous survey of the foe, punched each other again in the face, and again fell asleep. The herd also contained several cows and a few calves, varying in age and size,— some without tusks, some \/ith tusks just sprouting, others with tusks like ivory cones, fully three feet long. Like the bulls, they paid no attention to the approaching boat ; probably they had never seen one before. Preparations for the combat were hastily made. Miller, as harpooneer, was stationed in the bows; Knorr, Jansen, and Dr. Hayes kept their places in the stern-sheets, each with his rifle loaded. When within range they fired together, aiming over the heads of the oarsmen; and then the boat dashed pell-mell among the terrified animals, as they rolled off the ice into the sea. Jansen had fired at one of the bulls, and hit him in the neck; Knorr killed a young calf, but in the mel^e it was pushed off the ice, and sank ; while Hayes sent his bullet into the head of the other bull, which, with a tremendous bellow, and a not less tremendous splash, went into the water, but, coming against the bows of the boat, was dexterously harpooned by Miller. Then away with a rush under water drove the whole of the terrified herd, and when they rose again they were full fifty yards distant, with the harpooned bull amongst them. As they rose, they uttered one " wild on the ice- vary their jr's face, — a jarded with ' near, they ntemptuous in tlie face, ned several size, — some ting, others long. Like pproaching jre. itily made, the bows ; laces in the hen within eads of the lell amonfif ce into tlie nd hit him )ut in the hile Hayes •ull, whicli, remendous gainst the by Miller, the whole igain they ooned bull one "wild victory! ViCTOIlYf 816 concerted «I.riek, aa if an agonized enil for help and 0.en the a,r was filled with answcing shrieks" Everyw^.ere the loud savage Huk! kuk! huk! of the wounded bulls aeomed to find an eeho, „. the e.y wa taken up and passed along from floe to floe, lik^ Z every p,ece of ice dropped the startled beasts and as .f anspred by one simultaneous movement, made to wards the boat. Quickly they surround d it and :p"iirk:""^"""'-^--"''--^^^^^^^^ It seemed to be the purpose of the walrus says Hayes, to get their tusks over the gunwale of the boX and ,t was clear that if only one of them hooked on to' t the boat would be torn in pieces, and its crew left helplessly floatingin the sea. Such a peril could blpre ven ed only by the greatest activity. So Miller, gZpZ h.s lanee, laid about him lustily, and inflict;! m^any a senous wound. The rowers staved ofl^ the angry Zd al" ?''""" ^ "'^ *'^^ riflemen loaded!^ Jut it r '^ r- " 'T'"^- ^'^^ ^'™gg'« -- brief, but t was exciting At last a monster animal, perhan the leader of the herd, was killed; and as he wci alarm, and dmng simultaneously, retreated out to sea or the shore, carrying with them a couple of dead "-aJrus as the prize of their prowess. HOMEWAED-BOCND. But the time had come when the schooner could be 816 TIIK HOMRWARD VOYAOR. released from her long captivity. The ice broke up all arouTid; tlio sea poured into the harbour; and on the llth of July the .swell reached the vessel. On the following day she was faiily afloat, and it was no longer possible to leave her without a boat. Prepara- tions were instantly made for a speedy d('i)arture, much to the regret of the friendly Eskimos. On the 14th a light lireeze from the eastward enabled the explorers to spread their canvas, and, moving slowly at first through the broken ice, the United iitates sailed from Port Foulke. Before quitting the field of so many adventures, the intrepid Hayes determined on one more attempt to rjach the west side of the sound, in the hope of obtain- ing information that might be useful in the future. He steered, therefore, for Cape Isabella, but a heavy pack compelled him to take shelter for awhile under the lee of Littleton Island. As soon as it broke up he again put to sea; but experience soon convinced him that it was impossible, with his shattered little schooner, to encounter successfully the Smith Sound ice. His work was done ; and there was nothing for him but to make the best of his way home, satisfied with the results he liad achieved. These results may be formulated in Dr. Hayes' own language : — " 1. I have brought my party through without sick- ness, and have thus shown that the Arctic winter of itself breeds neither scurvy nor discontent. " 2. I have shown that men may subsist themselves in Smith Sound independent of support from home. / A fJROTTO OF ICE. ^oko np all uul on the . On the it was no Piopara- ture, much the 14th a cplorei's to it through Tom Port itures, the btempt to of obtain- iie future, a heavy lile under [)ke up he need him •ed little bh Sound thing for !, satisfied lyes' own lout sick- rt^inter of lemselves lome. 817 afc'port^FtlV'""."f '"^"^ '"^'"^ "^"^ ^' ^«^'^''«''-l "4. That the exploration of this entire region is pract^able from Port Foulke; having from that tart! mg-point pushed my discoveries much beyond those of my predecessors, without any second party in the field " 5. That, with a reasonable degree of certainty it is shown that, with a strong vessel, Sn.ith Sound 1";;^ navigated, and the open sea reached beyond it 0. X have shown that the open sea exists." At Cape Isabella Hayes landed, and was surprised cup-hke valley sheltered a little sparkling lake -a diamond in a setting of emerald.-and fbove thit opened a picturesque glen, ter,nina;d abruptl the shining „ass of a glacier. Here a kindVfret ed Gothic archway opened into a fantastic cerulean J^tto decorated with pendent icicles, like crystals- an" t' crotsei'thf N^'^f w :"^"'"'P 1"'"^'' ^mith Sound, It enteied Jlelville Bay, and without let or hindrance acc«„pl,.shed the voyage to Halifax, touching at iC H^ 318 HOME AT LAST. navik and Godliav'n. At Haliftix Dr. Hayes received intelligence of the outbreak of the American Civil War, which effectually checked the prosecution of Arctic exploration by American enterprise, and crushed out the hopes which Hayes himself had entertained. From Halifax he proceeded to Boston, and so completed a voyage of moie than ordinary interest, and rich in important discoveries. CHAPTER V. THK .ANO 0. ^^SOLAX OK. HAV.s' VOV.OK TO trKEENLAND IN 1869. VOYAGE, of which we propose to rdate the most interestmg incidente. was made in 1809 bo w, '^''' ""' ^'"^"''^" ^^P'o'--, on to M. Wii^B iX'trtLT? '"'""^'-^ tenth to the mv ^ ''™"''""' ^^'•'''''^'■■"'d fron> the the eoa^t t u S: TT ^'f'^' '"^^ ^'^'^'^^ reached the hSZZt, -T^'"^ •""^^' ""«' "'^^ of Melville Ba^'"' '""^^'^'^ "'"«'' '»* «- ^I'ores JULIANASHAAB. We take „p the namtive when on- vova.^,- 1 . «nved at the settlement of Julian^shaab. ' ^ "' 320 AT JULIANASHAAB. n Wi The Lund of Desolation, which we are about to de- scribe, is the Greenland of yesterday and to-day. All the southern portion, as far as the 61st parallel, forms the district of Julianashaab, the capital, the most flourishing and probably the best situated town in the country. Its name is a compliment to Danish royalty. Its founders, a hundred years ago, christened it " Julie- Esperance " in honour of the then queen of Denmark. In the morning, when its inhabitants saw some signs of life upon our decks, they expressed their satisfaction in the most amusing manner, — exchanging signs and calls and shouts, running from point to point, either singly or in groups. It was a scene of the most dis- orderly activity. The little huts from which they emerged could scarcely be distinguished from the sur- rounding rocks; the good people seemed to creep in and out of burrows, like the American prairie-dogs. The agitation increased when Dr. Hayes put off in his boat and made for the shore. Ranged in two lines, men, women, and children, a hundred of them, laughed and chattered. All appeared full of joy. Some pointed at him with their finger ; others criticized the " cut of his clothes ; " all remained immovable, unwilling to lose the slightest detail of the feast so unexpectedly pro- vided for their curiosity. Julianashaab being a town of fishermen, we cannot complain (the reader will allow us to adopt the first person) that it smells of fish. Its rocks and quays are covered with fish, and the air is impregnated with the quintessence of fish. As for the inhabitants, they ex- hibit various shades of colour, from the tanned hide of AN ESKIMO MAIDEN. ggj the Eskimos (or Greenlander., a. they are here called) to the nearly pure Caucasian, with rosy cheeks and transparent sfan. We noticed particularly one young girl, standmg somewhat apart from the rest, as if she considered he,-self their superior, but no better able flTi t , "'"" '" ™™^''y- We afterwards learned hat her name wa^ Concordia. Her chestnut nnglete luxunant and well kept, were bound up by a red s. k kerchief; and an abundance of ribbons LLl rtonl^ ^^"" *'"* "■"^^'^ ''^^ ''^»d- Obviously her toilette was a matter of thought and study. Her red boots were as trim as her pretty kerchief, and mud> taste was shown in her seal-ski trouser;; em brokered w,th pearls, and her gay-coloured vest bo" Jered with a wide band of eider-down at the bo torn collar of glass beads sparkled on the soft white fur We paid a visit to the church, which is a small but P.eturesque edifice, built of wood brought from Del nmrk-as is the ca^e with all the public buildings. The wa ,s being double and well calked, the interior is sdy heated. At no season of the year is the cold during the three summer months, and in winter the .u«oun of fuel. The houses, all of one story are covered extenially with a thick coat of tar wh d closes up every chink and crevice Notwithstiuiding the black tint which this useful coating communicates to the church, it is of a pretty .■.ppearance, and most reverently taken care „f ' 322 ARRIVAL AT ERICSFIORD The fiord on wliich Julianashaab is situated stretciies inland from fifteen to twenty leagues; but while the modern town stands absolutely alone, the country was formerly besprinkled with numerous villages. Cattle covered the pastures where now a few cows nibble the grass. Peace and abundance reigned in the midst of a Christian population; then, after five centuries of tranquillity, undisturbed by the storms which raged over Europe, this population gradually died out, leaving only the ruins of its last days to testify to long years of prosperous progress. n .. p ■i! i!» H ERICSFIORD. Igalicke, " the fiord of the desolate houses ; " such is the modern name of the deep inlet on the picturesque cliffs off which rise the solitary remains of the work and energy of the Norsemen. It was named Ericsfiord by Eric Ilauda,or Eric the Red, to commemorate his discovery of its waters [about 983]. Varying from a mile and a half to four or five miles in width, and resembling rather a majestic river than an arm of the sea, it is one of the numerous indenta- tions which communicate to this coast so peculiar a character. Unlike the Norwegian fiords, those of Greenland are almost all invaded by the glaciers, whose continuous progress has largely modified the aspect of the country since the Norsemen bestowed upon it the buggestive spring-like name it certainly deserves no longer. The "Greenland" of E.ic Rauda is now the "Land of Desolation" of the Elizabethan navigator A little above Julianashaab, the fiord separates into A ORFENLAND BOAT. jSS two arms, one of whicl. strikes inland to Brattalilid and Gardar; the otlier. in a northerly direction, to Krakortok^ We resolved to visit the latter locality hrst, and Mr. Anthon, one of the missionaries, under- took to conduct us in his own boat. A Greenland boat is a curiosity of naval architecture Mr Anthon took us to examine his, which rested on a platform keel uppermost, so that we could inspect it from below,-or rather, could look right through it. For the Greenland boats are transparent as a bladder and resound Ixke a drum if they are beaten with a stick.' ,< ^ 'f re, said Mr. Anthon, " ,hat do you think of it ?" Ihmk of It! replied our captain, with iU-conceaJed disdam; "is it m such a craft ^ this you propose we should undertake a voyage 1" ' "And why not?" Mr. Anthon, aa he spoke, beckoned to three men who m the twinkling of an eye removed the boat from' Its supports. When launched, it floated like a balloon disdainfully tossed about by the waves We could not deny that it was a marvel of skill and mdustry. Thirty-six feet long by six feet wide, it was two feet and a half in depth. Neither nail, screw, nor bolt was visible; at the first glance it seemed to be made wholly and only of leather. The missionary inquired whether, when once in the water, the boat had not a very good appearance. We asked him whether he would allow it to be rowed a short distance, so that we might see how it behaved m the water. "Certainly," he replied; "I will call the crew." 824 THE BOAT-WOMEN I M-^-P: I ■t i ? ^i And the crew appeared. We must confess that never before had we seen mariners so bravely equipped. Very long boots, reach- ing above the knee, of various colours and elegant form, outlining the dainty feet ; short breeches, descending no lower than the haunches; brilliant jackets, bordered with black fur, and allowing a moi r white necker- chief to be seen around the neck; . tied up with knots of red ribbon on the top of the head ; everything, in a word, skilfully adapted to display the charms of tiiese Polar mariners. "Maria!" cried the missionary, " summon your com- panions, and row a little way." "Catherine— Christina— Dorothea— Nicolina— Con- cordia ! " cried the young girl ; " come, make haste ! " Then, running and prattling as fast as possible, they all sprang pell-mell into the boat, with an absolute want of discipline, which brought a frown to their captain's brow. It was amusing to see the vivacity with which they strode across the benches into their respective places, sparkling with a mischievousness and a gaiety that seemed scandalous to persons accustomed to the gravity of our seamen when on duty. They calmed down a little, when a sober-faced personage, with short boots and seal-skin trousers, and a bonnet instead of ribbons, stepped on board, and taking the rudder, gave the signal of departure. ^ Every paddb was dipped in the water with promp- titude and precision ; the boat flew like an arrow across the little bay, vibrating to the measured cadence of the rowers. d we seen oots, reacli- egant form, descending s, bordered ite necker- d up witli iverything, charms of your com- lina — Con- liaste ! " sible, they olutewant • captain's ith which respective i a gaiety led to the iy calmed vith short instead of Ider, gave h promp- ow across ice of tlje I mm mW^ .11 ^1, II I WHAT IS AN OOMIAK ? 327 This is called an oomiah, or women's bonf ■ in . . . r r - *" fe^'"*n.i? «; roimca sometimes of huge, dark m^ 828 , iJ! 3 's .i Pli; UP THE FIORD. cliffs, sometimes of verdurous slopes resting in a sunlit atmosphere. There was not a living creature to be seen, except an occasional seal which raised its half-human head to gaze at us, or a few sparrows, or some stray butterflies which fluttered around us when we neared the shore, or here and there a flight of sea-birds. The influence of the scene was contagious ; and even our native crew were not insensible to the emotions it awakened. Encouraged by the missionary, the young girls chanted, with firm, melodious voices, and keeping time with their oars, an old Norwegian psalm : — *' O God, my Rock, to thee I cry ; Oh, do not thou my prayers deny ! " Five hours of this delightful voyaging brought us to the head of the fiord, where the water did not exceed three thousand yards in breadth. Various episodes diversified our expedition, and we were all surprised to find ourselves nearly at its termina- tion. The fiord now lost the appearance of a river, and assumed a lake-like character. A bold curve soon hid it from our sight; in front of us a beautiful valley stretched up to the very foot of Redkammen, one of the most magnificent of mountains, in the eyes of the artist as of the seaman : there are few bolder beacons in Greenland, remarkable as it is for the savage splendour of its scenery. THE RUINS OP KRAKORTOK. The declivity on which rose the ancient city of Kra- m\ ? A IIUINKD CITV. 829 not exceed kortok 18 very rugged, but at intervals occur some pleasant levels, still clothed witl. a vigorous vegetation, which seem to have been cuP.ivated in days of yore and undoubtedly might be so again. Tiny brooks wend their way across the slope; and on their banks the ^mgelica grows fully three feet in height. The stem of this plant IS the only spontaneous growth of the soil which the Eskimos utilize for food, except the anti- scorbutic cochlearia; and this is held in slight esteem and IS not nutritious. According to tradition, the' Norsemen cultivated barley : and to judge from tlie temperature of to-day, we should have thought that that cereal might even now be reared ; but Mr. Anthon in- - formed us that these bursts of fine weather are generally followed by terrible frosts, and that, in any case, the summer is too short to admit of the grain reachinc. maturity. Nowhere in Greenland-not even here on the shores of the Ericsfiord-is there any attempt at cultivation, except of a few garden vegetables,-such as cabbages, radishes, and lettuces, which thrive admirably as far north a^ the Polar Circle. The agricultural pro- ducts of the country, therefore, have no commercial value; though, if he be industrious and careful, each mhabitant of the fiord can secure himself a sufficient supply of vegetables. If they would take the trouble I think they might grow potatoes. As for cereals, any abour bestowed on their cultivation would be lost laboui-^ That such was not form, rly the case, the appear- ance of Krakortok and its enviro:is proves abundantly • each edifice, each habitation had iis plot of tilled ground. 880 AN OLD NORSK t'llUUCll. ,! i Round tlic clmrch and two other ruined l)uildini:H may .still be seen tlie remains of enclosures of masonry, which would appear to have been about five feet high. In the church I was greatly interested. The walls are intact up to a height of fifteen or eighteen feet, and still indicate the form of the gable. The bays of the three doors are in good preservation, as well as those of the windows, except on the north side; the arched opening on the west side, above which is the sanctuary, is almost perfect. The minute exactness of the orienta- tion of the church cannot be attributed to chance, for the same accuracy is noticeable in all the sacred build- ings of the neighbourhood ; the walls diverge fully one degree from the meridian line, though tl is may have been the fault of my instrument, which I had no means of regulating. The old Norsemen were close observers of the motions of the celestial bodies, and must have known the true north. We afterwards visited other parts of the fiord. Houses would seem to have been very numerous ; but, generally, the remains are covered with so luxuriant a growth of willows, junipers, and dwarf birches, that their traces are not easily discovered. A SUNDAY AT JULIANASHAAB. Our excursion to Krakortok took place on a Satur- day. The next day we attended divine service at Mr. Anthon's little church. Julianashaab is never very lively, but the moderate activity which j)revails during the week is sufficient to bring out in contrast the i)rofound peace of the day of SUNDAV IN A 01IKKNI.AN1> fHUIlcjI. 33, .■e.t. How .solemn thia t™>„iuillity nppcred, „» I „». oe ded the cuu,,o of the stream which traverses the so tle.uent, and l,o„t n,y st,,,s towards the temple de tain . ! Both the natives and the settlers, savages and civihzed l,ad quitted thou- labou,.; the fishei^rthet As I drew near the ehureh, the grand swell of the organ gradua ly prevailed over the vSee of the tinkl n. brook. As ,„ most chnrehes, women prepondera e3 among the audienee ; and they sang well. The EH ,0 ■anguage indeed, is not defieient Tn euphony I„ Mr Anthon ha« very completely acquired the accent and P— iation. The whole service! sermon LZ^ :zvi:z: ''''■ ^' -"^-^ -«-->«> p- A more attentive auditory I have never seen than this congregation of semi-savages. The homily 1 thought well adapted to the undei-standing of men who are continually exposed to the perils of the sea. C^. templating the dusky countenances rai.sed towards the preacher, those faces expressive of such a keen del or instruction, I reflected on the mighty change wind .ad taken place in the midst of the nation wl.ich ex- rmmatcd the Norsemen. Then, the Eskimos w re Junged ,„ the deepest darkness.-their s„pe,.fitil anc-y peopled sea, earth, and air with hideous demons ■ now, the love of Christ reigns in their hearts, and all' profess the Christian faith. >fV^f::. 332 A GREENLAJSD LEGISLATUllE. The service over, we accompanied Mr. Anthon to the mission-house, and spent the greatest part of the day with his amiable family. A GREENLAND PARLIAMENT. Greenland is administered on a very simple system. The six northern districts are comprehended in the in- spectorate of the north — chief town, Godhav'n; the six southern districts, in that of the south — chief town, Godthaab. From the decrees and decisions of the in- spectors there is no appeal except to the Danish Govern- ment ; but each district has certain privileges confirmed to it by royal charter. These are exercised by a " Par- liament," based on the principle that every native is a subject of Denmark, and owes obedience to her laws. A Greenland Parliament ! No doubt the idea appears as ridiculous to the reader as it did at first to us ; but we changed our opinion after being present at a single sitting. Nor would the world have much to complain of, if all legislative councils discharged their functions with the same honesty and equity. The present population of Greenland may be esti- mated at 7000 souls, or a little less than 600 to each district. The district of Julianashaab has perhaps 800; distributed along a coast-line of sixty leagues in numer- ous litAe settlements, all situated on the shore or an island, wherever a convenieTit port occurs. All these little colonies are under the direction of the governor, or besiyrere, of the town; and over each is placed a Dane, or a half-breed, whose business it is to keep the books of the Com.pany, to sell provisions, and collect THE LEGISLATIVE CHAMBER. ,„ merchandise. Tl.e miscellaneous stores wl.ich » «I ■ bnngs annually to Julianashaab are d vMed al'tt the various settlements • wJ.i.7, • "'""'^^^ amongst products to ih.Zfl' ' '"^ ''"*"""' ^^'^d tl^eir proaucts to the chief town, to freiglit th ■ shin on ifc .i established on almost exactly the iT bSstat Tf Hudson Bay. Commerce is a complete monopoly of the Crown; no stranger, not even for the value of a nxdolW ,s permitted to trade with Dane or Eskimo and It IS this severe regulation alone which can pre v™t«.^i.rod„etio„ofspiri.oranyotherprohibft: SERMITSIALTK. We next made our way to the fiorf of Sermit^ialik, the Region of Ice," where we might bo witnesses those majestic natural phenomena f^.nd nowhere on or of 338 TOE SERMITSIALIK GLACIER. a grander scale tlian in Greenland ; phenomena far more impressive than aught else the globe exhibits, in its bosom or on its surface, without excepting even the earthquake and the volcano. The fiord of Sermitsialik is of the same length as that of Julianashaab, but separated from it by a range of mountains whose culminating point is the summit of the Redkammen. This range strikes in a southerly direction, curving anew towards the sea, and enclosing Eric's gulf, and the little Earthly Paradise where the Vikings found a refuge. To the north a similar coun- ter-chain runs parallel to these bold peaks, leaving between them and it a great valley which abuts on the fiord of Sermitsialik, Far from being verdurous and fertile, like that which the Redkammen shelters, it serves as the bed of an immense accumulation of ice, two miles and a half to four miles in breadth, and at certain points upwards of nine hundred and fifty feet in depth. It is a glacier, a " current of ice," as the Danes call it, to distinguish it from the eis blinken which our physicists name " sea of ice " (or mer de glace). In our account of Dr. Kane's expedition we have already referred to that mer de glace which occupies the interior of Greenland; the Sermitsialik glacier is but an firm, or r.atlier an outlet, of it. Hundreds of similar outlets, corresponding to the rivers of other countries, restore to the bosom of ocean the condensed vapours of the atmosphere. How shall we describe the scene gradually unfolded to our gaze as the Panther steamed up the silent fiord? la far more Dits, in its even the length as by a range le summit , southerly enclosing where the lilar coun- :s, leaving abuts on verdurous shelters, it ion of ice, ith, and at I fifty feet the Danes which our )• . we have li occupies glacier is indreds of 5 of other condensed T unfolded lent fiord? m-j'm THE DOMAIN OF FROST. 339 This fiord is three thousand yards across ; the valley occupied by the glacier is of the same width And what is the depth of the glacier ? Who shall say ? We know It must be measured by hundreds of feet • m some places it probably exceeds a thousand. For a distance of nearly four leagues the shores of the gulf are those of the glacier itself; and terminating in the form of a wedge, they disappear in the vast ice-sea which stretches to right and left above and beyond the loftiest mountains-irresistibly drawing the eye towards its surface, boundless as that of ocean. Little by little we lost sight of the inclined plane, then of the white line of the ice-sea: we were in front of an immense clifl^, varying from one hundred to two hundred feet in height, diaphanous as the purest crystals, and reflecting all the tints of heaven ! We felt ourselves shudder as we approached this vast domam of Frost. Uniting in broad streams, the ice and snow which have melted on the surface of the glacier spring from the brink of the precipitous cliff in clouds of foam and spray irradiated by rainbow gleams of colour The air trembles with the din of these waterfalls; and at intervals the echoes seem almost rent by the thunder- ous reports of the internal explosions of the glacier. The cliffs are perfectly vertical : but far from pre^ sentmg a smooth surface, they are broken up into the most fantastic forms imaginable : unfathomable caves symmetrical spires, arched vaults, and fissures and hollows where the eye plunges into an intense, trans- parent blue, which every moment changes its fleeting opalescent hues. 340 FliOM THE HILL- TOP. The light in the dark eye of woman is not more difficult to transfer to canvas. A deep green, less delicate but not less splendid, colours all the recesses where the ice impends over the waters. In the sunlight the surface of each huge crystal shines of the purest white, except at those points where a fracture has recently taken place; we might liken it to the soft shades and sheen of satin : this glimmer is due to the different angles under which the ice is reflected. We landed after supper, and, climbing among the abrupt rocks, scaled a hill about three hundred and fifty yards in height. The sun set behind the moun- tains, ond the gixat sea of ice, outlined upon the burn- ing gloaming, was also empurpled with flames. The limitless desert, the hard cold surface of which sparkled with borrowed lights, was clothed with the splendours of heaven; and we forgot for the moment that we saw before us the only region in the world which can fitly be called " the Land of Desolation." During the night we were disturbed by fears for the safety of our vessel ; at intervals, our dangerous neigh- bour reminded us of its presence. We heard v. dry quick crackling, followed by the noise of the fall of a heavy body; and we knew that another iceberg was added to the hosts of the sea. In the morning, the waters were covered with small fragments floating round the huge mountainous masses which were already drill- ing out to ocean. Accompanied by the captain, we searched the fiord for some less exposed anchorage. The scene had com- ASCENWNU Tills OLAflEIi. 3^, pletely chauged since the preceding evening : the water, weie all of the wme dull, melancholy colours. On rea^Hug the northe™ shore, we fortunately discovered a httle eove just large enough and deep enough to re- TJtZrT- '''"'"^ "° " *P« "' -'<»-' turf, we had the glacier on our right and the ice-cliff on our eft. We struck inland, and after a short walk found 2Z V " ^"7 ^"«^- ^"-^ "- «>- »'--ed to it to re 1 t *° *"" '''''' ""•* »" ---"nicating delight. So, having dismissed the boat, we began our a tack upon the glacier at a slope of some thirty d^rees that our feet did not slip, and in a few minutes we reached the summit. Picture to yourself the rapids of Upper Niagara frozen even to their very depths ; the falls, the river! the great Lake Ene everywhere converted into ice; the banks above the cataract equal in elevation to the Wershr^s you yourself, reader, erect upon the rapids, w the' iciy oeiore us. I he rapids will reDrespnf ih^ glacier ; the great fall, the wall which it pr<^e* „t th TtilTZ •' *'^':"r-*°^" being here turned outwards), the river which expindsinto the Ontario will become flie liord; and the Ontario itself images the oeeTn 342 A FROZEN WASTE. Wo must point out, liowevor, one remarkable dis- similarity. From bank to bank a river-surface is always horizontal, but that of a glacier is slightly convex, xvs thus : — bURKAC'K or A RIVER. SUIIFACE OK A QLAC'IBK. Through the ravine formed by the curvature of the glacier and the escarpment of the soil, we arrived at the sea. The journey was not without its perils ; for every- where yawned crevasses separated by slippery projec- tions. In some places these deep clefts were only a few yards apart : they continually crossed or ran into one another, though iiie general direction was easily dis- tinguished. In these lay all the danger of our enter- prise, for we ended always in arriving at some promon- tory where two precipices united ; and then our choice lay between leaping across an unfathomable abyss, or retracing our steps to discover some safer path. When once the border of the glacier was crossed, the road became easier ; for a mile and a half it lay nearly on a level, and the ice offered few difficulties. We have never trodden these frozen wastes without an almost solemn emotion. There is somethinor ter- rible in the extraordinary desolation of this Sahara of snow. One thing particularly impressed us : the continuous rumbling of this enormous mass, a thousand feet high at least ; even under our footsteps, it seemed to tremble. A ai,A(;iKu. DESCENDTNO THK OLACIEU. 343 We should not have been surprised to see a gulf yawn before us. . Tlie deep voices of the glacier were not the onlv sounds we heard. On all sides, brooks meandered over the crystalline plain; some of them mingling together swelled mto a considerable torrent, which, seething and cla^hmg, precipitated iteelf into a chasm that rent the entire ma^s of the glacier, and flowed into a muddy river that sullied the waters on one side of the fiord The sun ascended towards the zenith and penetrated the atmosphere with its rays. Even here, within the domams of Frost, the atmosphere wa. not disagreeable. The ice and snow melted rapidly, and we suffered more from damp than cold. We were often compelled to crawl on our hands and feet, or even sometimes on our stomach, and, consequently, our clothes were thorouroceed to the new anchorage we had discovered, but her movement was arrested by a continuous series of flVW f ' hi f , Hiul tllUII, ^liicli led to I my naked ly eyes fell liure gradu- roar of the giddy, and ridge. iurn round, t whatever ged by the ) break his ul. I con- to a place gies. Our same feat, loment the have had for dinner ; numerous ed a while ^e noticed, bures were *cposure to with soft 1 order to vered, but series of fl! A N'OVEL SPECTACLE. 347 detonations. Enormous masses were almost simultane- ously detached from the glacier, and their fall so caused the waves to swell that the ship rolled violently The waves dashed furiously against the rocks. All at once an explosion, dry, sharp, formidable, suddenly alarmed us ; we felt we were on the eve of some extraordinary cataclysm. *^ Looking in the direction whence the awful sounds proceeded, we could see that the projecting angle of the glacier was rapidly breaking up. This particular portion was specially picturesque. A labyrintL of more or less symmetrical spires and pinnacles gave it the appearance of an immense cathedral. Its mode of formation was easy to understand. The network of crevasses al- ready striking up the glacier extend and enlarge • the intervening spaces, sharp at first, are gradually rounded by the sun's influence as the giant progresses towards the sea Some of these monoliths are reared above ogival arches, of such perfection that it is difficult to imac^ine they were not the work of human architects. At the very extremity of the glacier, a tower, two hundred teet high at least, was wholly separated from it nearly down to the sea-level. A few hours previously, we had gone round it at no greater distance than a boat's length suspicious of no danger, and had seen its base descend- ing vertically through the clear gi-een waters The last and loudest outbreak was caused by the collapse of this marvellous edifice. As if the sea-bottom were giving way beneath it, little by little it descended into the yawning abyss. It was not a fall, not a sudden demolition, but a crumbling process, wlu'ch lasted fully m "Fill ill 348 THE OLACIER-VOICES. a quarter of an hour. It went to piece.-:? na if it had been composed of shells, or rather of leaves, which de- tached themselves layer by layer. We had scarcely time to examine the phenomenon, for from base to sum- mit the front of the glacier was veiled by an opaque cloud, through which we could dimly see the continual downfall of the masses of ice. We watched the phases of the spectacle with almost breathless admiration, and the danger must have been imminent and alarming which could have withdrawn our attention from it. Our enthusiasm reached its climax when the pinnacle of the spire gradually sank into the immense whirlpool of foam and vapour, where it speedily disappeared. The most terrible thunder-peals are as nothing when compared with the awful voices of the glacier in its travail. It seems as if this ominous roar shook the very foundations of the globe. From the fall of the first few fragments, the din increased with perfect regulanty; reminding us of the wind which wails in the trees be- fore a storm, then raises its voice, and crashes through the forest with deafening outbreak. THE KREKARSOAK. In due time we left the fiord of Sermitsialik, a^^d continued our voyage to the northward. We crossed the Arctic Circle, and, through a sea literally sown with icebergs, skirted the romantic Greenland coast. So numerous were the floating mountains that some- times the horizon entirely disappeared; we turned and returned, tlireading to right and left the channels which separated them ; losing all consciousness of dancrer IF? if it had , which de- ad scarcely •ase to sum- an opaque le continual the phases [ration, and i alarminsr )n from it. pinnacle of diirlpool of red. Aung when icier in its )k the very le first few regulaiity ; e trees be- BS throuofh ?ialik, ai^d ^e crossed ally sown Mid coast, hat some- i^e turned 3 channels I of danger A RICHLY COLOURED PICTDRE. 35, m Jhe^surprise and od.„i.ation wl.ieh they continually efle" d ,t" "'^' """f"^'"' ''^ '^ ^-g'« b-ath ol at' leHected like a min-or the resplendent tmf^. . i .1 .:o.e like eHaL,;;r -iZitr ::^^^^^^^^^ "mnense cathedrals crowned by a forest of 'pi e" -C:;L:trx^-^j^rs£:^ =^rL;s::di— iS into a pure iiearlv wliU^ • -^ paiea sombre Ind-C Vitrei;": ".f ' ^*""'"^* *'"' 1 1 vviiicn rested on the watpr^« you. she does not hX: tl '' '-""'^ '^ •^"'' '''- she can get at and t 1, aPPropnat* the first eg-r one of fi^^irt^x inrrh"^^'^^'^^--^ owner, returning diseov^r7 ^^ ^"^ ' ^''^ *™« seeks some emptV pile! ,''" "™'''^<>"^ -'™der; she anybody or everybolv ' °°"' "' ^™°<'- ^''^ ^t^^^ks ,=ue, e ^ "^ "" ''^'' ™gO' and a seneral com- '»ues. Sometimes, however the n,.„X- j ei, tne precious deposit bat II. J il::l i I Ji fli L 850 UP HAFFJN 15AY. f o is not loft without a protnotor; tlie iiialo dinfliargin tliloys for some miles before the well-known mountain which so strangely resembles the upright thumb of a hand placed flat upon a table, with the little inger underneath. The hand represents the island of which the " Devil's Thumb " is the centre. No part of the great sea which bears the name of Baffin has more terrors for the mariner. The icebergs are so numerous, that It is called " Bergy Hole ; " and A FIKr.lJ OF ICK. 857 SO violent the cunents, that a ship under sail surprised by a cahn oft' the Thumb is soon mawn a„s it were into a whirlpool, and forced to turn round as if a supernatural influence were at work on the waters : if she emer-es safe and sound, without any disastrous collision with the icebergs, she may be congratulated on a i. ai-vellous escape ! ^ The Pantlwr proceeded bravely to encounter its first held of ice. There it lay before us,-a broad white and blue plain, stretching farther than the eye could see "What, is this all?" cried some disappointed pas- sengers; for at the first glance it wears no very formid- abh- aspect. But the ship strikes against a projecting tongue >f crystal, and our novices are convinced that t/iere is more in ^t than they suspected. The Panther, however, treated it as an unimportant matter, and clove the clear waters until she had reached a new ice-field, which, at iiist, we had supposed to be an adjunct of the former one. But between the two stretched an open arm of the sea-what the whalers call a pciss;" and through this opportune (lannel we st(%-imed northward, and northward, and still ortliward among the floes. ' Soon we could see no sign of water except in our narrow channel ice covered the sea afar ; and only from the mast-head could we discover the "passes" that wound in all directions. The one we m ere following measured, at the opening, two thousand yards across" It gradually diminislied, and then began to bend and curve, and detached blocks of ice showed themselves liere and there ■sfr^.- 358 CMAUC.IN(i AN ICK-FLOE. iii|iii iiii; •r iiii , t 1 1 ) » .J .,1 1 1 ,. l3l r\\ Tlie second officer, whose watcli it was, kept the man at the wheel constantly on tlie qui vice with his " Poit ! Starboard ! Just so ! Starboard all ! " " What are you about, sir ? " shouted the captain. " Wiiy do you keep to starboard ? " " Way blocked on all sides ; we must steam astern ! " " Is there no opening anywhere ? " "No; but on the larboard the ice seems tolerably weak." " Steer for it, then, and charge full upon it ! " roared tlie captain. "All right, sir! Starboard a little! That will do. Go on ! " And we pushed forward, the Panther raising her prow and her catheads clean out of the water, and looking as if she regarded with the utmost contempt the immense plain of crystal which stretched before us. She struck full against it, drove into it, and crushed the ice, as it were, under her iron feet. A quiver shot through her frame from stem to stern. Then she rose upon the floe, pounded it into fragments, and plunged deep into the water to which she had affbrded an opening. Her impetus was not yet exhausted. Again she sprang upon the ice, which yielded anew beneath her weight; and then she stopped. On examination, it was found that she had sustained no injury. Her masts were as erect and her catheads as solid as ever ; not a scratch on her iron-clad broadsides. The first struggle had been a victory. " Turn astern ! " shouted the captain. We retired nearly a hundred paces, then, with all steam up, dashed into the opening already made. The cutwater struck .1 |it the man \m " Poit ! lie captiiin. a astern ! " 3 tolerably t!" roared at will do. her raising water, and titempt the re us. She led the ice, ot through e upon the . deep into ling. Her irang upon eight; and found that sre as erect ,tch on her id been a Ve retired up, dashed ;ter struck > ill ' 1 > ill X 1 V > i iBl c m ''lOfiii H 'iifl I D fllli Til c 'J JjL|{ I ill il m !i&li APPEAEANCE OF THREE BEAKS. 30, tbo ice; tl,e Panther advances, falls back, rises un plunges, and darts forward. In tl.is way she cl.ar Jd tbe >ee again and again, until a channel was opened up winch, a. the ce-fiolds were gradually set in niotio!^' widened considerably, and conducted us at Icnrrth into open water. * A BEAR-HUNT. . As we clove our path through Melville Bay, the cry suddenly arose, " The bears ! the bears ! " and everybod v .•ushed upon deck. And those much-coveted carnLres were, in truth, a., close to us as we could rea.sonably de- ^.._e. Undoubtedly they had sighted the PanthcJun^ before «,. sighted them; but they contemplated nl eomposedly, with more curiosity than alarm. There were a mother and her two cubs; and they stood motionless, at a distance of three or four hundred vards heony living beings in that apparently boundles's soli-' tude of ice. The mother stood between her little ones • an honest family, peacefully established on an old ice-' held We felt a pang of remorse at the idea that we were about, so cruelly, to disiurb their repose The steamer was "slowed" as soon as po.ssible, and the two parties considered each other, each endeavour- ing to divme what the other was about to do The bears, of course, could see only the ship; for we took good care not to show our heads above the bulwarks and as the wind blew from the north it could not betray us. Eviden ly, m the eyes of the bears, the steamer was a huge black phenomenon, with which, we were de- lighted to see, they soon showed a disposition to become more ninsoi^r onr.,,.^:^i.„.i mi ., . closely acquainted. The mother I^h] tl )o vvay, her 362 A r.EAR-HUNT. '!■* i vH liii ; sp i ,r!i III cubs trotting one on Ccacli side, and by a long and pni- dent circuit made towards the stern of our sliip, witli tlie obvious intention of coming to leeward of us. We did our best to conceal ourselves moi'o completely, though holding it contrary to the laws of hunting to wait until our game got wind of us. But our captain, as chief hunter, insisted on patience ; he knew his ship and what she could do. " They are ours," he said, " if only they advance a little nearer ; " and he gave orders to move ahead at half-speed. At the same time the helm was put to starboard, and the steamer swerved round so as to face the bears, which advanced slowly along a pi-ojeoting tongue of ice. " Wliat are you doing, captain ? The beai-s will scent us, and decamp immediately." " Bah ! the Panther is ready to bar their way." "But the ice— the ice, captain ! You will not launch the ship against yonder floe ? " " Why not ? I would charge an iceberg, if it were necessary." So war was declared, between strength and skill on one side, and craft and nimbleness on the other. ^ The rnotlier advanced, meanwhile, with tlie greatest circumspection, and as if she weighed the consequences of every step. She was a fine animal, in good condition ; had just breakfasted, apparently, and displayed the leisurely apatliy which generally accompanies the diges- tion of a very plentiful repast. She did not even traverse the little pools of water in her route, but calmly made their circuit, as if indisposed to wet her feet. Sometimes she turned her back upon us ; some- A iiKAR-HUNT. 368 . nes .si halted. st,-etcl,i„g lo,,h I.er long „eek, and uftng t he a„. ou every .