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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratioa. Those too large to be entirely included In one exposure ara filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartes, plenches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fllmte A dee taux da reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est f llmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bes. an prenant le nombre d'imagas nAcesssire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 m =i:^'4««»vjiK^^jW*eS£i8 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. %^ u -■■!'- LoNDOM : Prinlfd by SPOTTiswoonE A Co., New.itreet-Sqiiare. 1v i \ I F I -' V ifi / v/' V- '^v , ;■>. -v' ' ,'-/. ■ H \ / } IIU / \. :SCOVi'iRV •1 '^ vu|(TH-n " N| PASSAGE ''■'■ "■>il'ri'.UIOii. ' ^KVr •». \%'r> ^^ M>n.,, 1851 » k sTt.^r' - »'\*' ij ^MJHKAJ.S Oj? CAPTi ROBERT IE M. iPClVKE. >:^;vSi.RATET> PY OOMilAIU'f'K ••.. •-! i^S'RT HlSlfrsWKLL, .R.N, SJiuonfi.v KmTTON LONDON . Jt%*m.^-- H4ii^?VN. GREEN, LONGMAIva «e ROBFRT^. :) 'J V ^ rr CTT4WA, ^''< THK CANADA ., > DISCOVERY OF TUB NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY H.M.S. " INVESTIGATOR," OAPT. R. M'CLURE. 1850, 1851, 1852, 1853, 1854. EDITED BY CAPTAIN SHERAKD OSBOKN, C.B., &c. AUTHOR or " STRAT LIAVCS FROM AK ABOTIO JOURKAL," FROM THE LOGS AND JOURNALS OF CAPT. ROBERT LE M. M'CLURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COMMANDER S. GURNEY CRESSWELL, R.N. BSCOND EDITION. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, & ROBERTS. 1857. ." . t . ; ' • < 1 . . . , » f » ■ 1 » 1 Th0 right ofthKii^iMion'k riatnip^. • •, > " ', ^ > • • , • • t • I « 4 • I "^ ^ fl I •• • » •• ,'-, ? ..,'r. ., « . * ■> » f i • ' ••■ I I * « * « TO THE RIGHT HONOUllABLE THK LORDS COMMISSIONERS of the ADMIRALTY, DBSOIUi>TIVE or TUB VOTAQB OF HER UAJEBIY's DI8COVBRT BHU' "INVBSTIQATOB," WHILE IN 8BAR0II OF THE EXPEDITIOM UNDER CAPT. SIR JOHN FRANi^LlN, R.N. K.C.H., AMD OF THE DISCOVERT OF THE NORTH-WEST FA8BAOE BT CAPTAIN ROBERT LB HEBDRIER M'CLUSE, R.ir., ARE, WITH THEIR LORDSHIPS* PERMISSION, Itrsptclfullji btbtcntti) BT THEIR lordships' HOST OBEDIENT AND HUMBLE SERVANT, SHERARD OSBORN, » LATE COMMANDER OF U.M.S.V. "PiONEBR." A 3 2>Z»5 r^^' PKEFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. I HAVE no desire to take unto myself any credit for this work having so rapidly run through its First Edition; but it is a source of no small gratification to find that the discipline, endurance, and gallantry, evinced by British ofiicers and seamen under no ordinary trial, which I have endeavoured to chronicle for the honour of my profession, are so warmly appreciated by our countrymen. I am indebted to my kind friend Mr. Barrow, F.R.S., of the Admiralty, and to the liberality of Messrs. Graves & Co., for permission to copy the admirable portrait of Captain Sir F bert M'Clure, originally painted by Mr. Stephen Pearce, an engraving of which was published by them. My gallant friend Captain F. L. M'Clintock has A 4 ( V Vlll PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. I placed me under deep obligations for the kind manner in which his valuable observations upon the Fauna of the Arctic Archipelago were made available. They are embodied with my own in an entirely new chapter. To Sir Roderick Murchison my thanks arc also due, on behalf of the " Investigators " as well as from myself, for his valuable papers of General Remarks upon the Geological Specimens and Fossils brought home by Captain Sir Robert i^'Clure. My opinions upon the abandonment of our ships in the Arctic Regions have been mistaken for those of Captain Robert M'Clure. I have therefore erased them from this work — the more willingly as it has been shown to me that the record of the greatest achievement of our day can be rendered perfect without connecting it in any way with the saddest tale in Naval History. London: January 1. 1857. PREFACE TO THE riKST EDITION. The annals of Arctic History alFord so many noble illustrations of the spirit of enterprise and hardi- hood of our sailors, that in this point of view alone they can, it is to be hoped, never fail to interest the British people. It is easy to attempt to cast ridicule on any generous impulse of a nation or an individual, by speaking of it as Quixotic, foolhardy, and so forth; but if it be a weakness in English seamen, that for three centuries they have sought to win honour and renown in regions where the ordinary hardships of those whose business is upon the great waters are multiplied a hundredfold, it will assuredly be no joyous day for England, when her sailors shall be free from the charge of any such chival- rous extravagance. Sir flohii Franklin and his hundred and thirty- 1 t X PREFACE TO eight gallant followers went forth to achieve the North-west Passage. They discovered it, and perished victims to their zeal ; and then came one worthy to follow in their footsteps — Captain Sir Robert Le Mesurier M'Clure ! He came, indeed, too late to save Franklin ; but at least he completed the search for him on one given line, by passing from ocean to ocean, and he secured to the Royal Navy and to Great Britain the imperishable renown of having successfully accomplished the enterprise so long attempted in vain. The Editor feels that, in the following narrative, he has scarcely done justice to the many noble qualities of every individual forming the gallant company of the " Investigator"; but he has at any rate endeavoured to place on record some feeble acknowledgment of their heroic courage and self- devotion. The delay in the production of this work has arisen from the Editor having been obliged to leave England upon active service ; and the many calls upon his time and attention have rendered perhaps still more imperfect the naturally unpolished style \ i .11 i! THE FIRST EDITION. Xi 5 of a sailor's narrative. But into the accuracy of this narrative the Editor challenges the closest investi- gation; for his ambition is that the work may re- main as the history of a great event in naval chronicles, and perhaps awaken in the breasts of future Franklins, Parrys, or M*Clures that love for perilous adventure, which must ever form a most valuable trait in the character of a maritime people. The Editor has not indulged in wholesale praise, for it was no part of his task to write up every man as a hero who sailed into the Arctic Seas, and oat again. Indiscriminate commendation is loathsome to all rightminded men ; and it would be poor reward indeed to those whose tale of suf- fering and gallantry is recounted in the following pages, to compare their successes with the failures as rife in the Arctic Seas as elsewhere. For information on various points, and for assist- ance in the pleasing but anxious task of collating this narrative with various authorities, the Editor has been indebted to Captain (now Sir Robert) M'Clure, Commander Gurney Cresswdl (whose is ill w ■ lit 1^1 Xll PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. sketches enliven the letter-press), John Barrow, Esq.,F.R.S., Captain Washington, Hydrographer to the Admiralty, John Hay, Esq., of the Admiralty, and other kind friends, to whom he tenders his hearty thanks. 'r\ ' H.M. S. " Medusa," Sea of Azov : April, 1856. ill rrow, lerto i-alty, •s his CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introduction Pago I CHAP. II. Return of the Arctic Squadron of 1848, and immediate Re- equipment of the "Enterprise" and "Investigator." — Appointment of Captain M'Clure. — Preparations for speedy Departure. — Tiie two Vessels pass the Nore. — Heavy Galea in the Channel. — Put into Plymouth. — Engagement of an Interpreter. — Final Departure from England. — Appearance of Arctic Ships. — " Investigator " reaches the South Atlantic - - - - - - 17 CHAP. III. Slow sailing of the Arctic Ships. — Reach Terra del Fuego. — H.M.S. V". «' Gorgon " in Possession Bay. — Reach Port Famine. — Shipwrecked American Schooner. — American Go-aheadism. — Sublime Scenery. — " Investigator " meets the " Enterprise." — American River Steamer in the Pacific. — Heavy Gale. — Captain M'Clure's Care of the Men 23 ,^ CHAP. IV. Voyage continued to Honolulu. — Leak in the Bread-Room — Loneliness of this Ocean. — Good Feeling between Officers and Men. — Arrival at Honolulu. — Replenishing and De- parture. — Great Anxiety of Officers and Men to reach the Ice. — Passing the Aleutian Islands. — Dense Fogs. — The XIV CONTENTS. Arctic Circle crossed. — Meet the " Plover " Depot Ship. — Unfavourable Report of the State of the Ice. — Cnptain M'Clure's Plan of Operations. — Preparations for meeting the Ice.— H.M.S. "Herald" met with Captain Kellett's Discovery ..... Pago 31 CHAP. V. The " Investigator " gives up the Hope of meeting the " Enter- prise," and departs alone. — The first Ice. — Immense Herd of Walruses. — Mothers and Babies. — Value of the Walrus to the Esquimaux. — A Blind Lead. — Cape Barrow doubled. — Proceeding in a North-easterly Direction. — Great Excite- ment. — Three Esquimaux met with. — Their Astonishment at Sight of the Vessel - - - - - 56 CHAP. VI. The Narrative of Captain Maguire. —The Esquimaux Report. — The Coast of America in this Region. — The Pack Ice and Floes. — Reach Jones' Island. — Visited by Twenty-four Natives. — Recognition of the Chief. — Simple Cunning of the Savages. — A Fair Malefactor. — Gallantry of the In- vestigators. — Hazardous and Difficult Navigation. — The Delta of the Mackenzie. — The Ship aground. — Sei'ious Loss of Provisions - - - - - 67 CHAP. VIL A Thunder-storm. — Slow Progress. — Signs of the near Approach of Winter. — Going ahead again. — The Ship runs into a Trap in the Main Pack. — Works out again. — Commander PuUen and a Boat's Crew pass without being seen. — Landing at Point Warren. — Hostile Reception. — Reconciliation - - - - - -81 CHAP. vin. Approach to Cape Bathurst. — Whale-fishing of the Natives. — Celebration of their Victories over the Leviathan. — Esquimaux Charmers. — The Joys of Cape Bathurst. — CONTENTS. XV " Depot Ship. — 5 Ice. — Cnptain ions for meeting Captain Kellett'a - Page 31 jting the " Enter- — Immense Herd ue of the Walrus Barrow doubled. . — Great Excite- eir Astonishment - 56 uimaux Report.— ho Pack Ice and by Twenty-four nple Cunning of mtry of the In- ivigation. — The round. — Serious - 67 The. Lnnd of the White Bear An Esquimaux Swindler. — Mode of settling Quarrels. — Judicious Missionaries de- sirable for these People. — Admirable Qualifications of Mr. Mierching - - . - - Page 90 CHAP. IX. Cape Buthurst left. — Fires observed on Shore — prove to be Volcanoes. — Cape Parry reached. — New Lnnd discovered. — Possession taken in the Queen's Name. — The "Inves- tigator" proceeds on a North-easterly Course — Barrow's Strait only Sixty Miles further. — Captain M'Clure's Journal .._.-. loi) CHAP. X. Signs of a rapidly approaching Winter. — Critical Position of the "Investigator." — Made fast to a Floe. — Safe for the Present. — Winter begun. — Winter Clothing. — Driven with the Ice towards Barrow's Strait. — Arduous Toils. — The " Investigator " reaches her most advanced Position — Beset at Last. — Dangerous Agitation in the Ice. — Pre- parations for Shipwreck. — Sweeping with the Pack against the Cliffs. — Imminent Peril. — Safe once more. — And stationary - . . - - - 109 IS of the near — The Ship runs s out again. — s without being le Reception. — - 81 of the Natives, le Leviathan. — pe Bathurst. — CHAP. XI. Severe Pressure on the Ice. — Dangerous Nips. — Farewell to the Sun. — Housing the Vessel. — Good Health and Spirits of the Men. — Five Hundred Pounds of Meat found to be Putrid. — Winter Rambles on the Ice. — Perils arising in some of these. — An Excursion to view the North-west Passage — Hard Labour and Insufficient Food. — Suffering from Thirst. — The Passage seen. — Captain M'Clure lost for a Night. — Return of the Party to the Ship. — Success of Measures taken for the Health of the Crew - - - - - - 121 W / \V1 CONTKNTS. CHAP. XII, Now-Yenr'8 Day 1851. — Relative Positions of tlio difTereiit Expeditions. — Tlie increasing Cold relieved by the daily Augmentation of Solar Light. — Deer and Ptarmigan seen in tli« Depth of Winter. — The Theory of Animal Migration in Arctic Kegionsj subverted. — The Raven leaves tlie Ship. — Return of the Sun. — Rambles on tlie Ice. — Revival of Health and Spirits. — Winter Sporting. — Preparations for Sledge- Parties in Search of Franklin's Expedition. — Depots es- tablished to secure the Safety of the Travellers. — Departure of the various Parties. — Hardships endured by Sledge- Crews in High Latitudes in Spring Journeys. — The Zeal and Courage of the Seamen. — The Scene of their Labours compared with Southern Latitudes. — The Position of the "Investigator" in I80O. — Murder of Lieut. Barnard by North-west Indians - - - - Page lt>3 I , •i~ CHAP. XIII. Signs of Summer increase. — Shooting Parties are sent out. — Narrow Escape of Whitefield. — Lieut. Cresswell returns, having ascertained Banks Land to be an Island. — Curious Appetite of a Bear. — Lieut. Haswell returns, with Intelli- gence of Esquimaux being at hand.— Captain M'Clure visits the Esquimaux. — The Party under Mr. Wynuiatt return. — June, in Prince of Wales Strait. — A Glance at the other Expeditions wintering in the Arctic Seas, under Austin, Penny, Ross, and De Haven. — A Midsummer Scene in Prince of Wales Strait.— The Polar Summer's Night.— The Floe breaks up. — "Investigator" again free. — Compasses refuse to traverse The Ship beset, and drifting to the North-east along the Eastern Shore. — Wood-Currents. — Tides.— No Passage found. — Cnptain M'Clure decides to try another Course, by going round Banks Land - - 178 CONTENTS. XVII CHAP. XIV. Tlio " Investigator " bears up, and goes round the Soutlj End of Banka Lund. — Rapid Progress up the Western Coast. — The Lane of Water diminishes. — Perilous Passage between the North-west Coast, and ponderous Packed Ice. — Ex- traordinary Accidents, and wonderful Preservation. — North-west Extreme of Banks Land. — No Ghiciers or Ice- bergs West of Lancaster Sound. — Discovery of Ancient Forests. — Arctic Lakes. — Fresh-water Fish. — The " In- vestigator " drifts into the Pack in an Autumnal Gale. — Es- capes and Struggles along Shore. — September Night Scene off Banks Land. — 23rd September, 1851, run ashore during the Night in the Bay of Mercy. — Siiip Afloat. — Fail to get into tiie Pack of Barrow's Strait. — Winter Quarters, 1851-52. — Reduction of Allowance of Food. — Land found to abound in Game. — Want of good Hunters. — Acute Instinct of the Reindeer. — Arctic Hare, Wolf, and Fox. — Continued good Health of the Crew. — Cleverness of the Arctic Raven. — The Polar Bear, and its Habits. — Violence of Winter Snow Storms. — Christmas Day. — The Arrival of H.M.S. " En- terprise " in Prince of Wales Strait. — She fails in rounding Banks Land, and winters at the Esquimaux Settlement in Walker Bay . . . - . Page 204 i CHAP. XV. Tlie New Year, 1852. — Satisfactory State of the Crew.— Deer obtained directly the Light admitted of their being seen. — Sergeant Woon, of the Royal Marines, saves the Life of a Shipmate. — Keen Sportsmen. — Wolves. — Boatswain's Ad- venture with them. — Spring. — Captain M'Clure visits Winter Harbour, Melville Island. — Finds neither Provi- sions nor Vessel to help him. — His Return. — Finds large Quantities of Venison had been procured. — Scurvy makes its Appearance. — Increased Number of Sick. — Unfavourable Weather in July. — Venison expended. — Wild Sorrel found a XVlll CONTKNTS. in pri'Oiit (Jii iiifilics for n slioit Period, — lOth Aiijijurtt. — Water seiin in liiirrow's Strnit. — AIcn.suro3 tukon in case of being iiblo to Kscn|)e. — Hclapse in the Weatiicr. — Gloomy Prospect. — An early Winter eommences. — Measures taken to save Ship and Crew, in tlie event of a similar Season in 18.'>3. — Ciieerfiil Condnet of the Crew. — Sliort Rations — Jlodc of Living. — Hanian Days and Festivals. — Cin-istnuis and Conclusion of Year 1852 Page 243 CTTAP. XVI. The " Enterprise." — 111 Success of her Travelling Parties Lato Season. — Passage through Dolphin and Union Strait. — "Winter of 1852-o3 passed in Cambridge IJay. — Esquimaux numerous. — Traces of the ISIissing Expedition found. — Ganin and Fish abound. — Unfortunate Circumstance of no Searching Party having visited King William's Land. — The Bay of Mercy. — Reaction on IJoard the " Investigator" after Christmas Festivities. — Excessive Cold. — Want of Fuel and consequent Dampness. — Venison plentiful. — Largo Sick List. — March, '53. — Tho Retreating Parties named, and their Routes appointed. — Captain M'Clure's Reason for sending away the Weakly Men. — Wolves, their Voracity and Cunning. — Anxiety of tlie Sledge-Parties as to Chances of safe Retreat. — Retrospective Glance at Measures taken in England to rescue the "Investigator." — Mr. Cresswell's Letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and fortunate Result. — Captains Kellett and M'Clintock ordered to Melville Island. — They reach it in September 1852. — Accidental Discovery of Captain M'Clure's Despatches on the Parry Rock. — Help at Hand for the " Investigator." — April '53 in Mercy Bay. — The first Death. — Captain M'Clnre addresses his Men to remove their Despondency. — Tho Dark and Bright Side of the lOloud. — The unexpected Arrival of Lieut. Pirn from the "Resolute." — The 'In- vestigators' rescued. — Excitement and Happiness of the Crew - - - - - - 2G7 CONlfcNTS. XIX CHAP. XVII. Tlio Migration of Animals Theory — Impossibility of Ai'ctic- AiiiiimlM migrating. — How the Fact broke upon us. — Accu- miilativi! Kviilonce. — The Reindeer of the Arctic Arcliipe- liigo — Herding in the Autumn. — Curiosity of tlie Does. — Wonderful Providence of Nature. — Slow Process of Diges- tion. — Reindeer harassed by tlie Wolves. — Scent a Substi- tute for Sight. — The Wolves less harassing in eaily Spring. — Musk Oxen. — The Haunts of the Oxen. — Captain ISIe- cham's Observations. — Admirable Coating of the Musk Ox. — ISIeasurements of Rlusk Oxen. — Extraordinary Activity of these Creatures. — Ferocity of tho Bulls. — Ooatlike Power of climbing. — Tho Arctic Hare, and its Habits. — The Arctic Lemming, and its Habits. — Bears eat tho Lemming. — The Ptarmigan .... Pugu 293 CHAP. XVIII. Captain M'Clure proceeds to Melville Island to see Captain Kellett. — M'Clure's Views. — His Letter. — Captain Kellett oidy gives Leave for healthy Volunteers to rcuutin in " Investigator." — Medical Survey unsatisfactory. — Aban- donment of II. M. S. " Investigator." — Depot of Provisions formed at Mercy Bay. — Arrival on Board II. M. S. " Resolute '* and *• Intrepid." — Searching Parties under Captain M'Clin- tock, Lieutenants Meclmni, Hamilton, 8(c. unsuccessful. — Captain Kellett decides upon fulling back upon Bcechey Island. — Unfavourable Season. — Squadron blown out of Winter Quarters. — Arrested at Byam Martin Channel. — Large Supply of fresh Meat procured. — 'Resolute" and " Intrepid " caught in the Pack. — Winter in the Pack. — The "Piioenix" arrives at Beechcy Island, and takes home Lieut. Cresswell. — 1853. — The * Investigators* pass a Fourth Winter with Impunity, and then leave the "Resolute" for lieechey Island. — The last of the "Investigator." — Captain Sir E. Belcher orders the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " to be abandoned. — News of Collinson, in 1852, having pushed ft 'Jt >■ XX CONTENTS. on into the Ice. — " Assistance " and " Pioneer " ordered to be deserted. — "Plioenix" and "Talbot" arrive witli Pro- visions and fresh Ci*ews. — All return Home. — 'Investi- gators' rewarded in 1855 - - . Pago 323 CHAP. XIX. Gloomy Prospect in the Autumn of 1854. — Revival of Despond- ing Tales. — Sudden Arrival of Intelligence from Dr. Rae. — A Party from Franklin's Ship heard of. — Dr. Rae's Report. — Relics and Proofs of both " Erebus " and " Terror " being in Existence. -- The Russian War prevents a Naval Expedition being sent to Barrow's Strait. — The Admiralty direct the Hudson Bay Company to send Mr. Anderson. — Mr. Anderson proceeds in 1855 to the INIouth of the Great Fish River. — "Verifies the Fact of a Party from the lost Expedi- tion having been there. — No Light thrown upon their Fate. — Neither Bodies, Graves, Clothing nor Arms discovered. — Remarka upon the Relics discovered. — Probable Course adopted by the * Forlorn Hope.' — Hopes exist of the Mystery still being cleared up. — Distance the Party could have travelled. — Position of the lost Expedition. — How lost. — Reason why Fury Beach was not visited by them. — Creditable to England that the Search has never been stayed. — The Admiralty reward Dr. Rae for giving us Information of Franklin's Position. — General Revival of Interest in the Question 355 Table showing Mean Temperature and Barometric Obser- vations ---..- 397 Tables showing Quantity of Game obtained APPENDIX. 398 Geological Remarks by Sir Roderick I. Mnrclnson, D.C.L,, FR.S., &c. 402 Narrative of Commander Maguire 409 ■ed to Pro- ivesti- re323 ?■ spond- r. Rae. Report. terror" , Naval miralty a.-_Mr. ;nt Fish Expedi- >ir Fate, vered. — ■ (adopted ery still ■cUed.— ■ json wliy England [dmiralty ankUn'9 ;ion 335 Obser- - 397 - 398 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Portrait of Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, R.N. ... - I- to face Title page. Map illustrative of the Narrative - Smoking Cliff . - - . Discovery of Princess Royal Island Position of H. M. S. " Investigator " on the 20th of September, 1851 - Distant View of Melville Island from Baring Land .... „ page 1 „ 100 >» jj 132 „ 220 » „ 323 D.C.L., - 402 A » Wi f i-J xxm A List of the Officers and Crew of H. M.S. " Investigator i"* who performed the North-ioest Passage. I Name. Rank or Ratinx. Remarks. R. J. Le M. M'Clure Commander. Wm. H. Haswell - Lieutenant. Samuel G. Cresswell do. rDied on board H.M.S. "Resolute," off Cape II. II. Sainsbury Mate Cockburn, Barrow Straits, 14th Nov. 1853. Robert Wynniatt - do. Stephen Court Second Master. ■]9th April 1853, rated Acting Master. Alex. Armstrong, M.D. Surgeon. Henry Piers - - Assistant Surgeon. Joseph C. Paine - - Clerk in charge. George J. Ford - - Carpenter. Actmg Boatswain. George Kennedy Richard A. Ross Quarter-master. 24th Dec. 1850, disrated A.B. John Davies - - A.B. 1 5th April, 1853, rated quarter-master. 'Died 13th April, 1853, at Bay of Mercy, John Kerr - - - Gunners' Mate. Banks Land, on board H. U. S. " In- vestigator." Henry Bluff - - Boatswain's Mate. Samuel Mackenzie - A.B. Charles Steel - - - A.B. David Harris - - A.B. Edward Fawcett - - Boatswain's Mate. James Evans - - - Caulker. George Gibbs - - A.B. James Williams - - Captain of the Hold. Peter Thompson- - Captain of the Foretop. Samuel Relie - - A.B. fDied on board H.M.S. "North Star," at Thomas Morgan - - A.B. Beechey Island, 22nd t May, 1854. I a 4 XXIV List of the Officers and Crew of II.M.S. " Investigator " — continued. If, I Name. lliink or Hating. Ilcinarks. fDied 11th April, 1853, 1 Bay of Mercy, John Eames - - A.B. ^ Banks Land, on board H.M.S. " In- . vestigator." William Batten A.B. Charles Andcnson A.B. Isaac Stubberfield - Ship's Cook. _ Frederick Taylor A.B. Henry Gauen - - Carpenter's Mate. George Brown - - A.B. ■24th Dec. 1850, rated quarter-master. Cornelius Hulott Captain's Coxswain. William Whitefield - Carpenter's Crew Michael Flynn - - Quarter-master. Mark Bradbury A.B. James Nelson - - A.B. AVilliam Carroll A.B. George Olley - - A.B. John Calder - - Captain of Forecastle. John Ramsay - - A.B. Heni'y Stone - - Blacksmith. Henry Sugden - - Sub. Officers' Steward. Henry May - - Quarter- master. Joseph Facey - - Sailmaker. James M'Donald A.B. George L. Milner - Gun-room Steward. John Wilcox - - - Pay-master and Pay- master's Steward. Robert Tiffeny - - Captain of Maintop. Died 6th April, 1853, John Boyle ... A.B. Bay of Mercy ; tlie first death. Lieut. Pirn arrived next d.iy. Thomas Toy - - - A.B. Samuel Bonnsall A.B. Ellis Griffiths - - A.B. Mark Griffiths - - A.B. John Iveetli • - - A.B. Thos. 8. Carmichael - A.B. Jolm Woon - - - Sergeant of Marines. J. B. Farquharson - Corporal „ George Parfitt - - Private „ Elias Bow - • - Private „ ^' XXV List of tho OfBccrs and Crew of H.M.S. " Investigator " — continued. Name. Rank or Rating. Remarks. James Biggs - . - Thomas Bancroft Thomas King - - James Saunders Johan A. Mierching Private of Marines. Private „ Private „ Private „ f Esquimaux Inter- preter. ri5th April 1853, rated \ corporal. m" If Hi! sATLiNa ()kdi:rs From the Lords Commissioners if the Admiralty to Capt. COLLINSON, C.B.,o/'//er Majesty's Ship "Enterprize ;" dated 15 January 1850. By the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1. WiiEUEAS the efforts that have been made during the last two years to relieve the " Erebus " and " Terror " have failed, and all access to the Parry Islands has been prevented by the accumulation of ice in the upper part of Barrow Straits : And whereas it is possible that the same severity of weather may not prevail at the same time in both the eastern and western entrances to the Arctic Sea, we have now determined, in a matter of such moment, to send an Expedition into the Polar Sea from the westward ; and, having a full confidence in your zeal and skill, we have thought proper to appoint you to the command of Her Majesty's jhip "Enterprize," and also to place under your orders Her Majesty's ship " Investigator;" both of which vessels having been duly fortified against collision with the ice, equipped for the polar climate by warm-air apparatus, and furnished with provisions for three years, as well as a large supply of extra stores, you are now required and directed, so soon as they are in all respects ready for sea, to proceed to make the best of your way to Cape "Virgins, in order to arrive at Behring's Straits in July. 2. At Cape Virgins, the Commander-in-Ciiief in the Pacific has been desired to have a steam-vessel waiting for you, and by her you will be towed through the Straits of Magellan, and the Wellington Channel, and on to Valparaiso. 3. At that port you will use the utmost despatch in watering and refreshing your crews, and in fully replenishing your bread and other provisions and stores ; and having so done, you will again use your best exertions to press forward to the Sandwich Islands. 4. There is only a bare possibility of your reaching those It,^ 'V XXVlll SAILING ORDEliS. If islands in time to meet Her Majesty's ship " Herald," under tlie command of Captain Henry Kellett ; but if tliat should be the cas(!, you will receive from him, not only every assistaiu'e, but much useful information touehin;» your passage to the Strait, and your further proceedings to the nortliward. It is still moro improbable that Her Majesty's ship " Plover " should be there ; but wherever you may fall in with her, you are hereby directed to take her and Commander Moore under your orders. 5. At the Sandwich Islands you will find additional orders from us for your guidance, which we ])ropose to forward from hence by the Panama mail of next March ; but if none should arrive, or if tliey do not in any wny modify these directions, you will enforce the greatest diligence in re-victualling your two vessels, in procuring, if possible, tiie necessary Esquimaux interpreters, and in making all requisite i>reparations for at onco proceeding to IJeiu'ing's Straits, in order to reach the ice before tiie 1st of Aijgust. 6. An examination of the several orders issued to Captain Kellett, will show that it is uncertain whei'e he may be fallen in with. You may probably And the " Herald" and "Plover" together. 7. We consider it essential that, after entering the ice, there should be a depot, or point of succour, for any party to fall back upon. For this purpose tlie " Plover " is to be secured in the most favourable quarter, as far in advance as can be found — such as Wainwrigiit's Inlet, or the Creek, at Hope Point ; but if they be unsafe, and none has been discovered nearer to Barrow's Point, then at Chamisso Island, or any part of Kot- zebue Sound, which may afford the necessary shelter. 8. Considering, however, the nature of the service in which the "Plover" will already have been employed, and that a por- tion of her crew may be unfit to contend with the rigours of a further stay in those latitudes, you will call for volunteers from that ship, and from the " Ilerahl," if in company, sufficient to form a crew for the " Plover ; " taking care that the men to be selected are men of good character, and that they do not exceed in number what is actually I'equired for the care of the ship, and for defence and security against any treacherous attack on the part of the natives of Norton Sound. 9. The petty officers' ratings that may be vacated by men invalided are to be filled up by men volunteering to remain ; such volunteers are to be subjected to a strict and careful sur- vey by the medical officers of the several ships ; and those only are to be retained wiio would seem to be in all respects fit to encounter this extended service ; and the remainder necessary W' «l\ SAILING ORDERS. XXIX to to complete the crew is to be iimde up from the " Kiitcrprize " and "Investigator." 10. Such crew having been formed (to continue under the commnnd of Commander Moore, and with the officers now in tlie "Plover," or with tliose who may volunteer for tlie service), the "Plover," if the "Herald" should be in company, is to be filled up by Captain Kellett with all the provisions, fuel, and stores tiiat can possibly be spared by Captain Kellett, who will bear in mind not only what may be requir(?d for the use of the "Plover's" crew until tiic autumn of 1853, and tiie contingency of parties arriving on board from Sir John Franklin's Expedi- tion, but also the possibility of any party from the "Enterprize" or "Investigator" having to fall back upon the " Plover." 11. In providing for this necessary equipment for the "Plover," attention will be paid to the numbers left in the " Herald," and the supplies necessary to carry that vessel to Whoahoo ; and having received from Captain Kellett any baidars, or light boats, that he may be able to spare, and which may be likely to form a useful addition to your own boats, or those of tlie " Investigator," when searching parties may be detached from tlie ships in the spring, the *' Herald " will return to the Sandwich Islands, there to fill up provisions, and from thence proceed to Hong Kong on her way to England, in pursuance of our orders of tlie 14th December last. 12. On detaching the "Plover" to take up her winter quarters, you will direct Commander Moore to remain there until you join him, or failing your return to him, until the end of the summer of 1853 ; when, but not until it is absolutely necessary for securing the " Plover's " passage through the Aleutian group of Islands, he is to quit Behring's Straits, and make the best of his way to Valparaiso (touching at the Sandwich Islands for refreshment), where he will rec.'ivo further instructions relative to his return to England from the Commander-in-Chief. 13. If the "Herald" and "Plover" should be fallen in with to the northward and eastward of Behring's Straits, or in the Polar Sea, Captain Kellet, on detaching himself from your company, should consort with the "Plover" as far as her winter quarters, and if time and circumstances admitted of it, he should assist in securing her there. 14. In the event of your having to winter your ships on the continent or Esquimaux shores, you will probably meet with some of tlie wandering tribes, or with Indians. With tliese you will cultivate a friendly feeling, by making them presents of tiiose articles to which they are apt to attach a value ; but ',,„ r • XXX SAILING OUDEliS. W you will take caro not to siiHer yourself to b(! siirpriseil by them, but use Qvery precaution, and be constantly on your guard against any treacherous attack. You will also, by offering re- wards, to be paid in such manner as you may be able to arrange, endeavour to prevail on tiiem to carry to any of the settlements of the Hudson's Bay Compnny an account of your situation and proceedings, with an urgent request that it may be ibrwardcd to Enghmd with tlie utmost possible despatch. 15. In whatever plnce you may have to establish your winter quarters, you will devote every resource in your power to the preservation of the health, the comfort, and the cheerfulness of the people committed to your care. 16. We leave it to your judgment and discretion as to the course to be pursued after passing Point Barrow, and on entering the ice ; and you will be materially assisted in this respect by what you will learn from Captain Kullett, if ha sliould be fallen in with at the Sandwich Islands, as well as from the observations of Sir E. Parry and Captain Beechey contained in the memoranda, of which wo send you copies. 17. We have desired that you shall be furnished, not only with a copy of the orders under which Commander r!oore is now acting, but also with copies of all the orders which from time to time have been given to Captain Kellett, as well as Avith those under whicii an attempt was made to relievo the " Erebus " and " Terror " by Captain Sir James Ross on the eastern side through Baffin's Bay. You will further be sup- plied with all the printed voyages or travels in those northern regions ; and the memoranda and instructions drawn up by Sir John Kichardson, as to the niannors and habits of the Esqui- maux, and the best mode of dealing with that people (a copy of which is also sent), will afford a valuable addition to the information now supplied to you. 18. We deem it right to jcaution you against suffering the two v essels jlaced nnder j'bur orders to separate, except in the. event"oracciJent or unavoidable necessity ; and we desire tiiat you will keep up the most unreserved communication with the Commander of the " Investigatoi*," placing in him every proper confidence, and acquainting him with the general tenor of your orders, and with your views and intentions from time to time ; so that the service may have the full benefit of your united efforts in the prosecution of such a service ; and that in the event of any unavoidable separation, or of any accident to your- self. Commander M'Clure may have the advantage of knowing, up to the latest period, all your ideas and designs relative to the satisfactory completion of this undertaking. m \^ SAILING OUDKUS. XXXI the II the that li tlie roper lyour lime; litcd the |rour- nng, re to ;| * 19. We also recommend tliat na fiv (incut an cxcihiuigf may take place as conveniently may be of the observations made in the twosliips; that any information obtained by tiic one, be as quickly as possible communicated for the advantage and guid- ance of the otlier. 20. In case of any irreparable accident happening to the " Knterprizc," you ai-e hereby authorized to take command of th(! " Investigator," and make such arrangements for the olficers and crews as may be most consonant to the rules of the service, and most conducive to tlie objects of the Expedition. 21. In the event of Great Britain being involved in hostili- ties with any foreign power during your absence, you are to abstain from the smallest act of aggression towards any vessel belonging to such nation, it being tlie practice of all civilized countries to consider vessels engaged in service of this kind as exempt from the rules and operations of war. 22. In carrying out the foregoing orders, you will avail your- self of every practicable occasion of acquainting our Secretary witii every step of your progress, as well as with your future intentions ; and occasionally during your voyage, you will throw overboard one of the tin cylinders with which you have been supplied (headed up in any cask or barrel that you could ma- nufacture or spare), containing an account of the date, position, &c. On your reaching England, you will call on every person, in both vessels, to deliver up their logs, journals, charts, and drawings, but which, they may be informed, shall be returned to them in due time. 23. With respect to your search proving fruitless, and your finally quitting the Polar Seas, as well as your securing your winter quarters towards the clo. rcia'n. During the night of the 20th, the " Gorgon ' was obliged to cut away the towing-hawser of tho " Investigator," and after lying by her unt'.j dfiy- light. Captain Paynter, of the former, Loro up to look for the " Enterprise." A heavy gale now came on, and no canvass could be shown to carry the " Investigator" to thj we?'.- ward, away from the iron-bound shores of Pata- gonia, distant at the time not more than thirfy or forty miles. The increasing gale and sea after- wards drove them far to the south-west, and it Avas not until the 30th of April that it abated, and enabled the tempest-tossed ship to resume her course for the next rendezvous, Honolulu, iti the Sandwich Islands. Even at this early period of the voyage, every precaution was taken by CaptMn M'Clare to pre- vent the seeds of scurvy ooin^^" sown amongst his men. PL increa?ed the rations of vegetables and fresh preserved meat, issued them every alternate day, and, as soon as the weather permitted it, the 1,' 30 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. officers and crew were constantly employed in their watches restoring, examining, and ascertaining the quality of the provisions, upon which Captain M'Clure's experience told him the result of his voyage would so much depend. No one knew better than he that in the far north man is a machine not to be replaced ; that without the zealous labour and the skill and energy of the crew the best officers are worthless. To work a willing seaman to death, or into scurvy, and then turn round and lay the blame on the nature of the arctic service, was not the system of the man who was about to achieve the North-west Passage ; and in adopting the course he did, he took the best method of showing his men, that, so far as circum- stances admitted, he would always study their health and comfort. The crew or their side, like true seamen, repaid him with unbounded con- fidence and hearty exertions. 31 i .t CHAP. IV. Voyage continued to Honolulu. — Leak in the Bread-Room. — Loneliness of this Ocean. — Good Feeling between Officers and Men. — Arrival at Honolulu. — Replenishing and De- parture. — Great Anxiety of Officers and Men to reach the Ice. — Passing the Aleutian Islands. — Dense Fogs. — The Arctic Circle crossed. — Meet the " Plover " Depot Ship. — Unfavourable Report of the State of the Ice. — Captain M'Clure's Plan of Operations. — Preparations for meeting the Ice. — H.M.S. *' Herald " met with. —Captain Kellett's Discovery. The whole of the month of May, 1850, was passed by the " Investigator " in making the best of her way towards Honolulu; and the only incident worthy of notice was the loss of a topmast, and the discovery of the destruction of a large quantity of bread, owing to a leak which could not be got at in the bread-room : nearly a thousand pounds of biscuit were found to be so mouldy that it had to be thrown away ; but Capt. M'Clure consoled himself with the certainty of being able to replenish at the first port he reached. On June 2nd they attained the limit of the S.E. ^/^^'^-i. 32 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. trade wind, in lat. 17'' 44' S., long. 105° 54' W. During the fortniglit that the " Investigator " was steering diagonally across that space which inter- venes between the Southern Tropic and the Equator of the Pacific Ocean, the monotony of their lives pressed heavily upon both crew and officers. Five weary months of salt water is enough to try the patience of any men ; and Capt. M'Clure's journal here laments the loneliness of the vast region of water which rolls from America to the Polynesian Isles ; a fine and fair wind, clear sky, and smooth sea, hardly compensating for the absence of every living thing except themselves : not even a bird or a fish broke the dreariness of the ocean solitude. Every day served, however, to unite more strongly the bond of mutual good feeling between the com- mander and his crew. Much heavy work connected with the re-stowage and examination of the pro- visions fell, of course, upon the latter; but they did it with such cheerfulness and good-will as to draw forth the remark in Capt. M'Clure's hand- writing : — " I have much confidence in them ; with such a spirit what may not be expected, even if difficulties should arise ? " This good opinion of his men was fully borne out in the sequel. The Equator was crossed on the 15th June, and I! AUKIVAL AT HONOLUIU. 33 was the S.E. trade kindly favoured them into 7° north latitude. On the 23rd of June the N.E. trade wind reached them, and aided by it they made on the 24th the longest run the "Investigator" had as yet performed in twenty-four hours; namely, one hundred and eighty-six miles. On June 29th, the snow-capped peak of Mona- Kea, on the Island of Owhyhee, showed itself, and announced that at last they were nearing a port, after a sea voyage of 15,000 miles. Running through the western islands of the Sandwich group, they anchored, gladly enough, on the 1st July, outside the reefs of Honolulu harbour, the wind being foul for entering its narrow mouth. There was no time to be lost however, and all necessary supplies were speedily purchased, Capt. M'Clure being much aided in his labour by Capt. Aldhara of H. M. brig " Swift," then in the port. The very next day, all the stores were ready for shipment, and the " Investigator " was prepared for the prosecution of her voyage with the utmost despatch. The crew of the " Swift," with true sailors' generosity, undertook this duty in the place of the men of the " Investigator,'' who were at once allowed all the leave that could be afforded them to wander at liberty about the beautiful island of Oahu. I W. 34 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ii ! Capt. Collinson, in the "Enterprise," had already, it appeared, called at this port, and had replenished, and gone on, in prosecution of his instructions. The anxiety of Capt. M'Clure to overtake his chief, and rejoin him in time for entering the Polar Sea in 1850, can be better conceived than described. Abundant supplies of fruit and vegetables were purchased, although the high prices occasioned by so large a demand, as well as the arrival of the annual fleets of American whalers, formed a con- siderable obstacle to the private purchases of officers and men. By a remarkable fatality, too, their hopes of obtaining a good supply of fresh beef were again destined to be disappointed, for the natives, in attempting to land the bullocks from a coaster, had drowned all but one of them. The Consul-General, Miller, as well as some of the merchants, extended due hospitality to Capt. M'Clure, and although he had occasion to remark that Yankee influence was all powerful in these Islands, — the American stepping-stones to the Empire of the East, as they have been appropriately called, — yet neither he, nor the Investigators gene- rally, had any cause to complain of want of courtesy towards themselves, or of sympathy for the noble mission on which they were employed. ^ " INVESTIGATOR " WELL PROVISIONED. 35 t The 4th July, 1850, saw the " Investigator " in every respect ready for the Polar voyage, which was her appointed task. Every available space was again filled with provisions, and in addition to the solitary bullock, a dozen sheep, and vegetables sufficient to last forty days, were embarked. Her weak or sickly men had been invalided, and their places supplied by volunteers, and all hands were much refreshed and re-invigorated by even the short stay they had made in so pleasant a spot. On leaving Honolulu, the same evening, Capt. M'Clure remarks that the health and cheerfulness of all were most gratifying, and that no vessel could have entered the ice under more favourable circumstances after so long and trying a sea voyage. The ice, however, was still full forty degrees of latitude distant, the "Enterprise" far ahead, and the season would be closing in, in about sixty days' time. Well, therefore, might Capt. M'Clure feel anxious when he looked at nis deeply-laden vessel, and pondered on the quickest mode of reaching Behring's Straits. The old-established course from the Sandwich Islands to the Strait, was by hauling out to the N.W. across the N.E. trade, so as to strike the Asiatic coast in or about the latitude of Petro- pauloffskoi, and then taking advantage of the D 2 » •'•' m « 'n' 36 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. -i . I westerly winds to run along that coast, and thus avoid the dangerous channels through the Aleutian Islands, which are still imperfectly known, and subject to dense fogs and strong tides. This, how- ever, is a long route, generally occupying sixty days, and Capt. M'Clure had heard of another and more direct one ; but at the same time the risk of his vessel being driven down upon the dangerous and inhospitable coast north of Vancouver's Island and Princess Charlotte's Island was duly pointed out. Fortunately, he afterwards met at Honolulu with an intelligent merchant sailor, who urged him by all means to run the risk, steer a direct course to the northward, and not to fear north-west gales at that season of the year. This advice, together with the emergency of the case, induced him to decide upon making direct for the Aleutian Islands, and trusting to the " sweet little cherub that sits up aloft " for the winds he might require. At midnight a course was shaped accordingly, and M'Clure went to his bed to dream of catching the "Enterprise," for great was the fear among both officers and men lest Capt. CoUinson, instead of wait- ing for his consort, should take the " Plover " on into the ice, and leave the " Investigator *' to occupy her RAPID PROGRESS OF THE "INVESTIGATOR." 37 place in Kotzebue Sound, a rumour to that eflfect having been whispered about at Honolulu. No other bad effects had resulted from the libertj* given to the " Investigator's" men at Honolulu, after their long imprisonment on board, than that six of them were laid up for a few days, in conse- quence of having, sailor-like, taken a great deal too much equestrian exercise — one or two having actu- ally cut their feet with the stirrup-irons through riding hard without any shoes. Favoured by strong and fair winds, the ship made rapid progress to the northward, although dense fogs gave the captain and master much anxiety, lest they should be carried east or west of that channel through the Aleutian Isles, for which they were endeavouring to steer. On the sixteenth day after leaving Oahu, while expecting to sight the land, the mist lifted sufficiently to show a bluff point, with a detached rock lying off it. This satisfied them that the island they had wished to sight was the one now at hand, and, as the "Investigator" was swept rapidly along in a tide race with a fair wind, they had only time to observe, on the bow, the western extreme of the Island of Tchunam. It was but a raomen- D 3 it 38 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. tary glimpse, however, that they were blessed with of either, and this was all they saw of the Aleutian Chain ; but when certain of being clear of, and north of them, the " Investigator" steered for Gore Island. Some idea may be formed of the dcnseness of the fogs which prevail in this region, and add so mate- rially to its dangers, from the circumstance of some of the sea birds, such as the Little Auk {AIca alle), striking against the rigging in their flight, and falling on board, so as to be captured. But fog or no fog, the ship was still pushed on with the utmost press of sail that any regard to safety would permit. A sea but little known, how- ever, was before the "Investigator," — a sea inter- spersed with islands whose position was so far from certain that, in some cases, as in those of St. Paul and St. George, they were not placed in the Chart. Many an anxious hour was passed on board the ship, their greatest fear being lest, by ground- ing the vessel and detention, they should be too late for entering the ice in the season of 1850. On July 26th, the stud-sails were for the first time taken in since leaving Oahu, — a proof of how happily the winds had hitherto favoured the ship, — and next day they made King's Island, and had a f-t\ *' INVESTIGATOB " IN PERIL. 89 narrow escape of being swept on shore by a rapid and unexpected current. Fortunately, a good bearing, by compass, of the land was obtained before they were again enveloped in fog, so that they were able to shape a course between the two Diomede Islands ; but still running the gauntlet, as the " Investigator" was doing, was fraught with peril, and nothing but the urgency of the case induced Capt. M'Clure to persist, although it might be that in such a sea, and amongst so many tides and cur- rents, a straight course on end was the safer one. The words of her commander convey the best idea of the ship's position and his feelings as they approached the channel between the Diomede Is- lands : — " The Channel is a good one doubtless in clear weather; but in a fog which never gave an horizon more than four hundred yards distant, with a very strong and unknown current, with a fresh fair wind and deep Avater, it was an exceedingly anxious time for me, more especially when an un- usual ripple was perceived, resembling the tidal race of Alderney or Portland. The noise was so great that you could not hear what was said with- out great vocal exertion ; the sea was breaking into the channels, and the deep sea lead showed that the ship was sweeping over twenty-two fathoms' water d4 f n '€■ 40 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. m I m ^ only." The look-out man even reported breakers ahead, and not small was the general delight when, by the deepening of the soundings and the cessation of the tide ripple, the voyagers guessed themselves to have been swept into Kotzebue Sound, though disagreeably close past one of the islands at its en- trance. On July 29th, 1850, the Arctic Circle was crossed, and the Admiralty clothing supplied by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty for the use of seamen in those regions was issued to the crew. Arctic sights now rapidly accumulated to interest the many novices in the " Investigator," and to awaken in the mind of her commander recollec- tions of his former trying and unsuccessful voyage on the opposite side of America into that same frozen sea. The first to greet them was the "Plover" depot- ship, then commanded by Commander Moore, who, with two boats, was making inquiries amongst the natives of Wainwright Inlet, concerning some of the thousand and one Esquimaux fictions that then enlivened the monotony of Kotzebue Sound. The eager query of how long since the " Enterprise'' had gone to the northward ? was answered by the "Plover" informing them that she had not been UNSATISFACTORY ACCOUNT OF THE ICE. 41 fallen in with at all ; this the officers of the " Inves- tigator" presumed might be accounted for, from the dense fogs which had lately prevailed having pre- vented her being seen. The " Enterprise " had left Honolulu as early as the 30th June ; she was the faster sailing ship, and there was no reason to sup- pose she had not been equally favoured in winds. The news of the state of the ice in Behring's Straits was most unsatisfactory, especially to those who did not know that its movements are often so sudden as to render a report of more than twenty- four hours old of no value. The " Plover" had seen the polar ice so densely packed from Wainwright Inlet upon the American coast to lat. 71" 30' N., and long. 164" 28' W., as apparently to defy all efforts to push a vessel to the north-east. In recording this information, Capt. M'Clure adds in his journal this remarkable sentence, show- ing how decidedly he had made up his mind to the course to be pursued, that of entering the ice at all hazards : " This," says he, " was not what I anti- cipated from the continuance of south-east winds, but the season is not far advanced, and much may yet be accomplished ere we are frozen up" The Investigators were generally struck with the healthy, and, in most cases, robust appearance 42 DISCOVERY OF TUE NORTH- WEST FASSAOE. iii I. I of the " Plover's " crew ; indeed, this was not to bo wondered at, considering they had wintered, every year they spent in the Arctic Zone, in a place like Kotzebue Sound, where the natives are able to live upon the resources of the country, and where mo- notony, darkness, and hunger did not weigh upon them in any extraordinary degree. Before bearing up for Cape Lisburne (the next rendezvous that Capt. Collinson had appointed), and where the " Herald," Capt. Kellett, was known to be cruising, all the letter-bags of the "Investi- gator " were sent on board the " Plover ; " and at the same time that admirable despatch from Capt. M'Clure to the Admiralty, in which he clearly stated what his intentions were, should he be left to act upon them. How to the very letter he car- ried them out, aided by his gallant officers and men, will be seen in the sequel. Copy of a Letter from Commander M'-Clure to the Secretary of the Admiralty. " Her Majesty's Discovery Ship ' Investigator,' at Sea, " (Lat. 51° 26' N. ; Long. 172° 35' W.), " 20 July, 1850. " Sib, " As I have received instructions from Captain Collinson, C.B., clear and unembarrassing (a copy COPY OP CAPIAIN M'CLURE'S LETTER. 43 'I ■ of which I enclose), to proceed to Cape Lisburno, in the hope of meeting him in that vicinity, as he anticipates being detained a day or two by the * Plover ' in Kotzebue Sound, it is unnecessary to add that every exertion shall be made to reach that rendezvous ; but I can scarcely venture to hope that, even under very favourable circumstances, I shall be so fortunate as to accomplish it ere the * Enterprise ' will have rounded that Cape, as, from her superior sailing, she hitherto having beaten us, by eight days to Cape Virgins, and from Magellan Straits to Oahu by six. It is, therefore, under the probable case that this vessel may form a detached part of the expedition, that I feel it my duty to state, for the information of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the course which, under such a contingency, I shall endeavour to pursue, and 1 have to request that you will lay the same before their Lord- ships. " 1st. After passing Cape Lishume^ it is my in. tention to keep in the open water^ which, from the different reports that I have read, appears, about this season of the year, to make between the American coast and the main pack, as far to the eastward as the ISOth meridian, unless a favourable opening 44 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. should earlier appear in the ice, which would lead me to infer that I might push more directly for Banks Land, which I think is of the utmost importance to thoroughly examine. " In the event of thus far succeeding, and the sea- son continuing favourable for further operations, it would be my anxious desire to get to the north- ward of Melville Island, and resume our search along its shores, and the islands adjacent, as long as the navigation can be carried on, and then se- cure for the winter in the most eligible position which offers. " 2nd. In the ensuing spring, as soon as it is prac- ticable for travelling parties to start, I should de- spatch as many as the state of the crew will admit of, in different directions, each being provided with 40 days' provisions, with directions to examine minutely all bays, inlets, and islands towards the N.E., ascending occasionally some of the highest points of land, so as to be enabled to obtain ex- tended views, being particularly cautious, in their advance, to observe any indication of a break-up in the ice, so that their return to the ship may be effected without hazard, even before the expendi- ture of their provisions would otherwise render it necessarv. COPY OF CAPTAIN M'CLURE's LETTEK. 45 "3rd. Supposing the parties to have returned (wi';Lout obtaining any clue of the absent ships), and the vessel liberated about the 1st ot August, my object would then be to push on towards Wel- lington Inlet (assuming that that channel commu- nicates with the Polar Sea), and search both its shores, unless, in so doing, some indication should be met with to show that parties from any of Cap- tain Austin's vessels had previously done so, when I should return and endeavour to penetrate in the direction of Jones' Sound, carefully examining every place that was practicable. Sir, should our efforts to reach this point be successful, and in the route no traces be discernible of the long-missing expedition, I should not then be enabled longer to divest myself of the feeling, painful as it must be to arrive at such a conclusion, that all human aid would then be perfectly unavailing, and therefore, under such a conviction, I would think it my duty, if possible, to return to England, or, at all events, endeavour to reach some port that would ensure that object upon the following year. " 4th. In the event of this being our last com- munication, I would request you to assure their Lordships that no apprehension whatever need be entertained of our safety until the autumn of 1854, I' I 46 DISCOVERY OF THE NOETH-WEST PASSAGE. as we have on board throe years of all species of provisions, commencing from the 1st September proximo, Avhich, without much deprivation, may be made to extend a period of four years, as, more- over, whatever is killed by the hunting parties I intend to issue in lieu of the usual rations, which will still further protract our resources. " It gives me great pleasure to say that the good effects of the fruit and vegetables (a large quantity of which we took on board at Oahu) are very perceptible, in the increased vigour of the men, who at this moment are in as excellent condition as it is possible to desire, and evince a spirit of con- fidence and cheerfulness of disposition which are beyond all appreciation. " 5th. Should difficulties apparently insurmount- able encompass our progress^ so as to render it a matter of doubt whether the vessel could be extricated, I should deem it expedient, in that case, not to hazard the lives of those entrusted to my charge after the winter of 1852, but, in the ensuing spring, quit th'' vessel with sledges and boats, and make the best of our way to either Pond^s Bay, Leopold Harbour, the Mac- kenzie, or for the whalers, according to circumstances. " Finally. In this letter I have endeavoured to give an outline of what I wish to accomplish (and li !! f '7 COPY OF CAPTAIN m'CLTJRE's LETTER. 47 :s what, under moderately favourable seasons, appears to me attainable), the carrying out of which, how- ever, not resting upon human exertions, it is im- possible even to surmise if any or what portion may be successful. But my object in addressing you is to place their Lordships in possession of my inten- tions up to the latest period, so, as far as possible, to relieve their minds from any unnecessary anxiety as to our fate ; and having done this — a duty which is incumbent on me, from the deep sympathy ex- pressed by their Lordships, and participated in by all classes of our countrymen, in the interesting object of this expedition, — I have only to add that, with the ample resources which a beneficent Government and a generous country have placed at our disposal (not anything that can add to our comfort being want- ing), we enter upon this distinguished service with a firm determination to carry out, as far as in our feeble strength we are permitted, their benevolent intentions. " I have, &c. " (Signed) Robert M'Clure, Commander." Not a letter written that day contained any ex- pression but that of a hopeful issue to their enter- ' '..M. 48 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Si m prise, and if anxiety was expressed, it was only that of being delayed, or being too late. The calm and resolute spirit of their leader is marked in the para- graph penned th'" same night. " I consider," he writes, " that we have said adieu to the world for the next two years. May that arm which has con- ducted us so far in safety, still continue its protec- tion upon a service Avhere all else is weakness indeed !" On July 31st, the vesd.'l was prepared for falling in with the ice ; the crow's-nest was sent up to the mast-head, ready for the look-out men to take their station in ; whale-lines and ice-anchors were placed at hand ready for heaving, or tracking the ship through loose ice ; and ice-chisels, saws, ladders, and all the many articles of equipment peculiar to arctic service were placed on deck. The current had swept the " Investigator " thirty miles north of her reckoning, and Cape lasburne was far astern when H.M.S. " Herald, " Captain Kellett, hove in sight. This vessel, it will be remembered, was annually ordered from her surveying service in Central America, to communicate with, and replenish the pro- visions of the " Plover" depot-ship. The " Herald" usually arrived in June, and left Behring's Straits CAPTAIN KELLETT's DESPATCHES. 49 in September. Her object in cruising about the Strait was mainly the hope of falling in with the squadron of Sir John Franklin, should either of his ships have accomplished the passage from the At' lantic to the Pacific Ocean; but the " Herald" like- wise did good service in correcting the charts of this neighbourhood, and in adding materially to our geographical knowledge. The most important dis- covery, however, that Captain Henry Kellett had made, and one which, in connection with the nature of the ice met with by the " Investigator " westward of Banks Land, is deeply interesting to those curious about the yet unknown regions which lie around our pole, was the sighting of an extensive land north and north-west of Behring's Strait. In Captain Kellett's despatches to England, bearing date 1849, the discovery is graphically described. "At 3 A.M. the 17th of August, the temperature of the sea suddenly fell from 40" to 36" ; the wind became light, and excessively cold. Shortened sail, supposing that I was very near the ice ; frequent snow showers. " At 5 A.M. wind shifted suddenly from the N.W. in a sharp squall with heavy snow. Shortly after 8, when one of these snow storms cleared off, the packed ice was seen from the mast-head from S.S. W. E ! f •. i: 50 DISCOVBRr OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. to N.N.W., five miles distant. The weather was 80 bad that I bore up for the rendezvous. The weather, however, as suddenly cleared up, and I hauled my wind for the north-western extreme of the ice that had been seen. At 9 40 the exciting report of 'Land-ho !* was made from the mast-head ; they were both soon afterwards crowded. " In running a course along the pack towards our first discovery, a small group of islands was re- ported on our port beam, a considerable distance within the outer margin of the ice. " The pack here was not so close as I found it before. Lanes of water could be seen reaching almost up to the group, but too narrow to enter unless the ship had been sufficiently fortified to force a hole for herself. " These small islands at intervals were very dis- tinct, and were not considered at the time very distant. " Still more distant than this groiip (frov) the deck) a very extensive and high land ' as reported, which I had been watching for some time, and anxiously awaited a report from some one else. There was a fine clear atmosphere (such a one as can only be seen in this climate), except in the di- rection of this extended land, where the clouds CAPTAIN KELLETT'S DESPATCHES. 51 rolled in numerous immense masses, occasionally leaving the very lofty peaks uncapped, where could be distinctly seen columns, pillars, and very broken peaks, characteristic of the higher headlands in this sea — East Cape and Cape Lisburne, for ex- ample. " With the exception of the N.E. and S.E. ex- tremes, none of the lower land could be seen, unless, indeed, what I took at first for a small group of islands within the pack edge was a point of this great land. " This island or point was distant 25 miles from the ship's track; higher parts of the land seen, not less, I consider, than 60 miles. When we hove to off the first land seen, the northern extreme of the great land showed out to the eastward for a moment, and so clear as to cause some who had doubts before, to cry out, ' There, Sir, is the land quite plain.* " From the time land was reported until we hove to under it, we ran 25 miles directly for it. At first we could not see that the pack joined it, but as we approached the island we found the pack to rest on the island, and to extend from it as far as the eye could reach, to the E.S.E. " The weather, which had been fine all day, now B 2 1 1 ill 52 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. changed suddenly to dense clouds and snow showers, blowing fresh from the south, with so much sea that I did not anchor as I intended. " I left the ship with two boats ; the senior lieu- tenant, Mr. Maguire, Mr. Seemann, naturalist, and Mr. CoUinson, mate, in one ; Mr. Goodridge, sur- geon, Mr. Pakenham, midshipman, and myself in the other, almost despairing of being able to reach the island. " The ship kept off and on outside the thickest part of the loose ice, through which the boats were obliged to be very careful in picking their way, on the S.E. side, where I thought I might have as- cended. We reached the island, and found running on it a very heavy sea ; the first lieutenant, however, landed, having backed his boat in until he could get foothold (without swimming), and then jumped overboard. I followed his example; the others were anxious to do the same, but the sea was so high that I could not permit them. " We hoisted the jack and took possession of the island with the usual ceremonies, in the name of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria. " The extent we had to walk over was not more than thirty feet. From this space, and a short dis- tance that we scrambled up, we collected eight CAPTAIN KELLETTS DESPATCHES. 53 species of plants ; specimens of the rock were also brought away. " With the time wc could spare and our mate- rials, the island was perfectly inaccessible to us. This was a great disappointment to us, as from its summit, which is elevated above the sea 1,400 feet, much could have been seen, and all doubt set aside, more particularly as I knew the moment I got on board I should be obliged to carry sail to get off the pack, and out of the bight of it we were in ; neither could I expect that at this late period of the season the weather would improve. " The island on which I landed is four miles and a half in extent east and west, and about two and a half north and south, in the shape of a triangle, the western end being its apex. It is almost inac- cessible on all sides, and a solid mass of granite. Innumerable black and white divers (common to this sea) here found a safe place to deposit their eggs and bring up their young ; not a walrus or seal was seen on its shore, or on the ice in its vici- nity. We observed here none of the small land birds that were so numerous about us before making the land. " It becomes a nervous thing to report a disco- F. 3 J ! I f\ 54 DISCOVERT OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. very of land in these regions without actually land- ing on it, after the unfortunate mistake to the south- ward ; but as far as a man can be certain, who has 130 pairs of eyes to assist him, and all agreeing, I am certain we have discovered an extensive land. I think, also, it is more than probable that these peaks we saw are a continuation of the range of mountains seen by the natives off Cape Jakan (coast ofAsia), mentioned by Baron Wrangel in his 'Polar Voyages.' I returned to the ship at 7 p.m., and very reluctantly made all the sail we could carry from this interesting neighbourhood, to the south- east, the wind at the time allowing me to lie just clear of the pack." * This land some geographers suppose to extend in continuous or broken masses to the east and northward, and to form a portion of the vast archi- pelago of islands lying north of Barrow's Strait ; and directly that Captain Eellett's discovery was reported in England, it gave rise to a strong hope that Captain Collinson's expedition would be able * An American report of a later date denies the e^cistence of this land, of whose existence Captain Kellett says he feels pretty certain ; but until some one actually sails over the spot, we have as much reason to believe those who saw land as those who did not. CAFTAIN KELLETT'S DESPATCHES. 