-de-raising her nose a« Idgl, as possible, then lowering it upon the ice, as if she Imd discovered son.othing there. Meanwhile, the cubs fro- licked around Iier; seeing that she was not afraid, they ndulged their vivacious humour, and it was clear they looked upon the Puntker as a in.arvellous spectacle which their mother had got up for their amusement Iliey were as full of play a. a couple of kittens, entei- ^ning themsolyes with hide-and-seok around their Wk. 1 hoy rolled m the water-ways. sending the water on high in crystal showers ; in fact, no schoolboys out on a hohday were ever more bent upon innocent divei.ion. The httle family occupied half an hour in reachin. the pomt where the mother learned at lengtl, the natur: of her enterprise. For a moment she appeared un- decided, stopped short, and turned round, as if to retrace l.er steps; then she changed her opinion. For some minutes she seemed to balance between opposin,. im- pulses; that which drew her onward prevailed H^vin. and sniffed noisily; hght broke suddenly upon her mmd ; we saw her turn right round with a rapid move- ment, as if looking for some means of safety. After a moments reflection, she proceeded anew towards the floe. The cubs, too, seemed to take alarm, and ran to- wards their mother, as if to ask what was the mattei- if tie spectacle were at an end_if they were to start ou a new journey. It seemed as if she replied that there was no occasion for mucli alarm, but it was well to 1 Si i. fi' hi-i h > 'H 364 WFIAT THE " PANTHER " DID ! ii « iriake good use of their legs, and get away as quickly as possible. The little ones obeyed, wailing piteously, like children who have gone out afairing, and been overtaken by a storm. The mother watched their movements with the utmost solicitude, keeping close beside them, pausing when they paused, and always interposing between l-hem and danger. The Panther did not remain idle. As soon as the old bear got to leeward of us, and took alarm, our captain shouted, " Go ahead with full speed ! " The screw began to revolve, and with all possible rapidity the ship made for the ice, to cut off the retreat of the unfortunate trio. From the first this had been our captain's plan, and with him it was a simple question of time ; while most of us, however, were asking one another whether the ship would be sufficiently strong to accomplish the work he required of her. Hark, a terrible crash ! We charged the ice where it seemed to offer least resistance ; but it was more solid than that of the preceding day, and the shock was much heavier. However, our cutwater soon opened a passage, glided upon the floe, crashed it under its bur- den, and plunged again into the water. During this manoeuvre, which was twice repeated, no one could stand upright. But our captain's expectations were realized: the vigour of the assault defined across the tongue of ice a crevasse which soon extended to the other side ; and the unfortunate beasts found themselves at our mercy, on a raft floating separate from the body of the floe. Soon afterwards, the captain, with three companions, uickly as nsly, like vertaken 3nts with , pausing between IS the old ' captain }w began lip made late trio, ^lan, and e most of the ship work he where it ore solid ock was •pened a its bur- ing this le could ns were ;ross the 1 to the smselves /he body panions, Ilillll I ! I c c a t: P t] ANOTHER QRKENLAND PODT. S67 disembarked; and it is needless to say that both the mother and I,er cubs feU victims to their rifles. They were qu-ckl;. brought on board, and at breakfast nex^ morning their flesh was greatly relished. UPEENAVIK. Our space does not permit us to dwell upon erery in- cident of the yoyage,-which, be it remembered, was a voyage of artistic investigation rather than of geogi-aphi- ca discovery. The Panther .isit.d ITpernavikrwhere »^re,H r . •""T"' ^'"^ '"^ "'" f™'"^^ ^■'o have already figured in these pages, Hans and his family I„ leaving this harbour, the Pa«wZ ItT^iZ larger than GodhaVn, and its climate is I imll^ even IZb^df ''' "'"'""'^'"' *">« "-' -"^e event, undoubtedly, wa^ our ascent of the Lyngonarkens succeZi 1" «°^^™»e-Pr «d his doubts a. to our J. J- **«' i"ue A.M. A bnghter sun never fillprl Tcender "t'^i'^" "^"^ "s'" -"^ waj" we t" ton.n, which now emfrgSt; a^t '^"'^ "' "^ form a. n,o„„i ovei about two thousand yards its suifacc 376 ADVENTUUOUS LADIES. iiiii II' resembles a clearing sprinkled with aged trunks. One of these stone shafts, about twenty feet high, is called "Lot's Wife." After having crossed this ridge at a short distjince from the cascade, we arrived at a vast abrupt decline, formed of masses of rock fallen from the cliffs which rose above our heads and seemed to touch the firmament. Then began the real labour and burden of the day. Of all the feats accomplished by the ladies, this was the most difficult. It was impossible to plant the foot firmly on these angular rocks, heaped pell-mell one upon the other; it seemed as if the inclined plane of dry stones up which we dragged ourselves would crumble beneath us, and launch us in the midst of the terrible avalanche, in the black gorge yawning beneath us. To look down upon it turned us dizzy, to look upwards made us shudder; but the brave-hearted maidens were bent on success— always the last to halt to recover breath, they were the first to give the signal of departure. Their courage never wavered for a moment. Along this rocky landslip we made our way for fully three thousand yards before reaching th - base of the cliffs, which our barometer declared to oe 1500 feet above the sea. We threaded a narrow ravine, and be- tween the high rocky walls, of a reddish brown, we carefully followed up the torrent already spoken of; a less toilsome route, which conducted us to the everlast- ing snows that furnished its waters. Here we enjoyed a cold collation ; and after having quenched our thirst, we waded through the soft snow of the sloj)e that still separated us from the glacier. The inks. One fh, is called rt distc'ince ipt decline, which rose firmament, e day. !S, this was nt the foot 11 one upon me of dry Id crumble lie terrible th us. To rards maile ere bent on •eath, they re. Their y for full}^ ase of the 1500 feet le, and be- 3rown, we )ken of; a 3 everlast- er havinij •ft snow of 3ier. The VIEW PROM THE SUMMIT. , s;^ fissures were not numerous, so without much diffic.atv we soon ascended above the rocks, and gained the sum- mit of the fjeld-a word (" iield ") which perfectly de- scribes ita form; but nothing could be drearier or more naked than the great white plain which stretched be- tore us, at an elevation of upwards of three thousand feet above the sea. Yet there was a certain grandeur m the scene: the atmosphere was very clear, except beneath, where wreaths of vapour clung to the sides of the cliffs; the gaze certainly included a reach of seventy , to eighty miles. To the southward, beyond the town could be seen the Prince Royal Islands, lying about seven miles off, like black spots on a silver furface; then the Dogs Archipelago, similarly formed in that shimng sea. The lofty coaats and hills of Bunker Land near Egedesminde, were outlined in the distance, and closed the field of vision. To the east, above the lum- mitof the great Skarve Fjeld, the mountains of Jacobs- havn pierced the sky with their snow-crowned peaks, between which the ice-sea shimmered, occupying upon tbo horizon an arc of 70°, and losing iteelf gradiTnJly i„ ;he pearly light; behind us, we could see the frozen cones and whitely-gleaming plains of Disco Island The sea was more marvellous still. Thousands of iceber/» floated in the bay, Uke a colossal ai-mada. Distributed near us with greater parsimony, they multiplied rapidly concentrated themselves around Jacobshav'n, formed a dentilated barrier in front of the sombre rocks of the shore, and then disappeared between the lofty walls of the fiord. In this majestic panomma unfolded before our eyes, the immense glacier which empties its tribute 380 THE KETUIIN JOUHNEV. into the gulf secinod but a white lino, and its giant soiis but little specks upon the sea. We spent an hour in wandering over the snow, which, in a temperature of 35° F., was still soft to tlie foot' though in some places it formed a tolerably solid crust. We saw no true ice, and for want of digging-tools could not ascertain at what depth it commenced. The scouts sent ahead to discover another route, that we mi«rht return to Godhav'n by the Red River, met with a single crevasse only, but then it was an impassable one. So that all we could do was to descend the mountain on the same side we had ascended it. We had no American flag to unfurl to the wind, by way of saluting the port; but we improvised a Danish flag, in honour of the young ladies and of their country, the proprietary of this mountain : a red silk handker- chief served as the ground, and two pocket-handker- chiefs, twisted, as the cross. After some joyous shouts, we resumed our journey ; but during the return we were unsupported by ambition, and it appeared to us much more laborious and painful than the ascent. We were all the more pleased to find at the gorge of the cascade a messenger awaiting us with a hamper of provisions. We devoured them with enthusiasm and gratitude. Our hostess, Mrs. Smith, who thought of everything and everybody, reconnoitred the mountain with her telescope, and as soon as she saw us beginning our descent, hastened to prepare this graceful and acceptable surprise. We had been afoot for eleven hours. The sun was ^remity' As a final stage of the disturbing process, huge hum- mocks float about, or cover the broken ice or wide expanse of sea with irregular eminences. It is chiefly on the southern coasts of the Polar lands that real ice- bergs are met with. Such an iceberg, say the German physicists, is not Ibrincd in the sea, but is a broken 40« THE ICE-CURRENT. Ill ina.ss of glacier moving along partly submerged, and irom wl.icli at different times large pieces have been disrupted by various causes. These float onward with the current. The breadth of the ice-current, like the position of the ice-line, necessarily varies at different times of the year. While in the spring it strikes past Jan Mayen to the southernmost point of Spitzbergen, it flows much nearer to the coast in summer, and diverges to the north of Spitzbergen by way of the west coast of Ice- land. But even at corresponding times of the year the ice-line may shift its position considerably. Much depends on the prevailing winds, and on the relative compactness of the labyrinthine mass of ice-fields, floes, and drifts. As aU ice rises out of the water, says Dr. Pansch, and presents an easy object of attack to the wind from its irregularities of form, so it is frequently diverted from the course of the water-current by a strong air-cun-ent, and either accelerated or delayed in its progress. An easterly and south-easterly wind impels the ice west- ward, and drives the masses more closely together than ever; while a westerly and north-westerly wind forces the boundary of the ice-world farther to the east,— dividing and separating the masses, and thus rendering the ice-stream much easier of navigation. To sail across this ice-current or ice-zone was now the task that lay before us. On the 15th of July a liglit southerly wind rose, early in the morning ; our sails caught the favourinj was now A WALL OF ICE. 407 I'leeze ; tlie ship readily answered her helm, and pressed towurds the north-west through a sea encumbered with fragments of ice. An experienced ear could already distmgmsh a distant murmur, which seemed to approach nearer and nearer : it was the swell of th. sea as it broke agamst the still unseen ice-Helds. We heard the sound with joy; the object of our desire was attained ; and if the ice proved for us a veritable shore or coast-line, we might boldly, in the Qermania, close in upon it, and examine it. Nearer and nearer came the sound ; everybody rushed upon deck, regardless of the demands of physical appe- tite. Suddenly, as if by enchantment, the fog cleared away • aiid before us, at a distance of some hundred paces, rose' the ice ! It presented a long, long line, like a cliff-wall of rugged irregular rocks ; its blue-tinted sides glittered in the sun ; against their base rolled the sea in flashing columns of spray and foam. The summit was covered with a thick layer of snow of blinding whiteness. In silence we admired this magnificent panorama. It was a grave and solemn moment; new thoughts and impressions crowded on the mind; the heart alternated between emotions of hope and doubt. But almost immediately the fog closed in again. In the interval, however, brief as it was, we had con- vinced ourselves of the absolute rigidity of the ice- masses in this locality. Had we conceived the design ot penetrating that impregnable wall, we could never have accomplished it. It was clear, even to those wlio had but an imperfect notion of what ice-navigation 408 WAITING FOU FAIR WKATHIill. really means, that man could not triumph over such an obstacle; not even with the aid of gunpowder, or with the most powerful armour-plated and iron-cuirassed vessel. Our first duty now was to look for the Hansa in lat. 75°; but, on account of iiiO east winds which had prevailed continuously for the last few days, the cir- cumstances were not favourable for any speedy breaking up of the great ice-barrier. The point at which the Germania struck the ice-line was situated in lat. 74° 47' N., and long. 11° 50' W.; and the impregnable threshold stretched almost due north aad south. We afterwards learned that the Hansa had touched it on the same day in lat. 74° 57' N., and long. 9° 41' W. On the morning of July 16th the air brightened; we could steer towards the ice, which soon became visible. On the north and north-east side extended a long chain of ice-floes soldered together; but in the west and north-west opened a large gap or inlet, into which we penetrated, that we might examine the disposition of the ice more closely. About eleven o'clock we reached a chain of floating ice whicli seemed to seal up this opening; but beyond it we could peiceive another space of open water, surrounded by ice, and stretching west- ward. As it was not our intention to make any serious effort to penetrate it before we had rejoined the Hansa, we lay-to, waiting for fairer weather. On the 17th we tacked in a dense fog, with a light wind from the south-west. After having run for some ENTERING A CHANNEL. 409 time on the same tack, we again met the ice. and Imd to put about. It seemed to us that we were in a kind of chasm, surrounded by floating ice-fields. All around us floated freely small floes and islets, whose surface wa^ covered with broken ice and snow. We collected a supply with our shovels, to melt it, and so renew our stock of fresh water. Towards evening the ice accumulated more and more thickly around us; and during the night we were com- pelled to bear to the eastward, to prevent ourselves from bemg beset. For two hours in the morning we tra- versed the outer chain of bergs and fields; and we per- ceived from the swell that we had again entered the open sea, where we lay-to in hope of a " good time coming." On the threshold, the ice-masses were sometimes so piled upon one another that the ship, impelled only by a very light wind, could not pass them. For the first time we had to make use of our long ice-poles so as to fend off* the blocks which lay in the ship's course • or, if their magnitude prevented this, to carry the vessel round them. At length, on the morning of the 18th, the weather cleared, under the auspicious influence of a lio-ht southerly breeze; and, for the first time since we had quitted Jan Mayen, the horizon appeared in all its distinctness and radiance. We then ascertained that theGermaniaw^s sailing in an ice-bordered channel which extended towards the south-east. Meantime, we had seen nothing of the Hansa since leaving Jan Mayen. SI 10 could not be far ofi; howev er. 4X0 REJOTNINO THE " HANSA.' i(f , , ' for wo were rapidly npproaching our rendezvous in lat. 75° N. ; and it was desirable to find her before the f()<^'s enveloped us anew. A bottle of wine was promised to the first man who caught sight of the truant. There was great virtue in this promise ; for soon after breakfast, to the joy of all on board, signal was made of a sail amidst the ice-floes in the east-north-east. It was a schooner ; and as no whalers are ever schooner-rifro-ed it could only bo the Hansa ; and that such was the case, the experienced eyes of our seamen soon made sure from the nature of her rigging. The Hansa was under a cloud of canvas ; she had evidently caught sight of us, and was struggling through the thick ice to re- join us. We began to hope that we should soon push forward in compauy. The fires were lighted, and we got up steam, so as to effect the junction of the two ships without unnecessary delay. About eight o'clock we rejoined the Hanm. Both ships hoisted their flags; the Hansa honouring ours with a salute of cannon, — to which we replied, not being prepared for a ceremony so imposing, with volleys of musketry. Taking the Hansa in tow, we began to retrace our course, until, some accident happening to the machinery, we were compelled to bring-to. The captain of the Hansa, and her scientific staff", came on board ; and it was resolved that, in case of a new separation in the ice, the rendezvous should be Sabine Island. Our usual occupations were steadily continued. By careful soundings we had ascertfiined the varying deptii of the sea up to the very threshold of the icy desert. BOTH SHIPS IN COMPANY. 4U While on the Utli bottom was found at 930 fatliomfl, on the morning of the 1.5th it could not be found at 1230 fathoms. The colour of the sea was generally a l)ure blue. In the nudst of these observations, and of various pursuits, midnight came upon us. At this moment our progress was arrested ; the engines being stopped be- cause the axle-bed was heated, and required cooling. The mists had passed away, and a favourable breeze liaving risen, the captain resolved to put out the fires; and both ships proceeded under sail. Our friends of the ITansa returned on board their own vessel, and we con- tinued our route in company. Who could have supposed that evening that we had been reunited for the last time,— that we of the Ger- mania should never again see the sister-vessel,— and theat we should not meet with our comrades again for fourteen months, and then only after they had miracu- lously escaped a terrible disaster, and successfully accom- plished a series of remarkable adventures ? Our intention was to follow up, in the south, the boundary line of the pack-ice, seeking an opening which should promise a chance of penetrating into it west- ward. We tacked with adverse winds, following up the angular projections of the ice, which at this point extended in a west-south-westerly direction. On the 19th of July wo saw the first Polar bear; the ammal was swimming. On the same day appeared for tlie first time at our table a specimen of Arctic fare. At breakfast our cook surprised us by ser vintr ui 412 A MISTAKEN SIGNAL. dainty dish of sea-calf's liver; and in the evening "tickled our palates" with an excellent ragout made with the flesh of the same animal. We rejoiced in the agreeable innovation of " fresh meat." The reader will be pleased to understand that we continued a south-westerly course, closely hugging the impregnable rampart of the ice. We came in collision, on the night of the 19th, with a part of the close-packed floes which had separated from the main body. The swell had entirely disappeared ; and we moved towards the south-west among loose floating ice. At night the fog was almost always dense; but it cleared a little about eight in the mornino-. There was a strong breeze blowing from the south- south-west. In the south-west we found the ice suffi- ciently compact; and therefore, about eleven o'clock, we steered to the westward. The Hansa was a few miles to windward; and as both captains wished to confer together again, and Captain Koldewey to take coals on board the Germania, the approach-signal was hoisted. The Hansa, unfortunately, misunderstood it. We signalled, "Come within hail." She read it, "Long stay-a-peak." Thereupon she set more sail, and dis- appeared in the deepening, darkening fog before we could succeed in following her. Thus a fatal misunder- standing separated, and separated for ever, the two ships. [We will now leave the Germa7iia, under Captain Koldewcy's command, to proceed to her destination, while we trace the unfortunate experiences of the Hansa hi the leport of Captain Hegemann and his companions.] ON BOARD THE " HANSA. 418 I. -THE VOYAGE OF THE "HA.VSA: AMONG THE ICE. On the morning of the 20th of July, Captain Kolde- wey hoisted a signal which, in the hazy weather, we unhappily misinterpreted. Captain Hegemann thoiiglit it meant that the ships should go as far westward as possible, and crowded on all the canvas his spars would carry. In this way we lost sight of the Germania, which we never saw aerain. At noon we were in lat. 74° 4' N., and long. 12° 52' W., with the Germania about a marine mile astern. The fog gathering in, we furled our sails, in the hope the Germania would rejoin us. About half-past one we perceived to windward, during a momentary lighten- ing of the heavy fog-veil, a ship, which seemed to be a Greenland whaler, running before the wind. We put about in order to hail her, and give her our letters and despatches ; but in half an hour she disappeared. On the morning of the 21st, as we lay quietly in the imck, M. Hildebrandt, who had planted his photographic apparatus on the ice, took a good photograph of the Hansa. The dazzling effect of the sunlit snow pro- duced the first case of snow-blindness in one of the sailors, Philip heyne, and snow-spectacles were im- mediately issued. Seal and narwhal were seen near the ship, and some fell victims to our prowess. An attempt to attract the bears by a fire kindled on a block of ice, and fed with sfial-hlubbei, proved unsuccessful. July mh.—We caught sight to-day of the dreary (544) 2*^ 414 THE MIDNIGHT SUN. rocky coast of East Greenland, stretching from Cape Broer-Ruys to Cape James. July 29t/i. — To-day we caught a young sea-calf; which we called Jacob, and kept on board ship for a week. Our skill as marksmen was exercised also on a bearded seal, about seven and a half feet long, and on a hooded seal; and for the first time and the last we caught sight of a Greenland whale. On the same day we succeeded in killing a Polar bear, which supplied us with some capital hams. This animal measured about nine feet in length, from the nose to the tip of the tail As for the little seal, it refused to 3at, and we landed it, therefore, on an ice-floe ; but Jacob, instead of im- mediately scuttling off, kept following up the ship, swimming and diving, as if to thank us for having given him his liberty. The weather was now serene and bright. By the lustre of the midnight sun, which illuminated the crystal summits of icebergs and ice-peaks, we hunted the nar- whal. It is impossible to conceive of anything more extraordinary than the effect produced by the light of the midnight sun as it fiills upon an ocean loaded with masses of ice. Warm and cold tones commingle and cross each other in every direction ; the sea shines with gleams of orange, leaden gray, or dark green ; the ice- ridges blush with soft rosy tints; vast eery shadows spread over the silent snow, while the most various mirages glimmer in the waters. As we could no longer advance in the direction hitherto adopted, we were obliged, in conformity with our instructions, to steer to the eastward, in order to THROUGH THE FLOES. ^jg escape from the ice-pack, and resume tl.e work of ex- ploration anew. .ackmg w,tt a north-ea.t wind, at a dbtaueo of abo« twelve m, es. As wa afterwards learned, one of tl>e,n r ,f '""-'^'"P Bienenkorb, Captain Hagens of VW. More to the northward it had fallenin with the Germama, whieh we were to see no more As yet we were not actually beset in the ice, but to approach the coa.t at once was impossible, on ;cco„„I of the compactness of the floes. On the 31st we lost sight of the ships; on the 1st of Angus they seemed to reappear-though'this pr Led to te noUnng else than a mirage, caused by refraction The Hansa slowly and with difiiculty went on her jay. At two o clock we broke through two gigantic Hoe. At the fir,^ shock the ship's bow' ose two'f::t on to the ,ce and rolled a-s if her keel touched the bottom The masts reeled under the force of the blow, but the Hanm. successfully withstood it. On the 3rd of August a fine snow fell On the 5th, the day when the Germania, as we shall see, was already lying at anchor off Sabine Island, the Ha,isa found herself onee more in open water From the 5th to the 11th, we experienced an alter- nation of foggy and fair weather, with a temperature ™ng.„g from 290 „ 3,„ J. ^^ ^^^^^ J^^^^2 ■xlong tl e ice boundary until the 10th. Troops of seals :::rdi:r' "' 7''? '■•"■" '^" *° *-''y i numb. and displaying the utmost liveliness, sometimes leapin. out of the water. At eight o'clock we thought clei 416 A PERILOUS PROGRESS. we saw a vessel, and the hope of rejoining the Oer- mania once more revived within us; but tlie inevi- table fog closed in, and our signal-guns met with no response. A severe frost occurred on the night of the 10th, the ice being an inch and a half thick. We steered in a north-westerly direction, and at seven in the morning were twenty-five miles nearer the coast ; but the com- pactness of the ice prevented us from profiting further by the auspicious south-west wind. For the next few days our task was exceedingly laborious. The wind was contrary, and the attempt to sail through the opposing ice impracticable. But by hauling the ship along for twelve hours by means of a cable attached to a small anchor, we contrived to reach navigable water on the 13th. But again our hopes were baffled. On the morning of the 14th the ice was all around us, as it was all around the ship of the "Ancient Mariner" in Coleridge's ballad. Fresh ice had formed in the little channels separating the ice-floes, and the ffansa was completely hemmed in. From this day until the final blocking up of the Hansa, we encountered a succession of reverses, fatigues, and dangers. On the 14th, the monotony of our labours was slightly interrupted ; we shot a white bear. On the 15th, we vere nearer the coast than we had yet been. Shannon Island was forty-eight miles distant, and Pendulum Island, fifty-nine. The ice was thick. On the 16th, the thermometer marked 25° F. ; weather beautiful. Stuck mst to the floe, we drifted steadily hours was THE "FLOWER BASKET." ^j^ southward. On the 18th and 19th we resorted again to the hauhng process, and advanced a few ship-len^hs. On the 2.W we reached the open water, and contrived but in the evening were again set fast The carcass of a Plwca Oreenlandica had drawn to- gether, we observed, a numerous phalanx of ivory guDs Two birds (StrepsUas interpres) were whirUng round and round, according to their wont, on the newly formed On the 24th we undertook a boat-excursion to the shore: the captam, two office.^. Dr. Uube, and two until within sixteen miles of the land. Passin- a curious icy formation, we named it, appropriately enough, the .'FWr Basket." From a'J'hrm .'{ which we climbed, and adorned with the German flag vve could see the coast very distinctly; but we could ot approach closer, on account of the compactness of the ice. We returned, therefore, to the ship ; reaching it about half-past twelve at night. The position of the .ce wa^ considerably changed, and a dense fog closed in so that we could scarcely find our way, and more than once were obliged to haul the boat over the floes. W Bades diary describes, with rough nautical humour our frugal evemng meal, on the cold ice, aud under the cold ..ky, during this excursion In the hurry we had brought with us only harf bread and some ctl 1 abundant as "leave., in Vallombrosa," At fi^st, owin. to the lowness of the temperature, the water would no° 418 OFF SABINE ISLAND. boil, and in order to concentrate the heat we had to ky our sou '-westers over the coffee-machine; a pr acced- ing of doubtful wisdom, as it was with much difficulty these oilskin coverings were saved from the flames, which readily caught them. On the 25th, we pro; oy the calm to warp the sliip in the direction of the ice ; and this was the day on which the Hansa approached nearest to Sabine Island. On the 26th and the 27th, the ice pressed us forcibly ; but our stout schooner bravely resisted. According to the observations taken on board the Germania, we now know that the two ships, at this time, were not more than thirty-four miles apart ! On the 28th, for the first and only time, the wind blew strongly from the north-west. We drifted per- ceptibly southward, along with an enormous ice-field. Taking into consideration the formidable ice-pressure to which the ship was now subjected, we got our boats ready, and distributed the fur clothing. We could not but recognize the imminent prospect before us of being obliged to winter on the coast; and began to talk seriously of using our coal-bricks for the construction of a hut upon the ice, in case we were obliged to abandon the ship. September 3ncl—'Rsim, and a south-easterly gale. On the morning of the 5th the weather was fair, with a light breeze blowing up from the south-east. We made twenty knots under sail in a north-westerly direction, skirting an ice-field about fifteen miles in ICE EVERYWHERE ! 419 lengtli, until eiglit o'clock; then the wind fell, and we were once more arrested in our progress by the com- bined mfluences of the fog and the ice. This was the last time that we were under sail Had the Hansa been a steam-sliip, we should probably have gamed the coast, for we could see before us much open water. On the day following, we moored our schooner between two promontories of a large ice-field which eventually became our raft of deliverance. Now be-an the complete blockade of our ship in the ice. ^ It froze visibly; and the fresh ice uniting, the floes were soon thick enough to bear a man's weight " We remained," says Dr. Laube, "with every sail set between the great dense ice-packs, having advanced upon the whole three ship-lengths westward. In the evenmg we distinctly saw land towering above the ice the refraction showing us a solid barrier to the nortli' To the east the ice was just as thickly packed. Two- thirds of the way happily lay behind us, but the last third seemed to be beset by insurmountable difficulties. To what purpose was aU our labour? I thought of those at home, who only admit imaginary difficulties in the ice ; and who, perhaps, doubt our good-will, our self-sacrifice, and our sincere endeavours. I did' not go to rest that night with the best and quietest of thoughts. We were in the ice; but whether, or how we should ever come out again, God only knew." As late as the 7th of September, the vovacrers <^till flattered themselves that they might reacli the coast 420 THE IMl'lllSUNEJ) SHIP, It was distant only five-and-thirty miles ; and ac noon, in clear weather, its outlines could be distinctly traced. To the west of the ice-field (the Haiisa lay to tlie east of it) was visible a wide area of open water, white with foam, which seemed to extend quite to the coast. A pedestrian excursion westward upon the ice-plain, following up its southern boundary, would show us whether the channel on that side was navigabre through- out, and communicated with this open water. March- ing through thick and frozen snow, we reached a huge block of ice, which we christened the DeviVs Thumb; from its summit we could command an extensive pro- spect. Seated astride of it, we warmed ourselves with a little of the liquor Bade had been thoughtful enough to bring with liim. Two other enormous masses, en- closing a narrow and picturesque passage, were called the Brandenburg Gate. We contrived to escalade one of these masses by mount- ing on one another's shoulders, and then cutting steps in the ice with a knife. Hildebrandt made a sketch of the little scene. Unfortunately, the canal we had seen proved too narrow for the vessel ; and soon the ice in it and on the otlier side of the field set firmer together. On the following days the cold was very keen, sink- ing from 23° to 5°; and at last, on the 14th of Septem- ber, the Hansa was completely blocked up by ice, in lat. 73° 25' r N., and long. 18° 39' 5" W. The south-west drift, aided by the wind, which blew continuously from the north, carried the sliip southward along with fhe ice ; and in this way we traversed thirteen miles from the 12th to the Uth. nd jit noon, ctly traced, to tlie east white with J coast. A ice-phiin, i show us re through- r. March- ed a huije 's Thumb; Bnsive pro- jelves with ful enouo'h nasses, en- vere called by mount- ig steps in 3tch of the had seen the ice in ' together. :een, sink- )f Septeni- by ice, in outh-west )usly from with the liles from OAI'TURE OF A SHE-BEAR. ^j, wl ch the Ha„m Imd entered ; a„,l we made it iai w.th cables to protect ourselves fron, the floating 1^ Some days ater, a north-north-west gale set'tT.Hct agam ,„ .nofon, and broke our hawsers. The iee a^ On a neighbouring ■■ field " we caught sight of a she- The two anunals .soon caught sight of us, and began to ot along the edge of the ice. by the side of the boat- ^e mother grmd.ng her teeth, and licking her beard. We fired aa soon as we could take a steady aim, and the . bear fell upon the snow, mortally wounded. We re! linl f Ti " T" "'"^ *'" y°""e »"''. -hieh con- tinued to hck and caress her mother in the most affect- ing manner; but each time she contrived to extricate herself and at last she took to flight, groaning and cry ng. Though wounded by a musket-ball, she succeeded in ettecting her escape. BUILDING THE HUT. b^. 1809). a ten o'clock, some aurora gleams ap^red m the west, shooting towards the south. Ridiant .eaves and phosphorescent bands mounted towards ^.o.e„,th; but the phantasmagoria quickly vanished dismally on the spo where it had lost ite mother The crfll M """ •"■"''' "'"'' "PP"^"""' ^°d t-'^ted ex. cellen either as a roa.st joint or in chops. On the 1 2th Irom the east, as beforc.-leaving the land behind tirem' ' 424 ARCTIC PASTIMRS. m ^ki —came anotlier couple cf bears. The old one met the same fate as the previous wanderer; the cuh wns caught, and cliained to the ice-anchor. Its alarm was great, but it eagerly devoured its mother's flesh, which we threw to it. We raised a snow-house for its accom- modation, and provided it with a couch of shavings ; which, however, the young bear, like a true native of the Arctic seas, treated with contempt, and preferred encamping in the snow. A few days later it disap- peared, along with tiie chain, which must have become loosened from the anchor ; and no doubt the poor crea- ture perished. The weight of the iron in itself was sufficient to sink it. The Hansa was visited by other Arctic guests. With a brisk wind came a couple of snow-white foxes; a proof that the ice had formed a continuous bridge to the shore. With tails high in the air, they trotted or galloped across the ice-fields like small craft sailing be- fore the wind. One of them was shot by Mr. Hilde- trandt, and the next day "smoked upon the board." Our leisure was now considerable, but we did our best to fill it up with various and varied occupations. We skated; we indulged in gymnastic games: the crew found amusement in football; and in spite of twelve degrees of frost, might be seen, on a fine sunny day, stripped of their jackets, and their foreheads covered witli sweat. Our ship had been constructed with all the improve- ments, suggested by experience, that could insure the safe accomplishment of our enterprise. It would not have been prudent, however, to place iniDlicit confid- one met tlio lio cuh wjis i-s alarm was flcsli, whicli )r its accom- )f sliavinffs ; ue native of id preferred er it disap- lave become e poor crea- 1 itself was lests. With te foxes; a IS bridge to y trotted or i sailing be- Mr. Hilde- J board." we did our )ccupations. s: the crew ! of twelve sunny day, ds covered le improve- insure the would not icit contid- THE COAL-BRICK HOUSE. ence in these precautions; and we were at once warned and threatened by the strong pressure of the ice Xch became more and more frequent We thought, at first, of w-ntering on the ice in th^ boats, covered in «,;tl, . -i ■ , . . "'^ , wverea in witli sails; but tins sort of sheltpr would not iiave afforded a ^■,M%m bealth and life. How would ft dtT ^"'°*''' ^"^ wind, the severe cold T , ""^ ™ "S'^'"^* *« , B severe cold, the humcanes of snow with which we were certain t/> v,„ •, , , ' ' winter? iZT T , "'""'^'^ throughout the winter? How could we have prepared in it that wa™ nourishment which is absolutely indispensable t xisf ence during an Arctic winter ? We returned to the Mea o constructing a hut upon the ice-field, and w^^^C delay proceeded to build the house of c al wllh td cellent materiaJ, because they absorb the moisture and reflect the warmth back into the interior. For" r we used water and snow. For the roof, we LZt toke in case of a final esUblishment on the icXo„„t Sf\t*r^-i^r "-^^^•-~ - these we erected sheds of frozen snow twent ^^,^^P'T Hog^ma^n. Its dimensions were inches ,1 * " "'^"P"'"' "'"' -"^ fo- f-' eight The site was carefully selected, a sm-io*!, -r' f t'.o ice-field, free from fissures, and about ;<:;,.:;;« mi 428 BUILDING OPERATIONS. ^f I't yards from the schooner. Had it been situated at a much greater distance from the ship, the difficulty of transporting the materials would have been materially increased. All hands set to work on the 29th of Se]>- tember. The foundations were dug out and hewn out by help of spade and hatchet ; then a layer or course of snow, a foot and a half in thickness, was built up, which covered the ice. For want of sufficient materials, we could raise the walls two bricks (or nine inches) thick only to a height of two feet ; above that, we had to be content with a single row. A well which we excavated in the ice close at hand, not only furnished us with a supply of beautiful crystal water, but at the same time with a capital cement. Thus, while on land the frost would have compelled us to cease our operations, here it absolutely facilitated them. We had nothing to do but to fill in the joints and chinks with dry snow, and pour water over it; in ten minutes we had a compact mass, from which it would have been exceedingly difficult to ex- tract a solitary brick. A temporary roof was formed with the sail-clotli and matting which had remained on board the Hanaa since her last voyage to the West Indies (reed-matting, with which the hold had been lined before the cargo was put on board). Canvas and mats were nailed to the ridge-pole; and to give this fragile construction more thickness and solidity, we laid a layer of snow upon it. A double door, two feet and a half wide, was made on board expressly ; and we laid down a flooring of coal-bricks. Then we trans- ported into this house, whicli was designed and erected A SNOW-STORM. meat, a cask o f Ld o/ 7ff "'"/''^" »' P^''^^-'^ wood, and so^etonAfhr' ' '"'"'^' "^''^"^ auiue ions ot the compressed coal Ai ih^ ■ng clean an area for a party of skaters, when a .2; noise, and a violent movement nf rtJ ■ , Pf "'""^ twelve inrlio., ti • 1 °™™''°' 0* the ice, which was . Irth If 2 • '^""°""'''' "^ ""■"■"g g*i« from the iio.th. At the same instant the ice besmn *„ i,. a , crack, and isolated masses were li ted uf Tin, . ", tuous agitation lasted for nearly an hour' *"""•"■ On the 8th, after the works necessarv fnv .1, aiose, which, if of earlier occurrence, would certain^ have rendered them impossible; and n fiv dlbot I'ouse and ship were entirely buried 'd , .now ere a ^^^J^^ ZL,Si^^ and tl ship s stern, that the sailors could with difficu v make their way to their cabin. Ine new in» .„i • . -^ .ounded the^„„.„ ^,3 so loaded CtT. now tta:"'; ".oilaJ's::^''^' ''^ -water penetrated between On the I3th the sterm subsided, the weather a^ain heoame calm and serene, and we found oujelv'rfir .". es north-east of the Liverpool coast, w :^ .^ ,^ like to a rocky mountain, with shinin^ ri Iv ^^T eipi^us wans thinly eove.d-with'::;:XtZ 480 DRIFTING TO THE SOUTH-EAST. iiii, valleys and gorges the snow lay in heavy masses. We could clearly distinguish the north point, Cape Glad- stone, and Murray and Reynolds Islands, as well as a great part of the coast stretching southward until lost in the misty distance. From the oth to the 14th of October the drift had been very great. In that period we had fallen back, as it were, seventy-two miles towards the south-south- east. We frequently saw flights of crows, which seem to sojourn all the winter on this coast. Once only did we catch sight of a gull and a falcon. The narwhal also made known their presence in the ice-covered channels by their occasional " blowing." On the morning of the l7th, three of the crew — namely, Bowe the carpenter, and the seamen Buttner and Heyne — undertook, in the fine weather, to gain the land, which v/as only ten miles distant. They started at seven o'clock, the weather being very calm, and the temperature at zero. After crossing some dangerous places in the newly-formed ice, they arrived at some continuous fields which enabled them to approach within four miles of the shore. After a three hours' journey they were constrained to halt, because a belt of water, about two miles wide, parallel to the coast, and skirting the "ice-foot" or shore-ice, which was of nearly an equal breadth, obstructed the route. About one o'clock, when snow had begun to fall, and the wind to blow from the north, they u med the ship; we were grow- ing anxious for their safety, and welcomed them gladly on their return. A PRECURSOR OF EVIL. 431 DANGERS. o'clock in th; i"t .^"V -""^ ""' '"'°'" ^"g'" around the ship ™ A ul ^^'" '" ^"^'^ ""^ P-^^ ice, like rolling Jll^VZnTZ"''' ""'""^''*''' "'« a sound like t\e 11^^ ''™*'"^' "°^ ^"«' of human voices and"! , i?,; """ "'^'' '^ ~"t«°«on on the Wheel oT'ate Zt tt^ ^t^tr'"'' '^^ cause of the pressure wa.. that o r fe rdTurt^^ chief momentum • so tw f ^'''' '*<'^'^^'' "'« -^e. though ill^Sei; TnTt^ f ^ ^- swayed to and fro, like re dsl^' *"''.*''°"S'' ^-^^ •nasts underwent some lon^ an^^ '""'*• ^^ *''^ ««" boat seemed fn dalt' 7"°." '"""'*« ->>-'- ajongside the sl^' "ardT e 2r"i*''-fr cleared: but our 7^vno« ^- «^ening the weather e- the shiHas" t^yt^r^? ^" '"-^ ^^^ '" si'ip, if she escaped. We cl'nl!. ^"' "^""""'"g i" «'« t'>e house, especially irird'andV T ' 7/''"""^ ''' the fur clothing, and carried upon elt t """'^' stores. In removing these we 1 «'e remaining colony of rats, which. ZlTj'^^r'''' ^ "™«-0"s had not yet thought it necessary to aband ernselves very well off, on tlie vessel. 482 THE SHIP IN DANGER. By evening the pressure had ceased, and the air was cahn, though foggy ; a halo formed round the moon, which was then at its full, and illuminated with a pale and fitful light the mountains and plains of ice. In the cabin, and in the crew's lodging, we amused oui-selvea by playing at cards. The catastrophe we feared was preceded on the morn- ing of the 19th by a hurricane from the north-north- west, accompanied by a fall of snow, and much severe pressure from the ice. So thick was the air, we could not see the coast. The first heavy shock occurred at ten in the morning, but we felt no particular alarm until noon, when the constantly approaching and heaped- up masses of young ice, about four feet thick, had broken up on the starboard side of the vessel, and drove heavily against the outer side. The stern of th^ schooner rose slightly, and but for the high ice-blocks would have risen higher ; she had to bear, therefore, the entire pres- sure. But so far she was water-tight, as we found on trying the pumps. Shortly before one o'clock, the deck- seams amidships gave way. Then came an interval of quiet, during which we took our mid-day meal on deck. Between decks it was very uncomfortable. Before loner some massive blocks of ice forced themselves under the ship's bow, and, though crushed by it, raised her up, slowly at first, and then more quickly, until it was fully seventeen feet out of its former position upon the ice. We sought to ease this movement as much as possible by shovelling away the ice and snow from the larboard side. A strange and awful, yet splendid spectacle, of which all the crew wero. witnesses fi'om the ice, was B ice, was A LEAK DISCOVERED. 438 and J: i':irdi"r:i'"trr /r* stern part of the ship wou d VoTrise .T^'^' "'" tion .a., therefore, forced up^r^rthaTthl T'"" must soon be rent in twain '" '"''"""^^ About five o'clock the pressure temporarily ceased ' and tlie raised ice retreated; so that in fl,» , an hour the ..hin 1, • , ' "'® """"^e of our, tne ship, lying on her starboard sid^ „i;j i into open wat^ir Tk» i, '-j^mu siae, glided upeu water. I he hawsers, which had l,oo„ loose, so as nnt tn „i,„ i i '""'" '^ast made' fa«t: tX^tJ^^^Zt' ''''' *'" tbund seventeen inches of watert tlfe hold '"X ""l' set to work • anri nh^. + , , ^^^ iiands wuiK, ana about seven oclook flio oK- ir^ncrtlre : ^^ ;:d T„ '■r/r '-^ -*^^ continued s,.adUy to nC'e Tht /" ''*°""'^' ■^^^''^sa, at all events, was sealprl • +1.^ j i • sinking ! Our emotion waTJaT b, ^ . '""^ *"^ t.-gho:ttt::ifarrTi::'-r^ *° "^^ asylum, and perhaps our ^Z^In 1 ■;"'°'^ however, we ifad no time T ndulJ^ tjfT'^' steadily prosecuted. Bv nine i^ t feveSl ■ '^' had ceased to fill ■ ., ^i„ . evening, me snow ea to tall, a clear, starry heaven shone above J, ,4 484 A NIGHT OF ANXIETY. US, and over tlie deary ice-desert spread the calm lustre of a cloudless moon. Ever and anon the iinnament glowed, and the scenery was lighted up, by the ever- changing glories of the aurora. It was now freezing sharply, with the thermometer at 13° below zero. One half of the men were kept at the pumps; the others, until midnight, were occupied in removing from the doomed vessel the most necessary articles. "As to sleep," says Dr. Buchholz, " it was not to be thought of, for the idea of our ter- rible position whirled through my brain in the wildest manner. What would become of us when winter really set in, if its approach were heralded by such bitter cold ? In vain I attempted to think of any means of safety. It was useless to dream of reaching the land. It might, indeed, be possible to force our way through great dangers, and across the fields and floes, to the inhospitable coast ; but at the utmost we could provide ourselves with only a few days' food. Eskimo settlements, from Scoresby's experience, were not to be expected; so that death by hunger seemed not very distant from us. We could do nothing, then, but endeavour to save ourselves in the coal-hut on the southward-drifting ice-field; and if it held together, we might hope to reach a South Greenland Eskimo settlement in the spring, or (which was somewhat im- probable) get across the icy belt to Iceland." One serious mishap attending the pumps was, that the water poured out upon the deck could not run off through the scuppers, because they were filled with ice; therefore it froze between the provision-chests. Tiie ABANDONING THE " HANSA. " <„ "-hole »fter.deck wa« soon blocked up with ic» ■ ,1 .0 ^rked them stood m tubs to keep themselves d^. We made holes in the bulwarks to let it osipe but no w.th much advantage, as, from the inten c Td' the water came out in a semi-congealed condition Af e same time, the ice settled so o^er the crbt^l^gh that the water oozed through its chinks. During To nght our weary and exhausted men gained a few L,m of refresh,ng sleep; then they all drfined gladly 1 cup of coffee, and once more set to work Th»l* \ , ' however, was close at hand Aletht ^'''',™'"*''"I.'''^. the men who were busy iri th. f ^ "! ' "'""'"'«• the wood came wifl ^ *'"=/"''"*''"''' S'^'ng ''" nounce fl r . dismayed countenances, to a»- nounee that ,t was already floating below 0.nt^ n wwlwSf ""T *" '' ""^■"'PP^'"' '"'' the vessel. An ."^^-V'^y ^'°kmg. to be abandoned. IJI hands were at once mm^^A * ^ stoves were happi/ vel t^ '"" ^""'T^ """' '*° xidppiiy saved: these insured us a snnnI^7 of wa,-m nourishment, an endurable (if not a 2n temperature in our coal-hut. and some other advr*!' (lunng our winter captivity For fp„r Je !^™"78*^' of fuel w,! laid onr I T ^"^"'"S sliort wood r ' !v ''''"* "P°" "^'^y '«»«« piece of wood Meant me. the vessel was rapidly settling do,™ • b t we succeeded, nevertheless, in 4vi„g .some otcte which were incalculably precious in our situation ! 'Ci 486 GETTING OUT STORES. small medicine-chest, our lamps, books, cigars, boxes of games, and the like. But our work was far from ended. There, on the ice, everything lay in a heterogeneous heap. It was a complete chaos, in the midst of which some shivering rats struggled f« ^'-^p -k. in the night of the 1^, ~ t 70^5? r tr™"' W., about a Go^an mile and a ll, L^' Zev"'' "'] »as,. We could distinctly trace tcHff .''""'' tains, which, according to Dr Laube c nf . " "^T the chalk-hills of M„„- 1 ' '''"''ely resembled .-Island 1 t2:;i^^^i^^ «'- "'•opening a road acrossl f^^^^^Z T' deck fTtl::;*;'- 'r ^-^ ^^^-^ •-- - «>e fej' noatea. ihe weather beino- vprv fo,.« ti we were able to haul un on fl.. ^ favo.inible. third hope of safety '''' "'" ''' ^^"'' '^^« IN THE COAL-HUT selves' afiZ t^ """ """?'«'<' -° "^l^-g our- 1. .rowiltt'^e " r""^ '" ""^ black-looking its interlr the ,,Tr'"''"''y '"'«■> temperat,u-e in ^ interior, the sailcloth roof nprnn'f+n^ +1 t.iekle through the snow rhlCertd i' so^T '" parsed a very bad night. We remedied 't ^' venience by substituting a roof of Zt t ."""T sails. To m-ovide fn- v^ . , '^ ' ""^ered with a couple )otli sides of tlio room, wo raised a tier of boards about six inches above the ground, and kid our mat- tresses upon it. To prevent the pillows from freezing to the w;dl, wo lined it, where necessary, with double planking. The cooking-stove was placed behind; the smaller one in front. Along the walls, which were hung with sailcloth, shelves were placed, and on these we disposed our books, instruments, and cooking- utensils. The ship's chests, planted in front of the bed-Hoor, served for table and seats. The gilded looking-glass from our old cabin adorned and brightened the interior of our new one; underneath it hung a splendid barometer; and the ticking of the clock cheered us with its accustomed sound. By all tliese little arrangements, our residence in the coal-hut wjis rendered comparatively endurable. A good night's sleep recruited our weary frames; and, tlianks to our capital preserved meats, we gained fresh strength from the marvellous soups and stews prepared by our cook. We were no longer threatened by any imminent danger; so our melancholy gave way a little, and it was even with jests and laughter that we recalled some of the humorous scenes of the 19th. In the evening we resumed our whist-club, playing on a volume of the ship's journal, as we had no table. The gi-eater portion of our supplies of fuel and pro- visions, as well as the boats, lay still upon the ice in the neighbourhood of the scene of disaster. The work of transporting it was accomplished chiefly by means of the sledges, and occupied several days. For the beside the house. As 1 pii up layer of snow outside rose «.s luVh •,>, ii., n tl.e hut a trend. Com- , T "' """ ''"« ■"■"'""' - awning of si ""''' "'"'='' "" -^"-d witl. "i»l.ed a convenient pl„ce for I """"''"' *•"- visions, and there w ZoliLd tl?' "T °'"' '"•"■ the remainder, which wouCe ^tt '""7 ' was carefully deposited in the bol The , >?" '■'' tity of fuel procured by cutting „n n , I"'"" we threw together in a I'ap "' ^"■"■^' Sometin>es the boats were stationed in one nl.,. sometnnes in another ■ we extrinnt^j .1 ^ ""'' from the snow and J '""''"f''''' *''<^"' at intervals ^Loitered lotlly ""''"'^' ""'"' '» -»« "-- ti^etunirvrirtzrir^^"^ descend into our "fox's hole"tT 7T l'"^^"^ "^ *" rose above the level :;tie:now ""''' "'""' ^^"^^'^ t.~:i-rL:t::-£'rt:"Tr"'''' a Hacr.st-vff' Tr, fl ., "^ topgallant-mast as -attention of any Eslrfet^ I It l^c^ "^' was ix-rtiled r am „?i:' "'''"'^"'" ""^'-^'-g^ warming an.ngelTt'^ exce^r 7"^" , "'^ temperature of the exter!!l r"™,'' *"'' "'»"§'' the -(•"P *i 7, o^teinal atmosphere had sunk to „.„;.,.,""*'"' '^^'^l n«<^«««ary for preparing, n„r me.h P'oved suihcient also for hi^tiJ .,..._. ° '" mg puiposes; and, m 440 DAILY OCCUPATIONS. order to spare the wood, we seldom used the second stove. The damp was remarkably diminished, for it escaped easily through the dormer-window, which also admitted a supply of fresh air. DE DIE IN DIEM. Slowly but uninterruptedly our ice-field drifted south- ward. We skirted the Liverpool coast as far as Scoresby Sound,— iometimes approaching, sometimes recedint^ from the ice, with a uniformity of movement which was probably due to the flux and reflux in that large deep sound. We could perfectly distinguish the out- line of the coast bristling with rocks ; and in two val- leys, lying between abrupt precipitous mountains, ve fancied we saw huge glaciers covered with snow. We often contemplated with melancholy feelings the spot where the Hansa went down. Now there was space enough for her between the ice-field and the land-ice. At the end of October the sun rose at half-past nine, and about three o'clock sr ak behind the rocky coast. In the hut we had but a few hours of daylight for reading and writing. We endeavoured, by every possible means, to main- tain a constant activity. We skated ; we made snow images. The order of the day's proceedings was always observed to the letter. The last night-watch woke us at seven. We ro^e, dressed ourselves in our woollen clothing, washed in melted snow, and took our morning's coffee with a ration of hard bread. Tlien we betook ourselves to our id the second inished, for it >w, which also drifted south - ar as Scoresby mes recedinof ;^ement which in tliat large uish the out- id in two val- aountains, ve b snow. y feelings the )w there was ield and the lalf-past nine, ! rocky coast. daylight for ans, to main- e made snow js was always n. We ro^.e, ^, washed in offee with a [•selves to our EXPLORING THE FLOE •48 various avocations. Somp »ni^A v.- carpenter; ^o.epiiedr ul^l „:::,e":t'"''-r ''"' wood; othe. kept the d^lyZl^T 721 T were clear we fnnV «, / ^b^siers. n the weather recorded ^l^^^^Zre^Z!'^! tr"°°^' '"'' o'clock, dinner St.!„ "^cessary calculations. At one of preserved ve!lu!!' f ^ '"^ '"' '^''""^ance to eat but little of sa/uieatand "acof NoT'""' venture to indulge in alcoholic liquor -con^" ''' "^ selves to one alas*? nf « ^ ^uors,— confining our- Throughout tho't^Ite^owt LI"'" ™ '"''^'^^^• LeaJth waa good We Z^ '" Precautions, our physical discUrt,!; eptth:srr sf^T "^ "' of fever when the .hi,. ! ! Schmidt's attack toe of the :aii:^t Lr w:tci,^ '^"^'-•^'''- alert, and dissension was previ Jbv tit ''• .°" *'" of a strict discipline ^ ^ maintenance direction. WelcertS ^."r^. "' ^^''^ '" ^^^^ nauti., „iles in^rftttlrraSr T" meter was two miles. average dia- Tlie landscape surrounding us was drearv fm^ •. monotony. Tf nrp«n«+«i -n ^^^ary trom its pieces are called "floes:" .„d!,,-n^.f "='• ^™'^"" ones " Now. th e inp-rji n VVIl ich, as Dr. Laube 'drifts. Iiappily i i Hi A WASTE OF WHITENESS." ^'1: remarked, "we were as the Lord's passengers," was a solid field, fully forty-five feet thick-five feet above and forty feet below, the water-level— composed of drifts and floes frozen into a compact mass. By the beginning of January, the accumulated snow often eight feet in height, had filled up every fissure and crevasse in the dreary, far-spreading plain ; so that the eye wandered dissatisfied, without finding a solitary resting.point, over the wearisomely blank waste of whiteness ! When at any distance from the hut, it lay so deeply embedded in the snow that we could dis- tinguish nothing but the dark spot or line of the chim- ney, the boats, and the flag-staff; with its fluttering banner— a sign of civilization, which was duly unfurled after every passing whirlwind. Later in the spring, when the process of liquefaction and disruption had greatly reduced the size of our raft, it appeared, owing to the heaped-up blocks of ice and snow-wall, almost like "animated blocks of ice." On examining them more closely, these "ramparts" were found to be "the pushed-up walls of small ice-masses, to which our field had been knitted by the frost." At intervals rose mounds of snow, which the change from thawing wea- ther to frost had almost converted into glaciers, into a solid and homogeneous whole. The western and north- western borders of our field were dreary in the extreme. The collision and almost constant friction of the driving ice-floes had raised up walls ten feet in height, em*^ bellished with snow-crystals, which radiated in the sun like innumerable diamonds. In the auroral displays at morn and eve, the white flakes turned to pale green NATURAL PHENOMENA. ample, o' the tZ DeltCrT.'""^''-^- ^"' - 'lour so intense as to^ the A* ^T^ ^'* " ^P'^"^" streamed across our St ''^'"' """^ '^^'^'^^^ according to i.. Zy^nTmZZ "^'""^'t ""'^ «"-'' - a da.k, vague strel^or ttll TheTt t"^"''*^'"^ configuration. "*^ *^'''*''^ »f "« rockj Early in November our ot*o„i- two natural phenomeL F™t "t V '*'i'^'^'' "^ V about eight nautical JC tl^^Tlr' ^' observed a number of willow lit! 1 T"""S' ^« «% which had evidentlyTien ^'5e] r Zu"'"^ ^^' »me eddying breeze. At 1^^°" ^"^ '^"'^ ''3' a conside^ble area was strewn w^htw/T ""'"■ was thought to be of »„] ■ ■ ^'^ <*"''*■ This -.nnised fhat Tt had JetT" "- "^ "' '''' ^''"^'^'^ Iceland, which was about IT ?""»"'' *^ ''^^ ^o™ tical mUes distant '""'*^'^ ''"^ ^'g^'J nau- -*, HildebJdtlVS: 'Z^T"''-' '' '^ -me of their comrades, started fo' the oh ' "'"' a« the boat could be la„n„i 7 "'''^^ ^ «oon ™lty, as it had be cl " f ' "'^ °' ^'""«' '"«'- ff*4) --^"■' -J«e uismnce over the 446 WALRUS AND WHITE BEAK. young ice. Here, as on more terrible fields, was shown the efficacy of the needle-gun,— the ball passing through the creature's thick hide. In his fury he endeavoured to smash the young ice on which the hunters stood, and to seize them when once in the water; but the combat was unequal, and after a few shots he gave up the ghost. To remove his colossal carcass to the hut, was a terrible task. And though ten men were set to work, with the help of a powerful pulley, it was several hours before the huge animal could be hauled up on tho ice. Nor was it found easy to skin the victim. The tem- perature being 20° below zero, the body froze into a hard stony mass, almost as impenetrable as granite. Under the skin lay a coating of fat, three inches thick, which afforded us excellent fuel. The tongue proved a much appreciated dainty ; and among the whale-fishers of Behring Strait, salted walrus-tongues form a favour- ite dish. Late in the evening a white bear made his appearance, attracted by the appetizing smell of our cookery, and was received with three guns,— a salute the result of which we coTild not ascertain until daybreak. Then, at a distance of about one hundred yards, we found our visitor, hit in the side by a bullet, and lying dead upon the snow. He proved to be a noble animal. His well-developed head rested on his fore- paws, as if in sleep. Distinctly upon the white frozen surface stood out the few red drops of blood. We hailed the prize as a gift from Heaven ; for in our posi- tion an addition of fresh meat was peculiarly valuable. The four luims, weighing about two hundred pounds, ANOTHER BRUIN 447 - an additional ; V rt~Tn f T'"' ^'''^■ few days later, another B^r^I '^t ' f'"^ """ ^ left the house on the sZTw '^"'"' ^*« several indications of h^lt 1^7"^ T 7^ """•'^'^ one of the boats ir^d »! ^^'^'"'- ^e had found out "sniffed" at tht'Zvis? T °" ''' '""'' ^''' ""^ his investigations h J k7 '*'®y-fr»^en sailcloth, Aftenvards^ehadt.^ ^T ''™'*''* ''^ ^s alarm brightness ofllTttictrr't ^ """^^^ "■"«>« ing in the snow-path ll 7^ ."^^ constantly bum- Up to the L7nnLTr ^ """^^ *^™««<» l"™- ■■ad undergone rdalJXtZh'f^f '•'^-™'' we passed Cape Barelaf th. .v °*^ November -aing w seoU. Sist;ror:raitt» .: N., and long. 24° 30' W ^ Tk. . "^ coast (lat. 69° 14' point of G^h-s dljou^T^^l^' -St northerly N., a«d long. 37= 20' W., we^T' "° ' ''" '^' was his familiaritv I^ '^ Wack-txpped tail. Great buried in the s"^ f d T f- "^ *''^ "^"'^ «-b approached him Then IT /' ""^ *" <"'' ^ -« be promenaded the roof of ! T * ""'""^ "'^'>'^». proceedings througV:e '^Z^:^::^ -'""^f- owxxci-winaows. Such 448 KEEPING CHRISTMAS. was his fearlessness, that we could not make up our minds to shoot him, Christmas now came upon us— a lonely Christmas, in the heart of a solitary and dreary wilderness of snow and ice. On Christmas Eve the snow fell so heavily as to bury our house ; and soon afterwards fell showers of ram, and a south-westerly wind blew; and then came another whirlwind of snow, against which it was almost impossible for a pedestrian to make head. But the inclemency of the weather could not affect the spirits of men who had resolutely determined to " keep Christmas." In the afternoon, while we were taking our " constitutional," the steersmen reared on high the Christmas tree ; and on our return we were surprised by the bright interior of our lonely hut Fancy, reader, if you can, the novel experience of keep- ing Christmas on a Greenland floe ! Made of pine- wood and birch-broom, the tree was a skilful constru3- tion. Some wax-candles furnished the illumination- and paper festoons and home-baked gingerbread con- tributed to its good effect. The men had made a knapsack and revolver- case for the captain; and for themselves was a rare assortment of Christmas gifts thoughtfully provided by kind friends at home. After the distributi< r, we enjoyed a glass of port wine ; and m the evening, chocolate and gingerbread- nuts. « In quiet devotion," writes Dr. Laube, " the day passed by ; the thoughts which rose to our minds (they were much alike in all) I will not attempt to record Should this be our last Christmas, it was, at all events, bright lake up our Ohristmas, in less of snow JO heavily as 1 showers of d then came lich it was head. d not affect termined to le we were 1 reared on m we were lonely hut. ice of keep- le of pine- il constru3- umination ; [•bread con- id made a a; and for tmas gifts, ne. -ss of port ngerbread- day passed [they were I. Should its, bright new-year's day AN ALARMING INCIDENT ahead of us f TI,o + ^^ *^^^°^ ^ay riffht three nautical mile, we^'. u , "*"'* "<■ ^^out looking like an and Th. T^" °"* "^ '"^S" '"«-^. <« estimate the See and '"'"" ™*^'' '""''^ natu:. of the situati^ We Ir",-""' ''" "' '"« cause of our alarm wa. anlebeT tldt !!"" "" more slowly than our ice-raft w!' . *^ ""'''' ■owing day. and soon J Je „f rn'V^f t'"'" Sylvester wa« then observeTjLt as ^ 1, T ."' ^' firearms were dischar.red »n^ k !• " ** ''ome; out. At midnishtt?.;' T ^*'"°' "^ P""* Po-'^d miunignt we exchanged our " Nf w v« » , -shes, with a merry clink of glasse" " '^"'' '°°^ between lorth el and ' T''«->'lo «-«• The ifnd ible; againsf the iTtkTtr;' T '^*-''"*'^ -" outlines of loftv m? * • ''^ ''■'"=^<* «>e sharp small sJei%r2:l2 ''Z ''''' '"^^ ^'^ o'er the spirit of tte Sne i?T^ '^^ " "^ <='''«'«« -me clanging Lm the n^rth :,: t^rr'^'''^^ '^'^ continuous drift of snow In Z ^""^''* ^'"^ '' =« - heard a peoulia. Z^ • eT'if ^ "'"^'^ were shufflino- his fppf .„ .u ^^ ^^"^^ P^^^n "^^"e> "IS leet on the floor- Km+ qi^ickly at an end, we paid no . ', ^' '^ ^^ ' P'"^'"^ ^° particular attention to 4S0 THE FLOE IN DANOEU. it. In the afternoon, tlie same soum, broke upon us suddei»!- ,. ; .-uch more loudly— a srraping, sawing, grinlih.^ v: Ming, jarring sound, as if some unhappy ghosf, were moving perturbedly underneath our floe. We sprang to our feet in alaru., and rushed out, think- ing the storehouse must have fallen in. Some of the sailors went in advuice with the lamp, to trace out the path. But wherever the light sparkled on the radiant crystalline walls, we could see nothing. The rigid icicles, some of tliem a foot in length, hung immovable ; obviously all was safe. Then we groped along the' snow-path before the house, but in vain ; only, in the pause* of the storm, we could detect the same grinding and rubbing. We threw ourselves flat on the floo^ and could then hear a noise like the "singing of ice" when close-pressed, and as if water were running be- neath our floe. We were forced to the conclusion that it was in great danger of being broken up,— -either from drifting over sunken rocks, and coming in collision with them, or from dashing against the shore-ice, or from both causes combined. We packed our furs, and filled our knapsacks with provisions ; though, if the floe were destroyed, our posi- tion seemed hopeless. It was true that ropes wero carried from our house to the boats lying about fifteen paces from us, so that, in case of any mishap, we might be able to reach them; but so fierce was the beat of the pitiless drifting snow that we could not have moved them from their resting-places, and in the attempt would certainly have perished. At eight we stationed two men in the pathway to watch, while the others lay 'oke upon us ping, sawing, >me unhappy ath our floe, d out, think- Some of the trace out the 1 the radiant The rigid ; immovable ; d along the only, in the ime grinding m the floor, iging of ice " running be- iclusion that -either from oUision with ice, or from psacks with ed, our posi- ropes werf -bout fifteen p, we might ! beat of the lave moved he attempt 'e stationed e others lay ISLANDS IN SIGHT 461 arA Sleep how vcr, refused tovi.it u, th, u.Lout wettr',r™''' "^'■"' ""=''*• H°- thank,, 1 we were when the gray dawn appeared, and the nind abated somewhat ofits violence I Some of us went out in tl, - direction of the quav for so we had named the spot, five hundred steL'from the house, where the Uansa had gone down There we discovered a new wall of ice! and were Worstn^ck to find that it .Wed the boundary of o^ floe that on al sides of it large pieces had been broken Uutil two in the afternoon the st».™ continued T en .t subsided slightly; and by the morning Tthe 4th of January it had completely worn out. The -dr Z from : J'^' considerably in dimensions, and from a crcular form had chaiiged to an oblong The diameter did not now exceed one mile. On tree sides the distance from our house to the ed^ortl e floe wa. only two hundred ,. ops; on the fourth 1 abou one thousand, instead o three thousand as b C To^«ie coast, the distance was scarcely two nautical Besides the island seen on the 1st of January we north-west. We named them New-Year Isla d,s be- cause we had discovered the fii.t on the openingly f tl e year. Th,.y were situated near the east potnt 111 Dd-y 01 Horror.^ S"'^'lr c' v->, kj --_. K...,.,\-si,ruuded muuntams, which ■i; 1 :KI- 402 DIIIFTINQ TO THK SOUTH-WEST. i| i| tl.e nsmg sun robed i„ pale rosy tints, towered in tl.e background; and small glaciers were Wsiblo her and HiM U t ^' """"'' ^"P^ ^•"^''•>"'-; »otl.er Cape Hdcebrandt, was the point of land nearLt to us ^ Alter he narrow escape we had undergone, and con pS of '^' '° '°^'"S »P"°g. »f doubling the southern po nt of Greenland, and gaining the settlements on its beyond the edge of our field, owing to the broken Z covered with snow, which lay betwetn it and he sh ' thai wf " T " *'o" '"' "' •^''"""y '---'ed to us that we were ,n lat. C6° 47' 2" N., and long. 34° V 5" W In other words, since the 27tl, of December, or in twelve days, we had drifted fifty-two and a half nautical its m a south-westerly direction. The following day one of the seamen made an entry n h=s journal, which is thus rendered in the Enghsh edition of Captain Koldewey's narrative .- ^ The wea her m the past night was calm and clear The moon shone brilliantly; the northern lighJand esta. guttered upon the dead beauty of a Z::^ of ice and snow. Listening at night, a strange cle.-u- On„» '• ""oia.t? All still! not a breath stiiTingl Once more it sounds like a lamentation or a groan, ft BREAKING UP OF THE FLOE IS the ice ; and now it i.s still— «t;jl .1 by the pale glance of IhT \^ "'e gmve-a„• "Pon to become our destr ion fi ? °'"' ""^"'^ *^^''*^»cd -ood-piie, a space of atrt t. ^"" ""■• ''»* '">'' tbe chasm, through wlh 1 *^ ^''^*' °P^"^d a huge tumult; and ourfloe „„ ""'''^ ^''''^ ''' fr'"0"« -ked U, and fro like I ZuT^' jf"''' .- -«> c"lty we secured our boat B^J' T, "'"> ''■«- ^hale-boat we saved only hvT r ' • "^ "^^ "'« middle of the floe. nXZ t"l7-'' "^ '"'» "'« 3'>-gth to manage, was lost" ""' ''^'"^ '"'^-'1 »- We could not but believe that nur end wa., ^ ena w^as come. 454 AN INCONVENIENT ICEBERG. 11 We grasped each other's hands, and uttered a sad fare- well. Then we sought the shelter of our boats, and while the cold snow fell around us, and the wind hurtled through the air, we waited patiently and sadly. Our little raft of ice was as an island tossed about in a boisterous sea. But towards evening the billows seemed to subside, and the ice closed in together, and became packed again! Once more we seemed to have escaped death. With thankful hearts we took a little food, threw ourselves on our beds, and endeavoured to find strength in sleep. Soon after midnight a cry of terror again aroused us. The voice of the sailor on watch proclaimed that an ice- berg was drifting down upon us. We burst open the roof, and descended upon the ice. What a spectacle ! Close upon us, apparently lianging over our heads, and prepared to fall, towered a colossal mass of ice ! " It is pas+ !" exclaimed our captain. So sudden was the 'Ud,rm, that to this day we know not whether it was really an iceberg that menaced or a mirage that de- luded us. m We availed ourselves of a partial cessation of the storm during the 12th and -13th to get our boats in order, and take an astronomical observation, which showed us that ir four days we had drifted southward fifty-six miles. At ten o'clock in the evening of the 14th, the storm- blast once more arose, and the watch again brought the appalling intelligence that the ice was in motion The tloe broke up in the immediate vicinity of our hut, so sd a sad fare- T boats, and id the wind ly and sadly. }d about in a I to subside, •acked again, eath. With 3w ourselves igth in sleep. aroused us. that an ice- :«t open the a spectacle ! r heads, and 3f ice ! " It len was the ither it was ge that de- tion of the ur boats in iion, which southward , the storm- brought the Dtion. Tlifi our hutj so A STORMY NIGHT time fnto the mi^ J V"!! *^° ''»'* ^^ «'e second difficulty .e Ji?ii/l*'r^'' •' ""^ ^'"^ almct breathless. AbouT ^f; TT ""''""^ "^ opened which threatened to .lid our 7" ^''""'^ God only knows, says the eh ontChor: T"'"' that, in our fl,VI,t i„tn *i,„ ™"''"<='^' ''"^ 't chanced h««.. But ther in a^ tt "-^A"' "°"' °^ "^ •=-»« *» -e huddled t^gXr „ "th: 'r^"'*'"*^™P-'. yearniu, for ..t da^igH ^11;^°::^ T^'^' rescued il Happl «!« ^ ^ "' ""''' "»* '-ve At „-j • 7 PP".''' t"" fissure did not widen At midnight the weather grew calmer;^' us took .Bfuge in the hut, othei^l i ''""' °'' over which we drew the TT ? '^'''*'° ^ "'O'^t. Tl>i3 was the rn^Zm, Ta"^ '^^ ~"'' ''"^• "pon our precarious ice- aft TU m "'^''*' "'^ P--"^^^"' 3>eep soundly was i,„pol,e bit o -T ""*' ^^ ^° li'lled us into a kind !r ■ " '°*''"^« weariness -i^iie benel?u lu^'Xor"'""'' "*^'"'»'^-^ with involuntary treL" ; "^ "" '™^ ^'"'"k -ei:si;ist;:on:i;:Ti^'"'-^ in the boat in a" ", ^ ""^ ''"«'■ ^^ ^ dulled our V^y'^r-t^ .";."- »1 -ter, which frost, wet to tho'kito^ib i""' ^""^ "- ''-» ' ""^-^ ^^^^ from want of move- 466 REBUILDING THE HOUSE. ment: we lay there all the day, and all the foUowincr night; nor was it until the morning of the 16th that an improvement in the ^veather enabled us to quit an asylum which was also a prison. We now turned our attention to the boat King WUlmm, which we brought to the flag-staff, near the other boats; and erecting over it a roof of boards, covered with sailcloth, it furnished sleeping-accommodation for SIX of the men, until the house could be cleared of snow. For five nights we slept in the boats ; employing the dy s in rebuilding our shattered homestead, on the same site but on a smaUer scale. We reared a wooden kitehen. The house itself measured only fourteen feet in length, ten feet in breadth, and six and a half feet in height in the middle; but it was comfortably fitted up with store-room, wooden beds, stove, and window, and other appliances. As it did not allow of more than six persons sleeping in it, the others, thenceforward, were compelled to rest in the boats. Throughout all these bitter experiences, the men we are told, exhibited the most admirable good-temper, much patience, and the highest courage. The cook, even in the most critical moments, attained to the ideal elevation of the popular conception of a British tar. So long as he had tobacco, he made light of everything: ex fumo dare Lucem. On one occasion, when the floe had broken up, and the destruction of the hut seemed inevitable he chanced to be repairing his cotfee-kettle. '' Ah," said he " if the floe will but liold together until I have mended "A GOOD TIME COMING" , '467 It will be suppoS 7S^ . ^mething warn ! " have described,r;^; ' t^t"" f "'™«-'^-es we paid but little attent^^ to 2 ! ""^^'^'^^^^s had the toilet. Wa^hin * ;i , '*"''"^^^ ^^^ "'« cares of of no-seie„ee indulged oXtf" '" ^'"'*''' *''« "» coal-damp from the w2 of t , ^' " ^'"" ^'*h the the lamp, and the du^tm 1 1^ ""''' *' ^"'^^ ''•°"' a^ tl- blackest Eski„„rot "'' "r"*' "^ '"'^'^ dishevelled and unkemnf ' ■ *"'' ''^a^ds were our clothes, such an experiment wTnottb ^*'"'^"=" pearanct:fThrkrdT'' "" '"' ''''• '^^ «>« ap- ha.-binge. of a JoVtim:::^ ^^ tT '"^'" ^ observed a curious phenomenonln the I n "' "^ up around our floe. During IT . "?*-»"'"« built had separated, and the fi",ul T ' *'" '^"**''"»" '»^ •-d filled up with dritn Lw "T"'"'"^^P-- Powde^ heaps; and thesrc iTe 1' "^! «"«-°S closed in again, were for™^ -I " ' '"''^° the ice twenty to l.nljZT^^Z , 7""' " '"""^'^^ "^ 'nent seemed to lie Z 11 !'^'"' ^^ ""'* »"'' ^ettle- They did not last h wever b:f . " ""'"""' »""«• February, as soon as tllsprint r^^ "" "" *''« ^^* °f -tion, and quickly rZ^'^^f' ^^^ * « - "^ain in piece of our flop h/f,^.. .^ , ^- <^" this occasion, a "^"""""^^'fted down the curre;t «68 STILL DRIFTING. This enabled us to calculate the strength of our ice-raft, as the water was very transparent, and the glittering material was perceptible at a depth of thirty to thirty! five feet. We came to the conclusion, therefore, that, unless some fresh catastrophe occurred, the floe was of suflicient solidity to carry us into a southerly latitude; from which, by the boat, we might gain the nearest West Greenland settlement. INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES. On the 1st of February 1870, the seals reappeared; we caught also a raven, and some various kinds of sea- gulls. The former came from the land, the latter from the sea. One morning we also surprised a fox near our house. He remained with us several days, and grew so familiar that he M'ould fetch the meat which had been thrown to him in the kitchen, and allow us to caress him. He amused us exceedingly, and it never occurred to us to capture him. During the following days we drifted at the rate of a mile an hour through a labyrinth of bergs, some of which exceeded one hundred feet in height, without ex- periencing the slightest injury to our raft. When it fell in with one of tliese floating mountains, it slackened its course more or less, according to the nature of the current,— the water dividing, and flowing on either side. It then executed a sidelong movement, to right or left, some twenty or thirty paces from the monster, and in this way escaped the danger. Bade and Hildebrandt attempted to climb one of these huge bergs, but got only half-way up, and that not FAIKER PROSPECTS 459 t^e bare Zoty of '! Zl^Zl^'l^r''' '° ^^"'^ ma^es, detaclied from th^ „i ■ „ "^"^ enormous carried into the seT e e^bfe t" ,f ''"^'"^"''' -'^ curiously tinted with wl Xn f ^ " '°*^' ''"^ "'« Our caiculationT edt "tC T.^ ^^'"^ of azure. Februa^ we should be nlrSDl ?" ''"' '''' "' ever, we eould not catch s"2, !f !. "" ^'^''^'- How- cluded that they do not e'f , TT'' ^''^"«' ^"^ con- them down in his char ' '"f *''"' «^'^''' '° %"'g "i ins cnart, was misled hv ti,„ • i ^ numerous in these parts and ,.7 ' , '^^''^ » islands. ^ ' ^""^ '" frequently mistaken for • FebTlir'Theteir^ "' "^' ■" *'- -'^ part of bergs and d2 nrmltsT; nT"^ '''''■ ""'^ '- creasing in numbt "eTonr Aft' ';:""'; ""^"'"*'^ ■"" able to complete our d™I r ""'""<'''«''• We were bopes of ultimate saf tvT . ''^''''''''°^- -"d our grown profou„m;t afr;*:>"'-- ^^'"^ called rights of propertvTl! ^ ""' *" *'"» ^O" d-eroyed on tlfe sQest JXr'^r -.f "^^« of our chimney-mirror w!,^ f t' " ^"^'^^^ ''•""'e plate-glass thrown Hide prl '" ''"^■"^'J' ''"d «■« « lavishly inter. .^rCr't^"''^ ^'^ heat. For this i .,».,. .c ^ P *"^ necessary tobacco : ^:CyZ " "''"^' -^^^hin^-even An incident wliich occurred n ^' t)ie boginaiijcr of 400 AURORAL PHENOMENA. March moved us, however, more seriously. Dr. Bucli- holz, who, in the hour of greatest peril, had reassured us by his heroic composure, fell into a fit of despondency, and was attacked by a nervous disease from which he did not recover until his return home. We did our best to take care of him; but deprived of medical assistance, situated as we were on a lonely ice-raft, or afterwards in leaky and uncomfortable boats, we were unable to employ the means which might more quickly have re- stored him to health. In mid-February, when in lat. 64° 40' N., and about twenty miles from the land, we perceived in the west, at a distance of eight miles, a belt of open water parallel to tlie toast. Evidently it was of considerable breadth, and it appeared to reach almost to the shore ; for the west wind raised a strong swell, while it was quite calm when the wind blew from the east. We concluded, therefore, that in the east the ice was not yet solidly packed. The sun, which at noon now rose seventeen degrees above the horizon, made its genial influence felt. We began to dream of summer. Our fur clothing we flung aside, and our men marched about with their throats bare and chests uncovered. The nights were gorgeous with the auroral splen- dours. The luminous sheaves developed themselves against the sky like the ribs of a fan or the petals of a flower; the magnetic zenith seemed to lie exactly above our house. Snow fell heavily in the month of March, and brio-Jit calm days were few. We drifted past a small icebero- UiJ A COLOSSAL ICEBERG. caught sight f tl^""" 1 *"""^-«- "iH -« Heido. 1 alrllf '"^ S''"''^'' "^ *''« Kolberger- down to OarMoe^"^ "' "' «»"'<' -« f-™ thefco, .■acie. desrdiirx:/ir™''*^^ ^^^'- -^ rose between them lit ^' ^^ "'^''s of rock of 3000 fee n "i. vL^r'" *r"' *" ^'^ ^'-»*-" icebergs, so.e tf w 1':::^;:: f !" "'*'' ""■"""- the ground. motionless, as if fast to mountai'„,ablt3rmiesfr'r'thr " '"'t"' '"'^''^^ twenty.five yards nfThl ''""'''• *''^" ^"tl"'. in our onwfrd til "Tr" "'"'' "^ "''^^ «'-*cd ■nained moti nC t hen fl """"'^ *''"^ ''°«- - the drift re.urSiiJt^::;^p>^^l and vulsion— perhan., ih. ! rapidity. A general con- i-ediate^;t-Srl :n:: te:t^'"^^^^ ^^'' curred the greatest dang r and CLr "^ '"■ watched the terrible spt.Lek\efr 7 nat^"^'f ^i the mountain of ice whiVI. , ""* P'''''* «^ h«.e overhanginglTsittsTn^tr VZ"" ' t-js ana mag ifacent portaJs n« +i side yawned a piva,^ • i P^^i^'^s. Un the south -ei^e a IXuZtZX'''' T' ^"°"^" *» could see directlv abnl "^^ '^''*'"' "«»>-C'- ^e spikes ; andni:"::: ^^^r ^^ '■""'^ ■"'^ '''^' iHii 30 •gle we were able 462 NEARING LAND. to grasp. '' Wo are lost ! " sucl. was our simultaneous tliouglit ; but, strange to say, our fioe remained intact and, protected by the pieces floating around it, did not even graze the tremendous mountain. The berg once left behind, we drifted awliile in open water, which had formed jis in the wake of a ship. On the 18th of March we calculated our latitude and longitude-the former, lat. 64- 2'N.; the latter, lone 40° 44' W. ^' _ On the 2.9th, our delight was great to find ourselves m the latitude of Nukarbik. It was upon this island that Graah wintered from the 3rd of September 1827 to the oth of April 1830 ; and from thence he set out on his perilous and diflieult boat-voyage. We had lono- in- dulged the hope that from this point we too mio-ht undertake with our boats the traject to Friederichsthal the most southerly establishment on the west coast' However, the ice as yet was so compact that two of our seamen asked leave to make an attempt to reach the shore across it. Fortunately the capt^iin refused, for a few hours later some changes occurred which would have exposed these men to terrible dangers. In the evening we thought we perceived a fire on the coast, which we set down as a sign of the presence of the Eskimos. We fired off our muskets, therefore, and on the following day hoisted our flag. But we saw no signs of life except some crows and snow-buntings. The former came regularly from land every morning. and returned in the evening at sunset. NUKARBIK ISLAND. 463 In Nukarbik Bay we wprn n^t • i trary, veered sometimes to the sonfh ! r no-fh T].;o 1 "*^"' sometimes to the twent, feet i„ height, and o„eT:l:a^ ^X S " ''--ten with a length of two hundred feet From we atUtd Tfe :^;srs:r -^-^ ?" Meantime we observed tiJtZ 7, '"'-P"'"'- -ed the hi,h :i:r rtTeiri; -; I'ear the sound of the la ", on He 7 ^''T''' clash and clang of ice-Ioes dri ' '^'"^ '^' other. ' '^"'"''' »ne against the 464 KETURN UF SPIIINO. ;'. t "s We were now visited by small troops ol linnets and snow-buntings. We threw theni some oatmeal, whid, they ate very greedily. So tame were these birds, that they allowed us to catch them with our hands. In the month of April our carpenter had an attack of scurvy and his legs swelled. We employed the simplest means to cure him-making him take very frequently a little gentle exercise in the open air— and he soon recovered. Easter arrived while we were still detained in Nukar- bik Bay. We were all cheerful, and most of us in good health, and sanguine tliat we should soon be delivered from all our dangers and anxieties. For us, indeed it was a true resurrection festival ! We had seen deatli before us so often, and in so many forms ! Already Nature greeted us with fresh and abundant signs of spring : the air was much milder— the lowest tempera- ture, even at niglit, did not exceed 23° F. ; in the sun- shine, which we often basked in, lying full length on the sails of our boats, it rose to 54^° F. On the first day of festival, April 17th, we enjoyed a good meal : preserved meat made into savoury soup ham, pejxse, kidney beans, and a bottle of sherry which' lind been carefully reserved for the occasion. Next day a gale from the north drove our floe out of the oay and It resumed its southward drift. For three weeks we moved onward steadily, so that on the 6th of May we had reached lat. Gl° 4', or almost the latitude of Bergen. On the morning of the 7th, great was our delight to see open water in the direction of land. Should we not linnets and neal, whidi birds, that is. In the of scurvy, e simplest frequently d he soon in Nukar- us in good delivered indeed, it leen deatli Already t signs of tempera- 1 the sun- length on enjoyed a ury soup, ry which Next day bay, and veeks we of May titude of lelight to d we not ^^' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) / ^ :0 {'^ ^, fA % 1.0 I.I 2.5 2.2 " 1^ ill 10 IL25 i 1.4 1.6 nl — 1 1— •_ riiuiugmpiuc Sciences Corporation ^: ^v ^^ 6"^ 4- L^ ! v»--*^ i> li II I TAKING TO THE BOAT& 4J, fcJ^e advantage o.' it? Had not tl,e time come for abandonmg our rp.t? The wind w,« favourable, the sky clear. The ctptein consulted us, and all agreed it was well to make tiie attempt. Obsemrtions taken at noon showed that we were in c'diS day. '""*"*''^ ""'"''''"'"'' *"^P^«- After a Imty n.eal, we set to work to unload the boats-a long and a painful ta^k. At first we removed the provisions clothing, sails, masts, oai^, astronomicaj mstruments; then we hauled up the boat« on three pieces of ice, and their cargoes, carried on our backs or upon sledges, were placed on board We accomplished this labour with a feverish anxiety and at the end of three hours all wa^ ready. Then we east around our ice-raft a last glance of gi-atitude Through dangers and sufferings innumerable it had carried us for two hundred successive days, from the regions of terror and death to more hospitable latitudes where we had gained a new courage, and found strength to hope for speedy deliverance. with loud hurrahs, we hoisted sail. We had distributed our company in the three boats. In the whale-boat led by Captain Hegemann, were the two scientist., the o..ok. and the sailors Philip Heyne and Bernard Ga«en A second boat, commanded by chief officer Hildebrandt' inX t; 1 ^f r ^' ''"•^ '""' ^--"h Buttne : iv Wilh , ■ I • *'" '"^"^ ''^'''' ^^ accompanied bchmidt, and Conrad Gierke. 468 A WESTWARD COUKSE. 