5d to reach it, and follow along the southern coast towards Melville Island, as Sir Edward Parry had succeeded in doing from the opposite direction, thirty years before. i I K 4 ..'^.y. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ^ 1^ 12.2 us |«0 2.0 I 1.25 III 1.4 1 1.6 < 6" ► 71 ^>. /; '/ /^ Photogra{iiic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STRIET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716)872-4S03 V •s^ :\ \ [V 66 DISCOVERT OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. CHAP. V. ii! The " Investigator " gives up the Hope of meeting the " Enter- prise," and departs alone. — The first Ice. — Immense Herd of Walruses. — Mothers and Babies. — Value of the Walrus to the Esquimaux. — A Blind Lead. — Cape Barrow doubled. — Proceeding in a North-easterly Direction. — Great Excite- ment. — Three Esquimaux met with. — Their Astonishment at Sight of the Vessel. The most extensive body of " open water " in 1850 lay in the direction of Point Barrow, the turning point of America, a position the Investigators were impatient to reach. The " Enterprise " had not yet been seen ; but the fogs had been dense, and the weather unfavourable for meeting her, so that all conspired to make the anxious men and officers conjecture that she was still far ahead, and waiting for them. Captain Kellett, the senior officer, was not so sanguine as to the " Enterprise " having made an equally quick passage ; yet he felt the re- sponsibility he should incur, should she have passed, by detaining her consort. Captain M'Clu e, too, pointed out how valuable every hour was to "investigator" departs alone. 57 him, and to the important service he was upon ; for he well knew the value of the arctic maxim, that a day lost often entails a whole season of fruitless labour. At last Captain Kellett consented that the " Investigator " should part company ; but he first supplied Captain M'Clure's wants, by giving him three volunteers, and furnishing him with such articles as his own stores would admit of. The reader will sympathise with the generous feelings of those who, like the captain and officers of the " Herald," were thus for the last time, perhaps, in this world, shaking by the hand men bound upon a service as hazardous as it was glorious, and they will understand how trying a moment it must have been for one circumstanced as Captain Kellett was, to say to such a body as the Investigators — " Go on ! " when he knew full well that from where they then stood there lay before them, for 900 miles, upon the one hand a shoal and dangerous coast, upon the other a heavy and hopeless sea of ice. The " Investigator " had not long borne up on her solitary course under a heavy press of sail, when the signal was made, — " Had you better not wait forty-eight hours ? " The reply was characteristic : " Important duty. Cannot upon my own responsibility.^^ In a few \ \ 58 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. HI hours the "Investigator" was alone, the wind changing to the N.E. quarter. On the 2nd August in the morning the first ice was seen extending across ahead, the latitude at the time being about 72* north. On getting close to it immense herds of walruses were seen basking upon the loose masses : huge bulls, with splendid tusks, which would have delighted the eye of a Gordon Gumming ; females, with their numerous cubs playing about, formed a sight novel and interesting even to the old Greenland ice-master. A gun was at first loaded with grape and canister for the purpose of shooting some of them ; but the order was countermanded by Captain M'Clure, from the kindly feelings awakened by the affection evinced between the mothers and babes of this brute community. Some of these creatures were conjectured to weigh as much as thirty-five hun- dredweight; and the ice when relieved of their weight rose about two feet. These ferocious-looking creatures are found in great numbers in Behring's Strait, and have been so since the earliest dates. All our early voyagers speak of them; and the well-known sketch in Cook's Voyages of the conflict between his men and the walruses has been seen by most people. It is only fair to observe, however, that this repre- FIRST ICE. — HERD OF WALRUSES. 59 sentation does some injustice to a brute whose character is naturally inoffensive : although, when assailed in the water, it is not deficient in courage. If in company with the female or its young, the self-devotion it evinces excels that of most animals. Both male and female have tusks ; but these are so situated as to be of but little use when the crea- ture is out of the water, unless for aiding them in scaling the steep and rugged sides of ice-hum- mocks. The females are sometimes seer with two cubs at a time, but more generally with only one. They suckle their young, and from the different sizes and periods at which they have been seen doing so, voyagers are led to believe that for twelve or eighteen months the young one is depen- dent upon the mother for nourishment. They feed upon the submarine plants of the arctic regions ; and as far as may be judged from the teeth, they do not appear to eat fish or seal, although it is sometimes asserted that they do so. Their thick skins, plentiful blubber, wholesome flesh, and ivory tusks, render the walrus a valuable prize to the Esquimaux wherever they are found; and in Behring's Strait a considerable trafiic is carried on by the Esquimaux with the Siberian traders, in the exchange of ivory for Russian knives and kettles. i 'A !j ,: 11 60 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ^i Whilst we have been making this digression about walruses, the " Investigator " has been run- ning on nearly due north, in the 166th meridian, or at least as much so as the ice would let her ; the current aiding her the while, to the extent of sixteen miles in twenty-four hours. On August 4th, Captain M'Clure discovered that he was running and working up a " blind lead" or cul-de-sac; out of which it was advisable to make his way, by retracing his steps to the southward. This was done as rapidly as possible, and they arrived on the 5th August, off Wainwright Inlet, and again sighted the " Plover " for a short time. Keeping now very close to the American coast, or as much so as the ice would admit, the vessel made rapid progress towards Point Barrow. At midnight, being at the distance of about ten miles from the land, and in seventy-three fathoms water, they rounded the north-west extreme of the Ameri- can continent, and began their progress towards the eastward, and towards home ! What joy was in that sound, and in the thought of having at any rate achieved one difficulty that had never before been mastered by a ship. On the morning of the 6th August, 1850, the officers and crew of the " Investigator " felt free from all anxiety upon the A BLIND LEAD. — CAPE BARROW DOUBLED. 61 :i^ ;!S. 1 / score of beinff able to enter the Arctic Ocean from Behring's Strait and turn their backs upon the Pacific. That was now an accomplished fact ; and a good month of the best navigable season was still before them. Their next aspiration was to reach Melville Island ; but as far as the eye could reach in that direction, a waste of ice was before them, and such ice as few if any navigators, even in the Arctic Zone, had ever seen before ; and the fact of a two- knot-per-hour current setting southward off Point Barrow, told Captain M'Clure pretty plainly whither the pack would drift him, if he got entangled or beset in it. To reach the land-water, or the space between the American coast and the line of heavy ice, which from its great draught of water was checked by the shallow nature of the sea, at dis- tances varying from a few yards to sometimes a mile in width, and, once in that land-water, to struggle to the eastward for that open sea off the Mackenzie River which Sir John Richardson speaks of from Esquimaux report, was the course he now decided upon. The wind came round to the E.S.E., with rain and mist ; and against these obstacles the good ship struggled. On the one hand, lay a low and dan- i: i 62 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. gerous coast devoid of any shelter or haven, on the other a barrier of packed ice formed of great floe pieces and hummocks, the intervening space also being much covered with stray masses, so dense and heavy in their nature as to cause the vessel to tremble in every timber whenever she unavoidably struck any of them. Now they were sailing in a dense fog, the hand-lead and look-out man their only security against shipwreck; and anon in a gleam of sunshine and calm, towing with all their boats ahead. The excitement was great for all ; and all anxiety for the future was merged in joy at the present. The men entered fully into the en- thusiasm of the officers ; and loud songs and cheers rang through the solitudes of that lonely sea, as each fresh difficulty was mastered, and another mile of easting attained. On August 8th, when close to Point Pitt, about 120 miles east of Point Barrow, the master, Mr. Court, was sent on shore to place a notice of the " Investi- gator" having passed, and to erect a cairn. On landing, the boat was met by three Esquimaux, who, although at first extremely timid, gained confidence when the polite and pleasing operation of rubbing noses had been properly gone through in token of friendship. THIIEB ESQUIMAUX MET WITH. G3 Through Mr. Mierching, the Moravian mis- sionary, who accompanied the "Investigator" in the character of interpreter, a communication was readily established with the Esquimaux. These three men were, it appears, a portion of a petty tribe residing in this neighbourhood. The " Inves- tigator" had been first seen by them on the previous night ; and as they had never seen any- thing like her before, she had caused no small sensation in the community, and a general meeting had taken place in consequence. The most astonish- ing thing of all was, how those " three great trees " (the masts) came to be moving about ; and many different opinions were offered. They could give no name to this new wonder but that of " Omiack," the same they give to their large canoes. These three men had been deputed to /f<.tch and follow this wonderful Omiack; and the^ were the men Mr. Court had fallen in with. In reply to the queries made to them, they held out the gratifying promise of a channel of water being found continuously to the east, and that at this season it would vary from three to five miles, the distance the pack then lay off Point Pitt. The ice, they said, never went farther off than at the present time, and at one season (that is, in the 11 €4 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. m winter) there was no water at all along the coast. They could give no idea of when the water ceased to exist, or when the winter season may be said to commence in this region. Communication being established with the tribe generally, some one or two of the men owned to having seen aship before to the south (the " Plover," no doubt), in Kotzebue Sound. They spoke also of trading with other natives, who gave them Russian articles in exchange for their furs — and promised, if Captain M'Clure would return, to have some skins and ivory ready for him. The tribe generally were a stalwart set, but the men hideously disfigured by the labrets in the lower lip, most of them having two apertures on either side of the mouth, half an inch wide, into which those dis- gusting ornaments were thrust. The women might have been good-looking, according to the standard of thorough-bred Mongolian beauty ; they were slightly tattooed about the chin, but it was barely perceptible, any more, it must be added, than the natural colour of their faces, from their want of acquaintance with fresh water. General obesity prevailed in this arctic family, and they seemed to be in possession of stores of meat, as they offered to supply it for barter if the ship would wait. CHARACTER OF ESQUIMAUX. 65 Thieving, performed in a most artless manner, though not altogether without skill, appeared their principal accomplishment. Whilst Captain M'Clure was giving out some tobacco as a present, he felt a hand in his trousers' pocket, and on looking down found a native actually, while receiving with one hand, pick- ing his pocket with the other. Yet, when detected, the fellow laughed so good-humouredly, and all his compatriots seemed to enjoy the joke so amaz* ingl}', that even the aggrieved parties joined in the merriment. In Esquimaux society, this tendency to pocket-picking was evidently considered an amiable weakness. Captain M'Clure told these people that he was looking for a lost brother ; and they promised, if they should ever find any white men in distress, to be very kind to them, and " give them deers' flesh." From some of this tribe the fact was gleaned of their having observed Lieutenant PuUen when, in 1849, he sailed along the coast to the Mackenzie River; and Captain M'Clure also satis- fied himself that the " Erebus" or " Terror" had never reached this neighbourhood. A letter was left with these Esquimaux to be given to any Europeans they might meet with, and they promised faithfully to deliver it, in con- sideration of the numerous presents they received : F 66 DISCOVERT OF THE NORTH-WEST FASSAOE. but little faith can be placed in such savages ; for it was not until May 1852, when that energetic officer Captain Maguire succeeded in opening a communication with them by means of his boats, that he accidentally observed a small canvass bag, directed " To the Chief Trader of the Russian Settlements, America," and eventually discovered a remnant of the original document. It only reached England in 1853, after Lieut. Cresswell, who had been sent home by way of Baffin's Bay with despatches, had reported the " Investigator's safety. ;«, »» "^ 67 CHAP. VI. The Narrative of Captain Maguire. — Tb*) Esquimaux Beport. — The Coast of America in this Region. — The Paclc Ice and Floes. — Reacli Jones' Island. — Visited by Twenty-four Natives. — Recognition of the Chief. — Simple Cunning of the Savages. — A Fair Malefuctor. — Gallantry of the In- vestigators. — Hazardous and Difficult Navigation. — The Delta of the Mackenzie. — The Ship Aground. — Serious Loss of Provisions. While the good ship is working slowly along the coast, I may take the opportunity of showing how ably her trail was discovered by Capt. Maguire in 1852-3, and by what a faint clue he ascertained the fact of both the " Investigator " and the " En- terprise " having in successive years been seen by these same savages. It will be remembered that Captain Maguire, in the " Plover" dep6t ship, succeeded in reaching a more advanced wintering-place than Captain Moore had ever been able to attain, and in so doing he arrived at the haunts of the natives seen by Captain M'Clure. p 2 68 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. Captain Maguire's admirable narrative, which I have given in the Appendix, is one of the most in- teresting that has been written upon a winter in the ice : it describes his arrival amongst the Esquimaux, and his preparations for winter; their thievish propensities ; his difficulties and noble forbearance. " One day,'* to use his own words, " returning across the bay to the ship, we were accompanied by a young man and a boy, who talked a great deal more than wc could understand ; but the former, in explaining to us the sort of tobacco that had been given him on board a ship, twisted his fingers to- gether so as to describe American twist or negro-head. This led us to believe that the vessel where he had obtained it might have been the 'Investigator' or ' Enterprise,'* when they were leaving the ice this last season The two men willingly accompanied us on board ; and I was glad to avail myself of Lieutenant Vernon's knowledge of the language to sift the story more th oroughly. He allowed them most patiently to describe all they * Ships generally carry tobacco in the leaf for the use of their crews ; but in 1850 manufactured tobacco was adopted in arctic discovery ships, to economise stowage ; and Caven- dish, or flat compressed slabs ; or negro-head, or twisted sticks, were supplied by the Admiralty to Captains CoUinson and Austin's expedition. ■'^v NARRATIVE OF CAFTAIN MAGUIRE. 60 fP had seen, in their own way, and eventually ascer- tained that the ship they had been on board of had diagonal * decks, and had an ice-chockf larger than the ' Plover's.* The illuminators in the deck, they remarked, were sqaare. These are the points that seem to have caught their attention ; and these were sufficient to show that they had been on board one or other of the ships ; but when the captain was described as wearing spectacles. Captain CoUinson was at once identified ! " It is worthy of notice," remarks Capt. Maguire, " that a particular kind of tobacco, with which wc knew the ' Enterprise ' and the ' Investigator ' to have been provided, led to a voluntary description from the Esquimaux of their having boarded a ship, thus affording more information in a few minutes than all our inquiries of the chiefs and ■others in several months had done ; " and had not the expedition of Captain Kellett, by great good fortune, been sent to Melville Island in 1852, against the opinion of many, we should, for our information * The planking of ships' docks is generally in lines parallel to their keels ; but in arctic ships the doubling is placed dia- gonally across the original deck, to give a greater degree of strength in the event of being nipped by the ice. f A strengthening piece of wood, which goes round the ship outside. F 3 Vi if iiil 11 I ,; \\ 70 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. concerning the "Investigator," have been mainly indebted to the keenness and skill of Capt. Maguire, and the observation of a savage upon the pecu- liarity of her tobacco. By this means we attained the certainty of her having passed Point Pitt. To return to the voyage of the "Investigator." The 9th of August was passed in working against an adverse wind, through very narrow and intricate lanes of water, the ship seldom more than five minutes upon one tack, and so close to the land as to allow the natives to be constantly visiting her, and to ensure a close and careful search for any signs of Franklin's crews having passed. The coast of America in this neighbourhood is described as one vast plain ; the soil as a dark blue clay, without a stone or elevation to break its strange monotony. From the beach the eye ranges over an immense green flat, variegated with moss, grass, and flowers, and broken here and there by fine sheets of fresh water. Large herds of reindeer were seen by the "Investigator;" and the whole landscape was strangely novel to our navigators, and totally unexpected in the near neighbourhood of a sea of eternal ice. The bottom of the sea partook of the level nature of the land ; THE PACK ICE AND FLOES. 71 and the soundings were wonderfully regular, en- abling the "Investigator" to work along in spite of flying mists, by alternately standing into three fathoms water, and off to six or seven, where they generally found the edge of the heavier ice brought up and aground. Its enormous thickness may be best estimated by considering that to be aground in seven fathoms water the floes must have ranged from thirty-Jive to forty feet in depth ; and this, of course, being the outer edge of the pack, was lighter than the rest. In vain, over this vast wild scene of ice, did the aching eyes of the " Investi- gator's" crew look for one glimmer of a water sky. The natives, whenever they were questioned by Mr. Mierching, told the same tale. They I'new of no lands north of them, for it was not possible in their seal- skin kyacks to go far. Sometimes they had been up lanes of water, which formed in the ioe, to the north; but never had they been able to advance more than a day and a half's journey (or thirty miles), and this only under the most favour- able circumstances. They then came to ice which forbade all further progress. There were, besides, no seals to be seen ; and these form, of course, their only inducement for such perilous voyages. This p 4 ■ 111 ill i I 1 ill ( i 4 72 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Ill great ice, which the "Investigator" had afterwards to battle with, appalled even a race whose lives were spent in its neighbourhood. As they approached the vicinity of the Colville River, its influence became plainly perceptible, in rendering the water brackish and muddy. Water-fowl, such as the common and king eider duck, were very numerous, especially in Harrison Bay. The current hitherto, since rounding Point Bar- row, was found to be at the rate of eighteen miles a day in an east by north direction ; and it, as well as the smoothness of the narrow lane of water, enabled the "Investigator" to work to windward between thirty and forty miles a day, — a rapid progress for her. Every precaution that the invention or inge- nuity of individuals could devise was adopted to ensure that the fact of the ship having advanced so far should be made known to those who might hereafter communicate with the natives in the neighbourhood. The name of the ship was stamped upon the knives, and cut with a dia- mond upon the looking-glasses that were given away ; and Captain M'Clure, by way of preventing the people from obliterating the name from the knife-blades by sharpening or polishing them, told "investigator" visited by two baidars. 73 them that the letters there engraved would be a charm to make the hunter fortunate so long as they remained, — one of Dr. Paley's justifiable fibs, that in such a case everyone will allow to have been pardonable. The temperature of the air and sea-water was, on the 11th of August, and had been for some days, strikingly equable. The former ranged about 34° + Fahr. in the shade, and the latter 33° + Fahr. This may be regarded as the height of summer in Harrison Bay, out of which they had just worked. They reached Jones' Island, in lat. 70° 33' N., and long. 150° 16' W. of Greenwich ; and, as they approached it, the officer of the watch reported a spar erected as if for a signal; and considerable anxiety was felt, until Mr. Court went to examine it, and reported it to be merely a piece of drift- wood forced into that position by the pressure of the ice. The beaches here were found strewed with drift-wood; and one spar was observed which was as large as the "Investigator's" main-mast. The centre of Jones' Island was one great swamp, the breeding-place of large flocks of wild-fowl. On this forenoon they were visited by two baidars, containing twenty-four natives; and it is curious that, from the chief having in his possession an old u \ 74 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. musket with the date " 1840, Barnet," marked on the lock, we are able to trace the fact that this man and his people hunt over the ground from Point Barrow thus far to the eastward : for it was this very man with whom Captain Maguire had such difficulty, as he mentions in his narrative (given in the Appendix) ; and there is little doubt that it was he who headed the attack on Lieut. Pullen in 1849. However, he was civil enough now ; and both he and his compatriots made a most favourable im- pression on Captain M'Clure. " The size of the vessel," he says, " and particularly that of the large handkerchiefs (the sails) excited their admiration. The whale-boats, as coming more within the grasp of their conception, were much admired ; and they expressed curiosity to know where trees fit to make such boats out of grew, believing, as they did, that they were in one piece, and merely hollowed out." They readily parted with whatever fish and wild- fowl they had, in barter for tobacco, and oflfered, if Capt. M'Clure would stay, to bring abundance of venison, which they had in store upon the main. The currency of this region is tobacco ; and Capt. M'Clure became his own Master of the Mint, by cutting the sticks into pieces about three inches long, and paying with them as he thought just. . An T,y SIMPLE CUNNING. 75 amusing instance was noticed on this occasion of the cunning of these savages. One of them having observed that every fish was paid for by one piece of tobacco, with a view of increasing his profits, cut his fish into pieces, and with barefaced assurance proposed that he should be paid the same amount of tobacco for each portion that he had been paid for the whole. The joke afforded great amusement amongst the crew of the "Investigator;" and the fellow himself seemed to enter into the fun wh'.*n he found his ruse unsuccessful. Another party of natives, in the course of the same day, succeeded in obtaining an interview from the " Investigator," by hanging out the rather original ensign of a pair of seal- skin trousers from the top of a pole. After exchanging the usual signs of peace, by holding up hands on either side, and by a general chorus of Timouh ! or Peace, the more affectionate salutation of rubbing noses was gone through, and cheerfully too, for these Esqui- maux, wonderful to state, happened to be this time pleasantly clean. Through the aid of Mr. Mierching, the natives informed the Investigators that they had never before seen a European ; and they promised to take care of any who should ever come that way. These people barter their furs \rl 76 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. with the natives westward of them for Russian pro- ducts; but, remote as they are, few articles ever reach them, for even a knife was an object of the greatest possible delight and wonder. Their sum- mer residence and hunting-grounds were on the sterile islands lying off the coast ; their winter lodges were a short distance inland upon the main. The tendency to theft was the prevailing vice among these Esquimaux, as is naturally to be expected from all savages who for the first time see such incalculable wealth, in the shape of wood and iron, thrown almost into their possession ; and the same may be said of all the tribes the " Investiga- tor " fell in with along this coast. Even after receiving the most lavish supply of presents, and when apparently unable to express all their delight and gratitude, the temptation of any loose article was too great for their honesty. Nothing ever was "too hot or too heavy" for them. On the 12th, for instance, whilst every kindness was being shown to a party of men and women, one of the ladies contrived to secrete under her ample proportions a couple of iron winch-handles and a small ice-anchor. She settled over them like a hen over a nest of eggs; but the ends of one of the handles peeped out, and a lynx-eyed corporal of Marines detected what A FAIR MALEFACTOR. 77 would in those regions have been a serious loss. The fair delinquent, when taxed with the offence, and upbraided in that rough but energetic language which seamen believe must be understood from pole to pole, pointed at her husband, and evinced a wish that he should share in the responsibility. Of course gallantry was at a high pitch amongst a crew who had left all womankind behind them so many months since, and might shortly again do so for a length of time painful to contemplate ; but it is amusing, in reading over the journals of the officers, on the same page with the above anecdote, to find such a passage as the following: — "These children of nature, inhabitants of one of her most desolate regions, appeared free from vice ! and evinced the liveliest marks of gratitude for the trifling presents we made them ! " How much such amiable forbearance, even in the passing of judg- ment upon these creatures, tells us of the tender- heartedness of this body of resolute men ! They found a pleasure even in communicating with the veriest savdges on earth as a relief to the monotony of the voyage; and probably the anticipation of success already threw its sunshine over everything they saw. These interviews with the natives formed now the only breaks to the daily routine, beyond the !! ; :l iFfjffil la , I 78 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. general satisfaction felt when, every day at noon, the master reported so many more miles achieved to the eastward. On August 14th, the "Investigator" had reached longitude 148** 17' W., and became much hampered amongst the low and, for a ship in thick weather, dangerous islands which line the coast in this neighbourhood. They had now passed the Return Reef of Sir John Franklin, the spot from whence he bore up, in 1826, after his unsuccessful attempt to reach Behring's Strait from the Mackenzie River ; and they might be said to be nearing the delta of that great stream. The navigation, always most anxious work for the responsible officera, now became, if possible, still more so. Hazardous shoals were in some places hidden by floes which had run over them ; in others the soundings altered so abruptly as to deceive the most careful. Sudden and dense fogs, with change- able and sometimes rapid currents, all tended to give the commander and master every cause to be watchful. The shoals lining this American Tundra are of the same character, Capt. M'Clure assures us, as those at the mouths of many large rivers in various parts of the world, and which are especially remarked by Wrangel as lying off the mouths of THE Snir AGROUND. 79 the great Asiatic streams that debouch into the Arctic Sea. They are composed purely of drift- wood and the alluvial deposits of neighbouring rivers. A mass of the former takes the ground, or becomes fixed by some accident, in three or four fathoms water; the current soon feels the impe- diment, and begins to deposit, in and around the nucleus, matter that forms a shoal ; the shoal grows rapidly, more drift-wood grounds, more sediment is deposited, and even within the lifetime of a man, as one Esquimaux assured Mr. Mierching, an island rises from the bottom of the sea. After one or two narrow escapes on the 14th of August, the " Investigator " found herself quite beset with these shoals ; and at last, in trying to escape through a narrow three-fathom channel, she unfortunately took the ground ; a press of can- vass was at first carried, in the hope of dragging her through it, but that proved to be hopeless ; a kedge anchor was next laid out, but it, as well as a stream one and chain, failed to heave the vessel afloat. No time was now to be lost ; the boats were got out, all the deck-load of provisions em- barked in them, some tons of fresh water were started from the tanks in her hold, the anchors lowered into cutters, and then, on a fresh attempt, the 3 \ i 80 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. " Investigator " was got afloat, after being aground for five hours. Unfortunately, the ship being obliged to carry canvass to get into deep water, one of the boats laden with provisions capsized whilst in tow, and eleven casks of salt meat were lost, — a real calamity to men under their circumstances. pl^ 81 CHAP. VII. A Thunder-storm. — Slow Progress. — Signs of tlie near Approach of Winter. — Going nhend agnin. — The Ship runs into a Trap in tlio Main Puck. — Works out agnin. — Com- mander Pullcn and a Boat's Crew pass witliout being seen. — Land at Point Warren. — Hostile Reception. — Recon- ciliation. The 15th of August was a lost day ; and, entangled by shoals of ice, the vessel had to anchor off Yarborough Inlet, to avoid again getting ashore. In the evening came a westerly wind, and with it a hope of release from the dispersing of the ice, which shut up all the navigable channels ; but it was attended by a thunder-storm, a phenomenon rarely witnessed by an Arctic navigator. "The west wind," writes Captain M'Clure, " was ushered in with rain, and thunder and lightning. The two latter I never before witnessed in such a latitude (70° N.). The thermometer rose to 45°-f- Fahrenheit, and the air was quite sultry, with dark heavy clouds rising overhead, resembling those seen in a thunder-storm in our 'lit J- \ , ' il it I »l 82 DISCOVERY OF THE NOKTH-WEST PASSAGE. I !i own country. The packed ice to-day," he con- tinues, " as far as the eye can reach, appears solid and heavy, without a drop of water discernible. The refraction has been considerable, giving to the edge of the pack the appearance of a continuous line of chalk cliffs, from forty to fifty feet in height. From the light shady tint which in different parts of the pack is distinctly visible, I should be inclined to think that there may be many of the same kind of islands as those we have met with, extending to the northward, and impeding the progress of the ice, thereby keeping this sea eternally frozen." Scarcely any progress could be made on the 16th or 17th, though the men worked hard and inces- santly, — now towing, now warping, and, when any wind served, pressing the old craft to her work until the bells in the ship ran again with the con- cussion of her bows against the floating masses of ice. An attempt to catch fish with the seine upon one of the shoals, by a party of volunteers, proved abortive, nothing but drift-wood repaying them for their industry; and on the night of the 17th the surface of the sea was seen, for the first time this season, to have a coating of ice formed over it. The fact was observed and remarked upon by all : ' ■™"~"~" GOING AHEAD AGAIN. 83 it told of the near approach of winter, with all its disagreeables, and caused some, who had limited their aspirations for tliis year to the ^lackcnzic River, to question if they should even reach so far. On the 18th, the " Investigator " made some progress, and passed Flaxman's Island. She was now fairly about to cross the large angle formed by the mouth of the Mackenzie River ; and, affected no doubt by its influence, the main packed ice was found more slack and more remote from the coast. Tempted by what seemed a sea of water, the " Investigator " ran off, steering a N. E. course for Banks Land ; a slight pitching motion, the first they had felt for some time, leading to the hope of large water. The rapid deepening of the sea, too, during the first watch, from nine to thirty-two fathoms, likewise strengthened their hopes ; and darkness and a thick fog hid the reality from their eyes. August the 19th came, with a fresh westerly breeze, snow squalls, and mist ; and in happy ignorance they rattled on, sighting every now and then what looked like the pack edge, or tumbling into bights of ice, where there was no way out but by returning for a while npon their footsteps. At noon they sounded in 195 fathoms without a 2 i >*j ' it I it 84 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. bottom ; and shortly afterwards the disagreeable fact of the " Investigator " having run into a trap in the main pack pressed itself on the mind of the captain. Ice, of stupendous thickness, and in extensive floes, some seven or eight miles in length, was seen on either hand; the surfare of it not flat, such as we see it in Baffin's Strait and the adjacent seas, but rugged with the accumulated snow, frost, and thaws of centuries. Ninety miles had they run into a blind lead in this dangerous ice ; and if the wind should shift and the ice close, the position of the ship would be critical indeed. Captain M'Clure now hauled to the southward, working against the wind, which freshened and forced him at one time to carry double-reefed topsails. Next day a distant view of the Buckland Moun- tains was obtained, and the ship had eventually to retrace her steps seventy miles to the southward, before she was safe from the jaws of the pack, — an escape which all were truly grateful for, there being no two opinions in the ship as to what would have been their fate had the ice closed upon them. On the 21st August, the sea was sufficiently clear within the edge of the packed ice to allow the " Investigator " to steer a course outside the Pelly LIEUT. PULLEN PASSES UNSEEN. 85 Islands, which lie off the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and fifty miles distant from the mainland. At 10 A.M. the ship passed distinctly athwart the stream of the Mackenzie, overrunning the sea- water. The temperature of the water rose from 28°+ to 39°-}- Fahrenheit. The colour of it was as muddy as the Thames at Woolwich, and the taste only slightly brackish. The depth of water being but four fathoms warned Captain M'Clure that he must not attempt to approach the mainland any closer, anxious as he was to do so. Little did Captain M'Clure or his gallant com- panions imagine that on that 22nd August the boat's crew of Commander PuUen was only a few miles off, on their return homeward from a visit to Cape Bathurst ; but such are the unavoidable accidents of Arctic service. The two followin": extracts from Captain M'Clure and Lieut. Pullen's journals will, by a reference to the chart, show how near they were to each other. Captain M'Clure on the 22nd, p.m., and going eastAvard, observes Richard's Island bearing S.K. by E. J E. to N.N.E. i E. On the 23rd August, in the morning, Lieut. Pullen was steering for Richard's Island, and in the course of the day he coasted along its northern shore, on his way to the Mackenzie River. Can a o 3 .1 1 1 ilil Vh I 86 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 4 more convincing proof be given of tlie difficulty of meeting in Polar seas, or of such a search as that undertaken for Franklin's expedition ? For, be it remembered, both officers knew of the importance attached to communication between parties em- ployed upon such service ; and therefore certainly did their best to pass nothing unseen. Perhaps, however, it was as well for the future fame of the British Navy, that Captain M'Clure did not meet Lieut. Pullen ; as the latter's unfavourable report of what an ice-encumbered sea lie had seen from Cape Bathurst might have induced Captain M'Clure to adopt some other course instead of the one he did. After passing the Pelly Islands, whales were again seen for the first time since they left Point Barrow — the ice-master, however, said they were small, and not worth much to fishermen, either in bone or oil. On tlie 24th August, observing some native huts near Point Warren on the eastern shore of the Mac- kenzie, the ship hauled in for tliem, and Captain M'Clure landed with the hope of inducing some of the natives to carry to the Hudson's Bay Company's posts, intelligence of his having passed ; for the voyagers were now fairly within the limits of a ill NATIVES HOSTILE. — RECONCILIATION. 87 ;re ,' m of s le a region whereon, it was to be expected, the civilising influence of that wealthy company of monopolisers might be perceptible. Hitherto, they had been coasting along Russian America ; but now British America had been entered upon. But the reception of the Investigators by their Esquimaux fellow-subjects of Queen Victoria de- noted anything but confidence in white men. Two of them yelled and shouted, waving a knife in de- claration of war, and threatening even with bow and arrow. Every method which had hitherto been considered of avail in propitiating the good- will of Esquimaux, was made in vain, until at last Mr. Mierching, attired as one of themselves, suc- ceeded in assuring them of the good intentions of their visitors, and that they neither contemplated robbing nor murdering them, — a pleasant contin- gency which they evidently considered likely to arise on a visit from " Kabloonas," or white men. Confi- dence had only just been established, when suddenly a couple of muskets were espied in the hands of the boat's crew, and thereupon all the fury of the new acquaintances burst out afresh ; nothing appeased them until the muskets were sent back to the boats. It appeared that, when the vessel was first seen in the morning, all the natives had decamped with G 4 'I :l!( I \ i I 88 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. their baidars and household gods, leaving only the chief and his son, who had bravely refused to fly, and remained to defend a sick youth and the encampment. This invalid soon made his ap- pearance with his mother ; and Dr. Armstrong kindly sought to give the poor creature such aid as was in his power ; but it was too late, his foot was evidently in an advanced state of mortification, and death must have soon come to put him out of his misery. Through the interpreter they learnt that this tribe was at war with its neighbours, and had no communication with the Indians of the Mackenzie River. Their barter or trade was carried on, after the sea froze over, by crossing to the western shore, and meeting the natives seen by the Investigators on her road hither. The chief recognised the name of one of the petty chiefs Mr. Mierching had met, and said, with some degree of pride, "Ah, he Avas a great chief! He should," he added, " see Attauwoo very soon," and " he had a quantity of blubber and whalebone to barter with the western people, for his people had killed three whales in the present season." When asked why +hey did not trade with the white men up the big river, the reply was, they had given the Indians a water which LV INTERCOURSE WITH THE ESQUIMAUX. 89 had killed a great many of them and made others foolish, and they did not want to have any of it ! From this tribe Captain M'Clure heard of two boats having been to Cape Warren from the west- ward, and having returned again ; and he was for some time rather puzzled at a story they told him, of a white man having been killed and buried in this neighbourhood. To the inquiry of when it had taken place, all that coiild be learned was, that " it might have been last year, or perhaps when the narrator Avas a child " ! an Esquimaux mode of dealing with dates not a little perplexing.* Although the natives offered to show where this body was interred, it was not until next day that circumstances admitted of an examination being made in the locality pointed out ; and then it was without any success, although the ruined remains of a couple of drift-wood huts, so well described by Sir John Richardson in his journey through Prince Rupert's Land, were there to excite cu- riosity and afford grounds for conjecture. * There is every reason to believe that this story referred to the death and burial of a man near this place, in one of Sir John Kieliardson's early journeys from the Mackenzie to the Copper- mine River. Captain M'Clure, not having been supplied with tlie needful books on Arctic Discovery, was not aware of this circumstance. I'll '1 11 i 90 DISCOVERY Of THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. CHAP. VIII. Approacli to Capo Bathurst. — Wliale-fishing of the Natives. — Celebration of their Victories over tlie Leviathan. — Esquimaux Charmers The Joys of Cape Bathurst. — The Land of the Wiiite Bear. — An Esquimaux Swindler. — Mode of settling Quarrels. — Judicious Missionaries de- sirable for these People. — Admirable Qualifications of Mr. ISIierching. The 26tli and 27tli of August, 1850, were spent in making the best of tlieir way from Cape Warren to Port Dalhousie, the vessel being kept as near to the land as the soundings would admit of, which was not nearer than two miles. Captain M'Clurc would have sent a boat to render the search more perfect; but the incessant mists and variable weather made it hardly prudent to detach any of the men, with the possibility of their being misled. The extent of open water off the land seemed to increase as they approached Cape Bathurst; but the floes that were found floating about in it were of great magnitude, and occasionally gave much trouble in keeping the ship clear of them. The nights were closing perceptibly ; and from per- I APPROACH TO CAFE BATIIURST. 91 petual day they had now three hours of perfect darkness, during which time guns and rockets were fired at intervals, in case any of Franklin's expedition, or the " Enterprise," might be near. Arriving off the western entrance of Liverpool Bay, Captain M'Clure was very anxious to run into it, in order tliat he might form an idea of its fitness for winter quarters ; the probable necessity for which, with due forethought, he felt it right to keep in mind. For as yet, along the whole extent of the American coast that he had traversed since leaving Behring's Strait, not a harbour had been found. The shallow and intricate navigation of the mouth of the Mackenzie River forbade his thinking of bearing up for it at any time ; and he saw full well that to winter oflF such a coast, with the possibility of the whole weight of the northern ice setting down on it during November and December gales, would be certain destruction. Liverpool Bay, however, was as shoal as the rest ; and the " Investigator" pushed on, trusting to Pro- vidence to find a safe spot when the winter came. Lideed, some already talked of not wintering at all ; and the more sanguine pointed out that they were close upon the longitude of Melville Island, a place reached by Parry from the opposite direc- 92 DISCOVEUY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. tion : that goal reached, the rest of the voyage would be easily done. Crossing Liverpool Bay, and seeing several whales, some large, but the majority small, they reached Cape Bathurst on the 31st of August. The depth of water near the land allowed a nearer approach by the ship ; and it is generally described as exhibiting, along the coast, blue clay cliffs about thirty feet perpendicular, having on their surface a good depth of rich black mould resembling bog- earth. A fine plain rolled away into the interior, rich in hypoborean plants, and abounding in rein- deer, whilst, apart from whales, there were seen at several places positive proofs of fish having been plentiful as well as wild-fowl. At and about Cape Bathurst, Captain M'Clure made a final effort to communicate his position to the Hudson Bay posts, through the Esquimaux, who are there particularly numerous. Aided by Mr. Mierching as interpreter, and by the favourable impression which Sir John Richard- son's visit to them in 1848 had made, the intercourse with this tribe, numbering three hundred souls, was extremely interesting. Even a few women who first met the Investigators showed no signs of mistrust, but cordially welcomed them, and volun- teered to show the way to their companions. Cap- WHALE-FISIIING OF THE NATIVES. 93 tain M'Clure describes them as an extremely fine-looking body of men and women ; many of the latter indeed were, according to his account, exceedingly pretty. Healthy, well fed, and well clothed, they seemed to lack nothing; and their intelligence, courage, and good-natured confidence in the men and ofiicers won everybody's good- will. The chief promised to convey the letter to a tribe thi:t communicated with our posts on the '* Big River " (the Mackenzie River) ; they them- selves bartering with an intervening race, probably Louchoux Indians. As far as could be gleaned, they would pro- ceed south for the latter purpose in about three weeks' time, leaving only a few men and most of the women to winter at Cape Bathurst. Whaling was at present their object ; and their jmode of killing those leviathans was primitive enough. An Omaiak, or women's boat, is manned by ladies, having as harpooner a chosen man of the tribe; and a shoal of small fry, in the form of Kyacks, or single-men canoes, are in attendance. The har- pooner singles out a fish, and drives into its flesh his weapon, to which an inflated seal-skin is attached by means of a walrus-hide thong. The wounded fish is then incessantly harassed by the r*i| ii m m li l!i 94 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAQE. men in the kyacks with wenpons of a similar de- scription, a number of whieli, when attached to the wlialc, baffle its efforts to escape, and wear out its strength, until, in the course of a day, the whale dies from sheer exhaustion and loss of blood. The harpooner, after a successful day's sport, is a very great personage, and invariably decorated with the Esquimaux order of the Blue Ribbon ; that is, he has a blue line drawn across his face over the bridge of his nose. This is the highest lionour known to the heroes of Cape Bathurst ; but to it is attached also the happy privilege of the decorated individual being allowed to take unto himself a second wife. Great orgies occur upon such occasions ; and, if all tales be true, it is to be feared that morality is at rather a low ebb in these latitudes, and that Byron's theory concerning cold climates and chastity is not always supported by fact. These " children of nature " stole, of course, when the chance offered, like their brethren farther west ; and the thieves were generally of the fair sex: it appeared to be a sort of tax which they levied upon the amused, and, in some cases, admiring seamen. When they came to pay a visit to the ship, they were soon quite at their ease, and having carried up their light canoes and depo- LAND OF TIIK WIllTK IlKAIl. 06 sited them on deck, they ranged nbout full of astonishment ond curiosity ; the pictures und look- ing-glasses in the officers' cabins being especial objects of admiration. They then had a dance with the crew, and invited them ashore ; and charming young ladies, with brightest of eyes and whitest of teeth, assured their admirers that all the night of the 31st of August they had ^bcen expected. Venison had been roasted, whale stewed, and other racy and tempting delicacies prepared. We have been assured that some of the men, in the solitudes of Banks Land, often looked back to this oasis of Cape Bathurst with a sigh, and would have ex- changed, for the certainty of existence there, the uncertain prospect of an escape to Europe. Cape Bathurst was to the " Investigator," in her long voyage, what Otaheite was in the olden day to our early circumnavigators. The skill in delineating the outlines of the coast, or chart-drawing, which has been so often men- tioned by navigators as existing amongst the Esquimaux, was really found here ; but nothing could be learnt of what lay to the North. They did not know whether it was sea or not ; but they said, pointing to it with an expression of anxiety, " That is the Land of the White Bear! " They « I' 96 DISCOVERY OF THE NOKTII-WEST PASSAGE. I appeared to be much alarmed, too, when the ship for a time stood off towards it. The bears they described as coming from it were said to be very fierce and dangerous ; and one of the women, with tears in her eyes, told how lately one of those brutes had carried off her child when playing on the beach at a short distance from her. Even those whom superior weapons rendered fearless of bears, could not but enter into the feelings of super- stitious awe, with which the Esquimaux pointed at that vast and mysterious sea of ice, which lay away to the north-west ; a sea which ship could not sail through, nor man traverse. " Rightly," says Captain M'Clure, " did they call it the Land of the White Bear." A constant traffic in the exchange of garments went on between the seamen and officers on the one side and the natives on the other ; but one in- dividual, more knowing than the rest, hit upon an ingenious plan to obtain clothing without giving a quid pro quo. He went to several individuals of the " Investigator's " company, commencing with the commander, and pretended to be sufiiering from excessive cold. His teeth chattered and his whole frame shook so, that compassion was imme- diately aroused, and a Guernsey frock given him ; TRAFFIC WITH NATIVES. 97 then he felt better, but, watching an opportunity, the rogue would slip it off, stow it away in his kyack, and then return to pigeon a fresh hand. At last, however, an old quarter-master, who had been watching him with some degree of amuse- ment, flew into a passion at the fellow trying the same trick on with him, called him " a Jeiv,^' and threatened to knock his head off, accompanying his threat with a demonstration from a large horny fist, which the Esquimaux understood better than the profuse volley of adjectives that rolled out at the same time over the quarter-master's quid. With regard to the story told of a white man being buried at Cape Warren, they merely said they knew nothing of it or of the natives residing there ; indeed, they were at variance with them. They appeared to have no idea of any religious ceremonies, and knew of no Supreme Being. 1 hey were generally happy, and agreed well together in their tribe ; and when any quarrel did occur, they only packed up their goods and quitted the com- munity, settling somewhere else on the coast. If a mortal grudge should arise, a thing of rare occurrence, the aggrieved party, concealing his passion, waited quietly for an opportunity of revenge ; and, when it offered, he killed his enemy. H r' 'I J 98 DISCOVERY OF THK NORTH-WEST TASSAGE. m ;lt : 1 No retaliation took place at the time ; but some one of the murderer's family eventually atoned for the deed, the actual perpetrator, however, often escaping. Such was the principal information gleaned from these people. A despatch was left with them, which has not yet come to hand ; but they promised to be kind to any strangers, " white men," who might come amongst them ; a promise that they appeared likely to keep from interested, if not from better motives. No apology need be given for relating what little is known of these interesting arctic fisher- men — cut off from civilisation by a dreary wilder- ness but seldom traversed — hemmed in by a brutal and blood-thirsty race which not all the romantic fiction of a Fenimore Cooper can redeem from the curse of all Christian men, and wandering along the farthest shores of a territory farmed to a company of furriers (the Hudson's Bay Company) whose dividends depend upon the race of beasts being multiplied rather than that of men. We shall probably not hear much more of these poor creatures now that, for a while at least, there is a lull in arctic exploration ; and we cannot take leave of them without echoing a wish continually expressed throughout Captain M'Clure'a Journal: — L' V JUDICIOUS MISSIONARIES NEEDED. 99 k " Would that some practically Christian body, such as the Moravian Mission, could send a few of their brethren amongst the tribes of Esquimaux who wander along the Polar Sea, to carry to them the arts and advantages of civilised life, and trust to God, in His own good time, showing them the way of eternal life." Such men as Mr. Mierching would in a few years perfectly revolutionise this docile and intelligent race. He was, as I have said, a native of Saxony, and had for many years been a missionary in Labrador. Nothing came amiss to this valuable person ; he could make a pair of shoes, or crochet an antimacassar, build a house of mud or wood, — or sing a song and play the guitar. He was strong in frame, and cheerful and contented under all circumstances, perhaps partly because he had always been accustomed to a life of trial. Such a man as this is worth a hundred of the pretenders to piety who have fallen, like locusts, on the loaves and fishes of many of the races of un- civilised man, under the plea of " plucking brands from the burning " I I >i H 2 m 100 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. CHAP. IX. Capo Batlmrst left. — Fires observed on Shore — prove to be Volcanoes. — Cape Parry reached. — New Land discovered. — Possession taken in the Queen's Name. — The " Inves- tigator " proceeds on a north-easterly Course. — Barrow's Strait only Sixty Miles further. — Captain M'Clure'a Journal. nm u J September has come. The " Investigator " is push- ing ahead, the winds are light as they ever have been since leaving Behring's Strait, except for a few hours when she was entangled in the pack off the Mackenzie River. From the 1st to the 5th the vessel was round- ing the Bay formed by Capes Bathurst and Parry ; whales were very numerous, no less than fi?teen being seen at one time, although none of a large size. The water was deep, eighty-four fathoms being obtained, only four miles off shore, when at the mouth of the Horton River. On the 4th large fires were seen on shore, and at first sup- posed to be lighted by the natives to attract attention. As, however, Mr. Mierching questioned such extravagance in fuel being committed by A- ,i ■<•' ■Jik'; f:rm ^l '#1 -•-F« ?^:, ;-:■■;'»■• .C:- ■ ■"Jss.'- ■?^'^' ■I «tKv-- f^^ ■"t-ns fij,> f ! H' "■ \: ' i!.\r. \\ ; ■ ' -■ :.-■;. "1 leil. - - Kii'OS ol'-.'^rvi'i! ft ■ 1 1» - }-y\i^'.i,, ho \ ■,.>* n:i'.!i^. — ( 'fij^ii; i'lirry r- ^' 'IkaI. - \' ^< :....i'l ':• ■ < >i' !. - »\*i''.-!M. ij Jiikcii J: tin! (.^'.1; -I'.'. >i nil -. ■• • ill' '-'liiv... fi'jia'.' !»»..- ••^.« ;i :'. iioriii-ea.'^tijr'iy (\ M"^r. - - IkutcwV S-'X 'a i.".tiv .-^■'.r *-!'••.■ •iv'ic. -- (.'i-ptii'.n iM*<, Ukc'* ' e ^(..•(1- ^ ^ ' • M t . H, ', . •' ' ^if ;i \:y\ '-■- .r* ■.' • ■ ^ . ,,-5, ..if i-'roii Ti»o \.x lo th(.> ;Mh llie V'— '^"-'l was round- ijip' t^i'-'' lif. i'^rmed by Ca)-'"- !K''f}n.ii'"-t uuu iVtrry; ■%,(>»:'••. H'-'..' Mry iiUDi-irouv, m-- \.s^ thaii iifio(,n I'^'ii j; . i'uol beiii^ coir.jnitiod by T ! >' » « '■*, l« .5^ \4' >^ *'1 »^ K^' M-'^ r~ •.! 1| 5 ;v ■ il H VOLCANIC FIRES. 101 I Esquimaux, on the next day (Sept. 5th), when it liappened to be calm with rain, Lieutenant Gurney Cresswell, Doctor Armstrong, and some others were sent to examine the spot. The fires proved to be volcanic, and issued in smoke strongly impregnated with sulphur, from fifteen different cone-like apertures resembling lime-kilns. Dr. Armstrong collected a considerable quantity of specimens of earths and minerals, in which the place was rich. The general appearance of the land was flat, though rising in places to an elevation of 300 ft. to 500 ft., and intersected with ravines, exhibiting blue clay. The volcanoes were about fifty feet above water, and situated on an old land-slip, not unlike the undercliff of the Isle of Wight; some pools of water near these volcanic cones were strongly impregnated with copperas ; and altogether the testimony of our voyagers would lead us to suppose that the subterranean fires at this spot have a different origin to those found existing here and there, in about the 56tli parallel of north latitude, on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, where such fires are generally imputed to the substratum of coal having caught fire by spontaneous combustion. On September 6th, 1850, Cape Parry was H 3 ii I'l 102 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. reached, ■while a fresh breeze was blowing, but with gloomy overcast weather, and the pack ex- tending east and west in a close and heavy body, about three miles off shore. At noon, the sky lifted a little to the northward, and showed high bold land, lying off to north-east, the ex- tremes of its bearing N. by E. and E. N. E. true. It was a first discovery ; for hitherto the chart had been a blank in that quarter. This was satisfactory in more ways than one, for it was upon the bearing of Melville Island, and Captain M'Clure knew full well the advantage, and the prospect of reaching it, that was now held out, if the land which he saw was an extensive one. Land-ivater had already brought him nearly half-way to Baffin's Bay ; next season, if not in this, land-water would enable him to achieve the rest ! A freshening north-east breeze and clear weather, with more open Avater, enabled the gallant " Inves- tigator" to stretch off from the American continent this night ; and the water became more free from ice as they reached under the weather and newly- discovered land ; and next day, 7th Sept., at 9.30 A.M Captain M'Clure landed to take possession of this addition to the realms of his Royal Mistress. ADDITION TO TIIK QUEEN's UEALMS. 103 Some have blamed him for this; but I think few men would have hesitated to do the same under similar circumstances. The devotion and enterprise, which had brought that company of sixty British seamen so far, were alloyed by no selfish vanity ; there were none but themselves in those wild solitudes to re-echo their cheers; and the loyalty with which they hailed their first addition to Queen Victoria's broad realms, was as sincere as that which had buoyed them up in past difficulties, and cheered and invigo- rated them for future trials. It was not for them to weigh the value of what they had discovered, it was enough that they had done their duty ; and an honest conviction of that fact gladdened officer and man that day as they stood on the cape which marked the half-way of their journey. They might not be the. men fated to tell their own tale, and to reap the reward of their toils ; but come what might, they trusted that if at some future day their country should learn how honestly they had devoted their lives to her glory, she would not fail to do honour to their memory. Such were the high and ennobling thoughts which filled the hearts of the humblest of that little band : well might their leader feel proud of them, and they of u 4 i m 1 1*' ii hi ^t^> I 104 DISCOVERY OF TIIK NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. liim ; and both may well smile ut any attempt to rob them of this honest fame, or sneer at their just enthusiasm. They christened the Land " ]»aring Island," after tlic then first Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Francis Baring, under the supposition, after- wards found erroneous, that it was not connected with Banks Land. The headland they were stand- ing upon is a remarkably striking one, full 1000 feet high, and of a castellated appearance ; this was appropriately named after Lord Nelson, wlio, as a dead hero, has not been sufficiently remem- bered by modern naval discoverers. Having a southern aspect, the vegetation, for this latitude, was somewhat abundant, and the arctic flora was seen in perfection. Recent traces of reindeer and hares were a satisfactory sight to the Investigators ; and some wild geese were soaring over head. The ice which was beginning to make in the pools and on the land had sent the ducks to milder regions southward ; but that they came here in large numbers in the summer months was very evident. Better than all, too, — for who was then going to contemplate wintering there ? — from a con si- derable elevation, which, as they guessed, embraced forty miles of horizon to the north-east, the sea BAIUNG LAND. 105 was more open and free from ice. Oh, for a fair wind ! was the exclamation that burst from all lilts. The vessel was now worked along to the north- cast, against a moderate east wind, with weather alternately foggy and line. The coast of liaring Land, as they advanced, showed out point after point ; the outline generally picturesque, and sloping to the sea. Limestone prevailed in its structure, but as yet covered with a considerable amount of verdure. Throughout the 8th Septem- ber, the " Investigator " advanced as rapidly as her speed on a wind would admit of, the soundings varying steadily from nine fathoms to seventy-six fathoms, the bottom a dark mud, and in places yellow clay. The marked continuance of the land began now to lead them to suppose that its con- nexion with Banks Land was possible ; and when next day, the 9th, after a shift of wind had enabled the " Investigator," to run awhile upon her course to the north-east, and land showed out on the starboard bo-\\ , great anxiety was felt by some, lest they should be running into some deep ford or inlet without an egress into Barrow's Strait. Should this be the cascj they would have to re- trace tlieir steps ; but the season for navigation was now to be told in hours, and there was no time ■'I h M m U 106 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. for hesitation and doubt ; so the land on the star- board bow was at once declared to be another island, and named Prince Albert's Land. Their course lay between them, and was shaped ac- cordingly. The distance between the two lands was conjectured to be thirty miles ; and at an equal number of miles from each the " Investigator " held on her way. in spite of fogs, and snow squalls. A few gulls and seals were seen, and some ducks flying south, — an unerring signal of the advent of an arctic winter. " The soundings in midchannel were about thirty-seven fathoms mud," says Captain M'Clure; " and on the evening of the 9th no snow was yet to be seen lying on the adjacent land. On Septem- ber 10th, in a fog, the ship fell in with two islands ; and it was afterwards seen that the strait they were going up contracted here to only fourteen miles, and some ice was seen hanging about the western shore. " Sept. 9th, 1850. — Albert Land, on the starboard hand, exhibited, in its interior, ranges of mountains covered with snow ; but the lower grounds were as yet free ; here and there peaks of a volcanic cha- racter and outline were seen, but none that appeared active, and the rocks were mostly limestone, as on II ii r *. Vl CAPTAIN m'CLUHE'S JOURNAL. 107 ■^' the western shore." Among the islands gulls still lingered, giving a hope of winter having delayed its arrival; and that arrival was now what the voyagers most feared. They felt as if they would give all they held dear in life for another week of summer. The dangers of the navigation, cold, hunger, and hardship, — all were forgotten. " Only give us time," they said, " and we must make the North-west Passage." At noon the observations placed the " Investigator " only sixty miles from Barrow's Strait. " I cannot," writes Captain M'Clure, in his private journal, " describe my anxious feelings. Can it be possible that this water communicates with Barrow's Strait, and shall prove to be the long-sought North-west Passage ? Can it be that so humble a creature as I am will be permitted to perform what has baf- fled the talented and wise for hundreds of years! But all praise be ascribed unto Him who hath con- ducted us so far in safety. His ways are not our ways, or the means that He uses to accomplish His ends within our comprehension. The wisdom of the world is foolishness with Him." Captain M'Clure, I am sure, need be under no apprehension that his feelings, and those of his gal- lant supporters, will not be properly appreciated. i V. fe t A II 108 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. One such paragraph as that above quoted is enough to show how well in that hour of joy, as well as in future ones of anxiety and distress, they both placed their trust where there could be no dis- appointment. An eloquent tribute to this truly chivalrous dependence upon God and a good cause has been furnished by a continental writer.* He says, after quoting such a paragraph as the above : " Le sentiment intime de la Bible si commun aux Anglais, les suit partout; il les accompagne dfais toutes les epreuves, les soutient dans tons ic dangers. Quand le Calife Omar brAla la biblio- th^que d'Alexandrie, il dit : ' Si les livres ne contien- nent que le Coran il sont inutiles, s'ils contiennent autre chose, ils sont de trop sur la terre.' Ainsi les Anglais avec leur Bible, ce livre unique leur suffit : il contient tout. Et quand on les suit dans ces courses heroiques qu'ils font dans les regions in- explor^es, on ne pent s'empecher d'ouvrir avec eux le Livre des livres. Ces intr^pides pionniers, ces pr^curseurs de la civilisation qui ouvrent a I'hu- manitd de nouvelles voies, nous apparaissent comme des Moises qui vont k la conquete de la terre promise." * M. Lemoine, in Flndependance Beige, 109 CHAP. X. Signs of a rapidly approacliing Winter. — Critical Position of the "Investigator." — Made fast to a Floe. — Safe for the Present. — Winter begun. — Winter Clothing. — Driven with the Ice towards Barrow's Strait. — Arduous Toils, — The '• Investigator " reaches her most advanced Position. — Beset at Last. — Dangerous Agitation in the Ice. — Pre- parations for Shipwreck. — Sweeping with the Pack against the Cliffs. — Imminent Peril. — Safe once more. — And stationary. The 11th September, 1850, came in upon the " In- vestigator," and brought with it the first undoubted signs of winter. The ice, acted upon by a fresh north-west gale, had rolled down the strait and be- set her, its motion being at times appallingly rapid. The thermometer fell to 21" -f, or 11° below freezing point ; and long dark nights added to the difficulties of navigating in such inclement weather. Harbour or winter quarters fit to secure the ship in, there were none in sight ; and if there had been, it would have been out of the question as yet to retreat upon one whilst Barrow's Strait was so near at hand. ; 1 i i: ! V :»| 110 DISCOVEUY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. On the very same day, Captain Austin's expe- dition, which it will be remembered left England shortly after Captain M'Clure's did, to reach Mel- ville Island from Baffin's Bay, was overtaken by similar signs of winter off Griffith's Kland, the position of the two parties (each ignorant of the other's whereabouts) being about 400 miles in an E.N.E. and W.S.W. direction ; and, strangely enough, as showing how much the seasons in the Frigid Zone agree year after year, it was exactly two years anterior, upon that very day (as Captain M'Clure remarks in his Journal), that the expedi- tion of Sir James Ross was frozen in permanently in Leopold Harbour. The " Investigator's " position was now most cri- tical; for the westerly gales had caught her upon the eastern and lee shore of Prince of Wales Strait, and pressed her, together with the ice with which she was surrounded, down upon that coast. Her only safeguard from destruction, for some time, was in holding on, with strong hawsers and stream chain, to ice-anchors fixed in a heavy floe which, from drawing more water than the ship, served, when it grounded, as a natural dock or break- water for her. Alonnj the westward side of the strait, the gale i ■ CRITICAL POSITION OF THE "INVESTIGATOR." HI caused a fine lane of water to be seen, — a tantalising sight for the imprisoned officers and men ! — it served, however, to feed anticipation, and to prevent their leader from thinking of winter quarters. On the 12th September his Journal is to the fol- lowing effect : — "The temperature of the water has fallen to 28° Fahr. (freezing point of sea-water). The breeze has freshened to a gale, bringing with it snow, and sending down large masses of ice upon us. The pressure is considerable, listing the vessel several degrees. Fortunately a large floe, which was fast approaching the vessel, has had its progress arrested by one extreme of it taking the ground and the other end locking with a grounded floe upon our weather beam. It is thus completely checked, and forms a safe barrier against all fur- ther pressure. As the rudder was likely to become damaged, it was unhung and suspended over the stern. We can now do nothing, being regularly beset, but await any favourable ciiange of tlie ice, which we anxiously look for, knowing that the navigable season for this year has almost reached its utmost limit, and that a few hours of clear water will in all probability solve the long-sought problem as to the practicability of a North-west Passage." li I li '1 ! f W- «j 112 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WEST PASSAGE. The 13th and 14th September brought no change for the better; the ice, acted upon by winds, tides and currents, kept in constant motion outside of the "Investigator," and gave rise to illusory pros- pects of open water and fair leads. By dint of great labour and watching for favourable op- portunities, the ship was gradually warped, and hauled about 1200 yards farther off shore and to windward. The temperature of the air fell to 10° -f- of Fahr., or 22° below freezing point ; the surface of the sea, where free from pack or broken ice, congealed and froze rapidly ; the land became hidden under a general covering of snow ; the stern reign of an arctic winter had begun. Winter raiment was now generally adopted ! and more than one anxious wish was expressed for some sheltered cove to heave in sight, wherein the risk of being drifted with the pack of Prince of Wales Strait might be avoided. The likelihood of such an occurrence forced itself disagreeably upon the minds of all who looked in the direction of the Princess Royal group, and saw those dark cliffs ripping up the ice which rolled down upon them. If, upon the other hand, enchained as the ship was in the pack. III' I CRITICAL POSITION OF THE "INVESTIGATOR." 113 i she should touch the ground before the adjacent moving body of ice did, it would roll over them, entailing certain destruction of the ship, and at such a season most assuredly a great loss of life. The appearance of a few of the hardier gulls of those regions cheered the men a little; and the Captain remarks that the appearance of these birds was a good omen, which he believed to indicate water somewhere near him ; and yet he does not deny that every day now lost by the ship being beset added to his intense anxiety. Should he winter in the pack, and even escape shipwreck, he could not tell where he might be drifted to in the coming winter. On September the 15th, the wind veered a little more to the southward, up the channel, and the ice began to drive towards Barrow's Strait, opening a little at the same time. All hands were set to work, of course, to reach the largest spaces of water in sight : and this labour was pursued even during the night, the men in the dark leaping and carrying the hawsers from piece to piece of ice, trusting to its white glimmer to see their road and secure a footing. It was satisfactory to find them- selves drifting along in a churning sea of ice, amid darkness and snow storm, so that it was to I ill I! iv b - i I |i: i fflrl" I.U 114 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. the north-east; but the sudden variations of the soundings which the men in the chains called out, sometimes only as little as five fathoms water, and then oflP again to twenty, reminded them of how perilous was the course they were pursuing. On the 16th September, she still made slow progress towards Barrow's Strait, and on the 17th September, 1850, reached their most aclyaiiced- position in lat. 73° 10' N., and long. 117° 10' W., about thirty miles from the waters of that series of straits which, under the names of Melville, Barrow, and Lancaster, communicate with Baffin's Bay. At this tantalising distance, the ship ceased to drift, and the ice appeared to have reached a point beyond which some unknown cause would not allow it to proceed. The heavy pack of Melville Strait lying across the head of the channel, was supposed to be the reason of the ice of Prince of Wales Strait ceasing to move on to the north*east ; and the impassable nature of the pack in the same direction, in the following year, confirmed this hypothesis. On that day (the 19th Sept., 1850), Captain M'Clure tells us, he debated in his mind whether to abandon all hope of reaching Barrow^'s Strait that yaar, and retrace his steps southward in search of a wintering place. m MOST ADVANCED POSITION REACHED. 115 M » or to hold on, so far as he might, and run the risk of wintering in the pack. " I decided," he says, " upon the latter of these two courses ; " and the consideration which influenced him in this difficult choice was, " that to relinquish the ground obtained through so much labour and anxiety, for the remote chance of finding safe winter quarters, would be injudicious, thoroughly impressed as I was with the absolute importance of retaining every mile, to insure any favourable results while navigating these seas." Besides this, it was de- sirable to hold as advanced a position as possible, in order that the spring sledge-parties which he contemplated despatching in 1851, should be at once set to work upon new and unsearched coast lines. To winter voluntarily in the pack was now as confidently decided upon as if arctic authorities had never said that such an attempt would result in certain destruction ; and that same reliance upon an over-ruling Providence, which had carried them successfully so far, cheered them in the anxieties to which thoir novel experiment gave rise. The smallest pools of water now became rapidly covered with new-formed ice ; the eider ducks, the hardiest and strongest-winged of the feathered * I i V I 2 116 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. r'l It! 4s U''' tribe which visits the polar seas, were last seen on the 23r(l September ; and the temperature of the air fnst verged towards the zero of Fahrenheit. Although the ice had formed round the ship, and the pack was re-cemented to a certain degree, still it was far from quiescent. Sometimes a pressure would take place upon opposite sides of the body, — which was still detached from the coast of Banks Land as well as the Eastern shore, — the sheets of young ice would crack across, and one part over- run the other with a sharp chirping noise, which reverberated through the frosty air; at another time some huge field of ice, which from its great depth was much more acted upon by the tides or currents than its neighbours, would rush with fearful velocity through the lighter ice, turning up everything that came in its way, and giving rise to fears lest such a moving field should touch and sink the ship. At another time the whole body of the pack, acted upon by north-east winds, would sweep gradually southward and towards the shoals and cliffs of Princess Royal Island : indeed, at one time, the "Investigator" drifted twenty- four miles south in three days. They had for- tunately laid hold of a large piece of ice which grounded upon the shoals westward of Princess PRKPAUATIONS AGAINST SHIPWRECK. 117 Royal Island ; and there the ship held on under its lee, for security, as the rest of the ice swept by. Some idea of the strain upon the ship, as well as the desperate position she was in, may be , gleaned by the fact, that at one time she was in five fathoms water, and trusting for safety to every available hawser in the vessel, amounting in the aggregate to a thirty-one inch hemp cable and a stream chain in addition, yet she was every minute expecting to part, as the pressure took her broad bow, or surged against her trembling sides. Anticipating the worst that could occur. Cap- tain M'Clure ordered a large quantity of provisions and fuel to be placed upon deck, the officers and men to be carefully told off to their boats, and every one to have his appointed place and duty in the event of a final catastrophe ; tents and warm clothing were also prepared, and every precaution taken to save life, even if it were beyond human power to save the ship. On the 27th September, the temperature being then at zero, and the ice, as they fancied, sta- tionary, after the " Investigator " had drifted ten miles south of the Princess Royal Island, prepara- tions were commenced for housing the vessel over, 1 3 ill f :fj J rh ni 118 DISCOVERY OF TUE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. tJ' ill and otherwise securing her crew from the intense cold and inclemency of a winter which was well nigh upon them. The officers had just time to congratu- late themselves upon the escape from past dangers, and to express thankfulness at having only lost thirty miles of latitude by the drifting of the pack, when a change of wind set it all again in motion. The 28th was spent in breathless anxiety, as, help- less in their icy trammels, they swept northward again toward the cliffs of Princess Royal Island. These cliffs rose perpendicularly from the sea at the part against which the ship appeared to be setting, and as the crew eyed them for a hope of safety, if the good craft should be crushed against those rocky precipices, they coiilJ see no ledge upon which even a goat could have established a [footing ; and an elevation of 400 feet precluded a chance of scaling them. To launch the boats over Ithe moving pack was their sole chance, and that a poor one, rolling and upheaving as it was under the influence of wind, tide, and pressure. It is in such an emergency that discipline, and a certainty that each would perform unflinchingly his duty, as well as the innate good qualities of our noble seamen, are shown to the best advantage. Dastards would in such circumstances have de- MORAL COUBACE OF 0FFICF':RS AND MFN. 119 I |- ISC serted their ship ; but the Investigators were made of different stuff, they knew too that One who is "strong to save" was watching over them, and they eyed t\\^ lieak clhTs, whii h i.i a few minutes might be frowning ov?r tlitJi-giAvrp, with the cahn courage of resolute mm a finor picture than such a scene presented cut. h^\v<\]v be imagined, and it was one repeatedly ty.hibitcd (lui'Ir^;.; thi.-. wonder- ful voyage; b it it wauW be ixn dhaoic hopeless ar- tempt to convey tn the readef — by mere ■rlv^jcrlp- tion — an adequate id(\T- cith'.r ol tho scetjvvry so replete with the gi'im terrors of the polar regi .UiS* or of the moral grandeur of self devotion m thxf officers and men. " It looks a b?-d j jb this time ! " inquiringly remarked ovte of the sailors, vs lie assisted another old sea-dog in coiling down neatly a frozen hawser. "Yes!" was the rejoinder, as the other shaded his eyes from the cl'iviiig snow, and cast a glance it th(i dark cliff looming through the storm J "the old craf'. will double up like an old bafket 'yhen she gels alongside of them rocks!" T-'O ** Investigator's" hour was not yet come, however; and when within 500 yards of the rocks, the ice coach-wheeled her along them, and finally swept her past the islands upon the eastern side. I 4 t 14 ■h ^: \ 120 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, No water was in sight from the mast-head ; yet onwards they drifted slowly, and on September 30th became again stationary in lat. 72" 50' N., and long. 117° 55' W., very nearly as far north as they had sailed a fortnight before. m 121 CHAP. XL Severe Pressure on the Ice. — Dangerous Nips. — Farewell to the Sun. — Housing the Vessel. — Good Health and Spirits of the Men. — Five Hundred Pounds of Meat found to be putrid.— Winter Rambles on the Ice. — Perils nrising in some of these. — An Excursion to view the North-west Passage. — Hard Labour and Insufficient Food. — Suffering from Thirst. — The Passage seen. — Captain M'Clure lost for a Night. — Return of the Party to the Sliip. — Success of Measures taken for the Health of the Crew. During the first week in October a change of the moon occasioned spring-tides, which of course led to considerable motion in the ice ; but that motion only manifested itself in the shape of severe pres- sure and nips, there being no water of sufficient space to allow the pack to drift either north or south. On the occasion of one of these nips, the " Investigator " was thrown much over to the star- board side, and lifted two feet out of the water by the ice pressing under her keel ; every timber in the vessel cracked and groaned, and the bells began to ring as she surged and trembled under the shock. There needed no boatswain's pipe to bring i M i Vi'. I 1 '■■ I i \s III 122 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. all hands upon deck ; and there, in an October night, with the temperature thirty-six degrees below freezing point, each man stood at his station, ex- ])ecting a final catastrophe to the ship, and that they should themselves be left upon the surface of the frozen strait, to fare as best they might. Mag- nificent auroras lit up the heavens more than once about this time, and generally appeared most brilliant in its southern region. The pale sun swept, it is true, across the sky, in a daily-diminish- ing arch ; but his rays had ceased to give warmth, and the tiniest crystals of snow withstood his power. Light, however, he still gave for a while ; and all looked upon him as a friend for Avhose speedy return they should soon have to pray, that they might be released from the nine long months of solitary imprisonment now beginning. The housing was spread over the vessel, and the curtains nailed down to the gunwale upon the northern side, to shield the men from the cutting blasts of that quarter ; but to the southwart' every precaution was taken to enjoy the sun's light as long as possible. The fact of life and light being almost synonymous terms was deeply impressed upon the mind of Captain M'Clure ; and to his constant remembrance of it we must in a great lit ill AMJSEMENTS. — MORE PUTRID MEAT. 123 measure impute the extraordinary exemption of his crew from scurvy. They, as well as the officers, appeared now to be in the best health and spirits ; and there were only two men upon the doctor's sick-list on the 6th October. Every evening, after work was over, the after part of the lower deck was converted into a temporary stage, on which the " clever dogs " of the crew performed, danced, sang, or recited, for the amusement of those who were less accom- plished ; and the roars of laughter and light- hearted jokes, passing among them, bore good evidence that neither nips, frostbites, nor hair- breadth escapes, preyed upon the spirits of any of the audience. On examining some canisters of preserved meat, Captain M'Clure found, much to his chagrin, that no less than 500 lbs. were so putrid as to necessitate throwing them overboard, a loss mainly occasioned by fractures made in the tins when stowing the ship's hold in England. Greatly did Captain M'Clure lament this additional diminution of his resources ; for it will be remembered a boat-load of meat had already been lost when the ship was aground off Point Manning. He consoled himself, however, -»vith the hope that a certain surplus, which the ' I %. 124 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ,|,.j» . I m contractor had promised to put on board to cover such contingencies, would replace this unfortunate deficit. Amongst the preparations made for the worst that could befall the ship, there is one which will strike every one as evincing carefulness and skill, and at the same time it will show how critical the position of the vessel must have been. This was the blasting with gunpowder, and the employment of manual labour, to remove all the hummocks and inequalities upon the surface of the ice upon one side of the vessel, in order that a smooth surface might be ready to receive her, as there was a probability of her being thrown upon the ice. Nothing can better bring home to our minds their position, or the cool way in which it was met, than the above fact ; and to realise it. Captain M'Clure need hardly add, in his Journal, that he despairs of being able to convey to us even a remote idea of the harassing anxiety he underwent whilst his vessel was settling herself in her icy cradle. " The crashing, creaking, and straining are beyond de- scription," he adds ; " and the officer of the watch, when speaking to me, is obliged to put his mouth close to my ear, on account of the deafening noise." From the 10th of October the ice in and about RAMBLES ON THE ICE. 125 the ship became quiet, although the pack was still in some places detached from the shore, and moved slightly north and south with the tide. The work of housing over being completed, parties of men and officers began to stroll out for the purpose of acquiring some information of the neighbourhood, and going through the form of taking possession of their new discovery ; a ceremony which, though of no great importance when the acquisition was so entirely valueless, served at least to break the dreary monotony of such an existence as theirs now was. The incidents which arose upon such rambles afforded something to talk about, too ; and on some occasions unforeseen dangers added to the excite- ment of the journeys. One instance will serve to show how unpleasantly these parties of pleasure sometimes ended. On a calm tine morning, with the temperature just forty degrees below freezing point. Captain M'Clure, Lieut. Cresswell, Dr. Armstrong, and Mr. Mierching, with some seamen, started to visit the eastern side of the strait, and take possession of the land. The road at first lay over the broken and rugged pack ; but they afterwards reached a belt of smooth ice of the present season's formation, and it i L ; I : [I '5i 126 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. carried them to a piled-up barrier of broken floe, formed where the new ice impinged against the heavy grounded hummocks which lined the coast. The tide happened at the moment to have brought the two edges together with much violence ; and the lighter ice (some feet in thickness, however) was turning up and rolling over, layer upon layer. Follow my leader was the idea of all the party ; and away they rushed over the pile formed by the bat- tling floes, cheering as they reached the land, and regardless of the fact that at turn of tide those very floes might part and cut off their retreat. Every one put his best leg foremost to reach some highland seen in the interior, from the summit of which, as they anticipated, there would be a possibility of seeing into Barrow's Strait, and thus connecting their work with that of Sir Edward Parry in 1819 ; there was but little time, therefore, to think of how they were to return. The seamen were left on the first high ridge of land, to con- struct a cairn upon a spot duly christened after the illustrious consort of Her Most Gracious Majesty; and the officers, after another two hours' hard struggle through deep snow and over a diffi- cult country, reached what was long afterwards re- membered as Mount Adventure. It! PERILOUS EXCURSION. 127 Although some 1400 feet above the level of the / sea, the trending away of the coast they were upon prevented their toilsome journey being rewarded by a view of the termination of Prince of "Wales Strait upon the eastern side ; but on the west there rose in the distance a headland which appeared like the termination of Banks or Baring Land, with a blank space between it and the east side of the strait, which confirmed Captain M'Clure in his belief of a channel through, and made his com- panions exclaim that they saw into Barrow's Strait. This point, however, the Captain wisely decided upon placing shortly beyond all doubt or cavil, by tra- velling to it with a sledge party. Although traces were seen on the snow of bears, deer, foxes, and lemmings, they did not fall in with a single living creature; and the view they obtained of Albert Land was not such as to afford much promise of game, for vegetation, the great test of the presence of ani- mal life in the far north, was exceedingly scanty, and little gladdened the eyes of our travellers be- yond small patches of dwarf willow and moss. " We had returned to the shore," says Captain M'Clure, " and were following our track back to the ship, anticipating the pleasure of a good dinner after a twenty miles' walk, when, upon coming to I- i I ' 1 I .i: if 128 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ■where the junction of the land (or fixed ice) and sea floes took place, we beheld a separation of fifty yards of clear black water ! Our feelings are easier to be imagined than described, — nearly five miles from the vessel, a polar night closing in ; and the only provision amongst the whole party was a solitary tin of preserved meat which had been issued to the men for their dinner, but had now become so solidly frozen as to defy both their knives and teeth." Just before dark, a point, a few miles to the southward, was observed, which gave some promise of being connected with the sea floe by a block or barrier of ice. Towards it the fatigued party strug- gled, over very rugged and slippery ice. Every now and then one of their party would experience a severe fall into some deep cleft, or over some huge hummock ; and then, thoroughly jaded, they would sit down and feel inclined to drop off into a sleep from which they would never have awak- ened in this world. Captain M'Clure, however, was aware of this danger ; and his voice aroused them to exertion. After firing muskets for some time to attract attention, they were rejoiced to see rockets and guns discharged from the ship. It told them that those on board were taking measures for their fi ^ I'KBILOUS POSITION. 129 li rescue; and meantime they continued to indi- cate their relative position to the fc-iiip by firing at intervals so long as the ammunition lasted, after which they could only hope for the best. About half-past eight a light was seen evidently approaching upon the sea ice. A shout of de- light, responded to as heartily, rang through the black stillness of a polar night. Then came the anxious hope that the people from the ship had brought a boat with them ; for without it aid was out of the question. Even in such a moment the sailors' light-heart- edness did not desert them ; for when one of the party exclaimed that " the ship had fired another rocket ! " " Ah !" another observed, " I wish they would fire a Halkett's boat * at us ! " a wish in which assuredly all cordially joined. The relieving party at length approached within hail, upon the opposite side of the lane of water ; and, worn-out as Capt. M'Clure's party was, all lis- tened with indescribable anxiety for the answer when, to the momentous question put by the leader, * Halkett's boats are the ingenious invention of Lieut. Peter Halkett, of the Royal Navy. They are made of iiidian- rubber, and, being inflated with air, are very portable and highly useful upon arctic service. K r I- • Wm 130 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. II " Have you a boat with you ? " there was a pause in which the writer has been assured one could have heard a pulse bent, and then came across the darkness — " No ! we did not know you wanted one." Capt. M'Clure sent them back immediately to the ship for the Halkett's boat, and meantime, aided by his officers, he exerted himself to keep the men from falling asleep. Happily the party, on its way to the " Investigator," was met by another conveying boats, and the two returned with all speed to the water, which had now become covered with bay-ice nearly an inch, thick. Mr. Court, however, the master of the " Inves- tigator," was just the man to meet such difficulties as now lay in the way of relieving his shipmates ; and in spite of bay-ice, and current, and moving ice, by midnight all the party were safely ferried across, and on their way to their ship. " I can- not," says Captain M'Clure in his Journal, " speak too highlv of these excellent little boats, or of the ingenuity of the inventor, as without them my large party would have had to endure the rigours of an arctic night, without clothing, tents, or provisions, and the consequences of this might have been very serious." By four in the morning the travellers had par- EXCURSION TO VIEW THE PASSAGE. 131 taken of a substantial meal, and retired to their beds heartily tired after eighteen hours' exertion, and grateful for so fortunate a termination to their adventure. From the 10th to the 21st of October, prepara- tions were made to despatch a sledge-party to the northward to reach Barrow's Strait, and as- sure themselves of the fact of their having dis- covered a North-west Passage. Even had they been ready to start at once, it would have been necessary to give time for the ice to form sufficiently to insure the ship from being blown away with the drifting pack whilst the party was absent, — an ac- cident which, experience has shown to artic navi- gators, might occur up to a late date in October. A remarkable rise of temperature to 24° plus of Fahrenheit, from 2° minus, with the wind blowing fresh from north-east, would seem to indicate that the winter, of the region in which the " Investi- gator " was frozen in, is modified by the warm air from the open water of Barrow's Strait, as well as that of southerly winds from the American con- tinent; but this sudden change was far from pleasant to the crew, for they had all put on their winter clothing, and had begun to close up the ship, ready to resist the rigour of the cold, so that K 2 m 132 DISCOVERY OF TIIK NOUTII-WKST PASSAGE. a momentary rise of this nature only created dis- comfort, and was of too transitory a nature to be beneficial. Indeed the men voted warm ■weather in the middle of October a nuisance ; and the old hands, with a knowing shake of the head and co- pious expectorations of " 'baccy juice," warned the novices against " being fools enough to pull their clothes off on account of such a bit of sunshine, for perhaps in an hour's time Zero would be about again." Zero, it must be observed, was invariably referred to as a veritable foe having an actual existence, and was to be combated as they would do the Arch-Enemy. About this time a landing Avas made on the islands named after Her Royal High- ness the Princess Royal ; but they offered nothing remarkable beyond the remains of some ancient Esquimaux graves and fox-traps. Traces of ani- mals were, as usual, numerous, and excited as much interest in the minds of the navigators as human footsteps did in that of Robinson Crusoe in his lonely island ; for already, with those who could appreciate the possible contingencies of arc- tic exploration, it became an important desidera- tum that game of some sort should be found, to eke out the resources of the ship, and keep the crew free from the ravages of scurvy. The pre- i iv A -.m m i j^^ M^' •^ ■V" ■i . *■ 4 •f %^?^ t' I w ,»W-Hrv>.';»',' ^i! fl* ■;5?5' S*^; ;fi.'' N,; 1 ■ii ' '» ■'"i'. ! ! t^ I- i •T 1 .id'iv ..* l.k'i;':>!.i<. i' ;■ ^uti- :i»HH' ; aii'l 'In.' "Ui 1.-, ^^ itli. a KiivAvin;,; >h; Iv '.'■'!'• ii^/!! uini ."- '7 '11 I 1 ncsi". tlic I'Vizicc^.s !• .viil : h'l' "If 4]' VK:: ;i(U:iili reiiuii'KUti h bc\'":;!i ;<• r-jiUiiiiS ol ijoiiu* iicionx. > >M"(UJir!.Mix tjravC'S awl t', ,\-ir D' f-S nl )i;il- .(M-'i ■ ' 'V, US tisiiii!. niiiiM > J 'i!i!fl.s *»T t.Ik: iiaviuaii ;is ,.» tha": oi' !\whiiis(>t^, ( I'usoo Hi 1 (» • ;<.>;, cou Id aj)p • n-' i;i tic i'Aplor''riO!,, ir iH' :nn(; oi f:< su ii luo.^-: "vvjio .IM'Mici'-. "f ;MC" li- i;;'^Vk tl U. ''(.'^Olr cs oi il'-.' ;--hii', 07id i-.or;}» tin. ■n.' [h.^ IIV •s I'l s*:tU'V\" T! \ii ]>VC V I ;l k ■i i\ ■'•\ If HI it EXCUHSION TO VIKW TIJE PASSAOK. 133 served meats were constantly found decayed to an alanning extent ; and between tlie 12th and 18th of October no less than four hundred and twenty-four pounds of it were thrown overboard as unfit for food, — much to the regret of Captain M'Clure, who tlius early began to see how carefully he should be obliged to husband his resources, in order to carry his crew through their enterprise successfully and in good health. As yet, however, no reduction in the allowance took place; for the leader of that gallant ship's company knew that, when the time came to render a straitened allowance actually necessary^ his officers and men would cheerfully and manfully submit to the privation. October the 21st, 1850, came in with a tempe- rature ranging a little below zero, light winds, and an overcast sky. The ice of the strait appeared to have remained stationary during the last spring-tides, and the usual polar accompaniment of strong gales ; Captain M'Clure therefore deter- mined to start for Barrow's Strait with a sledge manned with six men, and commanded by Mr. Court, his active and indefatigable master, aided for a while by a fatigue party of men under Mr. Wynniatt (mate), and Dr.Armstrong, and to leave K 3 I \'i ' 1 1 134 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WEST PASSAGE. 11 ( the ship to the charge of Lieut. Haswell. Nothing can be more delightful than the terms of warm praise in which Captain M'Clure speaks of all the officers, when upon the eve of parting from them for a service not unattended with some peril. Hearty were the cheers, and Well-fare-ye ! 's on either side, as the little sledge-party bade good-bye to ship and companions, and plodded on their lonely way, to bring back one day to their ship- mate.: the most interesting intelligence ever told to the hundreds who have devoted health, strength, and energy to the problem of a North-west Pas- sage. The headlong zeal of the excited crew upon the sledge soon received a lesson in patience from the rugged and broken pack, by the repeated capsizing of the sledge, and its eventual fracture beyond all temporary repair. There was nothing then for it, but to send back Mr. Court to the ship for another sledge, whilst the rest pitched the tent, and slept their first night under canvas upon the frozen ocean. The " Investigator " had left England but little prepared for extensive sledge-work, and with few if any improvements upon the system of sledge- travelling originally laid down by Captain Sir i IIAKD LABOUR ; INSUFFICIENT FOOD. 135 I James C. Ross. Consequently iu all her sledge- parties there was, if possible, a greater amount of hardship and privation than in those of the expe- ditions under Captains Austin, Kellett, or Belcher, ■who each improved upon their predecessors' ex- perience. The smallest amount of work was done by those who had least comfort. We find that, at the close of the first day's journey, the truly frugal meal of Captain M'Clure and his men was a pint of tepid water apiece, into which a little oatmeal was thrown ; after which they retired to their sleeping-bags, to rest as best they might with a tem- perature of 6' minus. On October 22nd, the new sledge having joined them, and been loaded, the party proceeded to the northward, working over alternate patches of rough and smooth ice, until the night came on, and it became too dark to see their way. The tent was then pitched, and suppe* prepared ; but such a supper ! one pint of melted snow and a piece of frozen pemmican ! Hunger, however, sweetened even this meal ; and, tired and cold, they got into their frozen blankets and fell asleep, as if safe on board their snug and comfortable ship, whilst an October snow rolled over their frail canvas tenement. Next morning before day-break, K 4 (I ').. ri m 136 DISCOVEKY OF THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE. the cook of the day was roused, and his ..ulinary powers were called into play under the trying cir- cumstances of a temperature of 32° bdow freez- ing point. Some water was warmed sufficiently for a preparation of chocolate to be dissolved in it ; and a pint of this tepid beverage being given to each man, together with a biscuit and a half apiece, the party again manned the drag-ropes of the sledge and proceeded to the northward. After some difficulty in crossing ridges of broken ice — the hedge-rows of an arctic landscape, — they reached vast fields of smooth ice of the present season's formation; and here an obstacle of a fresh nature awaited them. The autumnal snow had accumulated heavily upon the surface of these young ice-fields, and, weighing them down, caused the sea- water to flow through sufficiently to i-ender the under part of the snow almost as tenacious as clay. The fatigue of hauling two hundred pounds apiece through such a route was excessive ; but the gallant cri ,v stnaned every nerve, and the distended veins and large drops of perspiration (freezing on the faces of the men) told how well they were working. Unfortunately no water could be had to appease their thirst — they might as well have been labouring on the great Sahara; h SUFFERING FROM THIRST. 137 for every handful of snow which they thrust into their parched mouths augmented rather than assuaged their sufferings, as it contained more or less of the salts of the sea- water which, as I have before said, rendered the surface of the floe wet and tenacious. About noon, one of the best men of the party became perfectly exhausted, and two others were frostbitten. Captain M'Clure then stopped to give them the noonday meal of cold water and frozen pemmican; but the latter they did not taste of, for thirst had quite overcome hunger, and when they had drunk all that the allowance of fuel for the day would thaw, they again trudged on till dark, when, as on the previous evening, the tent was pitched, and their rough meal and rougher bed prepared. That done, pipes were lit, and whilst some of the men repaired their torn mocassins and seal-skin boots by candle-light, the Captain read them a tale out of " Chambers's Miscellany," until at last his tired companions fell off one by one into the land of dreams. " October 24th," says Captain M'Clure, " was not so cutting a day, the thermometer hav- ing risen to 5° -{- Fahr. ; I walked ahead whilst the sledge was packing, ascended a point of land a hundred feet above the level of the sea, and ob- ]38 DLSCOVKIjy OF TllK KOKTII-WKST PASSAGE. ils.:i!!il H served distinctly that the eastern shore of Prince of "Wales Strait trended now far away to the east- ward, whilst that of the western coast (wliich we were upon) preserved its northerly direction. The point whereon I stood appeared to be the most contiguous to the opposite shore, and tlic breadth across about fifteen miles; beyond me, the sliores of the strait evidently began to separate. This encouraged me in the hope that we were on the point of reaching Barrow's Strait; and seeing a hill at what appeared a distance of 12 miles due north of my position, I returned to the sledge, and pointed it out to the crew as a cape from whence we should see that long-wished-for sea." Every man now dragged with a will, in the hope of reaching that night the end of his jouruey ; but after seven hours' toilsome labour, the tantalising cape still retained its original position, and they seemed not a mile nearer to it. Cap+ain M'Clure then saw that he had been much deceived in its apparent distance, owing to the clearness of the atmosphere, and that thirty miles was a nearer estimate than twelve, of the probable length of their march. After a night's rest and another hard day's %vork, they were still two miles off the cape, when night closed in and obliged them to tiii i 1 H 1 Jn Ik J 'W^ A^ OCKANIC ICR. 131) halt and encamp. Though disappointed in not sighting Barrow's Strait on the 25th, they were all much cheered by the multiplying proofs around them of its close proximity. Away to the north- cast they already saw that wonderful oceanic ice which Sir Edward Parry so well described in his memorable voyage to Melville Island, in 1819, — ice which they had left behind them directly they entered Prince of Wales Strait, and which they now again found at its northern extremity. Great hills and dales of blue crystalline sea-ice rolled on before them in the direction of Melville Island ; and it required more than ordinary sanguineness of disposition to suppose they ever should navigate the "old Investigator" througli such a sea; yet, to have heard the party talk, the feat would have appeared certain of accomplishment, — all things seemed possible to men who had already mastered so much. By an observed meridian altitude of the star Capella, the latitude was now ascertained to be 73° 25' N., this being the first and only observation they had been, able to obtain since quitting their ship. The morning of the 26th of October, 18-50, was fine and cloudless ; it was with no ordinary feelings of joy and gratitude that Captain M'Clure and his n 140 DISCOVEHY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. i Wl i. I A«- 'T^r' party started before sunrise to obtain from the adjacent hill a view of that sea which connected their discoveries with those of Sir Edward Parry. Ascending a hill 600 feet above the sea-level, they patiently awaited the increase of light to reveal the long. sought- for North-west Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. As the sun rose, the panorama slowly unveiled itself. First the land called after II. R. H. Prince Albert showed out on an easterly bearing; and from a point since named after the late Sir Robert Peel, it evidently turned away to the east, and formed the northern entrance of the channel upon that side. The coasts of Banks Land terminated about twelve miles farther than where the party stood ; and thence it turned away to the north-west, forming the northern coast of that land, the loom of which had been so correctly reported and so well placed by Sir Edward Parry's expedition thirty-odd years before. Away to the north, and across the entrance of Prince of ^Yales Strait, lay the frozen waters of Barrow's or, as it is now called, Melville Strait ; and, raised as they were at an altitude of 600 feet above its level, the eye- sight embraced a distance which precluded the %^ THE PASSAGE SEEN. 141 possibility of any land lying in that direction between them and Melville Island. The North-west Passage was discovered ! All doubt as to the water-communication between the two great oceans was removed ; and it now alone remained for Captain M'Clure, his officers and men, to perfect the work by traversing the few thousand miles of known ground between them and their homes. The feelings of Captain M'Clure and his com- panions may be easily understood when we re- member what they had gone through to earn this success, and how the hand of the All-powerful had borne them through no ordinary dangers in their gallant efforts ; but no arrogant self-estima- tion formed part of the crowd of tumultuous feel- ings which made their hearts beat so high, and never from the lips of man burst a more fervent Thank God! than now from those of that little company. And we feel that they had reason to be proud as well as grateful, when we call to mind the time, the money, the men which England had previously lavished, without success, on the discovery of this great geographical problem. Franklin and his heroic followers had, indeed, • ; i :\\ si . !;■ 1 ^, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I La 12.8 12.5 US ■ 2.2 ■4.0 ■u u 1 2.0 m . 1.25 1 1.4 IIU^ < 6" - ► VQ 0% /2 \ Hiotographic Scisices Corporation s v V 4 s^ o -S^.V 23 WiST MAIN STRIH WIBSn«,N.Y. MStO (71«) t72-4S03 ;\ 4r ^ Ii I) i\i ¥ li 142 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. not been found; but, in seeking them, the great secret they had sought to solve had been unravelled, and Captain M'Clure felt that, even should he be so unfortunate as never to discover the missing expedition, he nevertheless should not return to his country with empty hands. The position of Mount Observation, from which the important discovery had been made, was as- certained to be in latitude (observed; 73' 30' 39" N., longitude 114° 39' W., and by lunar IU° 14' W. The travellers encamped that night on Cape Lord John Russell, and cheered lustily as they reached the shores of Barrow's Strait. A inimic bonfire, of a broken sledge and dwarf willow, was lighted by the seamen in celebration of the event; and an extra glass of grog, given them by their leader, added to their happiness. The question of a North-west Passage being now placed beyond all doubt, the rapid fall of temperature warned Captain M'Clure that he should return to his ship without delay, and ter- minate the trials the whole party were exposed to every night. Their fur robes were frozen into a solid mass, which could only be thawed by the men lying upon them for some hours ; the blanket- bags were so stiff from the same cause as to stand RETURN OF THE SLEDGE PARTY. 143 erect ; and their clothes, caps, whiskers, and beards were frozen together, and required to be thawed inside the tent after they had retired to rest ; and when the clothes were taken off, they had to be placed under the body that they might not freeze again : and the hardships and discomforts to be endured in consequence of the lateness of the season, although no novelty to the arctic traveller, would appear almost fabulous to others, if minutely described. From Point Lord John Russell, the coast of Banks Land was seen to trend away to the west- ward, and increase in boldness of outline and altitude. Much vegetation, for this latitude was observed, and numerous traces of animals, such as the deer, hare, and ptarmigan, as well as of their destroyers the fox and the wolf; but not one of the animals themselves was seen. A large cairn was constructed, a due record of the visit of the party placed therein, and then, in the teeth of a S.E. gale, they commenced their return to the " Investigator." The return journey might have ended seriously for the leader of the party. On the 30th October, at 2 P.M., having seen the Princess Royal Isles, and knowing the position of the " Investigator " from them, Captain M'Clure left his sledge, with the n'J i :t"l ii 144 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i ■1 j 1 : . f « lf:l intention of pushing for the ship, and having a warm meal ready for his men on their arrival. When still six miles from the ship the night overtook him ; and with it came a dense mist ac- companied with snow drift, which rolled down the strait, and obscured every object. Unable to see his road, but endeavouring to preserve a course by the wind, M'Clure continued to hasten on, until repeated and heavy falls amongst the broken ice warned him to desist or incur the additional peril of broken limbs. " I now," he says, "climbed on a mass of squeezed-up ice, in the hope of seeing my party, should they pass near, or of attracting the attention of some one on board the vessel by firing my fowling-piece. Unfortunately, I had no other ammunition than Avhat it was loaded with ; for I had fancied when I left the sledge, that the two charges in the gun would be all I should be likely to require. After waiting for an hour patiently, I was rejoiced to see through the mist the glare of a blue light, evidently burnt in the direction in which I had left the sledge. I immediately fired to denote my position ; but my fire was evidently unobserved, and, both barrels being discharged, I was unable to repeat the signal. My only hope now rested upon the ship answering ; but nothing CAPTAIN M'CLURE LOST FOR A NIGHT. 145 was to be seen, and although I once more saw, at a greater distance, the glare of another blue light from the sledge, there seemed no probability of ray having any other shelter for the night than that the floe afforded. Two hours elapsed: I endea- voured to see the face of my pocket-compass by the light of a solitary lucifer match, which hap- pened to be in ray pocket ; but in this hope I was cruelly disappointed, for it fizzed and went out, leaving me in total darkness. It was now half- past eight ; there were eleven hours of night before me, a temperature 15° below zero, bears prowling about, and I with an unloaded gun in my hands. The sledge \ arty might, however, reach the ship, and, finding I had not arrived, search would be made and help be sent; so I walked to and fro upon my hummock until I suppose it must have been eleven o'clock, when that hope fled likewise. Descending from the top of the slab of ice upon which I had clambered, I found under its lee a famous bed of soft dry snow, and, thoroughly tired out, I threw myself upon it and slept for perhaps three hours, when upon opening my eyes I fancied I saw the flash of a rocket. Jumping upon my feet I found that the mist had cleared ofi', and that the stars and aurora borealis were shining in all the L '7 r,'.' ■ I ':'*' 116 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ! ; . : rl splendour of an arctic night. Although unable to see the islands or the ship, I wandered about the ice in different directions until daylight, when, to my great mortification, I found I had passed the ship fully the distance of four miles." Retracing his steps, Captain M'Clure reached the " Investiga- tor " on the 31st October very tired, but otherwise none the worse for his rough and dangerous expo- sure to a winter's night in 73' north latitude. A few hours afterwards the sledge arrived under Mr. Court ; and great was the joy on board, and hearty the congratulations upon their safe return, and the glorious news they brought. Nothing, I fancy, can better bring home to the comprehension of the uninitiated in arctic sledge- travelling, the severity of the labour undergone by officers and men employed upon duty of that nature, than the following extract from Captain M'Clure's private journal — and similar ones might be found in those of many other officers : — "The weight brought back to the ship upon the sledge (after an absence of nine days) was 793 pounds, being an increase upon what we started with, of upwards of 100 pounds. This was occa- sioned by the accumulation of ice upon the furs, tent, blankets, and sledge, in consequence of the ARRIVAL AT THE SHIP. 147 vapour thrown off by our bodies and cooking appa- ratus condensing and freezing upon every article which it came in contact with ; and, strange as it may seem, the whole consumption of food during nine days amongst eight men, independently of cho- colate and spirits, amounted but to eighteen pounds of pemmican, thirty-one pounds of biscuit, and two pounds of oatmeal, — a trifling consumption almost incredible, and only to be accounted for by the crew being every night too exhausted, after their day's exertion, to care for anything else but water : but this article was not to be obtained without thawing it, and the allowance of fuel would only admit of each man receiving daily five gills to drink, namely, half a pint at breakfast, a gill at dinner, and half a pint in the evening." On this, however, they had worked cheerfully, and accomplished an average of twenty miles per diem,— a feat which it is but right to say only the discovery of a North-west Passage could have car- ried the men through; for although Lieut, (now Commander) Mecham has in later years far ex* celled Captain M'Clure's journey with respect to distance accomplished, it was only by carefully feeding up and nursing the strength of his men, that he at the same moment enjoys the honour of I. 2 I j;,fk m ... [:i ■ •ill 4.j M 148 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. I fe<: i having won the pahn in daily distance accomplished from such men as Captains Richards and M'Clintock. During the absence of their Captain, the officers of the " Investigator " had been far from idle. Upon the adjacent shores of Prince of Wales Strait they succeeded in killing a fine herd of musk-oxen, con- sisting of three bulls, a cow, and a calf, and yield- ing a supply of 1296 pounds of solid meat. The moral effect of the fact that such a quantity of fresh food could be found near a place where they were frozen up until it pleased Providence to release them, was very beneficial upon the minds of all, and added materially to the feeling of general con- fidence with which they prepared to meat the J^ coming winter. The ventilating tubes to the lower deck were now fitted, to force out by a current of pure but cold air the heated and deleterious vapours generated between decks by a number of men living in so confined a space. The last winter housings were spread, and a winter school-room established, to which thirty pupils immediately repaired to learn to read and write ; and by the 11th of November the " Investigator " was ready to bid the bright sun good-bye. The day was cloudless, the temperature down to MEASUUE8 FOR THE COMFORT OF THE MEN. 149 26** minus, and one uniform sheet of snow and ico spread on every side, over land and sea. Winter had set her seal upon that silent strait ; and but for the rocky buttresses of Princess Royal Island frowning over the floe, or the dark cleft of a ravine upon Banks Land, it would not have been easy to detect the line of demarcation between earth and water. Towards noon, the bright edge of the upper limb of the sun rolled slowly along the southern horizon, and bade them adieu for eleven long weeks ; the long night of a polar winter had commenced. Be- tween the 2nd of November and the 2nd of De- cember, the new floes were found to have increased in thickness ten inches and a half, the last measure- ment making them 2 ft. 6^ in. Little if any snow could be found on them, for a reason before men- tioned, namely, that directly any weigh' of snow collected upon the weak ice it would cause t le sea- water to flow through, and in so low a temperature the sluge so formed would rapidly become a part of the solid floe. In this manner the ice that covers that arctic sea accumulates perhaps more rapidly by the action upon its surface than that of the congelation of the water beneath. During the first fortnisjht in December the tern" perature of the external air ranged from 23° — to I- 3 ly \''i f lam^ JO-* HI I iii mM 160 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 37**— Fahr., whilst between decks from 40"+ to 60*+ was about the average. It had been Captain M'Clure's great anxiety to insure warmth on the lower deck, without the ac- cumulation of wet arising from the natural con- densation of the heated internal atmosphere against the cold surface of the sides and deck ; and he fully succeeded (as had been done in Captain Austin's expedition) in securing this desirable end, by fit- ting ventilators and clearing the deck of men for the major part of the day, so that a free current of air circulated throughout the vessel. By these means he secured the health of hisj men to a de- gree previously unprecedented upon arctic service ; and they duly appreciated the forethought and care thus bestowed upon them. In the following season they resumed their duties as if still fresh from England, and thus enabled Captain M'Clure to achieve a more perilous voyage than that al- ready accomplished. The minute details of the daily events of an arctic winter have been so often described that it is un- necessary to recount them. In this instance they consist only of an endless repetition of decreasing warmth and daylight, broken sometimes by the more than usual brilliancy of an aurora borealis, or -I CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS. 151 a great frequency of shooting stars. The arctic fox, as usual, came to visit the new intruders upon his domains, but only to be trapped and have his snow- white fur packed up to ornament the neck of some fair lady at home. The arctic raven, the hardiest of the feathered tribes, and the only one that appears willingly to brave a polar winter, was seen in the depth of the season to flit through the cold and sun- less atmosphere like an evil spirit, his sullen croak alone breaking the silence of that death-like scene. No one shot any of these ravens ; and the seemed to know they were secure. Christmas came at length, with all its hallowed recoUettions ; and it was kept on board the " In- vestigator," as it ever is on board of a man-of- war in every part of the world, in cheerfulness and in good-fellowship. The Captain's table groaned under good cheer. There was beef from the Sand- wich Islands, which had been kept in a frozen state for six months ; there was veal (of musk-ox) from the shores of Prince of Wales Strait; there was mince-meat from Old England, splendid preserves from the Green Isle, and many a dainty dish from Scotland. Each one talked of home ; the hours were calculated when, allowing for the difference of time, those most dear to the talkers would be 11 I L 4 ! i 152 DISCOVERY OF TUB NOllTil-WlSST PASSAGE. going to church, to dinner, to ball, or to bed, and an honest manly hope was expressed that, one of those days, they might yet be there to see and share in happiness, in their estimate of whicli distance, of course, " lent enchantment to the view." Thus closed the year 1850 : the " Investi- gator " that day had only one man ill ; and he was one who had concealed the fact of his being in delicate health when joining the ship at Woolwich. " Every credit," says Captain M'Clure, " is due to the medical officers, Drs. Armstrong and Henry Piers," for their unremitting attention to the health of the men j " and nothing could be more satis- factory than the state of the vessel, her crew, and her resources on this day," — the last of the year 1850. U\ 153 i i I. CHAP. XII. New Year's Day 1851. — Relative Positions of the different Expeditions. — The increasing Cold relieved by the daily Augmentation of Solar Light. — Deer and Ptarmigan seen in tlie Depth of Winter. — The Theory of Animal Migration in Arctic Regions subverted. — The Raven leaves the Ship. — Return of the Sun. — Rambles on the Ice. — Revival of Health and Spirits. — Winter Sporting. — Preparations for Sledge- Parlies in Search of Franklin's Expedition. — Depots esta- blished to secure the Safety of the Travellers. — Departure of the various Parties. — Hardships endured by Sledge- Crews in High Latitudes in Spring Journeys. — The Zeal and Courage of the Seamen. — Tiie Scene of their Labours compared with Southern Latitudes. — The Position of the "Investigator" in 1830.— Murder of Lieut. Barnard by North-west Indians. New Year's day, in the year of grace 1851, was a remarkable day in the arctic regions. On the side of Baffin's Bay, the naval expedition consisting of Her Majesty's ships "Resolute," "Assistance," " Pioneer," and " Intrepid, manned by 180 officers and men, had pushed into the ice until caught by the winter under Griffith's Island. Not many miles from them, in a small bay in North Devon, two It • .:| |: !| : :^ 1] I I U ,..;! ^11 Pi! u ( 1! ! 154 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. handy little brigs under Captain W. Penny, a noble specimen of the merchant sailor, lay securely housed in, manned by fifty sailors chosen from the hardy whaling-crews of Aberdeen and Peter- head. Close to these last vessels another English craft was wintering, under the command of the veteran Admiral Sir John Ross. Three score and ten years had not quenched in him that strange love for hardship and adventure which seems the only assignable motive that can induce men to continue to follow the hazardous career of an arctic navigator. But on the occasion of which I am writing, a nobler and higher purpose than the mere love of adventure, carried that aged officer as well as others to the frozen regions. Whilst, on the eastern side of the unknown waste which lay between Banks Land and Griffith's Island, we have these seven vessels securely wintering, and preparing, with no small zeal, to push out their sledges directly the daylight and temperature would admit of it ; on the western side the " Investigator " alone, far from all com- munication with either savage or civilised man, was flying her pendant with as much pride and confidence as if the solitude into which she had boldly pushed was the spot, of all others, her I a POSITIONS OF THE DIFFERENT EXPEDITIONS. 155 gallant crew would wish to pass their New Year's day in. And they had cause, too, for contentment, and reason to be grateful to God j for their ship was secure, the ice was stationary, and though all was dark, and cold, and cheerless without board, within there was warmth, food, good-fellowship, and perfect health. Far different was the fate of another expedition, which had left home on the same mission. An American party under Lieut. Commander De Haven had, with two schooners, pushed up to Griffith's Island at the same time that the English ships did so, in 1850 ; but, being unprepared for wintering, the American vessels tried to escape the frozen grip of an arctic winter. Under sail, they bore up for Baffin's Bay ; but the rapidly-forming ice seized upon their ships, and, cradled in it, the "Reserve" and "Advance" drifted whither it listed. Death threatened them in every shape, their vessels groaning under pressure it one time, and then tossed up by broken ice in the fury of midwinter gales. Scurvy broke out amongst the crews. The vessels were not liberated from their icy fetters until the pack had swept them into Davis's Strait ; and well might the English seamen I ' ! H t H jH I m k ■ I i 156 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. congratulate themselves on the immunity they en- joyed from the severe winter sufferings of their American coadjutors, and the still more hapless po- sition of the crews of the " Erebus " and " Terror " ; for they, poor fellows, were, as we believe, still alive on that New Year's day. Alas ! who shall tell how that sad advent of their last new yepr was passed by those gallant men ! It is necessary to the clear comprehension of the voyage of the "Investigator," that the reader should bear in mind the relative positions of other ships in the various stages of her long voyage, and also that Dr. Rae was wintering on the shores of the great Bear Lake in North America, ready to start, with boat and sledge, northward immediately that the weather should allow him. The " Investigator's " New Year's day was a happy one ; many a delicacy long and carefully hoarded was produced at the table, at which all the officers and their captain met; and not the least remarkable of these dainties was a quarter of mutton which had been procured at the Sandwich Islands in the previous July, a pretty good proof of the preservative qualities of frost. On this day there was but one man on tne sick list, as we have before said, and all now felt that the most trying portion of the RETURNING LIGHT. 157 winter would soon be past ; for with every return- ing day the sun was again approaching the horizon, and, slowly though it was, still the light was augmenting daily. Light was what they, as well as all others who have wintered in the North, most sighed for. The cold, however intense, is robbed of half its terrors, if there is light to enable the arctic navigator to see around him, so that he may take his walk or, gun in hand, seek for game. The darkest period of an arctic winter is from about the 10th of December to about the 6th of January, whereas the lowest temperatures usually occur in February, when there is considerable twi- light; and, in those latitudes of which we are writing, some hours of sunlight. This merciful dis- pensation of Providence is one amongst the many which will strike the least observant visitor to those regions. From the 9th January, 1851, to the 16th, was the coldest period registered on board the " Inves- tigator ; " but there was tolerable light then from 9.30 A. M. to 2.30 p. M., so much, indeed, that at noon on the 16th the only star whose light was not quenched by the twilight was the bright star Arcturus. The spirits of the men rose, in spite of the thermometer showing 40" to 50" below zero I L ' ^ l\ I I 158 DISCOVERY OP THE NOETH-WEST PASSAGE. m^ V i ( ) I i: f ' ■■ f m of Fahrenheit ! What cared they for quicksilver being solid, any more than for the solidity of the surface of the sea over which they strode ? No, their health and spirits were good, they could see that the sun was coming back ; and did it not pro- mise them all they wanted?— summer thaws, open water, fresh adventures, the discovery of the " Erebus " and " Terror " ; and then, huzza for England ! Early one dark and icy morning in January, a man, named John Eames, was walking out upon the floe, and saw pass close to him a small herd of reindeer trotting quietly towards Princess Royal Islands. Had the ghost of his grandfather suddenly appeared to him upon the floe, John Eames could not have been more astonished ; for he, like everyone else, confidently believed in every living creature having gone to more favoured climes to the southward, until the summer should return. The news quickly spread ; appetites sharpened ; and sportsmen issued forth to slay venison. But there was no venison to be slain; the deer were nowhere to be found, although the discovery of a ptarmigan gave rise to much as- tonishment as to how birds could exist in such a temperature, with the land covered deeply in snow, THEORY OF ANIMAL MIGRATION SUBVERTED. 169 and where it happened to be exposed, the soil so hard as to destroy iron tools in attempting to loosen it. These discoveries, however, raised a doubt of the correctness of the theory of animal migration in the arctic regions, as laid down by that eminent naturalist and traveller Sir John Richardson, as well as of the opinion in its favour expressed by the late Admiral Sir Edward Parry ; and Captain M'Clure, in his Journal, says, " it is pretty evident that, during the whole winter, animals may be found in these straits, and that the want of suffi- cient light alone prevents our larder being stored with fresh food." Subsequent observation has completely overthrown the idea that the reindeer, musk-ox, or other animals inhabiting the archi- pelago of islands north of America, migrate south- ward to avoid an arctic winter. Throughout Banks Land, Melville Island, Bathurst and Corn- wallis Land — in short, wherever British seamen have wintered of lute years — there have been found indubitable proofs of the reindeer, bear, musk- ox, marmot, wolf, hare, and ptarmigan — in short, all the Fauna of those climes — wintering in the latitudes in which they are found during the summer. 