1^ ^,' tt I )i THE BOAT- VOYAGE. We kept under sail till nine oolock, moving slowly at first, b„t more quickly when we got the boats into trim, so that when we made fast to a floe for the nicht we were nearer the shore by seven miles th7fl„r'^rr°J considerable trial in climbing upon the floe. After havmg found a convenient place, the boats were unloaded and hauled up one by one The provisions and fuel of each boat were piled beside it and covered with oiled sailcloth; then, by way of a roof, we covered the larger of the two small boats with the sails of the other, and thus provided an imperfect cietence in case of bad weather. These arrangements occupied us for some hours We supped upon bread and coffee, which the men prepared m the boats with the spirit-of- wine lamp It was half an hour past midnight when we wrapped ourselves in our furs, and laid down to rest. Our sleen was not very long; at half-past five we resumed our voyage. Steering towards the wes^, we arrived within four miles of the shore. But about noon the ice became so compact that we were again compelled to make fast to a floe _ Until five in the afternoon we remained ensconced m our boats, on this mass of ice which was slowly drifting southwards. The sun cheered us with its rays; but It had the inconvenience of producing that peculiar effect on he sight which is due to long ga:=i„g on the snow. The eyes of the look-out men, incessantly turned to windward to make out some navigable channel, could ^i.i in loving slowly he boats into 'or the night inbing upon it place, the y one. The 3d beside it, y way of a I boats with n imperfect hours. We 3n prepared ve wrapped Our sleep isumed our 1 four miles so compact o a floe, ensconced ^as slowly h its rays; it peculiar ig on the tly turned inel, could 11 ffl OPHTHALMIC DISEASE EXPERIENCED. ,n no longer bear tlie dazzlincr splendour r,f fl.« Hooded plains of ice At W f 1 «"n«lHne- painful weariness then ^''.^ ^''^^''^ sensible of a r wectiiness, then an inflammation of flm ^..« came on, which causpri or. • • ^ ^>^^^ could do. however, wa. to endure mWentt t' '^ tecting themselves from the ZiJTf^r T ' r""- thick bandage. The attack H . , ''^'" ^'"' "^ aad a half or two days buf it " ' '''°™ " -^"^ against its reton ^U • ""^ "'""'^''y *» g"»d r»nstttg";p::^r„r f^^r^"^^ "-^^- ws of the inst^^wil":. rrr'™^^" of tMs ingenious device, each ^^Zl XiSd^h : Ircl^^ge^^'^ '^'^'^'^ '" **>« '^"'P-t Of coffee we fe.,, exhausted, int. a deep ietJ^^ 1^ Bad weather, snow, and tempest, detained us foTsix On the lOth of May, in the afternoon, we enjoyed our customary game of whist in the whale:boat 472 DAILY RATIONS. fifjl I 'ill 11 Tlie sa.l of the large boat, winch .xerved as a roof during the night, did not protect t,., very sufficiently trom the damp, on account of it« comparative tenuity and ita transparency; and the rain which soon can.e on. and fel unmterm.ttentlyfor twenty-four hours,sprinkled us as abundantly <« if we had been exposed to a shower- bath. The two other boats were better off in this re spect, for they had capital coyerings of oiled canyas During the day, Mr. Hildebrandt came with his crew mto the l„ge boat, to bear us company, and to spare their own brandy and provisions, with which they were but lU-supplied. Eight of us then sat down to meals in the large boat. In the morning, we feasted upon warm coffee witli a cms of dry bread. At noon, we dined upon soup and brot . In tbe evening, we were content with a few mouthfuls of cocoa-of course without milk or sucrar We were compelled to economize our supply of food '- for otherwise, in case of a protracted delay, we must have been exposed to the ravages of hunger. Our appetite was exceedingly keen; a circumstance easily explamed, for we were very sparing of the nourishment mdispensable in the Arctic climate,-meat and fat- weighmg them out most scrupulously in our scales. 1 he supply of bacon was reckoned at six pounds per liead ; and there were, besides, a couple of Iiams ^ On the 14tli the bad weatlier cleared off, and the ice givmg way towards the south, we dipped our oars and accomplished a slight traject; but the ice closing in again, we found ourselves condemned to another cap- tivity on the floe. It lasted five daya GIVING OUT THE BACON 473 sturlip^ fj ™'^" ^^ Ramsgate: I myself studied the poems of Heyne or font +^ • , Max essayed drawing. ^ ' ^ ^ '^'^^"^ ^«'^^« ' "Yesterday the snow ceased: we took .tock of n 1^-ovisions, and divided them equally Wi . twenty-seyen nound. nf i. ^^^"^^^^^ We haye about baeonfand sorneTot f^ ^'' "^'"' ^^^ P^^^^^ of m'pr>o «^ k J . ^ ^ 01 the bacon, while a >i«>e ration, n^tlSai^H l^K ^"^"T,"'^ 474 TIIK AfERllY MONTH OF MAY. wn I luive notlilnrr to out; that ifl.y that time we liave not reuclied tlie land, we niu.st drop off', one after the other: but serious as is the thought, sometimes we seem to find it wonderfully humorous. Of tobacco we have a fair supply, and a good portion is consumed daily. Fritz is making himself a new pipe. "To-day, the 19th of Ma>, the weather is again most beautiful. I am writing at 9.30 A.M., and the tempera- ture is at 72|°F.; the heat oppressive, the air calm, but the ice quite compact. In such weather, however, it should soon break up. With the telescope we can see the torrents falling from the steep cliffs of the rocky coast; fresh water we find everywhere on the floe. " Our health is good ; only Dr. Buchholz, unfortu- nately, is still a sufferer. During the last few days our eyes have grown stronger, as we have used them care- fully. The temperature of the sea- water is 31° F.; that of the fresh water on the floe 32° F. At this moment, I liear expressions of astonishment at the appearance of a fly which has perched or settled on the sails; in truth, a hopeful sign ! The month of May, however, is no month of pleasure to us in our captivity. With the exception of the brightness and the mild tempera- ture, it differs in nothing from January; resembling it in its continuous northerly gales. Eeal night we have now no longer; the sun rises at three, and sets shortly before nine o'clock; the intermediate period is half-twilight. The time must be at hand for the birds to choose their quarters and lay their eggs. This east coast of Green- land is, indeed, a deserted, dead, and dreary region; and one may judge how difficult it is to approach, for,' ) wo liave not lor the other: e seem to find e have a fair daily. Fritz is again most tiie tempera- tlie air calm, lier, however, scope we can of tlie rocky the floe, olz, unfortu- few days our d them care- 31° F.; that his moment, ppearance of lie sails; in ly, however, vity. With ild tempera- smbling it in ve have now lortly before alf-twilifjht. choose their it of Green- ary region ; )proach, for. AN ARDUOUS EMPLOYMENT. * « , CONDITION OF THE ICE-FIELD.. -ts eo the'S I :i:\r:"' "«. ^ drag „„; "..ee nautical miles Xt ""'' '">" '^^'"''t about 20tl,, making use of tlTc^r °", "" '"^"'"S "^ «'« '""•OSS the sliouHers. We did Z , " "'''"P '"'"" tf'ree l,„„dred pace., Zefer tT'"""'"'!^ '""" *''"" coming flakes, Ld melted II^ J ™T ^'" ' ' ""*- - our night-encampt'tln "71'"*'"^; - «-' much from the damp ' ^""^^ ^^ """ered Ti.e"c4:i!':!;;"^^:v^r„v« ^"""r "'--^■ excu,.io„ towards the land t,! ^" T*'''""'^ "" adapted to their proiecl-1 P"'^/""'"! the ice ill- wide crevasses. 'ZtZl'ZT'''''^^'^'''' '^ Mocks, and few of the ^fT ^ "^ "" enormous paces in length. I ^Jlf,'""""^''^ °"« hundred *"e boat. thfoughtcraXintri''* ^ "- -dertook to faahion r^Lr'i^f -''---•ves Bade made a kin<. in fnli r . • ^''""'' o*^ chess. Others undertookCre Ifuf I ' ""' "°^™^'^- '--, eighty fathoms on! t „t1;' ""V°" ^''"'« fcwjsh to vary our seant.rhm 'n!^ "' '"''''"' ^ 31 478 AN ISLAND-DESERT. m {I The weather, on tlie 24th of May, was splendid. The sun shone in a cloudless sky, and the thermometer, when exposed to its rays, marked 95° F. We gladly availed ourselves of such an opportunity of thoroughly drying our clothes and linen, which had long been in a wretchedly damp condition. The boats were uncovered, and smoked bravely in the hot sunlight. Everybody was on the alert. Mr. Bade, accompanied by some of the men, went hunting for a dinner. An unsuccessful hunt! Tht seals would not show; the fish would not bite; and the silly divers were wise enough to keep out of the range of shot. Mr. Hildebrandt, with the sailors Philipp and Paul, succeeded, however, in reaching the island of lUuidlek, which lay three miles distant, with an elevation of from one hundred and forty to one hun- dred and fifty yards. They landed at one; and were back with us by four o'clock. This rocky island-desert measures about ten nautical miles in circumference. Our men landed on the north- east side, at a spot from which, in boats, it would be easy to reach the south coast, where we might expect to be sheltered from the wind and the ice-drift. There was also a chance of adding to our provision-store by hunting sea-birds. Such was Mi*. Hildebrandt's report, and it confirmed us in our resolve to make for the island. As the heat of the sun was fatiguing, and the glare of the snow blinding, we agreed to travel by night and rest by day; and we calculated that the journey might be accom- plished in eight days. On the first night we succeeded in advancing five AT ILLUIDIEK. ^,j hundred and thirty paces. Then we enjoyed the day's rest, and at seven in the evening resumed our painful toil. That night we made seven hundred paees. The 27th wa. Konrad's birthday; and to keep up the spirits of the men, we served out to each a glaas of sherry. The work increased in difficulty as we advanced. Fir«t the boate had to be emptied, and dnigged to the spot where we purposed to rest for the day. Then we had to return across the broken ice to fetch our stores; and, loaded witli these, to regain the boats. As each person's burden was one hundred to one hundred and Ave pounds l!! b"7 '^n "i'^':'-^'^"* '^ '"^■■^ easily imagined than de^ribed. But it is useless to dwell on details: suffice It to say that on the 4th of June we succeeded in land- ing on I luidlek ; and we felt we had cause for gratitude to an all-merciful Providence. ON THE ISLAND OF ULUIDLEK. This small island stretches in the direction of south- east te north-west. On the north-west a steep, dome- shaped eminence, and in the south-east a sloping moun- tain, are surrounded by clustei-s of barren and rugged ciffs. From a small island, Ivimiut, lying in front of It and from Cape Discoid on the mainland, it is sepa- rated by a narrow channel. On the side which faces the mamland extends the formidable barrier of a lon» cliam of rocks, beyond which lies a low island: prot tebly that ..vhich. in Graah's map, is named Omenalk lhe.,e rocks are of the most fantastic outline, and en- tirely devoid of vegetation. A couple of .solitary gulls poiched in a crevice of the rock, regarded our arrival 480 THE VOYAGE RESUMED. with curious eye; while a legion of guillemots screamed and fluttered in the open waters of the pass. We were between the south-east shore of the island, Cape Discord, and the little island of Ivimiut. Towards ten o'clock we entered a bay sheltered by high cliffs from the nortli ; we christened it Hansa-Hafen (or Hansa Harbour). There we designed to pass the night, and with this view had already carried ashore our stores; but the tide falling, our boats grounded, and therefore, about midnight, we left the bay, and made fast to a piece of ice lying close in-shore. It was now exactly four weeks since we had left the floe in the hope of gaining the mainland in a few days. On Whitsunday the weather was beautiful. Messrs. Hildebrandt and Bade took the small boat, and went hunting. The spoils they brought back were scanty ; consisting only of twenty-two divers — the flesh of which, liov/ever, prepared as a stew, furnished us with a couple of capital dinners. Our provisions were now reduced to a fortnight's supply. The hunters had wandered into the higher grounds, and had discovered along the coast, in a southerly direction, a narrow strip of water. They ^ound them- selves in the midst of bare rocks, the more sterile as they were more elevated, and bearing only a few mosses and some creeping willows. No trace of man was discernible. Illuidlek, where Graah had found a small native population, seemed to have been long uninhabited. On Whit-Monday, the Gth of June, wc resumed our enterprise. Our destination was Friedrichsthal, the nearest settlement on the south-west coast of Green- iS screamed CAPE PENTECOST. 481 !eLu„f Zrr r '"P'' *" ^"™™'<'^' '^g before reaclnng that far-off point, some fishing-party of Eskimos m search of seals. We painfully folfo^ed up the Kan s::' "thl"'':r ""^^ p"^'™^ ™^ -eti'm^rsw ming then with oars and sail we made head against a violent south-west wind from six o'clock, when Z ce had become more broken up, until eleven at night Omenarsuk Island rises scarcely one hundred and hirty feet above the sea. and yet on the north side h found a spot, only a few yards squa.., covered with frtl water ice which haa all the appearance of a diminutive g^acie. From ,te situation it cannot be an isolated block of ice detached from the heights, but rather a patcirot fresh-water ice, caused by the melting „f the ,noU which would be frozen in the ravines of fhe island TMs formation of land-ice in so small a quantity, in the vet neighbourhood of those mighty ice-cun-eL. appel d to us an interesting phenomenon A mile from the headland of this strait, which we named Cape Pentecost, we hauled up our boats on tie firm and even coast-ice. be desired We proceeded very pleasantly under sail ZZ'u' r V''' ^"" =^'°"^ ^ precipitous coS nect of trY ""t, '"""'"^ ''"' -''1 -- the ^li vtd b ■ ^'" <'-'^-»'--d rocks were eheved by narrow streaks of snow which descended them about half-way down; and sometimes lo we .emarked the green tint of a few wretched inos 482 THE GREENLAND COAST. creeping over the Iward surface. At noon we encamped on a small island — Kiitek of Graali's map. In the hollow of its rocks we found some fresh limpid water, excellent for culinary purposes, and of which we drank heartily a delicious draught. The rocky shores of Kutek must have been frequently in collision with the ice-masses descending from the north ; and, indeed, in many places they had been plainly worn down and levelled. On these rocks, which were covered at high water, we saw the shining fragments of floes which had been driven against them and shattered in pieces. In the evening we hauled up our boats for the first time on the rocks of the Greenland continent, about five miles to the north of Cape Valloe. And as there we were safe from all contact with the ice, we gave ourselves up to complete repose. At daybreak, the light of a glow- ing sun revealed the scanty vegetation of the soil. There were sorrel, dandelion, and cinque-foil, which we sought for eagerly in the hollows and crevices of the rocky ground. With the help of a little pickle, we improvised a salad, to eat with the remains of our divers. Again we set sail, and by the evening had traversed twenty miles. This time our encampment was made on the soutli point of Greenland (lat. 60° 34' N.), in front of the fiord of Lindenow. On the following day we doubled Cape Hvidtfeldt, which rises in the form of a majestic pyramid to a height of several thousand feet. Before it lay a group of rocks, at one of which we checked our course, in order to find the best channel. The colour of the mountains from th'm point contrasted »t contrasted NEARER AND NEARER. ^gg absolutely with those we had hitherto seen. They looked hke melted copper. The intensely blue atmosphere in which they raise their magnificent forms, enhances the richness of the hues of this picturesque coast The rocks lying almost immediately under the cape are washed perfectly round, and may be compared to gigantic ramparts, polished and smooth on every side liio sea and. the ice have done their work These dome-shaped rocks and rocky cupolas continued visible along the whole line of coast; thousands in number forming a complete bulwark of stone, and serving to' detend the land against the encroachment of the ice But as we continued our voyage we were greeted by shores of a brighter aspect. To the north of the promontory of Igalalik, we perceived, at a great dis tance, some "spots of greenery" covered with a short crisp herbage. Unfortunately, a thick fog prevailed and in threading the labyrinth of islands at the mouth ot Prince Christian Strait we missed our goal The weather had become very bad. But the south-west wind, blowing straight in-shore, drove us, just when we were seeking shelter, into the first and best of the fiords so numerous in these parts. We had entered into it for some time under full sail, when the waters became singularly smooth ; we were probably in an inlet and we supposed it must be Prince Christian Strait We continued our course perseveringly until two in he morning. A plateau of granite, sloping gently to the sea, furm.ued us with a capital site for our encamp- ment, and tx.e .cats, after our usual custom, were soon arranged so as to serve for tents. . »■ 484 A ROMANTIC LANDS(;APK In our secure asylum we could comfortably abandon ourselves to a sound sleep. We had been successful in gaining, as we supposed, the south point of Greenland, f.nd a few days ought to bring us to Friedrichsthal. The dread of death by starvation, the terrible spectre which had steadily confronted us for the last four weeks, was gradually passing into the shadow of ob- livion ; and so, at breakfast, we made an heroic attack on our fat and ham. But it was desirable we should ascertain as accurately as possible our exact geographical position. We de- ferred our departure, therefore, until after the noonday- meal.: After our morning toilet, which a small stream tumbling down the mountain-side enabled us to per- form luxuriously, we climbed the height to obtain a view of the surrounding landscape. How novel was the scene on which our gaze rested ! No longer masses of barren rocks alternating with the everlasting ice. Soft carpets of verdant mosses sparkled in every direc- tion, and the dwarf willows put forth their young and tender sprays. And yet no long time had elapsed since tlie disappearance of the snow. We did not need to climb very high to come upon vestiges of the winter still. The channel beneath us had almost the appear- ance of a lake ; and from our elevated position we could see another opening southward, which seemed to be bounded in the distance by an island. Eastward the land rose with a gentle inclination; while westward, where the cliannel disappeared behind a rocky pro- montory, swelled a sea of lofty mountains. All was calm and desolate, except for the ocGasional flight of UNDER CANVAS. 480 The captain and chief officer had raised their tem- porary ot^ervatory on a broad platform of granite Therr oteervafons showed that we were in lat Go" 4' N VVe were not in Prince Christian Strait, therefore but fartlier to the south. «>eiore, Thanks to a fair wind, we sailed a dozen miles in th.s supposed strait; but found it entirely surrounded by rocks, a^d ascending the high ground, we conoid Ldv anS tT . '"' '° "'^"^ °" P'^'h, accord- Kgly, and take to our oars. On both sides the land- ^ape wa. picturesque and majestic. The sombre roTkv am ude r "T'^ "''"^ "'*■' »»-' '«- to an altitude of several thousand feet. Out of their fissures and crev:ces sparkled foaming torrente, fed by the meH .ng snows which fell into the waters rf the bayJtht At six in the evening we had regained our original midmght continued our coui^e under sail, advancin.. four miles faxther to the south, where we put intT: .mall but sheltered inlet. From some traces found upon the shore, and more particularly from the seal-bones scattered about, we concluded that the Eskimos had in ,«u.smg, resided there for some time. Small squares of stones, and fragments of earthenware, mixed with the bones of seals, confirmed us in this conclusion. ' 486 AT SEDLEVIK. The landscape was indescribably grand. A chain of hills, clad in verdurous mosses, bounded it on the left; while to the riglit rose a mighty rampart, twelve hun- dred feet in elevation. A rocky pyramid reared its bulk on high ; and copious torrents, flashing over the ridges, dashed headlong upon the wreck and ruin ac- cumulated at the base of the cliffs, to join together in a noble lake. Tlie bottom of the bay was picturesquely shut in by mountains, whose frozen rivers poured thru- shining waters also into the lake ; which, in its turn, descended into the sea, forming a cataract of rare mag- nificence. SEDLEVIK. At eleven o'clock in the morning we resumed our voyage, with a fresh northerly breeze. About noon we doubled the point of Christian IV. Island, and then rode between the islands situated to the north of Cape Farewell, so as to gain the much larger island of Sedle- vik,— which braves the sea with several conspicuous promontories. As yet we had not fallen in with a single Eskimo, although it was generally believed that they came to fish in these waters. At a later date we learned that the seal-fishery, which is of so much im- portance to the Greenlanders, is carried on chiefly to the south of Cape Farewell. We spent Sunday, the 12th of June, on the island of Sedlevik. Some of us went out on a hunting expedi- tion. What a difference between these mossy lawns, so thick and elastic, into which we sank kneu-deep, and the sterile, rugged rocks we had hitherto trodden \ At the foot of the one lofty mountain, rising in the centre A SUMMER PICTURE. ^g^ of the isle. Suum,or l,,td lavished ,U1 her wealth. Amon. willows and flowering birches, the rich greenness of whieh rose hke embroidery work upon a g,°o„nd of moss, sweet-smelhng angehea and smooth-leaved sorrel pushed the,r way ; t,Ul and graceful ferns developed their finelv- w«.ught fronds; and the rocky slopes were adorne^^l with the violet-tmted flower-beds of the low-lying &M« *«. Below, at our feet, lay blue reaches of s^a branchmg off in various directions, and stretching tleTr long, deep arms far into the heart of the mountains which, with azure ravines and whitely-gleaming glaci rs bounded the view. Small icebergs, drifting on he waters, lent life to the glorious pictu're; rL% thou armada. Ah, what a different impression the landscape made upon us now, to what it did but a few days be b^ at^r:;:,^""""-— --naaC On the 14th of June, we set out at four in the morn- ng. We crossed between floes until we had doubled the north point of the island; i.n before the wind through Torsukatek Strait; and then, as the wind feH rowed westward, keeping as near the coast as possible and steering for Friedriehsthal. And behold, ate be ore us It was a moment never, never to be for- and, the Gennan flag fluttering at our masthead, careered shoie, on the gi-een gi-ound, stood a tolerably spacious 'use, crowned by a small tower. This wa« the red 488 ARRIVAL AT FRIEDRICHSTHAL. mission-hous^. More to the side, and somewhat nearer to tlie bank, stood a similar building; and near it a cluster of gloomy-looking stone huts, which we supposed to be the dwellings of the Eskimos. To the left opened a spacious bay, striking inland towards the north. The landscape was set, as it were, in a frame of lofty moun- tains, terminated in the distance by chains of dim blue peaks. AT FRIEDRICHSTHAL. Can the reader imagine the emotions which animated the hearts of the castaways of the Hansa ? The Moslems who, after their long pilgrimage, descry the white walls of Mecca ; the Christian votaries who see the towers of Jerusalem rising before them,~can scarcely experience such feelings of delight as thrilled our bosoms when we beheld the little colony of Friedrichsthal. He who for long days has lain upon the bed of suffering, abandoned even by the physicians, convinced of their powerlessness to save him, but who suddenly regains his health, and enjoys for the first time, under the influence of a benefi- cent sun, the life given back to him,— he alone can com- prehend the sentiment which filled our grateful souls on the 13th of July 1870. Friedrichsthal is one of the latest establishments of those devoted servants of Christ, the Moravian mission- aries. It dates from 1827. It is situated in lat. 60° N.; that is, with Pamiadluk, which lies a few miles farther soutli, and is the residence of a small Danish trader, it is the southernmost part of Greenland inhabited by Europeans. A HEARTY WELCOME. ..« 489 The verdurous fields of Friedriehstl.al descend trentlv land ri °\f'n '''' '"^" »»-t^-B ^ U^ lana to the north. On the leff +Kn «i. • • from the settlement by a bly or fiord " ""'"''"*"' to it-the Narksamiul. oTthe St a n T"'' which the missionaries call K^ntS ( 1'^!^ flashes from the rid^e Tha d ^insS-Dack;, ".r;»..>out its entire^te^nttelTlri :12 mole or p.er of granite-the " Look-out " Hill or. Atthed„orofthemission-h„^e?£"L::: wards, quite a throng of people pressed down to the ^ore; they had seen us. The slopes of the Took ou H,l were also crowded. An European moved t and fro like a man charged with authority. Had thev th? whra?rri ?"^ -i --^^^ pS:ss now alive Tl'r? "' " ""'"^ "' ^"'"-- '^" -- -.ely-tti^^^^^^^^^^^ d ed o„e against another, with their dress o IkiS tt:,r^'r;r''k T'^ ,, disunguisir -eK.., .. „.,„ ,„ a kajak put off to meet us; but THK MOKAVIAN MISSION. as Hoon as ]io liad examinod us, was on tlio point of re- turning. Some words spoken by the European official seemed to ciieck him, and give Iiim courage ; he paddled again towards us, saluted us with friendly gestures, and finally conducted us into the harbour. As soon as we reached the land, everybody would fain have been the first to disembark. On all sides we were welcomed with embraces and hearty hand-shaking. Words died away in the throat; voices trembled. Th^e man from the clift; and the natives, hastened to greijt us. The supposed guardian of the public safety proved to be Mr. Starick, the missionary ; who, with Mr. Gericke, superintended the affairs of the colony. Both opened wide their eyes when we briefly related the chief inci- dents of our voyage. Mr. Gericke desired the women who were present to prepare coffee for us; and leaving our men to moor and unload the boats, we followed the good pastor. The mission-house is a timber building of one story. Like most of the European dwellings in Greenland, it was made in Denmark, brought out in pieces, and then put together on its present site. It is no larger than the huts of the Erzgebirge or the Hartz, and in its coat of red paint resembles the Swedish peasant-houses. Its founda- tions are laid on moss-covered ro(;k. The erection of this modest edifice, and of a plain wood.-i church, cost more trouble than the building of many a palace in Germany. It was necessary to transport each piece by water from Julianashaab, about eighty miles distant, in boats rowed by women. In the interior everything seemed very comfortable. comfortable. MAKING A GOOD MRAL. 491 The rooms wore minf^j*] ;« -i i onb^ vegetation. sca.o.AowS.rfi::;::"'"' "^ ^. hear ti.e stor^ofour adv^n^'^r ^7'"^"""°" >.ouse did not keep „s wa l^ n. T.r" "'i''^ ;'v-/o„^Liai;:r:re;di;:r^^^^^^^^ ''"ge can of smoking coffee- and t„ fi """f "*■'' °f ^^ before u» we haatentd S ju!! wHt T T we talker! nr«n+ , J"«"ce. we ate, we drank, biscX disa™ ir^r • °d"'"'" "''^^ *'"= "'••= "^ .ookedatonei::^t:ti£T„ri::fTH-' ^^ some excuses for the voracity of our JZuT^. hosts refused to listen to them dec rW f '„ ' ""'" we ate the better they were lased O " """" time, seated at a table in tfe cl urch ' f.r^r """' '"''" on^.sp sea-biscuits made ot^etnit'l^tuT ""^'^ eagtry oSedT' T "' '"^ """' "'« ""---- ne d off O ,r ^ ""'^ ^ "' "'"' ^''■■^'^^''^ ^« »tood in acce .:!; ne"; T ^ J" ' "' ""'''''''' ^° -" was levied on^jfeV . ! P"''P°'''' '^ ^nWbution our fe! ;: "' „tlU t''" "1 "' '""'"'^ ''"^-"-^ le^s m solid boots of seal-skin. 492 THE NATIVES DESCRIBED. It was arranged tliat we should sleep in a small chamber used as a school, near the church, on the forms, placed one against another. Properly speaking, the church is nothing more than an oratory. A table covered with a black cloth indi- cates the place of the preacher; and a harmonium — for this instrument has travelled as far as Greenland- stands near the table. Wh> ill DAYS AT FRIEDRTCHSTHAL. The impression at first produced upon us by the natives was not unfavourable. Undoubtedly, those rather ugly and inexpressive physiognomies, — those broad, flat faces, with little sidelong black eyes, the whole framed in stiff bristle-like black hair, did not create any very strong prepossession in their favour ; but our sym- pathy was conquered by their air of candour and good- will. As soon as they found that we were peaceable people, and, above all, the countrymen of their beloved missionaries, they became confidential. The man whom we had seen first was the c)iief of a Greenland villa o-e Igalorsoeitsiak, situated near Cape Farewell, and was named Jonathan. The missionaries described him as a skilful hunter and a brave man. We were in uro-ent want of a pilot to take us from Friedrichsthal, and no one seemed better adapted to the post. He expressed himself willing to accept it, and asked only for time to arrange his domestic aftliii's before setting out ; which, of course, was granted. We learned that a vessel of the Danish navy, engaged on colonial service — tlie brig Constance, Captain Barry— AN ESKIMO VILLAGE. - tTrS Zr .f ^"'--'^-'. and thati f-.eeu„^t;r:tr tit:: r* r to leave Friedrio]i<.fl.ni o resolvea, therefore, About Je" oS ~ Itr^" -- -">-■ repast, composed of wine sounMn\w ' '^"'"''"'''''le cakes, and pickles • h1 77' ' ''"'• P'^'atoes, pan- weak sherry ^'^'''•' ''°"° ^"«' ^'me EskLo'Xe ^urfr' '"^ '"^^ °^ ™"«»» «- ixidj^e. All the huts were emnfv ih^ , • i earned away, the interior full of unTelnn rs H "*' -utthe^..tx:-:;-Xfi£^^^^^ For supper we had a gkantic di,), „f vast mountain of ome?.** of porridge and a tion. WeTelLtht •''T''' ^-^ ''^'y conve,.a- landmarksorMcati'rf ?t'-'''^ "^ '-*» - .■oute for En.t Gr r„S~^: ^ '''"^'''"' *'- ''<^«' Prince Christian sl,r "■^^'onaries told us that ^-floes. c^irhTwrsKr -'' ^^''" age : our bay wa. « n-^. ^^^ aiflicult to force a pass- too, the rea Jn w^ vf harn^t ;r ""• ^' '"' native. All the cLl 7 f * ^^"'" ^^ ^^^^^ a solitary fore, the feelin.., with wl. f.l ^ understand, there- ou their coastt „:' :'::!'V!!':^-^**^^ - a-va. I! (6Ui 'Jiree boats,-crafts sucli as they 494 TIIK KAST CJllKKNLANDKRS. f- tr. ^lammi liad never before beheld in tliese waters ! Wliat terror our appearance must have produced in the hearts of these poor, timid, superstitious Greenlanders ! So they made all haste to escape as soon as they caught sight of us. We must liave passed, said tlie missionaries, many of their s-^ttlements ; and it was possible that at Scdle- vik, for exam])le, we had sailed, during the night, close by a Greenland village. But even by day it is not easy to distinguish their little turf-roofed huts, unless you are right above them, or your eye is accustomed to look for them. The inhabitants of East Greenland are, as a rule, stronger and taller than those of West Greenland ; and their hair is of a light-brown colour. When they migrate to the west, it takes them some time to grow acclimatized, and they suffer much from a cutaneous disease. It was late when we retired to our sleeping-quarters in the schoolroom. What a satisftiction we found it, to be able, for the first time since the 2nd of Januarv to undress before we went to bed! And then, too, we could sleep without any anxiety. What terrible nights of anguish we had undergone! And now all was, happily, at an end. We had just finished our night toilet, when the door opened and M. Starik entered with a jug of beer. Who could resist the temptation ? The foaming liquor, which did honour to the Greenland brewery, soon sparkled in our glasses. Early next morning friend Starik reappeared with an ample breakfast. The massacre of tlie biscuits was re- ared with an cints was re- EUROPEAN WOxVDERS 495 Peated. Then we attended to our ton„f , 1"« t«™ sallied fortl,, „, clean TndT,- ' """^ ''^'' '" men had done the same "' P"'"'^^'- 0«r JoanwhUe, on,, linen had been. a.,ed,,,.,e G,.een- "'thegrayofthen.olingandri:-'''^ '"^ '"'"^'"l our boats with wonderin^Sitv w" tT''^'''"'' l.t«e swarthy men for lads about fift '"""^ ""^^^ but leaded that they were ^11^'^" "' '^'' Naturally, they were nZr i ! ™* ^"'' ''^t''^'^- eould give them, Ind it Cs „ot Z\ 1 ^™"^"""=" ^ "P a warm friendship wZur mTf 'tZ V""'' out some decree of Li^a i r ^"^^ ^^* ^^ith- ■- carbine and powlr 11 ^nf ' '™" '"^ "^^^'^"^ with astonishment when toy saw til I-r"/'""""" with whieh our seaxnen handled tt," "'''''^' .nusieal-boxes did not less Jtonil "''<"''-S"°- Om- be more amusino- than f t ""= "°"""g <=0"ld W>ich these lit^Te men a^d w^™ * .^^''■^-'•-«- with iin.. silvery sounds; rd1a~ ^8?^^*"^ ''"'^- -nt, they would probably llrtlthtf .,'•'", P^" forgotten den,on Coruik and hit , ° '^ """■ '""g" On the shore our offioCa ' w " "' '" ^"^•''^<=-- tbemselves with firW tr """"'""""^^ ""'"^'^d "Stives gathered "/d "iLl^r '"' """^ "^ ^''^ tl.e servants, who were aet C ' " ''"'^ ^ ^''^" ^o inst boots for those of n,f^ '"^"»'^'' '" manufactur- -pplied. They l/e thIu.T ""'' '"' ""* ^^' '^-" y »ave them some sewing-needles, and 496 A GREENLAND CELLAR. HI at I received in return a grateful "Kojunok' ("I thank you"). Both the married women and their daughters, eisflit in all, had an air of great mildness. M. Laube wished to sketch them. We made them also write their names in our memorandum-books. Our friendly attentions they received with all the little coquettish graces of the beauties of our own country, whispering and bending down their heads ; it was even with a blush that the respectable maiden, Sibylla, aged fifty, inscribed her name upon the leaf. We visited this morning another curiosity — a Green- land cellar; that is, a cavity in the rock, shaped like a swallow's nest, where the inhabitants stow away pell- mell their stores for winter, — dried fish, the blubber and flesh of seal ; and when the space is filled, they close up the entrance with a stone. Generally speaking, no one is the least afraid that his cellar will be plundered by his neighbour. The mis- sionaries eulogized most warmly the honesty of their parishioners, and assured us that they would endure the cruelesi. sufferings of famine rather than rob their fellow-countrymen of their food. Another fact may be recorded to the credit of the Greenlanders : we met with scarcely one who could not write his name. They are musicians. The musical services in the church are conducted by a band of wind instruments; a genuine Greenlander officiates at the organ — and, what is better, composes the hymns and sets them to music. We must also refer to the remarkable skill in leather- work which the women exhibit. There is something: :ill in leather- UNSEEN COMPANIONS. 497 than a pX wf tt'^ LTr t"-' »»' ^S- taste wiach, if .aided bv 7 H °""' *" P'™^« *''^ acquire for he nrontr^^^""'' ''°"^^"'''«' *■"=>' «oon ac.fnottdyd"l'ttJ:fr;<' "^ *■'''' "- -«- had apprised. bfthrc:;i:i'^~^^^^^^ ...proaehin, arrival o^^^^i^ ZIT'm ^'l they were grievously alarmed, but they reetered tf^ composure on seeing us. The new, .f "■ fore, had -rculatedLong the Zeel nT/^'n*'""" Been us from the distance Lrdin" ™!l'"' "''"''^ tLrough the islands. •^'"'^^ding our weary way vmZ^ 7:,'""'' "' ^^""^ P'^'-B. that our ice ratt Had been liillen in witii bv somp r^^r i l^ad failed to see • and }Z '^' "^^^^^ ^^ that the rnnlr ' ni .T' '"' '"'^^^'^^^^ «"^«^I^es e rumour was not without a foundation of truth Yielding to the pressing entreaties of our hosK abandoned our design nf L^^- "^^'^^' ^^® dair TKn ; ^ ^^^*'''^ ^"^ on tlie followino- te,s.::-rha:;trur*'T-^'^- if we defay^dli'ir- "°"" "''^" "" ' ''^''''' "" " ' P"'"' °^«'« '^■^>- -'-e eighty wome; aild lil- 498 FOOD-SUPPLY OF THE NATIVES, 1i dren wore engaged in the herring-fishery. Herrings are scarcely less valuable to the Greenlanders than seals, and form a principal part of their food-supply. When the fish fail, hunger sets in. Like our own herring, this little fish, the mallotus arcticus, bearing a close resem- blance to the sprat, is accustomed to show itself in the bay every evening, towards the end of May or the be- ginning of June, in shoals of great compactness ; and women and children catch them with a kind of drag- net. When taken, they are neither gutted nor cleaned, but simply laid out upon the grass until the sun has dried them sufficiently. Then they are collected and stowed away for winter consumption, in old seal-skin bags or other receptacles, and are eaten with fish-oil. As soon as the boat came in sight of the fishers, the women began to utter cries of terror, and some of them took to flight ; but they grew calm on recognizing their friend Starik. By degrees they were completely reas- sured ; and even the youngest, in their kajaks, strove to keep up with the boats. They promised to bring us, on their return, some fresh herring; and they kept their word. On the following morning, in fiict, two great heaps of fish did arrive ; and being carefully cooked by our hostesses, proved a very agreeable dish at breakfast. They had a capital flavour; and we did them justice. During the day some kajaks appeared, and some of our men attempted to paddle these fragile boats, which are very difficult to manage when one is not accustomed to them. It is not an easy thing even to keep them up- right on the water ; and one finds it very troublesome A VISIT TO THE UliAVEYAHD. ,,, greeted our fi„t 11- . ''""''''' ""'' "'« °»«ves Taught ... m; VeroLTeh ?!' " '""^ '»"^' "^ and a species of clmLrdal h/f ™' ""' °" '^''''' The sole fault wa«. tba^t ej "tld et" ^'^r/' with too much emphasis "^ ""''°'1>' =- hr:£;£ 2^r^» -- -- -ned Of raising ahritrataXfir ^^ ^^- he^;ed:wtt;:t,fir r '--^ ^-- -'«>• in the o^iniouof tt ' " '^' "' P*^""'^™; ^ut, a century od Thi ""''^■""''™'^. "'<^y are uot above which they lir " " P°"'"^ '" ^^" «- I^-- whe:!:rcZirr:tTS[r----- people o;^;,-^'' "-'•-..geously with the t'P' • Ik ^■''li ' ]''%! nil'') " if--'. M P.i (■it I !r»r 500 THE ISLAND OF BEARS. The boats were loaded, and the sails hoisted. It wjis not without emotion that we poured out our grateful thanks to our hosts. We also took leave of the women and the natives. The good people of Friedrichsthal had overwhelmed us with supplies of fresh bread, butter, sugar, and coffee. At last the oars were dipped, and,' in the midst of a triple hurrah, we set out on our new voyage. Soon the Look-out Hill hid from sight the roofs of the hospitable Friedrichsthal. We were attended by a magnificent convoy. M. Guericke, with his grand-daughter, accompanied us as far as the next station, in an oomiah, or woman's boat, filled with the members of his household ; and fully a dozen of the natives escorted us in their kajaks. THE VOYAGE. On the opposite coast of the Narksamuit, under the lofty headland of which we have already spoken, lies Igikait,— the Herjulfnds of the old Norsemen. We landed there. Some remains of stone walls indicate that it was once occupied by Europeans. Afterwards we halted for a while at a little island with a long, sonorous, and unpronounceable name,— Kikertarsoeistak. Some white partridges stimulated the ardour of our hunters. About four o'clock we arrived off Nennortalik, other- wise called the Island of Bears. There we found a small Danish trading-settlement, a kind of factory. We were now about half-way between Friedrichsthal and Liclitenau. We had been discovered from the shore, and, to our great surprise, were welcomed with salvoes isted. It wfis ) our grateful of the women Irichsthal had bread, butter, dipped, and, it on our new ight the roofs convoy. M. panied us as T^oman's boat, 1 and fully a yaks. it, under the ■ spoken, lies semen. We alls indicate little island ble name, — I stimulated talik, other- we found a actory. We chsthal and I the shore, tvith salvoes rMi .1 ?'l A SOJOUIIN AT NENNOimLIK 'o In-a house, and indl\TtL ''"''! "'^'"^""" to bo too sanguine that she could eTl '^ "' "<" a» she had to ™ake a second vol„el r ",' '''™""' sun-mer, she would only dischZT "'""' "'"' sea again imn.ediately.'^ te '^j '""/^^S"' »"<> P"' to in ti„e. he tho„gl/,o iT "ilf ,r"^'^ ^"'^ voured to console us bv nrU.; • ^^ ^"^^a- Zeltplat. a station tlfn^re! Z T'''''' }'''''- nashwb, in the Bay of A,-sut ! , v. "'"*'' °"""^- 1-.- every summer i otdwi h 1 " "'"?' ^'"^^ ^^- in that locality, chrysol te R M, '"'"'''^ '''^""''''"' long boat-voyte was '„* ! ' '" '^^P''^' "^ mother should we do"^ ° aZ : r' ? f ^"''"''"™- ^'-t on pe,.isting in our L! dt^ '?" "°"' "^ •■^-'-«<' to write to the Tvet^-Si' :tis':^^^f «o^'". to facilitate our obtcf an^^o' ?""' '"■"-"• "e-ous Julianashaab. wf waited fl H " T '"^^P"'^''-' *» Nennortalik wTfoId to L ^ ^' ''""*"''" ■nents in Greenland Tl "'" "^ ""^ "^^^^ ^«t«e- tarred timbel ^e wfndof r™"' '""^^' -"' ''^ gardens, prod„;ed an 7 7,""'' """^ ^^"-O'-dered ".«s adj;Lt,:iitrii7pr""^ *''^ ^""''- - -1 kept, no hu::nrr:r:: :r neat 504 A NATIVK FLKKT. mstmi I'tu 1 Il t f iJ m. mk ■.. Jnntn ffflil .1hB9 9'i . are built of Htonca and turf. A fow are provi.h^d with roofs of timber. The interior arrangement is of the eus- tomary Greenland character: a low narrow vestibule opens into a small chamber, with a wainscottincr all round. The greater part of this room is occupied by the wooden benches on which the numerous tenants t^ike their rest. The walls are adorned with a few Iithograi)hs, and some looking-glasses in gilt frames; a small table stiinds near the window, and two or three chests sui)ply the place of chairs. To an European, a protracted residence in one of these houses would be a severe punishment. The evaporation from its occupants, the smell of the fish-oil used in the lamps, the half-putrid food, and the decayed skin cloth- ing, so poison the atmosphere, that it is almost im- possible to breathe. Ventilation might be effected by means of the large window on the south side; but it is so besmeared that it jidmits only a scanty and gloomy daylight,— and it never occurs to any person that a supply of fresh air is necessary or desirable. The island is flat and barren. Strewn with erratic blocks, it rises on the west side into a mountain-mass, the outer promontory of which is the formidable Cape' Egede. Mosses, lichens, cranberries, and bilberries cover the rocks with luxurious vegetation,— if the word "luxurious" can fitly be applied to scenes so barren. The evening was spent with our host; and we were accommodated for the night in a house built by the colony especially for the entertainment of travellers. Next day we set sail early, favoured by a strong fresh breeze. AfiRIVAL AT LICIITRNAU 606 i'lio .no., wca.' .ski., " vostn.ont. • '""1„"''''«">«ub. loose and unkempt. ^'* *^'^'^" ''••^•'' We re-embarked at four iu tl.n ..n tln.ee hours reaehed Liehtenau. '""°"^' "^' ''" AT LICIITENAIJ. Liehtenau, tijo oldest nV n.r. nr South Greonlana. wl^l^a \f "iH^^^^^^^ "" four .niles inland, on the Btv „f r , / ''"'**«"" stretches thirty.t;o mile? oyJd it S':?-;! "''i^'' sula, crowned by a roekv nl,t„ .'^" " •™''" I'onin- "ouse; a.s well af the :^^^ triutof tf -T are^^oupea around the rocks in L for™ r^^^': •-tened in all direSsl ^Tol T. TT'' of the youn-r (rirk on.l ^''® e Dani,.!^ Unfortunately, the good new, ^''''^'''^ '""'"P- very laconic letter to til elT ' ^"^^"^"^ "P by a -ofthecolony:J5 ^°:^-^;fotWthe'goL! Pole cannot embark on boaTt,. T^''"" *''" ^°'-"' ^h« is about to set sail „„ h "*"''^' ''<'«»«« Northern Greenland Thl r "" """""^ ^"y'^ge to to Ivik^t, Where perha^' he^^^r/r^ ^'"•"'<' »"» Mortified by this frirfd ''"°""»- ^c^^el." Danish official, we held? oundr"."