1 1 I a: ', K; vhm ■ .1' i'ia- i . ' f 1 }'}.: ■■a f:i ! f ' m '. m •■i il ill 160 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. January closed in with strong gales of wind from the westward ; and, on one occasion, the wind veering to S.W. and blowing very hard, the hot air forced up from more genial regions raised the temperature from 32"— to 15*— of Fahr., — a change which, however pleasing, could not be enjoyed, as the snow-drift was too heavy for a soul to venture outside the friendly shelter of the woollen housings. An incident characteristic of life in the far north happened at this time. A raven, which had haunted the ship during the past period of cold and darkness, left it — and his departure was quite an event, something for the men to remark and talk upon ; — and his so- ciety was more missed than the loss of a more pleasing pet would have been elsewhere. " The absent bird was a loss," says the gallant Captain of the " Investigator," " which we all felt ; it had been the only creature that appeared as isolated as ourselves, and a mutual confidence had been established between us. The raven used to visit the ship unmolested except by the dog, — who appeared to know the bird as well as we did, was always on the look-out for its visit, and went out to meet it occasionally. The dog would run at Ralpho ; but he would hop over his REAPPEARANCE OF THE SUN. 161 head, and resume his occupation at the dirt-heap, keeping an eye, however, all the while upon the dog, and uttering a harsh croak occasionally, as if enjoying the fun of tantalising him." On February the 3rd the glorious sun rose again, after having been absent since the 11 th of No- vember. Eighty-four days of twilight and dark- ness ! Few but the dweller in those high latitudes can understand the joy with which the return of that bright luminary was hailed ; and the con- gratulations exchanged upon having been spared to rejoice again in the blessed sunlight, were mingled with heartfelt aspirations for the future. Officers and men were every day extending their walks. Many a party was made up to Princess Royal Island, each being sanguine of bringing back a well-filled game-bag; but generally the evening saw the sportsmen returning unsuccessful and tired, with no other consolation than that of having seen at a distance some solitary wolf, and — upon the principle of "where there are bees there must be honey " — they strongly maintained this proved venison to be in the neighbourhood, and this venison might be theirs. Winter sporting in a temperature of 60° below freezing point, when all the country is buried in snow, and the sports- M j i ! i ■ i :?l I ; '{■i m 162 DISCOVERY OP TIIK NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. -I ■''i man stands out in strong relief upon the snowy landscape, is seldom remunerative to the larder ; but it has the merit of giving occupation to minds pressed down by the canker of monotony ; and one could smile and enjoy the marvellous tales, brought back by the men, of the number of miles they had walked, the quantity of game seen, or the size of reindeer footprints upon the snow, as well as the excellent reasons given why neither flesh nor fowl filled their game-bags. That it should not become warm directly the sun rose, was vexatious to those not gifted with patience ; and many a one sighed at seeing the thermometer on February 21st registering 44°— in the shade, whilst in the sun the rays playing upon the bulb of the instrument only raised it to 28° — , or 60 degrees below freezing point ! Outdoor sports now commenced ; and to see the heavy falls the men experienced in their thick winter clothing and cloth snow-boots, whilst playing rounders upon the ice, an observer might have wondered how they escaped fractured bones and broken heads. Appetites that had failed now began to return, pale and yellow faces again to recover their ruddy and sunburnt colours ; and long discussions al- ready arose as to how Jack would spend his money ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEP6t. 103 when he arrived in England ; an anxiety which often in every clime weighs upon his mind when nothing else will. Arrangements connected with the travelling operations of the coming spring were now entered upon ; and although the present thickness of the ice in Prince of Wales Strait gave no promise of an early disruption, still Captain M'Clure deter- mined, before the sledges left the ship, to establish such a depot, and place such means on the islands, as should render the sledge-parties independent of the ship, in the event of the ice breaking up and sweeping the " Investigator " north or south before their return. Early in March, therefore, a whale- boat was carried on sledges, with much labour and difficulty, to the Princess Royal Island, and a dep6t established of three months' victualling for the entire crew ; so that should the ship even be destroyed by the coming summer, a portion if not all of the people might escape to the Mackenzie River or Barrow's Strait, at which latter place some of Captain Austin's expedition would be met with. With this dep6t of provisions a record was placed, stating by whom and why it it was established, and beseeching any parties from other ships that might visit it, to consider the provisions M 2 1 1 H' iB 164 DiscovEity OP the north-west passage. 1 1 i teii i 1 "^'f!* k ,„ , i\ i Wr 1 i ; '' 1 8 ^ as sacred, and only to be touched upon the most urgent necessity. These precautionary measures taken, the atten- tion of leader, officers, and men was turned to the equipment of the sledges for their journeys over the ice in search of Franklin, as well as to the expediency of communicating the " Investigator's " position to any ships that might be in their neigh- bourhood. Early in March the temperature in the sun rose to 10*-f, and heavy breezes, with much snow, indicated the breaking up of the winter season ; and as the action of the tides had already occa- sioned numerous cracks in the ice, Captain M'Clure landed another boat upon the eastern shore of the Straits, to enable the sledge-parties to retreat upon the depot, in case the ship should be carried away by the ice. April brought rapid increase of sun, light, and heat. Embankments of snow were removed, day- light admitted below, and the walks of the officers became more extended. Game was sometimes seen, and ptarmigans occasionally shot ; but there was too much work to be done connected with re- stowing and examining the state of the provisions in the vessel, and equipping the sledge-parties, DF-rATlTURE OF THE VARIOUS PARTIFS. 1(55 to allow of any systematic plan of procuring fresh food being pursued. On the 17th of the month the temperature, which had risen steadily, stood at 38°+ in the sun, and the floe around the ship became studded with pools of water, formed rather, however, by the tide forcing itself up the cracks and weak points in the packed ice than by any action of the sun upon its surface. An early summer naturally was antici- pated ; and proiiting by the experience gained at Port Leopold in 1848, Captain M*Clure deter- mined to get his parties away at once, instead of waiting, as Sir James Ross had done, until May 15th. The sledges were therefore laden; and although with provisions for six weeks and their equipments, every sledge weighed eleven hundredweight, and there were only six men to drag each, they moved, on trial, at a rate which gave good promise of succesful journeys. Each of the three sledges was to take a separate course : one, commanded by Lieut. Haswell, was di- rected to proceed to the S.E., following the coast of Prince Albert's Land, towards the land seen north of Dolphin and Union Straits, and named by its discoverer Wollaston Land ; another sledge, under Lieut. S. Gurney Cresswell, was to follow u3 I 'r. i ^ '1 ■1 ,1 V HMUaWM il •f 1G6 DIWCOVEUY OF TllK NOUTII-WEST PASSAGK. the const of Waring or Bunks Land, to the N.W., ■vvlulst the remaiuing party, with Mr. Wynniatt (mute), was charged with the duty of examining the coast of Albert Land to the N.E. towards Cape "Walker. On April 18th, 1851, the sledges of the " Investi- gator " left the ship* with the hearty good wishes of all on board ; and, like their brother seamen of the expedition then wintered under Griffith's Island, they held on their toilsome course in spite of cold, hardship, and every difficulty, cheered by the then still strong hope of finding Franklin's lost expedition. To follow each party in its arduous and monoto- nous labours, would be but an uninteresting repe- tition of an oft-told tale ; but yet the general reader should be reminded how nobly those gallant sea- men toiled who were despatched from the " Investi- gator," or from other ships, to search on foot for our missing comrades. Sailors by profession, and con- sequently unaccustomed to long marches or to drag- ging heavy weights, — the major portion of their lives probably having been spent under a broiling sun on the coast of Africa, or in the East or West * Tlie sledges of Captain Austin's expedition, then winter- ing at Griffith's Island, left, it will be remembered, three days earlier, namely, on April 15th, 1851. HARDSlIU'd I'lSDURKI) HY SLFDGE (UIKWS. 1G7 Indies, — we yet see these men readily enter the Arctic regions, and push into the sea beyond the boundaries of our knowledge of the earth's geo- graphy, and even of the limits of the wanderings of the hardy Esquimaux. Imprisoned as they had been for a long and dark winter ; left to their own resources entirely for health, food, and amusement ; rationed upon the coarse and endless repetition of salt beef and salt pork, varied with occasional preserved meat to check the slow but certain march of scurvy, they were now sent to travel upon snow and ice, each with 200 pounds to drag — an inevitable load, for it comprised food, fuel, raiment, sledge, and tent. If they should feel cold, they must be patient; for until they return to the ship there will be no fire to warm them. Should their parched tongues cleave to their mouths, they must swallow snow to allay their thirst ; for water there is none. Should their health fail, pity is all that their comrades can give them ; for the sledge must move on its daily march. If hungry, they must console themselves by looking forward to being better fed when the travelling is over ; for the rations are necessarily, in sledge journeys, weighed off to an ouncfi ; in short, from the time they leave the ship until their M 4 ri'f ■-■ -1 •f-: I . '* if II' I.I l|!!ii itijllji 168 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTH-WEST PASSAG return to it, the service is ever one of suffering and privation which call for the utmost endurance and most zealous energy. Severely did the spring of 1851 see the good qua- lities of the British seaman tested, not only among the parties from the " Investigator," but also among those of Captain Austin and Captain Penny; and in every case the result was the same. No man flinched from his work ; some of the gallant fellows really died at the drag-rope ; others by frost-bites became cripples for life ; but not a murmur arose in any party : as the wer k fell out from the sledge appointed to the longest and most severe journey, there were always more than enough of volunteers to take their places. It has been the fashion of late to decry the labours of these seamen in the search for Franklin, and to compare them with the deeds of the Hudson Bay voyageurs. The fact is the comparison cannot be made with justice to either side. The voyageur works from a great continent, forming a sure and safe base of operation — peo- pled wherever he has to go, by Esquimaux or In- dians, consequently capable of supporting life with ordinary skill and foresight. The major portion of the search, commenced in 1848, from the Hudson ENGLISH SEAMEN AND AMEIIICAN VOYAGEURS. 169 Bay Company's Territories has been carried on in boats and canoes; and the wintering places on Peel River and at Fort Confidence, being south of the Arctic zone, the severe trial of health, occasioned by a three-months' absence of sunlight, is happily avoided. The work the voyageurs were called upon to ex- ecute they have done well, and if placed upon the barren lands of 74° to 78° North Latitude, they might possibly undergo the privations of that rigo- rous climate, its months of darkness, and years of unwholesome dietary, equally well as our sailors : upon that point we have nothing to say, except that they have not been so tested. It can in no way detract from the high merit of the Hudson Bay servants, in the search for Franklin's expedition, to say that the climate and resources of the shores of the American continent, the scene of their la- bours, are very superior to those of the sterile latitudes over which our seamen toiled, — and the question in no way involves the personal merits of either the men or their leaders. The fact of the Esquimaux having perished off the face of the region searched by the sledge parties of Captains Ross, Austin, Penny, Kellett, and Belcher tells its own tale. English seamen have CI 1 r Mil- h] I irn ) U 1- ''M |,:;,.j -^~~*" " 1 11 " I 'l i m < I 7 illli 170 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WKST PASSAGE. had to exist, and labour severely, where even the aborigines had found it impossible to do so. It is hardly to be expected that in our generation the laurel will be awarded where it is due, but we safely leave to the judgment of posterity the records — and they will bear the closest scrutiny — of how British seamen have laboured in a noble cause. Their re- ward, poor fellows, has been but small ; and living as they do, by the sweat of their brows, shattered health to them brings starvation. They have la- boured hard, and deserve well of their country and profession. Had all their leaders been as single- hearted, as upright in purpose, and as staunch, the wretched tale brought home in 1854 by Dr. Rae would not have had ^ > be told.* m ♦ The Editor does not jW of any sledge journey which can more vividly depict the sufferings which some sledge parties of sailors went through, than the one of which the fol- lowing is a brief extract, from the daily journal of the officer in command, the present Captain George H. Richards, an officer second to none in the indomitable energy and skill he has dis- played in the successful execution of every duty entrusted him in Arctic service. " On the 22nd Feb. 1354," says Captain Richards, "the tem- perature having ranged between 34° and 45° minus for the last four days, I started with two sledges, by Captain Belcher's orders, for Beechey Island, fifty miles distant. After eiglit miles dragging, tlie mon were so very tired, cold, and miserable, that they hardly had patience to wait for their frozen meat being SUFFERINGS OF SLEDGi: TAUTIES. 171 Whilst the sledge parties of Captain M'Clure's ship as well as those of Captains Austin's and Penny's ex- thawed; and that eaten, they threw themselves down in their blanket bags, half frozen as they were, to sleep. Next day (the 23rd) the thermometer registered 40° below zero, or 72° below freezing point ! " The poor fellows dragged on as well as they could ; but the Captain's hands were too cold, and his ideas too much engaged in attending to their safety, to write any journal beyond the hasty but graphic expressions in his note-book, — " It's distressingly cold ? " " the pork as brittle as resin ; " " the rum frozen ! " So fatigued were many of the men, and so debi- litated from constant suffering, that their stomachs rejected what food they attempted to swallow. On the 24th, the tempe- rature had fallen to 74° below freezing point. It seemed as if human endurance could go no further ; yet they tugged on, for anything was better than returning to the wretchedness they had left on board their ship. Their noon-day meal, called lunch, could not be partaken of; for the rum and the bacon were solid, and they were too cold to wait whilst either thawed. Passing by where the gallant Frenchman Bellot had fallen a sacrifice in attempting to carry out the orders of Sir Edward Belcher (vide Blue Books), the worn-out and exhausted crews encamped at last off Cape Grinnell. Another night of sleeplessness passed, for the cold was too intense for the most tired to sleep. On the 25th Feb. the jaded crews made their way across Griffin Bay, the temperature still so low, and their sufferings so intense, that they could neither eat nor sleep, — a glass of grog and a bit of biscuit being all their food. On the next day the temperature was still 73° below freezing point (41°— of Fahr.); exhaustion was apparent with all the party, and Captain Richards had, as he says, "serious misgivings as to whether he should be able to proceed." On making the attempt, frost- '• 5 . ;; ^ . \ ; f i ■ i ' 11 I d ') 1 -"-."lillM liiiiiiiMifii 172 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. If; J h peditions (see Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal) are plodding along on their arduous search, I must, to connect the thread of our narrative, remind the reader that we left H.M.S. "Enterprise," Captain Collinson, consort of the "Investigator," in the Pa- cific Ocean. She reached the latitude of Icy Cape as late as the 22 nd of September, 1850, having made a long and circuitous passage from the Sandwich Islands. The pack ice was there met; and with winter evidently closing in, the prospect of round- ing Cape Barrow that year was at an end. In obedience, therefore, to the strict injunction con- tained in his orders not to winter in the pack, Captain Collinson bore up for a warmer climate, so as to have his crew and ship ready to resume their labours in the season of 1851. bites, became frequent and threatening; but a fresh gale from the north fortunately blew their sledges on, and in the evening they camped near Point Innes. On the following day Captain Richards and Mr. Herbert pushed on to the "North Star," at Beechey Island, for aid ; and once arrived there, both he and his men fervently thanked their God for his protection through no ordinary suffering. It required a week's rest to restore his men to health and strength; and perhaps the most painful part of this tale of suffering is, that it all arose from an idea upon Captain Belcher's part that he waa^ifted with prophetic powers as to a high range of temperature after the 22nd February. MUUDEB OF LIEUT. BARNARD. 173 All Captain ColUnson knew of the position of Captain M'Clure, was the report of Captain Moore, of the "Plover," who on August 5th, 1850, had seen the " Investigator," under a press of canvas, steering northward off Wainwright Inlet. Unfortu- nately one of the many rumours, easily to be traced to the "Investigator's" communication with the na- tives of the north coast, which reached the "Plover" in her idle winter-quarters, induced Captain Col- linson to allow an enterprising young officer, Lieut. Barnard, to be landed in the Russian North-west American settlements, in order to inquire into their truth; and, in carrying out this service, he was brutally murdered by savages in a surprise of one of the Russian posts, called Darabin redoubt, not far from Norton Sound. The circumstances under which it occurred are related in the follow ing letter of his companion, Mr. Adams, assistant surgeon. f L f •Mil r. "Garishka, Russian Fishing Station, Norton Sound, N.W. Coast of America, 3rd March, 1851. " Sir, "The information I have been able to obtain here, appears to be more probable than that which I gained at Michaelowski. It is to the following eflPect: — V'::4 . „ : 3 irl'l ■ ■ . ^ ^M I I hi % 174 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE " Soon after Lieutenant Barnard's arrival at Darabin, a Russian and two natives were sent to the Koiikuk river to trade for skins, and they took a letter from Mr. Barnard to be forwarded to the Englishmen on the Ekko. These three men were murdered by the Indians. "On the morning of the 16th of February the governor of the redoubt (Maxemoff or Darabin), who was sleeping in the same room with Mr. Barnard and Boskey, hearing a noise outside, went to the door; and immediately on opening it, he was killed by a spear. " The Indians then rushed into the room : Mr. Barnard seized his gun, one barrel of which hap- pened to be loaded with a cartridge, and wounded a man in the arm; he then struck with the butt, until the stock broke; he was severely wounded in the abdomen by a spear, but I cannot learn that he received any wounds from arrows. " Boskey was badly wounded in the abdomen by two arrows, in the hands by a spear being draAvn through them in attempting to wrest it from an Indian, and in the arms by a knife. I car \<^Qvn nothing of the other Indians, except that they killed one native. "The inhabitants of the two villages, Tolliikok I / a DETAILS OF TUB INDIAN MASSACRE. 175 and Koltargar, were at Oomalartof at the time of the attack, and all were killed, — men, women, and children, — to the number of about fifty. The six who escaped were sleeping in the bath-house at the redoubt. " I cannot ascertain the number of the attacking party, only that there were 'plenty' of them. Each man carried a shield of thick wood, which was musket-proof ; and after the first attack, they appear to have planted them in a line so as to form a wall, from behind which they fired at the sur- viving inhabitants. " There appears to have been no motive for the attack, and so unexpected was it that they were sleeping with their doors unfastened. " I have seen some of the spears here ; they are large, and appear to be of European manufacture ; they are inlaid with brass and copper. " I have added to the enclosed, tracing all the information I have been able to obtain relative to the situation and names of villages and rivers. " On the 5th of January last Mr. Barnard sent a native of this village to the 'Plover' with de- spatches ; he has not been heard of since, and the natives are all so much frightened that I cannot get another to go. I therefore leave these papers I ■. It 1-' ■I. :'i: • I '>■ K m .j. « : '■■■ I 1 7(1 niSfOVKRY OK TIIK NOHTII-WKST rASSAnK. with iho llussinn in (^liur/^c of this Htatioii, to bo forwiir(K>il if |)ns8il)h». " Wo lonvo this (o-morrow. " I luivo, ike, " I'^nvvAKi) Adams, "Assistant Sur/^oon, Iv.N. N !l 1 a It 't. : 'i * " (\>iiuiimuln' 'I'. 1'). \u Moore, ll.M.S. Tlovor,' Uruntloy Harbour." Tiio siul oiitjistropho is briofly tohl, in the lisuulwritiiig o( poor Harnsinl, in tiie uiiiicxcd note to Oootor Aihinis. It speaks vohnncs lor tho nerve of the i^uUnnt oilicer, and is strongly characteristic of the man. " Dkau Adams, "1 am dreadfully wounded in tlie abdomen; my entrails arc hanging out. I do not suppose I shall live long enough to sec you. The Ou-ii- cluik Indians made the attack whilst we were in our beds. Boskey is badly wounded, and Darabin dead. " I think my wound would have been trifling had 1 had medical advice. I am in great pain ; nearly \'' i LIKUT. WAHNAUD'h J.KTTKU. 177 all the imtivc'H of tluj villugo uro inunliTcd. Set out for thlH with uU luiHle. " .FoiiN Uaunaud." The IJussian h;ttor on which this wuh written bore the (late of r)th Fehnmry, Dunihin Redoubt; |{uH8ian time bein^r twelve ihiyn later than onra. The wrltin*^ betrayed the a^^ony of the gullunt writer, and parts were nearly illegible. { , r-^ if N ■ 4 i . mi 178 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. \^\ V ' "I I I CHAP. XIII. Signs of Summer increase. — Shooting Parties ore sent out.— Narrow P^scape of Whitefield. — Lieut. Cresswell returns, having ascertained Banks Land to be an Island. — Curious Appetite of a Bear. — Lieut. Haswell returns, with Ii)tjlli- gence of Esquimaux being at hand. — Captain M'CLire visits the Esquimaux. — The Party under Mr. Wynniatt return. — June in Prince of Wales Strait. — A Glance at the other Expeditions wintering in Arctic Seas, under Austin, Penny, Ross, and De Haven. — A Midsummer Scene in Prince of Wales Strait. — The Polar Summer's Night. — The Floe breaks up. — "Investigator" again free. — Compasses refuse to traverse. — The Ship beset, and drii'luig to the North- east along the Eastern Shore. — Wood-Currents. — Tides. — No Passage found. — Captain M'Clure decides to try another Course, by going round Banks Land. Between the 22nd of April and 5th of May the signs of approaching summer increased rapidly with those who were left on board the "Inves- tigator." Every indication of thaw, heat, and vitality was keenly watched and minutely noted; indeed these observations, and fluctuating hopes and fears for their brother shipmates absent in the sledge parties, formed the constant round of the existence of those whose good fortune it el SIGNS OF SUMMER INCREASE. 179 try the idly ves- and ted; )pes t in of it was not to share in the labours and occupations of sledge journeys. One day a small lemming was caught, and its fur having changed slightly, from pure white to a faint brown, was a prognostication little likely to disappoint them of the snows being about to melt away from the surface of the smothered land; — it was the olive-leaf in the mouth of the dove. On another occasion, the quarter-master, whilst clearing the ice off the surface of a hole in the floe, which was always kept clear in the case of fire occurring, was charmed to see a seal pop his head above water, and stare wonderingly, with his big lustrous eyes, at the blunt Yorkshireman who was intruding upon his dominions. Some there are who might have spared the poor seal; but the "Man of Hull" hardened his heart, for he thought of the savoury fry it would yield, and straightway poor Poussie* was transfixed with a lance, and his skin, oil, and flesh were soon afterwards contributing their respective quota to the health and comfort of our navigators. Then came a magnificent polar bear; a real giant, ten feet long, with footprints twelve • A term borrowed by our whalers from tho Greenlanders. n2 i i\ I ;!.i; •'i''i ! : m . I 180 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. !\ t- *i:* inches in diameter, bore down to survey the "Investigator." She was of course fired at, but fortunately escaped with life and skin. The fox and ptarmigan were seen together on Princess Koyal Island and Albert Land, the feathers of the latter lying about in profusion, denoting that they pay dearly for frequenting such distin- guished society. The vessel was now caulked and painted, hatchways opened to dry long-accumulated damp between decks ; the holds were restowed, after provisions and stores had been surveyed; and lastly a close examination of the crew was made by the surgeon. Dr. Armstrong, and its result was most satisfactory. All were in most perfect health, not a trace of scurvy was de- tected among the men then on board ; " an in- stance of sanitary well-being, " as Captain M'Clure justly observes, " unparalleled in the annals of polar voyages." May brought in a tem- perature ranging from 6°+ to 30**+ of Fahren- heit, the wind varying from S.W. to N.W., with occasional falls of snow. On the 6th of May Mr. Wynniatt's sledge party returned to the ship: that officer had broken his chronometer, and wanted to be supplied with another; but there was not NARROW ESCAPE OF A MAN. 181 a 8[>arc pocket-instrument on board, and Captain M'Clure, pained beyond measure at the loss of time already incurred by the return of this party from a position nine days' journey in advance of the ship, despatched Mr. Wynniatt again upon his original route during the course of the day. Mr. Wynniatt reported that throughout his jour- ney traces of musk-oxen and deer had been very plentiful and fresh; and as the latter animal had also been seen upon the land abreast of the ship, two shooting parties were established to endea- vour to secure an addition to the resources of the commissariat. On May 7th a sad accident nearly occurred to a young carpenter named Whitefield, one of a shoot- ing party on the western shore. A large flock of hares had been seen trooping up a ravine just as a heavy snow-storm set in, the rest of the sportsmen retired to their tent for safety, but Whitefield was tempted to go on. Being missed by the others, the men of the shooting party started two at a time to look for him, each relief running much risk of losing its way and being smothered in drift; yet nothing could be seen of the lost man. Failing in all their efforts, and fairly at their wits' end, the party, which was in charge of a petty officer, retreated to n3 if f \'-S 'i « iumtit 182 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. w iM it ^ 1 m I ! their tent again, and began to fear the -worst, when one of them suddenly exclaimed that he heard "the footsteps of a bear!" All heard the sound for a minute, and then it ceased. The drift was so dense they could see nothing; and to their shouts of "Whitefield!" no answer came. Shortly after- wards, during; a lull in the gale, some one happened to look out of the tent ; and there, not a yard from the tent, knelt poor Whitefield, stiff and rigid as a corpse, his head thrown back, his eyes fixed, his mouth open and filled with snow; his gun was slung over his shoulder, but his body was fast being buried in a snow-wreath. They pulled him into the tent, restored animation, and then sent for aid to the ship. When the man eventually recovered enough to tell his talc, it was strange indeed. He said that, whilst struggling with the snow-storm and endeavouring to find his way home, he felt a chill, and then a fit came on, which appeared to have deprived him of his senses to some extent, for he had seen people looking for him — some of them had even passed within a hundred yards of him — yet he could neither call them nor discharge his gun for a signal, and meantime the snow had covered him. After a while he regained some strength, and fortunately discovered a track leading to the tent, ■^ ABUNDANCE OF GAME. 183 and had actually almost reached it— indeed they were his footsteps that the people had heard — when again the fit came on, and he sank doAvn a yard from the tent door, in the attitude of supplication in which he was found in the snow. He was fast becoming rigid, and freezing to death, when, by the mercy of Providence, his shipmates saw him. Among the startling narratives of arctic history, there are few more providential escapes. The quantity of game, in the shape of hares and ptarmigan, seen in every direction by the different shooting parties, and recorded in Captain M'Clure's diary for May, was very wonderful in so high a latitude ; but the sailors and marines, with one or two exceptions, were but poor sportsmen, the sum total of their contribution to the general stock being in four weeks but 156 ptarmigan and seven hares. Yet one valley visited by them was "literally alive with hares and ptarmigan," and large troops of the former were seen by all parties. Keener appetites, however, in the following years made keener sportsmen, as we shall hereafter see. May 20th. — The last of the winter's snow had disappeared from the western side of the strait, and from that rejoicing in a south-eastern aspect; but the opposite shore, which geologically speak- n4 . i j':* I I i i V I I e if 184 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ing was of the same formation, still wore a winter livery, owing to its facing the north- western part of the heavens ; the advantage, here so apparent, of wintering upon a coast or in a harbour which looks to the southward, is a point which should be held well in mind by the polar navigator, if circumstances ever allow him to choose his winter quarters. At 8 A. m. on this day Lieut. Gurney Cresswell's party returned to the ship, after an absence of thirty-two days from the " Investigator." Lieut. Cresswell had searched 170 miles of the coast of Banks Land, from the ship, in a north and north-west direction. For the first fortnight the weather had been most severe, — constant north-west gales, dead in their teeth, sweeping through Barrow's Strait. Frost-bites had been frequent, but only two men became seriously attacked ; and they, poor fellows, being aflFected in the feet in both cases, mortification of the ex- tremities threatened, and Lieut. Cresswell had been obliged to listen to the dictates of humanity, and retreat upon the ship just as the weather was improving and the trend of the coast of Banks Land to the south convinced him it was an island. By this judicious step, however, the men's lives were saved, one only losing a portion of his feet ; STRANGE CONTENTS OF A BEAR's STOMACH. 186 but a day or two longer on the sledge would have been fatal to both. The Lieutenant found the north coast of Banks Land, west of Cape Russell, a precipitous clijff of limestone, varying from 1000 feet to 1500 feet in height ; against the base, ice of an amazing thick- ness had been forced up, by a great north-west pressure, in lofty ridges. Outside this ridge the sledge had made its way for seventy miles, when the land became low at what appeared the west- ern extreme of Barrow's Strait. Looking in that direction from a considerable elevation, nothing like land could be seen, the eye roamed over a vast sea of ice ; it was again that " Land of the White Bear " spoken of by the natives of Cape Bathurst. On May 21st an extraordinary event occurred, which was not until afterwards explained. About 10.30 A.M. a large bear was passing the ship, when Captain M'Clure killed it with a rifle-shot. On examining the stomach, great was the astonish- ment of all present at the medley it contained. There were raisins, that had not long been swallowed; a few small pieces of tobacco-leaf; bits of pork fat cut into cubes, which the ship's cook declared must have been used for piaking mock-turtle soCip, an article often found '^iri iV n '^','.\\.} 186 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 11 I ^ A 1 on board a ship in a preserved form ; and, lastly, fragments of sticking-plaster which, from the forms into which they had been cut, must evidently have passed through the hands of a surgeon. Captam M'Clure, ignorant at the time of the position of the other ships that had been despatched from England, surmised that there could only be two ways in which these traces of civilisation in the bear's stomach could be accounted for ; either that bear had come over some floe of ice visited by the " Investigator" last autumn, or that the " Enterprise" was wintering close at hand. Now we know that the " Enterprise" was then in China, and it is hardly probable, bearing in mind the rapid crushing and churning of the ice, as described by Captain M'Clure, in the month of November, 1850, that any of it should have escaped being rolled over more than once. The field for conjecture would therefore have been a wide one, had he, like ourselves at the present hour, known of the relative positions of Austin, Penny, and Rae's expeditions, as well as of the quarter from which proofs were brought in 1854 that Franklin's people had reached. In such a case the most probable supposition would have been, that from one or either of them Bruin had made his very \ BOYAL SALUTE FOR QUEEN'S BIRTH-DAY. 187 extraordinary collection of curiosities. So im- pressed, indeed, was M'Clure with the idea that the " Enterprise" must be in the neighbourhood, that he despatched Lieut. Cresswell along the south-east shore of Banks Land, with a sledge provisioned until June 10th, to seek her. After that officer had left the ** Investigator," the bear's secret was revealed, for some sportsmen in search of game, picked up a preserved-meat tin, around which there were many footprints of a bear ; and upon examining its contents, they found therein articles corresponding with those disco- vered in the stomach of the animal shot on the 21st instant. On May 24th, Her Most Gracious Majesty's birth- day, the " Investigator" fired a royal salute where perhaps no salute will ever again be fired, and most certainly none was ever fired before. The thermo- meter, exposed to the sun, rose to-day to 73°+ » in the shade it fell to 26°-f-. The first gull was observed on the 27th inst., a sure sign that cracks in the floe had already begun to show themselves. An earl}'^ season it certainly was ; and officers and men longed for the open water that was to lead them, as they hoped, to Lancaster Sound. On May 29 th the first-lieutenant's party was seen ?;1 l"\ 1 1 t 1 1 188 DISCOVEUY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. approaching, and it reached the ship safely soon afterwards. Lieut. Haswell had been absent forty- seven days, and during that time he had searched a great extent of coast towards the south-east. He reached the extreme point of his journey on the 14th May, when his position was on the north shore of a deep indentation in "Wollaston Land ; his latitude and longitude being about 70" 45' N., 114" W. By a remarkable coincidence, Dr. Rae, from his winter quarters in America, reached on the 24th of May, (exactly ten days later) a point on the opposite side of the same inlet, the " ex* tremes " of the two travellers being thus only forty miles apart. On his homeward journey. Lieu- tenant Haswell fell in with native Esquimaux, encamped upon the ice, at a place since named Berkeley Point, forming the southern head of the strait. Unable to converse with them but by signs, he pushed on for the ship ; and directly Captain M'Clure heard of natives being so close, he made arrangements for going to communicate with them by the aid of Mr. Mierching, the Moravian interpreter. Until that moment no one had the least idea that they were wintering so near fellow- creatures. Ill '!W« / fil VISIT TO THE ESQUIMAUX. 189 It is true that every part of the coast about the neighbourhood of Princess Royal Island abounded in Esquimaux ruins ; but they were moss-grown and very ancient, and none of the natives of North America met by the Investigators in the pre- vious year, between the Mackenzie River and Point Parry, spoke of land in the direction of Prince of Wales Strait. On the 30th, Captain M'Clure and Mr. Mier- ching started, and on the 2nd June reached the Esquimaux encampment, consisting of five tents with as many men, five women, and a due propor- tion of children. Three of the men were absent hunting ; the re- maining two received the visitors, answering the first salute of Mr. Mierching with a cry of, " Oh ! we are very much afraid ! we are very much afraid ! " as they probably were ; but assurances of the good intentions of the Englishmen soon dissipated their fears. One of the hunters came in shortly afterwards. He is described as a fine, active broad- shouldered savage, with bow and quiver slung at his back, a large copper-bladed hunting-knife in his hand, well clothed in seal skins, and his finely pro- portioned limbs neatly encased in beautifully-made I 190 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ri in mocassins and overalls. In fact, his appearance, combined with his confiding, frank, and friendly manner, impressed all the party, and marked him as a favourable specimen of the hardy race which wanders over those frigid regions. Game, they said, such as the musk-ox and deer was very plen- tiful, but extremely wild. They assured Captain M'Clure of the continuity of the coast he was now upon with that of "VVollaston and Victoria Land. Esquimaux increased, they said, as you went to the south-east ; and of all that portion of the coast visited by them they drew a very correct chart, handling pencil and paper as if they were accustomed to hydrography. Mr. Mierching understood them, and they him, perfectly, the dialect spoken by the tribe being the same as that of the Labrador coast. They seemed very simple and honest ; and when presented with anything, they appeared incapable of supposing that anyone would give them an article without expecting an equivalent. A piece of red cloth having been tied by the Captain round the neck of a girl, she ran to the interpreter to know what was to be given in return for it ; and when assured that it was a free gift, she gracefully acknowledged it by a smile, and wished to know " what kind of animal it grew upon." I! ? SYMPATHY AWAKENED FOB THE ESQUIMAUX. 191 These Esquimaux said that, until they had seen Lieut. Haswell's party, they had never cast eyes upon a white man, — proving pretty distinctly that the lost expedition never reached so far. Copper / of the purest description seemed to be plentiful with them, for all their implements were of that metal ; their arrows were tipped with it, and some of the sailors saw a quantity of it in a rough state in one of the tents. Bidding gcod-bye to these really interesting creatures, and promising them untold wealth in the shape of buttons and arms, Captain M'Clure returned to his ship more than ever convinced that if the Honourable Company! under whose uncontrolled authority the northern portion of British America has passed as a " vested; ; right," would, when seeking for furs and profits^ I take a somewhat more enlarged view of their posi- tion, and study a little the Christian ruler's duty : / towards such of their fellow- creatures as it has pleased God to place them in authority over, it would be better for them on that day of reckoning when the support of the great ones of this earth shall have as little weight as large dividends, or stock at Q. premium. The sympathy awakened in the mind of Captain M'Clure for the lonely, expiring race of Esquimaux 'I I I *■ I. - : i h :! li^l :-■] ' I -i( i '. \ f 1 ill i ii 192 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. was naturally increased by the isolated position of his ship and crew at this period.* June 4th. — The ship was now surrounded by water, yet the ice of the strait was still seven feet in thickness. The 7th of the month brought back the sledge party under Mr. Wynniatt; his turning- point was on on the 26th May, at which time he was only fifty or sixty miles from the farthest point reached by a party under Lieut. Osborn from Griffith's Island. In both cases the land where each party turned back was strikingly similar, low, with oflf-lying shoals, and closely beset with stupendous ice. Since then, in the winter of 1853-54, two of Her Majesty's ships, the " Resolute " and " Intre- pid," were caught in the pack, and wintered due north of this intervening fifty miles of ground; and although the wind blew fresh from the north and north-west, they did not drift through any channel in a southern direction; the natural inference there- fore is, that the land from Cape Walker in Peel Sound to the Prince of Wales Strait is continuous. The drift chart of the " Resolute" and "Intrepid" is strong evidence, at any rate, in favour of such a theory. * Captain Collinson, with Iiis ship the "Enterprise," wintered in the same year, 1851-52, amongst these people; and all their intercourse was most friendly. w JUNE IN PRINCE OF WALES STRAIT. 193 June is passing slowly, for the water does not make half fast enough for men tired of eight months' imprisonment ; but the ice has diminished 2 ft. 10 in. in thickness in thirty days, and the water-pools upon the surface are extending to- wards one another, and boring holes through the floe beneath in all directions. The glistening hum- mocks are turning to a faded-yellow colour, and silently toppling to decay; the ducks and geese and swans fly cackling by, wondering perhaps whether the "Investigator" is an island on which it might be prudent to deposit their eggs, so as to secure them from the sly Renard who is eyeing them with a watering mouth ; whilst the long-silent ravines burst out with a view halloo! and send glacier, snow, water, land, and stone, flying far over the floe which fringes either shore. * But whilst we wait for the mysterious but certain motion of the ice-fields in the strait, which will re- lease our travellers, let us cast a glance at the points reached during the past spring by the many parties pushing out from Grifiith's Island and from Captain Penny's wintering-place in Barrow's Strait. Thanks to the close attention paid to the details of sledging by Lieut. M'Clintock* whilst * The present Captain Leopold F. M'Clintock, R.N. O V i 1 1 i I 1 i ■ I ■ i A rr ' t \ r. ] If E^ 194 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. serving under Sir Jamc8 Ross, in 1848, and to the vast improvement his ingenuity enabled him to effect in it, the sledge-parties from Captain Aus- tin's squadron were the most perfectly appointed that ever perhaps left on arctic service. The editor, who has since served in a squadron where an attempt was made to claim originality upon the head of equipment, feels it but justice to say, that every part of the sledge scheme carried out by Sir Edward Belcher's expedition in 1853 was grounded '/ entirely upon Lieut. M'Clintock's original ideas. Here and there, though his suggestions were made use of, something was done to give an appearance of originality, but it was an appearance only; to Lieut. M'Clintock belonged the merit where there was any. Aided by this splendid equipment, — ■w4iich only required that more of the officers should have been as skilled as M'Clintock in turning them to advantage to have yielded still better results, — the sledges from the "Resolute," "Assistance," "Pioneer," and "Intrepid" did an immense amount of work. That which carried off the palm in distance and value of service performed, was led by Lieut. M'Clintock in person to Melville Island; and about the same time that Lieut. Cresswell was standing on the north extreme of Banks Land, GLANCE AT THE OTHER EXPEDITIONS. 195 ) If Lieut. M*Clintock was on the southern promontory of Melville Island, some fifty or sixty miles from him. On the south shore of Barrow's Strait, Captain Ommanney, of the "Assistance," was leading a party westward. At Peel Sound, ho detached Lieut. Browne with two sledges, to examine that channel downwards ; while from the American coast Dr. Rae afterwards came up it in a boat, and they approached each other until their extremes were only 180 miles apart. It is too late to regret it now; but had the whole strength of that division of sledges been turned upon Peel's Strait, we should then have reached King William's Land, and saved Frank- lin's crew. Alas! there was then a furor for Melville Island and for Banks Land; and all Captain Ommanney and his adviser, the writer of these pages, got for their foretiiought in heed- ing Peel's Strait at all, was a snubbing for not beating Lieut. M'Clintock. C^tptain Ommanney, anxious to pass nothing, went down another opening, fearing it might be a strait ; and Lieut. Sherard Osborn pushed on with another sledge, as far as his provisions would allow him, turn- ing back, as I have said, when about forty or fifty o2 I J ■'! I V ^1 ■ I ' I t ■ 51 if » I; I ¥ r i., i ^ s^ n i II tl f f. f M' ' \' i ■ \ 1 i. 1 i I ^ 196 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. miles from the point reached by Captain M'Clure's party. Another sledge-party, under Lieut. Aldrich, searched far up to the northward by way of Byam Martin Channel, whilst Penny with boat and sledge opened up and examined Wellington Channel. Not a fresh vestige did these parties discover of Frank- lin's whereabouts, beyond the fact that his first winter quarters had been in Beechey Island: this first and most important fact Captain Penny ascer- tained. Dr. Rae has since added one link in in- forming us that a boat's crew from the ill-fated expedition reached America; — and so little did the leaders of the expeditions from Baffin's Bay seem to think they were to work in combination with those who, as they knew, were pushing towards a central point from the Pacific Ocean, tha« they took the earliest advantage of open water to return to Eng- land, and strived to enlighten the world with what they supposed Franklin must have done after he left winter quarters at Beechey Island. Strange to say too, those whose position entitled their opinion to most weight, gave Franklin credit for everything but doing what he was sent to do, and did do — discover a North-west Passage! — a fact which Dr. Rae's discoveries in 1854 incontestably prove. IF* ^' ; (i MIDSUMMER SCENE. 197 |j the ^ng. Before returning to the " Investigator," a glance must be cast in the direction of Behring's Strait. There we see the "Enterprise," Captain R. Col- linson, C. B., pushing into the ice. On the 29th July, she rounded Point Barrow with some diffi- culty, and then, following the American shore on the footsteps of the " Investigator," we will leave her struggling with and mastering successfully the many dangers of that shoal coast and ponderous ice. It is July in Prince of Wales Strait, the summer season of latitude 70° north: the "Investigator" has bent sails, hoisted up her boats, and keen eyes from the mast-head watch the daily increase of water, which is detaching the floe from either shore. The russet tints of the land on both shores have replaced the tiresome white of winter; the ravines are again silent, the debdcle has passed, and the waters only run now in modest trickling streams. Here and there along the edge of some deep cleft in the land, the white streak of a pigmy glacier shows where the summer heats cannot penetrate ; but on the sunny slopes, or in sheltered valleys, the modest Flora of the North spreads her short-lived store — lichens and moss — in rich profusion of species and colour. The lovely golden hue of the anemone and poppy, the purple blossom? 1 saxifrage, and o3 I !< Hi I ijiriinj^yilTf " 198 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. I< i } I I ■ " s i 11. i ik s R. I i J: 1 white flowerets of the London-pride, appear inter- laced with the rich green of the ground-willow, and rose-tinted leaves of sorrel: all relieve the wanderer's eye, and carry him back with softened feelings to some nook in his own dear land, where the flowers, and trees, and herbs, though far surpassing in love- liness those before him, were yet not half so n^uch appreciated. The plover, phalarope, and bunting here rear their young, untroubled by man : around the margin of the petty lakes formed by melting snow upon the terraces, wild-fowl of many sorts — the king and common eider, the pintail duck, and the Brent goose — form their simple nests, in spite of the prowling fox and piratical boatswain-bird {Stercorarius parasitica), the former in quest of the parent, and the latter of her eggs. And then along the face of some beetling clifi^, which fronting to the south gives good promise of having water early at its base, clouds of shrieking gulls, kitti- wakes, and burgomasters hold a noisy parhament. There was no night to overshadow this scene : the sun rose high during the day along the southern half of the heavens, and sloped towards the north until midnight without setting. There was no darkness now, as during winter there had been no ^---i* ]« A rOLAB NIGHT. 199 MH light. Yet it must not be supposed that in the Arctic regions there is not a perceptible division of the day into that portion of it intended for labour and that for rest. Between the hours of eight in the evening and four in the morning, in spite of the sun sweeping through the heavens, there is a perceptible change ; the light is more subdued, the tints of land and sea less strong, shadows less marked, the birds go as naturally to roost as if it was dark, and Nature is evidently reposing. Nothing 3an be more lovely than this Polar night, which is not night, or, as it has been beautifully described, "the long mild twilight, which, like a silver clasp, unites to-day with yesterday, when morning and evening sit together, hand in hand, beneath the starless sky cf midnight." They who have once looked at such a landscape can never forget it, and though perhaps the penalties attached to a visit to these scenes may serve to check enthusiasm upon the subject of their attractions, yet those least susceptible to the impressions of the wonderful and beautiful, must, when standing among the marvels of those distant regions, have felt empha- tically the truth of those eloquent sentences in our Bible in which the Creation is described, and every phase of it declared to be good and perfect. o4 !\ \'_ ,i 200 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. There was great joy on board the "Investiga- tor" from the 10th to the 14th of July. The floe had commenced moving and breaking up : a lane of water was seen extending on the former day along the western shore, to the northward. The ice in which the ship was still imprisoned on the eastern side drifted about a couple of miles, and then suddenly broke up, leaving her again free, after being fixed to one spot for nearly ten months. The dangers of the navigation now recommenced : the ice was still very plentiful, and the clear water in very small patches ; and as the pack drifted to and fro, all the helpless ship could do was to fasten to the strongest masses, and trust to their strength for safety from other fields of ice. The set of the currents or tides had long been an anxious question with Captain M'Clure : the tide-pole in thirty fathoms water was not a sure guide ; but, so far as its help and twelve months' observation enabled him to form an idea, the flood- tide came from the south up the strait, the rise and fall being about three feet at spring-tides, and little, if anything, at the neaps. The prevailing current, judging from drift-wood and other symp- toms, was north-east along the eastern coast into Barrow Strait, and on the opposite, or Banks Island ...^---^-w COMPASSES BEFUSE TO TRAVERSE. 201 shore, if anything, the current set south-westerly. Tempted by the appearance of some clear water upon the western coast of the Strait, the " Investi- gator " on the 17th July cast off, and attempted to reach it. She was, however, caught by the pack-ice, and in a dense fog drifted with the crushing floes so close to Princess Royal Island as to hear the screams of the sea-fowl on the cliff; and, as had occurred in the previous autumn, she only escaped destruction by what seemed a miracle. After many a hair-breadth escape from shoals and nips in the ice, Captain M'Clure decided upon loturning again to the eastern coast, and following it, God willing, in^o Barrow's Strait. On the 24:th the first part of his object was accomplished, by crossing the Strait and reaching a spot named Cape Armstrong. Here such a quantity of drift-wood was seen upon the beach that a cutter was sent to embark a load. It was all American pine, some of it so fresh, that the carpenter was of opinion that it could not have been drifted from its native forest — either upon the banks of the Mackenzie or Copper-mine River — more than two years since. A serious and alarming difficulty now added to the anxieties of our navigators. The compasses, without any apparent cause, became exceedingly I ; ^! M V-;. y<; IJ !-] ■ ■ ■) p-J|P8ip"^» nil mm \- i ; ' I V !'- !l- I !i -A v\ 202 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. sluggish, and varied to such an extent in the dense fogs then prevaiHng, that it became impossible to tell which way they were going. The standard compass one day showed the ship's head to be N., whilst the starboard one pointed S. W. by W. \ W., and the port compass remained obstinately at S. by W. Every care was taken to ascertain and remove the cause of this eccentricity in the needles, but in vain. The " Investigator" was again beset in the ice, and with slight intermission continued so until the 15th of August, during which time she drifted about two miles per diem to the north-east with it, and eventually reached 73° 43' 43" N. latitude, and longitude 115° 32' 30" W., in which position she remained at the tantalising distance of twenty-jive miles from the waters of Barrow^ s Strait t Further than that no effort could advance the ship, and there were occasional sets of the ice to the south-west, with N. E. winds, which threatened to send them back from whence they came. The young ice at nights had already begun to form, the sun again set, and darkness had commenced, and Captain M'Clure knew that his days of naviga- tion were every day diminishing. If he could push into the pack of Barrow's Strait, with a prospect of drifting with it to the eastward for Lancaster Sound, 3 ;t • 1H jed, ga- ish of kid, STEER FOR MELVILLE ISLAND. 203 he was prepared to do so ; but it would be folly merely to get entangled in it at the entrance of Prince of Wales Strait, and be swept back again to winter, in 1851-52, in the same place he had occupied last year. Impressed with this feeling, it was with no small anxiety, when about noon, on the 16th of August, the fog having lifted, that he proceeded to take a careful survey of the ice ahead, before he decided upon launching into it, or adopt- ing some other course by which to carry his ship through the north-west passage, in safety ; and to perfect upon one line at any rate the search for his missing brother officers. He says, " I observed the ice closely packed, extending across from one side of the Strait to the other : " it formed an un- broken line without a prospect of successful passage through it for a sailing ship ; and then he immedi- ately determined, with that decision which formed the secret of his wonderful success, to bear up, go round the south end of Banks Land, and en- deavour, by passing to the westward, to reach Melville Island from that direction. r:-\^^ I • 4 t^n rti I 1 I I .^ i 1 i , t . . I'l' ' •:1 ^ ■ ^ 1 ■il- ■ 204 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. CHAP. XIV. The " Investigator " bears up, and goes round the South End of Banks Land. — Rapid Progress up the Western Coast— The Lane of Water diminishes. — Perilous Passage between the North-west Coast and ponderous Packed Ice. — Extraor- dinary Accidents and wonderful Preservation. — North-west Extreme of Banks Land. — No Glaciers or Icebergs West of Lancaster Sound. — Discovery of ancient Forests.— Arctic Lakes. — Fresh-Water Fish. — The " Investigator " drifts into the Pack in an Autumnal Gale. — Escapes and Struggles along-shore. — September Night Scene off Banks Land. — 23rd September, 1851, run Ashore during the Night in the Bay of Mercy. — Ship Afloat. — Fail to get into the Pack of Barrow's Strait. — Winter Quarters, 1851- 52. — Reduction of Allowance of Food. — Land found to abound in Game. — Want of good Huntei's. — Acute Instinct of the Reindeer. — Arctic Hare, Wolf, and Fox. — Con- tinued good Health of the Crew. — Cleverness of the Arctic Raven. — The Polar Bear and its Habits. — Violence of Winter Snow-Storms. — Christmas-Day. — The Arrival of H. M. S. " Enterprise " in Prince of Wales Strait. — She fails in rounding Banks Land, — and winters at the Esquimaux Settlement in Walker Bay. The helm of the " Investigator " was " put up : " the good ship that had so gallantly striven to escape by the northern outlet of the Strait, by which the existence of a north-west passage had been ■ DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ICE. 205 V: h*l 'f discovered, wore round upon her keel, set all sail, and sped rapidly to the south-west, passing Princess Royal Island for the last time. The officers and crew were astonished to find that not a particle of ice was to be met ; floes, hummocks, huge piles of ice that had fringed the coast, all had disappeared ! After a run of 100 miles in clear water, the 17th August found them passing the majestic cliffs of Nelson Head, the southern extreme of Banks Land, the land preserving the same bold features for 25 miles to the westward, where it terminated at Cape Hamilton : here they encountered a heavy swell from the S. E. with a fine breeze, which made the " Investigator " throw up her heels, much to the delight of those who were on board. Gradually turning to the north- west, and then north. Banks Land was found again to resume in some measure the same undu- lating features and long sloping beach that cha- racterised its eastern coast. Considerable quantities of drift-wood lay on the beaches north of Cape Hamilton ; much vegetation was seen, and nu- merous flocks of wild swans and geese were feeding along the shore. On the 18th of August the "Investigator" had run the extraordinary distance, in such a latitude, of 300 miles, without I t i ! I ■ Mm ' n^ ! -^ : 206 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. being once checked by ice. The pack on this day was seen hanging in a heavy body in the south- west, leaving, however, a lane of six miles of clear water between it and the shore. In the afternoon Cape Kellett was rounded, with some little diffi- culty, the ship passing, with sufficient water to float her, between the edge of grounded ice and the coast. The land was now so low that the hand lead-line became for a while their best guide: the soundings happily were regular, and, aided by it and a fair wind, they advanced apace to the north- ward. Throughout the 19th the ship sometimes ran as much as seven knots per hour, the width of the lane of water in which they were sailing vary- ing from three to five miles. Noon that day found them in 73° 55' north latitude, and 123** 52' 30" west longitude; and already did Captain M'Clure count upon extending his voyage to the north of Melville Island, and then strike for some Strait or Sound leading into Baffin's Bay ! That night, however, a sudden and remarkable change took place. They had just crossed Burnet Bay, within Norway and Robilliard Islands, when the coast suddenly became as abrupt and pre- cipitous as a wall ; the water was very deep, sixty fathoms by the lead-line within 400 yards of ...M^rak F / / REMARKABLE CUANGE. 207 ■! the faco of the cliffs, and fifteen fathoms water where it actually touched them. The lane of water h^d diminished to 200 yards in width where broadest ; and even that space was much hampered by loose pieces of ice aground or adrift. In some places the channel was so narrow that the quarter boats had to be topped up to prevent them touch- ing the cliffs upon the one hand, or the lofty ice upon the other ; and so perfectly were they running the gauntlet, that on many occasions the ship could not " round-to " for want of space. Their position was full of peril, yet they could but push on, for to retreat was as dangerous as progress. The pack was of the same fearful description as that they had encountered in the offing of the Mackenzie River, during the previous autumn. The surface of the floes resembled rolling hills, some of them 100 feet from base to summit ; and the edge of this wonderful oceanic ice rose in places from the water as high as the " Investigator's " lower yards. Any attempt to force the frail ship against such ice was of course mere folly : all they could do was to watch for every opening, trust in the goodness and mercy of God, and push ahead in the execution of their duty. If the ice at such a time had set in with its vast force against the sheer m I * ; ;i.:p,i / 1 r :i! ;! ; '1 1 1 i 1 i 1 M ■ft i ;; 3 ii! li 1 1. . ; ■'■■ \\ i i i ': \ 208 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. cliff, nothing, they all felt, could have saved them ; and nothing in the long tale of Arctic research is finer than the cool and resolute way in which ajl, from the captain to the youngest seaman of this gallant band, fought inch by inch to make their way round this frightful coast. Enough has been said to give a correct idea of the peril incurred at this stage of the voyage, without entering into minute details of the hair- breadth escapes hourly taking place ; but one instance may be given as a sample of the rest. After the 20th of August, the " Investigator " lay helplessly fixed off the north-west of Banks Land J the wind had pressed in the ice, and for awhile all hopes of farther progress were at an end. On the 29th of August, however, a sudden move took place, and a moving floe struck a huge mass to which the ship had been secured ; and, to the horror of those on board, such was the enormous power exerted, that the mass slowly reared itself on its edge, close to the ship's bows, until the upper part was higher than the fore-yard, and every moment appeared likely to be the " Investigator's " last ; for the ice had but to toppel over to sink her, and her crew, under its weight. At the critical moment there was a shout of joy, for the mass, after „.mi^'SM. WONDERFUL PRESEIIVATION. 209 oscillating fearfully, broke up, rolled back to its original position, and they were saved I Hardly, however, was this danger past than a fresh one threatened, for the hummock to which the ship was secured was impelled forward by the r/^holo w.Mglif of the driving pack towards a low puiuL of itintJ, ou which with frightful pressure the groat Hoes were breaking up, and piling themselves tic»' upon tier, The " Investigator " had no power of cscnji^i ; but every hawser was put in requisitionv und naiida stationed by them. An attempt to blow up o grounded floe upon which the ship was drlvuig, only partially succeeded ; the nip came on, the pr>or ship groaned, and every plank and timber quivered from stem to stern in this trial of streng'li between her and the ice. " Our fate seemed sealtd," says Captain M'Clure, and he made up his mind to let go all hawsers. The order was giver., and "\v'th it the wreck of the " Investigator " seemed certain : all the leader hoped for was, to use his own words, "that we might have the ship tlirown up suf- ficiently to serve as an asylum for the winter:" if she should, sink ^etwQen the two contending floes the de^^ti'uction of every soul was inevi- table. But at the very moment when the order to " let }( 210 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. * r ! m 1 r if ' IK go all hawsers " was given, and even before it could be obeyed, a merciful Providence caused the berg which most threatened them to break up, and the " Investigator " was once more saved ; though still so tightly was she beset, that there was not room to drop a lead-line down round the vessel, and the copper upon her bottom was hanging in shreds, or rolled up like brown paper. The reader must not confound the idea he may have formed, of the wonderfully heavy ice in the great water space between Banks Land and Behring's Strait, with icebergs. Floe-ice, however stupendous in its proportions, cannot become berg-ice. The former is a salt water production, the latter is of the land, and launched from the glaciers, — which are only to be found in particular localities, — and consequently is formed of fresh water or snow. No glaciers, of any size, exist westward of the 85th meridian of W. long, in Lancaster Sound, and no true icebergs are met with in the great Arctic American Archipelago. Here and there in dark and sunless ravines of North Devon and Melville Island a pigmy glacier may be found ; but it never reaches the sea, nor forms those great barriers of fresh-water ice which, under the various ^..^^mijm. I FLOE-ICE. 211 IS terms of glacier, mer-de-glace, or ice-blink, roll on their mysterious and wonderful course from the interior of Greenland, and launch themselves as ice- bergs into the deep waters of Baffin's Bay. The ice met with by Captain M'Clure was aged sea-ice, which, for ought we know, may be centuries old; and it seems, from the want of outlets, likely to increase yet in thickness to an unlimited /'egree : the accumulated action of repeated thaws, and the almost constant fall of snow upon the upper sur- face, have given a peculiar hill and dale appearance to it, and rendered much of the upper ice as fresh to the taste as if it had been formed on shore instead of upon tiiC sea. The heavy westerly gales force a portion of this prodigious ice through Melville Strait ; but, either from decay or other causes, it is never seen in its pristine proportions east of Griffith's Island and Cape Walker : a floe fifteen feet thick in Barrow's Strait or Wellington Channel was a rarity, from four to eight feet being the average size. The " Investigator " was now beset upon the north-west extreme of Banks Land ; and, whilst de- tained in this dangerous locality, her officers and men rambled into the interior, and they found it far from so sterile as the prospect from the sea had p 2 I i^M'i I I . \ in > f ! 'Ml II m. r i 'i ■ I ti;. 212 DISCOVKRY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. led them to expect. Traces of musk oxen and deer abounded, and both these animals were seen ; but the most extraordinary discovery of all was a great accumulation of fossil trees, as well as frag- ments not fossilised, lying over the whole extent of the land, from an elevation of 300 feet above the sea to its immediate level. Writing on the 27th of August, Captain M'Clure, speaking of this wood, says, " 1 walked to-day a short distance into the interior : the snow that had fallen last night lay unthawed upon the high grounds, rendering the prospect most cheerless. The hilla are very remarkable, many of them peaked, and standing isolated from each other by precipitous gorges : the summits of these hills are about 300 feet high, and nothing can be more wildly picturesque than the gorges which lie between them. From the summit of these singularly formed hills to their base abundance of wood is to be found; and in many places layers of trees are visible^ some protruding twelve or fourteen feet, and so firm that several people may jump on them without their breaking : the largest trunk yet found measured one foot seven inches in diameter^ Again, on September 5th, some miles from the hills just alluded to, Captain M'Clure says: "/ ,&nm'm. DISCOVERY OF ANCfJiNT FORESTS. 213 \ entered a ravine some miles inland^ and found the north side of it, for a depth of forty feet from the surface, composed of one mass of wood similar to what I had before seen. The whole depth of the ravine was about 200 feet. The ground around the wood or trees was formed of sand and shingle ; some of the icood was petrified, the remainder very rotten, and worthless even for burning ^ At a subsequent period to that we are speaking of, a similar kind of fossil forest was discovered nearly 120 miles farther north. In the spring of 1853, one of the sledge-parties under Lieut. Mecham, of H. M. S "Resolute," was travelling across the newly discovered island called after H. R. H. Prince Patrick. When in 76° 15' N. latitude, and 121° 40' W. longitude, he says : ^^ Tuesday, May ^\st. — Discovered buried in the east bank of the ravine, and protruding about eight feet, a tree of considerable size. During the afternoon, I found several others of a similar kind : circumference of first and second tree seen, three feet; of another, two feet ten inches. From the perfect state of the bark, and the position of the trees so far from the sea, there can be but little doubt that they grew originally in this country. I P 3 \m I ^\^'% }::■ ^il : ;IW f: i- f f.l- I ■> \ ■# f '* t '9f ' f ,' >'' I > f ! n 1 j 1 1 1 ~n 1 'f 1: 1 1'i 1 i r i r ;l i. lU ki. 1 ^-t* 214 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. sawed one through : it appeared very close-grained, and was so immensely heavy that we could carry but little of it away." Geologists and botanists must decide how it comes to pass that trees in the perfect state Lieut. Mecham discovered them are to be found in such localities. Sir Roderick I. Murchison, an eminent authority, has kindly favoured the writer with some valuable remarks upon this subject, as well as a general geological sketch of this Arctic Archi- pelago — it will be found in those remarks* that Sir Roderick Murchison has good grounds for being of opinion that all this timber was floated from a more southern continent at a period when Banks Land and Prince Patrick's Land were submerged. A very different climate must then have existed in those regions to allow drift-wood so perfect as to retain its bark to reach such great distances ; and perhaps it may be argued that if that sea was sufficiently clear of ice to allow such timber to drift unscathed to Prince Patrick's Land, that that very absence of a frozen sea would allow fir trees to grow in a soil naturally fertile. In any point of view, the field for conjecture is a wide one, and the navigator and traveller may * See Appendix. n 1 " INVESTIGATOR " ICEBOUND. 215 be pardoned for expressing wonder and astonish- ment when, amidst the wastes of those frozen lands, he finds what looks like the wreck of ancient forests where the ground willow and dwarf birch can now hardly exist. On the 1st September, winter appeared to have overtaken the " Investigator " in her forlorn posi- tion. From the highest land near them the officers and men had in vain looked out over the pack, for the hope of release which even a yard of water would afford: all was ice over the surface of that really frozen sea. Keen and strong already came the north-west wind. What would it be in the depth of winter ? they asked each other with a shudder. The wild-fowl had nearly all gone south ; and the gallant little snow-buntings were muster- ing to depart likewise. The prospect was not cheering ; yet none could complain, for they had come a marvellous distance in the short navigable season of the pola" seas, and the distance yet to be accomplished to reach those waters which had been traversed by ships from the direction of Baffin's Bay was small indeed compared with that already passed. As his vessel was squeezed up and cradled in ice about fifty yards off the shore, Captain M'Clure expected to have to winter V 4 \ IJ 1 i *, t i : i ) ■ ,1 .-% r '-= • t r lit !'' i - j. 1 iu Ik 216 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. thus ; and in order that he might be able to afford his men rest hereafter, he commenced at once col- lecting ballast from the beach, a circumstance which gave that part of Banks Land the name of Ballast Beach. It is in lat. 74° 25' N., long. 122° W. The prospect in nowise improved between the 1st and the 10th of September. The temperature had fallen to 16° + Fahr., or 16° of frost ; and the aurora borealis flickered its pale light at night through the cold heavens. Everything spoke of winter ; yet the position of the ship was too inse- cure a one to justify the Captain in making any of the preparations for sheltering the men from its rigour, such as clearing decks and spreading housing, lest some fresh movement in the ice should require the vessel to be again placed under canvass, — a wise precaution, which, as we shall see, enabled him to reach secure winter quarters, and saved his ship. Amongst other remarkable proofs that the daily excursions of men and officers brought to light, of the land, barren as it was, possessing considerable resources in the shape of animal life, the discovery of lakes with fish in them was not the least worthy of note. Two of these lakes had attracted the at- tention of the officers, from the extraordinary fact ARCTIC LAKES AND FRESH-WATER FISH. 217 that, although within 100 yards of each other and possessing exactly the same aspect, yet one of them was firmly frozen oyer, while the other had not a particle of ice upon its surface. The only respect in which they were found to diflFer in relative position was, that the unfrozen lake was ten feet nearer the level of the sea than the other, and its depth was six fathoms, whilst that of the frozen lake was but five, — a difference, however, which could hardly ac- count for the fact, the water in both being remark- ably pure, and the temperature by thermometer difi^ering only 1". When Captain M'Clure visited the lakes on the 6th instant, he found both frozen over ; but the ice in the lower one was only half the thickness of that in the upper ; and, to add to the interest attached to this little freak of nature, the lower lake was full of fish — salmon- trout, varying from three inches to a foot in length — whilst the upper one had not a living creature in it. The exquisite transparency of the young fresh-water ice enabled him to ascertain this fact as easily as if he had been looking through a crystal. Ancient traces of the Innuit or Esquimaux were found here, showing, that even to this remote corner, that extraordinary race of hunters and i. if ' VI ; ] I w ,:■ 1 , r rl . ! : • i '■ ' [ : i 1 ill ■ ■■ i ■1 4. ^;-' ■ * 1 |:-!?h| i,r ; 1 ■ . ij \? ! : t r 218 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. fishers had at one time extended their wanderings ; and not far from these ruins of huts and caches^ some more hills were discovered, in which there existed a considerable stratum of wood, " with trees," says Captain M'Clure, " of considerable length and diameter projecting from the sides of the hills, and that too, in a state of preservation which rendered them not unfit for firewood." On the 10th September, the wind veered to the southward, the temperature rose, and at mid- night the ice went off from the coast, without the slightest warning, carrying the poor " Investi- gator " with it, and handing her thus over to the tender mercies of the much dreaded pack in the offing. Fortunately the ship was on its weather edge, although so cradled in ice under her bottom as to be helpless, and painful were the feelings of all on board until their position was ascertained at daylight ; but amid the roar of the gale and tossinff of the floes which had caused this sudden danger, the firm hand of the leader wrote in his diary : — "Thus we launch into this formidable frozen sea. Spes mea in Deo." Daylight showed them to be drifting north-east, one mile off shore, in 100 fathoms of water, at :^_.., "investigator" drifts into a pack. 219 the rate of about a mile an hour. So far it was consolatory, as it was the direction they wished to go; but the object was to free the ship, and to secure her in some nook in the land or land-ice, as soon as it threatened to close in upon the shore* which it assuredly would do when the southerly gale abated in the least. By dint of enormous charges of powder, placed under and amongst the ice which held the " Investigator," this was at last effected, at a time when neither hawsers, saws, nor chisels were found of the slightest avail. Launch- ing once more into her own element, the " Investi- gator " struggled on during the day, and, as night closed in, sought shelter amongst the grounded ice. Another night and a day of continued danger and anxiety followed, for the wind slackened, and the pack again rolled along the coast, pivoting upon the grounded pieces, and threatening as it pul- verised or threw masses thirty or forty feet thick high up on the beach, or a-top of one another, to occasion a like catastrophe to their frail bark. Through the long dark night, the sullen grinding of the moving pack, and the loud report made by some huge mass of ice which burst under the pressure, echoed through the solitude, and as the starlight glimmered over the wild scene to sea- 1^; I ■i^ -5. ': 'f| I- A^ ■'i\m I' ii■^i^l — -*'*'l f^- i 1 I 220 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-VVEST PASSAGE. ward, the men could just detect the pack rearing and rolling over, by the alternate reflected lights and shadows. It was a time to try every nerve ; and fervently all prayed for some providential cir- cumstance to place them in a haven of security for the winter. That prayer was at lust answered ; for, having once more freed the ship from the ice which surrounded her, in order that a lane of water stretching eastward might be turned to advantage, the 19th of September saw the "Investigator" again progressing along the coast. Fifteen miles were accomplished, and at night the vessel was secured as far as circumstances would admit of. Two whales, the first seen for a very long time, passed them on this day, and appeared to be going westward. Next day, struggling with a succession of difficulties which nothing but the unparalleled gallantry and zeal of every soul in the ship enabled them to surmount, the " Investigator " reached a headland since called Cape Austin ; and here she was secured again, near a place where the floes had run up a steep slope of the land to the height of seventy feet. On the 22nd, this cape was rounded, and tho voyagers immediately found the appearance of the ice less formidable, and all breathed afresh at the »„v- ', / goirijO- / / ( I ■^ It!-. •m ■;■■. Ufi^^ i«. «;■• . ,-. ^. ''", So ■ ■ !«^ ■V iv \ ■■I ', - . I '-. 'V. it the If ' '•,'"■ : ■" ■^■^^f- *^ ■ ■. ■ ■ >;•>■" i ■HI- . ■ .'v . ■ , - .■"*-' ■* . '■j> i m.^^ ^_^ :'A .. -"" '^ :S5r»- -. ?J^ ■ M"\: I - -f',, f^--'* o > " ( I .!• '» \ • [ 1 1 ( 1 [. i ^ !. .i u I .1 - : ; I W .i-> •! 1:tY"} t" I > >■»■■; '•■ I IV' : ., u i> r\" lit !\ I'll ]tr!iv'(l fir • >i'.u: jat'v'ulciili.i' "iv c.uru!-' ;ji.' t I i»i;it • '1m'' mi > luA'Vi '.!' •■ -""Ut.y iVr ih'-. ni'Vtvi'. '! hut (HU)'.^ •• •. :■, ' i.^? .'i:s\vort.Hl ; for, li.iviii'..-' one-.! more iV' if"'., i.i i''-. v,'lii<.*li •*urriMiii(Ii'il licr, i.i 'jni'V lIuM ;< laiic ol .•.•ifv'i- ''t •( .'•).'.■■ '■;jst>'-'''[ mI'.;ii!. h'.'. turTn^il tu n(! ,iuifa:;' - fUv.> I'll'' V •■ • :'■ . •:.*«• !>•.. *■• Il'V-.Mi.'uror"' 8i:'..'il;'' '.I r>S> '!*'■ ■''»■' ii'' .M I Twu nil."" -.. • '•• I I i * 1. I ul". \ --w )!'•■ :mk--, pjic-'O'l In.'.iu ot: this diiv, uial :? |i| •(.•<( I'-a i> I cohig westward. Xixt day, strll^■^Tln_i; witli ;i ' ucv-'s:;ii>u M' dUf'i.MiIfh -> -sxhich liodiiiip- imt the unpr'niHt^Mi giillantry aiid zeal <.>i' evcvy soul ii\ th' .sliip cri-ibivl th".iit U) Mjrnioiint, thr* '• Iiivi.'-^tigutor " rf.-H'h.'ii n liiiuil.'ir.'! .;.i;;;c uI!-*! * '.■ir>e \.".-ii''. ui.'l \\nv shi' ,i';»t H( tr: \l (i<-.-ii!, ji- M' a {il;i..-<' wiicro the ihjes h;i^l run up a stuvo .'-h-)j)i.- of tlr I'.u.vi f t);. h<'iglit ut cfvc-nty ieei. <.>![ Tit; 2'lr,d hj.s aipo was rountl( d, and the •^oyugvih tJnn>- 1;; <■ 'ly ibiind tho uppearmicc ol' du. K- ie^v- foriixidi'l i'\ and all breathed ufrvsh at t.hv; / I '«;•• i..l \ n / 1 I xf, I ESCAPES AND STRUGGLES ALONG-SHORE. 221 feeling that they were now fairly in the waters of Barrow* s Strait! Whilst pushing p^owly on, two small bays were seen, but so choked up with old ice as to render it impossible for shelter to be found there. Some idea may be formed of the narrow strip of water along which the " Investi- gator " was seeking her way, from the fact that on one occasion, as they approached a cape, the lower studding-sail boom had to be " topped up " to allow the vessel to pass through a crack (for it was nothing else) between the steep cliffs on the one hand and the floes upon the other. The 23rd of September, 1851, — the last day of the gallant ship's achievements, — came in most promisingly. Water was seen ahead long before day-dawn, fail was set, and she battled on all day to the eastward, making a little southing, as the land trended that way. Hitherto Captain M'Clure had avoided pushing on after dark, since the nights had now become so long; but for many cogent reasons he was induced on this occasion to depart from this rule ; and, as the result proved, it was unfortunate in one respect that he did so, for about half-past seven o'clock in the evening the ship ran ashore on a steep bank. The crew strained every nerve to get the vessel off ; and after clearing the :'::i . m\ ^..' 1, \ 222 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. fore hold and store-rooms, and laying out a stream-anchor and cable, she floated off during the night. On the next day they found themselves in a large bay, affording good winter quarters, and perceived that it was impossible to round its north-eastern horn, so as to enter the pack and drift with it through Barrow's Strait during the coming winter. Under these circumstances, and considering what they had gone through in reaching the secure spot into which they had steered during darkness. Captain M'Clure made up his mind to winter where he was; and, in token of his gratitude to a kind Providence, the bay was appropriately called the Bay of Mercy. It was no empty expression ; for every heart in that ship was filled with emotion, and many prayed that in after years, should they be spared to reach their homes, the recollection of the bounty and goodness of Him who had upheld them through such anxieties and dangers, might never be effaced from their memories. Winter came on apace, but the Investigators were ready for it now. With slight exceptions, the arrangements were much the same as those of 1850-51 ; and, to judge from appearances, it t. I; LAND FOUND TO ABOUND IN GAME. 223 seemed that all were quite as well able to scorn its rigour as they had been on the first occasion. As a precaution, however, to meet the possible contingency of an escape from the polar regions not being effected in the forthcoming year, the painful but necessary measure was adopted of reducing the allowance of food per diem of the ship's company. Captain M'Clure ordered that officers and men should be placed upon two-thirds of their ordinary rations : but, happily, at this time it was discovered that the land teemed with deer and hares; and although the want of pro- fessional hunters caused the loss of many a fine herd of deer, yet when the winter set in, nine deer and fifty-three hares had been shot, besides small birds, and their flesh added to the resources of the ship. The interior of the land, so far as tho walks of the sportsmen carried them, appeared well fitted to support the hardy animals of that latitude. Broad plains of dwarf willow, reindeer mess, and the coarse grasses of the North were seen ; and the herds of deer and troops of hares which were daily reported seemed perfectly marvellous to those who had hitherto believed that little if any animal life existed so far north. The above-mentioned ani- mals, as well as the ptarmigan, never, in fact, left OT ■" 224 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. the neighbourhood of Mercy Bay even in the depth of winter ; and it was only the cold and darkness which prevented their being shot at that season. It would take a v~^ume to describe the novel and interesting habits of these animals, as observed by those who sojourned in Mercy Bay. Pressed by the requirements of such a climate, the instincts of all animals seem more acute than those of similar creatures placed in more favoured climes. They were watchful and wary to a surprising degree ; and as they were protected by the open nature of the country, the sportsmen could not always get even within rifle distance of the deer, although they probably had never seen a human being before, whilst, strangely enough, these herds appeared to entertain no fear of the half dozen wolves which always lay round them, ready to cut off a strag- gler, or pick up a giddy fawn. The arctic reindeer at this season congregate in large promiscuous herds of bucks, does, and fawns, probably for warmth and protection ; and, strangely enough, the hares do so likewise. Some troops of the latter were seen, numbering 150 at least; and the roads made by the march of their numbers through the snow were beaten as hard as ice. I am not aware that this herding of hares, or the RAPACIOUS WOLVES HAUNT THE SHIP. 225 fact of the female bearing six or seven young at a litter, has been before noticed. Apart from the difficulty of stalking down the deer, the presence of the wolves and foxes was found to be a serious drawback ; for if a deer was shot and left on the ground, by the time the sports- man had obtained sufficient aid to transport the meat on board, little beyond the head and shin- bones would be left undevoured, and the robber- wolves, too, taking care to keep out of gun-shot, would howl most dismally, as if mocking the dis- appointment of the hunter. As cold and darkness increased, and the absence of the sun rendered it unsafe for the crew to leave the vicinity of the ship, the wolves, pressed by cold and hunger, used to haunt her to a disatyree- able extent ; and the sad prolonged howl of these gaunt creatures in the long nights added, if pos- sible, to the dismal character of the scene. The Investigators vowed vengeance on these brutes, which, as they declared, not only behaved in a most unsportsman-like, not to say dishonest, man- ner, but strove to disturb their slumbers besides. A great deal of snow fell this autumn, — a certain indication of much moisture in the atmosphere, arising from evaporation from the sea, and also that Q <■ i 226 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH WEST PASSAGE. a considerable extent of water had existed amongst the pack tliis season, and perhaps might do so still, though useless for all navigable purposes. In November the temperature fell to 40" — the lowest, perhaps, ever registered at so early a season, and this augured a still more severe winter than had yet been experienced. The crew were, however, generally in capital health, and actuated by the same fine spirit which had carried them through so many difficulties and endeared them so much to their captain and officers. Two ravens now csta* blished themselves as friends of the family in ]\Iercy Bay, living mainly by what little scraps the men might have to throw away after meal-times. The ship's dog, however, looked upon these as his especial perquisites, and exhibited considerable energy in maintaining his rights against the ravens, Avho nevertheless outwitted him in a way which amused everyone. Observing that he appeared quite willing to make a mouthful of their own sable persons, they used to throw tlf^mselvi* inten- tionally in his way just as the mess ms were being cleaned out on the dirt-heap outside the ship. The dog would immediately run at them, and they would just fly a few yards; the dog then made another run, and again they would appear to escape \^'> HABITS OF THE TOLAB BEAR. 227 him but by an inch, and so on, until they had tempted and provoked him to tlie shore, a consi- derable distance off. Then the ravens would make a direct flight for the ship, and had generally done good execution before the mortified-looking dog detected tlie imposition that hud been practised upon him, and rushed buck again. Only an oc- casional bear was seen, and their footprints Avere by no means common in this neighbourhood. One bear, however, haunted the bay until fairly chased out of it. He is a noble creature, that Polar bear, whether we speak of him by the learned titles of " Ursus ma- ritimus,^^ " Thalassarctos maritimus,^^ or the sailors' more expressive nomenclature of " Jack Rough ! " Witli all her many wonders, never did Nature create a creature more admirably adapted to the life it has to lead. Half flesh, half fish, the sailor wandering in those fro/.en regions cannot but be struck with the appearance of latent energy and power its every action attests, as it rolls in a lithe and swaggering way over the rough surface of the frozen sea ; or, during summer, haunts the broken and treacherous "pack" in search of its prey. Living and stuffed specimens of the Polar bear are too common in our Museums and Zoological ''^i I ) 228 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Gardens, to render it necessary for us to attempt more than to convey an idea of its habits. When not too fat, the pace of the bear is easy and indolent ; but their slowest pace is quite as fast as a man can walk ; and when excited their speed is truly wonderful, though very far from being grace- ful. On level ice, the bears at full speed throw themselves ahead by a violent jerking movement of the powerful fore paws — an ungainly gallop ; but they invariably make for rough ice, and it is there that their strength and activity are best dis[)layed. Amongst packed ice, neither man nor dog can compete witli them. In the Queen's Ciiannel more than one bear was seen going over broken-up ice, rugged and precipitous as the mind can picture, with a facility truly marvellous ; their powerful fore paws and hind legs enabling them to keep springing from piece to piece, scaling one fragment and sliding down another with the activity of a huge quadrumana, rather than that of a qua- druped. It is evidently aware of its superiority in such rough and perilous ground, and is generally found at the edge of the belts of hummocks or broken ice which intersect most ice-fields, or else amongst the frozen packed ice of channels such as those of Barrow and the Queen. ir^ 1/ COLOUR OF THE TOLAU BEAR. 220 There is, however, another reason for bears keep- ing amongst hummocks and packed ice, namely, that near such spots water usually first makes its appearance in the summer. The seals are conse- quently there most numerous, and the inequalities of the floe afford the bears cover in approaching their prey. During summer the colour of the Polar bear is of a dingy yellowish hue, closely re- sembling that of decaying snow or ice. The fur is then thin, and the hair on the soles of their feet is almost entirely rubbed ofl', as with the other animals of glacial regions ; but in the autumn when the body has recovered from the scanty fare of the previous winter, and a large coating of blubber overlays his carcase to meet the exigencies of an- other season of starvation, the fur becomes rapidly thicker, the feet are, as the season advances, beauti- fully incased and feathered with hair, and the animal's colour gradually turns to a very pale straw, which upon particular points of view, as the light strikes it, looks white or nearly so. The nose and lips are of a jetty black ; the eyes vary in colour. Brown is common, but some have been seen with those of a pale grey. Their sense of smell is most acute, facilitated no doubt by the peculiar manner in which scent is carried to great Q 3 ¥ H' ■» '1 ■ If. :' IT ' s ' I'-' Ml m'''' nil 'IV M M'!'i 230 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WEST rASSAQE. distances by the pure and frosty atmosphere of the North. Bears were seen more than once running down the scent, exactly as a dog would do ; and the floes about Lowther Island, in 1851, looked as if the bears had quartered them in search of seals, as a pointer would do in a field in England ; and the snorting noise made by the brutes as they approach men, indicates how much more they trust to their nose than to their eyes ; though both, to their sorrow, lead them into the clutches of our sportsmen. The bears, however, like mother Eve, might [)lead curiosity as being their ruin. In Wellington Channel, and elsewhere, the writer has seen a bear, in the far distance, going at the hard swinging pace peculiar to the brute when ex- cited ; the head thrown forward ; whilst every now and then it would halt, stretch its long un- gainly neck as if to inhale a fresh whiff of the distant seal, and then again resume its course, as straight to the prey as an arrow to the target. It is hardly safe to say what the size of the largest Polar bear yet seen may have been. Sea- men are naturally prone to the marvellous. The Dutch navigators tell of some bears fifteen feet long ! one of which fought a whole ship's company WATCHFULNESS OF THE SEAL. 231 during several hours on the coast of Siberia. An old whaler, whom I asked whether bears were nu- merous in Spitzbergen, vowed he had seen the floes black witli them ! and that a hundred bears in sight at a time during the sealing season, or early spring, was far from an unusual occurrence ! We had better, therefore, leave size and numbers an open question. Bears, however, of nine feet six inches long are not uncommon ; and they need be strong to master the large seal of the Arctic zone, especially the saddle-back and bladder-nose species. In the water, although botli are able swimmers and divers, the bear can be no match for either of the above description of seal — his main, indeed his only prey ; and it is only upon the floe, or on the slippery pieces of ice which constitute the packed ice, that the bear fairly captures and kills them. The seal, aware of wherein lies its safety, seldom, if ever, is seen twice its length from the water, whether it be the hole which it has itself made through the ice, or the open sea at the floe edge. When basking upon the surface of the fields of ice which float about the Polar Seas, nothing can exceed the watchfulness of the seal. Its magnifi- cent eyes are so placed as to enable the animal to sweep a great extent of the horizon with the Q 4 :S ^ ■^* 1'! I : ■ 1 ■; w . i ■ ^^ 1 i 1 nl:^ \M -i ' ['. .11 ^< ..*;^ r*^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■ 50 ■^~ ^ m 2.2 li L25 lyyu 11.6 "1^ :\#/ ^^^ V .^^ v: / /A Photographic Sciences COTporation ^^'%% ^ ^^\ ^f^^"" 23 WEST MAIN STMfT WiBSTER.N.Y. 145S0 (716)872-4S03 '^ ^> ^1^ K^ '/j ¥ 232 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-WKST PASSAGE. slightest motion of the head ; the sense of hearing, which it possesses in a remarkable degree, adds to its security ; and, to the uninitiated, the incessant and restless vigilance of the seal is particularly striking, — now raising its head to look around, now throwing its head into u position for hearing the slightest motion over the crisp surface of the ice, or gazing and listening down its hole — a ne- cessary precaution with so keen a hunter as old Bruin. It is under such circumstances that tlie bear exhibits a degree of sagacity and skill in securing its prey, which appears to border rather upon the realms of reason than upon those of mere instinct. • Scent and eyesight tell the bear the position of the seal; it throws itself flat upon the ice, and, taking advantage of inequalities invisible to our eyes, gradually nears the prey by a quiet and almost imperceptible movement of the hind feet. The fore feet are often placed before its black muzzle, so that nothing but the dingy white of his coat is seen, thus preserving a uniformity of colour with that of the floe. Patiently he nears his prey, who mistakes him for a brother seal, or else, misled by idle curiosity, stays gazing until, with one fatal spring, the bear is upon him. Yet even then the THE POLAU BEAR SEAL-HUNTING. 233 bear docs not always secure his feast ; and what it is to have succeeded in even griping a seal can only be appreciated by unlucky fellows like Arctic travellers, who have been hours crawling up, dreaming of delicious seal's fry and overflowing fuel bags, and seen the prey pop down a hole when within a hundred yards of it. The great muscular power of the seal enables it often to throw itself into the water in spite of the bear's efforts to retain it on the floe ; liruin, however, holds on, for he has almost as good diving powers as the seal, and down they go together. Sometimes the bear comes off a victor, owing to the mortal in- juries inflicted upon the seal prior to reaching the water ; at another time he may be seen rising at some other hole in the floe, or getting upon another loose piece of ice, looking heartily dis- gusted at his want of success. The bear dives admirably, and is almost as much at home in the water as upon the ice. If a seal is seen upon a loose floe, the bear will gently slip into the sea, swim with merely the tip of his nose above water*, and, diving under the floe, rise at • The power of keeping all the body submerged, except the nostrils to breathe through, is possessed by, and is common to, ■iiLiU 234 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. the very spot which the unhappy seal has looked upon as the only road to safety ; and it is this clever expedient of the bear which occasions the seal to watch his hole so narrowly. Even on extensive ice-fields fast to the land, where no hummocks exist to cover the approach of the bear, the seal is not safe ; for then the bear slips quietly down a hole, and swims along under the ice until he reaches the one where poor Poussie is enjoying the sunshine, and thus takes her at a disadvantage. It is in the early spring, February and March, after his meagre fare of the winter, that the bear's feasting-time occurs. The seal is then bringing forth her young: they are born blind, helpless, and unable for ten days to take to the water ; and although the poor mothers leave no precaution unheeded to guard their feeble offspring, it is, nevertheless, a perfect massacre of the innocents, the Arctic wolf being suspected, from some facts which came under our observation, to be a partici- pator in the havoc. The voracity of the bear leads him, however, as the bear, seal, whale, as well as alligator, hippopotamus, and other Atnpliibious animals. BEARS FREQUENTLY LOST ON THE DRIFT-ICE. 235 a retribution, into sad scrapes. The seal in- stinctively breeds as close to the open water as possible ; the consequence is that the floe, during the early equinoctial gales, often breaks up and drifts away in the form of packed ice ; a matter of much indifl^erence to the seal, but to the bear a question of life and death. Numbers of them are doubtless so lost along the whole area of the Polar Sea, especially between Spitzbergen and Greenland, where both these animals are very numerous. With heavy northerly gales, bears are often set down in such numbers upon Iceland, as to be dangerous to the safety of the flocks and herds of those Is orthern Islanders, and they have been known to reach the coasts of Norway. The whalers constantly meet castaway bears at some distance from the land. We have been told, by one worthy of credence, that he has seen them sixty miles off the land, in Davis's Straits, witheut any ice in sight, and evidently quite ex- hausted. In this manner no doubt Nature keeps a check upon the too rapid increase of these brutes ; for beyond the possibility of the wolf hunting it in packs and destroying the cubs, as we believe they do, there is nothing else to keep down the increase of bears. Esquimaux are too scarce and too ill ■;.•■•:■:• m f' ■ti §■■' lit |!l:il 236 DISCOVERY OF TUB NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. I i prov:ded with arms, to be a very formidable check upon them. Wherever seals are plentiful, bears have invariably been found numerous : in Barrow's Strait in 1850-51, and in the Queen's Channel in subsequent years, they were seen in great num- bers. The Danes say they are plentiful about the northern Greenland settlement of Uppernavik, dur- ing nine months in the year ; and from the united testimony of the natives inhabiting the north- eastern portion of Baffin's Bay, and that of Dr. Kane who has lately wintered in Smith's Sound, we gather that the bears are very nu- merous about the Polynias, or water-holes, formed there by rapid tides. In the summer months, when the Polar bear is in high condition, it can easily be hunted down, — lacking, as it then does, activity or wind ; but in the depth of the winter, its voracity and vast strength render it a formidable creature to people unprovided with firearms. Under ordinary cir- cumstances, they studiously avoided all conflict with our seamen ; although the dark days and nights, as well as dense fogs of those high lati- tudes, sometimes brought Jack and Bruin much closer together than either party desired, without due notice. r C 1 ,,a '.'ote THE BEAR DOES NOT HYBERNATE. 237 It is folly to talk of the Polar bear hybernating : whatever bears may do on the American Continent, there is only one Arctic navigator who ever saw a bear's nest ! Bears were seen at all points visited by our sailors, at all times and in all temperatures ; males or females, and sometimes females with their cubs. In mid-winter, as well as in mid- summer, they evidently haunted spots where tides or currents occasioned either water to constantly exist, or only allowed such a thin coating of ice to form, that the seal or walrus might without difficulty break through. This was especially the case in about latitude 78* N. that of Queen's Channel ; and a similar state of things appears to exist in Smith's Sound. December, 1851, was ushered in, in Mercy Bay, with those tremendous snowstorms which are per- haps the most awful visitations of Polar regions. All the Investigators could do was to remain shut up in the ship, and wonder what the animals of Banks Land did in a snow-drift which almost tore the housing from its many fastenings. A solid moving body of snow rolled along higher than the topmast heads, and when it met the impediment of the ship, formed a wreath to windward, and became piled rapidly up over her, until the weight of ac- M : 1 i i f. * 'P ' \f'' V' \. I if mil. :i! ■:i! II M i!m! 238 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. cumulated snow broke down the floe in which the ship was frozen ; the inclination of the ship first one way, then another, and the report made by the cracking of the ice under her bottom, startling those unaccustomed to such accidents. An odd atmospheric condition, which has elsewhere been experienced, was observed by Captain M'Clure in one of the storms which occurred on the 5th of December. The barometer rose to 30"81 higher than it had before been since leaving England ; and the aneroid, graduated to 31*50, stood so high that it could not be registered for four days. In a similar storm early the following year, the baro- meter rose above 31 inches. The second Christmas-day was passed in the ice, in a manner to call forth the Captain's highest encomiums on his noble ship's company, who behaved, he says, in the most exemplary and satisfactory manner. "After divine service, all went for a short walk until the dinner-hour ; from then until bedtime, dancing, skylarking, and singing were kept up on the lower deck with unflagging spirit, good humour, cheerfulness, and propriety ; not a man was inebriated, although, with other additions to the daily fare, amongst which was a pound of the most delicious venison to each person, SECOND CHRISTMAS IN THE ICE. 239 an extra allowance of grog was issued. Would that the happiness of our little community upon the lower deck of the 'Investigator' could have been witnessed by those anxious for our welfare at home ! they would scarcely imagine, otherwise, that the crew of a vessel two years upon her own resources in these ice-bound regions, could create such a scene of enjoyment ar .idst so many gloomy influences." And, as if to countersign this opinion of their chief, several of the petty officers assured him afterwards that, during many years' service in Her Majesty's navy, they had never passed a happier Christmas, nor one in which there had been a feeling of more perfect unanimity and good-will, — a feeling shared by every seaman and marine in the ship's company. The officers dined with Captain M'Ciu e, off a splendid haunch of a Banks Land reindeer weigh- ing about twenty pounds, with at least two inches of fat on it ; and it was pronounced to be most deliciously-flavoured meat. In short, the year 1851 went out with every pleasing prospect ; and in spite of the reduced allowance of food upon which all had then been for three months, no one was repining or discontented. On Christmas-day of the previous winter, it will ■i1 I'v k ^1 Hull \^ " ■rli f 210 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. fiii .; i' be remembered that the many ships, which left England and America in 1850 to rescue Franklin's Expedition, were wintering in different parts of the Arctic regions ; but out of all these the " Investi- gator " and the " Enterprise " now alone remained. At page 197. we left the latter, after having rounded the difficult turning-point of Cape Barrow, pro- gressing eastward along the American shore. As in the " Investigator's " case, Captain CoUinson found the water to make along-shore in a lane whose breadth depended upon the position of the different rivers discharging themselves into the Polar Sea ; and in their vicinity destroying the packed ice, or forcing it off to seaward by the strength of their currents. The " Enterprise," when off Cape Parry (the promontory which divides the waters of the Copper- mine from those of the Mackenzie River), saw to the northward the southern extremity of Banks Land — the Nelson Head of M'Clure. Steering across for it, Captain Collinson, when under that coast, by a strange combination of circumstances, steered up Prince of Wales Strait, and there on Princess Royal Island discovered the " Investiga- tor's" dep6t, and a cairn containing information up to the 15th June, 1851. Passing on after this '* ENTERPRISE " IN PRINCE OF WALES STRAIT. 241 discovery, the " Enterprise " on the 30th August reached the north end of the strait, but only to be foiled, as the " Investigator " had been in any at- tempt to pass beyond it. Captain Gollinson then decided upon taking a course exactly similar to the one pursued by his more fortunate predecessor, and, bearing away, rounded Nelson Head, with the intention of struggling along that western route by which M'Clure had a fortnight earlier success- • fully carried his ship. On September 3rd, the Captain, little thinking of the " Investigator " hav- ing preceded him in his intended course, was asto- nished to find on Cape Kellett a record placed there on August the 18th. The ice was now too close in for the " Enterprise " to push on ; and no harbour fit for winter quarters offering itself as high as latitude 72" 54' north. Captain CoUinson bore up, and eventually wintered his ship on the eastern side of the entrance of Prince of Wales Strait, close to the spot where Esquimaux had been found by Lieutenant Haswell, as we have elsewhere related, during his sledge-journey in the spring. From Walker Bay, as their winter quarters was named, Collinson, after passing his first winter in safety, despatched in the coming spring his sledge- parties ; but, unfortunately for them, the labours of B % i! V I ■ il ■■:■■ ■ J! 242 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Captain M'Clure's parties, and Dr. Rae's exertions, prevented little new ground being reached by any of them, neither did they discover the winter quarters of the " Investigator," although, as will hereafter be related, a party which reached Mel- ville Island must at one time have crossed the track of Captain M'Clure's sledge when he liicewiso made a trip to Winter Harbour. Having thus connected the stories of the two ships, and shown the relative positions of the only vessels of the searching expedition left at that time in the polar seas, we must return again to the Bay of Mercy. iir> i ,i;5Jr., ' I 243 < I; ! CHAP. XV. The New Year, 1852.— Satisfactory State of the Crew. — Deer obtained directly the Light admitted of tlieir being seen. — Sergeant Woon, of the Royal Marines, saves the Life of a Sliipmate. — Keen Sportsmen.— Wolves. — Boatswain's Adventure with them. — Spring. — Captain M'Clure visits Winter Harbour, Melville Island. — Finds neither Provi- sions nor Vessel to help him. — His Return. — Finds large Quantities of Venison had been procured. — Scurvy makes its Appearance. — Increased Number of Sick. — Unfavourable Weather in July. — Venison expended. — Wild Sorrel found in great Quantities for a sliort Period. — 10th August. — Water seen in Barrow's Strait. — Mousuroa taken in case of being able to escape. — Relapse in the Weather. — Gloomy Prospect. — An early Winter commences. — Measures taken to save Ship and Crew, in the Event of a similar Season in 1853. — Ciieerful Conduct of the Crew. — Sliort Rations.^ — Mode of Living. — Banian Days and Festivals. — Christmas and Conclusion of Year 1852. The year 1 852 came in with a keen and steady cold of from seventy to eighty degrees below the freezing point of water, — a temperature which severely tests the vital energies of man. The weather was still what would be called fine ; that is, the wind was light, and a considerable aurora relieved the R 2 i- ■{ i. ' i I i ' i..^M A.i 244 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Siiii 1 "[ i fi darkness in a slight degree. The Investigators met the cold as it should be met, with cheerfulness, energetic exercise, and regularity of habits ; New Year's day consequently found but four trifling cases upon the doctor's sick list, — a satisfactory sani- tary state, which continued throughout the spring. Directly the daylight began to increase and the crew were able to extend their walks, they fell in with reindeer in great numbers. Some of the poor creatures, attracted by curiosity, or pressed by the wolves eternally dogging at their heels, occasionally approached the ship as if for protection, but only, of course, to be fired at. Before the close of Ja- nuary several were shot, and their flesh secured ; and, according to the diary of an officer, " the hills in the vicinity of the ship were abounding at that time v/ith deer." Every encouragement was now given to men and officers who were prepared to undergo the fatigue of sporting for the public weal. One person especially distinguished himself not only as a sportsman, but in the execution of any service requiring unflagging energy and marked intelli- gence ; and this was the non-commissioned officer of royal marines. Sergeant Woon. He did good service everywhere ; but no better instance can be ^■^ I' ;* SERGEANT WOON SAVES A SHIPMATE'S LIFE. 245 given of the metal of which such men as he are made than what occurred on the 4th of January. A coloured man serving in the ship, whilst out sporting, wounded a deer, and, after following it awhile, discovered he had lost his way just as a fog came on. The temperature was very low, the man was tired, and the peril of his position caused him to lose his presence of mind and to wander about. By great good fortune Sergeant Woon, who was likewise out in quest of game, joined him ; but the poor creature was so beside himself with excitement and horror, that every endeavour to soothe him, by promising to take him safely on board the ship, failed. Fits came on, which, when they passed off, left the man quite prostrated in strength. By en- treaty and remonstrance, the sergeant induced him at last to walk a little; but at 2 p. m., when the glimmering twilight called day of that season was fast closing in, the unfortunate man's energies en- tirely failed, and he sank upon the ground, bleeding at his mouth and nose, and writhing in 'Convulsions. The sergeant saw now that all hope of the man saving himself was at an end ; and to leave him where he was, many miles from the ship, was to leave him to certain death: he would have been R 3 1^ -I -n t .i.\ Ef i ■ ^'- \y& r >,i iti- 1 1 i IN I ■ . 1 : 4 246 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. devoured by the wolves even before the process of freezing to death would have released him from his misery. There was no alternative but to drag him to the ship, — no easy matter, when the sergeant dared not part with his gun, and the man was one of the heaviest of a fine ship's company. Ser- geant Woon, then, with heroic resolution set to his task. Slinging both muskets over his shoulder, he took the man's arms round his own neck, and commenced dragging his half-dead shipmate to- v/ards the " Investigator." The labour was, as may be supposed, excessive ; and the only relief the sergeant had was, whenever he had dragged the body up one side of a hill, or when he came to a ravine, to lay him down, and roll him to the bottom ; rather severe treatment for an invalid, but it had the merit of arousing the man somewhat from his lethargy. By eleven o'clock at night the gallant marine had thus conveyed his burden to within a mile of the ship; but ten hours of such toil, amid dark.iess, cold, and snow, now began to tell upon him. He could drag his burden no longer; and as a last resource he implored the unfortunate man to make an eflPort, and tried to cheer him by pointing to the rockets which the Captain of the " Investigator " caused to be thrown », m KEEN SPORTSMEN. 247 up as a guide to the missing men. Finding, how- ever, that all his entreaties were replied to only by a request " to be left alone to die," the sergeant laid him in a bed of deep snow, and started oflf for assistance from the ship. This was already on its way; and Woon met and conducted two out of three parties to where the man lay, and just in time to save him. He was found with his arms raised, and rigid in that position, his eyes open, and his mouth so firmly frozen as to require much force to open it for the purpose of pouring restoratives down his throat, whilst his hands, feet, and face were much frost-bitten. His life was, however, saved ; and for that the courage and devotion dis- played by the sergeant deserved all the credit. On February the 5th the sun was seen above the horizon to the southward, by those whose anxiety to welcome back its cheerful face induced them to climb the adjacent hills ; and in the course of a day or two it gladdened the Bay of Mercy. The sportsmen now became more successful, and seldom a day passed without a deer or hare being shot ; and keen must the hunger of those sports- men have been, for more than one of them, when after a long and weary walk he shot a deer B 4 I W f I ; ! I ■' I il-'ifi " f m im ^f\k 252 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ;,(! i ! his men back to their lonely home ;' — nay, so far was he then from even contemplating a necessity for leaving the " Investigator," that on his return journey across the strait between Melville Island and Banks Land, we iind the following remark : — " When going towards Melville Island, we were much delayed by stupendous polar ice. The whole of this was avoided by crossing well to the east- ward, where we met much of last year's ice per- fectly level, and occasionally a huge flat floe of older date, but still very good walking : this ap- pearance of the strait is most propitious, giving every hope of a passage through." All still promised well on board the " Investi- gator"; and the sanitary condition of the crew was reported to be most satisfactory on May 1 1th, the day of the Captain's return. During his absence, the stock of fresh provisions had wondei'fully in- creased by the aid of the sportsmen. No less than twenty head of deer were hanging up round the ship, yielding a thousand pounds of meat; and the abundance of food justified an increased issue of rations, which were forthwith ordered to be one pound and a half of venison per man, six days in every fortnight : which, together with six days of preserved meat, left only two salt-meat days in APPEARANCE OF SCURVY. 253 every fourteen. One would have supposed that on such fare, with a dry and comfortable ship to live in, scurvy would be impossible ; but, as the sequel will show, its advance became soon most marked, and though the care of the Captain and the skill of the medical men checked it considerably, still the health of the crew was evidently failing. Although it may be accounted for in many ways, one fact is incontestable, that on the 15th of May the sick list had augmented to the unprecedented number of thirteen. May it not be supposed, then, that the moral effect of finding no help at hand told upon these poor fellows ? In June we find six men in their beds ; and on July 1st Captain M'Clure says, " A more unfavourable report was made by the surgeon to-day, relative to the appearance of the crew at the monthly inspection, than I had hitherto received: evident symptoms of debility, with incipient scurvy, in sixteen of the men." The long absence of fresh vegetable diet might have predisposed these men to scurvy ; but, considering the quantity of fresh animal food that had so hap- pily been procured for them throughout the past winter and at this particular time also, it appears likely that the anxious feelings awakened by find- ing neither provisions nor »■ vessel at Melville t . if! ■■; ■ % ■ ;4 rm m i ,!. 254 DISCOVERY OF THE NOBTH-WEST PASSAGE. ' I Island, or indeed even a promise of any, had quite as much, if not more, to do in developing the seeds of the disease, than either the nature of their diet or the slight labour of preparing the ship for sea, by ballasting and watering her. There was no doubt that all were anxious to escape another winter; they felt themselves alone, and having come to save others, it would, unless they reached Baffin's Bay in 1852, be a question whether they could save themselves. Each man must have felt how questionable it was whether his physical strength would, after going through another winter, be sufficient to carry him to the Hudson's Bay settlements or to one of the Danish posts in Greenland — a long distance, in either case, from the Bay of Mercy, in Banks Land. But whatever effect these feelings may have had upon their health, there is no question of the firm- ness with which all were prepared to face the diffi- culties they might yet have before them. They felt there was no hope but in themselves ; but that captain, those officers, and those men were equal to the emergency. May and June went by without bringing any lively signs of summer ; birds, indeed, such as the duck and gull, came, but left the place again, as if h. VENISON EXPENDED. 255 if from the wont of fresh-water pools. The snow at last melted off the exposed parts of the land ; and the ice began to thaw, forming large pools of water all over its surface. July opened very unpromisingly : a heavy north- erly wind and snow-storm swept over Mercy Bay, bringing back a painful recollection of the winter that they had hoped was past ; and, what was worse, on measuring the floe, it was found to be still increas- ing in thickness, whereas former experience had led them to expect a diminution of about two feet. The ground became so soft from the snow thawing, and the labour of shooting so great, that the sportsmen could no longer keep up the supply of game ; and by the 7th of July all the stock of venison was con- sumed. It is to be remembered, however, that the resources of Mercy Bay had hitherto yielded the crew of the " Investigator " three meals of fresh game a week since October 1851. Hardly had they time to regret the loss of this health-sustaining diet, when the indefatigable Sergeant Woon came on board, to report that he had just shot two musk- oxen: the carcasses, when conveyed to the ship, yielded 647 pounds of good meat. These oxen were the first that had been killed in Mercy Bay, and were hailed as a godsend. The sergeant in slaying them T i '-1 w;i f I mii m ,1'-.? 266 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. a p\ had had a narrow escape from the rage of the larger of the two; with his last bullet he had only wounded it, and on its approaching him, he had had to dis- charge his iron ram-rod as a missile into its body in order to save himself. In the middle of the month the ice-mate reported the floes outside to be in motion. All heard a rumbling noise, as if the pack was driving along, and the joy was great, until upon further examina- tion it was found that the d^bdcle from a ravine was pouring its strong current over the floe. As July drew to its close, the view over the sea from the highest land near was unsatisfactory indeed: ice, ice on every side ! no water, and no water-sky ! For awhile, however, the ravages of scurvy were mitigated by a quantity of wild sorrel being found ; and all hands that could be spared were daily era- ployed collecting it, — the sick getting the largest share, and the men's messes being served in turn. Either eaten raw as a salad, or cooked, it was ex- tremely palatable, and this was the first succulent vegetable the crew had partaken of since leaving the Sandwich Isles two years before. * Hope rose high when, about the 16th August, open water was seen in the straits, and the ice of the bay itself began to be loosened from the shore. 1st, of 8H0RT-LIVKP HOPE OF i?8CArE. 257 though it was still confined by the ice outside. A day or two later, however, the bay opened at the outer end, and the imprisoned navigators saw with delight that a broad lane of water extended along the southern shore for ten miles to the eastward. Their hope of reaching it lay in a strong south wind blowing the ice of the bay and the ship out with it to seaward. As to sawing the whole dis- tance between her and the water, it was impossible ; before it could be done winter would be on them. There was a chance of such a wind and such a release, and the top> gallant yards were crossed, sails bent, and the tide pole taken in. Its registry during ten months gave as a result that the tide rose two feet, and that the highest tide was four tides after the full and change of moon. A beacon was erected in lat. 73** 6' 48" N., and long. US'* 15' W., and in a cylinder attached to a pole was placed a record, telling what the Investigators had done, and whither they expected to go, " in the hope," says the leader of tlie expedition, " that it may meet the eye of some future explorer of these sterile regions, and throw some light upon the fate of those who perhaps may never reach beyond these limits." The expectation of escape was, however, but - . .a Ni I ill / . :'■): ^ 1 i:i: w feaifi Il f Il ' ' 258 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. short-lived. After the 20th of August the tempe* rature fell, slowly but continually ; and when the bay, or that portion of it that had been open, again froze over, all felt that summer was past, and some unforeseen accident could alone save them from wintering again in Mercy Bay. Their summer, poor fellows, had been a most cheerless one ; the sun, from the cloudy and misty state of the atmosphere not having been, with few exceptions, seen since May. By August 24th, the lead of water had closed! no water was visible in Barrow's Strait ; and the In- vestigators were able to walk in all directions over the bay across the young ice. The land rapidly became covered with snow, the vegetation, such as it was, withered : sorrel could no longer be found, warmer clothing became necessary, and the winter of 1852-3 commenced. "It found us," says M'Clure, *' ready to combat its rigours as cheerfully as on pre- vious occasions. We Avere all thinner than we used to be, for we had been twelve months on two-thirds of our allowance ; but we were still in good working condition." When the first week of September had past, and the chance of an autumnal gale blowing the ship into the pack was at an end, the leader sat down to weigh the course to be pursued to save his men and his ship. . If all remained in the vessel till the year 1853, MEASURES TO SAVE THE SHIP AND CREW. 259 w / "IB";!* ■ Wf king had in the hope the " Investigator " would carry them home, and (as had happened in 1852) the water should not make, all would starve. On the other hand, it was premature to think of deserting the ship, for she was sound and strong, and both the Captain's sense of duty and his pride were enlisted in saving to his country and profes- sion the ship that had been entrusted to his charge, and so gallantly had done her work. He therefore decided to send away, next spring, all but thirty of the healthiest men, and with them to remain by the ship, and to run the risk of a fourth winter. Assembling his gallant officers and men, on the 8th of September, Captain M'Clure announced to them the state of affairs, and informed them that in April next thirty of them would proceed homo- wards, divided into two parties, one party retreat- ing by way of North America, up the Mackenzie River; the other proceeding to Cape Spenser, Beechey Island, where Captain Austin's notice, found at Melville Island, led them to expect provi- and a boat* with which to reach Greenland sions. * To the best of the Editor's knowledge^ this consisted of a boat that was so heavy that no sledge-party could have launched her ; the provisions were two casks of salt meat and a bale of blankets. 8 2 u < 260 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ill! and the Danish settlements. The remaining thirty- hands, and the officers in charge of stores, were, if possible, to remain with the Captain, and endea- vour to save the ship next year ; if not so fortu- nate, they were to spend another winter, and then abandon her in 1854, retreating upon Lancaster Sound to such help as the Admiralty would as- suredly send when they knew from their shipmates of their necessity. This arrangement was cheerfully received by this excellent body of men ; never was a country or a profession more worthily represented under trying circumstances than by these gallant sailors ; and those who thought they would be the first to go home, were soon heard speculating, with praise- worthy generosity, upon immediately volunteering to come out again in the first ship to the rescue of their messmates, and with light-hearted jocularity promising to bring out a good stock of tobacco- pipes for them, — an article which happened to be very scarce in Banks Land, and for which all the ingenuity of the seamen could manufacture no substitute. With n^^en of such a spirit all diffi- culties and hardships before them vanished, and none repined at what Providence had sent them. Towards the close of September, the stock of SHORT RATIONS, AND HUNGER. 261 ICCO- be the no rum in the ship was surveyed, and a deficiency found to exist, which obliged the issue to be dimi- nished to half a gill per diem. This was a great loss to the men, and the more so that just then no game could be procured, and they were on a bare two-thirds of the rations ; a scale of victualling which, unavoidable as it had been for the past twelve months, was slowly sapping everyone's strength. Hunger began now to be felt ; and al- though to his men M'Clure pointed out that their hardships fell far short of those endured by many an honoured Arctic expedition, still, when sitting quietly in his cabin, the fact, already more than once represented to him by the surgeon, pressed itself painfully on his mind, that unless aid came in the shape of game, the winter could not be passed on the allowance of food the resources of his ship admitted of, and that all hands would have to abandon the gallant ship in the spring ; " but nothing," says he, writing on the 16th October, " but the most urgent necessity will induce me to take such a step." In October the deer and hares began to return to their winter feeding-grounds in the valleys round Mercy Bay ; but seventeen men now or the sick list, and all the duties of housing in the vessel, 6 3 hi 1" «l 111 iiil 262 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. throwing up embankments of snow to shield her sides from the bitter gales, and otherwise preparing her for that season, left little time and few men to spare for shooting-excursions. The whole game- list for the month showed a return of only two deer and nine hares, — a small quantity amongst so many hungry mouths. But when all the necessary work was finished, and the men had nothing else to do but take exercise and keep themselves and the ship clean, the feeling of hunger and weakness somewhat abated, and the medical report in November showed no increase of disease, except that those of a very nervous temperament became easily excited and unreason- able. November yielded but little game, for dark- ness was fast increasing ; yet the number of deer seen was astonishing, and the wolves harassed the poor creatures until, as in the past winter, they almost fled to the sliip for protection. The health of the men appeared to improve somewhat : this favourable change arose, Captain M'Clure thought, from a more contented state of mind than when, in the autumn, the first disappointment at finding no hope of release oppressed all in a greater or less degree : " hungry," he says, " we all arc ; but, with p, little management, the two-thirds allowance, now i^: MODE OF LIVING. 263 that we have nothing to do, keeps us from losing health." Great, indeed, was the ingenuity displayed in making as much as possible of the daily rations ; and much therefore, it is to be feared, was eaten in modes in which the quantity was looked to as the sole recommendation : for instance, the salt meat, instead of being cooked, was just thrown into boil- ing water to warm it and extract the salt, and then eaten raw. On these painful details it is, however, unnecessary to dilate ; and a pretty good idea of the scanty fare all were on may be conceived from the following description of the mode in which the gun-room officers lived. Their stock was all finished, they were all on ship's allowance like the men, and like them adopted the system of each in turn being cook or carver for the mess. The carver's share consisted in getting the last portion out of the eight into which the food had to be divided, — a method which insured, we need hardly say, the utmost impartiality on the part of the carver, the other members helping themselves to their shares before him. The ra- tions for the day were given out every morning ; and each ate it, at his own discretion or inclina- tion, at either breakfast or dinner. They had, in s 4 i m .11 II ii ., i * ■ ■ 1 t ■' i: ' " t^ ^'1 ii ";* :^ I ; '? 'i i :i 264 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. fact, but one meal per diem ; for the breakfast, if it deserved the name, consisted of a cup of the weakest cocoa, and a small portion of the small allowance of bread ; the rest of the bread, and half a pound of salt meat, containing a good proportion of bone, with just enough preserved vegetable to swear by, constituted the other meal. There was a cup of weak tea in the evening ; but few were able to save anything to eat with it. There were two breaks to this series of banian days during the close of the year : the one was on the 26th October, the anniversary of the discovery of the North-west Passage ; the other on Christmas- day. An extra issue of food and some wine were given to commemorate two festivals which all felt were the last that little community would spend together ; and those alone who have been similarly placed can appreciate the heartfelt kindness towards each other which hallowed these occasions, and made their humble cheer appear luxurious. It was wonderful, too, to see what care and economy of the stores brought from home, as well as the skill of the sportsmen, were able even in th^be ..;rcum- stances to eflfect. The old-fashioned English plum pudding was still to be seen on Christmas-day, not a very rich one, may be, but good appetite compen- THIRD CHRISTMAS AND CLOSE OF YEAR. 265 sated for what it lacked in that respect ; there was " Banks Land venison," " Mercy Bay hare soup," " ptarmigan pasties," and some musk-ox beef which had hung in the rigging for two years and odd months. The good-will and determination of all to be merry, in spite of adverse circumstances, compensated also for whatever might be wanting. The poets amongst the men composed songs, in which their own hardships were made the subject of many a hearty laugh ; painters attempted rud« illustrations of past scenes of peril or adventure ; the comic actors acted ; the sick half forgot their maladies, and the whole company tossed care and anxiety to the winds, and felt thankful for the past and hopeful for the future. Had not both officers and men reason to be proud of their comrades? and was not their chief, the captain of this gallant set of men, justified in saying that nothing was impos- sible whilst such hearts and hands were ready to carry out his plans for the safety of all and the honour of his country? Full indeed was Captain M'Clure's heart of gratitude, and none knew better than himself where it was due. His own words, written on the close of the year 1852, best express his feelings: — " The new year is about to commence ; not one \ ?, ' 5; 266 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Hi If ill 1 1. 1 I: 111 of my original crew has fallen by disease or acci- dent, and all is more promising than I could have ever hoped for. These and all other mercies are alone due to that all -beneficent Providence who has so wonderfully upheld us in our many trials and difFculties ; relying, therefore, on Him, I can- not but feel as the wife of Manoah did, and repeat her exclamation : ' If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not not have shewed us all these mercies. > » 2G7 CHAP. xvr. The "Enterprise." — III Success of her Travelling Parties. — Late Season. — Passage through Dolphin and Union Strait. — Winter of 1852-53 passed in Cambridge Bay.— Esquimaux numerous. — Traces of the Missing Expedition found. — . Game and Fish abound. — Unfortunate Circumstance of no Searching Party having visited King William's Land. — The Bay of Mercy. — Reaction on Board the "Investigator" after Christmas Festivities. — Excessive Cold. — Want of Fuel and consequent Dampness. — ^Venison plentiful. — Large Sick List. — March '53. — The Retreating Parties named, and their Routes appointed. — Captain M'Clure's Reason for send- ing away the Sickly Men. — Wolves, their Voracity and Cunning. — Anxiety of the Sledge-Parties as to Chances of safe Retreat.— -Retrospective Glance at Measures taken in England to rescue the "Investigator." — Mr. Cresswell's Letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty, and fortunate Result. — Captains Kellett and M'Clintock ordered to Mel- ville Island.— They reach it in September 1852. — Acci- dental Discovery of Captain M'Clure's Despatches on the Parry Rock. — Help at Hand for the "Investigator." — April '53 in Mercy Bay. — The first Death. — Captain M'Clure addresses his Men to remove their Despondency. — The Dark and Bright Sides of the Cloud. — The unexpected Arrival of Lieut. Pim from the "Resolute." — The In- vestigators rescued. — Excitement and Happiness of the Crew. ■ Having thus brought the narrative to the close of 1852, it is now necessary to cast a glance back to B\ e .11 268 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTII-WEST PASSAGE. the spring of the same year, when we left the " Investigator's" consort, under Captain Collinson, wintering at the southern end of Prince of Wales Strait. All her spring travelling parties returned unsuccessful from long and arduous journeys, in which some of the men suffered considerably from frost-bites and the other consequences oi' sledge- work in those high latitudes. The " Enterprise's" crew were somewhat re- freshed during the summer, by procuring a fair supply of game, and a considerable quantity offish from the lakes in Prince Albert Land ; it was not, however, until so late as September, that the " En- terprise" appears to have been able to make any progress eastward from her wintering place, — a direction Captain Collinson decided upon attempt- ing, with a view to penetrate the unknown space lying between him and Cape Walker in Barrow's Strait. A channel which he entered proved even- tually to be a gulf j and he then endeavoured to pass by way of Dolphin and Union Strait, and reached, on the 26th of the same month, Cambridge Bay in Wollaston Land ; and there he passed the winter of 1852-53, of which we are now writing. In those winter quarters Esquimaux visited them ; and one tribe mustered 200 persons. In their pos- II { "ENTRBPHISB" in CAMBRIDGE BAY. 269 session was found a piece of iron, which many still believe to have come from the missing ships, and Captain Collinson picked up, moreover, a piece of a doorway or hatch-frame. Knowing what we now do of the point which Franklin's people reached in King William's Land, and where they perished, the connection of these fragments with the " Erebus" and " Terror " appears to be very probable ; but Captain Collinson, being ignorant of those factsi could have no idea of how close his ship was to the spot whereon Dr. Rae's informants stated they first saw a portion of Franklin's men ; and there- fore those fragments told him no more than other traces had done which were previously brought home by Captain Penny from Beechey Island, or than did a portion of a stanchion belonging to a ship's ice-plank, which Rae found at his farthest eastern point in 1851.