?'""" ''"" «- oonrse to adopt. A voyLe to ^tt". ^'^'^'"'"^ ^^^t a d.ffioult enterprise, an'^^'ae IrS " °" "^'^ -- would occupy fully t,„ dlvs R ?. "" ''*"'''«o'«. -r-t we Should obt^^.^-rwILll"- on'a:C:Sr:7rr-^- -.astweresolved ^tely Bent for their chief ""''"">''"««. who immedi- was to seek •> no-. - ^^'^ ""n"" ~ passage Lome from Ivik, ig we could d ^^ on board one 508 UNARTOK ISLAND. liflll Of the mineral ships. At the same time, he proposed that we should rest ourselves thoroughly at Lichtenau and delay our departure for a week. These friendly counsels we accepted, of course, with much gratitude. " ^ On the following^day we made an excursion to the island of Unartok, situated about twelve miles from Lichtenau ; it is remarkable for a hot-water spring Isaac Barson, the old Norse chronicler, who described the estabHshments of the Northmen in Greenland early in the fifteenth century, makes mention of it. Accordina to him, a Benedictine cell existed in its vicinity and the virtues of the spring were already known to the colonists. Like all the island-system of Greenland, Unartok is cold and desolate, comparatively fiat on the north-east side, but mountainous on the south-west. We could discover no traces of ancient buildings ; and yet it is not easy to believe that a monastery could disappear entirely from the surface of the soil, even in the course of four centuries. The story of the old chronicler can be accepted only on the supposition that the ancient Norsemen must have constructed their edifices of timber, like our modern missionaries; and that these, when abandoned by their inhabitants, were destroyed by thf' natives, who would utilize the materials in various ways. As for the thermal spring, it is a reality, not a fiction. On the west side, scarcely a gunshot from the shore, is found a small level basin, about three feet deep and twenty feet in diameter, covered with a remarkably ITS HOT SPBlNoa fine granitic sand. Accorrl,„ * **" '^ temperature is able /«» "r'l"'-"'^™""'^^-. westward, and a little higher IT^ ^"""^ ^"""^'^^ »Pnng, wlach is very deepld'fin i ^ '""'*^'' ""y ^"rface of the waterVc„T;r?d w^ ^'"^ *"^^- Thl '"uei]agino„sn,atter,evd XJ ! f"""'^'' b™wn emperature of tl.is second flt^^f^^^ ""g'"' The ''- a slight alkaline flavci and / ' ' '''"' "^'- crastation. The hiorasses of E 'o *'"" "'"'^'' ^""^ Now-a-days the spring is but litfT . are by no means solicitol *„ ' "'"^- ^he natives physical comfort of Tgood baT"' f" ""'"^'"^- the seldom have occasion to vfeit 2 T *''^ ""^^''"ie^ fie- And, besides, one wouh fi 1'T °^ *'"'^ 'onely l-thing in the springs breau '""" P'"^"^-^ *« able from the keen aifirrrK, '"'■'"''''"' '^ -ail- basins. eonstontly blowing towards their After examining these fn„„. • to make another visit to Z^'f ^' ^'^ "'« «'"" the Oreenlanders. Former! .ijl 33 if 610 A VALUABLE MINERAL. jiki it was the only material whicii they employed for their pottery : and even now, though Denmark supplies them with copper and iron utensils, they still use it for making their pans and saucepans ; but more particularly for their lamps, which are simply crescent-shaped stones hollowed out, and supported on a wooden tripod The hollow part is filled with fish-oil in the following man- ner :— They take a piece of blubber in their mouth, out of which they press the oil with astonishing skill,' and squirt it into the lamp. Some dry moss is then strewn over as a wick, pressed tight to the concave edge, and lighted. This lamp, which gives both light and he'at — for they prepare their food by it,~is found in every house: it is, so to speak, the symbol of life of a Greenland family ; and they gather round it, as Englishmen round their fireside. The weights of their fishing-lines are also made with this stone; and it is a curious fact that the old Norsemen employed it for the same purpose In the north of Greenland it is found in large quantities, but it is almost a rarity in the south. The bay does not stretch as far inland as its neigh- bours, but is surrounded by mountains which form a magnificent panorama. At its extremity opens the mouth of a valley which penetrates far inland By following it the traveller will come right down upon Fnedrichsthal ; but it is so obstructed by heavy masses of rock that the water-way is preferred. Scarcely had our boat shown itself in the interior of the bay than its desert shores became suddenly alive The inhabitants of Lichtenau and Tgdlopait are stationed there for the herring-fishery; and as there were no fish VISIT TO IGDLOPAIT. * * 511 just then to onioh +i n , <=-toma.y ia.en^ ! Butt? ""^ ■"''"'«'''=" ■" their -to activity; evoo.b„d?ro,r'r ,*'""' *'""» <>" I'o-nts, a good iandino-.nhce Vr ''^"■*-^'°="=n different difficulty in tl,e world ITLu, '''" J''"' ""* ^•^'■''^^t tl'ey wished to dra. luh , •'"*""'' '""''' ^'"«'' "-'.. As we proeetdeT t e'lll™^."'^ ■^'""^ «-owd pressed elosely in our re 1 '.°?-^'''"« '•<"'k. the t^o old women, wlfo be". ', 7'"' *''^ '=''<'^P«»" »{ Burface, stayed b;hind,„r^ f ' '° l'^"'- the rocky When we Lc2 ^L , 7? ^7 "^ '^^^""^^ ^P- tl- natives had worked l! Z "f "°">'"g to see ; -»iduouslyti,atsearceTyatc' "^ '° '""=" •^"'^ «° of the soil. We resolved the T"""^ °" "'« -*»« exeu.io„ without JZ: tT^ 1^ T"""- -"' the two respectable Greenhnd I "* """'"''■y "^ not the least affronted C" 'r'"*'™^'-*''" were dish they had cooked for I,, ^ ^^ ^ ''' ""'"^^'^'^ ^^e A 1:: :LV;i::\!;,t „r t:?^ ^«- - ^--o i. to take to our oai-s and , , I , ' ""^ '"'"' ^oreed '" -g>.t of Igdloi^it w t:,. :;f P"" t^fo.-e we came For supper we ^ere ent^^^a n , wit Td-V'" ^^''""'»"- '■ar to 0.-ee„land.-con.sistinrlf "»"'** P''™- "ngelica steeped in vLelar f f ^'"""^ ^''""t- of the -onmtic food, which wouM be Tf^ ^'"^ P'''3"«"t W"« gratefully apprecTatd . '''^ ''' ^^'^'^ table. capital beer. whieL we til,!'' "V "' ""■' *° -""= '" a rocky and steriTeisS ' " ''''^''"' "> «-' Next niornino- nhnnaf i ^ -=, almost before we had finished break- 5tS HOMKWARD BOUND. fast, came a kajak from Liclitenau, with a letter wliich compelled our immediate return. A message had been received from Julianashaab : the Constance wa.^ waiting to take us on board ! Who or what, in such circum- stances, could detain us a single moment ? On arriving at Lie' r- -v, we round our companions in a state of great e.; ..asm. The despatch which liad been forwarded to us at Igdlopait had been con- firmed by a second, in which Captain Bang informed us tliat, detained by the ice, he had only got as far as the island of Pardlad, near Julianashaab, where he at first thought of waiting for us; but had now gone on to Julianashaab to take on board provisions, and by un- loading some oil to make room for us. How we embraced one another ; and what congi^atulations we exchanged, at the good news which assured us of a speedy return to our native country ! HOMEWARD BOUND. M. Warmow now made haste to provision our boats, and added many souvenirs which, in after-times, might remind us of our absent countrymen. We did our best to acknowledge his generosity. As we should have no further need of our boats after our arrival at Juliana- shaab, we gave one of them to the missionaries of Licli- tenau. We had already distributed our musical-boxes, which, in spite of so many accidents, we had preserved in good condition. We also left with our kindly Green- land hosts those of our weapons which were no longer wanted. It was past noon when we took leave of our friends, ENCOUNTEII WITH axt r. *V11H AN ICEBERG. mr friends, of musketry; other.,, i„ til W ^ "'"'-'■^»"' discl.argoa ;« our escort. The flotilla sL tolT '' ■?'■"'' '"""^y *^ »«' Hive"' " ''°™ °"-«-«1^1 " '"'■""''"^ <"' witlXl™ ii;;:! j;*^ Jj" ''«o °"f •"»- encounter Opposite the port of Li ,U ^*'' ^°'''l- """.ber of these ^nounta^'tT •"'''" " '=<'°«iderable '■"fluences and the a ti^ „f 2 ™""'' ^y atmospheric f tl'e firing „„ved o^" of H ' "T ^''^ """""^^ion We had already passeHt I tri. , 't " '^ '"'■'«'-'• •;« came the smaller shall " l^tkM^^f'l '""""'"« 'te crew of natives; the lar~T. . Hildebrandt and Suddenly the hug ^l^Z; ^"^ '"' " ">" '■^"• upon this tardy-sSling" F^f ''"'«<' '^ ™i™ the blocks of ice fell around t Jf,"""'''^'^ " escape.l ; raised enormous bilTor JhiT ' *™^''""S '*' -" violently fo.„«..d j,^; ^'"«'' propelled the boat but our alarm changed to „rr? ^^ ^»« '"a™ed, craft dancing on the w,:" ''"."'= "'^ "'« '''"^ natives, soaked by the Iprav whT,' '°'"''' ''"^ "- spitting and splutLwCL "' ^"'""•^ "-»'- c-tai„]y bad not beent^ell '^'"f ^" f«-es-which Soon Liehtenau dLper'd T ' '"" " '""^ '™- At the mouth of the bayT ttftdn"/™" °" «"-• f'Sven. We halted a mone^ ' '"'""'■^ "''S"''- '"« ^ift. Our escort t^r^ "*""* "'^ '''*«*«'■ and t'-e boats we cont n„el our v " '"""' ""^ '" »"'• shaab. " "" voyage towards Juliana- We reached the island of Karok • , i^arook m the evening. 514 AT JULIANASHAAB ! ti The natives at first concealed themselves ; but discover- ing M. Warmow, they came forward, and accepted very willingly a present of bread and meat. They locate themselves on the sunmiit of a rocky acclivity risin» *« Po-d to be the ca^p oS/lf '^\ ,«»'teM is sup. - the Bay of IgalliCtS L Cl^/^ ^""'^^-'^ ™ of the sea situated »t ^ ^ °^ ^'™*'-- The northern point of JuLtr t"' "^'^""^ fr°» *'- tl-ough the land of B ItteTr ' 'f ^'"''^ ^«^<"'ed the Erilc Fiord of the N Se^W j'^""''^'^ -«' arch^ologists to discuss the Tuth Zl ^^' '' *" "'« ^hat is certain is th!t n T ""'' "onjectures ; abundant traces of'the o d ^o ""^''''°"''°°d ex:..t K«t, we find -ill ""•"'P'^ion. square, enclosed with ™ '"'^'' "'' "'"''"ber, forming a -de, and close toirtr 'T"' P''^"^'^ -'« V Forn,erIy these wll ;; '"' ""' J»"^'l ^-^ mortar now only one is e2ntT/f " ''^'^'^' '°"'^'- b"* mattered all around ' " ''""^^ "^ ">" <"'-.. lie u« BEMARKABLE MEMORIALS. I.I the rc-o>,tc,ing angle of this courtyard lie the mim must Lave been of very moderate dimensions Tl,e area enc osed by walls measures from twenty to tlmty paces .„ ength by ten in width. These walk are made of low bloeks of stone, fitted in to one another, but no m the sou h Europe. None of the blocks are hewn The mnooth s,de is that where the block waa sepa,-ated fiom the parent roek. The interstices are filled u,> with «mall stones. I„ the south front of the building two entranees occur One opens into a r^om whieh the Egedes had used a^ a storehouse; the other wa. open Both were about six feet high ; so that a big man could not have passed through upright. On the slab above the door ay some earth, in whieh grass was growing ■ and as tins layer of mould was tolerably thick whl' ow"'g to the elimatic conditions of Greenland, i coulJ not be he result of vegetation or of the decomposition of the stone through atmospheric influences, we came to the conclusion that the builder, like his descendants in Iceland, had covered his roof with sods. The whole mea ansrde the enclosure of masonry is covered with fragments of rock. If the Arctic climate has not tried population have also contributed largely to their de- struc .on; for all the stones which the inhabitants of IgalLko use ,n the const.-„etion of their ho„,ses, have been hewn by the sons of the North with so much skill and labour as to form most admirable materials A Greenlander will take no such trouble. He plunders A OltKKNLANJ) LAKF 'md on the g,,«sy slope It I, ' ' ''"'"'""■' "' «'"•"■-» • -".0 block,, of L„'„tnrVT:''' "' ""^ % lie r-ulton,„n.,„ ,,,„„,.""•--/. -'"ch can only Jy,, near the harbour, „,re the fou'I '•"" "''' '""•"•' »itu.'.tea ■»en's building n i, 1 '".';"*'"°™ of another Noi-se ;- "eon used a. ItTrX: \' f^ "'^ «"'•«« n'^" ^';« one on the island ,r2yCt b ?' ''''"«"-» ■«%e in case of danger Tl,r , " ''"'«'"«' «« » l-"lding n,aterials close at hald. "'^ ''"'"" ''"^ "'«-• w.ld career, /n the ba W,^ ''; "■'' ^^'^■- ^ «''ort anc -*ee of the t..n. nitJ^L t ,eT*t " "'^ ^'^^ *'"' soft mossy U,-,,, ;„!„ J" '''»'<« are carpeted -•^^.des broods over^theUt;/"- '"'«" "— '^ "-^^ '"^ «--^^"; ^ ."ou„.in about filS ASCENDING TIIK KTOUKFJKLD. 1200 feet in height, an.l the loftiost in the neighbour, liood of the settlement. We reaehecl its donie-shape.l summit by cimsing ravines and scaling precipices • it was an Alpine excursion on a small scale, and an ox- cellent gymnastic exercise fbr all of us. Only we could have wished to be delivered from the gnats, that phi.r„e ot the Greenland summer. These little mischievous insects harassed us incessantly : in vain wo hunted or smoked them; their swarms infested the heights as well as the valley, and they gathered al,out the traveller from lead to foot. If their sting did not produce upon our bronzed and hardened skin the effect which a mos- quito bite has on the delicate skin of ladies, yet the tiny but continuous pricking eventually became perfectly intolerable. *^ The prospect from the crest of the Storefjeld is not less beautiful than extensive. It stretches far across the bare summit of the mountain, strewn with rugcred rocks, and beyond that of its neighbours, till it is ter- minated by the inland chains of heights, crowned with glaciers and eternal snows. Below lies the lake with Its sapphire waters; and, beyond, the islands and the strait, and the blue sea sprinkled with shining blocks of ice. So gorgeous a view fully recompensed us for our fatigue, and while engaged in contemplating its various aspects we forgot even the annoyance of our insect-phigue. Our officers, it is true, were not quite so satished with the spectacle of the masses of ice still floating on the sea; foi- tliey were a sign that the hour ot departure was not yet come. A-.K.VAL AT FUKW-,„K.S,UAn. 'ni , 510 -"- C.O.I, ,.ot„,.,„.,i, „tC, rT"; ™"' ""' '» -tci. "■■tl. bouty. Tl,,. (i.,|, ^.^^ , 7 "'""•' '>l«encc, l«J,.n then .lo,,„.,itecl the pie cs^n tl ' '^^ ""' '' "''■ »'"' fl'^vour H,,,„,,vo,l of by t|,e iti,';;'' ""■•^ ''«l'"'-e "lo THE HOMK-VOYA(JE. At length, on the Sid of r„l u t'on^tano. «et »ail. with the h 1^;; ' "''^^" ^■»- "'« voyages on boanl. She ,1 l^f T'"'"^ °'' ««"""" «vor, and did not ■each K I ' . .^ ^'"'«"^'- '""-■ I;"-- Hayo.) nnti, thetij^ tZ/- l' ^""'»'""'»' "' «i-e resumed her voya.re „d „ ^ '^ °" "'« !"«' ""Vederikshaab. Het thf ''"'' """'^ '° ^%''t by the gand„i« of a >,erd o ISf:! "'" ^"*^'-'-"--^ »'"P so near as to eover iJr 1 '*P'-<«"=''ed tlie evolution,, „f the eetlel ':. :t:'"r^'r.'- ^'- «« like a submarine explosion ll^ "-'^resting. It leaped from the water th™ ,1 " ""^ °"^ "^ th^m beating it with the.V fin V'''"" <'" «'« ^-f'-ee, -iike a sueee..i::'ofro::: -:::''■-«>« sound' >'.edVithIX:L":he':r ^^^^^ ^-««^ --hor o. The iee-floes were s^^ '' """' "'^ 2«"'. eo-pel the C'o««ter rr"""'' ""' '^ ^^" ^ *« 0«.erwise, wind and tUlfZ/.-^^-^ ?"- were favourable. In the 620 IN THE OPEN SEA. evening tl,e voy«ge,-s p,«.,ed at a short distance the second of the great ghiciers of South G!reenland,-the J.sb ink near Fiskernaes. The portals and arcades ex- cavated by the ocean-waters in this huge mass of ice gWed with an emerald nwliance; and the wash of the waves, sometnnes feeble and sometimes violent, fell on t^.e ears of the listening explorers. The day closed u" with a glorious sunset. They were still attended by those uminous splendours which had moved their admiration during their sojourn among the ice on the east coa^t of Greenland, and of which the dweller in temperate regions can form no idea. But the clouds t eaked with lurid red were no good sign, and th following day a storm blew up, and hea^^fogs pre- ward. Towards evening, says Dr. Laube, the well- known sound of the sea dashing against the ice saluted our eaiu It was not long before we saw the redoubt- able bai-rier, but the floes were now scattered and broke!, up. ah, how different from the spect*icle they had ormerly presented ! Now they were worn, shattered ™s Strait ' '''"" '"«' "pen watere, in "•f"hj3J.~ More ice 0,„. -vvords full of a eelesti.^ ,r™''"'^'^"''»""'.«nd w.-.rcls our fatherland ''^'■'""ny !-is directed t„- o»:™Xt:;r;.;Tett:r^"" ^-"^^''. *or that happy moment ■ ^' " """"' ^ «'ait lonely wat'e^he Nor",' 'Z T^'' '^"™«™ »" '^e of the Shetland I.le.. S nt Tead;« ""' ? ^'^^* wind carries us into tl,^ r „ '^'"' *■"• a fair '-i- With wa,:rfu lern r "^"^ ™'-^^^ «■« Bome hon,eward-bound (C '* "'' <"«<'0'-ering «>e good tidings of : ..tr 'Z' """ -^^ ^»-^ Doggerbank is occupied on v h, n T"" '' """ ' «'" «^'-men. At length Z^ i^"^'-"'' Norwegian Cattegat. The sea arou,Td ^ ' '"™*'' °'' «>e populous with veLs „ ,r f'T ■""" ^'l "o^e -* of three h„„d e.l hi, ! t '"!'' "' ''^•^--"' "P" Baltic, and yet we d„ „ c ' ' """' "'^ *«^^'^>'^'^ "'e ;-<.- wLt ca: he :: c:::t7 ^.""'-^ «— '">- Germany lost all her Ct^ L f"''"^ »«'• ""^^^nee on Loard, and informs us of tl,„ ■""*" " ''""' """"^^ - *^-pe [the Franco^n q^--^^ "r'"-^'".^ ': 'f '"'"'■ Wo understand wW ^^ "^V^^-^t'on - --"-"ees, agreeably impresses .^ ' V^t^ 622 MOTLEY CREW. ence between its laughing landscapes and the desert shores of Greenland ! With what joy we contemplated the shores of the Sound, its neat, trim villages, its stately trees, that fresh green foliage which we have not seen for so many months ! At Copenhagen, we are once more in the world of civilization. The two captains go ashore ; we remain on board, and the Constance is taken into dock. For the first time we bestow a thought on the wretchedness of our personal appearance, and each bursts out into laughter at the tattered condition of his companions. It was impossible for us to quit the ship until rehabilitated — at least by day ; the police would certainly have followed us. On our heads, seal-skin caps ; on our feet, sea-boots, which displayed our toes ; our trousers in rags, and our coats threadbare, — such was our costume ! Our first proceeding, therefore, was to repair to a clothing-store ; and we could not feel angry when the proprietor closed up the doorway with his body until the consul's certificate convinced him of our respectability. Here we may close our narrative. The voyagers reached Schleswig in safety on the 3rd of September, after a series of adventures almost unparalleled in the history of Arctic discovery and enterprise. I L— VOYAGE OF THE '' GERM AN I A." We have devoted a considerable space to the record of the loss of the Hansa, and the experiences of its people on their raft of ice, because the circumstances COURSE OF THE "GERMANIA." 523 v^ere unusual, and characterized by a special interest Over the voyage of the Germania, however, we shall pass much more rapidly, and content ourselves with particularizing its results; the incidents which attend an expedition into the midst of the Arctic ice and a wmter-encampment, being now familiar to almost every reader, from the narratives of various explorers. It was on the 20th of July that the Hansa and the Germama so unexpectedly parted. The latter looked wistfully around and about for her comrade, but no signs of her being visible, determined to make for the rendezvous which had been agreed upon. Continuing her course to the north, she fell in with several whalers'^ but none of them had seen the missing ship. Yet how near to each other lay their respective courses, may be inferred from the fact that the Germania, on the 1st of August, lay-to in nearly the same spot as the Hansa had reached on the 22nd of July, when ice-blocked, and drifting to the south. The monotony of the voyage was relieved by watch- ing the mallemuckes, or auks {Mevgulus alle), which attended the ship in immense flocks, and exhibited an extraordinary voracity. If a large piece of fat, which they cannot swallow at a gulp, is thrown into the water, they fight desperately ; sometimes two or three begin at different points, working both with beak and ^'claw The bird is not ugly; its colour is variable; the young ones are grayish, but the old, with the exception of the wings, almost always white; its head is highly arched, with a strong bluish beak bent like a hook. 624 SHANNON ISLAND. On the 5th of August we reached the group known as the Pendulum Islands, discovered by Captain Claver- ing in the year 1823. We dropped anchor on the south side of the largest isle, where we were sheltered by a small isle in front ; to which, from the number of walrus congregated there, we gave the name of Walrus Island. After a few days' rest, our northerly course was again resumed, though we met with frequent obstructions from the ice. On the 14th, an enormous ice-field ap- peared right ahead of us, extending eastward as far as the eye could see, and apparently joining the land-ice to the west. We were forced, therefore, to put about, and take refuge on the south side of Shannon Island, where we might pursue our scientific investigations, and watch from its hills for a favourable opportunity of renewing our expedition. We dropped anchor in six fathoms of water, and between some stranded blocks of ice, on the 16th of August. On the shore we found some remains of Eskimo summer-huts, with a great deal of moss and weeds; and succeeded in shooting a musk-ox, which proved a wel- come addition to our bill of fare. Shannon Island stretches from lat. 74° 56' to lat. 75° 26' N. In the north it attains the considerable eleva- tion of 940 feet ; but to the east and south its hills sel- dom exceed 500 feet. Nearly the whole of its mass is of volcanic origin. Close to its coast, on the north-east, extends a fine range of bf, sal tic columns. On the 27th, after Cc..dultation with his officers and scientific staff". Captain Koldewey came to the conclu- sion that a northward advance was impossible. He p known n Claver- bhe south ired by a of walrus IS Island. v&s again itructions -field ap- as far as 3 land-ice >ut about, )n Island, itigations, portunity lior in six blocks of F Eskimo eeds; and ^ed a wel- to lat. 75° ble eleva- 3 hills sel- ts mass is lorth-east, Sicers and \e conclu- ible. He MAKING THINGS SNUG. 525 determined, therefore, to return to the sheltered anchor- age on the south side of Pendulum, from which it mioht be practicable to organize a sledge-expedition to the mam a,d. At four p.m., therefore, we raised anchor, and steered southwards. The sea was now everywhere rozen over and mostly covered with ice an inch thick through which we could force a passage only with steam-power up. From Klein Pendulum, however, we shifted our quarters to our old anchorage off Sabine Island; and as the ice had gathered in all around in solid masses, there we resolved to winter. Signs of that dreary season were, indeed, coming fast upon us. The earth was frozen on the surface; the streams ceaaed to flow; heavy winds blew from the inhospitable North. So we set to work to make everything snug for the approaching time of tnal The ship was hauled into a safe and sheltered spot where she waa moored with ropes to the ice and neighbouring rock. She was then unfitted : even her lower ma^ts and slnouds being taken down, and carried ashore. Thus the ship was disburdened; and, at the same time, a considerable space was gained both on deck and in tne cabin, which in every respect was, in winter, ot the greatest importance. "Fiist," says our chronicler, "the sails were taken down and rolled together, then tl,e y.rl^ and the maintop-mast, and the sails and all the .■i„^n„ j;, ."-tied. The foretop-mast we purposely le.rsta°nding. that we might have a lofty point, which, in the coui-s^ of t,mc, might be useful for observing the air-currents and electricity. Then the deck was cleamd and the "*" 34 526 PREPARING FOR WINTER. ig- \t hoisted from its place. The spare spars and all utensils and chests were brought to shore. The same thing was done with all provisions which the frost could not destroy; except, of course, what we needed for use during the half-year. The two largest boats we laid with the yards, &c., on the flat shore at the end of the harbour. For the provisions, however, we erected a depot, half-way to the observatory on the peninsula. On a layer of planks we closely packed our chests and vessels, covering them with sails, the edges of which were kept down by heavy stones. Thus buried, our belongings seemed able to defy both storms and bears. But other things remained to be done. One or two men had to hslp to build the stone houses; and the engineer and the stoker were busy taking the machinery to pieces. One of these stone houses was intended for an observatorj-. It was built on the corner of land lying near to the ship, upon tlie steep edge of the bank ; for the other, as a mag- netical observatory, a more north-west position seemed preferable." As a protection against the icy blasts, a strong sail- cloth tent was stretched over the ship ; and, finally, a three-inch-thick layer of moss completed the roof erected above the deck. The wooden walls of the cabin were lined externally with felt, and on the inside with the thick woollen stuff known as " coating." The floor was partly covered with a carpet, and partly also with felt and sailcloth. The iron stove was placed so that its radia- tion should warm every corner In short, everything was done that the ingenuity and scientific skill of man could suggest to ward off the rigour of the Arctic winter. KEEPING CHRISTMAS. jj, At the beginningof November they were deserted bv ^.e sun, and the three months' Arctic night set in a ready described u. these pages the principal features of a wmter in the Polar Regions, we need no now enter on any m.nute details. Cold and darkness-co"d an, darkness-whatmorecanwesay? These are mant two greatest enemies, against which even Science itself can make no very successful struggle CHHISTMAS-TIMK. We resolved however, to keep the Christmas season We were the first Germans who had wintered in the realms of ,ce and snow, and we all felt that a Christmas- tree must bloom on board the Germania. The wi-h l-owever, seemed fruitless, for Greenland does not be"a; hr-trees^ But Nature took pity on our distress; scanTy aa was her growth, she offered us a helping haLd, as H m recognition of Christmas. Even in wintfr the ^talk of the andromeda retain their leaves, and these, though of a dark greenish brown, are still fresh. The carpent'er made a pedestal, on which stood a three feet stem, with Its branches so disposed as to represent a fir-tree These were covered with the andromeda shoots, and smaller sticks were attached to imitate the natural branches In this way we achieved a mngniflcont tree ! The over hanging slope of the adjacent hill was one of the few spots where the andromeda grew abundantly; our botanist knew how to find it under the snow, and at dark the plants were raked up and brought home in triumph. ^ 628 CHRISTMAS IN EAST GREENLAND. The fir-tree was built up, so to speak, in the wanu after-cabin, every man on board contributing something towards its completion. It was gaily decorated with a variety of offerings, and even golden-nuts and small wax lights were not wanting. At four o'clock the managers of the show cleared the cabin, whose walls were afterwards embellished with flags and foxes' skins, until the general effect was really imposing. All was ready by six ; the ship's bell rang out a cheerful sum- mons. Under the ventilator a small coloured transpar- ency was arranged; and from the forecastle rose the welcome ^trains of a Christmas hymn. Then all the company entered the cabin, and took their places round the table. " German Christmas in East Greenland ice ! There stood the powerful forms of big ' children,' serious but cheerful ; and the finest Christmas-tree rose on deck, glittering with lights and gold and silver; and on the fresh white table-cloth lay the plates with the gifts upon them: they were but trifling things, but they gave nmch pleasure — small books, letter-cases, and so on. Near the tree lay a large harmonica ' for the men;' this, with some balls of cord, in which were enclosed different small articles, was a present from the ladies of Kiel. On the other side stood the complete model of a full-rigged ship, just finished by P. Iversen. " Somewhat later followed a hot supper, in which the cook astonished us with some delightful cakes. Healths were drunk in foaming wine of the Neckar; and at dessert a large chest, which had taken its place in the cabin since yesterday, was opened. It contained a valu- NEW-yEAR's DAY. gjD able present from Mainz: a number of bottles of excellent Rhme wme. You should have seen the men of the ffem„„„. Heart and mind were in a glow; they drul^td rf ' ^P'^-"--- "<«»« and health! drunk, and the sh.p resounded with many a hearty cheer. We thought of our loved ones at home, Z, brothers on the Hansa. and our ever dear country It was not long before we had a song And as it was a wonderfully warn,, soft air, the Suggestion o a dance on he .ee received universal approb^ion. Soon we were dancmg merrily on the white snow, whilst the boatman, wrapped in a reindeer-skin, played the new harmonica with an artist's hand. ■J^^7, !"","'' """'* "P'"'*^' '"°''' ''^altl'^ d'-unk, and midnight had passed before we retired to rest." THE NEW YEAR. We now come to the year 1870. New-Years Dav was greeted with general pleasure, for it was a proof that half the formidable Arctic night had passed away without producing any evil influence on mind or body and though the coldest time was still to come, it no longer seemed so dreadful. There is something, however, in the absolute silence of the Arc, c winter which oppresses every heart ; and the spirit shrinks from the gloom and the shadow con- stantly brooding over the scene. All the sweet voices of creation are hushed ; the brooks have ceased t« ripn,., and the cascades to plash and clang; the waves no longer mui-mur on the shore. Life, too, is almost utterly wanting; the scanty vegetation of the North 530 THE ARCTIC WINTEli. sleei)s uiulev a thick shroud ofsnfjw, and the beans Ir.ive retired to their winter recesses, the seals to the outer edge of the pack-ice, and the birds have winged their way to milder latitudes. No glow of sunlight flecks the distant heights, or pours its golch^n colours on the g glassy sea or the shining masses of ice. Everything and every place are tinged with gloom ; nature is wrapped in a rigid cerecloth or funeral pali, over which the profound Night broods immovable ; in the intense blue of the heavens tlio stars glitter keenly, and it is easy to realize the force of the poet's expression, " the cold light of stjirs;" like colossal phantoms rise the shadowy, snowy walls of the mountains; and the universal melancholy of the landscape is reflected in the mind of the observer. Our ship presents no cheerier sight externally, for iis deck is laden with snow ; masts and yards stretch spectral arms in the gloom ; the ropes are wound about with frosty webs of crystal, and the helm lies buried deep under heavy blocks of ice. No wonder that, with such surroundings, we almost succumb to a feeling of utter desertion, or that our s})irits are prostrated by the darkness which weighs so heavily on nature animate and inanimate. It needs a strong eftbrt to conquer and put aside such sensations ; and we should scarcely be capable of it, if we did not remember that every c vy brings us nearei and nearer to the spring. Work is an excellent safeguard against a sentiment of melancholy which, if indulged in, might become dangerous. And, accordingly, a. constant activity pre- TAKING CARE OF THK oirTWAIIb MAN, U] vdloJ on boud sliip; all l„mj« wee o„f;„j,„d ,„ one or o herav«cat,„n.-,.c.,«li„g, writing, registering obsorva- t.«ns, taUonng shoonmking, carpentering, and learning or teaelnng m tl.e " sel.ool of navigation." The clotl,in" also came in for a .,l,are of our attention. For the degree of cold we had hitherto experienced nothing was better than our woollen garments, but only when the a.r wa. st.ll; if the wind blew, our bodies, even if Icept in mo.ion, became cold and rigid in a very short time As we contemplated a sledge-journey, however, we began to make ready our fur garmeuts,-cutting up our long and useless fur coats, wliich reached to the feet, and transformn,g them into short, close-fitting surtouts lined With wool. The boots, hard and unmanageable were replaced by chaussures of original design, made of sailcloth, hned with woollen stuff, to which leather soles were attached. The tent was enlarged, so as to accommodate all the sledge-travelto, and the fur .sacks and coverings for the sleeping-place duly prepared. AN ADVENTUKK WITH A BEAH. On the morning of the 13th, one of the seamen, Theodor Kleutzer, ascended the hill we had christened the Germaniaberg, in order to view the landscape in the mcreasing daylight. Having gained the summit, he seated himself on a rock and gave expression to his ioy- ous feelings in a song. " Music hath charms," fus he dL covered on looking round ; for a huge bear, a few paces olt, was mtently listening to his vocal exerci.sc ' Had f heodor, a strong, ready, and capable man, been armed such a rencontre would not have disturbed him in the p^ 632 KLEUTZKU AND THE BEAli. least ; but it so liappeneJ that he had not even a knife upon his person. He was unarmed, alone, at a distance from his romf)anion«, and face to face with a Pohir bear ! His only chance of safety lay in flight, and he began a tolerably rapid descent of the mountain. Upon look- ing back, after a time, he saw, much to his discomfort, that Bruin was trotting behind him, like a dog. In this way they continued the descent of the mountain. If Kleutzer halted, the bear halted ; if Kleutzer went on slowly, so did the bear ; if Kleutzer ran, the bear trotted. Thus the two had gone some distance, and Kleutzer began to feel uneasy, fearing the bear might grow weary of a long stern-chase, and press closer upon his heels. He uttere" '^»der. dreams and the'goa o'l fs esiroT o" ^^"'^ "' '™ by means of dog-tledges and t " ,d ^otte^LT"""; ice-beaten boat," which he li ""•/''"«■'. '«aky, and he made a carrfulanj !l w ' " ^'°'" " ^^''^<''- sl-ores of Frobisjl R ^it' examination of the of Martin Fobisher ° "' "'7°™'^ »{ the visit by that old ~\ta r::Td :ii':'" -r -pv^aitiuii us Joe and 546 AMONO THE ESKIMOS. Hanmil). Tliese had proviously visited EngUind — in 1853 — and had ac(iuired many of the habits of civiliza- tion. The woman could read a little, and spoke English ■well enough to act as an interpreter. Joe wjis a good pilot, and could also speak some English. Hia explorations among the Eskimos, — or Innuits, as they prefer to call themselves, — convinced him that they knew the secret of Sir John Franklin's fate; and that it was only to be learned by living among them long enough to acquire their confidence. All his energies, therefore, were addressed to the tiisk of raising the funds for a suitable expedition; and he was so far successful that, in the summer of 18G4, he was enabled to take his passage for Repulse Bay, along with Joe and Hannah, on board the bark Monticello. They were landed on Depot Island, August 21st. Thenceforward he pursued his investigations among the Innuits with indefatigable energy, and ascertained, from evidence furnished by the natives, that one of Franklin's vessels had actually accomplished the North- West Passage while five of her crew were still on board; further, that, when abandoned by the crew, she was found by the Eskimos, in the spring of 1849, near O'Reilly Island, lat. 68° 30' N., and long. 99° 8' W., imprisoned in the ice. Captain Hall, in his published narrative, informs us that the bones of Franklin's gallant but unfortunate followers were scattered over the snowy wastes of King William Land. The Eskimos of that region are a more churlish and savage race than those of Repulse Bay; and instead of rendering the lost explorei's the hall's early adventures. jiy li"s IhevtiTn ""' ?"" ""•""■■"^ ""- ™-d tl,ei.. orevei a.f 01? '"l T' T™''' '""' P'""<'-«<' «'- CaZn H ""'"'' """^ ^""'^ '''y "'«i^ hands, l^aptam Hull, however, seems to us to place too imnlidt " lehanee on the statement of the natives and 3 no grounds for believing that ^^on^r^Flnm^Z l.ad been redueed to aets of eannibalisn, He Lid »on.e hundred and fifty relies of the expedU on Se «.ape of arheles which had belonged eithe" to he ships or their officers. *"® Untt Jt°r '!""'■ ''"""8 '"' J^-'g "b^enee from the United States, l,e sent home notes of his progresT and Crozier of tlL-o" wfth P r""" '''^' ^"P*^'" Whose name he^^rra'-rat: eompamons, who yielded without any very Ztra ed and ^^ irr llrnHf C^reat Jish River, and that many of fh^ }J, si'im- +Kn+ ^1 , ^ii'iiiy 01 the latter were sUin, that, afterwards. Captain Crosier and two com panions had started in a south-westerlv dLT T' Fort Churchill, or York Factory. InTtSt Irtrtiml ScrbeXr ""' ^""'•' -^ -'•> ^^'^- ^'^ "^ In 1866, Captain Hall wintered on Repulse Bnv n. i .n the cou.e of the winter aecomplisheT a sixT;:,":? m 648 A NEW OBJECT. journey with dog-sledges to the north-west, in order to purchase dogs for the work of the next season. On this journey he was accompanied by five white men, volunteers from whalers lying in Repulse Bay, his Eskimo followers, Joe and Hannah, and about thirty dogs. They met with some ^-ougli experiences, and endured very considerable hardships; but succeeded in purchasing no fewer than forty dogs. Hall was told by the natives that some of the white men had been among them, and that one had died, and was carefully buried. On his return to Repulse Bay, the indefatigable ex- plorer declared his conviction that some of Franklin's party were still alive, and offered five hundred dollars in gold to each white man who would accompany him in a further search during the season of 1867-68. Five seamen from the whalV j-ships again volunteered; and after emplo} .ng a couple of months in the chase, so as to lay in a sufficient stock of provisions, the little company started on a journey which finally convinced even Hall himself that his sanguine anticipations were groundless. Abandoning, therefore, all hope of rescu- ing the unfortunate men, who ha.i undoubtedly perished two or three years before, he returned to the United States, his sanguine mind intent on a new object — the discovery of the North Pole. An American writer speaks of Hall as well-adapted for his self-imposed work. He was a well-proportioned, powerfully built man, muscular rather than stout, and measunng about five feet eight inches in height. His powers of observation were considerable, aa is shown DEPARTUilE OF THE "POLARIS." ,,, "1 bis descriptions of Eslcmm i,v^ j energetic, pL.erJ^ZlouJ^"^ Tr""'' '" "'" to command men, anl't e Xe 'of I e kT"' ""''"^ dition, M'hich we are abo„f 17 i . ^"^a™ expe- due to his want ofllerid *'"" """""""^'^'^ Moreover in his »11 iT u ""™'' '^ * I'^'^der. project, h; was apt tt /"f .'"'■•^ *^ ^^^ -* ''- ay in he Jav Tih v^''* "' "'^ *«™'«^« that from hiir^d , t. '^"""*^^"' °' *" "=»--' «'- These qualities, however ^fnn.1 i.- • ^^hi.e he was engaged T^X Srslprof ^ Government and neonJp nf +] tt -7 , ^"PP^^* of the contemplated expeSn ^ h^Ta „ ''^^rK''"^ ''^ temperament could ],ave endured th >T ""^ '""'•'""' preparation entailed unon m" h! '"''"",-'"'='' '^ ever, in enlistino- tl,» /v.r succeeded, Jiow- Congress t!en foS ~Z7'm\T '" "'^' ^"^ to defray his expenses ' ''^ '^""^^ <•»"«« So in duo time the Pola,-u was fitted n„f » and men were enM„„r1 *i i °'''' ''®<"'re suiHei^t in^ui^TdtS-rr^^^^^^^ H—ndT^raTr/- --"^^ World in which fhe N t ', P st, :: t."™" " ""'^ ^.B.Kmi.^S2i^— ;^:;omp^- a^ meteorologist- R W n rj ^ ' -^ ' ^ ^' K. W. D. Bryan, astronomer Mey- 550 A NOTABLE INCJDKNT. m- '■ '■ *i and chaplain; Sidney O. Buddington, sailing-master, Einil Schuman, chief engineer; Hubbard C. Chester, first mate; and William Morton, second mate. The last-named, as the reader will remember, figures promi- nently in the record of Dr. Kane's expedition. It was he who crossed the great Humboldt Glacier, and looking forth upon a channel afterwards visited by the Polaris, made the mistake of supposing that he had discovered the open Polar Sea. THE VOYAGE OF THE " POLARIS." Touching at Holsteinberg, one of the Greenland settlements, Hall fell in with a Swedish explorini--- expedition, under Captain Von Otter, which had got no farther than Upernavik, and was then homeward bound. On the 4th of August the Polaris entered Godhav'n, where it took on board a supply of coals and other stores. While lying in tliis sheltered port, she was joined by Captain Tyson, a man of considerable Arctic experience, as assistant-navigator. Upernavik was reached on the 18th; and here the services of Hans, the well-known Eskimo hunter, were secured. Captain Hall, says his American historian, ajjpoars to have had very decided premonitions of disaster, from the fact that he left here, in charge of Inspector Smith, a quantity of valuable papers relating to his seconil expedition, and particularly to his search for Sir John Franklin; an extraordinary step to take under the circumstances, as his object in carrying them with him SUPPOSED OPEN SEA. 55] -pedimenta and disagreeab. n L,: i7T '"' ;r*"'"^ desire to push onward „ ft ft VT X'liere wa-s notliing winch 1,p H,.„. i i ^'"'"'- EATR AND BUWAI. OF HALL. „, gnidually assumed tl,7lv! "'•"' ~"«n"ed, and Bays Tyson/, the captain himXii uY ''''"'°^'" and would soon be m-oundZt Zf' " ""' '"'"''' worse in ti,e nisht cZ ^l\ , " ''"°'* ''« '»<>k - He ;«,on,,f i^Sr^^rr^^^^^^ face, and' wa. brth^TaXT f '^^""'"'^ in the pillow. It was phZT t ^' '"' '^'"^ ^'^^ ''W -rning that he air ASr"''"^-°'*^'''""'« which is nearly hair' a mi e fro! t^T-™? t'" ^••'^^''■ «.e ground wa. so fro.Tn that. ""' '"'""'*' •>"' .shaJlow-even with 21" if J '"^ "««^^rily very break it up." ' " ""^ ''=™'='y Possible to eventful history 1 "' """'' *^- «'- ■strange, w::t:rK.rtrcotr:szr"^""- Even at tliat liour of the dTu , '^'•°^«n ground. J bad to hold a lanten r M^ 17 f"'"''/^^' » «-* J beh-eve all the shi ■ L ^ ^ ^"'""^ "'« P^^^'^.u porhans th„ ■" ,' ''""^ ^'"'^ P'«ent, unless pu naps, thp 'feward and coot n , ' '"-"^' "nd welU,efi,.,mg the event tI.p T ".""''""'y ''''•^' ->d desolate in fho ext It ?:,';':;t"f" '"'''" '^m light enable. n« f. -^ ' '^^ ^''''' ^''^ t'»e -se^ofsirif^tX"^^^^ ' ^^{.Kh stand like a barricade. 554 A STRANGE FUNERAL. guarding the barren land of the interior; between these rugged liills lies tlie snow-covered })hiin; behind us the frozen waters of Polaris Bay, the shore strewn with great ice-blocks. The little hut which they calhan observa- tory bears aloft, upon a tall flag-staff, the only cheering object in sight; nnd that is sad enough to-day, for the Stars and Stripes droop at half-mast. "As we went to the grave this morning, the coffin hauled on a sledge, over which was spread, instead of a pall, the Americ tl,e true wero fjf/n , '"" '"»* P-»atio CO.OU., a sig.rje tSS'r "'' :''"' was on the. 28t]i tli-if f l.n ^"^'^"' ^''^n curious, absence of one Inmd red and Jw T'^""'^'' ^^^^^ - -^^^^was still exceedi;;'3e^ :^^^^^^^^ ^ut the marking 37° below zero. """^^'^'-^^^^^ thermometer In March ," Am-n i , e-o. in Dr. Kane's chart rlLlTr""/ ""'"^^""■^ or sixty miles wa.s closelv ^v, ""*'"''"« ^or some fifty -'". their respeetiv "£ ~ ■ T "'" '" ''^ """'^ On the 9th ofMav Tv ^/ ""'''"'S^' ^fuek inland to the la t ' m > '""^ '"^ '^''y^- They ■•-ching Ne,„,„ Bay thence'"" ' "f '"'^''''''^ '- .onera. direction as hl^h Tat '82";'^'" "" ""-^ «imc upon a herd of mt,t ' ! *•■ O"'' day they teed twelve. These eil;' ''^"'''''' "^^ -^l-^l. '""■^■. as whales do o^ T^ ""^^''"l' "'-•■• enormo^u, -"' insufficient diel '^^/"T'" "^ ^-^ slender ->"cl. grow on the rock afll 'r°" ■'"'^ ''"'-« ««t scrape away the tow wi«: f-"', '' "'«^ -■'' ^vere some calves with theTe. 7 T' ''°°''^- T''«« "^i'l^d. At first the luntet /■,''",'*■•''" of these were tl.e approach „f dang r I' v '"' *'"™- ^<"- "t "nder the body of their „■! 1/°""^, ""'^ *'*« «''«^itei- of the hair of t'.e m IrtH^^:" ™*"; '^ *''« '^"'""' Sround,it hanjvs lifc^ „, .^'r '^ f^'' "T'^' touches the - - anta,n berore the calves, com- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // ijy / /^ f/j (/. 1.0 I.I a Hi ^ US 110 IL25 ill 1.4 2.2 1.6 ^a '9 t/^-ss.; Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 87^-4503 m \ 'm '> y\ ^> \ ;\ '">- objects S fplt^on T^ 'X •*" '^•TP''^" *"« on the 12th of Au^st ^'''/f~r^'Shed anchor »uther,y direction^"CbeTng Lu^Vlr^ ■". ^ was moored to a floe and in n^ . ^^ ""*■ ''"^ down Kane Ba.in LI l.th ^^ ""T *' ''"^'^ "^"^'^^ October parsed ^nteW Ha^I ' l' ^"^"^ *'" "^ spent the winter of 1853. 18h2' iS" ^^"^ •^''V ADEIFT ' -. ion board thoSXriUrirra tion, shouted Ssmtf to™ 1 " ''' "^"""^'^'^ P"^'" iee- and immediateTth^ dir rcolT''^ "' ™ '"^ The men seized ,m„„ ti, . confusion prevailed. been broug'T up frl „, T V"" "''^ P--"-'^ catastrophe and flunn., l " anticipation of a As the vessd bt hT^- T^""'^ indiscriminately. ^tantly riLS 1 l^' ^1 T' """"""' ^^^ ^°"- where or how tb. *l. "'^ '^'^ exercised how the things were thrown, Tyson, with 562 BREAK-UP OF THK FLOE. seme of the men, got upon the iloe, and endeavcired to introduce a little order into the chaotic confusion. Wliile they were thus engaged, the ice began to crack; shortly afterwards it exploded under their feet, and shivered into many pieces; the ship broke away in the darkness, and was out of sight in a moment! It was a terrible night, — deep darkness, the snow falling heavily, the wind blowing violently. " We did not know," says Tyson, " who was on the ice, or who was on the ship; but I knew some of the children were on the ice, because almost the last thing I had pulled away from the crushing keel of the ship were some musk-ox skins; they were lying across a wide crack in the ice, and as I pulled them toward me to save them, I saw that there were two or three of Hans' children rolled up in one of the skins. A slight motion of the ice, and in a moment more they would either have been in the water and drownad, in the darkness, or crushed between the ice." When morning came, Tyson found that, fortunately, two boats were lying on the floe to which he and his companions were committed; a nearly circular floe, about four miles in circumference, and diversified, like a small island, with hillocks and ponds, or lakelets, the latter formed by the summer melting of the ice. The ice was very various in thickness. Some of the mounds, or hills, were as much as thirty feet thick, others did not exceed ten or fifteen feet. The little company, thus strangely brought together on a floating piece of ice, numbered nineteen and in- cluded—Captain Tyson; Meyers, meteorologist; Her- ADRIFT ON THE ICE. ron, steward; md Jackson, cook; Kruger, Jamka Lin dern^ann Anthing, Lind^uist, and /ob^son scam " Joe, a«d h.s w,fe Hannah, and their child P„n;y • Han"' SucrT ?K *?:- '■" "'''"""' ^"«-«-' ToL 2' bom' b ''"^''•^ «'!-"«' Polaris (so called be;ause bom on board the ship in Polaris Bay), Eskimos. The supply of provisions for these nineteen men women, and children consisted only of fourteen canTo^' pemm,can, eleven and a half bags of bread, one can o dr^sd apples, and fourteen hams; so that if the ship did not return for them, the prospect was dark enough-and And it soon appeared as if the ship did not mean to return for them-as if, -ndeed, she pu^osely des^nTd t without eonung to the conclusion that Captain Budding- ton m,ght have regained the floe if he had chosen l do so, and re-embarked the unfortunate castaways. As this IS a serious reflection on his humanity and good employs in reference to the captain's conduct— and tl '""* ^"^ «°' "^ '^' ^"^ <«"* P««y loaded, and the men were puUing towards the shore, intending render d progress impossible, and they wen, compelled tl Polw T T "'• ^°'' ''*''■ ^^y^ Tyson, f saw the Polurts! I was rejoiced indeed, for I thoujrht assistance was at hand. "lougnt distant We could see water over the ice that had 564 THE " POLARIS IN SIGHT. drifted down, and we could see water in-shore. I wondered why the Polaris did not come and look for us. Thinking that she did not know, perhaps, in what direction to look, though the set of the ice must have told which way it would drift, I set up the colours which I had with me, and a piece of india-rubber cloth. Then with my spy-glass 1 watched the vessel, which was under both steam and sail. She kept along the coast, and then, instead of steering toward us, dropped away behind Littleton Island. Our signal was dark, and could not but be seen at that distance on a white ice-floe. I wanted poles with which to build a house or tent, and sent some of the men to the other side of the floe for a supply. I knew they must be there, belonging to a house I had built of poles in which to store provisions. On their way the men saw the vessel behind the island, and so came back and reported ; they described her as "tied up." And now our piece of ice, which had been stationary, began to drift, and I could not understand the vessel not coming for us. She could not be disabled, for w had recently seen her steaming ; so I told the men we must cross to the other side of the floe, and then make for the land, perhaps lower down than the vessel was, in order that we might eventually reach her There was a great deal of murmuring, for the men did not seem to realize the crisis, and thought more of saving their clothes than of saving their lives. But I seemed to see the whole winter before me. Either, T thought, the Polaris m.ust be disabled and cannot come A LITTLE ENCAMPMENT. Rgg ror us, or else Cap^in Buddington does not intend to leZ ™; '" '^"'^"^ "'™"8h my mind the recol- ecfon of a scene and a fearful experience which had h^pened to me before, on which occasion his indiflrr- ITfn? *^™f,''* "^-"^ to "«. What, in such a ease, am I to do w.th all these people, without ship, or shelter 15^:"^ r» ^ '^« -^. -H aar., and Dunng the night of the I6th, another disruption of he floe occurred, and Tyson and his companions found wh: the other boat, part of the provisions, and the On the 9?r r '""""''* "" '^' "^ "o-^y "• ">e floe. On the 21st however, they succeeded in recovering these precious and necessary articles ; and, afterwards in re- movmg to a larger and firmer floe which lay much nearer the shore. Then they built up their snow houses tTo? 7u "" T ''"-'"P"'-* ■■ one hut for Captain Tyson and Mr Meyer.; another for Joe, Hannah and Puney; a th.rd for the men; a fourth for Hans and his family; a store-hut for provisions, and a cook-house - all umted by arched galleries or corrido,^ made of snow These were true ighgs, and made in the regular Eskimo fashion First, the ground was levelled off and hen one-half of the floor towards the end farthest from he entrance was slightly raised above the other or front half. The raised part was parlour and bedroom ; the 1 'i 566 A SNOW-HUT. front part, workshop and kitchen. The walls and the arched roof were composed of square blocks of hard snow, and a square of about eighteen inches of thin compressed snow or ice served for window. The low entrance was reached by a gallery, in which it was impossible to stand upright. At night the entrance was closed up by a block of snow. In a hut of this construction there is scarcely room to turn round, and a white man of ordinary stature can but just stand erect in the interior. From its form, however, it is well adapted to brave the Arctic climate. It cannot be blown over, though it is frequently buried beneath the snow-drift ; and when there is a sufficiency of oil to burn in the lamps, it can be kept comfort- ably warm. But, from its arched construction, and the material employed, it cannot, of course, be made spacious enough to accommodate properly a large number of men. And it is only in the centre of the dome an upright position can be maintained, as from that point the walls slope gradually to the ground. Towards the end of October Captain Tyson took stock. The inquiry showed that the provisions consisted of eleven and a half bags of bread, fourteen cans of pemmi- can, fourteen hams, ten dozen cans of meats and soups, one can of dried apples, and about twenty pounds of chocolate and sugar mixed. The pemmican cans weighed forty-five pounds each, but the meat and soup cans only one and two pounds. The hams were small ; of dried apples there were twenty-two pounds. But clearly this supply was utterly insufficient for the sup- port of nineteen persons during six months of winter. ■ WATCHINQ FOR SEAL. 5,, Their hope waa to get to the shore, where their ammuni- On the 30th of October the day's allowanof forthe whole eompaay consisted of two pound, of pemmic^l - pounds of bread, and four pounds of canrdreTt' On such scanty rations everybody's strength Ipid! dechned; and though the natives continued tuntinrno eT: T:T "f .^'^"^'^- ^" '^- " '^ ve^ir cult to find the seal in winter. They live princinallv under the ice and can be seen only Jen theC a f Bemg wa^-blooded animals, they cannot long continue under the ace without breathing. Consequent for "he purposes of respiration, they make air-hols thrt.h tie -nt: mr ih*"" T ''" 'f'"" *"^^ ■'°'- - - -"" not more than two and a half inches across-that they are scarcely distinguishable, especially in the dm uncertam hght of an Aictic winter-day. 1 nat ve w^ sometimes remain watching a seal mlforCySilt I T/ '''"''" '"'^'•='' *•"« ^^^ i« gone for ever skull IS exceedmgly thin, a well-aimed blow is sure to penetrate and then the prize can be held selu ^ TnW le to'u^h'^^-^ '"^'^'^ -'-«^^ '- «'^ ^y to Two seals were captured on the 2l8t of November casUways. AH the dogs but four had been sacrificed The icrZ!^ ^ T ^''^""^ P'"*"""^ fr- -akness.' ward. And so the dreary record continues day by day: 568 DIViniNO THE PIIKY. the darknosH and the cold incieasinijf ; the proviHions rapidly lessening ; and the miserable condition of the little company intensitied by the insubordination and misbehaviour of tlie German sailors. On the 29th of December a seal was caught, and divided amongst the rejoicing party. According to Captain Tyson, when a seal is properly divided there is but one way of doing it. First, tlie " blanket " is taken off — that is, the skin, which includes the blubber; it is all " one and inseparable " as it comes from the creature. Then the body is opened carefully, in such a way as to prevent the blood being lost. It is placed in such a position that the blood will flow into the internal cavity ; this is carefully scooped out, and either saved for future use or passed round for each to drink a portion. The liver and heart are considered delicacies, and divided as equally as possible, so that all may partake. The brain is also a dainty, and either reserved or equally divided. The eyes are given to the youngest child. Next the flesh is equally apportioned. Sometimes the person who distributes it cuts it up as fairly as he can, and then, standing with his back to the pieces, another person calls out the names of the company in succession, and each receives his portion, without the distributor being able to display any favouritism. The entrails are usually scraped, and allowed to freeze before they are eaten. The skins are generally saved for clothing, and also for many other domestic purposes such as the construction of kajaks and oomiaks, the reins and harnesses of dog-sledges, and for tents. In fact, to almost everything which the Eskimos use or wear the ABOUT SEALS. 669 seal furnishes aomotliin.v Fvm, n of fhn K^i T ^' '^'^^^^ ^'*^ "membranous tiHsiics »po.«„„ tho back and «ido,s; wo£ about tr" "f pounds. Member of H.io ^ °'' "'"'y down .ke a r^ad tt^: iTr;:',::?"^: <..'0P. baeWd. tai. down, the bold dis^X ^r FURTHER EXPERIENCES o;cLi-;ts:ir'-'r"''''''-^''<''<' ^o,.o,a„d™gi„gt,je4r~-r^r';^'"'^ captured on the Ififh Ti, f ^^'^ seal was 1 on ine ibtli. The seamen had given Cantnin Tyson great anxiety tlirouo-h thpir u i ^^ptam appearance of tlie sun on the lOfl, off , eighty-three davs Tn H ] ' ' '^"^ ^^'"^^^ «^ g y days. In the preceding year he had been ; i ■ 670 A FLEET OF ICEBKRGS. absent from the crew and staff of the Polaris for one Immlred and thirty-five days; and his quicker return was, of coui-se, a sign that they had drifted rapidly to tlie southward. Day after day the weary voyage continued, — tho rapidly-diminisliing supply of provisions being eked out by tlie skill of the Eskimo hunters, who frequently brought in a seal. It is a remarkable fact that, on the whole, notwithstanding the rigorous temperature and the scanty rations, our castaways enjoyed good health, with scarcely an exception, until towards the end of January. Tobias, one of the Eskimo children, then showed symptoms of illness, and gradually gi-ew very weak. In February the ice-floe carried them into a part of tlie strait thronged with icebergs of every form and size. They presented a strange and beautiful spectacle. When the sunlight fell upon them, and lighted up their fantastic masses, all the prismatic colours, as in a rain- bow, flashed through their crystal spires and pendants. Their history is very various. Some run' aground within a few paces of their birthplace; othei-s travel on until they come in contact with a floe, and being stranded upon it, keep it company for hundreds of leagues; others pursue a lonely and majestic course towards the open sea, and gently melt into the warm waters of the Atlantic; some, like pirates, make straight for the goodly barque, and send her, with all her precious freight of human lives, to the bottom. And as they are various in their history, so are they in their appearance: some being wall-like, solid ramparts, with square and ON t:.': ice-raft. 671 outlines of a iuoly ' ' Tmo "^ '"""""' ""> Gothic cathedral- ' '""""'' "'«^'l'"'. <"• ■> ,,,, " WhoHe Hpire Chimes out to the breczen a Hong. And ylowH in tho suunet like fire " 'i-nitation a. to size or bur'T]! ' ' :i'' "'"^ '^ "° t'.e most grotesque 4"^. ' T ; ""' »'' measure a mile sniinro n l^ "^ ^^®' ^^^ ^^Y i'ofom. The former h.!l t . *"'^'^*«y« of the paratious, were c„nv nil. T ^ ""''*' "'^""'^''"' P''- of provisions th":tr!L":r7;'^"' ''' "" ''* «.e most unflvourabe cil , ^^''Poc'edly, in «.»inst the «*f rrrerj-r" "'««^ ^>ona.,.a;h,ra irxra^r. rir ■ y uncei tain. Matters would have gone more 672 A PERILOUS POSITION. smoothly, had the German seamen been amenable to discipline, and allowed an equitable distribution of rations. But they laid violent hands on everything they could get at ; and when a seal was caught refused the Eskimos their proper share, though they were in- debted for it to the skill and patience of the native hunters. MAKING FOR TEE SHORE. At length, on the 3rd of March, the floe approached Cumberland Gulf; and Captain Tyson determined, as soon as the wea" "ler proved favourable, to take to the boats, in the hope of falling in with some of the whaling- ships. Or, if they drifted past the gulf, he resolved to try for Hudson Strait; and landing on Kesolution Island, to wait there in safety for American whalers or Hud- son Bay vessels. But for some days the wind blew steadily from the north-west, bringing with it pitiless storms of frozen snow. On the 7th of March another experience awaited these sorely-tried men. For some days past the ice had cracked and snapped under them, with a sound like that of distant thunder. On the 7th the noises in- creased, and grew so violent as to betoken an early dis- ruption of the floe. They are described as very various in character, and as producing a most peculiar effect upon the listener. Captain Tyson found himself unable to distinguish their diversities in plain prose, and has recourse to a poetical quotation, which partially gives an idea of their variety and freshness : — *' Hark ! a dull crash, a howling, ravenous yell, Opening full symphony of ghastly sound ; KILLING A BEAR. 578 Jamng. yet blunt. a« if the dismal heU Lent Its strange anguish from the rent profoun.l s:ii'it:>!:«xi.;;i.. ■ grinding ice-masses *^'' ^"'^""^ '''"d great lestLsXahrut ^r'^' '^'''^ ^^"" -- their ae.t™r : i-'lt^^^^^^ f :»'* - cheerful and energetic !p rit ,^ P * T^ '^ ""''^ i;anions, A bear L ISol^ulm sft T" dusk a noise was heard outsid t'^Ls jl''' "'''' noitred, and discovpr«H u • *^°® ^^^on- lay within ten eet of .frr."'" '" '^^J'"^' -"<='' Tyson. Both thl rifl °°™P'*^'' ^-y ^"^ a"d i^ajak, the other tyinfeUTo Tt' ™^ '" «"« crept out very stefltMly and wh „ I'T ^f '"' trance could hear fl.. v. ^ *^^^ ^"^^^ en- expense. Sea'l^* ".J" f "^*n'-'" "^ ^""P^^' "* *'-'- (544) ' ~" '^"^ t^'^^es Of blubber w( lyi nj 574 ON THE PAC-I-ICE. about in all directions, and some of these the bear liad hauled about thirty feet from the kajak, and was leisurely devouring. While Joe stole into the sailors' hut to alarm them, Tyson crawled forward to reach his rifle; but in doing so knocked down a shot-gun, which aroused Mr. Bruin's attention. The captain levelled his rifle; he growled; the trigger would not go off"; a second and a third time it would not go off" : but tlie captain did, for the bear made at him. Getting within the hut, Tyson reloaded his rifle, and crept out again ; taking up a position where he could see the animal tolerably well in spite of the increasing darkness. The bear saw his enemy, and faced towards him ; but this time the rifle-ball went straight to its mark. The bear ran about two yards, and fell dead. On skinning him next morning, it was found that the ball had entered the left shoulder, passcvi through the lier.rt, and out at the other side. ON THE PACK-ICE. The small ice-raft which carried the castaways of the Polaris and their fortunes began to wear away very rapidly, and Captain Tyson determined on taking to the boats, with the view of reaching the main pack. As the boat wa'^ intended only to hold six or eight men, and had now to embark twelve men, two women, and five children, with their tent, and necessary wrappings of seal-skin, it was a dangerous attempt, and much of theii- provisions and ammunition had to be abandoned. There was no other alternative, however; and fortu- natelv. though the boat was overloaded and leaked con- e the bear ,k, and was the sailors' :o reach his gun, which .in levelled it go off; a iff: but the ting within out again; the animal :ness. The a; but this The bear inning him lad entered ct, and out ways of the away very I ta.king to main pack. [• eight men, tvomen, and '^rappings of ich of their abandoned, and fortu- leaked con- [ f nBS' p I A n ir m tt ca St: a bi] cai do pli we the one effo thei PANGS OF HUNGER. 577 lit ri:j SLrtr' "!■'? """""«<'' -«> "•" storm beatr? '"""''^ ''"y^' *"'* ^'^»<=«d the storm beaten company to great distress from the im possibility of capturintr anv seak Tl,„ u . the panes of l,,,^ j "^^ '^S"" to suffer dpLn ? ^ ■ ^""^ ''^ »°« t™e it seemed as if SL'^^n"''""''"""" •" *« terminatioronte •^ of tSer^rlt '^"^ '° ''^ ^P^'^--^^^- "have dange^orirthis h?' "" ^v '''' "' ^P"'' brain, T "" 'i ' ™8®'' '« disturbing their must noT ^ i.''"''' ^'*<"'* """«• This party trteraferjsS^^,^,--rr" V ~eadireetb,e.ingfrom^^tret3^ Just as it was needed - For at night, on the 20th i7orr t'! "'V™^^- -'^ --^ in violent »rrie7 off^efr t 11 tLrr' '^ '""^ ''''^^^^^' clotMng,_e;thiS; in Ie:t; rmir-^^t were saved, which they contrived to stow in the boat • effo ts ^f r ^^ ^ ''*^' P'^™'"^^'' ft '•equired all the effort of the men to save the boat. They knew that their lives depended on iu -.e=en-ati->- - J. T .-.1 , • t 'Cn atiou, and inis know. n1 678 SHIPS IN SIGHT. fi, „ tf ledge inspired them to exertions which, in their enfeebled condition, were almost superhuman. For twelve hours they held on to it, "like grim Death;" scarcely a sound was uttered, save and except the crying of the children, and Captain Tyson's orders to "Hold on," "Bear down," " Put on all your weight," and the responsive " Ay, ay, sir," which, in this terrible crisis, came readily enough. Discipline was temporarily restored under the influence of danger. We find them, on the 22nd of April, half drowned, half frozen, without shelter, and without food ! Had the end come ? Not yet : Heaven again came to their rescue ; a bear was sighted, pursued, killed, brought back to the "camp" in triumph, and speedily devoured. On the 28th, three young seals fell to the hunters' rifles, and abundance reigned. On the same day they were cheered by the appearance of a steamer working her way through the ice to the south-west; and though she did not see them, it infused new hope into their hearts, as it was a sign and a token that they might now expect to be relieved. And, indeed, on the follow- ing day another steamer was seen. Then volleys were fired ; colours were hoisted ; loud shouts were raised ; but these combined eflforts failed to draw her attention to the little company on the ice-raft. A third steamer afterwards came in sight, but did not bring them deliverance. SAVED ! However, it was not far ofl['. On the 30th, a fourth steamer was discovered through the fog, and so near them that Hans leaped into his kajak and paddled to- HELP AT LAST. 581 Soft """'*" ^''^ ^^-^ '^-g-'le of their took off my old Russian cap, which I ]Z t^' n eir Tin ;: - -^ '^Sieier;: cueers, n which all the men most heartily joined It heT r ,? ""'™^'' "^ '^ '•"""^-d n.en, who overed thenl'"'''^*""'"'' ''''"^''''- -•! fore-rigging We then gave three more, and a 'bVor' ,.,i,- i P.ia^. sure,,. ^ .he proj ^t ' tll^lrVir -a barquen me of Conception Bay, Newfoundland ' W" 7r: "' "^^''- ^""^' -^'-"O'^*- -re instantly h^w everSinrr"' """ *'''' ""''^ ^^ o-*--^ .%^..earo::a:^th?t;r::rou\tt:^::: -.o^andentraroSe^-:--"-^^^^^^ we wel :^ T" "" ''"°"^'' *° --ince them that mlkHIL^Jr "^^'- ''" --"^ -- -^-ed to uui last seal. It had fl.lrparj,r Vv^^^._ _ ,„ , . »,.,j Ocv;Omt; onal in our S82 ENJOYING A MEAL. eyes, though we had often been glad enough to get such fare " We had been sitting talking of our ' wonderful,' or, as the captain called it, ' miraculous ' escape, some half an hour. I was very hungry, having eaten nothing since the night before, and I wanted a smoke so much; but I saw no signs of either food or tobacco. So I finally asked him if he would give me a pipe and some tobacco. " He said he ' did not smoke.' "However, I soon procured both from one of his officers, and had a good long smoke — the first I had had since Joe gave me the two pipefuls, one of those dreary days in our snow-hut. In course of time breakfast came along — cod-fish, potatoes, hard bread, and coffee ! " Never in my life did I enjoy a meal like that ; plain as it was, I shall never forget that cod-fish and potatoes. No subsequent meal can ever eclipse this to my taste, so long habituated to raw meat, with all its uncleanly accessories." HOMEWARD BOUND. The Tigress, with her passengers, arrived at St. John's, Newfoundland, on the morning of the 12th of May. In- telligence of the rescue of Captain Tyson and his party having by this time reached the American Government, the United States steamship Frolic was despatched to St. John's; and arriving there on the 27th, embarked the survivors on the following day, and conveyed them to Washington on the afternoon of the 5th of June. A Board of Inquiry having investigated the circum- stances under which Captain Tyson and his companions VOYAGE OF THE "TIGRESS." ggg hunnh T.. ' ^ ^ equipped; while the steam- fll nadir T r' '"""'' '" ''"^""* -^ ^«P^t ot coal and stores for her uso at Disco Island. SEARCH FOR IHE "POLARIS." The %,.m was placed under the command of Can tarn Greer, ^th Lieutenant White as his Mef! ffll KrrrtLnr:::r:rrtr'^^^T at their own desire, to Disco "''"'"^■'''• the^lltifrr, '''T'' ""' "' N«- York Harbour on we need not del^ T'r'Jl Z^^^^^^' h^d taken place, about the middle of An Booth, firemen CoZtT''"'' ^""P'^" ■■^'"' Hays, and Man'eh sierr ^^ "f"''"' '^^''y' scientific staff ■ r-idRr!,' ^''''' "'''^^ »f the Leaking W^ 3"' It T"""""'' "^"^ •='-?'-- direction. At lell i ^"^ '" '^ north-e»terly got under some djlt ^1^ 'a iT' ''' ^''''' it is said, from the ma^t-he^ for f , /"*■""' ^^ ^'P'' companions; but as They IKt v^" ^''^ ''"'^ ''''''' supposed they would pZ^r , ? " '*"^"' ""<* '* ^as Buddington p'^Uh y^rif : 'o ^" T'"'" '" ^^^-^'^^ Kane's Life-Lt Col^trrs^T'^'T''' ''^'-"^ 73° 21' W.) She l„H = I' • , ^''^ ^- "nd ^ong. as it .eemed i^possib^'^^tpt f^: t Mn"? ' ^^ solyed on pe™anently abandoning er and „ ^ " "■'" ■ng to land all the food fuel U A °" """'"'>'- necessary for building a houL ,„. , T'"'" """'' and companions durfng the winter T / ''™""' occupied in the work of unloalint and trkt'- ""^ then abandoned to her fate. In the fol ''■■"' she wa. presented to an Eskimo e!ff?^ '""""'■■ sistance rendered to the " w ? ' '■'*"™ ''"'■ »■'■ aftc"w,r' 1 , ■, "*' strangers ■" h,,t, „„-„ aftcwaru. she dnfted out of the coye, ^nd.'as we We 1 588 A V/INTER-ENCAMPMEXT. already stated, foundered in the sight of her last pro- prietor. Such was the melancholy end of the Polaris, which Captain Hall's fond imagination had destined to be the first keel that navigated the unknown waters of tlie Pole. A WINTER-ENCAMPMENT. The house erected by the survivors of the Polaris was constructed with the ship's spars, bulk-heads, and sails. It measured twenty-two feet in length and four- teen in width, and was surrounded by a bank of snow to protect it from the Arctic winds. A stove ensured its warmth; and comfortable sleeping-berths for fourteen persons were built up around its sides. Implements for cooking were brought from the PolaHs, as well as a table, lamps, and other conveniences. In the course of a few days, a party of native Eski- mos arrived in five sledges. They proved of great assistance to the white men, and rendered any services that were required of them, in return for a few knives, needles, pieces of wood and iron, or other trifling articles. Some of them built their huts in the vicinity, and pre- pared to winter there. The women were of great utility — making and repairing clothing, and " perform- ing other feminine courtesies for the men;" while the native hunters, as the season advanced, brought to the house a plentiful supply of fresh meat. In these cir- cumstances, it is not astonishing that Captain Budding- ton and his party experienced but few of the severities of an Arctic winter. When fairly settled, the whole party fell into a regu- lar daily routine of the easiest character. Dr. Bessel BOAT-BUILDING 589 also the house-work in hi / ^^^^® ^^^ of spring broke over the far Nnrtl. ''^''' -any opportunities for goit^ fn S of"' """ ^'"^ I'unting, or setting tra™ for foxes / ^T"' '''' ^^'''- historian remarksrfoo/wri: i::'^'- *->- scarce; tbev wppa ^.n ^ j f, wanting, nor even shelte;ed. SolZnlt ' "^"-<"°"^^'3. «"Zy^JCtltr'''- such as the opilinn- ^f ^i, i, "® rolaris— ne di.e„r X :::.tr ratt t?r ^- mountable. The two hnaf f ' ^ ""^^ '^«"r- tWrd and smXr o„e :tier" "'^'^'^ '""' "^^^ « '•Hendly natives. "' presented to tbe A little after one o'clock on ti.o "f June, the boats reccTved tl,e '""™'"°" "' *''^ ^''^ ,^., •eccved their cargo of provisions r.ao A SOUTHWARD VOYAGE. and other necessary articles. The party was equally divided — seven in each boat; and bidding farewell to the Eskimos and their winter-home, they launched out into the free waters of Smith Sound, and turned their prows southward. With the exception of slight scorbutic affections in a few of the men, they had enjoyed wonderfully good health throughout the Arctic winter and spring. It was now summer, and the sun was constantly above the horizon. Neither against cold nor darkness was it necessary now to struggle. The voyage before them, except for occasional interruption from the pack-ice, was a pleasant excursion. Wherever they put ashore they found sea-birds, seals, and other game in abun- dance ; and occasionally the eggs of the eider and other ducks fifjured in their bills of fare. As they proceeded on their voyage, they touched at the Eskimo settlement of Etah-y-tamy, but found it abandoned; also at Hakluyt Island; and afterwards they landed on the west shore of Northumberland Island, where they were detained until the 10th by the pack-ice. Putting to sea again, the ice carried them back to their point of departure. But on the 12th the prospect was more favourable, and they set sail for the second time. Crossing the southern part of Murchison Sound, they doubled Cape Parry, and rested for awhile at Blackwood Point. Continuing their voyage on the following day, they reached and landed on Dalrymple Island; afterwards at Wolstenholme Island and Cape York. Thus far, says Mr. Blake, their course had been com- en coni- SIGHTING A WHALE 691 paratively easy; but they were „„w .„1, ^ encounter the ice of th. J • ! , """^'^ "PO" *<> l>e..oonsider^r^el,f!:T '' "''""'' ^"^^^ »'' -the water-way^ f-^lTT^ '^"^ '''''"''^'''l "^ ">em to .;au. their r:irr-^"rr*''^^ '''''' another open "lead." Their trlw T "'"y "=ame to of long duration. On " twl 1 'T'"' "^^^ "»* departure, and soon 1! *7«°t'eth day from their wate:. of Melville Bavt, T^ "^"^ "'« ^'^''-^^ distance. Tl ey weShelf "f '''' '^ ^'^""^ » t^e of Cape York! t^venty-five mUes south-east eoJiir; ti^ii::: .rnVi: ^^'^^^ ^'^ "--'' -^ away. But being b JeT '^he 1 ^"^ """^ **" ™"<'^ t'-y could get to her kS r T. '"^ ''''"'''° "»«1 mon, timely since one of *f ^ "'"^ ^Pl*"od all the ite eontact'^^^^" rice aL J ""k '"" '"J"'^'' ^ .-visions remained 1^.'e "nvt, °"' ""^ "^^"^'^ eaten their rations or had n^f \.? apparently over- "Two men we'; sen^f f*'^ '''"'"**«<' *''««>• but had traveJId onTva T"' 'r'"^ "'« ^'o^^or, tl.ey were met by atdv"'"" f ''" "'"'''"'' "''«" »l.ip-which p oved to he ,. "r^ """^ '■^"'" ">« o":o":.re:r;:r;::'r^ time then) ; they were it thnf r , = ''S''* ''" t''" of. and wire .uio!::: t, tEtl'^ 'bv ", "^^ T' 'twas observed that the ,.rty'r.i:;rrj::; D02 all'b well that ends wkll. the vessel, but very slowly, not having made more than two miles since first seen; and it was now discovered that they were not natives, but white men. This naturally increased the interest on board. It was per- ceived that they had two boats, And their colours on a pole. Volunteers were now ready to go to their relief, and eighteen picked men were chosen for the purpose ; Captain Allen also hoisting his ensign as an encourage- ment to the wanderers. " Captain Buddington and his party were intensely gratified to see that they had been noticed, and all watched with the greatest anxiety the progress of the two men who had gone forward toward the vessel. But wlien the rescuers were seen returning with them, every heart was relieved, and weariness gave place to the joy of anticipated security. " The boats had been considerably injured by contact with the rough, hummocky ice ; and one of them was i^lightly stove, but had been repaired. The fatigue of dragging boats over such ice may be partly imagined when we find that it took the combined party of thirty- two from six P.M. until midnight to get to the vessel — a rate of two miles an hour. The difficulty had been greatly increased by a deep slushy snow, which was spread over the entire surface ; and was not only heavy and disagreeable to wade through, but was not without its real dangers, as more than one found by suddenly sinking into some treacherous hole, which was con- cealed by it. One of the men had great difficulty in extri- cating himself from one of these hidden pitfalls; indeed, witliout assistance the accident might have proved fatal." SAFE AT H( ..IE. 508 THE CONCLUSION - poasible, transferred ^1^1 J 7'"'"' "" ''~" <™iH^im:rZ^:,crs7TVT':' "■^' board tlie Gity ofAntiv^rJlr Embarking on Yorlc on the 4th „1nTT' ^^ ""^"'' ^"'■^'j' «' New weeks later by MrB^van^ T' "^" '""°-''' '^ ^- had been t anrfe^ed C th""^ ^ 'l" -"P-'-ns. who expedition a-JlTd safoiJl f *''^ '""^''ted i^oto^. •ant and enthni^ ^^^^---pt '^ fi- heen so sadly and fatallv 'j;!""^"f °"'o™ hopes had Buddington p'ssessedr^rThfiu^t ""'^''f" saenTrtr^'' ^" --pi^^^^'L-a CHAPTER VIII. THE SWEDISH AND AUSTRIAN EXPEDITIONS. HE work of Arctic Exploration has not lan- guished in the last two or three years. An Austrian expedition, conducted by Messrs. Payer and Weiprecht, sailed in 1870; pro- ceeded to Konig Karl Land in the latter part of the summer ; and, ascending to the east of Spitzbergen, in long. 40° to 42°, discovered an open Polar sea, free from ice, as high up as the 79th parallel of latitude. The Swedes, in the summer of 1871, despatched a ship under Baron von Otter to the west coast of Green- land, to bring away a large mass of meteoric iron that had been discovered there ; and Mr. Rosenthal, a mer- chant of great enterprise and culture, sent out in his own ship scientific observers to the seas east of Spitz- bergen. In the same year, an Arctic voyage was accomplished by the Grand Duke Alexis in the corvette Warjdg; during which some valuable observations were made by the geographer, Von Middendorff, on the currents and temperature of the sea off the western coasts of Novaia Zemlaia. NORWEGIAN VVHALHRS. 595 Sir Roderick Murcl,i«o„, in his address to ti,c Rovil Oeograplueal Society on opening the session of 87 '^T Scurf;'' ?"' ""' "'^ '"'-' praisewoZ'and o'e of t , N ' " '"^T " "'=«°' y-- ■>-« been noren! • ^r"''^"" ^'"^'"'S-««et, whose captain, they can into the Icy Sea,-n,aking new discoverie, there ana constantly adding to our\nowletn/ J chmate by carefnlly-kept meteorolo,,ical registoT Tvvo of these fishers-Captains Alln>ann anf JoLel brought home in JX'79 i,; 1 1 • . . xonnsen — Konit K.,n T ', '"S'''y-'°te'-<'sting accounts of «.on,g Karl Land; an island of the Spitsbergen Archi pelago. fi,.t seen by the voyager Wiche in 1617 bt never previously visited. In len-^th H,» , mined island measures about foH^l;'Lu:a';m"r no glacier, exist in it; the .snowildt re I l^tl and .neonsiderable extent. Vast quantities of drift ' wood he h:gh above the tide-mark on its eastern horl and at con^,„s the ordinary Polar animals in ah.nri' aptri: T r'^^'l' '^^^ ^"<' -H-nourisled oaptam Johnson (or Jansen) anchored in 79° 8' N An important Swedish expedition-the fifth fitted out by that country, partly at Government cost mZ bv :tl:rdt iSf i^ ^^^'^ '^ -"""'^ -- Swedish navv , """"'"'"^ °'' **» '"^'P^ "^ «'« under the J' 7l '"'""""'^"^ ^y a naval officer, NordensMofd B ^T "' "" ^"'''^''°' ^ ™f-»'' J. he Owfei ^rfam and the Gladan ' " moss and coal, seven IT] reindeer, and a dwelling-house 698 A SWEDISH EXPEDITION. all ready for i)uttingui); and were intended to return to Sweden before the beginning of winter. Commander Palander, of tlie Polhem, and his officers; Professor Nordenakiold, Dr. Envall, Professor Wykander, Lieutenant Parent (an Italian officer), t\\ . engineers, nine Swedish seamen, and four Laplanders, were to form a winter-party ; but, during the summer, the expedition was also to be accompanied by Dr. Kjellman, a naturalist, the crews of the Oladan and Onkel Adam, and several supernumeraries. The plan of the expedition, was to pass the autumn on the eastern side of Spitzbergen, and to winter in Mussel Bay, or oft* Parry Island. Unfortunately, the Onkel Adam and the Qladan, which had been intended to return in the autumn of 1872, were detained by the ice, and compelled to winter in Spitzbergen, along with the Polhem. The resources of the exploring- vessel were accordingly crippled, from the necessity she was under of supplying tlie wants of her ice-bound consorts. Six fishing- vessels, whose crews amounted in all to fifty-eight men, were also frozen in, off Grey Point, on the northern coast ; and eighteen of their men reached Ice Sound by keeping along tha shore in open boats. Two of the vessels escaped, with the remainder, in November. The Swedish expedition took up its winter-quarters in Mussel Bay, a small inlet on the east side of Weyde Bay, on the northern coast of Spitzbergen. The eighteen Swedes who reached Ice Sound found the depot there well-supplied with fresh and salt pro- visions, and provided with a good stove. They might RETUJIN TO TROMSO. C07 very well luivc survived tlie winte.- hnf ti «lt meat to the preserved ^ 7' ''"y P'''fc'™d exercise. Henee .dl „ t el died "'n "^T'""' '""" gathered from a diary w idttv I ■ T ''"'""^ "'"•° 1872, to April 19 ZT V?- I' ^"P*' (^'='»*«"' 7, Captlin MLk 'J^St : "r/''^""^''-'' ^'^ of 1873. *''" """"'' "> "'C summer meir:i:eT„de:"r" "'^ ''^^^^■»'' -p^^"'-. it. severe daiiy exorcise Z"e"„;,etd.:i'r'^ "'^^ """ was, that only two men di JT ' "'"sequence Large and vaJuabL elc l':"!;''^ ^'""° r'"**^- and geological specimens TZnletTT^^''''''' the last days of Amil ™ I n ^ ""^ ''*™™- !■> Professor Norlnsliold "l , T' ^"P*"'" ^'''*»d^^- »ledge.journev T • ^^f "'*''" '"^"' ^'■■"■'^d o>' a ing into the snowy w^tl of ,! ?' ™'* *''^" ^'"^- way across the hills tin I ™''' """^^ *''^"' They arrived ^^^^^7^"': ''"^^' ^^^• "f sixty days. I„ the 1™ Mr lit S Z'''""""' ^7« (-^0..) paid them a CiJ' an7 ^0!:;^ Th^ with a seasonable and liberal s„nnl„ ™ , ""''" But the Swedes attempSot^^J^tt tC~ exploration, and the /olhem returned t'T ''^ "^ «th of August IS?-) Ti '^*"™<"* **> Tromso on the been mtde t„ T "^^ ''""'' «™t"butions had eov n ;n.„: .«''°&'™1''"»1 '"'-ledge, no fresh di,s. . > 01 any irajjortance was due to tl,;. „, 1 i-j, equipped expedition. " splendidly- 508 MR. LKKiH SMITHS VOYAiJKS. According to Mr. Miirkluirn, the most interostin*:; voyages of recent tiuiCH are those which have been lUulerUiken by Mr. B. Leigh Smith, an English gentle- man of means, with a view to attaining tiio highest possible latitude, and of exploring the unknown lands to the eastward of Spitzborgen. In 1871 , ho was accom- panied by Captjiin Ulve, a Norwegian ; and the season [)roving unusually favourable, ho sailed down Hinlopen Strait, and at its south-eastern outlet reached the position attjiined by Koldewey in 1808. What had been supposed to bo a peninsula, he discovered to be an island; and it is now marked on the map as Waygat or Wilhelm Island. From this point he could see the land on the opposite shore, stretching far away a little north of opst; and the remotest point he named Cape Mohn. This discovery of Smith and Ulve extends considerably the southern shore of North-East Land. The eastern sea beint; closed up by the pack-ice, Mr. Leigh Smith returned to the north coast, and in September visited the Seven Islands. Then he doubled Cape Platen, and pursuing a south-easterly course for about forty miles, observed that the coast of North-East Land was still trending eastward. The remotest point visible has been named Cape Smith. Mr. Leigh Smith's investigations, as Markham informs us, have considerably modified the outline and enlarged the area of North-East Land ; and have shown that both the southern and northern shores extend farther to the east than was previously supposed. In September 1871, Mr. Leigh Smith, on the raeri- FtlllTJIKIl KXPLOIlATrONa j„„ ciian „f 18» E., att,.inc,I tl,o latit,,,!,, „f HI" , 4- n Tins ^i: ' ;'"f "' > '"" '""' ""••" '"='"' '"'"'''"' - ■» "5 except ly Sco,o»l,y ,„ |80« (|at, HI' ;),)' N.), and !„■ t ,0 Swedes in tH(i8 (lat. SI" 42' N ) ^ In 1W2 Mr L,M„h Smith aK.,,in »aile,l forS|,it.l,er..en n Ins yael.t the ,,amp.on. But the se.«on ..-oved „ -' avoum ,|e ; hi., vessel w» ,n„ch damaged by ho Ice and 1.0 o„„d h„„.. ,f ,„„,„„ ,„ „j„^„^^ b "yondVcyd'r; Onee more, .n 1 W:», our in.Icfatigable explorer^invadod th<: frcen real„,s of the North. His otn yacht the Sampson, sailed from frull on the 1st of mylZ in OolL' p V intention was, tfl station her Ion so 1 1 7' """ "T """'-""' P"'"* "f Spi'==bor. f Mr .''"^ """"'""' '"'l'I'«"«<> to «'o explorin... vessel Mr Leigh Smith and l,i., party would lave a -cond .ship to fall back upon. The explo „„ Zj was Mr Lament's steam-yacht Du.ru, wl.Ll, M^ SnTt engaged for the purpo.se, an<. strengthened with an ir 1 stem-piece and iron pieces on the bows, for several fee above and below the water-line. Her burden wj it teas, and her engine of 50 hoi.e-power. Shfhad was an ntelligent and experienced seaman. Captain by the Rev. Mr. Eaton as naturalist, by Lieutenant Chermside, RE., and by Mr Richard Patter. The /)„„„ fl,.3t visited Jan Mayen's hleak volcanic land mas^ and thence worked to the north along pedition, she made several gallant efforts to penetrate i 600 VOYAGE OF THE "DIANA." to the north or east, but all without success. The season was rigorously cold, and the northern shores of Spitzbergen were hard-bound with ice. Mr. Smith, however, contrived to reach and examine the Seven Islands, explored Hinlopen Strait for a second time, as well as the south shore of North-East Land, and made several interesting deep-sea soundings. Finally, he made a vigorous but fruitless effort to reach Wiche's Land, by doubling the extreme southern point of Spitzbergen; and then returned to Dundee in September 1873. The results of this voyage, as of the Swedish expedi- tion, proved very conclusively that the Spitzbergen route offers little prospect of an open way to the North Pole; and most authorities are now agreed that the road lies through Smith Sound, if road there be. At all events, the Polaris expedition showed- that it was possible, without check of any kind, to advance as high as latitude 82° 16' N. ; and that, at this remote point, the sea was still navigable, with a " water-sky " to the northward. It is this route which the British expedi- tion of 1875 followed up, and followed up with such valuable results. We must now glance briefly at the doings of the Austrian expedition, in 1872; which, under Lieutenant Payer, selected the route by Novaia Zemlaia and the Siberian Coast. The Austro-Hungarian Arctic Expedition was sup- ported by the enthusiasm of the whole empire. Its commander. Lieutenant Payer, was a seaman of proved ability, familiar with the dangers and difficulties of THE AUSTRIAN EXPEDITION. o^l Polar exploration. He servprl «« vir^ i. n &t!ivea, as we have seen in iho H,s second in command was Lieutenant Weyprecht who I,ad been his companion on both his voyagef ' i'ayer had the advantage of Sir Leopold M'Clintock's adv,ce and experience in his preparations for the „r ganization of travelling sledge-parties The surgeon was Dr. Kepes, a Hungarian; the pilot Captam Carlson, a veteran Arctic mariner. The c ew were ch.efly Italian seamen from the Adriatic coa't but says our authority, "there was g,^at confujon of tongues on board the J-.