* The land around the " Enterprise" abounded in game, and the waters with salmon, for 1100 of the latter were cured for sea service. We shall here leave H.M.S. "Enter- * The *' Enterprise" wintered on this occasion 120 miles from King William's Land, where some forty of Franklin's men were first seen by the Esquimaux, and 200 miles from the Great Fish River, the entrance of which, as has been since ascertained, was reached by a boat from Franklin's lost Ex- pedition. .,v;- ': dl, iM .^-■•i'll 280 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTII-WEST PASSAGE. ^r^' m !1 \i its principal eiForts in the vicinity of Melville Island. " The intelligence of the fitting out of Captain Austin's expedition reached the Behring's Strait expedition, at the Sandwich Islands, and would unquestionably stimulate thera in endeavouring at almost any risk to communicate with Captain Austin at Melville Island. " It is desirable to realise as much as possible what would be the effect on the officers of the Behring's Strait expedition on being possessed of the intelligence alluded to. " There can be no reasonable doubt but that they would anticipate Captain Austin's expedition, aided as it was by steamers reaching Melville Island, as Sir W. E. Parry had done so without steamers in 1819; and that Captain Austin would, as a matter of course, leave a supply of provisions and fuel, and possibly a boat, for any party that might reach that point from Behring's Strait. " Trusting to this, a party might be pushed forivard at imminent risk ; hut how terrible would be their despair on finding a barren notice of Lieutenant M'-Clintock^s visit in 1851, instead of the supply anticipated ! " There is nothing unreasonable in the above MR. CRESSWELL'S LETTER. 281 supposition, as Captain Kellett in his evidence, page 170., says, ' Should Commander ^PClure he successful in getting far to the eastward, I am con- vinced, from a conversation I had with him, and in- deed his own letter will show, that he will use every endeavour to reach Melville Island with his parties, if he fail with his ship.* " Again, Captain Kellett, in a letter to Captain Collinson, 20th of May, 1850, says: 'If you can pass Point Barrow and escape the shoal water, we shall see you come home by the Atlantic' " Now the ' Investigator ' passed Point Barrow the 5th of August, 1850, and nothing has been heard of her from that time ; we may therefore conclude that she struggled to get to Melville Island through the seasons of 1850 and 1851. Certainly she did not return in 1851 through Behring's Strait, or it must have been already known. " If she is far to the eastward, in all probability Melville Island will be their only resource. Cap- tain Collinson, in the * Enterprise,' passed Point Barrow in 1851, and will in all probability push to the eastward this summer, and may reach Mel- ville Island. " Under these circumstances, ought not the ■J I 282 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. powerful Arctic Squadron now fitting out to have some reference to the support of Captain Collinson^s expedition, as well as to following out Penny's dis- coveries, and to the faint hope of finding Sir John Franklin. " I venture to suggest that one of the three steamers should proceed to Melville Island, if the navigation be open, as in 1819, leave provisions, fuel, and a boat at Winter Harbour: she could then return to the ships at Beechey Island. " If the navigation should not be found open, then the steamer should make as far to the westward as possible, and send provisions to By am Martin Island, or any favourable position that might be practicable, sending forward a party to Melville Island, to leave a record of their proceedings, to direct where to find provisions, and also to communicate the object of Sir Edward Belcher's expedition. " If the Admiralty thought proper, in case of the steamer reaching Melville Island, she might winter there, and in the spring send searching parties to . the westward. They might be so arranged as to command a wide field of research, and possibly cross Captain CoUinson or Commander M'Clure, as SOUNDNESS OF MR. CUESSWELl's VIEWS. 283 they would start from a point more than 200 miles west of Baillie Hamilton Island. "I must apologise with trespassing upon you with such a long letter, but the importance of the object will, I trust, plead my excuse. "&c. &c. " To Augustus Stafford, Esq. M. P. •' Secretary, Admiralty." His Grace the Duke of Northumberland was then the senior Lord of the Board of Admiralty. He was struck with the soundness of Mr. Cress- well's views ; and having sought the opinion of some arctic authorities upon the subject, a para- graph was inserted in the orders under which Captain Belcher sailed * ; and his expedition, in * Paragraphs 5. and 6. of Captain Sir E. Belcher's instruc- tions were as follows : — 5. " Arrived at this point {Beechey Island), two great objects will engage your attention : — " First, the endeavouring to pass up Wellington Channel with one sailing vessel and one steamer ; secondly, the advance of a similar force towards Melville Island. 6. "The object of the first of these expeditions will be, the endeavour to recover those traces of Sir John Franklin which ceased at Cape Bowden to the north of Beechey Island, and to follow up such traces, if they should be found. The object of the other expedition will be, to deposit, if possible, at Winter Harbour, Melville Island, or failing that, at Byam I; h : M 281 DIScovEttV OP TirE »r.»^ «'E NOBTn-WEST PASSAGE. consequence, became divided f .,, Captains JI'Cl..re and Comn" r '"'"'" *° were logo up Wellington Cf.„„T """'''' B«'-".er and Osborn • whi.? I ' ""'"' ^"P""'" -e, under the%: i:":, V---^ ^'"'n.'. «n Such are the difficulties and chances wh.jh prevCxit one party finding another in those regions. Directly, however, that Captain Kellett was se- curely frozen in, he despatched autumnal parties of travellers to lay out provisions for the use of parties he purposed sending forth in the ensuing spring. One of these parties, under Lieut. Mecham, left the ship on the 23rd September, reached Winter Harbour, struck over-land for Liddon Gulf, deposited provisions on its shore. Rcmark.iblo Sandstone mats at the entrance of Winter Harbour, 10 feet high, 23 feet long, 7 ur U fuet broad. and returned to Winter Harbour. Happening to inspect more closely than usual the famous mass of Parks, has been repeatedly visited, and once expressly searched, his cairn or record has not been discovered. tl (4 MECHAM FINDS m'CLURE'S RECORD. 287 sandstone on which Parry had caused his ship's name to be engraved, Lieut. Mecham could hardly credit his senses when he discovered a document upon its summit, detailing the accomplishment of the north-west passage, and the position of H. M. S. "Investigator" in Banks Land! Great joy was there in Captain Kellett's squadron at having dis- covered a trace of one at least of the ships they sought ; and many an anxious discussion took place at IVfelville Island whether they could next spring send off parties sufficiently early to reach the Bay of Mercy before Captain M'Clure might be obliged to abandon his ship ; and, on the other hand, there were doubts whether he might not have been able to push on during the past summer, and per- haps have again to be sought in some new direc- tion. Impressed with the belief that the " Investigator" had got out of the " Bay of Mercy," and passed to the north-west of Melville Island, Captain M'Clin- tock and Lieut. Mecham, as seniors, chose routes which would intercept her supposed tract; and coru- sequently the second lieutenant of the " Resolute," Mr. Bedford Pim, was, with Dr. Domville, of the same ship, told off to start with sledges from Mel- "-■Kl / n I f , I s•^^:? 288 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ville Island to Banks Land : and on March 10th, 1853, they left their shipmates, amidst the prayers and cheers of all. Meantime, April 1853 had come in on the " In- vestigator." The sledges were ready, the slender store of provisions was packed, those that were going strove to be sanguine, those that were to remain behind had written to cheer up mothers, wives, and sisters, who must have already begun to mourn their long absence. On the 5th of the month the first death since leaving England oc- curred on board the "Investigator": it was occa- sioned by the thoughtlessness of the poor fellow himself, who, by way of a joke, went into the surgery and drank off the washings of several medicine bottles. But the moral effect of a death at such a time was distressing, and to re-inspirit the men their iron-nerved captain took an early oppor- tunity of calling the crew together, and making an address to them in not ineloquent terms. In it he called their attention to the difficulties already mastered, to the honours won, to the grateful re- compense their good service was certain to obtain for each, and to the merciful Providence which had so upheld them hitherto ; and he begged them always to remember that, in the gloomiest hour of t d| dl UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE OP LIEUT. PIM. 289 trial, relief might, and often did come, and that the darkest cloud had ever a silvery side to it. Cor- dially again did all assent to his opinions, and the poor fellows talked more cheerfully, and looked happier for what had been said to them. The 6th of April, 1853, came in. A fine deer was hung up ready to be cut up for a hearty meal, that all hands were to partake of before their sepa- ration, which was to take place in the following week ; when an event occurred which rescued them from further suffering and trials of fortitude. I give Captain M'Clure's journal almost verbatim, upon this day. " While walking near the ship, in conversation with the firat lieutenant upon the subject of digging a grave for the man who died yesterday* and discussing how we could cut a grave in the ground whilst it was so hardly frozen — a subject naturally sad and depressing, — we perceived a figure walking rapidly towards us from the rough ice at the entrance of the bay. From his pace and gestures we both naturally supposed at first that he was some one of our party pursued by a bear, but as we approached him doubts arose as to who it could be. He was certainly unlike any of our men ; U i I . ■ ; i i! J I i 'i I. *■- /^ r \ 290 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. but recollecting that it was possible some one might be trying a new travelling dress, preparatory to the departure of our sledges, and certain that no one else was near, we continued to advance. When within about two hundred yards of us, this strange figure threw up his arms, and made gesticulations resembling those used by Esquimaux, besides shouting, at the top of his voice, words which, from the wind and the intense excitement of the mo- ment, sounded like a wild screech ; and this brought us both fairly to a stand-still. The stranger came quietly on, and we saw that his face was as black as ebony, and really at the moment we might be par- doned for wondering whether he was a denizen of this or the other world, and had he but given us a glimpse of a tail or a cloven hoof, we should assuredly have taken to our legs: as it was, we gallantly stood our ground, and, had the skies fallen upon us, we could hardly have been more astonished than when the dark-faced stranger called out, — " * I'm Lieutenant Pim, late of the " Herald," and now in the " Resolute." Captain Kellett is in her at Dealy Island ! ' " To rush at and seize him by the hand was the first impulse, for the heart was too full for the 11 JOY OF THE INVESTIGATORS. 291 tongue to speak. The announcement of relief being close at hand, when none was supposed to be even within the Arctic Circle, was too sudden, un- expected, and joyous for our minds to comprehend it at once. The news flew with lightning rapidity, the ship was all in commotion ; the sick, forgetful \ of their maladies, leapt from their hammocks ; the artificers dropped their tools, and the lower deck was cleared of men ; for they all rushed for the hatchway to be assured that a stranger was actually amongst them, and that his tale was true. Despon- dency fled the ship, and Lieut. Pirn received a welcome — pure, hearty, and grateful — that he • will assuredly remember and cherish to the end of his days." In a very short time the dog-sledge with two men arrived, and long and eager were the conver- sations and questionings which ensued. The In- vestigators felt perfectly bewildered with the rescue which had reached them just in time to save, in all probability, the lives of the thirty persons who were about to attempt to reach home with sledges and boats (as well as that forlorn hope intending to remain behind) ; and when the fact had perfectly realised itself to all, it may be imagined what their u 2 ;: ,.^ :f , f mi :f 292 DISCOVERY OF THE NOUTH-WEST PASSAGE. feelings were. It would be supererogatory to attempt to describe the fulness and gratitude of heart, with which each must have thanked his God for all his mercies. « * * « « t I' ! f: r 293 CHAP. XVII. The Migration of Animals Theory. — Impossibility of Arctic Animals Migrating. — IIow tlie Fact broke upon us. — Ac- cumulative Evidence. — The Reindeer of the Arctic Ar- chipelago. — Herding in the Autumn. — Curiosity of the Does. — Wonderful Providence of Nature. — Slow Process of Digestion. — Reindeer harassed by the Wolves. — Scent a Substitute for Sight. — The Wolves less harassing in early Spring. — Musk-Oxen. — The Haunts of the Oxen.— Capt, Mechara's Observations. — Admirable Coating of the Musk-Ox.— Measurements of Musk-Oxen. — Extraordinary Activity of these Creatures. — Ferocity of the Bulls. — Goatlike power of climbing. — The Arctic Hare, and its Habits. — The Arctic Lemming, and its Habits. — Bears eat the Lemming. ■ ■ The Ptarmigan. It will not here be out of place to throw together the observations generally collected upon the habits of those two important animals for the Arctic navigator, the reindeer and musk-ox. The facts are spread over a great amount of journalising, but the writer, anxious to place on record the new information gleaned, has here given it, pre- mising that he is no naturalist, and that he alone is responsible for the non-migration theory, II 3 -% !< issii. ir I t 1 y- Of an arcti^ti :T„r: °' "^"'^""^ '"« The great winter dn^T' i' T '7'"" *^"'""^- Sir James Ross and Pn . ""'' ^^^O, of . ^a^w-s ««t a d'th?tr:;?„"^ ^-^^ ^™™ I'-ved that theiceaJL tl T"''^""^'' ■notion long after the 17 . '""'^^ ""^ '" »t the seastn f „ ter ' T ""^ "' '"' -"^ *'«'' - Churning an;:Ljt:r,::r-"''- 7-e to south latitudes. ^ .t "^^*^™- then, that the ice beset th..T '"'" '""^ PrinceofWaIesSt.»-r , "Investigator" in close of November a^d. "''^ ""'" ^c •^u™. spring.tider;rt Z:'^:""' ^^■^°''' abundant evidence that 7 ^ ^^'''' '''^'•c '^a^ cnce that large spaces of water and IMPOSSIBILITY OF ANIMAL MIGRATION. 295 weak ice existed around them ; such, in short, as would be quite sufficient to prevent timorous deer or musk-oxen attempting a journey which would have puzzled even an amphibious animal. Addi- tional testimony abounds elsewhere ; the ice of Queen's Channel and around the winter quarters of H. M. S. " Pioneer," in Northumberland Sound (1852-53), was even so weak, or else so heavily packed, at the end of the winter, that it could with difficulty be traversed by our men ; and near Dr. Kane's winter quarters, in Smith's Sound, the ice was either so treacherous or so piled up, that his parties could not cross it from Greenland to the western coast. All this betokened insuperable difficulties in the way of an animal migration, simply from the absence of a highway for the poor brutes to pass from 78° to 68° North latitude, a distance of about 600 miles straight as the crow flies. Then we had the fact of the reindeer wintering in Green- land ; for not even the most profound believer in an animal exodus had ever accused the poor creatures of embarking on the bosom of the waters of the Atlantic, or Davis's Strait, and proceeding in the autumn to Labrador ; moreover, we knew that the Dutch and Russian fishermen wintering in Spitz* V 4 Hi: ^^Kl ll I vj'a 296 DISCO VEltY OF THE NOBTU-WEST PASSAGE. bergen in the old time, found the reindeer always there ; at last, further doubt upon the subject was removed by the abundant testimony which poured in upon us between 1850 and 1854; and the ques- tion is now placed beyond all doubt that the deer, musk-ox, hare, and lemming of the arctic, archipelago do winter in those islands. This work not being a disquisition on natural history, it would not interest the reader to quote at length all the passages upon the subject from the diflferent journals of officers lately engaged on arctic service ; some remarked one fact, others another j so that by plodding over the ponderous blue-books, a very fair collection of data may be collected. Our gleanings are as follow : — In the depth of the winter of 1850-51, deer, or re- cent traces of animals, were seen near the respective winter quarters of Capt. M'Clure, Captain Austin, and Captain Penny ; and in the early spring of 1851, when the temperature was 40° — , Lieut. Aldrich observed reindeer, white as driven snow, grazing upon what he described as stony plains covered two feet deep with snow, and the animals so lean and winter-pulled, that no one could suppose they had been revelling on the American Continent, and had just rushed up to 76° North to enjoy a low HOW THE FACT BROKE UPON US. 297 temperature and Lenten fare : they had their young fawns with them, which was an additional argu- ment against a journey which, to and fro, could hardly be less than 2000 miles ; and it is as well to remember that distance tells on animals as well as men. Captains M'Clure and Kellett testify to these animals being found all the winter round, about the spots they wintered in. This narrative contains several remarkable passages, extracted from the former officer's journal upon that head: we will add one more, dated December 1852. " The deer have for the last few days," he says, " been coming from the southward to their winter quarters amongst the ravines and sandhills ; ninety have been met with at one time, and forty at another; but they are so wild that few have been shot. Our two seasons' experience shows that these animals do not migrate to the south, as is generally sup- posed, but bear the extreme rigour of the climate, and exist upon the scanty herbage here found, chiefly the dwarf willow, from off which they break the snow with their feet, and in doing so make a tapping noise that may be heard at a considerable distance when the weather is calm, frequently lead- ing to their discovery by our sportsmen. The f 1|;M t, ;} IH , i! v^ 298 DISCOVERY OF TUB NOnXH-WEST PASSAGE. hares and ptarmigon have also descended from the high ground to the sea ridges, so that a fair supply of game is brought in." In 1853, immediately after some months of bitter temperature, the writer landod on the north shore of Bathurst Land, and was not a little surprised to observe that reindeer were very numerous on the uplands : they were browsing, with their last year's fawns, upon a miserable vegetation which any other animal would have starved upon : the only plant which they did not appear to have touched was the saxifrage, notwithstanding that the young shoots or buds are remarkably sweet, and the favourite food of the ptarmigan. That the reindeer crosses the firm ice of the archipelago in the spring, no one can deny ; but it is in search of food, not to avoid a rigour of climate which Nature has provided them with an admirable organisation to meet ; but those tracks of deer, and sometimes the creatures themselves, have only been seen going in an easterly and westerly direction, between the islands of Melville, Bathurst, and Cornwallis, upon the one hand, and Melville, Eglin- toun, and Prince Patrick, upon the other; but never in such numbers as to induce anyone to call it a migration. Deer have never been seen, or any :i ' TUB BEINDEEU OF THE ARCIlIPELA(iO. 290 other herbivorous animal, crossing Barrow Strait, or Melville Strait, either going north or south. Having thus disposed of the migration theory, we will next touch upon the general h::l its of those wonderfully constructed crealiires, who, wi(,):oi:t any coating of blubber like th: beo' and i Jo seal, are able to pass unscathed through a pitiiess ^vinter in a climate ranging, as far as In yet Icnown, frcr zero to 65° minus, a tcmpvi'ttttirc i/hidi :>tvilu. > like cold steel at the viUii po-i^crs ox u wcU-clnd man, and rends iron and rocks with its roslstlcis power. We will first speak of the rjind:^ev, Thcu* average size and weight approximate mostly to those of the ordinary fallow deer of our iirigli^h parks. An exceptional case is sonieiimes seeii in some lordly stag who though, like TennysonVo "many-wintered crow," admirably nttcd to lead his herd, and forming a very fine object in an arctic solitude, would be uncommcrly tough and strong eating anywhere but in 76° rorth latitude. They are by no means graceful creatures at any age; the joini'i are large and powerful in propor- tion to the size of the animal ; the divided hoofs are very large, and from the animal being obliged to raise its feet high when going over the snow, its ( ; k iiJii "' r-iiy!''''' m M t ! I; i 300 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. gallop has none of that beautiful spring which characterises the red deer of our isles, though the pace is a telling one, and soon carries the rein- deer clear of anything but the long-^vinded long- legged wolf. The stags cast their antlers, and the does drop their young, in May or June, about the time of the first thaws ; the males and females are then not often found together, unless it be some gay Lothario, with half a dozen admiring spinsters — an exceptional case however ; and the female deer are at this sea- son usually in small herds with their fawns ; the little creatures — all eyes, ears, and legs — taking alarm at the slightest appearance of danger. The summer vegetation fattens the bucks and does amazingly, and the fawns grow apace, all three having a comparative noliday, and getting into condition to meet the trials of the coming winter, while the wolf and the fox, their sworn foes, are devoting their kind attention to the infant seals and bears, or attending to their own little domestic duties. Indeed, in the height of the arctic summer, the swampy state of the lowlands and the cutting effect of the stony hills, as shown in the state of our poor dogs' feet and our own boots, was strong testimony against the wolf or fox being able to do Wli HERDING IN THE AUTUMN. 301 much at that season against hoofed animals. As the autumn frost sets in, and the snow again spreads its pall over the death-like scenery of the north, the wolves are seen hanging in constant at- tendance upon the unfortunate deer. They for protection and warmth, and following the natural instincts of gregarious animals, now commence to troop together, forming large herds of does, bucks, and fawns. Some have been counted numbering 60 head. The stags are evidently re- sponsible for the discipline of these large herds, as well as their safety: upon the latter head. Captain Mecham t41s an amusing anecdote. In October 1852, he was crossing that portion of Melville Island which intervenes between Liddon Gulf and Winter Harbour, and fell in with as many as 300 head of deer ; indeed, he says rein- deer were always in sight in herds varying from 10 to 60 in number. One of these herds, containing 20 head, he tried to stalk up to on the 7th October, but failed in getting a shot at them ; for although the does, with the inherent failing of their sex, were extremely curious, and made one or- two efforts to escape from the herds, and examine the " strange gentleman," the stags would in nowise tolerate such conduct, chastised them rather soundly with T ' y* 1-^y 302 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i ;i! their antlers, and kept the herd together and moving, by running rapidly round and round, utter- ing at the same time a strange noise which seemed to alarm the herd, and keep it flying from the suspected danger. The coat of these creatures, which during sum- mer had become remarkably thin, and adapted ad- mirably in colour to that of the snow-denuded soil, now rapidly thickens and again returns to its pristine whiteness. It is not a fur, in the strict acceptance of the term, but it forms an admirable non-conducting substance. As winter advances, and food requires to be sought over larger areas, the herds break into parties of 10 to 20 animals ; the lichens, a species of tripe-de-roche, the sprouts of the ground willow, as well as Iceland moss, being their princi])al food. It must be remembered that arctic vegetation has no time in the autumn to wither or decay ; whilst in full bloom, and before the juices have time to return into the parent root or be otherwise dissi- pated, the magic hand of the Frost King strikes them, and thus the wisdom of the Creator has •provided, ' for the nourishment of his creatures, a fresh and warmth-creating food, lying hid under a mantle of snow, which the instinct of those arctic ii R WONDERFUL PROVIIENCB OP NATURE. 303 animals teaches them to remove and reach the stores so beneficently preserved beneath. There is another peculiarity worthy of notice. Most herbivorous animals have a slow system of s digestion, even in a domestic state ; our cattle and sheep, for instance. This appears to be still more the case in the musk-oxen, reindeer,- and arctic hare, and is of infinite use in lands where the vegeta- tion is scanty and wide spread, and the weather occasionally so severe as to oblige these creatures for two or three days at a time to look purely to their own safety by seeking shelter from the snow- storms in deep ravines or under lofty clifi's. It appears in their case as if Nature extracted from their food a greater quantity of nourishment than she does from that of animals in more southern latitudes, or possibly, by remaining in the stomach or intestines, it serves to check the cravings of appetite, although there be no further nutriment to be extracted. Most of the musk-oxen and deer, the former especially, had their entrails distended with food (apparently quite digested), whilst the country around in many cases was as barren as a mac- adamised rcad, fairly leading to the inference that these creatures must have been a long time col- r ■-.' iU •'*!'' If : (I •if i- il - 304 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. lecting what they had within them: and that it had been a long time swallowed, and required the vital principle of the animals to be in full activity to prevent the food from becoming a source of disease, was pretty well proved in the case of the musk-oxen, which if shot, and left twelve hours with- out being disembowelled, became tainted through- out with a strong musky odour rendering the flesh uneatable. Another strong fact which bears upon the im- punity with which these creatures can winter in high latitudes, is that in Lapland, where these rein- deer are used for tractile purposes, it is considered quite enough food for a working animal if they arc able to give it daily four pounds of lichen ( Ceno- myce rangiferina) ; and on that dietary a reindeer will be in sufficiently good condition to go occasionally without food for two or three days, and do that without apparent distress. So far as food is concerned, and an organisation fitted to meet the extreme temperature of the Pole, the reindeer is thus beautifully provided ; but its sorest trial must be the constant rapacity of the wolves which are ever hanging round them throughout the winter season. As the season advances the reindeer appears to resign itself to KEINDEER HARASSED BY THE WOLVES. 305 the inevitable social misery ; and the cool manner in which a small flock of those creatures may be seen grazing with an entourage of half a dozen hungry wolves was very strange, and evinced great philosophy, to say the least of it. A herd of deer thus surrounded by the wolves, who were too great cowards to rush in upon their prey, would be startled every now and then by the long-drawn unearthly howl of the hungry brutes : sometimes a frightened deer, horror-stricken at the abominable chaunt, dashes madly away from the herd, — away all, or a portion of the wolfish frater- nity go after it. In many cases, the scene may be briefly summed up with the old three-volume de- nouement of — a rush — a shriek — a craunching of bones, and snarling of beasts of prey — and all is over ! for the wonderful powers of swallow and horrid voracity of an arctic wolf must be seen to be understood ; no writer would peril his reputation for veracity by repeating what has been seen on that head. But sometimes the frightened deer gains the open country, and goes wonderful dis- tances dogged by the persevering wolf, who as- suredly has it, unless mother herd is met Avhich admits the hunted deer into its ranks. Occasionally, whilst a herd of deer are grazing, X j ,. G) 306 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. • ' i1 hi one of them may happen to hit upon a spot where the food is plentiful; it naturally lingers there^ whilst the herd is moving slowly on against the wind. The wolves immediately mark the straggler, and stealthily crawl on, their object being to cut him off from the herd : that effected, there is a howl and rush, which if the deer do not evade by extra- ordinary exertions, his fate is instantly sealed. All through the winter these scenes go on, scent serving the creatures when sight is useless; and many a sportsman, in the December darkness of the Bay of God's Mercy, has often wished his olfac- tory nerves were as sensitive as those of the wolf, for, although he could hear the deer, it was then impossible to see them, unless they moved over the dark yet snowy landscape; and many a bad shot was made by a hungry man at a large pair of sorrowful eyes which loomed out of the mist around, because he did not know whether the deer was two or twenty yards from him. During the depth of the severe winter of 1852- 53, the deer approached close to the " Inves- tigator:" of course in doing so they quitted the land. Whether this was done with a view of seek- ing the warmth which instinct, if not scent, told them was being given out by the ships, which were I WOLVES LESS HARASSING IN SPiUNG. 307 I like perfect volcanoes of heat, compared to the bitter temperature everywhere prevailing — 95° below the freezing point of water — or whether it was for security against the wolves, it is difficult to say, but most probfibly from the former cause ; for we remember that the foxes of Leopold Har- bour, in 1848, soon ascertained the fact of the warmth thrown out by the squadron under Sir James Ross, and wisely burrowed and bred in the embankments thrown up around the ships. Winter, with its sore trials, has of course its limits ; and it is astonishing how early in the new year relief comes to the harassed reindeer. In February and March the seals are breeding, and their helpless young are luscious morsels, that now commence to distract the attention of all the beasts of prey — none more than the wolf — the rein- deer's holidays then commence : indeed, we must always remember that the arctic hare and lem- ming likewise winter in the far north, and yield occasional meals to wolf and fox. "^ ' As spring advances, the herds gradually disperse, and the deer may then be seen in twos or threes, until, as I have before said, the autumn again ap- proaches. The general habits of the musk-oxen of the X 2 * SI V m i 308 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i-f i V V. Archipelago resemble strongly those of the reindeer; but they appear to be principally confined to Mel- ville Island, Banks Land, and the large islands to the south-east of the latter. None of them were seen alive on Bathurst or Cornwallis Land, although ancient skulls and bones have been found on both shores of Wellington and the Queen's Channel, yet not in very great numbers. One musk-ox was found, in 1851, in Byam Martin Island ; it appeared to have died from old age or starvation. Captain M'Clure only obtained three oxen from Mercy Bay, but subsequent visitors to Banks Land, Captain Mecham and Mr. Krabbe, have seen numbers. Yet, so far as places visited can be taken as an authority upon the subject of their locality, it appears as if the south-west ex- treme of Melville Island was their favourite haunt, especially that portion of it lying between Liddon Gulf and Cape Russell ; and it is worthy of re- mark, that that portion of Melville Island, although possessing a southern aspect, impinges upon the vast area of never-thawing ice, that " land of the white bear," from whence the west wind appeared to bring such intense cold whilst the " Investi- gator" was imprisoned against Ballast Beach in Banks Land. ' j/fl" CAl'T. MECIIAM's remarks. 309 Commander G. F. Mecham, whose interesting remarks, whilst searching in the above direction, are of great value in many respects, makes the fol- lowing general observations upon the animals he fell in within 1853: — "Game was only procured when required for use, otherwise great quantities might have been obtained on Melville Island. About the sloping land from Cape Smyth up to the head of Liddon's Gulf, animals were seen in great numbers, but particularly about the 115° of longitude, where both in April and June musk-oxen were very numerous. I saw, in a walk overland of ten miles, as many as 150 head of cattle. At Cape Smyth, on June 18th, a perfectly white musk-cow was seen with a black calf grazing with another cow and calf of the usual colour. Only one small herd of reindeer was seen while crossing Melville Island to Winter Harbour in July, as the land was then covered with water, or else in a deep swamp. In June and July, innumerable lemmings were seen both on the land and ice. Those on the latter were frequently carried off by the burgomasters, which were always in great numbers wherever the land was high or steep. At the entrance of Lid- don's Gulf two large flocks of snowy geese were X 3 Au I 310 DISCOVERY OF THE NOKTU-WEST PASSAGE. 41 if 1 lii! i. seen, but, in general with all the waterfowl, were very wild. ., " From the barren state of the soil of Eglintoun and Prince Patrick's Land, I am inclined to think that it is not a very favourite resort for animals. Several traces were seen in May and June on the ice, all travelling from Melville Island to the west- ward. On Patrick's Land we found vegetation only immediately on the south beaqh, and that only as far as 122" W. Throughout the journey beyond that, until returning again to the southern shore on June 1st, no traces or animals were seen of any kind except two bears off Cape Manning. "The musk-oxen were all very wild in April, and generally seen in large herds from ten to seventy in number. In June they were stupidly tame, and seemed to be worried with their heavy coats of wool, which were hanging loosely down their shoul- ders and rumps in large quantities; the herds much smaller, and generally composed of cows and calves. ..i -^ . ; ; > " At Cape Russell I walked up to within ten yards of two cows and a bull without their taking the least notice of me, and when I fired, only ran about five yards and commenced grazing. The cows were at first butting at the bull, who received their APPEARANCE OF TUB MUSK-OX. 311 blows with the crown of his horns, which sounded like the meeting of two heavy skittle-balls." The heavy coat of wool with which the musk- oxen are provided, is a perfect protection against any temperature. It consists of a long fine black hair, and in some cases white (for it is not ascer- tained that these oxen change their colour during the winter), with a beautiful fine wool or fur underneath, softer and richer than the finest alpaca wool, as well as much longer in the staple. This mantle appears to touch the ground, and the little creatures look like a bale of black wool, mounted on four short nervous goat-like legs, ■with two very bright eyes, and a pair of sharp wicked-shaped horns peering out of one end of it. Captain M'Clintock, of H. M. S. "Intrepid," gives the following dimensions of some oxen shot by him in 1851, which are a very fair average, the animals seldom exceeding the size of Shetland ponies. [See Table, p. 312.] They seem to be of very uncertain temper, sometimes standing stupidly glaring at their as- sailants, whetting their horns against their fore- legs ; and at other times our sportsmen had to be quick in escaping from their fury. X 4 I ^ mm IJ -Tt<'<« SB's* S « ■5.S O 5 a h a ii) 0) " o ■« T3 «*- -w 5 N ® o § =* •^ 'g e« (^ o 5 ® o *« '« s S ■5 ** 03 « *♦* o.. 0) Cm ^ a o V ill o 's .s a ^ ^ ^"2 5 B p V- •IS8I "! puBlBI ailiAPK »B ?oqS < EXTRAORDINARY ACTIVITY OF MUSK-OX. 313 Of their activity when excited, Captain Mccham speaks in another part of his diary, before quoted. *' During our stay, I proceeded to the northward, overland towards the head of Hardy Bay, Mel- ville Island. The land rises to an elevation of about 800 feet above the sea, and nearly all the hills arc of a remarkable table shape. Musk-oxen are here in very great numbers ; on one plain I observed as many as seventy grazing within a circuit of two miles ; on my approach they divided into herds of about fifteen each, headed by two or three enormous bulls. Their manoeuvres were so quick and re- gular that they were more to be compared to squadrons of cavalry than anything I could think of. One herd advanced several times at a gallop within rifle-shot, and formed in perfect line with bulls in advance, showing a formidable front of horns. The last time they advanced at a gallop to about sixty yards, and formed in line, the bulls at the same time snorting and tearing up the snow. Immediately I fired they wheeled round, joined the main herd, and made off out of sight, only waiting occasionally for the wounded one." And in Captain L. M'Clintock's sledge journey along the northern coast of Melville Island and Prince Patrick's Island, he gives a glowing de- I ' 'If I J m 314 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE, Is ', 11^ n: vll I ni scription of an encounter with a noble bull, which we transcribe as it stands in the Blue Book of 1855: — " We saw and shot two very large musk-bulls, a well-timed supply, as the last of the venison was used this morning ; we found them to be in better condition than any we had ever seen. I shall never forget the death-struggle of one of these noble bulls ; a Spanish bull-fight gives no idea of it, and even the slaughter of the bear is tame in com- parison. This animal was shot through the lungs, and blood gushed from his nostrils upon the snow. As it stood fiercely watching us, prepared yet unable to charge, its small but fixed glaring eyes were almost concealed by masses of shaggy hair, and its Avhole frame was fearfully convulsed with agony; the tremulous motion was communicated to its enormous covering of tangled wool and hair ; even the coarse thick mane seemed to rise indignant, and slowly waved from side to side. It seemed as if the very fury of its passion was pent up within it for one final — a revengeful — charge. There was no roaring, the majestic beast was dumb; but the wild gleam of savage fire which shot from his eyes, and his menacing attitude, was far more terrible than the most hideous bellow. I I •• 1 GOAT-LIKE POWEB OF CLIMBING. 315 We watched in silence, for time was doing our work, nor did we venture l-j lower our guns until, his strength becoming exhausted, he reeled and fell. " I have never witnessed such an intensity of rage, nor imagined for one moment that such an apparently stupid brute, under any circumstances of pain and passion, could have presented such a truly appalling spectacle. It is almost irapo.-iible to conceive a more terrific sight than that which was presented to us in the dying moments of this matchless denizen of these northern wilds. A mile or two farther we saw four milch cows and a very small calf." It appears to be doubtful whether the wolf, naturally a most cowardly creature, is able to act in any way offensively against the musk-oxen; the general impression amongst the naval officers employed in localities where a good opinion upon the subject could be formed, was, that the wolf could only attack the lame or sickly cattle^ The activity of these oxen, and goat-like power of climbing, is very remarkable, and much at va- riance with their clumsy appearance. They have been seen making their way, when frightened, up the face of a cliff which defied all human efforts V li ■ T V H ■: 316 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Ill to follow them, and going down the precipitous sides of ravines by alternately sliding upon their hams or pitching and arresting their downward course by the use of the magnificent shield of horn which spreads across their foreheads, in a manner to call forth the astonishment of the beholder. The arctic hare {Lepus glacialis) collects in herds or troops during the fall of the year, in the same manner as the deer. Two hundred of them have been seen at a time; and at one of their favourite haunts. Cape Dundas, Melville Island, a complete highway, three yards broad, was seen, the tread of their numbers having beaten the snow perfectly hard. In winter they burrow under the snow for protection, as well as to seek their food. Captain M'Clintock says, "they are everywhere found, but of course most numerous where the pasture is most abundant, as on Banks Land and Melville Island." The sportsmen of the " Resolute" and " Intrepid " shot 161 hares in a twelvemonth on the latter Island ; their average weight when fit for the table was 7 lbs., and from 10 lbs. to 12 lbs. with skin and off"al. During summer the hare, as well as the lemming, seeks protection from beasts of prey under large boulders oi rock, or in the face of rocky ravines. The hares in summer have I THE ARCTIC HARE AND ITS HABITS. 317 been seen in groups of from twelve to twenty in number. Their skin is so delicate that although the winter fur is very beautiful, and the colour a brilliant white, it cannot be applied to any useful purpose. They do not hybernate, and, strange to say, the Investigators generally found them amongst the heavy hummocks of the floe-ice in Mercy Bay, as if flying to that rugged ground from the wolves or foxes. They diff^er from the European hare, in bringing forth five or seven young at a birth. That interesting little creature, of the order Kodentia, the arctic lemming {Myodus Lemmus) — a perfect diamond edition of the guinea-pig — is very like the hare in its habits, but is generally found in large families. They have been seen at all seasons, and in winter are perfectly white ; but feeding and living as they do under the snow, it is only the keen-nosed fox, or Esquimaux dog, that can detect their position and enjoy the sweet morsel they afibrd. In summer, generally about the end of May, or early in June, they have a peculiar habit of going off' the land on to the frozen surface of the seo. They do not seem to have any definite object in doing so, and cannot be said to be migrating. Pos- sibly the thaws induce them to leave the land : \ I ■r ■.M<-' 318 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. '. :!: the seamen, in their quaint way, used to say, "Them blessed little lemmings must be artersalt, I should t^ink. Sir !" and really there seemed to be no other way of accounting for their presence on the floe at such a season of the year. The writer often found them steering off shore from the north coast of Melville Island, leaving comparative plenty behind them, and as far as the eye could see on a clear day, from land of considerable height, there was nothing in the shape of terra firma whi- ther they were bound. "When thus exposed upon the open floe, owls, gulls, and foxes pick them up for food. Can it be that Providence occasions this exodus for the purpose of feeding these creatures, and thinning down the numbers of an animal which would otherwise multiply exceedingly, and eat up all the vegetation of a naturally sterile region? One would hardly suppose so tiny ♦^ creature would serve as food to such large animals as Polar bears, but that it is so, the following extract from my journal will show ; the place referred to being a valley on the north-east side of Bathurst Land debouching into Queen's Channel : — "Saturday, a.m., July 2nd — Saw some shoals and the Cub and Bear Islets to seaward. Mado sail to a rattling breeze, and favoured by the ice, If: m . S' bears' mode of suckling their young. 319 we went along at a good pace until 3h. 30m. A.M., when, seeing some drift-wood lying about, which it was important should be examined, I halted and encamped, dispersing the men along the beach to bring all in they could find. Walking landward to obtain a view from a hill, I was startled to see a she-bear and two cubs some dis- tance inland. Watching them carefully, I was not a little interested to see the mother applying her gigantic muscular power to turning over the large blocks of sandstone which strewed thj plain, and under which the unlucky lemmings at this season take shelter. Directly the she-bear lifted the stones, which she did by sitting upon her hams and pulling them towards her with her fore-paws, the cubs rushed in and seized their prey, tossing them up in the air in their wantonness. After repeating this operation until the young fry must have made a very good meal, I was glad to witness the bear's mode of suckling her young, a sight, I should think, rarely seen. Seated on her haunches, with the backbone arched, so as to bring the breasts (which v/ere situated between the shoulders) as low as possible, the youngsters sucked away in a standing attitude. Anxious to secure this family party, we proceeded to burn all sorts of strong- 1 f I I 1; ;.<■ - 320 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ill ,1. J m iff smelling articles ; and at last she brought her babes down, though very warily, and when more than 100 yards off turned away, evidently suspicious. Following her I contrived, at about 150 yards, to pass a ball (Minid) through her body, abaft the shoulder. The cubs at once made off, though I should think they had not long been born, being about the size of an Irish retriever. Joined by a couple of the men (Hall and Wicketts) who soon outstripped me, we eventually, after a long chase, came up with her ; the brute, seeing she could not escape, had apparently made up her mind to wait for us behind a range of hummocks. When close to her, I learnt that they had one shot each left in their guns ; and as the men longed to go in at her, we walked up, the brute mosi artfully hiding her body so as to get us within reach for her rush. The wonderful similarity of colour between the fur of the bear and the snow, facilitated her mancEuvre, and we were within ♦^^hirty yards of her when she rose. It was a tickl* i moment, for the brute was venomous from desperation. The men behaved very coolly, however, merely saying to one another, " Steady ! " Hall fired, but only grazed her ; she still came on, when Geo. Wicketts, with my Mini^ (which I thought he was fully entitled to BEARS EAT THE LEMMING. 321 fire after so successfully bringing the brute to bay), struck her smartly in the fore shoulder. With a snap of the teeth, which it was satisfactory to know was not on ourselves, she turned round, and stag- gering along, fell into her lair again ; and we re- turned to the boat to send after our dinner the small sledge for the blubber. The she bear was miserably lean, nothing in her stomach, and her skin in poor condition. Whilst they were skinning her, the poor little whelps ran up to be suckled ; the men tried to catch them ; failing in that, knocked their brains out ; their little stomachs were perfectly distended with the unfor- tunate lemmings, which they had swallowed entire. Perhaps the most curious fact of all, connected with the existence of animal life in high latitudes during the most severe temperatures, is that some ptarmigan are found throughout the winter in Melville Island and Banks Land. I might also add, that they have likewis'i been seen by officers who wintered at Beechey Island ; where a small covey was flushed in the depth of the winter 1852-53. But it is best on this point to give the remarks of an officer who has had admirable op- portunities of observing the fact — Captain F. L. M'Clintock, R.N. ; he says : — X Ik ■'i -^ l'' u It. ii i'.' ' ■l! 322 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. " The willow grouse never goes north of Baring -^ Island, the comtnon ptarmigan (tetrao lagopus) is the only bird of that species found on Melville Island. They are most numerous in April, gener- ally in pairs, and in September they collect into coveys, sometimes of as many as fifteen or twenty birds, previous to a flight southward. After that month a few were seen, and those were birds which probably had not paired during the previous season. Some ptarmigan were shot in January and February, in excellent condition ; of these the largest weighed 2^ lbs., and its crop contained 2^ ounces of the slender shoots of the dwarf willow ; many of these shoots were as thick as a crowquill, and f inch long ; when ready for cooking, the bird weighed 1^ lb. ; no starveling this ! Six hundred and eighty-four ptarmigan were shot on Melville Island in twelve months, by the people of the 'Resolute' and 'Intrepid,' being more than the Investigators got altogether." There is reason to believe that these hardy birds burrow under the snow for warmth, protection, and food, as the hare and lemming do. We must again return to the Investigators, whom we left in all the excitement arising from the sudden and unexpected communication opened up withH. M. S. "Resolute." V -kT 'i. 1 F ■-'■■ ^1 If t 1'' ■; i f if .; , It 1 «' .■ < i^ '' i i\2?i hi ■a i' a. v CTIAP. Will. C\\ptain ]\['Ciurc prowcls to ^rdMlIf Uhinl tn m.» C|kfK»i» (Innnie.nt m Jl. M. ». ^j|„,, ,.u.,>.itof J'rcviflious lormo.i at Mercy )?ay. — Arrivai ou ikn.nl Il.M.S. " Kesoluta" ami "Iturop.!d."~S(;urcIu;i; IV.rtlM un.ler Cuptaiu M'Clin- tockj Lii'utenants a[ncliam and ILjiiiltun, un?iicccssliil.~ Ciiptain KcUutt decides upon lulling Lack upon Btw--h«y Island.— Uitfftvourabl." S^j^wm. • -&va»dnvn hfcmn mit of . VViutor Q-mtcro. -~ Ai-vfin^l w Byam Martin Clui.uel. — • Lrtrgfc Supply «,r iVf.s'.i Mt it procured, — •' Ki.«iilfit«j " and -lutr-pid' cnught in t'w Pack. — . \v;,^- , Pnok. — I'hh "Pli'fiiix" arrlv*'^ at Boiwii^v ; . ,.1 t«kc8 Home Lieut. Ctimwdi. -^ )^«^MJ. _'Cho Invfatigawrs pasB a fourti, Wiaw* «ri«te t«r5'*««Uy, «ii*i then k»ve the "R.?olute" for By^chcr rft);na. - iV iast oi' the " Investigator." — Capt. Sir E,^ Uelober ord.n-g the, " Reno- lut«" and "latropid" to be abandoned. — ?w,.w'3 oi Col- i'l.- .,; in 1852, having pushed op n;f.> th.- Icr. „. « AwUt- p.nco. and "' Pioneer arid " Tdlbot " m-ii- T>ierp4 :i'h COllt.V Ail '•' '..fin li ■n,"* and frfsh f rt** onii .ao, J i-fAvanlod la J..^^^4 Captaix M^CLL-iiE aocide i\ 23 WIST MAIN STMIT WnSTiR,N.Y. MSM (716)S72-4S03 ¥ M , .0mi^^W9^iit)i» •"Ctth-: •^ -m^' ;-;?.• lit t li Cists' '^^^ i t % .•$»f V I 323 ^^ if m CHAP. XVIII. Captain M'CIure proceeds to Melville Island to see Captain Kellett.— M'Clure's Views.— His Letter. — Captain Kellett only gives Leave for healthy Volunteers to remain in "Investigator." — Medical Survey unsatisfactory. — Aban- donment of H. M. S. " Investigator." — Depot of Provisions formed at Mercy Bay. — Arrival on Board H.M.S. " Resolute" and "Intrepid." — Searching Parties under Captain M'Clin- tock, Lieutenants Mecham and Hamilton, unsuccessful. — Captain Kellett decides upon falling back upon Beechey Island.— Unfavourable Season. — Squadron blown out of Winter Quarters. — Arrested at Byam Martin Channel. — Large Supply of fresh Meat procured. — " Resolute " and " Intrepid " caught in the Pack. — Winter in the Pack. — The ** Phoenix " arrives at Beechey Island, and takes Home Lieut. Cresswell. — 1853. — The Investigators pass a fourth Winter with Impunity, and then leave the " Resolute " for Beechey Island. — The last of the " Investigator." — Capt. Sir Ed. Belcher orders the " Reso- lute " and " Intrepid " to be abandoned. — News of Col- linson, in 1852, having pushed on into the Ice. — "Assist- ance" and "Pioneer" ordered to be deserted. — "Phoonix" and " Talbot " arrive with Provisions and fresh Crews. — All return Home. — Investigators rewarded in 1855. Captain M'Clure decided at once upon going to see Captain Kellett, to make arrangements with y 2 iS :ii:l! it ti i ' .1 III 324 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTK-WEST PASSAGE. him for having all his sickly hands sent to Dealy Island, and thence home. He still adhered to his original plan, and would endeavour to carry home the " Investigator " by waiting in her through another arctic summer and winter, that of 1853- 1854, before abandoning her, and retreating to Melville Island. With this plan in view, he penned the following letter, and remarkable as the whole tone of it is, I should do injustice to the cool, unflinching nerve of the writer, did I not place in italics that paragraph in which, with generous heroism, he points out the inutility of risking more lives should he and his ship again be missmg. To the Secretary of the Admiralty. "Her Mfljesty's Discovery ship 'Investigator,' " Bay of Mercy, Baring's Island (now Banks Land), " April 10th, 1853. " Sir, " In the event of our not getting to Eng- land this year, I think it necessary to acquaint you, for the information of the Lords Commis- sioners of thevAdrairalty, what our operations will be in 1854, that their Lordships may be enabled lint CAPTAIN M'CLUUE's LETTEK. 325 to take such co-operative measures for our relief as may appear expedient. " Should the ice break up in this bay sufficiently early to permit our getting through the straits this season, and finding the water open to the east- ward of Leopold Island, it would be my object to push forward, without stopping to take on board any provisions from Port Leopold ; but if, con- trariwise, the ice should be thick towards Lan- caster Sound, I would, if possible, proceed to Port Leopold, and complete a twelvemonth's provisions, and then risk wintering in the pack, or getting through, in preference to remaining at the above port ; if, however, we are detained in this bay till next year, it will then be requisite to leave towards the end of April and make for Port Leopold, where I am aware that there is a good boat, a house, and ample supplies; and, when the navigable season opens, proceed to Pond's Bay, coasting along the sliore of Barrow's Straits; arriving at Pond's Bay, and if finding from the Esquimaux that no whalers have as yet been there, I should there await their appearance as long as my provisions would admit, and then go down the west shore of Baffin's l»ay, keeping close along the land floe, where whalers or their boats are almost certain of Y 3 % ; '1 & (. ■'?. ■'' m-^ • , .) ■ I ;. !' ^ ! ' y 1!.: ii m ]f fAi require- ments of professional honour, to jeopardise the lives of those who had so gallantly done their duty.* It * The state of the men brought over by Lieut. Cresswell is best described in the following evidence given by Dr. Domville before the Select Committee of the House of Commons, which assembled, in July, 1855, to decide upon the reward due to Captain M'Clure and his men. Captain M'Clure arrived on the 19th of April at Her Majesty's ship " Resolute," and he remained on board until the 2nd of May, when another party from his ship arrivod. 1 l- V .*.• ji'l^ vK^I <*-'m 330 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. was then arranged that Dr. Domville, of the " Re- sohitc," should return with Captain M'Clure to the " Investigator," hold a medical survey on every person on board of her, order those home who might not be considered fit to withstand another winter, and then give the healthy the option of remaining in her for a fourtii season, or not, as they might choose. On reaching the " Investi- gator," Captain M'Clure addressed his men relative *' Until this period Commander M'Clure had been detained by Captain Kellett, the defective condition of his sledge's crew (who had doubtless been selected as tiic most eflicient) being such as to cause some apprehension for the capabilities of the remainder to make a further sojourn in these regions ; and most forcibly did the appearance of the above detachment justify the measure. Some vague information of tlieir enfeebled condition had preceded them; the stern reality now presented itself: one officer subject to periods of mental aberration ; one man in a state of dementia " (or imbecility), " his condition and appear- ance rendered still more pitiable from severe frostbite of the fingers ; two men carried on the sledges, the one with scurvy, the utlier with urinary disease and phlegmonous inflammation of the leg; the remainder all more or less affected with scorbutic disease and debility, as indicated to the spectator in the tottering gait, attenuated form, and careworn expression of countenance, occasionally lighted up as the truth and re- collection of their altered condition flitted across the imagina- tion ; a change (as some expressed themselves) difficult to realise. For several months past their thoughts had been preg- nant with the uncertainty of the future, to which no definite results could be assigned." ! \ IFJ SUllVEY OF THE CREW. .'i3l to their volunteering to remain out, and then gave twenty-four hours for the medical survey to take place, and for the sound men to make up their minds whether they would stay with him or go home. The survey, however, was fatal to the hopes of the resolute leader ; for on the following day, May 23rd, he writes in his diary, " My surprise and mortification at finding only four men who felt able to go through another winter were great, but I nmst do all my officers the credit to say that they came most nobly and spiritedly forward, tendering their services, and expressing anxiety to remain and abide the chances of another season." Admiring as one may the iron will of M'Clure, yet, perhaps, on the whole it was best that circumstances did not allow him to remain ; for the medical report was most serious, and since circumstances proved that the season of 1853 was not a remarkably favourable one at j\Ielville Island, and that the " Investigator" could not have escaped, we may rejoice that these gallant men were put to no further trials in IMercy Bay. The report of tiio medical men was to the fol- lowing effect : — I, I. M ;■« I i W ::.■:• f I s lite 332 IMSCOVEIIY OF THE NOUTU-VVliSr PASaAGK. " Report of Survey of Crew of ' Investigator.' lif " Sir, •* Her Majesty's Ship ' Investigator,' " Bay of Mercy, 23ra May, l8o3. " In obedience to your orders conveyed to us through Commander M'Clure, directing a survey to be held on the officers and men remaining on board this ship, with a view of ascertaining their general state of health and efficiency for further service in the Polar Sea, we have the honour to inform you that we have this day held a strict and careful survey accordingly, and beg to state, as the result thereof, that their present state of health is such as renders them utterly unfit to undergo the rigour of another winter in this climate, without enter- taining the most serious apprehension for the consequence. " There exists in all of them at present, with one or two exceptions, well marked evidence of scurvy and debility in various stages of development, with great loss of flesh and strength, as may be seen from the remarks appended to the name of each in the accompanying list, which calls for their depar- ture from these regions as early as possible as a matter of urgent necessity, and the adoption of SURVEY OF THE CUKVV. 333 )nc |i-vy rith 2en in a of prompt means to insure the same, that they may be placed under the sahitary influence of such anti- scorbutic and other agents as are essential for their recovery and ultimate safety. " We arc also of opinion that the reduced allow- ance of provisions on which they have been victualled for a period of nearly twenty months is one which we consider, and the past experience of others has likewise proved, to be quite inade- quate for maintaining the health of the men exposed to the rigorous influence of this climate. " That it has rendered them less able to generate an amount of animal heat sufiicient to resist the intensity of the cold, while it has established a pre- disposition to the attacks of that disease (scurvy) the germs of which now so universally prevail amongst them, with its usual distressing influence on the mind, likewise rendering them highly sus- ceptible of other diseases, and unable to withstand the privations to which they have been exposed, and which are inseparable from arctic service, is sufficiently obvious, as their present condition but too fully proves. " It is likewise our opinion that, from their pre- sent state and condition, the remedial resources of the ship would be insufficient to establish such a ^ nr f ■!l! f f 11! i ■ li 4h i^ III' 334 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. State of he.ith and efficiency as to afford any guarantee against the occurrence of those evils which could not fail to result from the circumstance of remaining in the ship, and being exposed to the intense severity of another (the fourth) arctic win- ter, after the effects of a sojourn so long as that which has fallen to their lot to have experienced. " We have, &c. (Signed) "Alexander Armstrong, " Surgeon, H.M.S. ' Investigator.' (Signed) "W. T. Domville, " Surgeon, H.M.S. * Resolute.' « Henry Kellett, Captain, C. B., H.M. S. 'Resolute.'" Some days afterwards, even Captain jVI'Clure seems to have resigned himself to his disappoint- ment, and, bitter as it was to be obliged to quit his ship, to look upon it as a duty. In every stage of his perilous voyage, he had found that all things were ordered for the best ; and he dreaded lest the execution of what he and his oflicers considered their duty as naval men, namely, that of saving their ship, should be construed into a charge of wantonly perilling his crew. It only remained, therefore, for him to land his boats, stores, and pro- \ PROVISIONS CAREFULLY HUSBANDED. 335 visions, so as to form a depot for Captain Collinson, or anyone else who, in after years, should need such supplies, and then to secure his ship to pre- vent her being blown to sea by future gales of wind. As an instance of how carefully the provisions and stores hud been husbanded during an absence of three years from any store or dockyard, the depot deserves a place in this narrative ; it consisted of the following articles : — Biscuit - - 1000 lbs. Rum - 26 galls. Brandy - - 20 „ Salt beef n 600 lbs. Pork - - IGOO „ Preserved meat - 3000 „ Flour - 6420 „ Suet 112 „ Sugar - 1000 ., Chocolate 435 „ Tea 126 „ Tobacco 484 „ Clothing for thirty men for a year, boat. spars, rope, powder, shot, and arms. Their last duty, and that a painful one, was to erect a neat tablet over the graves of their three shipmates who had died in the Bay of Mercy, and that done, on the 3rd June, 1853, the " Investiga- tor's" crew hoisted the colours to the mast-head of their dear gallant bark, and turned their backs upon ? i >Ki-? . ' . « •> . •« 336 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. 'A k'^ kI ] her as sorrowfully as they would have done on an old well-tried friend in his extremity. On June 17th, the squadron at Dealy Island was reached by the Investigators, who found that every preparation for their comfort had been made on board the "Resolute" and "Intrepid." Each ship housed a portion of the " Investigator's" crew and officers ; and after a hearty meal and a long exchange of news from home and startling anec- dotes from Banks Land, the Investigators settled into their new ships, and thought all their troubles at an end.* Little occurred to break the monotony of arctic life at Bridport Inlet, Dealy Island, until Mr. Roche, mate of the " Resolute," who had been sent down early in the season to the " North Star" with some men, to relieve the increased demand upon the "Resolute's" provisions and stores, returned quite unexpectedly with a dog-sledge, having been to Beechey Island and back, a distance of COO miles, within the short space of six weeks. The news and letters he brought, together with the return of one travelling party after another of f ^ Mil; ': , 1 ^ ' i iiy i * See account of Mr. Krabbe's visit to the " Investigator '' in 1854, p. 34u. •,. . . it i • 1 let . " - ' ' . . ' . • , • . " .•„' , « t ' •' . >■ ' f • « • o ( r r It ' J ? '.■ ■ n . .--(o.r cr «-» r 11 THE " resolute" AND " INTREPID 337 Captain Kellett's sledge expeditions served to while away the anxious time before the water made in Barrow's Strait. Captain M'Clintock, Lieutenants Mecham and Hamilton, made extensive journeys, searching most completely every foot of land that lay to the north or north-west of Melville Island. Captain, then Commander, M'Clintock's journey actually em- braced the extraordinary distance of 1210 geogra- phical miles, the longest ever made on foot in those regions, on any one occasion ; and Captain Richards, by a remarkable journey from Northumberland Sound in Wellington Channel to Dealy Island, in- formed Captain Kellett of the position of the " Assistance " and " Pioneer." Meantime Lieut. Cresswell was sent from the " Resolute " to Beechey Island, and despatches given to him to inform the Admiralty of the safety of the " Investigator," should the " Intrepid " and "Resolute" fail to escape from their advanced posi- tion in the forthcoming autumn. When Captain Kellett had before him the results of the search made by his sledge-parties, and saw that nothing farther could be done in a north-west direction, he altered his mind about sending the Intrepid" alone with the " Investigator's " crew (( K -' :|\:;i JJ 338 DISCOVEBY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. !