^^aMoZ-ltalian, German fcnghsh, Non^egian, and Slavonic, all wer; snoZ' Captam Carlsen gave his orders ii NorwegiarwHb orcble Itahan expressions occasionally thrown in Dr Kepes talked to the crew in Latin and'^HunTari n- and two^men spoke a very curious dialect, the Ge„r J As far as the Zemlaia coast. Lieutenant Payer was aceompan.ed by Baron Sterncck, Hans Hofer'^;a Z. legist), and Herr Berger (a photographer). ^ ^ Lieutenant Payer's intention was to round the north- n„,tl.cr,m,ust pomt of Siberia, where he would pitch 602 AN IMPERIAL BIRTHDAY. his winter-camp. In the following year he hoped to continue the voyage to Behring Strait; while, during the spring, sledge-parties would be engaged in exploring the unknown coasts of Wrangell Land, and otherwise advancing the bounds of geographical discovery in that remote and desolate region. The Tegethoff left the Elbe in June; and having com- pleted her preparations, steamed from Tromso on the 13th of July 1872. The first ice was struck on the 25th, in lat. 74° 15' N., and on the 29th she was off the dismal Zemlaian coast. Here the vessel was in- volved in the pack-ice; but steam being got up, she was driven through the floes until she reached open water, about twenty miles wide, to the north of the Matoch- kiu Strait. Much ice was fallen in with on the follow- ing days; and on the 12th of August the Ishiorn yacht joined company, with Count Wilczck and his com- panions on board. On the 13th, the two vessels dropped anchor about two cable-lengths from the shore, in lat. 76° 30' N.; and celebrated the emperor's birthday in right loyal style on the 18th. Covers were laid for twelve, and the bill of fare included a haunch of reindeer, bear steaks, six bottles of Moselle, six of Hungarian wine, six of champagne, and a glorious Christmas pudding. This was surely a novel Arctic feast ! Three or four sledge-parties made daily excursions to the adjoining islands; returning with quantities of fire- wood, spoils of the cliase, rare plants, and geological specimens. On the 23rd signs of Winter became dis- agreeably conspicuous: the young ice began to form; and the north wind came down from its Polar haunts BAFFLED BY THE WINTER. ,„, With characteristic fury. So the two vessels parted uiBcovery, and the Isbiorn keeping south chorrc!':t wT "v '"f ^ "" ""•"'" «' ^he Pet- pHshh^ref ""^ ^'^ P'^'^y '"<■' '"'r to accom- plish her return-voyage to Trom.o. while they made the.r way x„ small boat. „p the Petchom tT^erm whence they returned home by Moscow. anJtr'°" "^ ''^^ ^"^ '"' °f ^^^^P"""^ severity and .ce wa« encountered in seas which, under mot' LT ttr''!T' ""^ ^^"^^^"y ^-« from bs" ! tion. Lieutenant Payer, however, bated not one iot of intrepidity, hoping to reach Cape Chelynskin the nor(J.e™most Siberian promontory, where h"^, hop;d to pitch his winter-camp ^ Boa the summers of 1873 and 1874 were spent off the Siberian coast; but though many interestinrdU S Thir"^'/''""^' '^•^ ^"y Sea to Behring ptacJoXsrirtsrrr^^^^^ :^erd=d::!t^^:i-;„r^-^.-^^^^ e r..,.ui;;-, ot scientmc iiKjuiry. RETURN OF THE EXPEDITION. In the autumn of 1874, the Austrian expedition re- turned home; unsuccessful, as we have seen, in its main object, but by no means unproductive. Few expeditions, of late years, have possessed a more decided scientific interest; and the gallant Payer fully deserved the honourable reception accorded to him by our principal Scientific Societies on his visit to England in the spring of 1875. )edition re- in its main jxpeditions, d scientific served the ir principal md in the Vi rea( PoL and whii not , Mm tant We] may after' Edinl with up in travel hewi n (544) CHAPTER IX. THE BBITISH EXl>EDITION OF 1875-76. GENERAL REMARKS ,,.oc • X f '-''^^^2/, aid not succeed in all if was intended to accomn],*«l. . j Pole, but it pe:T:t:zzTfj ''' ^°^- ™d it ascertained the exact 2 fl "''^^ "^ ^'^ which render acces, imlt! M ' "^ *''^ "''^tac'^s not at present ile^i "nee "wf"''' ""'^^^ ■=""<''«»- ful writer in the ^^TthaTtl^r "*"' "^ """S"'*- tant service rendered bolh to t ""^ ' '"°'' '"P"'- We now know that b/the Smith T T' ^'^ '*""^- may attain to within 450 mileTo ^"""''/''"'^ " «'»P afterward, a journe, abon? o^? 1%^!^ = ^^ «-*• Edinburgh must be undertaken in • '""'°° *» (644) pain with the pickaxe at 39 only b the rate of 606 ARCTIC EXPERIENCES. mile and a half a day. And further: the work would have to be begun and completed in four months, or, from lack of light and warmth, it could not be done at all. These are serious difficulties, and whether it is worth while for men to encounter them, where the gain would be problematical, we need not here inquire. Be- fore any attempt can be made, some provision must be discovered for protecting those who make it against the excessive cold, and for a surer and swifter mode of con- veyance than the sledge affords. The journalist to whom we have referred speculates that science may furnish future expeditions with undreamt-of resources, —with portable light and heat, for instance, from the newly-discovered mines at Disco; preventives against scurvy ; electric lights ; supplies of dynamite for blow- ing up the ice ; and a traction-engine to traverse the road thus constructed ; but, in the meantime, these ap- pliances are not at our command. We must be content with the measure of success achieved by Captain Nares and his gallant followers. And these well deserve the gratitude of all who think the fame and honour of a nation are precious possessions. They have shown clearly that the " race " has not degenerated ; that Englishmen can do and suffer now as they did and suffered in the old time. They displayed a courage and a fortitude of truly heroic pro- portions. And the experiences of Arctic voyaging are always of a nature to require the highest courage and the sternest fortitude. The long Arctic night is in itself as severe a test of true manhood as can well be devised. The miner works under conditions far less OANOEIiS AND WFFICUMIES. '"borious than those to wl,ich the A .■ submits, for J.e enjoys an al Jr ""^ -*'•=''« exjJorer " tme. Yet we know that if l '^"' ''°"" at ';- -rely , Wl.at^T.e LI "!? T'';;' """'^ ''"""'- cheerful and true thror^.o^.* f '"''•'? '""^'^ ""d '-ndred and forty'": "It T ""'''■' "'^^^ of one darkness, almost the dmkni f Warently endless We know, too that cont "^"^ '""'^^ ^"rid ? «on, for mo^thi Jnt r°nr"*' "'*''»"' ^W and shatter the inti LTof I,"" '''""' ^'"''^ "'^ °«"«3 ">at the men ^^^rlLZmT^ ^^' ^^ ^^^ occasion, for seventy two!. ''" ''*''"■'' o" «"« the reader can fo™ „„ 1 ^'■;" *'"''' '" '-'^^"^^ "'at with the dread constantlyT" ■" °' ''^ ^<'™"*y- «"d tevrible and most deSJlf^ "'" *""" "^ '-' their inability to pro^urr^ f rr'"^- ''"'"^ ^"^ expeditions had done each ,7 .^ ■""""'* ''»™^'' parties, when at their farttestdi" 'l''"""^ '^"^^e- was attacked by it C ' """ '^o'" ^"^ '>elp, fore, a prolonged homewad'tntrT" ""'' "'''^" weaker at every sten *r m^® "'^ "^" "''^o grew •sledge eontinZ;tc etr '^'i%^« '" '^™- ''"^ dragged aa steadHy ~f; ^^^ "'^ --»""' to be tl'e men stricken dornhldH ""' '''"' ''"°*''^'-- enfeebled comrades. *" """'"d by their It has been well «3n7*rl +k„x • f'ere is a sustained trsm wrf' ^^^'""-^ t^-e appreciate, because we clnnTt f„n T '"''"'^' ^""^ character of the sacHfiT ^ ^ •'^'''''^' "'« terrible "' ^"c sacrifices involved R.,* -i • P-ratively easy for us to „n^JZ^ .^'V " ""'"■ -i-..,.„anu, ana theretore to 808 HEIIOIC DEKDS. admire, the courage of Lieutenant Parr, when he started nlonc on a Journey of thirty-five miles, witli no other guide for his adventurous steps than the fresh track of a wandering wolf over the ice and snow, in order to et rry help and comfort to his failing comrades. It is easy to understand, and therefore to admire, the devo- tion of Mr. Egerton and Lieutenant Rawson, when, at the imminent risk of their own lives, they nursed Petersen, the interpreter, while travelling from the Alert to the Discovery, with the temperature 40° below zero. Petersen, who had accompanied them with the dog-sledge, fell ill ; .and with a noble unselfishness they succeeded in retaining heat in the poor fellow's body by alternately lying one at a time alongside of him, while the other by exercise was recovering his own vital warmth. We can also acknowledge and admire the constancy of Captain Nares, who, in that horrible climate, lived thirty-six days in the "crow's-nest," while his ship laboured among the grinding, shivering, crushing ice, until exhaustion overcame him. And we can acknowledge and admire the bravery and faithful- ness of the men of the sledge-parties who, for days and weeks, drew the sledges and their comrades, with gloom above and around them, ice and snow everywhere bound- ing the prospect, and in a temperature which seemed to freeze the blood and benumb the heart. What a tale, says a writer in the Times, what a tale of unrequited suffering it is ! Surely not " unrequited ; " for those who suffered, suffered at the call of duty, and have been rewarded by the approval of their country- men, and by the consciousness of having done something HEROIC SUFFERINGS 609 means - Tl.o wl ? ''" "'"^ ^""^ ^^''»t it going tot„7f.:t:T.ir'v'^^^^ ^'^"««-'' -^ fi day. in niiim.,-f ^t- i ■ ^ '^"^ ^ quarter oft; th- u^r : i:;:;'^''^';''" <■»- •'«"<' j n,iies -ontl... o'r one h" 2ed t;i «r "f "'"' ""'"^ «- and return The I„K '^ '"''y"' ^''«^«i" *» go -hemeSfanthia::"*,;: ''i '?""'"' ""^'^'y-' »'^ brain. Even tl.e T, i. ' , '"™'""^ "^ " disordered planting a del .^ t?"' "'""''"•^ ^^P^-^"-" *- The coll wrCi I f ""* """ '''»P«'»«o'>s. and lengt.r.n':^ SSX^tt"""' f '"'-^''^ «pentin tl,e shim under surhl^f* • " ""^ "'"^^ as one reason why tt men '=°°'''"°""^ P^Wo^'ari^cd COM labour, and L wanT //iX^ I' ^"'-^ ^ctuaest piigJit,— some dm^mns the rp«f o«^ • -urnin/eir rdTo::^rr rrf'^^ alone they were savwl ft! T . •• ''^ ^^'"^^ episodes, b^ut they ar y^^.J ™f T' ^''^ ^ »tory and n^akesis tru t X ^'"«'' -f-ms the Englishmen will dn ''^^ **" "'^ ''''''at ''on-eapTr^helltwZnrertl'r' "" '^^"'^ call, and are in duty bound," '' " "^'^^'^ ' At the time we write no elaborate record of the expedi- »l li 11 J* -,-••: ^ 1^ 610 THE WAY TO THE POLE. tion has been published, and the materials of the follow- ing sketch are collected therefore from various narra- tives which have appeared in the daily journals. We shall begin by endeavouring to place before the reader, with the assistance of Mr. Clements K Markham, a rapid summary of what the expedition accomplished. And then we shall describe its more interestingf incidents. SUMMARY OF RESULTS. The object of Captain Nares and his followers was to discover and explore as considerable a portion of the unknown area in the Polar Kegions as was possible with reference to the means at their disposal, and to the ptsi- tions the vessels succeeded in reaching as starting-points. The theories about open Polar basins and navigable waters which once obtained have long been discarded by practical Arctic geographers. A coast-line, however, is needful as a means of progress to " the threshold of work ; " and it is needful, too, in order to secure the desired results of Arctic discovery in the various depart- ments of scientific inquiry. The expedition, then, in the first place, had to force its way through the ice-encumbered channel which con- nects Baffin Bay with the Polar Ocean ; a channel which successively bears the names of Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin, and Robeson Strait. Smith Sound opens out of Baffin Bay between Capes Alexander and Isabella. The Alert and the Dis- covery passed these famous headlands and entered the Sound on July 29, 1875; and from that date until September 1, wh*n the Alert crossed the Threshold of WINTEll QUARTERS. gll the Unknown Region, they fought one continuous battle with the ice. The Polaris, it is true, had made a rapid passage on the occasion of its memorable voyage; but the circumstances were exceptional. Generally the Sound is blocked up by heavy floes, with winding waters caused by the action of wind and tide. With great difficulty our two ships forced the barrier; but their success was due in no small measure to the skill and vigilance of Oaptam Nares, who allowed himself no rest until they were out of danger. At length, after many hairbreadth escapes, and many laborious nights and days, and much energy and devotion on the part of the officers, and equal courage and industry on the part of the men, the expedi- tion reached the north shore of Lady Franklin Inlet and found a safe, commodious harbour in lat 81° 44' n' Here the Discovery took up her winter quarters, as had previously been arranged; and the Alert, after a brief interval of repose, continued her northward progress This she was enabled to do through the opportune opening up of a water-lane between the shore and the ice. Bravely she dashed ahead, rounded Cape Union so named by the men of the Polaris expedition, and entered the open Polar Ocean. Then, in lat. 82° 20' N the white ensign was hoisted on board a British man- ot-war in a latitude further north than the ship of any nation had reached before. Soon afterwards the solid masses of the Polar pack-ice began to close around the adventurous vessel; and on the 3rd of September 187o the Alert was last fixed in her winter quartei-s, on the ice-bound shore of the inhospitable Polar Sea in lat. 82" 27' N. ill 612 THE WINTER WORK. This, says Mr. Markham,* was the first grand success • and It assured the eventual completion of the work' For, owing to the admirable seamanship of Captain Nares, and to the zeal and devotion of the officers and crew, the Alert had been carried across the Threshold and was within the Unknown Region. A point of de ' paTture was thus obtained, which rendered certain the achievement of complete success; inasmuch as in what- ever direction the sledge-parties travelled, valuable dis- coveries could not fail to be the result. The autumnal excursions, during which depots of provisions were established for use in the work of the coming spring, were not performed without a very con- siderable amount of suffering. Lieutenant May and two seamen were so severely frost-bitten, that, to save their lives, amputation was found necessary. As will be seen from the latitude given, the ships wintered further north than any ships had ever pre- viously wintered. The cold exceeded anything L- viously registered, and darkness extended over a dreary period. The winter, however, was not spent idly observatories were erected, and a mass of valuable scientific data industriously accumulated. "But tlie crowning glories of this ever-memorable campaign were," as Mr. Markham exclaims, "achieved during the spring." Three main sledge-expeditions were organized : one, under Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr, instructed to keep due north, as far as possible, into the newly-discovered Polar Ocean- another, under Lieutenant Aldrich, to explore the' * The Academy, November 4, 1876, p. 453 SLEDGE-EXCUESIONS A • • 613 -t Of Green Jd^Xf:::::^,*" -vey «- noHh sisted of two sledges • anrl f'*'^'"''- .^''o'' P"ty con- c-s, set o„t on^S; ::a' ^SC/'f: ^^"^"' to vind cate and n>«,-„* ■ ^ '^ '"' ^letei-mined seamen. They sep^ate^' Vn" ''P"***'"" "^ British before tbey a^i^eT tit '', """"P'' ^^"'>^ -^ Commander Mark, l! Tr^'"" ^^^ achieved.- -thward as ff ^Irs^olo^r^n "''"/"*«'' northerly point which anv , ' ^^'"^ "^'"^ ">«^' Tl.ey may'therefJre be Svid"".'"" *'*^""^''- ""- Champions" „f 1^1^^^^^^^'^^ as eessors, more fortunafA tu '^"'"'^^y- ""''1 some sue- glorious feat. """" "'^y- ^''^U surpass their I^ieutenant Aldrirli «frM,^7 Colombia in Jat 83° 7 N T "T'' ™™''^'' ^-P^ the American coast ]iL„' f^'""'"'' ^^^ ""e^ "f any map. ""' P''<^^'«»% not laid down on Lieutenant Beaumont cros.spd B„i, ">S rS i:f ;:;!';- «>- -m parties two ships was activelv „ , ^^ ""'^ '""' ™ «'<= '■elievin/ parties ddLt^arf'- "" ''^P"* -<» officers vied with each T "' '"°*' ^"^ «'« o^hee^peditiol/wtet mo7— --f «^^ °^>-^ .manimity prevailed. Captain 2m f "°"^ '^"'^ were especially active ,-n n I " '"<' '^^'■- H'^^ lectior- --,.. r ' ^^ ""'"''"' '"'story col ' '"'" '"''"'™""^^ «i«--"-<1, Archer, Ral::!; ;■«■ ! i 614 WHAT WAS ACCOMPLISHED. Egerton, and Conybeare did admirable work in ex- ploring and keeping open communications." When the sledge-parties returned to the ships, Captain Nares found that they had suffered terribly; but he also found that their success had been complete. They had solved a geographical problem; no open sea surrounded the Pole, as so many sanguine spirits had anticipated. The way northward was over a waste of ice — of ice broken up into hummocks and ponderous masses. And with the appliances they possessed further progress was im- possible ; the expedition had reached its ne plus ultra. The work was done, and Captain Nares perceived that nothing more could be gained, while valuable lives might be lost by remaining longer in the Polar Ocean. He decided upon returning to England, with the follow- ing rich results to show as the reward of an heroic enterprise : — First, the expedition had discovered a great Polar Ocean, a knowledge of which cannot fail to prove of exceeding value to the hydrographer. Next, the shores of this ocean had been explored along fifty degrees of longitude, and important collections formed of speci- mens of the Arctic fauna, flora, and geology. The channel connecting the Polar Ocean with Smith Sound had also been carefully surveyed, and an accurate delineation effected of either shore. Geological dis- coveries of high value had also been made; as, for example, that of the former existence of an evergreen forest in lat. 82° 44' N., — a fact .gnificant of vast climatic changes. And, lastly, interesting observations in Tnpteoroloo"v magnetism, tidal and electric nheno- AT DISCO ISLAND. olo coidecl. The expedition of 187^ -7^ rv, . xi in view of these result^ t i I ^^' ^^'''^'^'■^' Pole ' ' P'-edece.sors, to gain tl,e NortI, NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITIOK. The Alert and the Discoverv loff ♦!,' i England in Mav 1S7^ '««''«»2/ left the shores of dumtion they L ved / T'T °' ""'' ^^^s' Island nn J ^"'™'>'' *•>« P«rt of Disco is and, on the west coast of Greenland This smaM settlement nu,„be. about ninety-six ini.abi Jn^ 0":" Danish Inspector of North Greenland resides here '„d he ..ce.ved the expedition with a salute frrihree brass cannon planted in front of his house. There is a well-conducted school, attended by about sXn Spirit ""''' "'""■■ ^"-« '■>« -o-'-^ leaas the Lutheran service on Sundays,~the Driest commg over fron. Upernavik occasionaU;, to peSn mama ,,^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ religious' 'servic L odock on the "' • " T^^^'°'' '"'' I^'-» -' one north ^"'^"^"°"'. "^bout thirty miles furth- . .-.tlf b!r*" \'- "*"^ "'^"'' •" "- Strait of Wei- ^rttet. between Disco and the mainland. Here tl e par es fiom both ships made a descent nn a ".„„„er,°" or "bird-ba.aar," frequented by guillemot. kiS; il 616 IN BAFFIN BAY. and other ocean-birds. Two or three days later the expedition arrived at a settlement named Proven, where it was joined by the Eskimo dog-driver who has already figured so conspicuously in these pages,— Hans Chris- tian, the attendant of Kane, Hayes, and Hall, in their several expeditions. At Proven tlie adventurers re- ceived and answered their last letters from " home. Striking northward through Baffin Bay, they reached Cape York on the 25th of July, and met with a com- pany of the misnamed Arctic Highlanders, who tra- versed the ice-iloes in their dog-sledges, and soon fra- ternized with the seamen. A narwhal having been harpooned, a quantity of the skin and blubber was given to these Eskimos. Mr. Hodson, the chaplain of the Discovery, describes them as exceedingly greedy and barbarous, eating whatever fell in their way, but living chiefly upon seals. They were not so far ad- vanced in civilization as to be able to construct kayacks, and apparently they had never before seen Europeans. They wore trousers of bear-skin, and an upper garment of seal-skin. Proceeding northward by Dr. Kane's Crimson Cliffs, they soon reached that brave explorer's celebrated win- ter quarters, Port Foulke, and took advantage of a day's delay to visit the Brother John Glacier, which we have described in a previous chapter. They found Dr. Kane's journal, but no relics ; shot a reindeer, and a large number of birds. Between Melville Bay and the entrance to Smith Sound no ice was met with ; but on the 30th of July the " pack " was sighted, off Cape Sabine, in lat. 78" WINTER QUARTERS. tbem, on the west side of K«ll p • , received Franklin Sound. i„ J 81=44^X1 "' ''^'^ iploofo^ „„ 41, . . •'^^ ^'"s was at once selected as the winter quarters of the mcaverv wZ sister-ship, continuing her course roundTdT ?f east pointofGrantLid; but insldoff^Hrin"3^^ «orr:i---:::-sr;r :r:r:rheiorrr""--^^^^^^ north as possible inreaki'd'nr' TT' " ^'^^ grounded ice close to h Ld The ^t""'''"'"' "' winter; and during the Jei^ln^; ;t:rntf ^ rurtlier to uie north, presented itself. if "'' ' 618 THE PALiEOCRYSTIC SEA. Far from meeting with the " great Polar Sea " dreamed of by Kane and Hayes, our adventurers dis- covered that the ice-barrier before them was unusually tliick and solid. It looked as if composed of floating icebergs which had gradually been jammed and welded together. Henceforth it will be known on our maps as the Palaeocrystic Sea, or Sea of Ancient Ice ; and a stranded mass of ice disrupted from an ice-floe is to be termed a floeberg. Ordinary ice does not exceed ten feet in thickness ; but in the Polar Sea, generation after generation, layer has been superimposed on layer, until the whole mass measures from eighty feet to one hundred and twenty i'eet; it floaos with its surface nowhere less than fifteen feet above the water-line. It was this wonderful thick- ness which prevented the Alert from driving ashore. Owing to its great depth of flotation, sixty feet to one hundred feet, the mass grounded on coming into shallow water, and formed a breakwater within which the ship was comparatively secure. " When two pieces of or- dinary ice are driven one against the other, and the edges broken up, the crushed pieces are raised by the pressure into a high, long, wall-like hedge of ice. When two of the ancient floes of the Polar Sea meet, the in- termediate ligliter broken-up ice which may happen to be floating about between them alone suffers; it is pressed up between the two closing masses to a great height, producing a chaotic wilderness of angular blocks of all shapes and sizes, varying in height up to fifty feet above water, and frequently covering an area upwards of a mile in diameter. STOKYOFTHE "DISCOVERY." C19 We must now return to the Discovery A. ana o^^r.^!:^:^ ^:^^^^ .-. ashore thev ^hnf « i.^ 5 /• , ^^"'^^^- ^"e first clay cays afte.:^rtL r^s t:rr-"T , ^ ''^ so that they could freely mLe To "d f '"T ""P" A week later thev saw „T ^ " "'""" ">« '<=«• and shot abo„ IXI«,i t """"'" "' '""^''-'>«". supply of provision7 ^'"^ '" " considerable Discovery Harbour "^''' "'"y d'^tened but as the autu»„ was m^d^' Til " ^ IT'^''^'^ ' be done in this direction TU^ ^l ^ '""' """''^ the part of Arctic e.^Z w! tl riTr'r "" nating." Houses were bu 1^1 ''' '^"'' ''y''^'- tory and a theatreTnce-t'amn t, "T*'"^" "''^^™- constructed by Catherine n ,1 '^''*'*'"'"S ^-^'fiee andce.ebrated\yC^X::/nV:ir„olts^- wi X. " No forest fell A smithy was erected on thp lUh f at being the first the Arctic ice hd ever JrLir"'"; was made of coal-bags, cemented with >ce The . •" stoker reigned sunreme in u .„ u , ° '® ^'"P'' we con»ide^ *,,e '^!! " • ' "' ^'^^ksmith; and when - ae. „.,e accessones.-the ice, the snow, the i 620 WINTER AMUSEMENTS. darkness, — we must admit tliat his blazing forge must have made a curious picture. Tlie chaplain telJ^, u«, liumorously, that the smith adorned the interior wall with a good many holes, as each time that his iron wanted cooling he simply thrust it into the ice ! WINTER AMUSEMENTS. As for the theatre, which, as we know, has always been a favourite source of amusement with Arctic ex- plorers when winter-bound, it was sixty feet long and twenty-seven feet broad ; and, in honour of the Princess of Wales, was named " The Alexandra." Her birthday was selected as the day of opening — December 1st; and the opening piece was a popular farce — " My Turn Next." As sailors are generally adepts at dramatic personations, we may conceive that the piece " went well," and that the different actors received the applause they merited. It is recorded that foremost among them was the engineer, Mr. Miller, who appears to have been, empha- tically, the Polar Star. Several of the men sung songs ; and recitations, old and new, were occasionally intro- duced; the result of the whole being to divert the minds and keep up the spirits of the ship's company during the long, long Arctic night. The Fifth of November and its time-honoured associa- tions w^ere not forgotten. A huge bonfire blazed on tlie ice; a "Guy Fawkes" was manufactured and dressed in the most approved fashion; a.id the silence of the frozen solitudes was broken by the sounds of a grand display of fireworks and the cheering of the spectators. A fine level promenade had been constructed on the KEEPINO CHRLSOIAS. 621 f'o sake of better vent atint ' '" *''" ''"■ ^°^ Wi.e„evor it closed m' ""*' ™''''""y ''^P' "P- gelation, the ice.: it^ tt^'inTT "' ^'"'"''' ^"'^ "gni", or it was blasted wt °" '^ "P^" *' "P Hved on the ■>Jo:7Cl^:rt ?' '''' "•ought that the old w„! v """'' ""' l'" P^bably it is not the Ltele" t™ '"' "'''' *'^' --,6^, temperature that rare^a; Arl""'- " "'^ very trying to the European irAj"'"*"" ™ change would be no Ie,,s than co» T,,. m "T *'"' '-ght-or depth-in winter, then t.ef. "" ' "^ marked 70A° below ypvn • fi t'lermoineter eneed by a^y ^Z^^^^'^': r^' human frame to bear „p acai^f i *""" *^''- *''« oven with the help of TooTT ?''''''' "'" "S""--. clothing. Not only^ e%ie rbuTtI '"'' '^"'^ «°'"' t.es are debilitated and d« ' '"^"'*' '"™'- tian memories "ti waUs " we„ tf'^ '° ''" *" C''™' a sergeant of marines th! ZT^ " """*' """'l^'- three other voi: tee'r; -2^1':^f .f"'^ ™ates. and -king "a speeial stay ouS fhe * " ''"°'^' ^"^ 'he forenoon praye.. ^vere S on .T'f""-" '" vvhieh the eaptain and nffl '°'^"' ''<'*; ^"er t.-Hng the cSrptdiTjc -"^ ""^r^ '"^^^• ful decorations which had b."' '^*'"'"^°g "'e taste- gifts which, in I ,1 t^':; ™Pr'-''-. Then the «>"J " ' °"'" "'e aay, had been sent 40 (122 THE " SITUATION. out by kindly English hearts, were distributed by tho captain, — to each gift tho name of the recipient having been previously attached. This was an affecting scene; and lioarty, though not without a touch of pathos in them, were the cheers given as the distribution took place; a distribution recalling so many "old familiar faces," and all the sweet associations and gentle thoughts of home ! Cheers were also raised for the captain and men of the far-away Alert. Next, a choir was formed, and echo resounded with the strains of " the Roast Beef of Old England!" of which, no doubt, many of tho singers entertained a very affectionate remembrance. The men dined at twelve and the officei-s at five, and the day seems in every respect to have been most suc- cessful as a festival. A few particulars of the "situation" may here be given in the chaplain's own words : — " We had brought fish, beef, and mutton from England," he says, " all of which we hung up on one of the masts, and it was soon as hard as a brick, and perfectly preserved. We had also brought some sheep from England with us, and they were killed from time to time. When we arrived in Discovery Bay, as we called it, six of them were alive; but on being landed they were worried by the dogs, and had to be slaughtered. During the winter the men had to fetch ice from a berg about half a mile distant from the ship, in order to melt it for fresh water." THE SLEDGING-P ARTIES. At last the long Arctic night came to an end. It was with emotions of hope and gratitude and joy that the GOING A-SLEDQINO. ggj explorers welcomed the first niv« Mf *i ed m obacunty and gloom, viti, the exception o/sueh Un the day of the sun's return to the Pohir World it w.^ known that it would rise at about twL Sk and everybody ascended the hills for the purTse „; .admg the glorious spectacle. The nusts an^f ■owever bamed their expectations; aTtlugh tW ^U .te .nfluence, they did not see it for some day afte^ 't had mounted above the horizon ^ News was brought from the Alert by two office.^ and two men towr,rds the end of March TuT? , accomplished the journey with the tS mel rTt '; Mow zero, and had occupied six days in makit ,t The oftce.-s were Lieutenant Rawson and Mr E^erto ' who had started at fii.t in company with Petef tn t "' ".terpreter, but had been compelled to return witlhrn as already narrated, because he was severely LT • "ridtrrr "- *"^ ^^^^^ weie made for sending out the sledge-parties Two American vessel, which the Uniterl <5t„*. r. ^ ^ had nla™^ o* *V J , "'^'^^ Government T, P'*'""^ ^* •>« disposal of the British expedition that they had found biscuit, pemmican, preserved meat molasses, and other articles. They had lived h a wo"d:^ observatory that they found erected there. Zt n Hall s grave was in excellent presei^ation ; and thev s t 624 THE THIRD PARTY. up a head-board, with an inscription on it, to mark its situation. Lieutenant Beaumont and Mr. Coppinger, tlie surgeon, each with an eight-man sledge — or, rather, with seven men besides themselves — started for the Alert, in quest of the other sledge which had wintered with that vessel, their design being to cross Eobeson Channel, and explore the North Greenland coast. In this journey, owing to the " hummocky " character of the ice, they spent twelve days. Two days later, a third party, consisting of a twelve- man sledge and an eight-man sledge, with two officers, proceeded to survey the shores of Lady Franklin Sound. The captain accompanied them in the eight- man sledge, and was absent about a week; but the twelve-man sledge, which had gone merely to carry stores and provisions for the other, did not return for a fortnight, the sledge having been damaged, and one of the marines severely frost-bitten in the heel. The other sledge, after an absence of about four weeks, re- turned in safety, — having discovered that Lady Frank- lin Strait, as the Americans call it, was a sound or fiord about sixty miles long. They had fallen in with some musk-oxen, which were too wild to be got at; and had seen three or four glaciers, and hills three thousand feet in height. About June the warm summer began to assert itself, and in the rays of the sun their ice-houses melted away, like the baseless fabric of a vision. So the sledging- party last spoken of adventured across the ice to Polaris Bay, taking v/ith them (. life-boat as a precaution (for THE NORTH GREENLAND PARTY. 625 pedition. This w„rl T \, ' ' ^"'^''nl^d ex- w„g behind r™ tviir:,' '° '"^ *''>' pushed up fetermann Fiord forTboueiJr 7"' '""' mann ffl^ , '"""^ ?'"''>'■ ""^ '''""I'ed Peter- mann Jijord on the 3rd of Jnno in . '"^'^ of scurvy, except Mr R„ . '^"'' '""""^'y "' J, cAtepu Ml, Kawson and a marine tt j Dr. Coppinger's skill and care, however the" - T icina party. In a day or two they fell in with +1.. A* fi i -x '^^^^ critical posit on of affairs? A first : wa. thought advisable to remain on thfsp fo a wlnle, and see if the Eskimos could shoot a si, But a day's experience showed that this plan wo uW nof answer; and they then resolved to carrv he 7Z invalids on the dog-sledge to n.^lTrnZt a omphshed. and the poor fellows seemed tlw bette. when nourished by seal-s„nn and m-on- '7 but on the following moving one'of tLr^^k 2 .1 :t II 11 f1 626 HALL S HOSPITAL. died. The life of the other hung for some time in the balance. The whole company were now invalided; and Hall's Rest might fitly have been termed Hall's Hospital. A few days — weary, melancholy days — having elapsed, an officer, with a couple of men, was sent acioss to the ship to report the serious condition of affairs. As it was the end of June, the ice had broken up in many places, and the traject of the strait was not accomplished with- out difficulty, and frequent immersions in the water. No sooner did Captain Stephenson learn how the party were situated, than he set out, with seven men, to carry a supply of medicines, provisions, and various comforts. Tliey had with them a boat and a sledge on a four- wheeled car, and in this they crossed the land to the margin of the sea, a distance of about six miles. Some- times the boat was called into requisition to carry themselves and the sledge from floe to floe. With half of the men they returned in a few days, leaving the rest in charge of Lieutenant Beaumont and Dr. Coppinger, until they had made more progress towards recovery. Early in August an officer arrived from the Alert, to report that she had moved southward, and was only about ten miles distant, and that Captain Nares, con- sidering the main objects of the expedition secured, had decided on retnrning to England. About the same time returned the North Greenland party; their pro- visions having failed them. A few days later, and, having made her way through the broken ice, the Alert joined the Discovery in Discovery Bay. Mr. Beau- mont's party next arrived; and both vessels prepared THE ORDEB OF THE DAY. gj? for the liomewaid voyage. They left Discovery Bav as we shall see. on the 28th of August. ^ ^' THE STOEY OF THE "ALERT." Let us now return to the Alert, which we left em- bedded m the ice of the North Polar Ocean Her crew made shift to spend a tolerably merry ^inter, availmg themselves of the usual reso.rcesTf Ai-ctic explorers under similar conditions, ^e daVs order was much as follows :_At 6.45 A.„. the commTn der was called, and all hands were piped up on d^ck; and the hammocks having been previously stowed awuy and the deck, cleansed, everybody sat" w^h vigorous appetite, to breakfast The steerage and lower deck were afterwards cleared up. and soon after 9 A.M. the men wero told off for their respective daily dut.es. At 10 A.M. another general parade of the c w was summoned and, as a preventive against scurvy. Z days dose of lime juice was administered. Then tl e crew went to quarters; the usual careful inspection took place; and the chaplain read prayeiu It one oclock the deck was cleared, and "dinner'lmoked ul in 1 °" '""'' "'"" *'■« '^»*»«- -- not ' 00 ntense the crew turned out to work upon the ice, or took the.r turn at walking exercise and amuseme;ts. They were thus occupied until supper, which was served at about five o'clock; and followed by evenin. school the dut.es of which proved equally agl-eeable t^ the officers who taught and the men who learned. Soon afternme the officers in charge inspected the ship to see that all was quiet for the night At ten out ■ Si ■i m 628 THE " llOYAL ARCTIC THEATKE." went the lights of the chief petty officers, and at eleven those of the wardroom. This daily routine was freely interrupted on festival occasions. Guy Fawkes' Day was celebrated as hilari- ously as by the men of the Discovery; and it is a curious illustration of the strength of old English tradi- tions that the merry-making customs of the fifth of November should be thus closely observed by both the ice-bound vessels. Due honours were also paid to Father Christmas ; nor was New- Year's Day forgotten. Dramatic talent existed among the men of the Alert in sufficient force to provide a regular dramatic company. The "Royal Arctic Theatre" was erected in Funnel Row, and entertainments given weekly. The pro- grammes of the " Thursday Pops," as they were com- monly called, were thrown off at a printing-press established in Trap Lane by Messrs. Giffard and Simmons; and from one of these we gather that the Royal Arctic Theatre opened for the season " under the distinguished patronage of Captain Nares, the members of the Arctic Expedition, and all the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood," on the 18th of Novem- ber 1875. The orchestra consisted of one eminent pianist, Signor Aldrichi (Lieutenant Aldrich), and the scenic artist was Dr. Moss. The performances com- menced at 7.30; and "sledges" might be ordered at nine o'clock. They were by no means wholly dramatic. The bill of fare included scientific and historical lec- tures, readings and recitations, songs and instrumental music, ranging from grave to gay, from lively to severe ; and now and then, to draw a bumper liouse, some such A GRAND CHORUS. 629 ful Scamp j"'^.. Boot at tl,. ^ ".'• "'■ ^'" ^^'°"''<^'- Belle." Tie lut 1/ *'"« /™f i" »d "The Area 1 S7fi 1 ^ ^""'^ "'g''* ^™s March 2nrf v4t, oT\:4'a„iTd-rrc' -•^ *'■ ^^ audience .sang a g,.a„d cho^ "«„ '^T 7?^ ''"' -^W..h.h.ehorro.Cth?;STC " Not very Jong ago, On the six-foot floe Of the Palaeocrystic Sea, Two bliips ,ii^ i-i^g '^Jid the crushing of the tide ■I he ^?e;'« and the Discovers,. ' The sun never shone Their gallant crews upon For a hundred and forty-two days • But no darkness and no hummocks Iheir merry hearts could flummox, S50 they set to work and acted plays. " There was music and song To help the hours alon'- " Brought forth from the good ships .tore ; ill! : ■ ml 11 il Iwi 630 A GRAND CHORUS. And each man did his best To amuse and cheer the rest, And 'nobody can't do more.' " Here's a health to Marco Polo; May he reach his northern goal oh ! And advance the flag of England into realms unknown May the Challenger be there All courses bold to dare, And Victoria be victorious in the Frozen Zone. " May our Poppie be in sight With her colours streaming bright, And the Bulldog tug on merrily from strand to strand And the Alexandra brave See our banner proudly wave, O'er the highest cliffs and summits of the northernmost land. " Here's a health to Hercules, Whom the autumn blast did freeze. And all our gallant fellows by the frost laid low. Just wait a little longer, Till they get a trifle stronger, And they'll never pull the worse for having lost a toe. " Here's a health with three times three To the brave Discovery, And our merry, merry guests so truly welcome here ; And a brimming bumper yet To our gallant little pet, The lively Clements Markham with its bold charioteer. '* Here's a health to all true blue. To the officers and crew, V/ho man this expedition neat and handy oh ! And may they ever prove, Both in Sledging and in Love, That the tars of old Britannia are the dandy oh ! " In explanation of some passages in the foregoing spirited effusion, we may state that the six. sledges MORE SLEDGING. 631 belonging to the Alert were named respectively Marco andra Hercules" appears to have been the niek name of one of the strong men of the ship. MORE SLEDGINQ-PARTIES Jntf rt'otr itt :r:x" '\ -^-^ -^ of a Polar expedition. ^^ :er:':oTotr rt Eskimos; even auroral displays were infrequent 0„ tlie other hand, the darkness is described as 2 1. been particularly dense. The reflecUon rf 1 1 ^"^ and the keen "Iitrl,t „f .* .. '^''"''?'<'° °« *''« snow, tl.e"deep obscurf "andtn"' .~"^-"^™'"y "-i^g-^ted 1 out,cure, and once m every fourteen fl;,Ar« the siJendourof the moon illuminated the weW S lines of the monotonous Arctic scenety Some sledging wa« done in the autumn, though sprin. ^«e season when it can best be undertake, 't: Aiert was no sooner made all smm ir, i, • . for use by expeditions in the following sprinrihe dent being planted within a mile of the fartheJ n M ^ po..on hitherto attained by civilLd t^ "it"! rable journey of twenty days' duration, the trfvetrs eturned on the I4th of October, just two days after te disappearance of the sun. The snow fell heaX an , by protecting the sloppy ice from the in In'S' ndered travelling difficult. The men's shoes tt one officer and two men, on their return, were comjelled 632 LIKUTENANT RAWSON'S EXPEDITION. to undergo amputation. Beneath the cliffs lay great dense, deep snow-wreaths, and in many places a road had to be excavated to the depth of six feet. The men sunk to their waists. The sledge was often completely buried. It needed all Lieutenant Kawson's resolution and patience to bring back his little company in safety. The main sledging-party, under Commander Mark- ham, with Lieutenants Parr and May, and twenty-five men, left the Alert on the 25th of September, for the purpose of establishing a depot at Cape Joseph Henry. They advanced three miles beyond Sir Edward Parry's northernmost point, and, from a mountain 2000 feet high, sighted land towards the west-north-west, as far as lat. 83° 7' N., but saw none to the northward. With the return of the sun on the 29tli of February, Captain Nares began his preparations for the spring sledging-expeditions, organizing two main detachments: one, bound northward, under Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr, with fifteen men, supported by Dr. Moss and Mr. White, with two seven-man sledges ; and another, bound westward, consisting of two seven-man sledges, led by Lieutenants Aldrich and Giffard. On the 12th of March, Lieutenant Rawson and Mr. Egerton, as already narrated, started off to open up communication with the Discovery, but were com- pelled to return by the illness of Petersen, whom they nursed on the way with womanlike tenderness and devotion. In the following week, accompanied by Simmons, of the Alert, and Regan, of the Discovery, they resumed their adventurous track across the hum- HAI.I.'s MEMOItUl. ,jj mocky ice, with the temperature 40° below zero, endur- ng much, but pushing forward undauntedly. When tl.e.r comrades of the Discovery condoled with them on nocount o frost-bitten cheeks, and noses, and Zer, seanian that Lieutenant Rawson replied,-" Well at least we feel that the cheers from Southsea beal Lv been fairly earned." firs?weekl?T"',''"f '""^ ''^^"" '" -™-' - "- e "h IhTn r r ' "^J " '"^ ""^" ''^'"g '«ft 0" board each ship Captam Stephenson, of the i>».oo.e™ paid a visit to the ^fert. and also crossed Hall's Basin tW to Greenland. Captain Nares, with Captain Feuln r "°* '7. -»f -i and for a considerable areaS p1 *:'° ^'"I^/" ^''^ activity and motion. When ^ PoUris Bay. Captain Stephenson, in memory o ftl^ gallant and unfortunate Hall, hoisted the Imerican ensign, and erected a brass tablet above the ex" loneb^ grave. It bears the following inscription •- Sacred to the memory of Captain C. P. Hall, of the U.S. slup 1 clans, who sacrificed his life in the advance- ment of science on November 8. 