|.i H ,' to Beechy Island, and decided to start with both vessels for that rendezvous as soon as the state of the ice would admit of it. August came in ; the ice was in motion outside, but things did not look promising : the season was a backward one at Melville Island, though very- forward in Wellington Channel. On the 18th of August a strong gale commenced off the land ; the ice acted upon by it broke up in all directions, a lane of water made astern, and that night the " Resolute '* and " Intrepid " were at sea, and the Investigators, poor fellows, as they hoped, home- ward bound ! Within twenty-four hours the ships were brought up by the pack of Byam Martin Channel ; and for many a day they lay under the extreme point of Melville Island, watching for an opening to dash across to Bathurst Land, for, once under its lee, they knew the northerly gales would inevitably make " land water" and enable them to accom- plish another run for Beechey Island : thence to England was a certainty. Day after day passed ; the drifting pack in Byam Martin Channel continued in a most un- promising state, whilst winter was fast advancing with snow, darkness, and newly-formed ice. Hap- ■/ «.' SUPPLY OF FRESn MEAT. 339 pily, this part of Melville Island, like every other part of the southern shore of that favoured land? was found to be abounding in game, especially musk-oxen. Such a godsend, under the circum- stances, was eagerly seized by Captain Kellett, who naturally felt most anxious to save, and carry in health and strength to England, the crew of the "Investigator." Every available gun and man were sent to secure fresh meat ; and such was their success that about 10,000 lbs. weight of game was eventually secured, — and being soon frozen, it was easily preserved for the coming winter. At one time the meat was festooned round the rigging of the " Resolute " and " Intrepid," until they re- sembled butchers' stalls far more than British dis- covery ships. At last, driven to risk anything rather than remain where they were for another winter, the vessels attempted to force a way through the pack ; but on the 9th of September both the " In- trepid " and " Resolute " became permanently im- bedded in the newly-formed ice, and a north-west gale forcing down the pack upon them, they became fairly beset and obliged to go whither it and Providence listed. It was another disappointment to the gallant crew of the "Investigator." They met it with z 2 |iW^ 340 DISCOVEBY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. I I resignation, and a feeling of thankfulness that they were at any rate some 300 miles nearer home, and that in the well-found ships they were now on board of, every kindness and exertion would be made to carry them safely through their fourth winter. Indeed, no pains were spared by the officers and crew of the " Resolute " and " In- trepid " to grant every comfort to their passengers, and to distract their thoughts from those cor- roding anxieties which, perhaps, more than all else predispose to scurvy. For two months, however, the perils encountered by the drifting ships were very great. Their safety at last appeared to be occasioned by a body of heavy ice formed by constant pressure against the unyielding ships ; the strength of Avhich set at defiance the rest of the surrounding pack. At one time, with northerly winds, they feared being set down to the southward ; and if there had been a good outlet for the ice between Lieut. Osborn's and Lieut. Wynniatt's farthest points in 1851, it was within the bounds of probability that next season, 1854, would find the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " in some awkward position between Prince of Wales and Prince Albert Lands. This fear was put an end to when they found that the pack only drifted ii ' DRIFTING IN THE ICE. 341 i i for a short time to the southward, as if to fill up tightly the great space called Melville Sound, and then it, and the best ships, drifted steadily away to the eastward — recovering in some measure the southing that had been made — until the pack, doubtless checked by the islands which lay across its path towards Barrow's Strait, — such as those of Griffiths, Lowther, Garrett, and others, — became stationary; and right pleased was Captain Kellett to find that after the 12th of November his good ship was at rest, and had then reached a point about due east of Winter Harbour, Melville Island, and in long. 101" W. — an admirable po- sition for an early escape in the ensuing season. My duty, however, being to relate the adventures of the crew of the " Investigator," it will merely be necessary to say that another winter passed over their heads without any great increase of disease. One officer, Mr. Sainsbury (mate), died the 14th November, but he had been a very long time ill, and life was evidently prolonged in his case so long as he continued to hope to escape another winter. Only two or three of the Investigators escaped this their last ordeal. Amongst them was Lieut. Gurney Cresswell, who had been sent down to z 3 W H-' ;:^ :i m 342 DISCOVERY OP THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Beechey Island with a sledge-party, in the spring, from Dealy Island ; and the " Phcenix," Captain Inglefield, having made a flying visit to that spot, Lieut. Gurney Cress well was taken to England in that ship, and on the 7th October, 1853, com- municated to the Admiralty the proud intelligence of the achievement of the North-west Passage, and the safety of Captain M'Clure and his companions. To the wonderful supply of musk-ox beef obtained at Melville Island, the health of the Investigators was, no doubt, in a great measure due; but for that providential resource, the " Kesolute " and " Intrepid " would have been able to afford them but a small supply of pre- served meats, owing to the small quantity laid in when in England ; and the " Assistance " and " Pioneer " had moreover carried off the lion's share, when they replenished from the " North Star" in August, 1852. As early as April 14th, 1854, Captain M'Clure and his crew were able to quit the " Resolute " and " Intrepid," and proceed with sledges on foot to Beechey Island, — a pretty good proof that their health had not deteriorated since quitting the Bay of Mercy twelve months previously. One seaman alone was too feeble to walk; he was suffering MOVEMENTS OP CAPT. BELCHEr'S DIVISION. 343 from scurvy of the worst form, and soon after succumbed to it, although taken to the "North Star " on a dog-sledge. The " North Star " and the depot at Becchey Island may now be consi- dered as the spring resting-place of our friends the Investigators ; but, to connect one part of this narrative with the other, we must give a slight sketch of the movements of Captain Kellett's division as well as of that in Wellington Channel under Ccptain Belcher. In the summer of 1853, before the " Resolute " and "Intrepid" left Melville Island, Captain Belcher started for Beechey Island from a spot called Nor- thumberland Sound, at the northern entrance of the Queen's Channel. The return sledge-parties of Captains Richards and Osborn had told Captain Belcher of the rescue of the " Investigator," and the accomplishment of the North-west Passage. To intercept the " Resolute " or " Intrepid," if they touched at Beechey Island, appeared to be the object of Sir Edward Belcher. No time was, therefore, to be lost in opening a communication with Beechey Island ; and so important was this deemed, that further search was abandoned, and one sledge-party was left to secure a retreat as best it could after a long and trying journey. z 4 i 1 I ; li'ii I I! Lieut. Mecham, supported by a party under Mr. Krabbi^ (master), to revisit the Bay of Mercy in Banks Land, and to i)lace on Princess Royal Island, in Prince of Wales Strait, information of the safety of the crew of the " Investigator," — a bold and happy act of foresight, as the result proved. Besides this, it was the intention of Captain Kellett to have sent parties later in the spring to connect Lieuts. Osborn and Wynniatt's extreme points of search, and furthermore to have examined down Peel Sound; the central position in which the " Resolute " and " Intrepid " then were admitting of such measures being executed with the greatest facility. Mr. Krabbd reached the " Investigator " on May 5th. He says: — "The ensign and pendant were still flying. A large accumulation of snow*drift on her north side enabled him to walk in over her waist. On opening the fore-hatch, and going be- low, every thing was found in good order, except that the ship had leaked so much as to be full with water up to her orlop-deck. The ship ap- peared to have dragged her anchors since she had been abandoned, for instead of being in nine fathoms water, she was then in eleven fathoms. This might have been occasioned by the movement of the ice, SIR E. BELfflER's ** COMFFDENTIAL LETTER." 347 '\ ap- had for there was no nppearnnce of open water having existed in Mercy Bay in the autumn of 1853." Mr. Krabb(5 finally left her on May 11th, 1854. But in the meantime Captain Richards — who, as we have elsewhere said, was despatched in weather so severe as to endanger the lives of all his party — reached Captain Kellett with a " confidential " letter from Sir Edward Belcher. That " confiden- tial" letter is, of course, now a public document, and a very remarkable one too. It contains this paragraph, which is here copied verbatim: — " Should Captain Collinson fortunately reach you, you will pursue the same course, and not under any consideration risk the detention of another sea- son. These are the views of the Government; and having so far explained myself, I will not hamper you with farther instructions than, meet me at Beechey Island, with the crews of all vessels, before the 26th August." Captain Kellett, determined not to adopt any such course upon a confidential letter^ and imme- diately despatched Captain M'Clintock to Sir Ed- ward Belcher, to point out the perfect feasibility of saving his ships: to assure him of the provi- sions and stores, as well as the health of a suffi- cient number of officers and men being such as I :i 348 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i I ■ i ! would enable him to meet the possible contingency of another winter, rather than abandon Her Ma- jesty's ships, when they lay in the very best posi- tion for an escape directly the ice broke up in Barrow's Strait, and finally, to point out to Sir E. Belcher that he was strongly against the desertion of so many fine ships. But the representations of Captain Kellett were unavailing. Captain Belcher sent Captain M'Clintock back with an order for the abandonment of the " Resolute * " and " In- trepid " ; and the crew of the " Investigator," who had lived through such trials and hardships for four winters, stared to see all hands gradually retreating upon Beechey Island, ready to return to England as soon as it should be possible. Lieut. Mechara and Mr. Krabb^'s parties returned during the summer to Beechey Island, having per- formed perfect marvels in way of the distances traversed in the course of their journeys ; Lieut. Mecham on the I2th June brought, from the " In- vestigator's " depot of provisions on Princess Royal ♦ The " Resolute " has since been picked up by an American whaler, drifting out into the Atlantic, and so little had she suffered in her lonely voyage that the paintwork was not even scratched by the ice. Thanks to the Americans, she is again under an English flag. SIR EDWABD BELCHEU S TACTICS. 349 I m Island, deeply interesting information touching the movements of H.iM.S. " Enterprise," under Captain ColUnson. This was the first news anyone had liad of the " Enterprise " since she passed Behring's Straits in 1851 ; and as in this information, dated August 27th, 1852, Captain CoUinson distinctly said, " it is my intention to pursue the channel separating Wollaston from Prince Albert Land, the entrance to which is in lat. 70** 30' N.," all natur- ally supposed that, as it was his undoubted inten- tion to go eastward, some volunteers, at any rate, would be left behind to help him, in case the " Enterprise," like the " Investigator," should be imprisoned in some ice-bound harbour south-west of Cape Walljer. But Sir Edward Belcher got rid of all difficulty as to Captain Collinson's safety by the following train of reasoning. He says : — " However anxious I maybe for a similar result* with regard to Captain CoUinson and party, still I am thankful that the records place him in a region free from the perils of arctic ice, in which Captain M'Clure considers no ship could endure. He had '^a ,i * He refers to the safety of the "Investigator's" oflScers and men. I!-; sisniM m i 3 ■ 350 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. at the latest account two modes of escape : one, by the road he came ; the other, on which I place but little reliance on account of its difficulties, by the land journey to some of the Hudson Bay posts, unless, indeed, he met Dr. Rae, in which case competent guides would materially alter the face oi his difficulties." Leaving, therefore, Captain Collinson to get out as best he might, the next step was to give an appearance of intending to stand by and save the "Assistance" and "Pioneer." They on the 6th August, broke out of winter quarters, and advanced slowly down channel as the water and pressure from the north began slowly to break up the belt of ice which extended across Wellington Channel. The ice in Barrow's Strait broke up at the same time ; and by the 22nd August the floe of Wel- lington Channel had dissolved to a distance of fif- teen miles northward from Barrow's Strait. A belt of ice, perhaps twenty miles wide, only remained between the ships and the waters communicating with the Atlantic Ocean, and that belt of ice much cracked, and evidently working with every tide ; yet it was determined to quit them, and on the 26th August 1854 the last of that ill-fated INVESTIGATOKS RETURN HOME. 351 expedition was deserted.* All the officers and men of H.M.S. " Assistance, " "Resolute," " Pioneer," " Intrepid," and " Investigator " had just got on board the " North Star " and made sail, when the « Phoenix," Captain Inglefield, and " Talbot," store-ship, Captain Jenkins, hove in sight round Cape Riley. A division of the men and officers then took place, to relieve the crowded decks of the " North Star," the "Phoenix" and "Talbot" each taking a portion. That, and some other small arrange- ments completed, no time was lost in beating a retreat, and on September Gth all reached Disco, on the coast of Greenland, in safety, and eventually returned to England September 28th, 1854. The gallant Investigators found all England's sympathies and feelings enlisted in the war with Russia : and although the members of a naval court-martial, which went through the established form of inquiring into the loss of H.M.S. " In- vestigator," most honourably acquitted Captain M'Clure, his officers, and men from any blame on i±^.t * In the season of 1854-35, two vessels are said to have fallen into the hands of the Esquimaux of Pond's Bay : in all probability, the "Resistance" and "Pioneer" drifted there. . ; :i 352 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ■:f i :■ I: I- f ... . J' If her account, and added the highest encomiums upon the gallantry and zeal exhibited by all, yet, in a public point of view, the ship's company generally felt that few honours were awarded to them in comparison with the sufferings they had so nobly borne. The Admiralty to evince their approval, dated back Captain M'Clure's commission, as well as that of his first lieutenant and some other officers, to the day on which the North-west Pas- sage was discovered. Her Most Gracious Majesty shortly afterwards conferred the honour of knight- hood upon Captain M'Clure ; and assuredly it never ■was more worthily bestowed. In the following session of parliament, a select committee of the House of Commons met, to take into consideration the reward due to those who had discovered and achieved the North-west Passage; but in the interim between the ar- rival of Captain Sir Robert M'Clure in England and the meeting of parliament, news had arrived that Dr. Rae had obtained certain information of a party from Franklin's missing squadron having passed the intervening unknown space which lay between Barrow's Strait and the coast of North America. The duty of the committee INVESTIGATORS REWARDED. 353 ielect take who [-west ar- :land rived lation laving whicli 1st of littee became a somewhat more responsible one, in so far as it had to award the priority of discovery to Franklin or M'Clure, before the papers of the former came to hand. Lady Franklin, in a most able and touching let- ter, called the earnest attention of the honourable committee to the impossibility of arriving at any certain decision in the absence of all evidence as to Franklin's claim to the priority ; and they therefore qualified the award by stating, very justly, that Captain Sir Robert M'Clure, in H.M.S. " Investi- gator," had discovered a North-west Passage, and successfully carried his followers from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean by that route, exhibiting himself an example of unflinching perseverance, courage and zeal, which his officers and men nobly followed, and, to use the words of the Honourable Committee, " that they performed deeds of heroism which, though not accompanied by the excitement and the glory of the battle-field, yet rival, in bravery and devotion to duty, the highest and most successful achievements of war ! " Accordingly a reward of 10,000/. was granted to the officers and crew of H.M.S. " Investigator," as a token of national approbation ; and acting upon a sugges- A A |i I f 354 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. tion thrown out by the Honourable Committee, there is every reason to hope that all this gallant ship's company will eventually receive at the hands of their Queen a medal, which they will assuredly treasure far more than any pecuniary reward. hi ]iii 355 '■• K CHAP. XIX. Gloomy Prospect in the Autumn of 1854. — Revival of Despond- ing Tales. — Sudden Arrival of Intelligence from Dr. Rue. — ^A Party from Franklin's Sliip lii'ard of. — Dr. Rac'a Rcpurt. — Relics and Proofs of both " Krebus " and " Terror" being in Existence — The Russian War prevents a Naval Iv\i)editi(>n being sent to Barrow's Strait. — Tiie Admiralty direct tlie Hudson Bay Company to send Mr. Anderson. — Mr. Ander- son proceeds in 185.3 to tlie Moutli of the Great Fish River. — Verifies the Fact of a Party from tlic lost Expedition liav- ing been there. — No Liglit thrown upon their Fate. — Neither Bodies, Graves, Clothing, nor Arms discoveniil. — Re- marks upon the Relies discovered. — Probable course adopted by the " Forlorn hope." — Hopes exist of the JMystery still being cleared up. — Distance the Party could have travelled. — Position of the 1 )st Expedition : how lost. — Reiison wiiy Fury Beach was not visited by them. — Creditable to England that the Search has never been stayed. — The Admiralty Reward Dr. Rae for giving us Information of Franklin's Position. — General Revival of Interest in the Question. Nothing could have been more crushing to the hopeful feelings of even the most sanguine or earnest in the search for Franklin than the sad intelligence which was brought home in October 1851. The labours of the officers and crews of H.M.S. "Assistance," "Resolute," "Intrepid," and A A 2 Urft^i m Is'S J;': r 356 DISCOVERY OP THE NOllTII-WEST PASSAGE. " Pioneer," during three years, had not thrown one ray of light on the sad mystery! and as if to preclude all possibility of any further steps being taken, all the vessels available for the search had been abandoned, deserted to the mercy of the ice and winds of 74" north latitude. The solemn silence with which the venerable president of the courts martial which sat to try Captain Belcher, returned him his sword, with a bare acquittal, best conveyed the painful feelings which wrung the hearts of all professional men upon that occasion ; and all felt that there was no hope of the mystery of Franklin's fate being cleared up in our time, except by some unexpected miracle. But just at that very time, when those who had ever taken a gloomy view of the subject smiled at the realisa- tion of their unfavourable prognostications, and congratulated themselves on having exactly foretold what had happened to the " Erebus" and " Terror" (either hoisting them up on the top of floes off Newfoundland or squeezing thetn to destruction in Lancaster Sound), a letter reached England from Dr. Kae, announcing that he had at last struck upon the clue, and that a portion of Franklin's ex- pedition had reached and perished at or near the mouth of the Great Fish River ! INTELLIGENCE FROM DR. IIAE. 357 Is it presumption to say that the opportune discovery of such a fact at such a moment was a marked instance of Divine interposition ? That it should have come from such a quarter is all the more interesting, because Dr. Ilae, whilst on the journey in which he became possessed of this important information, was, he tells us, purely employed upon geographical research ; and prior to starting he announced that fact, coupling it with the remark that he was going where Franklin was not likely to be met with. His tale is briefly this. He had been sent by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1853 to complete the survey of the long isthmus of land which con- nects North Somerset with the American continent under the name of Boothia. He had to connect Captain Sir James Clarke Ross's magnetic pole, or the coast-line about it, with his own discoveries near the Castor and Pollux river. Repeating his old plan of proceedings in 1846-47, Dr. Rae wintered at the lakes on the isthmus which divides Regent's Inlet from Repulse Bay, and early in the spring of 1854 started with his sledge-party to accomplish his task. Ascending Committee Bay as far as Simpson Peninsula, he then struck west- ward, taking advantage of a series of lakes and A X 3 i- :' r i- l\-\ > ^& m 358 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. I ill] frozen streams to relieve the labour of sledging across the land which intervened between him and the western waters. Whilst making his way in that direction, Dr. Rae met, on the 20th April, an Esquimaux, who upon being asked if he had ever seen any ships or white men, replied no, but that a party of white men had died of starvat'cn a long distance to the west of where he then ivas, and beyotid a large river ! Now distance and time are two things that an Esquimaux has great difficulty in conveying his idea of to a European ; and Dr. Rae assures us that, although he afterwards had iGPSon to believe that the Great Fish River, then only seventy or eighty miles distant, was the stream referred to, still at the time he could only learn that the spot spoken of was beyond a distant river. Unable to glean more particulars, further than here and there coming across convincing proofs that tlie natives were in possession of articles from Franklin's ships, Dr. Rae then made an effort northward, as if to combine an execution of his instructions with the purpose (as he assured the writer) of proceeding in the direction the retreating party must have taken when coming down upon the American shore. Cir- cumstances prevented his journey being successful. mi. uae's uErouT. 359 Dr. ]lno returned to the mouth of the Castor and PoHux river, and again retraced his steps overLind to Repulse Bay, picking up relics, and information, the result of which he condensed into the followiufj Report to the Lords Commissioners of the Ad- miralty, and then made the best of his way to England : — " On the morning of the 20th {April) we were met by a very intelligent Esquimaux, driving a dog-sledge laden with musk-ox beef. This man at once consented to accompany us two days' journey, and in a few minutes had deposited his load on the snow, and was ready to join us. Having explained to him my object, he said that the road by which he had come was the best for us ; and having lightened the sledges, we travelled with more faci- lity. We were now joined by another of the natives, ■who had been absent seal-hunting yesterday, but, being anxious to see us, had visited our snow-house early this morning, and then followed up our track. This man was very comnmnicative ; and on putting to him the usual questions as to his having seen ' white men' before, or any ships or boats, he re- plied in the negative, but said that a party of 'Kabloonans' had died of starvation a long dis- tance to the west of where we then were, and A A 4 fr. 3G0 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST rAS8A(;i;. ■M i L , i i ii beyond a large river. He stated that lie did not know the exact place, that lie never had been there, and that he could not accompany us so far. Tiie substance of the information then and sub- sequently obtained from various sources was to the following effect : — "In the spring, four winters since (1850), while some Esquimaux families were killing seals near the north shore of a large island, named in Arrow- smith's charts King William Land, about forty white nuMi were seen travelling in company south- ward over the ice, and dragging a boat and sledges with them. They were passing along the west shore of the above-named island. None of the party could speak the Esquimaux language so well as to be understood ; but by signs the natives were led to believe that the ship or ships had been crushed by ice, and that they were now going to where they expected to find deer to shoot. From the appearance of the men, all of whom, with the exception of an officer, were hauling on the drag- ropes of the sledge, and looked thin, they Avere then supposed to be getting short of provisions; and they purchased a small seal, or piece of seal, from the natives. The officer was described as being a tall, Hlout, middle aged man. When their '«' DM. rae's hkpout. ;iOi diiy'.s journey terminated, they pitclicd tents to rest in. " At a later date the same season, but previous to the disruption of the ice, the corpses of some thirty persons, and some graves, were discovered on tlie continent, and five doad bodies on an ishind near it, about a long day's journey to the X.W. of the mouth of a large stream, wliicii can be no other than Back's Great Fish River (named by the Es- quimaux Oot-koo-hi-ca-lik), as its description and that of the low shore in the neighbourhood of Point Ogle and Montreal Island agree exactly with that of Sir George Back. Some of the bodies were in a tent, or t jnts ; others were under the boat, which had been turned over to form a shelter, and some lay scattered about in different directions. Of those seen on the island, it was supposed that one was that of an officer (chief), as he had a tele- scope strapped over his shoulders, and a double, barrelled gun lay underneath him. " From the mutilated state of many of the bodies, and the contents of the kettles, it is evident that our wretched countrymen had been driven to the dread alternative of cannibalism as a means of sus- taining life. A few of the unfortunate men must liavo survived until the arrival of the wild fowl I i i ■ 362 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ■'I! (say until the end of May), as shots were heard and fresh bones and feathers of geese were noticed near the scene of the sad event. " Tlicre appears to have been an abundant store of ammunition, as the gunpowder was emptied by the natives in a heap on the ground out of the kegs or cases containing it, and a quantity of shot and ball was found below high-water mark, having probably been left on the ice close to the beach before the spring commenced. There must have been a number of telescopes, guns (several of them double-barrelled), watches, compasses, &c., all of which seem to have been broken up, as I saw pieces of these diflferent articles with the natives, and I purchased as many as possible, together with some silver spoons and forks, an Order of Merit in the form of a star, and a small silver plate engraved ' Sir John Franklin, K.C.B.' " Enclosed is a list of the principal articles bought, with a note of the initials, aud a rough pen-and-ink sketch of the crests on the forks and spoons. The articles themselves I shall have the honour of handing over to you on my arrival in London. " None, of the Esquimaux with whom I had communication saw the * white ' men, either when RELICS OF THE " EREBUS " AND "TERROR." 303 living or after death ; nor had they ever been at the place where the corpses were found, but had their information from those who had been there and who had seen the party when travelling on the ice. " From what I could learn, there is no reason to suspect that any violence had been offered to the sufferers by the natives. " List of articles purchased from the Esquimaux, said to have been obtained at the place where the bodies of the persons were found, viz. — " One silver table fork — crest, an animal's head, with wings extended above; 3 silver table forks — crest, a bird with wings extended; 1 silver table spoon — crest, with initials ' F. R.M.C (Cap- tain Crozier, Terror) ; 1 silver spoon and one fork — crest, bird with laurel branch in mouth, motto, ' Spero meliora ; ' 1 silver table spoon, 1 tea spoon, and one dessert fork — crest, a fish's head looking upwards, with laurel branches on each side ; 1 silver table fork — initials, ' H.D.S.G.' (Harry D. S. Goodsir, Assistant- Surgeon, Erebus); 1 silver table fork— initials, ' A. M'D.' (Alexander M'Do- nald, Assistant-Surgeon, Terror) ; 1 silver table fork — initials, ' G.A.M.' (Gillies A. Macbean, Se- fi; '!|| 1l 3G4 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. li im I i ,ii III' cond-Master, Tenw); 1 silver table fork — initials, 'J.T.'; 1 silver dessert spoon — initials, 'J.S.P.' (John S. Peddie, Surgeon, Ei^ehus) ; 1 round silver plate, engraved, 'Sir John Franklin, K.C.B.' ; a star or order, with motto, ' Nee aspera terrent^ G. R. III., MDCCCXV.' " Also a number of other articles with no marks by which they could be recognised, but which will be handed over, with those above-named, to the Secretary of the Hudson Bay Company. " John Rae, C. F. "Repulse Bay, July, 1854." It matters little what portion of the Esquimaux tale is correct, or what fabulous ; of one great fact Dr. Rae has assured us, namely, that a party from the "Erebus" and "Terror" did reach the coast on or about the Great Fish River. It is fair to infer that the party comprised officers and men I'rom both vessels, because the few articles re- covered from the natives bear the names of " Erebus " as well as " Terror." For instance, we have Franklin's star of the Guelphic order, and some of Crozier's plate. It was very natural, — for it occurred in Captain M'Clure's case, as told in the foregoing narrative, PUBLIC MIND PRE-OCCUriED BY \VAK. 305 tials, S.P.' 'ound ^ T> ' . rrent, marks li will to the J. X • iimaux at fact from oast on air to 1(1 men es re- nes of nee, we er, and Captain rrative, — that if the ships of Franklin's expedition had become frozen in in some bay which did not often clear out of ice, he should have done as M'Clure intended to do, send a party home viA- America, to convey intelligence and seek succour. Franklin knew that when on a former occasion, in 1833, Sir John Ross had got into difficulties in the " Victory." and was missing, a party was at once organised, and sent down the Great Fish River to seek for him. Might not Sir John Franklin have fairly supposed that as much would be done in his behalf? How could he know of the opposition all propositions of such a rational nature were likely to meet with from persons con- sulted by the Admiralty ? The public mind was too deeply engaged in the sufferings of the British army upon the heights of Sebastopol, to grant the attention it merited to the interesting intelligence brought to England by Dr. Rae or to the collateral proof brought home by Captain Collin son (who had happily escaped with the "Enterprise") from anotlier point about the same distance from the north shore of King Wil- liam's Land as the Great Fish River. It consisted of a piece of wood-work, which must have be- longed to either the " Erebus " or the " Terror," 1 ?. I* If MMMMM 366 DISCOVEllY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i! i m ' ^ and which Avas found by accident upon an island near the " Enterprise's " winter quarters in Cam- bridge Bay. The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty took the opinion of some arctic authorities, upon the subject of what could be done towards still further clearing up the tale brought home by Dr. Rae ; for there was much about it that was vague, and calculated to keep alive hopes of the most dis- tressing nature to those deeply interested in the crews of Franklin's ships. A gigantic war was pressing upon the resources of our navy both in ships and men, none of them could then be spared ; and to meet the outcry of some effort to be made to ascertain if it really was the mouth of the Great Fish River that Franklin's travellers had reached, the Hudson's Bay Company were again requested to send out a party to that locality. Dr. Rae having declined to take charge of the party which was equipped for this purpose, though he gave every support and encouragement to it, it was consigned to the care of Mr. James Anderson, a chief factor of the company, an officer of high reputation and much experience as a traveller. Lady Franklin, however, earnestly protested against this expedition ; she foretold the improbability of 'S MISSION OF MU. ANDERSON. 367 its ever reaching King William's Land, and short of that the result would be as inconclusive as Dr. llae's report, and a loss of very valuable time. Labouring under many disadvantages, from the short time given to equip and start, j\Ir. Ander- son commenced his descent, from Fort Resolution to the mouth of the great Fish River, on June 22nd, 1855, with three canoes of wooden framing but birch-bark planking, icithout an Esquimcmx in- teiyreter. On July 30th, at the rapids below Lake Franklin, three Esquimaux lodges were seen, and various articles were found, denoting that some of the unfortunate men they were in search of had been there. The foot-note to this page is worthy of careful perusal — we will refer to it again.* * Extract from Mr. Anderso7i's Report, vide Blue Book. — " On the SOtli, at the rapids below Lake Franklin, three Esqui- maux lodges were seen on the opposite shore, and shortly after an elderly man crossed to us. After the portage was made we crossed over, and immediately perceived various urtieles be- lon^iu"' to a boat, such as tent-poles and kayack paddles made out of ash oars, pieces of mahogany, elm, oak, and pine ; also copper and sheet-iron boilers, tin soup tureens, pieces of instruments, a letter nip witli the date 1843, a broken handsaw, chisels, &c. Only one man was left at the lodges ; but the Avomeii, who were very intelligent, made us understand, by w( rds and signs, that these articles came from a boat, and that the while men belong- in;; to it had died of starvation." n ■i ! ■m ML fi ■:i 1)1 hi Mill if I iiilli: I It f568 DISCOVERY OF THE NOIITII-WEST PASSAGE. Pusliinf? on, Point Beaufort was reached, and at last Montreal Island landed upon. "There," says Mr. Anderson, " on a high ridge of rocks at the S.E. point of the Island, a number of Esquimaux caches were found, and, besides seal oil, various articles were found belonging to a boat or ship, such as chain-hooks, chisels, blacksmith's sliovel and cold chisel, tin oval boiler, a bar of unwrouglit iron about three feet long, one and a half inch broad, and a quarter of an inch thick ; small pieces of rope, bunting, and a number of sticks strung to- gether, on one of which was cut 'Mr. Stanley' (surgeon of the Erebus). A little lower down was a large quantity of chips, shavings, and ends of plank of pine, elm, ash, oak, and mahogany, evi- dently sawn by unskilful hands ; every chip was turned over, and on one of them was found the word ' Terror ' carved. It was evident that this was the spot where the boat was cut up by the Es- quimaux ; but not even a scrap of paper could be discovered, and though rewards were offered, and the most minute search made over the whole island, not a vestige of the remains of our unfor- tunate countrymen could be discovered." The party next* examined Point Ogle, where only a small piece of cod-line and a strip of cotton IIEMARKS ON JIU. ANDERSON'S RErORT. OJi 69 1/ whole unfor- wberc cotton was found ; and on the 8th August they began to retrace their steps, having held no communica- tion with, indeed seen, no Esquimaux beyond the one man and few women at the rapids below Franklin Lake, and never been able to reach King William's Land. This information reached us early in 1850, and goes to confirm Dr. Kae's sup- position, that the Great Fish River was the stream upon which the party, he had heard of, had re- treated ; but instead of clearing up the mystery of what became of them, the whole story leaves the fate of Franklin, Crozier, and their ships' companies as doubtful as ever. Taking it for granted tliat the Esquimaux did see thirty or forty men with a boat, as Dr. line asserts, what has become of them ? If, when they reached the continent, the unfortunates became desperate with misery, and committed cannibalism, — the practice is by no means rare in thosj wild regions, and it would assuredly prolong life, — where are the survivors ? Is it likely they sat down there and died one after the other? If they were so lost to their own interests and safety as to remain, would not the survivors have scraped the earth over the bones of those who first perished ? Every arctic traveller knows that the tender and !. .1 B B MMMMM iiiMi 370 DISCOVEUY OF THE NOllTU-WEST PASSAGE. oily bones of the seal — even the brittle ones of birds — are found preserved over the whole extent of the arctic regions visited by us. What, then, has become of the bones of thirty men? Five years after the " Erebus " and " Terror " left Beechey Island, in Barrow's Strait, all those who visited the scene of their winter quarters found clothing, scraps of paper, and the thousand signs of Europeans having been there, looking just as fresh as the day they were left, and that in a far worse climate than Montreal Island. Thirty-one years after Sir Edward Parry had been at Bushnan Cove, Melville Island, a traveller (Lieut. M'Clintock) found a spot where that dis- tinguished navigator had, to use his own words, made " a sumptuous meal of ptarmigan," and there lay the bones of those very birds strewed about the old encampment ! " I was astonished," says Lieut. M'Clintock (vide Parliamentary Blue Book, 1852), " at the fresh appearance of the bones; they were not decayed, but merely bleached, and snapped like the bones of a bird recently killed." Esquimaux were not likely to have used dead men's bones. If they had European clothing in their possession, it is hardly likely that they could have concealed it entirely. There is not a musket, ON THE RELICS OF FRANKLIN'S CREW. 371 es of xtent then, Five ' left ie who found igns of ls fresh p worse [•ry had raveller hat dis- words, nd there about ' says ue Book, les; they led, and dlled." sed dead thing in hey could a musket, pike, or cutlass produced: the party were not likely to have gone there unarmed ; indeed the Esquimaux acknowledged having seen both powder, shot, and ball. And as to Mr. Anderson's theory of the wind blowing away or covering their jour- nals and papers, because his nautical almanacs suf- fered, it is purely assuming that the officer who headed Franklin's party was such an idiot as to leave his papers strewed about the surface of Montreal Island, instead of putting them in a cache, where, as arctic discovery proves, papers have been preserved and discovered after longer intervals of time than perhaps any other climate would admit of. Looking, therefore, at the evidence before us, it amounts simply to this, that " A party from the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' did reach the Great Fish River, and have left traces at Montreal Island and at the first rapids in ascending the stream!" Further than this, all is apocryphal. Mr. Anderson very naturally went upon his journey, firmly believing every iota of the translated account of Dr. Rae's interpreter; in- deed, in the absence of any means of communica- tion with the one old man and few women whom he did see, he had no other resource than to con- BB 2 V'. ^\ 1 1 ■ ■IM ir-' 372 DISCOVEUY OF TUB NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i'l i iil nect the traces which lay before him with the re- port previously made public. But sailors may be allowed to put a sailor's explanation to what lay before Mr. Anderson ; and the following is our ver- sion of the tale it told : — On Montreal Island Mr. Anderson found, he says, " a quantity of chips, and shavings, and the ends of plank of pine, elm, ash, oak, and mahogany, evidently sawn by unskilful hands." Now, no boat supplied to the "Erebus" or " Terror " from Her Majesty's yards, which any party of men could kave dragged a hundred miles over ice, would have been constructed of plank of so many descriptions ; but it is very certain that a party retreating to the Great Fish River, and knowing the long series of rapids and portages in that stream, would have carried with them mate- rials such as plank, which, with the framing of their large boat, would form rough canoes fit for their purpose. Mr. Anderson distinctly says, " chips and shavings.^* Now a savage, who had never seen a planing instrument, was not likely to be able to produce shavings. After informing us that the plank was evidently cut by unskilful hands, Mr. Anderson says, " every chip was turned over^ and llHl ON THE IIELICS OF FUANKLIN'S CREW. 373 on one of them was found the word * Terror ' carved ! " Surely that ominous word is a mute witness against Esquimaux having been the men who there laboured ; yet in the next paragraph we read, — " It was evident that this was the spot where the boat was cut up by the Esquimaux ! " Surely no such fair inference can be drawn. That the party brought carpenters' tools with them, we have the proof in Mr. Anderson discovering, at the lodges near the rapids, " a broken hand-saw, chisels, ^'C." ; and perhaps, if a careful list could be procured of every article seen there or at Repulse Bay, some more interesting evidence might be ob- tained ; for even as a straw will show the course of a great stream, so may some insignificant trifle throw sudden light upon this sad subject. The existence of traces further up the river than Montreal Island is a significant fact ; and in support of the idea that on Montreal Island preparations were made to ascend the stream, we have another proof in the ash oars being cut or reduced into paddles, — a very necessary measure for a party about to go up narrow and tortuous rivers, and totally unlikely to have been done by the Esquimaux, who have no kyacks or canoes in BB 3 ^1 374 DISCOVRRY OF THE NOUTH-WRST rASSAGE. that part of America. Some of these paddles were found at the rapids likewise. It is true the women at this spot made signs that these articles came from a boat whose crew perished of starvation ; but they did not give a single proof of the truth of the tale, or point out the grave of one of the unfortunate party. Dr. Rae, zealous for the character of the Es- quimaux, repudiates indignantly all idea of their having been treacherous, nor is it at all desirable to give rise to any bloody suppositions upon the matter ; but any one, who will carefully read over the able paper of Captain Muguire, in the Ap- pendix of this work, can, as easily as the most experienced traveller, form a correct idea of the character of the Esquimaux generally ; and he will then agree with us in thinking that the savage of the polar regions, though not naturally cruel or treacherous, would, like most others, consult his own interests rather than the dictates of humanity, when such a windfall as a boat's crew of starving, scorbutic men, carrying with them untold wealth in the shape of wood, iron, and canvass, fell into their hands, and when they confessed, as those poor fellows evidently did, their direful necessity. Some of Franklin's people may, we think, 'have Hi rnOBABLE FATE OF THE CREW. 375 (lied of disease or starvation at the place upon the continent spoken of by the natives ; but that spot has not been reached by us as yet. Others evidently got to an island ; there the Esquimaux say the officer perished, and five men likewise. Whether or no, such an island as Montreal Island was very likely to have been chosen by them •whereon to await the opening up of the Great Fish River; they would be in a good position for commencing their canoe voyage, and be less likely, whilst employed constructing canoes or rafts, to be interrupted by natives. Granting, therefore, that some starved at each place spoken of by the natives (though, until there is proof, people are justified in saying Englishmen can live where Esquimaux can) — granting even that the remain- der did so far forget their manhood as to eat the flesh of their shipmates, is it unreasonable to sup- pose that, when the river opened, some few of those unfortunates started with what they had constructed, abandoning all their unnecessary gear on the island, and at the fii'st portage ? They might have ascended far, and fallen in detail, and yet never, in such a water-intersected region, have been discovered by Mr. Anderson in his descent — the more especially if they, taking B B 4 II i % ■ 1 ..■ 1 -■5 r 1 : ■■ ' 1 *^'i?l ' ' >2a^ t_,-jf'ia»!^-A'~».- I- tftT-riiiTii-rfrf'IWrv 376 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. : 1 i'l: t WSiia*nMM«MU»Mai 381 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. LADY FRANKLIN'S LETTER. If: i 1 II i : 0^ i ' 1; , ^ 1 ■ 1 ' 1 ; 1 . 1 ; ' ' 1 11 ' ; V 1 : "60. Pall Mall, nth July, 1856. " My Lords, *' Three months ago I felt constrained to address a letter to your Lordships, requesting that you would be pleased to delay your adjudication of the reward claimed by Dr. Rae for ascertaining the fate of my husband's expedition until such time as the result of a more complete and final search could be known. I implored your Lordships to adopt such measures as would set this question at rest, and at the same time was compelled to repre- sent that your refusal to do this would force upon me the painful alternative of taking the burden of an expedition upon myself, at whatever cost and under great disadvantage. " To this letter I have not been honoured with any reply ; but, notwithstanding, it seemed to me and to others not unreasonable to interpret your silence in a manner not unfavourable to my wishes, inasmuch as your Lordships were well aware that so long as no adverse decision was announced to me, I was precluded from taking any steps for ad- vancing my private expedition, which depended LADY franklin's LETTEU. 385 entirely on the non-adoption of the other. Even when I read in the Gazette^ after two months and more had elapsed, that your Lordships, disregard- ing my request, had given the reward of 10,000/. to Dr. Rae, I was still unwilling to regard this act as an absolute rejection of my petition for further search, since in that light, or with such an object in view, it might have been practicable to an- nounce it at a much earlier period, and thus re- lieve, me from suspense, and set my hands free for action. But besides this, 1 was aware that a me- morial to the same effect as my own petition, signed by the most scientific men in London, and em- bracing the opinions of all the chief arctic officers, had been presented to the head of Her Majesty's Go- vernment (by whom it was kindly received) ; and I indulged the hope that it could scarcely fail to receive your Lordships' favourable consideration. " Thus, between doubt and hope, between occa- " sional misgivings and reviving confidence, but withal in constant and harassing anxiety, I have passed three long months (precious months to me, who required them all for my own expedition, if that great burden were at last to fall upon me), till at last a time has arrived when the equipment of a private expedition is no longer possible, and a c c 386 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ifcll ■i , I: ; i I It * season of probably unexampled openness for ice navigation is passing away. " I feel sure that if your Lordships would only do me the favour of considering for a moment the painful position in which I have thus been and am still placed, without a single word vouchsafed to me either to confirm my hopes or to extinguish them, deprived of any means but such as I had a reasonable objection to, of securing public feeling in my behalf, whilst the Arctic Papers (including my appeal to your Lordships), which were called for in the House of Commons, continued to be withheld, unable thus to make use of the present or to calculate on the future, you would feel that a great hardship — nay, that a great injustice, for such I feel it to be — has been inflicted on me. *• Yet, great as this trial has been, it receives aggravation from the knowledge that I am not alone affected by it. I abstain from obtruding on you details of private matters, however they might serve to illustrate this aspect of my embarrassing position; but I feel sure that you will deem it worthy of your kind and serious attention, when I inform you that the distinguished individual who has generously offered me his gratuitous services for the command of my private expedition *, should * Dr. E. K. Kane, of the United States uavy. LADY FUANKLIN's LETTER. 387 c ice only t the id am 'ed to iguish had a feeling iuding called to be present that a ce, for le. receives im not ding on might rrassing deem it when I ual who services \ should I be unhappily reduced to this extremity, has done so at the sacrifice of all his own professional and private interests, in the purest spirit of sympathy Avith my anxieties and of devotion to a holy cause. And I might say much more than this, if I felt permitted to do so. Your Lordsiiips, however, will, I am sure, perceive that I cannot indefinitely prolong the state of uncertainty in which my noble- minded and generous friend is now placed ; and that it is my duty either to release him from his promise, as I would so gladly do were I sure that my cause were safe in your hands, or enable hiin at once to commence independent operations. " Regretting deeply that you have, as I learn, come to a decision adverse to the immediate start- ing of a vessel by the Eastern route, since I fully recognise the possibility of following my husband's track on that side down Peel Channel, I yet may be permitted to express the opinion I have long entertained, confirmed as it is by that of your late eminent hydrographer, Sir Francis Beaufort, and by that of Captains CoUinson and Maguire, that the route by Behring's Straits, though longer in distance, is of surer and safer accomplishment, and that n vessel despatched this autumn to Behring's Straits would probably arrive at the spot to be searched cc 2 » m "m 388 DISCOVERY OF TUB NORTH-WEST rASSAGE. ! i in a shorter time than by the other. Captain CoUinson, whose experience is the highest that can be addnceJ on this point, has no doubt that ho could carry even such a heavy sailing ship as the 'Enterprise' without the aid of steam, in one season only, to the very locality where the remains of the ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' are probably now lying, and where it is at least certain that the Esquimaux hold the secret of their fate, and of the pillage they have acquired from the catastrophe. " This opinion of Captain Collinson as to the facility of a vessel's reaching the place of its desti- nation in one season by way of Behring's Straits, is shared by Captain Maguire, as expressed in a letter which I have permission to enclose. Your Lordships will also perceive therein another reason for the adoption of this route, which has not hitherto received the attention its extreme impor- tance deserves, namely, the facility it gives of bringing the vessel into close contact with the Esquimaux, it being Captain Maguire's opinion (as it is that of Mr. Anderson, the late commander of the boat party down the Great Fish River), that the tranquil presence of a vessel is necessary to extract the whole truth from the natives. These ])eople are not wanting in sagacity, and if they see nothing but a boat or sledge-party, they will LADY I-'IIANKLIN S LETTER. 389 bi! sure to calculate on the very limited resources of such u party, that it will soon return whence it cnme, and rid them of unwelcome investigations. It is also to be recollected tliat the Kaqiui;:aax ore in the habit of making spnng nnd .vutuvi' i )ni;;rti- tions, so that time would bo njinirci t( '.Mir.lile the intelligence that white men wure otj the co^st to permeate throughout tha counti^', and thii« roacli the cars of any stragglers thai may yet vemai:! <.l' i\ui crews of the missing vessels. " I would entreat of your Lordships, shtjuld you doubt the accuracy of my stfite»nent'j, to civil before you those two able and experienced offiicc^M, Captain Collinson and Captain JNlyguire, one of whom has brought back his flip mm crew in perfect safety, after a navigation in arctic waters of unexampled length and importance, whilst the other, within a more restricted fiokl of action at Point Barrow, succeeded so well in his ondeuvours to gain the confidence and cj-opor.ition of the natives, as to be an cav'iest of his success in any other quarter. " I mention ';hese two distinguished officers as bo'ng r specially qualified to speak of the advan- tages and disadvantages of the route suggested, not forgetting that Captains Osborn and Richards c c 3 . ll H 11 :■; < i i^ ■■% 390 DISCOVERY OF Till: NOIITH-WEST I'ASSAGE. are also on the spot, equally able to submit to your Lordships, if honoured by your reference, all that might have been said, in favour or other- wise, of the route which you have pronounced to be impracticable at this advanced season. All are alike ignorant that I am expressing this unbounded confidence in their capacity and zeal, in the humble hope of reminding your Lordships that if you give little weight to anything I can advance, as coming from an incompetent or too interested person, there are those at hand whose qualifications, whose duty towards you, and whose sense of responsibility, remove them widely from such disparaging circumstances. "Whilst this subject is still under deliberation, I commit the prayer of my present appeal to your serious and humane consideration, believing that the honour of my country is no less con- cerned in the result than are my own personal interests and those of my fellow-sufferers in calamity. " I have the honour to be, my Lords, " Your obedient serviiut, (SigneJ) "JANE FRANKLIN. "To THE LonDs Commissioners of THE AdMIRAI.TV." 391 MEMORIAL FRESENTED BT SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, O.C.S'.S. ( D.C.L. ; M.A. ; F.n.S. ; F.L.8. ; HON. MEJI. R.S. ED.; R.I.A. it"' " To the Right Hon. Viscount Palmerston, M.P., G.C.B. " London, June 5. " Impressed with the belief that Her Majesty's missing sliips, the 'Erebus' and 'Terror,' or their rem.ans, are still frozen up at no great distance from the spot whence certain relics of Sir John Franklin and his crews were obtained by Dr. Rue, — we whose names are undersigned, whether men of science and others who have taken a deep interest in arctic discovery, or explorers w!io have been employed in the search for our lost countrymen, beg earnestly to impress upon your Lordship the desirableness of sending out an ex- pedition to satisfy the honour of our country, and clear up a mystery which has excited the sympathy of the civilised world. " This request is supported by many persons c c 4 ii ,,tiiyfiii i i'4^ 392 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. IM ' ?!*■■? well versed in arctic surveys, who, seeing that the proposed expedition is to be directed to one limited area only^ are of opinion that the object is attain- able, and with little risk. " ^^'e can scarcely believe that the British Go- vernment, which to its great credit has made so many efforts in various directions to discover even the route pursued by Franklin, should cease to prosecute research now that the locality has been clearly indicated where the vessels or their remains must lie, — including, as we hope, records which will throw fresh light on arctic geography, and dispel the obscurity in which the voyage and fate of our countrymen are still involved. " Although most persons have arrived at the conclusion that there can now be no survivors of Franklin's expedition, yet there are eminent men in our own country and in America Avho hold a contrary opinion. Dr. Kane, of the United States, for example, who has distinguished himself by pushing farther to the north in search of Franklin than any other individual, and to whom the lioyal Geographical Society has recently awarded its Founders* Gold ^Nledal, tijus speaks (in a letter to the benevolent Mr. Grinnell) : — ' I am really in doubt as to the preservation of human life. I well lie by din oyal its ittcr y in well MI.MORIAL Ob- ftlEN OF SCIENCE, ETC. 393 know how glad I would have been, had ray duty to others permitted me, to have taken refuge among the Esquimaux of Smith Strait and Etah Bay. Strange as it may seem to you, we regarded the coarse life of these people with eyes of envy, and did not doubt but that we could have lived in comfort upon their resources. It required all my powers, moral and physical, to prevent my men from deserting to the Wali'us Settlements, and it was my final intention to have taken to Esquimaux life had Providence not carried us through in our hazardous escape.' *' But passing from speculation, and confining ourselves alone to the question of finding the missing shii)S or their records, we would observe that no land expedition down the Back River, like that which, with great difiiculty, recently reached "Montreal Island, can satisfactorily accomplish the end we have in view. The frail birch-bark canoes in which Mr. Anderson conducted his search with so much ability, the dangers of the river, the sterile nature of the tract near its embouchure, and the necessary failure of provisions, prevented the com- mencement, even, of such a search as can alone be satisfactorily^ and thoroughly accomplished by the crew of a man-of-war, — to say nothing of the I ■ ^ ■"-•--^■•*"- •' "* -" i Nov. . ■271) ■u;o •7.'9 . + 1 -32 -I0-2 3-1 Max. + 5; Min.-40.; < . Ute. - •560 •4^0 •978 -4 -10 -•23-4 25 Me.iii, -4-66. 1851. b ,Tiin. •570 •400 •885 -15 -51 -3-2-5 H Feb. - •tl3() •030 •958 -9 -51 -37-7 narometer. t^ March - •7-2'l •33'< •940 — 5 -51 -'^8 8 Maximum - 30-750 April - May. - - June - •(ill) •410 30'037 + 38 -32 1 -4-8 3-1 Jlmimuni - 29^0.30 •(i(K) •5';o •1123 + 47 -5 +1H-9 2-2 Mean - . . 29-! 34 •150 •470 •29-8:)7 + .)3 + •27 +36-1 3-5 Air. Maximum - +520 iMinimuai . —51-0 Mean - - - +2-58 ' July . August - •O'.lO •4(X) •450 •3i)0 ■7.50 ■805 + 52 +52 +32 +37-5 +21 +:i7-6 30 2-8 Sept. - •270 •4.50 •H7(i + 13 + 1 +24-6 3-1 Oct. - - •200 •.3(K) •877 + •20 -•22 +3-3 P9 Nov. - •750 •(i30 io-(;97 + 10 -40 -15-2 1^8 •A Dec. - •810 •430 ■046 •m -44 -200 3^5 1852. 1 M • Jan. •fine •2W 29-841 + 8 -51 -273 3-4 ~5s lob. - .ii'ono •07.1 ■777 -1 -47 -25^8 .3 1 B.irometer. o: March - ()(M) •410 30'OH2 -f5 —52 -•28-4 2^0 Maximum - 31-000 -*-< Auril - ^•4:to •.5>20 ■104 + 31 -38 • -1-4 2-5 Minimum . 2S-970 May. . •250 •COD ■29-W7 +:i7 --.'5 +10-2 2 6 Mean . . 29-900 Juno •lOO •430 ■7.58 +51 + 11 +31-5 3-1 z ■ July - •(KIO •370 ■719 +.52 +30 +36^7 2-9 Air. Slaximum - +52 Mininunn . —52 Meiui . +0-05 «g August • •170 •400 ■810 +.52 + 19 +33 2 2-9 Sept. . •100 •070 ■785 + 38 _4 +'201 3-6 >• Oct. •300 •440 ■980 + 16 -33 1 -5-6 -l-i PO Nov. - ■cm •4G0 •97S •+•9 _4.-j '_|6-5 3-1 >• u Deo. - •G70 28-970 ■94J -4 -18 :-261 3-7 Barometer. 18.53. Max. 3()^72 ; MIn. '29'ISO ; Jan. .IW 2'.)-I80 •748 -10 -05 -43-87 4-05 Mean, 29-960. 1 Ich. . •581) •400 lo-o-^n -13 -57 -3H-,5( 2-50 Air. M;ireh - •720 •540 -048 + 17 -5S i-25-4 2-30 Max +17i Min.-C5, Mean, -35-92. Robert ^I'Ci.uue, Coinnianilcr, Ilcr Miijesty's Ship " Invcstigntor." \^ ■ ■ I" 1 ' *i 398 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. G^vjiE killed in the Aacxic Regions by the Crew of II.M.S. " Investigator." Musk-oxen Deor - - - llarcs (iroiisc Ducks (JOCHC ... Wolves ... Uiiirs Number killcil. j Averat;u Weight vacli. Totnl WclKht. 7 110 K'l!) 181! 1118 V9 •i 4 27S lbs. "0 „ ., Not weighed. It ti 1, Lilirilbs. 7,71(! „ 1,014 „ Total hcail killed 705 List of Game procured by H.M.S. "Resolute" and "Intrepid" in the Arctic Regions, between Sept. 1852 and Sept. 1853, by Captain V. L. M'Clintoek, R. N. Locality. Almost exclusively (in Melville Island, Musk- Oxcn. 112 llfilbt. Rein. Dcir. i ^ 3 I'tiunii- gaii. a n is u ni ini i 3 02 2 084 W.itcr- Kowl. 388 Average Wcislit when cleaned for the Table — no lbs. 7 Il)». Total Weight of Meat procured lib. 28,281 lOl. 2} lbs. APPENDIX. 'WW 401 APPENDIX. ON THE OCCURUKNCE OF NUMEROUS FUAGJIENTS OF FIK-WOOl) IN THE ISLANDS OF THE AllCTIC AUCHI- TELAGO; WITH KEMAKKS ON THE HOC K-SPECI. MENS nUOUGIlT FROM THAT REGION. BY SIR RODERICK IMPEY MURCHISON, D.C.L., F.R.S., V.P.O.S., DIRECTOR- GENERAL OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. T CANNOT attempt to offer any general, still Icsa any de- tailed description of the rocks and fossils of the north- western portion of that great Arctic Archipelago whose shores were first explored by Parry and Sabine. The specimens they brought liouie from Melville Island, and which were described by Mr. Kijnig, first conveyed to us the general knowledge of the existence there of fos- siliferous limestones and other rocks analogous to known European types in Scandinavia. Since those early days, the voyages of Franklin, and of the various gallant oflfi- ccrs who liave been in search of our lamented friend, have amplified those views, and have shown us that over nearly the whole of the Arctic Archipelago these vast islands possess a structure similar to that of North Amei'ica. My chief object now is to call attention to the remarkable fact of the occurrence of considerable quantities of wood, capable of being used for fuel or other purposes, which D D ,1 1^ ■lOl' DISCDVKUY or TIIK NOlM'll-WKST TASSAO::. J^( 3 I 1^ ^^ exist in the interior, and on tlic high grounds of Inigo islands in latitudes where the dwarf willow is now the only living shrub. IJcfore I allude to this |)hcnomcnon, as brought to my notice by Capt. jM'Ciuro and Lieut. Pini, I would, how- ever, briefly advert to a few rock-spcciinens collected by the latter officer and his comrades in IJceehy Island, Bathurst Land, Eglinton Ishuid, jNIulville Island, Prinen Patrick's Island, and IJatdvs's Land, where he joined Cap- tain M'Clnre, — specimens which we ought to value highly, ■ seeing that they were saved from loss under very trying circumstances. From this collection, as well as from other sources to which I have had access, as derived from the voyages of I'arry, Franklin, IJack, Penny, Inglefield, and the recent work of Dr. P. Sutherland, I am led to believe that (ho oldest fossiliferous rock of the arctic region is the L^pper Silurian, viz. a limestone identical in composition and organic contents with the well-known rocks of \V enlock, Dudley, and Gothland. No clear evidence has been afTorded .is to the existence of Devonian rocks, though Ave have hea.-d of red and brownish sandstone, as observed in very many localities by various explorers, and which possibly may belong to that formation. Thus, in North Somerset, to the south of Barrow Straits, red sandstone is associated with the older limestones. Byam INIartin Island was described by Parry as essentially eom[)osed of sandstone, with some granitic and felspathic rocks ; and, whilst tlic north-eastern face of Banks's Land is sandstone, its north-western cliffs consist (as made known by Captain M'Clure) of limestone. But whilst in the fossils we have keys to the age of the Silu- rian rocks, we have as yet no adequate grounds whereon Al'l'i:N"l)lX. •10.", [Ill •:;« only my bow- ed i>y t^liind, l.*rim.'0 I c-.n'- liliildy, trying ivccs to c rccc>nt [\»i»t ll»« c Uvpor ion iind V'cnlock, existence red nu'^ localities jelong to 3 pouth of the oUkv by l^ft^'iy c granitic ;rn iacc of ffrt consist one. But the Silu- s whereon to form a rational conjecture as to the preacnce of the OM Rid Sandstone, or Devonian i^roup. True Cur/jonijerons J'rodncti and Spirifuri have Ijocii brought homo by Sir E. liclciior from Albert Land, north of W'clhngton Clianncl, and fossil plants have been collcefod by Captain Sherard Osl)orn ; and hence we may afHrm poi-itively, that the old Carboniferous rocks are alsio pre- sent. Here and there l)itumiiious sehl:$t and coal are met with ; the existence of the latter beln<^ marked at several points on the jieneral chart published by the Atlmiralty. With the pahcoZ'jic rocks are associated others of igneous . origin and of crystalline and metamoriihoscd cliaraeter. Thus, fnjui Eglintoun Island to the south of Prince Patrick's Island, first defined by the survey of Capt. KuUett and hia olHcers, we see concretions of greenstone, associated with siliceous or quartzose rocks and coarse ferruginous grits ; and in Princess Koyal Island, besides the characteristio ' Silurian limestones, there are black basalts and red jaspers, as well as red rocks, less altered by heat, but showing a passage into jasper. Highly crystalline gypsum was also procured by Lieut. Pim from the northern shores of Melville Island. In the C(»llcction bef»)re us there are eilicified stems of plants, which Lieut. Pim gathered on various points between Wellington Channel on the east and lianks's Land on the west. Similar silicitied plants were also brought home by Capt. M'Clure from Banks's 1 Land ; and through the kindness of Mr. Barrow, to whom they were presented, they are now exhibited, together with a collection made by Capt. Kellett, which he sent to Dr. J. E. Gray of the British Museum, who has obligingly lent them for comparison. I had requested Dr. Hooker to examine all those spe- U D 'i I :in 404 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. It cimens which had passed through my liands, and I learu frotn him tiiat he will prepare a description of them, as well as of a great number from the same region, which had been sent to his father, Sir W. Hooker, associated, like those now under consideration, with fragments of recent wood. Of secondary formations no other evidence has been met with, except some fossil bones of Saurians, brought home by Sir E. Belcher, from the smaller islands north of Wellington Channel. Of the old Tertiary rocks, as charac- terised by their organic remains, no distinct traces have, as far as I am aware, been discovered ; and hence we may infer that the ancient submarine sediments, having been elevated, remained during a very long period beyond the influence of depositary action. Let us now see how the other facts, brought to our notice by the gallant arctic explorers who have recently returned to our country, bear upon the relations of land and water in this arctic region during the quasi-modern period, when the present species of trees were in existence. Capt. M'Clure states that in Banks's Land, in latitude 74° 48', and thence extending along a range of hills varying from 350 to 500 feet above the sea, and from half a mile to upwards inland, he found great quantities of wood, some of which was rotten and decomposea, but much of it suffi- ciently fresli to be cut up and used as fuel. Whenever this wood was in a well-preserved state, it was either de- teoted in gullies or ravines, or had probably been recently exhumed from the frozen soil or ice. In such cases, and particularly on the northern faces of the slopes where the sun never acts, wood might be preserved any length of time, inasmuch as Capt. INI'Clure tells me he has eaten beef, which, though hung up in his cold larder for two years, was perfectly untainted. I APPENDIX. 405 The most remarkable of these sj)ecimens of well-prc- scrvetl recent wood is the segment of a tree, which by Capt. M'Clure's orders, was sawn from a trunk sticking out of a ravine, and which is now exhibited.