1871. This tablet hn, been erected by the British Polar Expedition J J^ explifn^r-^ '" ''' ^"»*^'^P^' '>- P-«ted by l.i.' JL n ^" T^^ '""■'- '•" """-"t^tion of the labour attendant on the equipment of an Arctic sled^e-paTv and the despatch of provisions for their ilCe' 1!; "f r ,*" '"PP"'"' *''^ ^^P^'"*'"- on «'e north coast of Greenland and in Petermann Fiord, « Robeso ;■ H i 1 i 634 RELICS OF THE " POLAUIS. Cliaimel wfts crossed eleven times from tlie position of tlie Alert to a dcp6t established north of Cape Brevoort, and Hall's Basin ekven tJuios between Discovery Bay and Polaris Bay; maij'njC* a total of twenty- two sledge- parties crossing the straits, including the transporting of two boats. The main depot at Cape Jose ph Henry, for the Hupport of the northern and western divisions, thirty -seven miles from the Alert, way visited by sixteen different sledges." Our traT'ellors did not fail to examine the various cairns erected by the seamen of the Polaris. At one place a box chronometer was found to be in excellent order, though it had undergone the test of four Arctic winters. And some wheat, which the Polaris had brought out in order to ascertain the effect upon it of exposure to extreme cold, was successfully cultivated under a glass shade by Dr. Ninnis,— almost as interest- ing an experiment in its way as the sowing and suc- cessful harvesting of Mummy wheat, the grains found in ancient Egyptian sepulchres. The British expedition had advanced so far north that it was beyond the life-limit of bears, birds, and even seals; and the sledging-parties, unable therefore to obtain any fresh game, were severely attacked by scurvy. This fell disease invariably broke out when its victims were furthest from any assistance. The journeys back to the ships were consequently undertaken, as we have already pointed out, by men whose strength de- creased daily; and the burden became all the greater as man after man was smitten down, and, to save his life, placed upon the sledge. Great was the alarm on THE NORTHERN SLEDOE-PARTV ,,r immodi,itely made for 1,!!,' ^'•^P'^f'^tions were Witl, tI,o heJ of the offi 1 "" ""■' ^^'^'''"-• drag the slZfct^tT' "'° '"' '^'""'^^^'''^ *» to start with two sS" , r T "^'^ ^^ "'<'"'«'" I. WO strong relief -parties— Messrs P^« j. Conybeare, Wootton, and White thp nflT . ^ '^''"' best be spared from the M^'tLfT'- "^ ^^"^^ the drag ropes: and Lieutenln^ May ' n7 ^M '' pushing forward with a supply of Lr ''' clog-sledge. ^^^ medicines in the binder of the stricken eompl ^ ^^iv: "ho"' "■ Imd a most ber ficial influence H u*'' ''°'^'''^'"' next day Cant^ , V„ '"""«"*=«- and when, early the "ay, uapta.u ^arps came up to their rAliof «i • courage and resolution, wliicli had nT, . ' "' were quickened to fhl f ^^ '''■■'^'■''^'' *''««>. threw off that d^e^^^d' """^ *"^" "'*> '"^''■'d invariably pLdulTonT'"" ''^ "^'"^'^ "^ ^-->- ;- p oauces. On the morning of the 14th all a86 STRICKEN WITH SCURVV. i 11 i li I ' were once more safe on board the sliip, and offering up tlieir heartfelt tlianksgiving to God. Captain Nares fiirnislies some particulars which illus- trate very vividly the terrible experiences of the adven- turous sledge-party, and also the ravages which scurvy never fails to commit. He says that of the seventeen officers and men who originally left the Alert, only five— namely, three officers and two men— were able to drag the sledges alongside. Three others— heroes as true as any of those whom Homer has made famous !— manfully kept on their feet to the last, enduring the extreme of pain and fatigue rather than, by riding on the sledge, increase the burden their weakened companions had to drag. They were just able to crawl on board ship without assistance. The remaining eight had struggled gallantly, but the disease had proved too much for them, and they were carried on the sledges. Out of the whole number, only two officers escaped the ravages of scurvy. After due rest and medical atten- tion, the chief carpenter's mate returned to his duty, and three others recovered so as to be able to wait on their sick comrades; but Jollifte, a petty officer, who had nobly borne up against the disease while actively employed, when his legs became cramped from resting on board proved to be one of the most lingering cases. Surely the nation will never begrudge the cost of expeditions which give such occasion for the display of the most generous unselfishness and the noblest devo- tion ! These sledge-journeys were performed in the face of tremendous difficulties. Beyond the mere coast-belt, Til K AN'CIENT roLAIl ICE. thickly covered Avith ,11 1 ? ,' , "■ ™*'^*'» ^"''o •^ngos. and sometime., a u, d,.! ' '"^, '""'^"'"^^ ''n apart, the intervening .J.: tti:„:n T"*-"' ^-^ driven snow, and the ^1,0^ esrW' "' *'"'■ suddenly stiffened into res • BeT ^^ ^'"'^ '"='^"» an embankment of rude^ 1 . " ""-""' "»«''' '"<« of the wreck and refuse oC'"' ''''"'"^ " '"^* ''''^ Paek-iee, regelated 14''^—'^' '"'"="-"'' and confuted mass of anguLleWf ' °°' ™«S'^'' to &rty and fifty feet a"d L ° ""'^^''"""^''^igl'tsup of oon%uration,'ik ^rirupIIr'^^T'''^ ^''"'^''' of a crater. The.se w„,. • ."!"'''' 'ava at the mouth -Hcs of "I: nidTd^itstf.:-'— downwards from th^ 1,: i . ' '^'"'''' stretched until lost in ZjrXlZlT^'' "' ''' '"^■^''- hundred yards It T' T ^ '^''''""=« °*' about one labyrinths of Jm:.^ JLtt^l"^"""" *"^- no means an assistance, for the Jn7 ?'.' ''''' ^^ chiefly from the west Lnd M ''"'^'-'^"'^ coming being due north, they had to be '""'' "' ''" ''"'S^^ "gbt angles. ConsI, 1 ^' ^"fountered almost at cessant »Wgie w^ ^ rt^^^^^^^^^ «- - «- Here let thn Km .,» i^"*' (5H 41 638 OFFICERS AND MEN. pendicular side of the high floes. Instead of a steady advance, the whole party were frequently detained half a day by the necessity of facing the sledge and hauling it forward a few feet at a time. These considerations will enable the reader to judge how great must have been the " pluck," persistence, and energy which could accomplish a journey of seventy miles in such excep- tional circumstances. Captain Nares observes — and his eulogium will be en- dorsed by the reader — that no two officers could have accomplished this laborious enterprise with greater ability or courage than Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr. And it is but just that the services of Eawlings and Lawrence, the captains of the two sledges, should be put on record. In addition to their general cheerfulness and good-humour, — qualitif's which always help to lighten difficult work, — to their care and skill were due the safe return of the sledges, on which the lives cf all depended — safe, uninjured, and in as service- able a state as when they left the ship, notwithstand- ing the terrible character of the road they had travelled. To such men as these, and to the brave, patient, resolute sledge-crews generally, we owe ' \e tribute of our praise. However severe their privations, they never ;mplained. During this memorable journey to penetrate to the noich over the rugged Polar oceanic ice, a journey in which the "pluck" and determination of the British seaman were most conspicuously displayed, day after day, against obstacles which might well have been re- garded as insurmountable, the two officers and their brave followers succeeded in advancing the Union Jack NO BOAD TO THE POLE to latitude 83° 20' 2fi" K miles of the North Pole "' " ^"""^ ^"""^''"i bouXl^tf'tl!'^^.^^-^ P-^. '->e present seventy-six miles on ihZ , , ^^^ ^"""^'"'^ "^d torty-L mile on th, .''"'**"" ''""dred and f-Lst direc:7i:t:t ir ir/d "'-"'"" *"^ . «eve„ty..three miles. The rluUo L "' '^"'"^ and sufferings so severe wo„d s J Jt""! ? ""''''''' consider a loner in„™„, f, ^"^ *'"'' ^^ must Pledge and b^^ i^^ ^pl^; 1^, ^f >• P-^-ice, with year. As the sie^iZZ't:^,^yj^^<>non,. «tage singly, we are able to c2„LZ t, '''"'r'^ '"'"' progiession which mav bl '''"™'f*« *''« exact rate of thought desirablfto tnsl^oZ'd 'i' " ''""'" ^« without any additionafm anTIf t""' "f " ^''^'^^^^■ season in the event nf TT "'^.'^'"'■""'g 'ater in the The maximum auledbn™''*'"" "' '"" '" ^^e rear. t- and three-^ltr ^rrTl' " ''''*'""" ^"^ one mile and a quarter. ^' *'" "'"" ™*^ l^'ng NO ROAD TO THE POLE The outbreak of scurvy rendered Ponf • at anxious as to the welfare nf T f '^ " ^■'"'"' '''"■y Pany on their retur^m LlT'l ^^''"'''^ ->"- so, when it was found tha 11' '""^ *'" """-^ dep6t of provisions/li^rm : loThcT h' ""^ ''^ mained untouched ™ *i, ■* , ^^ *" "'« north-west, re- there. Lieilt M .? "PP"'"'^'' ^- '"« »" val robust mer:rth!:^:'t* ;''"^-^'i»-- -^ «- . .,en, tu meet him. On the I ill 1 ( 1; 640 HOMEWARD-BOUND. ^v 20th of June the two parties met at the dep6t, and sig- nalled the welcome fact to Captain Nares. It was for- tunate that Lieutenant Aldrich returned when he did, for on the following day a rapid thaw set in, with the wind from the soutliward, and the snow-valleys were rendered impassable for sledges for the rest of the season. His party, like Commander Markham's, were stricken with scurvy,four of them lying helplessonthe dog-sledge; and Lieutenant May's arrival proved most opportune. Having now assembled all his company on board the Alert, Captain Nares was called upon to decide whether it was possible to carry the work of exploration further, or whether the expedition should return to England. Owing to the absence of any land with a northward trend, and the innavigable character of the Polar pack- ice, he concluded that on neither side of Smith Sound could any ship advance further northward than the Alert had done ; and also, that from no secure position in Smith Sound was it possible for sledges to advance nearer to the Pole. If the expedition remained in the vicinity for another season, the exploration of the shores of Grant Land might be pursued to the south-west, and of Greenland to the north-east, but not more than fifty miles beyond the points already attained. , In the weakened condition of the crew, and for so small an additional gain. Captain Nares decided that it would be unwi.se to risk another winter. As soon as the ice broke up, " Ho for merry England ! ' hiI THE RETURN HOME. A regular thaw did not set in until tlie last week of AMONGST THE ICE 641 ■futu d cairn was erppfprl r. ^.i i between the Set ^ha 'd"'^ ^ '"'^ ""^" -^ foot." she Js ehecked tte, .'""' """ '- one and a half ™il! r """'^ ''^ * ^'^'■'Y Aoe t»e land rin^ ' C Sr^ "'■"" ="»°^' *»-"«' "P in a small cove e , 'k amonT' ''™"''"^' ^'" "'^ t';t l.ad gone ashore int'stZ: '™"'' ^' ^^^'^^'•^■' on'tt tte:f itilr " "~ -^^ -nt away to t1.e nortCd iV the 1^ '^''"""''^ a half an hour win^;„ / . ** "^ ^ ""e and alarmingly Lit^dvanL 7 ''f '"-''"" ■^«-^-'>'" oj^ fares ,ns.s.« upon between an ordinary floe uf/^"' 'oumion y met with i„ 4.. r ""'"v Hoe, such as is Polar Sea ice The f '^"'"^7'«"-«' '^"'^ "•« ancient ICC. The fonner seldom exceeds six feet i„ 642 NEAR CAPE UNION. thickness, and breaks into fragments against an obstruc- tion, or may be charged by a steam-ship, as we have already seen ; but the latter, being some eighty or one hundred feet thick, lifts all impediments out of its course, or, so to speak, throws them disdainfully away, " Such was the case on this occasion : the Polar floe, which," says Captain Nares, " we only escaped by a few yards, on nipping against the heavy breastwork of iso- lated floebergs lining the coast, some of them forty feet high and many thousand tons in weight, which had lately formed our protection from the smaller ice pieces, tilted them over one after another, and forced them higher up the land-slope, like a giant at play, without receiving the slightest harm itself — not a piece break- ing away. It was most providential that, by its twist- ing round, the Alert was enabled to escape out of the trap in which she was enclosed." The shore here presented a formidable line of ice- cliff, from twenty to forty feet in height, striking down into clear blue water ten to twenty fathoms deep. The Alert kept onward, so close to the cliff that the boats hung at her quarter frequently touched it, until again brought to a stop near Cape Union by the accumula- tion of the pack. Her captain, however, was able here to secure her abreast of a large stream, the current of which had undermined the ice-clift' for some fifty yards, and floated it off to sea, leaving a kind of cove or liarbour where the ship could be laid alongside the beach in such a manner that, if the pack struck her, it could only force her on shore. The reader of Arctic voyages will remember that a somewhat similar posi- A DIFFICULT VOYAGE. ,^3 tion was once occupied by Sir Edward Parry's shin under somewuat similar circumstances. ^^ wa^H broV'"' '!k *"™''' '''"' ^"^'^'^ *» fl»- «o»*- fZed « "^ ' '"' "•' """"<' '^''P^ Union, and S^rmed a narrow water-way, which offered Ca;tain ately, but, owing to unavoidable delay in shippin.. the rudder, the ice closed in before thl ship TuW L ^rried round. Her last stage was worse tl^f ht^ first, for she was now cut oft' from her safe little nort and no better shelter was available than a slight hoUow or break m the ice-cliff. Here, however^ she waT brought-to, with the ice-blocks swirling past h t aTa ^ ance of twenty yards. At low watef Japtain Na ^ ^t off, and bored some way into the pack, so that the tide. At about a quarter of a mile from the land, she drove along with the ice; ami when the tide slackened steamed out of the pack before it began to set to tie nor«,ward Then, keeping dose in to^the ice-foot kept slowly on her cou.-se to the southward, the water- way broademng as she approach Lincoln Bay, whTd, v^ crossed without difficulty. When within five miles of Cape Beechey, the tide turned; but after a short delay a channel opened, allowing the ship to round the cape til I T , ' '"'"'"' ''"^' '-'"'• «'« '-^"d slopes gently to the ,,hore-which is protected by a barrie. of floebergs, similar t., '..t »„^,er than, those which line fast in three fathoms water, witliin twenty yards of the shore, about a mile to the south of the cape 1 11 I 644 ICE-BOUND. We dwell on these particulars in order that our readers may form some idea of the difficulties of Arctic voyaging. The words, "She forced her way through the ice,** afford no conception whatever of the obstacles that have to be overcome, and the dangers that have to be avoided, by a ship navigating in the midst of pack- ice and ice-floes; or of the skill and vigiknce and patience on the part of officers and men, by which only can the enterprise be brought to a successful issue. We are told that on /nigust the 4th snow-squalls blew from the south-west. As the ice had closed in around the ship, holding it in a vice, the sportsmen of the party landed, and visited some neighbouring lakes in search of game. They found a number of wild geese, and killed fifty-seven, which supplied a welcome addi- tion to the ordinary bill of fare. Mr. Egerton and a seaman were sent off to the Discovery, then about twenty miles distant, with orders for her to prepare for the homeward voyage. We have already related how they reached the ship in safety. While the Alert was thus imprisoned, the huge pack- ice in the offing was carried up and down the strait by the tidal movement, the wind having the effect of increasing the velocity of the current and the duration of its flow both northward and southward. The ice generally was of a lighter character than that in the Polar Sea; but many heavy Polar floes were driven southward by the gale, and set into Lady Franklin Sound and Archer Fiord rather than down Kennedv bhannel. Lady Franklin Sound, indeed, seems to be the receptacle of all the heavy ice that comes south CAUGHT BY A FLOE. 645 through Robeson Channel; retaining it until the ,„■ ^:r^^r^ ^' onceLrerrnX ««ea on th::r :r thr;re:r;i:;%Snr Bm Captain Nares, in seasons when northerlv I f' occur „ore frequently than westerl/onef ^ " considerable quaatitiesoftheJnm^ PI • ""^ into Smith Sound and Baffin £3 '" "^ '""'^<' erect in the air to its full height of a I , ''"''"'^ above water, when turning ! , '^' '""^^ ^""^ apractisedgyj:Cnarrt;— "\f^ «l.ock that shattered it into piece, and V 1^ ^ sufficient to roll the ship con'Sbt X'l™™ thus caused moved the ice „„tii 7 , '. ■ """ ^ap ^«-, though not danS;„:;,;"*" '' '''' " ''^^^'^ "- -^netij^rr^r^x::^^^^^^^^^ -:-:rttrbrn7:ii;'rr:--^^^^^^^ the heavy floe that held her prison '. ^ , '^ '^"^'' all hands were set to work "th " drf?"^ much of the floe was hewn awtx t ,-,; ! i '' '" floated and set the shirfttr'at 1 ' \"'"'' *' "^ainpa^k moved o,an^eh:':L:i,~::; ,t -1 646 THE TWO SHIPS. rejoining her consort, the Discovery, on the 11th of August. All the invalids on board the Alert were now re- moved to the Discovery, and Captain Nares remained at the entrance to the harbour, prepared to cross to Polaris Bay, as soon as the ice permitted, to relieve Lieutenant Beaumont. As before stated, however, he arrived on tlie 14th, and relieved the commander of the expedition of a serious anxiety. Both vessels were now ready to start, but the state of the ice detained them until the 20th, when, a " lead" offering through the pack, away they steamed, and arrived close to Cape Law- rence without encountering any serious obstacle. Here their old enemy, the ice, again opposed them; and Captain Nares found only the famous " three courses " of a well-known statesman open to him : either to re- turn north, to drive ahead into the pack, or make fast the ships to some of the grounded floebergs. This last expedient was adopted, and in a land-locked inner basin the Alert and the Discovery were accordingly secured. But, unfortunately, at the fall of high water a piece of ice pressed against the Alert, and at the same time its protecting lioeberg drove ashore. Result : the Alert was aground forward, but with deep water under the stern. And before she could be released, the tide had fallen fourteen feet, so that the ship lay over at an angle of 22° with fore-foot and keel exposed as far aft as the fore-channels. Nothing could be done until the tide rose. Then the ship was lightened, and afterwards hauled off without having undergone any damage. IN SMITH SOUND. 847 A passage again opened on the 22„d of August and the two shipa steamed aa far southward a. Cape Col was perfectly elear, but rolled with a tavy L 1' th^ approaehed Cape Frazer, they were buffeted bv^ ternble gale, and put in to Maury Bay anchoring among a quantity of grounded ice Th! ,"'""'""8 spent in arduous Irts^o double Cane R '' "'". the mes r^res of Arctic na^^tS L^lr U " -a"d Ca^: H Tu ''^ "''''' ^^"^ ">« A"™*- Then th^ vn ^''' ', '^"■"l*'-y->^"k of the channel Sound annT'"' ""' ^'^'^ ''<'''^'^- P-^«"l -to Smith fsound and hugging the shore as closely as was safe amved on the 29th at Prince Imperial Island inTobbS Bay, -every one heartily thankful to be out of the pack Id V'T'"« '"''^^^'«' --J ^» *'- »'»1» ^be secured to hxed ice once more." The temperature now sunk again below freezi„,,-noint Tlie bnef Arctic summer was over, and day and S ad=tr"" ^"-^^/-«"--'y- The mists t! had hitherto accompanied the ships cLared away before a brisk northerly wind, and revealed a ma/nificcnt snow, and deep valleys filled with colossal glaciers. 648 KEEPING SOUTHWARD. One of these stretched downwards to the shore, and threw off great icebergs which floated or stranded in Dobbin Bay. It was named after the Empress Eugenie, who had taken a lively personal interest in the ex- pedition. Crossing Dobbin Bay on the Ist of September, the voyagers came within a quarter of a mile of a dep6t « .f provisions established near Cape Hawks in the previous autumn, and succeeded in removing a portion. A day or two later Captain Nares landed on Wasliington Island, and visited a caira which he had raised there on the 12tli of August 1865. He visited, also, two old cairns erected by former explorers ; the lichens with which they were gray proved that they were of earlier date than Dr. Hayes' expedition. On the 3rd of September, by dint of steaming as- siduously, the ships rammed their way through a lane of water to the westward of Cape Hawks, which was inconveniently obstructed by loose pieces of old ice. After rounding the cape, says the captain, the pack by drifting away from the land had left unfrozen water and numerous detached small floes, which forced them to make a very serpentine course, and occasionally to pass within thirty yards of the low ice-foot on the shore, fortunately always finding deep water. In this way they reached AUman Bay, half-way between Cape Hawks and Franklin Pierce Bay. Meeting here with a belt of new ice, the Discovery was sent ahead ; and under full steam she forced a canal through the ice, which was from one to three inches thick. From the lofty hills in the interior a huge glacier leads down to ARRIVAL AT DISCO. AUmnn ^ay ; and it in a noticeable fact that always i„ fou, > n,arlv fresh .,,,1 .f>, "" '^"'^' "''^ ^"yiresn, ■n.lrtthe iperature of 32° Outhe7thourhom<^ i i- , Lookver I.l.n,! , "J »'»P8 reached Norman n Z ' '"' " """■«'" "*■ P"n<=«^ Marie Bay a he season wa, now far advanced, and as the sli.l^ ft tlie wintei, the two captiuns ascended to the hirf,e,t c:{l'''7^ '" °''^"' ^"'"^ '"- "^ '"^ pS- oetoie them. They were much relieved by seeinl a ShZlr T -^ *^""^ -^^^^. wTy and the .. /" '"'' '' ^""'"^ ""■»- S; thev fen '''■r"^ '""■""^''^ °f "'« distance Detore they fell ,„ with ice. By charging it under full team, they cleared the obstacle, and thfn, tiru Jh " open water-channel, ran on to Cape Sabine. ° On the 9th of September, they arrived off Cape Isa- bella, where they found a small packet of letteL and fayoutue ^g^^/^''"'- .™» ■>«- calm, and the wind uvourable. Sail was hoisted, therefore, as the supply 12«1 ^^"J"-™" ^'*"'''''"'' - the evening ofte 2 h the expedition reached Bardin Bay. During 1 e mh and the I4th they worked southward into Wo tenholm Sound; and thence, with a south-easterly w^„d TuTr'^.^r """°-'""'' theyrSon o^zii;sri.::™uir^^^^^^^^^^^ II % <^, >^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 2^ /> // ^ A'^^ A>^ #^. / f/j /. 1.0 I.I |50 "™^^ la 1^ 125 2.2 U IL25 i 1.4 2.0 1.6 Scmces Corporation V v .^. ^ .A A k \ % S % '^^"^%<> ^^^- 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 Pi? o /h. i/.x '/., ^ 650 RESULTS OF THE EXPEDITION. Egedesminde was left behind on the 2nd of October, and on the 4th the two ships recrossed the Arctic Circle — exactly fifteen months from the time of crossing it on the outward voyage. Experiencing adverse winds, they made but slow progress to the southward ; and as the weather became warmer and damper, a few of the men suffered from rheumatism and catarrhs. During a heavy gale on the 19th, the two ships separated ; but both, as we have seen, reached the shores of England in safety, where their gallant officers and crews met with the hearty welcome so thoroughly merited by their courage, perseverance, and heroic industry. Some notes on the general results obtained by the expedition in zoology, botany, and geology, have ap- peared in the Academy. The two naturalists under whose care these departments were placed, — Captain Feilden, in the Alert, and Mr. Hart, in the Discovery, — worked with unflagging energy and no small success. Of mammals, the species found furthest north werr the Arctic fox, the wolf, the ermine, the Polar hare, the lemming, and the musk-ox, all of which were seen on the shores of the great Polar Basin or Palseocrystic Sea. No cetaceans were sighted north of Payer Harbour, near Cape Sabine; a fact which renders all the more serious the gradual process of extermination of the Greenland (or right) whale in more southern latitudes. The only seal found beyond Cape Union, in lat. 82° 15' N., was the little ringed seal or "floe-rat" (Phoca hispida). So far as the land extended, bird life prevailed; the I RESULTS OP THE EXPEDITION. jjj apeeies being the snowy owl, the snow-bunting and the ptarn,.gan. Full collections were made of a/uS SSofd-"' ^"^"- ^"' °" "^'™"^*^ >'«^ ^ Ta nrof7 t 'TT*'*' long-sought-for breeding- naunts of the knott and nanderling » Few species of marine iish were obtained, but "an mterestmg small salmonoid" wa. met with in LsU water lakes as far north a. lat, 82° 35'. A fine c2 tion of marine invertebrates was secured by dreS and trawhng; and the cha^cter of the sea-bottom S Baffin Bay up to lat. 83° 19' N. ^,, accurately ascer tamed by a series of careful soundings waSedlvTl""' '"'°*"''y ""^ "''*"»«* -ere re- warded by the discovery of between twenty and thirty 82 and 83 . Much ncher mid more vaiied results were obtained m the cryptogamic flon>. value The whole west coast of Smith Sound from Cape IsabeUa to Cape UmoB, has been fully sute^d ana mapped, aad large collections have been'madTbo h of tesils and rock-specimens; while the sledge-^rt^^s which explored the shore of the Polar Basin both to east and west, brought back sufficient material to deter- mine the geological chamcter of the countiy. SiW^ hmestones, richly fossiliferous, were the prevailing roks along Smith Sound. Miocene deposite, incl^i'l t^enty-foot seara of coal, were fomii a. f^r north aTlr Sets '"'"" "»■ •"»" i^'^^^'S^^^iT^^^r^i 662 A GEOLOGICAL FACT. 81° 44'. From the sliales and sandstones of this forma- tion a beautiful series of leaf-impressions were collected illustrating the characteristic flora of the epoch, and presenting a remarkable demonstration of the existence of a temperate climate within five hundred miles of the present Pole at a comparatively recent geological time Not less important are the indications of great recent changes in the elevation of the land afforded by the discovery of thick post-pliocene deposits, lying at a con- siderable elevation above the sea-level, and containing fossils similar to the existing marine fauna. Lastly very interesting and suggestive observations have been made on glaciation and ice-action in general." This, of coui^e, is but a summary, and a very brief and condensed one, of researches which have evidently been of the highest importance. And it might almost be said of the late expedition, that even had its geo- graphical discoveries been less valuable, its scientific results would have entitled it to a foremost place in the annals of Arctic Enterprise. Our record of Arctic voyages will fitly close with a sketch of the cruise of the Pandora, a screw-yacht commanded by Captain Allen Young, which left Eng- land in the summer of 1876, in order to open up com- munications with the Admiralty expedition. Captain Young left Upernavik on the evening of the 19th of July, and stood away to the northward; in bad weather, and with the wind blowing a gale. Throuo-h vast fields of ice he threaded his way, sometimes und^'er sail, sometimes under steam, until, on the morning of CRUISE OF THE "PANDORA." 653 No time was lost in endeavouring to effect an escape by charging the ice at full speed.-aSh and agam returning to the onset; and a slow bul steady progress was being made, when the field in which thev were held fast, drifting before the gale, "colMed " wi h a gro„p of grounded bergs, and expLd the lit le vl to such severe pressure, that preparations were mtde for abandomng her. Provisions, ammunition, cLrpW wl ™" 7 '7 *^ ""^ ^"* ''"''y' »d «- "oafe were owered as far as possible at the davite. Meau- t me heavy charges of gunpowder were used to blast the ice where it pressed the .nip most severely; and tt bergs taking a different direction, the FanZ^aZZ to recover herself, and before night settled down ne!Z to her usual le.el. In the darkness of the night wUh the wind howhng, and the snow and sleet dLiC n heavy showers, she moved ahead with the p^k »d n th,s way continued her progi^ss until the 2^ ^hen the weather cleared, and Captain Young discovered that he had advanced right into the heart^of Z^e^ Ti "" r,*f '" ^'^'^'- ^'=" - "ew were Capfs Walker and Melville, the Peaked Hill, and hugeglaZr streams embedded i„ the intervening vallfys Ij, around was one vast monotonous sheet of rugL ife ha rbreadth escapes, got into open water, in lat 7S« 50 N., aad long. 64° 55' W. While thus imprisoned in the grasp of the floe, the explore,, killed only one Poll" bear, four seals, and a few little auks 42 654 MEMORIALS OF EXPLORERS. In a clear sea they now stood away to the westward, passing Capes Dudley, Digges, and Athol, and other headlands familiar in the records of Arctic adventure. At noon on the 31st, when off Wolstenholm Island, another gale overtook them, increasing rapidly to almost hurricane fury. This was an unpleasant experience; for the deck was washed by heavy seas, and it was with the greatest difficulty they avoided coming into collision with the icebergs which drifted rapidly through tlie snow and spray. Reaching Gary Island, they landed to examine Captain Nares' dep6t of provisions, and found it in good preser- vation. The cairn had not been visited since Young's call at the island on the 10th of September in the pre- vious year. Afterwards they made for Sutherland Island, where they found a record of the American explorer. Captain Hartstene, dated August 16, 1855. It is with a curious feeling that, in these regions of almost perpetual winter, the voyager comes upon such faint memorials of men who, like him, have dared all the perils of icefloes and icebergs, and adventured into seas far beyond the track of ordinary commf^cial enter- prise. On Littleton Island, already mentioned so frequently in these pages, a record of the expedition was found. The document was dated July 28, 1875, and signed by Captain Nares, and it indicated the course about to be taken by the ships under his orders. Owing to the ice-encumbered condition of the straits, however. Captain Young could not follow it up; and instead of crossing to Cape Isabella, he resolved to examine the coast in Hart- OFF CAPE ISABELLA. 655 stene Bay, in order to seek a harbour for the relief-ship which tlie Admiralty had intended to send out in 1877, in case of the non-return of the Polar Expedition. This was found on the 4th of August, not far from the Eskimo settlement of Etah, and named after the Pandora. It would seem to offer every advantage as winter quarters for Arctic discovery-ships ; the surrounding hills are " dotted with Arctic hares, appearing like snow-balls on the luxurious vegetation." The little auk breeds in thousands on the cliffs, eider fowl and guillemots haunt the waters, and the adjacent valleys and pastures are frequented by reindeer. Captain Young next made for Cape Isabella, which he reached on the 6th of August. Watchful eyes soon discovered a large cairn on the summit of this headland. A boat was lowered, and the contents of the cairn soon obtained, while despatches and letters for Captain Nares' expedition were left in their stead. Then the Pandora steamed to the northward; but, owing to the adverse winds and the accumulated ice, could make no way, and was forced back to Cape Isabella. Another attempt was made to the eastward, and for several days the gallant little ship crossed and recrossed the straits through the pack, always beset with ice, and frequently enshrouded in impenetrable fogs. No fewer than three times was she compelled to take shelter in Pandora Harbour. On the 19th she was driven back to the northward of Littleton Island, and Captain Young and some of his officers took the opportunity of visiting the Polaris camp. Nothing remained of the house erected by Captain Buddington except a few broken boards. Vi 666 TWELVE hours' EXPERIENCE. The rocks were strewn with pieces of metal, fragments of clothing, and other waifs and strays. The cache in which the retreating party had deposited their books and instruments was also examined ; but the only relics were a brass bowl of a seven-inch compass, a tin tube, and parts of a telescope. Some cases and casks, con- taining records for the use of Captain Nares, were securely placed among the rocks on the western point of the island; and Captain Young then returned to Cape Isabella. Finding nothing here of any interest, and convinced tliat no travelling or boat party had reached that posi- tion from the Polar ships, the Pandora bore away to the northward under canvas. " It was VQvy dark and thick," says Captain Young, " but sufficiently clear to enable us to avoid the heavy ice. By nine a.m. we were up to Lecomte Island, when we were stopped by a fog until eleven o'clock, when I could see from aloft that the main pack extended across the straits into Rosse Bay. We were in a lake of land water, with close-packed and heavy ice all round, from south to north, and a^ain closing on the land from the eastward. Our only chance of moving seemed to be through a narrow lead or slack place, running first to the east-north-east, and then again apparently towards the east coast. We entered the pack, and succeeded by five p.m. in again escaping into the land water in Hartstene Bay." Such are the experi- ences of twelve hours in the ice-clogged waters of the North ! But we need not delay the reader with these minute particulars, notwithstanding their interest as illustrative of the nature of the struggle waged with so AN ESKIMO FAMILY. 357 much persistency of purpose by the Arctic explorer Ihe sea was now covered everywhere with ice and berg^. Storms were of frequent occurrence ; and the wind and wave beaten Pandora was forced back into Baffin Bay. Here on the 28th of August, her captain could see that the solid ice had filled the straits and the head of the bay right across to Cape Alexander. The way north being thus obstructed, Captain Young resolved on proceeding towards Upernavik,in North Greenland, hoping to find that the last ship had not already sailed for Denmark and in that case to send an officer home with despatches,' while the Pandora returned to Smith Strait On the 29th she was off Hakluyt Island, and steered for Bardin Bay in Whale Sound. On entering the bay a summer tent could be seen, and some Eskimos, with' their dogs, running to and fro, evidently with the view ot attracting the attention of the visitors. Captain Young accordingly landed, with some of his officers, and accompanied by Christian, his Eskimo interpreter The natives met them with the utmost confidence and fear- lessness, assisting to haul their boat up on the shore They were ten in number, and aU members of one family. Food appeared to be plentiful with them, but they were profuse in their thanks for some walrus-flesh given by Captain Young. Their manners were frank and communicative, and they showed considerable viva- city, rejoicing over the results of a very good huntincr season. Neither European ships nor white men had they seen for years ; but they said that an old man, who with his family, inhabited Northumberland Island, told 668 ESKIMO TREASURES. of two ships which had passed to the northward " last summer." How lonely must be the life led by these poor savages ! Never gladdened by the sight of a sail ; but, year after year, shut up in their frozen solitudes, and without any other object or purpose before them than to obtain just enough food to avoid a premature and miserable death ! Among their treasures Captain Young observed a ship's bucket, half the top of a mahogany table, the paddle of a Greenlander's kayack, much ice-worn, and a piece of packing-case marked " Lime juice— Leith;" all of which, they said, had drifted into the bay at different times from the southward. These people seemed to Captain Young of a kind and simple disposition, while they were evidently robust and healthy. All that they had — and it was little enough— they freely pressed upon their visitor; and when asked what present they would like, their chief selected only some gimlets and a fifteen-foot ash oar. The latter, he said, would split up into spear-shafts; the former he wanted for boring bone and ivory. Captain Young, however, gave them several other useful articles ; accepting in return some narwhal horns, specimens of their pot-stone cooking-kettles, and of the iron pyrites which they used for striking fire. An exchange of dogs also took place ; five of the dogs belonging to the Pandora being given for three of tho finest bear-hunting and tame dogs of the Eskimos. At Upernavik the Pandora, after a stormy and dan- gerous passage, an-ived on the evening of September the 7th, but found that the last ship had sailed for Europe. As there were no means, therefore, of com- RETURN TO ENGLAND. 669 municating witli England, and as, without such com- munication, Captain Young did not feel authorized to winter in the North, a supply of fresh water was taken on board, and the ship steered for home. From the loth to the 21st she tarried at Godhav'n, in Disco Island. In Davis Strait she encountered large quan- tities of heavy Spitzbergen drift-ice, and weathered a severe south-easterly gale. On the 16th of October, in lat. 54° 38' N., and long. 44° 30' W., she sighted the Arctic ships, Alert and Discovery, and hastened to communi- cate with them. They kept together until the lOtli. On the following day, the Pandora was buffeted by anotlier hurricane; but the rest of her voyage was accomplished in safety, and was marked by no incidents of importance. Here, for the present, terminates the record of British enterprise and adventure in the Arctic World. It is difficult to believe, however, that the nation will rest until the " heart of the mystery has been pluoked out," the Secret finally mastered, and the British flag hoisted on that remote point which is conventionally known as the North Pole. ^hvonoloQ'ml pst of foiar ^opgca. FROM 184B TO 1878. 1846. Departure of the expedition under Sir John FraokUn and Cap. tarn Crozier. The two ahips, Erebu, and Terror, last seen bv CantX Dannet of the .h^„, .hip Prince of Wales, in Biffin BirJufy 26.' " 1846. Dr John Rae is despatched by Hudson Bay Company to dis- cover whether Boothia be an island or a peninsula. 1848-50. Searching-voyage for Sir John Franklin, to Behring Strait \tl T':' ^°'"- ^°''™' ^'^'^ *^« ^-«^''. Captain KeUet ^ *' cessTl' '"'' '^' ^'''''' «^*«=»^'"«^-«'^P«di««'^ for Franklin is unsuc 1849. The Nwth Star despatched with suppUes search foffrlnX^ "'^' °"' '' ''' ^"'"'^ ^^^^™'"^'^* *« -"*-- *^« Grirh ^^"/'^f '^'^^'/^^^"t^'^^nt De Haven, and the Rescue. Lieutenant o JNew York. The Advance arrives at Beechy Island in August, and ten other searching-vessels in the coiu^e of the month. CaT!' ^^" «earching.expedition. via Behring Strait, conducted by »r M^P? V.'^ *'' /«t'e«%aeo,, and Captain Collinsol in the ZJ. prm. M'Clure discovers the North- West Passage 1860. The Zarf2, J'mnA/m, Captain Penny, is sent out by Lady Frank lin. the wife of Sir John. Also the Prince Albert Cantain V 1,^ Mr. W. P. Snow). Captain Forsyth (and 1850. The first traces of the missing expedition discovered at Caoe MZalX''''?nr''t''''''''''^ ^'^^^^-^ «^ bailors, on BeecT; island, by Sherard Osborn, August 25. thlTo^^T\^""T ^'^P^^^'^^-^^y^^^'by Mr. Leigh Smith, who saUs to tne north-east, and reaches lat. 81° 13'. POLAR VOYAGES. j^. 1861. Searchlng-voyage of the Prince Albert Oanfafn Vr j drift, .bout J r„l„d St Oa "tj""" " '««• •"" »"— * IMS. Capt.i„ ingMeld .«!, i„ th, Pte„te. iwd 64. Dr. Kane's expedition ; discovers HumhnKU ni • . veys coast of Greenland and WashinSon T onT ''''' """^ '""• open Polar Sea. Washington Land; supposed discovery of 1856. Lieutenant Hartstene searches fn„ ir j , . whom he meets at Upemavik' *"' *°** ^" P^^^^' ^^'^ 1856. Arctic sledge-journeys of Sir R MTlinf^.!, j r . Meacham. exceeding 1500 miies each *°^ Lieutenant 1867-69. Voyage of the Fox.C^.tZwcZll !"'*" ^''^^'^ FrankUn. Discovers numerous rTlit ' '" "'^^^ ''^ «^^ J°^» waZ: ""' ''"" '^^"°'^*' '"^ ^« «*--y-»^*. -Plores the noi^h-east that direction. ^ ^' northenunost point of land attained in makes interesting discoveries; is absent five Xs " ^*^' 662 POLAR VOYAGES. 1867. Mr. Edward Whymper's visit to Greenland, and journeys into the interior. 1867. Northern voyages of Captains Long, Rayner, and Lewis, ending in the discovery of land in lat. 70° 4f/, extending over eight degrees of longitude, from 178" 15' W. 1867. Lord Dujierin sails to Spitzbergen and Jan Mayen in his yacht Foam. 1868. Swedish «?xpedition under Professor Nordenskiold : makes dis- coveries in the north-east. 1868. I ,ivate Russian and German scientific di?cursions sent out by SedijcoflE and Rosenthal respei tively. 1868. Voyage of the JVautiltts, Captain Blowen, who penetrates beyond Spitzbergen to 72° N. 1869. German expedition in the Albert, under Dr. Emil Bessel ; no results. 1869. -^->ven Arctic exploring-expeditions are fitted out from various parts of Europe. 1869. German expedition, consisting of the Germania, Captain Kolde- wey, and the Hansa, Captain Hegemann, sails for North Pole. The two vessels accidentally separate. The Hansa, on 23rd of October, is lost oflf east coast of Greenland, in lat. 70° 50' N., and her captain and crew drift southward on an ice-floe for one hundred and ninety-three days ; after which they make their way to the shore in boats, and, keeping along the coast, reach the Moravian mission-stations of South Greenland. Thence they obtained a passage to Bremen. The Germania proceeded north, but was beset ia. the ice, and returned home in the following summer. 1872-73. Captain 0. F. Hall sets sail in the Polaris, a vessel fitted out by the American Government, June 14; and on the 30th of Afl^st reaches the highest northern latitude ever attained by any ve8sel~82° 16'. In November he is taken ill and dies. Part of the crew, in a storm, get adrift on an ice-floe, and losing sight of the Polaris, are carried in a south- westerly direction, from 15th October 1872, until the 30th of April 1873, when they are picked up by the Tigrm. Captain Buddington and the rest of the crew beach the Polaris at Lifeboat Cove, near Littleton Island, and winter on the mainland. In the spring they build two boats ; in which, on June 23, 1873, they are picked up by the Dundee whaler Bavenscraig. 1872. Voyage of Captain AUmaun, who re-discovers Wiche's Land, fi.'8t set.n by the English in 1617. 1872. Voyages of Captain Johnsen and Captain Nilsen, who both ex- plore the waters around Wiche's Land, which is really a group of islands. 1871. Captain Carlsen circumnavigates Novaia Zemlaia, and discovers the relics of the Dutch navigator, Barentz. POLAR VOYAGES. 663 1871. Captain Mack sailed into the sea of Kara, and examined the Novaia f e^l^a co^t for 500 miles. Early in September he reached a pomt m lat. 75° 25' N.. and long. 82° 30'; no ice wa« in sight, of aIL ^"^^ ^"'''*° expeditions despatched to explore the northern coast !f ?S^!^* ^''" ^*""'°* "^^^^ *^^® ^°y*8«» *o *1^« North-in 1869, 1870 1872-73. Swedish expedition under Professor Nordenskiold, of three chips, the Polhem and two others. CompeUed to winter in Spitzbergen, and retume-- m August 1873. 1872. Lieutenants Payer and Weyprecht sail in a small private ship, and reach Komg Karl Land; they find an open sea in lat 78» "n'^^S??"/*"'""' '° * ""^'^^ °^ ^'^y twenty-six tons, visits the Bo-caUed Wxche's Land; climbs a lofty hill, from which he saw open water to the east and north-east ; anchored in lat. 79° 8' N 1873. Overland expedition, under M. Tschekanowski. * to survey the coast of Arctic Siberia. ^ 1873. Mr. Leiph Smith's expedition in the Diana; discovers that North Cape IS an island, and not, as previously supposed, a peninsular promon- 1875. British Arctic expedition, under Captains Nares and Stephenson m the Alert and Discovery; sails for Smith Sound, to proceed from thence towards the North Pole. 1875. Swedish expedition, under Professor Nordenskiold. for explora- tion of the coast of Arctic Siberia. 1876. Private expedition, fitted out by Lady Franklin, to follow the route of the Alert and Discovery. JV^^ a'*Tcf^ ^'^P**^*"' ^*''' *°*^ Stephenson; having ascertained that the Smith Sound route ia impracticable. 1876. Voyage of the Pando^.-a, Captain AUen Young, to communicate with the Arctic ships, Alert and Discovery. ®00k0 of mvmi anb ^bbcntm. BY W. H. G. KINGSTON. ON THE BANKS OP THE AMAKOM a « . r Adventures in the Tropica. wSs tfsfTf.erica wlh^orH "h'h and Twenty Illustrations. Crown 8vo. cloth ext" PHceTs! 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