* It measures 3 feet 6 inches in circumference. Still more interesting is the cone of one of these fir-trees which he brought home, and which apparently belongs to an Abies resem- bling A. alba, a plant still living within the Arctic Circle. One cf Lieut. Pini's specimens of wood from Prince Pa- trick's Island is of the same character as that jus; men- tioned, and in its microscopical characters much resembles Piiius strubus, the American Pine, according to Prof. Quekett, who refers another specimen, brought from Hecla and Griper Bay, to the Larch. In like manner similar fragments of wood were seen two degrees further to the north, in Prince Patrick's Land, and also in ravines of the interior of that island, where, as I am informed, a fragment was found, like the tree described by M'Clure, protruding from the soil on the side of a gully. We learn, indeed, from Parry's " Voyage," that portions of a large fir-tree were found at some distance from the south shore of j\[elvillc Island, at about 30 feet above high- water mark, in latitude 74° 59' and longitude 106° f. * Through the kindness of Mr. John IJarrow, to whom it had beou given, this wood, with some silicified stems, has been presented to the Museum of Practical Geoh)gy. t " Serjeant Martin of the Artillery and Capt. Sr.bine's servant brought down to the beach several pieces of a largo fir-tree, which they found nearly buried in the sand at tlie distance of 330 or 400 yards from the present high-water marit, and not less than 30 feei above the level of tiie sea." — Parry's Voyage for the Discovery of the North- West Passage, p. (;3. D D 3 1 •i!^ 1 1 ill 406 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ii i. IV til i , I' I' 1 i ' 1 1 i ■>-« According to the testimony of Capt. M'Clure and Lieut. Pirn, all the timber they saw resembled the present drift- wood so well known to arctic explorers, being irrepjularly distributed, and in a fragmentary condition, as if it had been broken up and floated to its present positions by water. If such were the method by which the timber was dis- tributed, geologists can readily account for its present jiosition in the interior of the Arctic Islands. They infer tliat at the period of such distribution large portions of these tracts were beneath the waters, and that the trees and cones were drifted from the nearest lands on which they grew. A subsequent elevation, by which these islands assumed their present configuration, would really be in perfect harmony with those great changes of relutive level which we know to have occurred in the British Isles, Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia since the glacial period. The ti'ansportalion of immense quantities of timber towards the Nortii Pole, and its deposit on submarine rocks, is by no means so remarkable a phenomenon as the wide dis- tribution of erratic blocks during the glacial epoch over Korthern Germany, Central Russia, and large portions of our island when under water, followed by the rise of these vast masses into land. If we adopt this explanation, nnd look to the extreme cold of the arctic region in the com- paratively modern period during which this wood has been drifted or preserved, we can have no difficulty in accounting for the different states in which timber is found. Those portions of it which happen to have been exposed to the alternations of frost and thaw, and the influence of the sun, have necessarily become rotten ; whilst all those fragments which remained enclosed in frozen mud or ice which have 'I APPENDIX. 40; never been mcltcil would, when brought to ligiit by the opening of ravines or other accidental causeSj present just as fresh an appearance as the specimens now exhibited. The only circumstance within my knowledge which militates against this view is one communicated to me by Ciipt. Sir Edward Belcher, who, in lat. 75° 30', long. 92° 15', observed on the east side of Wellington Channel the trunk of a fir-tree standing vertically, and which, being cleared of the surrounding earth, &c., was found to extend its roots into what he supposed to be the soil. If from this observation we should be led to imau;ine that all the innumerable fragments of timber found in these pohu' latitudes, belonged to trees tliat grew upon the spot, and on the ground over which they are now distributed, we should be dri-.cu to adopt the anomalous hypothesis, that, notwithstanding physical relations of land and water similar to those wliich now px'evail {i.e. of gresit masses of l;ind high above the sea), trees of large size grew on such terra Jinna within a few degrees of the North Pole! — a supposition which I consider to be wholly incompatible with the data in our possession, and at variance with tlie laws of isothermal lines. If, however, we adopt the theory of a former submarine drift,* followed by a subsequent elevation of the sea-bottom, as easily accounting for all the phenomena, we may ex{)lain the curious case brought to our notice by Sir Edward Belcher, by supposing that the tree he uncovered had been * Dr. Hooker informs luc tliut all the specimens sent to him \. ore collected in mounds of silt, rising up from the level of the sea to 100 feet or more above it ; and he entirely coincides wilh me in the belief that the whole of this timber was drifted to the spots whc -e It now Ues. D o 4 in ; 'i I 408 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGi:. floated away with its roots downwards, accompanied by attached and entangled mud and stones, and lodged in a bay, like certain "snags" of the great American rivers. Under this view, the case referred to must be considered as a mere exception, whilst the general inference we naturally draw is, that the vast quantities of broken recent timber, as observed by numerous explorers, were drifted to their present position when the islands of the Arctic Archipelago were submerged. This inference is indeed supported by the unanswerable evidence of the submai'ine associates of the timber ; for, from the summit of Co> comb Range in Banks's Land, and at a height of 500 feet above tlie sea, Capt. M'Clure brought home a fine large specimen of Cyprina Islavdica, which is undistinguishable from the species so common in the glacial drift of the Clyde*; whilst Capt. Sir E. Belcher found the remains of lohales on lands of considerable altitude in lat. 78° north. Reasoning from such facts, all geologists are agreed in considering the siungle, mud, gravel, and beaches in which animals of the arctic region are imbedded in many parts of Northern Europe, as decisive proofs of a period when a glacial sea covered large portions of such lands ; and the only distinction between sucli deposits in Britain and those wliich were formed in the Arctic Circle, is that the wood which was transported to the latter has been preserved in its ligneous state for thousands of years, through the excessive cold of the region. * * In Parry's " Voyages " (p. 61.) we learn that a number of marine shells, of the Venus tribe, were found imbedded in the ravines of Byam Martin's Island ; a fact which strengthens the view here adopted of the submergence of large portions of these tracts at a very recent geological epoch. APPENDIX. ^101) NARRATIVE OF COMMANDER MAGUIRE, WINTERING AT POINT BARROW. In accordance witli my last communication, I proceeded to sea from Port Clarence on the morning of the 21st of August, and with a favourable breeze passed through IJchring's Straits by the eastern passage, on the following day at noon. A succession of contrary winds delayed our progress to the N. E. to a much greater extent than was considered favourable to ensure our complete success of rounding Point Barrow, at that advanced period of the season. In our passage to the northward we passed several whale ships cruising in squadrons, a caution they seem to have prudently adoi)tcd, for the benefit of affording mutual assistance in the event of disaster. Their success up to that time seemed to be indittercnt; and we have been since -informed by natives from Point Hope that whales have become very scarce on the coast, since the ships have come in pursuit of them. The last whale ship (French) seen by us, was on tlie morning of the 25th of August, in lat. 69° 30' N., long. 167° 43' ^y., carrying all sail to the southward. We soon afterwards made the ice in heavy floes, and tacked inshore to ascertain its distance from il ! 410 DISCOVEKY OF THE NOKTII-WEST PASSAGE. ■f ^»i ii i; i'-, 'If tlie liind, wlicn we found the contrary winds had done us good service by opening a free passage of from ten to fifteen miles, in which we beat to the N. E., making but slow progress until the night of the 2nd of September, when a slant from the southward, with a fjist-falling barometer, warned us that a eliangc of weather was at hand. Our distance from Point Barrow, now reduced to fifty miles, I thought we could accomi)lish before the ice set inshore, and therefore pushed forward under all sail and roundctl it at the distance of one mile, on the following day at noon, September 3rd. The approach to the channel leading between the sandy islets that form the protection we were about to seek for the winter in Elson's Bay, was found, contrary to our expec- tations, shoal and intricate, making it necessary to anchor the ship and sound out the passage. If it was found not to afford sufficient water, of which there was a doul)t, our position was not one to lose time in, shut out, and close down on an exposed shore, with a gale coming on that would soon have loaded it with ice. Havmg ascertained, as expeditiously as pG,:siblc, that there were about nine inches to spai'c across a shoal before we got to deep water, the anchor was weighed, and after making a few tacks, the narrowness of the channel and the ship taking the ground twice, made it advisable 'o anclu .■ and kcdge under shelter of the spit. A forli. ite turn in the current enabled us to effect this, as by the time the wari)s had been run out, the gale had increased so much as to render it unsafe to trip the anchor; however, finding a strong weather current setting, it was weighed, and the ship warped into a wild-looking anchorage for pi'otection, in a gale of wind, no land being visible, except the low sand Iti'l AiM'ENm:?. 411 sliip I, in a sand spit of Point IJiirrow fiml the islet adjoining, not more than five feet above the level of the sea, which broke over thcin witli great violence during the height of the gale. These arc again guarded by the shoals lying off, on which the drift ice grounds, making the anclioragc, when gained, se- cure, but difficult of access or egress. Daylight next morning showed us how fortunate we had been in getting sliclter: the gale, now veered to west, was unabated; the sea broke heavily over the shoals passed yesterday, and against the sand spits to within a short distance of the ship, whils' the ofliiig was encumbered with heavy ice, becoming gradually closer with the gale. As we found a strong current setting to windward, I had no doubt of the ship holding on, although the confined space of the anchorage did not admit veering more than thirty fathoms of cable In the afternoon the G:alc bciian to moderate, and on the following day the ship was moved to a more secure berth, \wiiv the i)nsition selected for winter quarters, where wc remained until the ice set fast on the 24th of Si'i)tcmbcr. A succession of strong gales and thick weather, for the following week, retarded our preparations, consisting chiefly in collecting driftwood, not found here in any abundance. From this material the plank for housing-in was sawed, and the remains stacked for the winter firing. Advantage was also taken o^ every opportunity to send a boat to sound the channel, knowing the difficulty of the task after the ice had formed ; and on its breaking \i\) we should be too anxious to move with it, to have time for that purpose. On the 25th, pancake ice began to form in the bay, and drift out rapidly with the current. A party v;as sent to haul the launch up on the adjacent islet, to be out of reach >f the natives ; this service was performed by ■;^& If I .,T !.? •412 DISCOVEIIY OF TIIK NORTH-WEST I'ASSAGi:. t; h > ' i ! ii I i li'l : ! 'Si i '• \M ■1 iNIr. G. T. Gordon, mate, who, when returning in the gig with a fresh and favourable wind, was unable to push his way through the young ice, and was carried in it through the passage into the offing. In this distressing dilemma a second boat was lowered, in which Lieutenant Vernon pi'omptly volunteered his services ; and by running out 700 fathoms of whale line the gig was reached, now carried some distance off the land. IJy this means they were en- abled to reach the spit, although they had another narrow escape from being carried out, by the line parting when they were close to it ; fortunately, one of the men was sufficiently quick to heave the end amongst a crowd of Esquimaux, drawn to the sjiot by witnessing the state of our boats ; and they Iiauled them up, where they had to remain for the night, the ice being now too strong to allow us to haul the boats through it, and not sufficiently firm for the people to walk on board. During the niglit, the ice moved but once a short distance, then set fast ; and in the morning we had the satisfaction of receiving our boat's crew on board, after experiencing a degree of anxiety for their safety that is not easily described. The following days were occupied in sawing a canal to- wards our winter position, which was much delayed by luicxpected movements in the ice, undoing our work when nearly completed ; and on the 30th, at 10 p.m., we were tracked up it by about seventy natives, men, women, and children, whose shouts and exclamations of surprise gave animation to the whole scene, and made it one of deep interest. Our time was now busily occupied in making the usual prei)arations for passing a winter in this rigorous climate, which we had thus early observed symptoms of. A tern- V Al'l'KNDlX. 4i;j pomry house was erected close to the shii), to receive our deck-load of provisions to enable us to have them clear, for the crew to take exercise when the state of the weather would not admit of their leaving the ship ; and an objicrva- tory, for the reception of the mafrnetical instruments, was constructed from ice alone, whicli answered the purpose l)erfoctly for eight months. These arrangements were completed by the 20th of October, when the necessary winter routine was esta- blished for an economical expenditure of fuel and provisions, with due attention to order, cleanliness, occupation, and amusement, to lighten as much as possible a time con- fessed by all as being depressing and monotonous. IMau}' valuable hints on tliis subject were gained from the works of Captain Parry, in following whose example I con- sider we could not err: taking advantage of liis experi- ence, the masts and yards were kept in their i)roper places, iiffording a bettor mark for seeking the ship from a distance, bearing in mind our being here in expectation of parties falling back upon us for safety ; and as the land is very low, and in winter, it may be said, not visible, the ship made a fine object, being discernible in clear weather at the distance of nine miles from every direction. Deeming it a matter of importance that the " Plover's " position at Point Barrow sliould be known as far to the eastward as possible, and also wisliing to ascertain wnctlicr Dease's Inlet would afford shelter for any vessel tliat might at any future time be desirous of wintering there, I took the earliest opportunity of making a boat excursion to perform this service, and left the ship on the morning of the 21st of September, in the gig, accompanied by ISh: T. A. Hull, second master. Steering off the land into U ■ $ ' :p 1 if ■ I i I I ' i ! I 1 41 I DlSCOVIillY OV Tllli NOUTJl-WEHT rASSAMK. five fjitlioina, wo passed a good deal of HaiHnf:f ice, and pro- ccodod 10. N.l'i. over an even bottom ot" IVoni five to six i'iitlionis with tlio wind trom the S. I'L Cliani^iiig our coiubo to the southward, wc got entangled among a aeries of sand ^[Ma, when, taking to our oar.-<, wo stcereil aUing the outside of (he hirgest island of the group, wliieh wc then supposed to he connected with tlie main- land about Point Christie; but it was afterwards found to be one of tlie very h)W eliain of sandy islets running along this coast. As I suy[iected this was taking us to the east- ward of the inlet, I liinded to as^cend the highest part, to see how nnich further it extended, and found a second island running in the same direction. The water being too shoal for hauling the boat up here, we stood out into deeper water, and at length succeeded in hauling the boat lip for the niglit on the second island. Dning the night a strong breeze sprang up from the -N.W., with a teu)pc- vatnre of +30°. Knowing wc had run our distance for Dease's Inlet, I was not a little puzzled to know where wc were, as I could scarcely fancy it was possible to lay down this coast without noticing these islands. On the I'ollowing morning, our observations beinii; coin[)letc and the boat loaded, and now concluding that Dease's Inlet must be looked for to the soutliward, and first erecting a conspicuous mark on this place of the " Plover's" winter position, we steered fur a point of the main just visible S.W. (true). This jn'ovcd to be Point Christie, where we landed in time to get the latitude at noon. Its higher part does not exceed ten feet above the level of the sea; and h re we erected another large mark. The season now seemed to Al'l'KNDlX. •U. bo BO far advaiicod that I waa in doubt between croi^.iiiij^ the inlet and returning to the Hliip; b»it, as I conHidorcd my object woidd not be carried out without ))lacin;^ noticed on J'oint Taiif^ent, I determined to erosrf it, and started with a due hvidin;^ wind IVoni the northward. In two jiourd we readied the eastern !-Iiore, which is even ni(u-e riiioal tlian the western — the water abdut J'oint Tangent being .so sliaUow that our boat cuukl not be got within a cal)le's lengtli of the beaeh. Having now found tliat the greatest depth of water to be obtained by sounding directly across Dease's Iidct was eleven feet oidy with its chores extremely hhoal, I con- tiidertd the question settled that no vessel could find winter (quarters there ; and, after leaving the proper notices, started on our return to the ship. Shidge ice was observed on otir return to bo forming in all the .^mall bays, the temperature having fallen to -f l'.f, warning us tliat the open season was nearly at an end. Passing the night in the same place as the previous one, for the !-ake of the driftwood, we left the next morning with all haste for the shij), which, with a fine breeze from the northward, wc rcaehcfl by noon. Twelve hours after our return, it was reported to me that the ice was drifting past the phi p. A further examinatioji of Dease's Inlet was afterwards made by INIr. T. A. Hull, second master, in the month of ]\Iay, in continuation of a survey of this coast from Point Barrow eastward. The southern shores of this Iidet, which had hitherto been left blank on the chart, were now traced. It was found to extend in a S.AV. direction for a distance of twenty miles, its breadth at the mouth being eight miles, ; 1] 'i; f c. :t IMAGE EVALUATrON TEST TARGET (MT-3) //^.^^i^ 1.0 1.1 1.25 ■50 "^" ■■■ ■^ 122 12.2 lit u lyui. I«0 2.0 JiS. 1.4 11 1.6 m I Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREIT WMSTIR.N.Y. 14SM (71«)S72-4S03 m: •^ ;\ \ o^ 416 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. Jill ! .sMi; J ' and terminating in a shoal bay. The S. E. shore is much higher than the rest, one cliff there being as high as twenty-four feet. Four inconsiderable rivers empty them- selves here — two on the eastern, and two on the western sliore. The chain of islands which, commencing at the " Plover's " winter quarters, closely abut on Point Tangent, the western part of which was discovered by Captain Moore, and denominated by him "Plover's Group," has been found to be ten in number (on but two or three of the largest of which is there the slightest sign of vegetation), running in a line almost parallel with that of the coast, or E. S.E. and W. N.W. (true) from Point BarrovtT to Point Tangent, where they terminate, the only channel between them, of sufficient depth for a ship, being the one by which the " Plover " entered. From the time of our arrival at winter quarters, situated two miles E. S. E. (true) from the Esquimaux settle- ments on Point Barrow, called by them Noowook, we found this people, contrary to our preconceived opinion, very troublesome and unfriendly. To such an extent did this feeling exhibit itself, that it would have been prudent to remove from their vicinity (particulai'ly as we had received more than one unmistakable hint to that effect), had circumstances admitted it ; but, as we occupied the only spot of deep water to be found on this part of the coast, it became necessary to put up with the evil, hoping that time and a better knowledge of our character would improve their conduct; and T had no doubt our wintering amongst them would eventually be attended with bene- ficial results. The commencement of our intercourse was attended with many unpleasant circumstances. No single If APPENDIX. 417 jitiiatcd settle- >ok, wo jpinioii, ent did rudent had elFect), )ied the of the hoping would tering bcne- irse was o single boat's crew could be at any distance from the ship without being pilfered from in the most daring and barefaced way; and upon every trivial, and often without any, occasion, their knives were drawn upon our men, who, although armed with muskets, had strict orders in no case to make even a show of them, unless obliged by necessity, as I thought recourse to that force was to be avoided when a good feeling in favour of any of our missing countrymen, who may at any future period be in their power, was the object sought. Carrying out these views to the extent of not showing our arms was not appreciated, as they mistook forbearance for timidity ; and, at the request of two officers going with a watering party to the village, to carry their guns nominally for the purpose of shooting small birds, the show of them was found to have so good an effect that it was adopted on all future occasions, although we were obliged to cease sending for water after a few turns, there being always some unpleasant display of feeling on their part that was best avoided when possible. Whilst occurrences such as I have mentioned were taking place daily, with our parties away from the ship, the difficulty of dealing with those collected about her was sufficient to employ all the people left on board, exclusive of the pressing duties of the ship, with a small crew, at this season. About the 15th of September, they appeared to be returning to their winter huts, from their usual summer's excursion along the coast to the eastward, and, as the ship lay in their direct track, we had a visit from all of them, including also the Cape Smyth tribe, being the two most numerous on any part of the coast, numbering together E E I 418 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. i Mil. I;- about five hundred. As many aa seven or eight large u-mi-aks arrived daily for eight or nine days, containing their summer tents, families, dogs, and sledges, &c. : they appeared perfect strangers, and looked in amazement at us and the ship. They brought with them a small quantity of fish and venison : ivlth the latter they parted reluctantly, and seemed to prefer begging and stealing (in which they were most unscrupulous) to any kind of exchange. On the morning of the 17th I was informed that a large u-mi-ak had come alongside, and the crew had forced their way on board. As this was not an uncommon case, I thought nothing of it when I found that Lieut. Vernon was attending on deck. He soon came down to inform me that the chief of the party had a musket, and was very anxious to get gunpowder in exchange for venison. This piece of information I considered the worst I had received, amongst many impleasant circumstances that I had ex- perienced, feeling that we could not remain amongst them if they had fire-arms. It will be proper to state here that we have, at a very late period of our stay, identified this chief as the same who followed and annoyed Commander FuUen at Point Berens in 1849, full particulars of which are given in his journal. As he expressed a wish to see me, I went up, and found a large, powerful, elderly man, with a peculiarly bad expression of countenance. He had a Hudson's Bay musket, with the name of Bamett on the lock ; it was a good deal worn, but fit for service. He had a powder horn hanging hunter-fashion under his left arm, but pre- tended to have neither ball nor shot, for which he was most pressing, and would not dispose of anything except 'it r iE. APPENDIX. 419 it large itaining !.: they nt at us quantity ictantly, ich they t a large d forced ion case, , Vernon o inform was very m. This received, had ex- igst them at a very the same at Point ven in his and found iarly bad son's Bay it was a a powder , but pre- ih he was ng except for ammunition. This, as a matter of course, he was not supplied with. I saluted him with much friendship, made his wife a present, and took him down to my cabin, where I made him a present of tobacco, and satisfied his curiosity about the ship below. Then I took him on deck with the idea that he would go away ; but nothing seemed further from his thoughts, as he remained about the decks and slipped down the hatchways on to the lower deck several times — a part of the ship they had not had access to during any period of our stay. During the forenoon several u-mi-aks arrived alongside the ship, discharging their crews in swarms on our deck, so as literally to crowd it for the day. They were allowed every freedom consistent with their known propensity for stealing ; but some, bolder than others, were difficult to deal with. One man attempted to force back the after ladder doors, and my stopping him brought about a slight scuffle between us. That did not seem to have satisfied him, as he soon after- wards came in contact with the quartermaster of the watch, a quiet but rather short tempered, powerful young man, who, before anybody could interfere, gave him a lesson he will not soon forget; he dealt him fair English blows about the head, each of them sufficient to stun any one except an Esquimaux ; but he received them until they had the effect of quite taming him, when he was put over the side in the presence of at least sixty of his countrymen, few of whom offered to interfere, and the remainder looked on with indifference. About noon, when, at my particular desire, three parts of the crowd went away, the remainder were evidently detained by the old chief, whom there was no moving out of the ship without having recourse to force ; and this I had no intention of, preferring to wait E E 2 1. I Wit '*■: w- ^ •: 420 DISCOVEUY OF THE NOETII-WEST PASSAGE. i ,. J! ii until he got tired of his visit, and this seemed unlikely fur the present, as he hailed three u-mi-aks full of people to come alongside. I heard the word " tawac" (tobacco) used very often, I supposed as the inducement, and the children I observed had been "^ent away. It occurred to me they might have thoughts of pillaging the ship ; their numbers to ours seeming so overpowering. In order to be prepared for anything of the kind, the men stationed on deck were sent down one at a time to arm themselves with pistols, to be kept out of sight in their breasts, in the event of a simultaneous attack being made with their knives, all being provided with good ones, and adepts in their use. "When the men were all armed, I was satisfied to await the result. A silence seemed to prevail, as if they had not decided what to do ; and whether they had or had not meditated any mischief, beyond stealing as much as they could, they attempted nothing, and went aw.iy as night came on, leaving the old chief with his own boat only. He had continued to range about the ship in the most insolent way : and I think it reasonable to suppose it was only the fear of our fire-arms that kept him from mischief. When left by himself, I was cautious not to urge his going away, as I had done when there were seventy people with him ; but letting him choose his own time, he remained until 7 P. M. — a visit of twelve hours. When he was gone, I was so thoroughly tired and provoked, and knowing that every person in the ship must be suffer- ing in the same way, that it became necessary to adopt a different system, the number of small articles stolen during the day, notwithstanding all our vigilance, affording suffi- cient pretext for the change. All work was stopped the next day, and an efficient arrangement made to allow E. APPENDIX. 421 ;ely for ople to obacco) ind the irred to i; their )rdcr to oned on jmselves 3, in the th their depts in satisfied 18 if they id or had much as away as )wn boat p in the uppose it lim from J 8 not to ere were his own ve hours, provoked, be suiFei*- adopt a en during ing suffi- )pped the to allow only one boat's crew on board at a time ; and whatever dissatisfaction it might give, it was necessary to adopt it. It seems necessary to mention here the difficulty of keeping a numerous tribe of natives out of a vessel like the "Plover," as the ice chocks made a convenient landing-place on the outside, not more than four feet from the water, running the whole length on both sides, where they mounted in all directions, and in some cases, when pre- vented, they cut at our men's legs with their knives, and in one or two instances cut through box-cloth trousers. Whilst the knives of some were engaged in this way, those of others were busily employed cutting the lead scupper pipes out of the side ; the nails of the copper were proof against them, but no part of the side escaped their attempts. From this cause it became necessary to cover all the parts assailable outside with a sheathing of wood, and after the ship was frozen in she was enclosed round with a chain, rove through posts fixed in the ice at the distance of seven yards from the side. This arrangement, although very unpopular, was found most beneficial. The day succeeding the one last described, the chief was observed sitting on the spit close to the ship, and I was told had hailed the ship as if he wished to be sent for. This I thought too good a joke. He was soon afterwards picked up by his own boat and came alongside, but, to hia surprise, was not allowed on board, as so many things had been stolen the previous day. During the time he was standing on the gangway, the crew happened to be clean- ing, discharging, and reloading their arms, and examining the two carronades, at which he seemed to stare a good deal and went away. Several u-mi-aks arrived alongside, as usual, during the day ; but none of the crews were E E 3 ■ ii 'ii I i r irt '; \ 422 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. allowed on board. Some bartering waa carried on, and a few presents made to them ; but they seemed to prefer adding to their stock by stealing, to any exchange. The following morning we had another early visit from the chief, accompanied by some other leading men. They brought, as a peace offering, all the articles stolen from the ship for several days. This I considered very satis- factory, and permitted them to come on board ; they re- mained the whole day, but their conduct was altered very much for the better, particularly the old chief, who was now content to remain on the quarter-deck to which they were restricted. I think the display of our cleaning arms before the chief on the day previous, led him to imagine we were intent on doing them mischief, and seemed to account for this sudden change in their manner. The system of keeping them out of the ship except with permission, and then to a very limited number only, being once commenced, it was continued throughout our stay ; and although it was very difficult to make them understand the necessity for it, which made it disliked, and was the cause of some ill-feeling towards ua, it was impossible, through their numbers and want of honesty, to adopt any other course. At first we endeavoured to explain to them that we wished all to come on board in turn ; but so far from entering into this view, those who were admitted and remained the whole day, would invariably be the first alongside on the following morning, and be the most clamorous and least satisfied of those not admitted. These disappointments at not being allowed on board, were re- taliated in one or two instances by parties landing and carrying away our driftwood collected in a stack on the spit near the ship ; this was found too laborious a revenge GE. APPENDIX. 423 n, and a prefer sit from . They len from ry satis- they re- ired very who was hich they ting arms ) imagino eemed to cept with [ily, being our stay ; nderstand 1 was tho tnpossible, idopt any in to them but so far admitted )e the first the most kd. These were re- ,nding and ick on the 1 a revenge for them, and fire was tried ; but, a boat being sent^ they pretended it was an accident, and did not repeat it. On the occasion of our cutting into winter quarters, our men being of necessity much spread about on the ice, and frequently surrounded by three times their number of natives, much caution was necessary to prevent the tools from being stolen, and many slight squabbles took place between our men and theirs in consequence of their play- ing them tricks and trying to trip them up. On these occasions they always selected those of our people who, from their appearance, were thought least likely to resent their jokes; but in some instances they found they had mistaken their men. Points of this sort were tho most difficult for a commanding officer to deal with, as it was not possible for him to prevent the provocation, and, when not resented, the motives were misunderstood. A more serious affiiir took place on board the ship ; the officer in charge, Mr. Hull, second master, in keeping back a large powerful man that attempted to force his way over the side, had a knife drawn on him by a friend of the other's on board the e'; f, who immediately called out for the women and childrv. i to retire. Mr. Simpson, the surgeon, was standing near, and very soon produced before the man with the knife one of Colt's revolving pistols, and explained to him the use of its six charges, which had the effect of keeping them very quiet for the remainder of the day. I met the women and children retreating over the ice ahead of the ship, and thought something must have happened, although they told me they were going home to dance. A chief arriving at the same time reassured the retreating party, when we explained to them that if they used knives we must use guns, but otherwise we wished to E E 4 r'' .1 I :;:l it 1 I I ' 424 DiacOVF.UY ok THK north west T'ASSAGK. I be good friends. Similar squabbles took place frequently Avhilst our men were employed building the storehouse ; knives were drawn as usual, and in two instances the women and children were sent away. This was a cause of ft good deal of anxiety with me, as our men, being un- armed, were very much at their mercy under such circum- stances, and in the event of arming them, more forbearance was necessary than some of them would have been found to possess, from the frequent provocations they had re- ceived in return for the usual kindness and good nature that characterise seamen. On giving the subject every consideration, and seeing that it must excite an unpleasant feeling for our men to have knives pointed at them without a means of defence being at hand, the quartermaster of the watch, and two petty officers of the party working on shore, were armed with pistols, but properly cautioned not to produce them unless under circumstances of necessity, as I hoped the mere knowledge of their having them would be sufficient. Of this we soon had an instance. One of them played off one of their usual practical jokes on one of our men by kicking him in the back of the knees when carrying a spar, for which he was rewarded with a blow on the face ; he then drew his knife, when the corporal of marines coming up, and being known to have a pistol, the offender ran away. These sort of annoyances continued as long as our men had work to do outside of the ship, and when the natives were collected in any numbers; the difference of character displayed by them when so, and the reverse, is worthy of remark. In the former case they are bolder and overbearing, and when meeting with parties, gather round them, and, apparently in a half playful way, commence shoving them about and K. APPENDIX. 42") uently house ; jea the \ cause ing un- Bircum- eai'ance 1 found bad re- nature t every pleasant without aster of •king on jned not ccessity, ig them instance, sal jokes c of the e warded vhen the to have loyances utside of in any by them In the nd when ►parently )out and feeling their clothes, when, if they fail in getting what they want given to them, they help themselves, and with their knives soon remove any buttons that happen to be bright. This was all done, and the offenders mixed up with the rest, enjoying the thing as a good joke, before our people could look round them. On the contrary, when they are in small numbers, they arc not like the same people, but seem quiet, harmless, inoffensive, and obliging ; but even while displaying these good qualities, should their numbers become increased, they lose no time in throwing off their assumed humility to join in any plunder going on. In landing our provisions, I was particularly careful to point out to the chief and other leading men that nothing was going on shore, the nature of which they could not see, except salt meat, which was really the case, and this I knew they would not eat if it was given them ; and on the day that all was landed, and the house locked, I showed them the carronade, pointed at it, and told them it was to keep thieves away, thinking that a show of pre- paration would have the effect of saving us from any attempt at robbery on their part ; but I have every reason to believe that some of those on board at the time were leaders in breaking into it three nights afterwards, when fortunately three small sails (ship's) were the only things they succeeded in taking away. A case of flour contained in tins, belonging to the officers, had been opened ; but not found to be tobacco, as anticipated, and not liking to go away empty handed, they had taken the sails. I was quite unprepared for this theft, which was effected in the night, notwithstanding a strict watch had been kept from the ship and the house was visited every hour, — as I had been told, by the officers of the ship acquainted with their Hi ¥ 1 II : ; 426 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. oliarncter, they would never attempt anything greater than pilfering small things lying about. This there was no remedy for, except keeping a good look-out. Now they had commenced on a largo scale, I had to consider the best mode of checking them before anything of a more serious nature should be attempted. A slight show of fire-arms, in the way of intimidation, in all our former cases, had the effect of restoring the stolen articles ; and with a view to the same effect, I had a small brass three-pounder mounted on a sledge, intending to threaten them with a visit if the sails were not returned. By the arrival of a native, who came every morning with dogs' food, we were informed that, during the time of sleep, some people had committed the robbery, showing plainly that the affair was well known at the settlement. Our people had in the meantime tracked them on the snow to within a short distance of it, when the sails had been opened and most probably divided. About 9 A.M. the chief came down, assuming a very determined air, with his musket slung across his shoulders, to offer his assistance, and go with us for the recovery of our sails ; but as he proposed leading us to Cape Smyth, where he said they had been taken, and stoutly denied their being at Point Barrow, his services were declined. I must mention here that this was the common excuse with them, when anything was stolen, they invariably pointed to Cape Smyth, and said the things had been taken there. It became so well understood at last that no notice was taken of it, particularly in the present instance. The chief, after some hesitation, came on board, when it was explained to him that we were quite aware where APl'ENDIX. 427 the sails were, and if they wcro not rcstoroil, I should take tho gun (which I showed him mounted) to their settlement to look for them ; at tho same time I tliought tho oppor- tunity of having his musket in my power too good a one to bo lost, and took possession of it, tolling him that when he had brought back everything that had been stolen from us, it would bo returned quite safe. This appeared to place him in a serious difficulty, and after repeating the Capo Smyth story a good many times, he returned to the town, and wo went on with our work as usual, intending to await the result of his interference. In about two hours he came again with some evasive story, that they were going to bring the sails down. He re- mained outside the ship evidently much disturbed, but not mistrustful; there were also a few others, women and children, and one sledge. We now observed with our glasses an unusual stir at the settlement. In the first place, some women and children were seen moving across the bay to Cape Smyth ; ; afterwards the men were seen advancing down towards the ship, in three single files, armed with their bows and arrows and quivers. I fancied at this time I saw spears also, but did not observe them afterwards. The leading men were discharging their arrows ahead of them as they advanced, picking them up again as they reached them, which satisfied me their visit was not friendly, and my mind was soon made up to keep them in check at the distance of musket range by firing over their heads, wishing above all things to avoid taking a life, unless under some urgent necessity. Our small force, forty-one in all, was placed under command of the ofiicers appointed to guard the gangways, poop, and forecastle ; and previous '. 'ii w'j jn f m i'l » 4M 'i P ' * i ! J '■■ i :■■ •■ '■ « i 428 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ^ !il ; ill to their getting within range, a blank charge was fired from our eighteen-pounder carronade, and the three- jjound brass gun, which had not the effect of dispersing them, as I expected, and when within musket range, we commenced firing over them from the forecastle. This had the effect of dispersing them under shelter of the spit about fifty yards from the ship's bows. At this time one of the chiefs, who had been on board frequently, and treated with every kindness, made a rush down ahead of the ship, followed at first by others ; but when he found the balls whistling over his head he dropped on his face to avoid them, running a few paces closer to the ship, threw down his bow and quiver containing seventeen arrows, four of them with bai'bed iron heads. This man had be- come very unpopular with the crew from some uncivil acts of his ; and I have been able to understand since, that although the order to fire over his head was carried out, this direction was very much infringed upon. A few now extended themselves under cover of the house, but as a constant fire was kept up in that direction, not many at- tempted to reach it, and a round-shot being fired so as to graze it, had the effect of dislodging them. At this time a false alarm, was given, that they were breaking down the house and carrying things away. I Avas on the fore- castle, and on hearing the report, ordered the man next me, a marine, to fire at a man then escaping from under cover of it, and from the sudden way he seemed to fall and kick out his legs, I thought he was killed. Immedi- ately afterwards the report was found to be correct, and no more shots were fired at them: and I had the satis- faction to find out that the man fired at (the only instance) was not killed. 3 ; J [ ff ♦.' jl f t JIWJI ft; ijf; i A m AITENDIX. 429 Aa the chief, who had been lying concealed under an ice hummock not far from the ship, and who I suppose now saw no chance of gaining an advantage over us with his numbers, showed himself and beckoned them back in a most energetic manner, causing a general retreat, and as our masthead afforded a commanding view, I was glad to find that they were all able to use their legs quite as well going home as they did coming out. Although this affair would give them a poor idea of us as marksmen, not appreciating our motives, I considered that some of them heard the ball sufficiently close to their eara not to wish for a repetition. Mr. Simpson, the surgeon, counted seventy-one, and allows himself to have overlooked ten ; he computes the number at eighty, besides several stragglers, a computation I consider as near as could be obtained. The chief, with another man, stayed about the ship for some time ; but as no compromise short of the immediate return of our stores was contemplated, he was not allowed to remain long. My having his gun was an advantage I could hardly have expected, and as its value to him was far greater than anything they had stolen from us, I was content to wait the result of his interference, in the mean- time not allowing any of them within gunshot until every- thing was returned. On the following clay we had a pacific message, to the effect that they were all asleep that day, but on the next all our things would be brought down. They had not left the spot they had advanced to, when I took a party away from the ship to try the range of the gun in a sledge, and to find how it would answer. I was glad they saw us manoeuvring it, and as they still remained after motion- I im M !t |i n f 1 1~ i 1'! > 1! IV iin i: 430 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. ing them to go away, a musket was fired wide of them ns a hint to be off and report what they had seen, which I hoped would have the effect of quickening their move- ments, in returning our sails. At 7 A. M. on the follow- ing day, the chief, with seven natives, and a sledge, brought down the sails, — a main topmast staysail, and mizen trysail, and a boat's cover, all much worn and of no importance to us ; but the act was t!ie same, and required checking, lest other things we might feel the loss of should be stolen also. I was told the party seemed in evident trepidation. The sails had been cut into several pieces, adapted in size for their u-mi-aks* sails, and had been served out amongst the party. This would account for the difficulty the chief had in getting them returned, without having a slight brush for them previously. All the pieces were most ingeniously drawn together by the women, who had been employed the previous day and night about them, which occasioned the day's delay in their being returned. As it was necessary, while we were settling matters, to have a full restitution of everything stolen from the ship and boats since our arrival, a careful inquiry was made to find out every missing article ; and as these included almost all the ironwork of the launch, which had been cut almost to pieces, in the most vexatious way, while turned bottom up on the adjacent island, I was the more disposed to push this point. When the full extent was known, the chief was acquainted that everything must be returned previous to his getting his gun, or the natives al- lowed to come near the ship. He then left and returned next morning with every missing article, when his gun was restored to him, and the natives came about us as usual. I had the curiosity to examine the charge of his gun whilst APPENDIX. 431 it was in our hands, and found it as well loaded with ball as we could have done it ourselves, although he had previ- ously told us he had no ammunition. I made him a small present of tobacco for his trouble, as I believe he was not a partaker in the robbery, and I gave one of his wives a knife, as she had been very industrious in putting the sails together. He made us understand that he had been obliged to use his knife, as well as his authority, to compel some of the thieves to give up their share of the booty. I was glad to have got the upper hand of them without any further trouble on our part, as, independent of the more important motives before mentioned, our own travelling parties might be seriously inconvenienced from being at variance with them. Notwithstanding these considerations, it is most neces- sary for our preservation with such a people, to establish respect from them by a moderate resistance upon any undue encroachment on their part. Had we not been employed on a service essentially of peace, I should have taken a party up to their settlement in the way of retaliation, on finding they had broken into our store. I am not certain that it would not have been the better plan in the present case, as kindness and forbearance are not understood by them ; particularly after being fired upon once or twice without receiving any injury, they are likely to form an erroneous opinion as to the power of fire-arms, many of the present party, including the chief, being the same who followed Com- mander PuUen so pertinaciously along the Return Reef of Sir John Franklin, when the system of avoiding firing at them was adopted until the last extremity, and with '^ i^ i! if I H: i ■f. 'I iii Jii I it ill I I iii 432 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. the same good fortune in not sacrificing any lives. As an instance of their ingratitude, I found many who were en- gaged in the robbery of the house were of those who had been allowed on board every day, and had received consider- able presents with the view of making friends of them in the event of our requiring a kindness in return. Whilst our misunderstanding was unsettled, a further enclosure was marked out to include the ship, house, and observatory. Bound this a stout hawser was supported on small triangles, and in no instance during the remainder of our stay was this boundary, which necessity had given us good excuse for establishing, allowed to be infringed upon. A few troublesome characters, such as will be found in all large communities, gave annoyance occasionally for a month or two, by shoving each other purposely inside the boundary, when, finding their tricks provoked hard blows, little more trouble was given in this way. Our intercourse from this time went on more smoothly, and the Esquimaux, feeling themselves in error, seemed to make many friendly overtures to regain our esteem. Some of these consisted in bringing down their tambourines alongside, and dancing and singing in large numbers. In this they had, in some degree, anticipated my intentions, as the oflScers were at the same time engaged in printing a notice for the lower deck of a " Native Dance," intended to be given in three days' time, with the view of showing them we bore no ill-will, and wished for a friendly inter- course ; and as it was to be the commencement of our winter festivities, and headed " Great Novelty," it had the desired effect of producing amusement amongst the crew. At 4 P. M., October the 28th, our visitors were admitted, APPENDIX. 433 I to the number of seventy. After they were made to scat themselves round the deck, the entertainment commenced by serving each with a little tobacco ; then our musical in- struments (a violin, cornopean, drum, and triangle) played a livL'ly air, which caused a general exclamation of wonder and pleasure, must of the party now hearing them for the first time. Tliis was followed by a request for them to dance ; and being supplied with a drum, they willingly complied. Our seamen danced in their turn ; and in a little time the natives entered fully into the spirit of tlie amuse- ment, stripping off their skin coats and dancing naked to the waist, with the temi)erature at + 6°, showing the state of excitement they work themselves into, as the male performers shout in a wild triumphant manner, and all the lookers on join in a chorus and become as much ex- cited as the performers : their appearance makes a scene as savage as can be well imagined. By 10 p. M. the party broke up, all appearing to have had dancing enough ; the whole company seemingly pleased with their evening's amusement. When we came to take down a few flags that were hung under the housing for ornament, it was vexing to find several large pieces cut out of them as if in liandful-". The chief and some others remaining appeared sorry, and promised the pieces should be returned, which was faithfully done the next morning. On the following day I paid a visit to the village, accompanied by Mr. Simpson, the surgeon. We were followed by several idlers from about the ship, who, as we neared the huts, spread the report of our arrival, which soon caused a grejit crowd to gather round us following to the chief's hut, where we found him on his housetop ready to receive us. The winter huts were now covered with snow j F F r'\ I; I k[l i:*4 431: DISCOVKKY OF TIIK KOJITII-WKST TASSAGK. the chief's stood about five feet above the grouncl, with a square opening at one end, into which we followed through a low dark passage sloping downwai-ds for five or six yards, when we stood beneath the opening in the floor of the inhabited part of the hut. It is circular in form, just large enough to admit one person at a time. Passing through it, we stood ui)on a smooth boarded floor, about 16 ft. by 10 ft.; the roof was seven feet high, and in tho centre was a small square skylight, covered with trans- parent whale membrane. The transition from the daylight and glare to the darlr passage was sudden, and in some degree prepared our eyes for taking in at the first glance the appearance within. We were placed in the centre of the hut ; the chief, with a wife on each side of him, sat opposite to us. There were four or five young men, and two women with children, lying about the floor, all nuked to the waist, the children perfectly so. The first breath of the interior was rather offensive, but we soon got accustomed to it ; and as the temperature was already high, being followed by a number of men whom it seemed impossible to accommodate in so small a space, it soon became insuf- ferably hot, when the temperature was easily reduced by cutting a hole through the skylight, which made a very agreeable and necessary change in the air we were breathing. Our visit seemed to give great satisftiction, and was commenced with a smoke, according to the method of doing everything. For the remainder of the time, about an hour, I endeavoured to find out from them how far the nearest winter settlement of natives was east of this place, with the view of conunuulcating with them ,JC^ -A M. APPENDIX. 135 with a hrougU or six lie floor 11 form, Passinjj; •, nbout cl in tlio 1 trans- the darlr irecl our pcaranco :ho hut; >posite to women 1 to the h of the customed ;h, being m possible me insuf- reduced 1 made a L' we were and was 3 method the time, them how ?as east of with them before the severity of the winter set in ; but I could not make out anything very clear from them. Wc have a 2;reat difficulty in making them understand that our business is not bartering, as their ideas do not extend beyond that, although, from our constant repetition, they api)car to be aware that we are waiting for two ships tliat have gone far away into the ice. The chief's was the only house we visited; and, returning across the bay to the ship, wc were accompanied by a young man and a boy ; who talked a great deal more than we could understand ; but the former, in explaining to us the sort of tobacco that had been given him on board a ship, twisting his fingers together to describe American twist, or negrohead, led us, in his de8crii)tion of the vessel, to believe it might have been the "Investigator" or "Enterprise," leaving the ice this last season, but we were afraid of giving way to our credulity in supposing it to be either of them. As they willingly acconii)anied us on board, I was glad to avail myself of Lieutenant Vernon's knowledge of the language to sift their story more thoroughly. He allowed tlicm, most patiently, to describe all they had seen, in their own way, and eventually ascertained that the ship they were on board of had diagonal decks, and an ice- chock larger than the " Plover's." The illuminators in the deck they remarked were square ; these are the points that seem to have caught their attention, and were suffi- cient to show that they had been on board one or other of the ships ; but when the captain was described as wearing spectacles. Captain CoUinson was identified. The remain- ing point of importance was, that she was gone to the eastward the summer before last (1851), agreeing with the time the "Enterprise" passed. In the spring F F 2 ll ! I '^ I! m 480 DiscovF.nv ov tiik xortii-wkst passage. h' ' of tins year T stooil on the point from which she had been boarded, with tlic native who gave this information. It is Cape Governor Simpson, and forms the western point of Smyth's Bay, distant about fo»ty-five miles to the eastward of Point Barrow. The "Enterprise" seems to have been delayed off it with li};ht winds, but on a breeze springing up she was lost sight of to the eastward. Two u-nii-aks got alongside of her, and the pcojde speak with pleasure of the presents they received : and it is worthy of notice that a particular hind of tobacco, with which we know the "Enterprise" to have been provided, led to a voluntary description of their having boarded a ship, affording more information in a few minutes than all our inquiries of the chiefs and others in several months had done. After some experience with them, we found more in- formation was obtained by casual observations of their own, brought about by something they might happen to see or have shown them, than by asking direct questionn, as it seems difficult to lead their thoughts from the passing events around them. On the evening of the 5th November, the crew had a little recreation with the immolation of Guy Fawkes; and the natives, being told that he was a " l>ig thief," were at great pains to get an opportunity of expressing indivi- dually that they were not thieves, which was very amusing, and seemed as if they expected to be treated similarly. The ceremony concluded with a rocket, on which they re- tired to a distance in dismay, and were evidently much impressed with the whole proceeding. They were after- wards gratified with a dance on board, which seemed to restore their confidence, and closed the amusements for the day. 'tiwt'tri^MiHWM'; I ir.. ai'1'i:ni)1x. 437 id been . It is )oint of nstwnvd to linve i breeze 1. Two c speak nd it is >co, with provided, oarded a i tlian all mtlis lia*l more in- of their appcn to luestions, e passing ew had a kes; and ' were at hff indivi- amusing, similarly. 1 they re- itly much ere after- seemed to iits Cor the As some of the crew had expressed a wish to sec the Esquimaux village, and understanding there had been an invitation from one of the chiefs to witness a dance, I gave eight men leave on the afternoon of the 2l8t of No- vember, All went well with them until one of our party, a quarter-master, who had been obliged to handle one of the natives rather roughly on his attempting to force his way into the observatory, was recognised by his old anta- gonist, who became furious with passion, and immediately attacked him, but was prevented by others from using his knife. He then endeavoured to get some of our people to his hut, who, seeing he had some weapon concealed in his sleeve, declined, when several of the Ei^quimaux hustled and tripped up our men, who still had [trotectors suffi- cient amongst the crowd to bring them away in safety. One man, the carpenter's mate, who by some means got left by his companions, was seized round the arms by two men, whilst the man who attacked the quarter-master jacked his pockets of some tobacco and beads he had taken with hiin for the kind purpose of distributing amongst them. The chief was very much put out by the aifair, and tried to get some of our people to his hut ; his great aim being to get gunpowder, I suppose he fancied this dis- play of feeling would not be favourable to his wishes. After this attempt at a friendly intercourse, we all ceased going to the village for upwards of two months ; when, seeing no inclination on the part of the men to renew their visit, I found if we pursued the system of holding back, a valuable opportunity would be lost of acquiring a knowledge of their habits which it would be interesting to become acquainted with ; and for this purpose the officers again went occasionally to the settlement, taking care to F r 3 V :i'i ' 438 DISCOVKRY OF TIIK NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. go with Bomc influential man, who kept nway those in- clined to be troubk'sonie. This was ngnin very soon put a stop to, by our not allowing the ninn to come to the ship who had behaved so badly when our men were at the huts; and in enforcing this measure we went near to having another affray with them. He had been to the ship several times since the occurrence took place, and on being told, always went away. On the occasion in question, he evidently intended to remain and to get up a disturbance, if possible. The chief, who was on board, seeing this, went outside and tried to get him away, to no avail, and another chief tried also. The title of " chief" given hero is merely nominal, as, in a community where every man has to provide for his own wants, the most industrious, bold, and successful hunter becomes, from the property he possesses, of more Consideration than those not possessing those qualities ; but this does not extend beyond his own boat's crew or hunting party for the time being. Seeing this man was resolved to remain whether we pleased or not, I thought it neces- sary to have our own way as to who should visit the ships or who not, and as his conduct was well known to his coimtrymen, and condenilied by many of them, his case was a good one to enforce. The great objection to any sort of disturbance was the difficulty of making the well- disposed understand our motives, or the separation of one from the rest as bad; and these cases rarely occurred, except when they were collected in large numbers, whiclii made them imagine they could do as they pleased. While the altercation was going on outside, the natives on board, of whom there were several, began to leave the sliip, although most of them had been visitors and declared AITKNTTX. 439 friends, without, ns it nppcnrcd, possessing nny confidence in us. I then directed Lieutenant Vernon to p;o out, and (Mice more tell him to go away. Tlic natives thinking he was the lender of an attacking party, two-thirds of the men, and all the women and children, walked straight away for the village, leaving the bad character in tho niinority, which ho had sufficient tact to dit^oovcr, and followed the others, when quietness was again restored ; and those who had made such a hasty retreat out of tho ship were now anxious to return ai^ain, but others were chosen in prefcrcnco, from those who had remained as spectators, and were apparently indifferent. The crew were at dinner at the time ; and they were not disturbed, as our state, with regard to arms, is one of constant readiness. The chief afterwards told me vci'y impressively not to go to the village ; a privation very little felt per- sonally, but showing the absence of control on the part of the chiefs, when our being at variance with one individual of bad character put an end to friendly communication between us and a wliole tribe. He continued to make us visits at intervals of two or three days; but when, to put a stop to tliem, on one occa- aion Lieutenant Vernon had, with great good nature and patience, walked with him a considerable distance from the sliip, and left him to return, he followed him back leisiu'cly, when I saw there was no means of dealing with him by kindness, and ordered two marines with muskets, outside on the ice, to prevent his further advance to the ship. On seeing them he seemed to fly into a great state of excite- ment, and presented his breast to be fired at, when one or two well-disposed individuals took him away, and he did not repeat his visits again for some time; when, being told r F -I ' I u < i I ; It [. ! i •410 niscovr.RY of tiik nortii-wkst passaok. by the cliicfa tliiit lie was now good, I was glad of an op- l)orttmlty to come to terms with him, seeing that dii: i Ml ■ 1 1 ' p i "' * 1 1 '1' 1 i i in I jii: : 1 1 y i i ' ik i 450 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. in hand. The articles and system of bartering appear to be as described by Sir John Franklin, but I think later Avriters on the subject have supposed that Russian goods find their way to the north coast from posts on tlie Col- villc, which we have not been able to verify. This tribe receives Russian (Siberian) articles from the Point Hope people, previously alluded to, which they convey to the eastward and exchange for English knives procured from the Hudson's Bay posts; but there is no intermediate supply from the Russians that we could hear of. The journey east from the Colville takes them ten days, which they describe as being made always against the wind; and the return to Point Barrow from Point Berens occupies little more than two, while they sleep in their boats, and allow them to drift before the wind; this would make it appear that easterly winds must be very prevalent in the early part of August. Mr. Simpson, who has taken much pains to inform himself on the subject, considers the 25th of July the time of their departure from the Colville; this has been further established by the fact of the party who attacked Commander Pullcn on the 9th of August at Return Reef being then on their return from Barter Island. The time of their annual visit never differs probably three days, as we have found them generally as accurate in that way as if they were acquainted with dates. From this information it may be concluded that the Esquimaux make one-third of their summer journeys by carrying their boats over the ice, — before a ship or her boats become available, which gives them a season so much longer, at a time when the weather is very favourable ; this will have been pointed out to them by necessity, from the shortness of the season of open water, . '^'ii i !'!i|i |igni OT!B > i iw i ua «i g» -- \0E. appear to link later ian goods n the Col- This tribe oint Hope rey to the cured from itermcdiato ! of. The lays, which wind; and ns occupies their boats, this would ry prevalent ho has taken lonsiders the thcColville; of the party of August from Barter icvcr differs m generally acquainted je concluded leir summer ice,— before gives them a ather is very to them by open water, APPENDIX. 451 which, if they confined themselves to, it would limit their excursions to a very short range. Their return for the winter takes place, as we have seen, about the 10th of September, and seems to end their labours for the year. Two days after receiving the above information, May 20th, a native man was observed outside the ship wearing n small canvass bng with an address written on it, — " To the Chief Trader of the Hussian settlement, N. America," — which caused considerable curiosity on our parts; and on making further inquiries he told us he had the paper in his hut that was originally in it, on which he was despatched with the promise of a largo reward of tobacco if he brought it to the ship. Some hours afterwards he returned with two torn pieces of paper, complaining that his little girl had destroyed the rest; fortunately, the most important part was preserved, which has been enclosed. This inform- ation is so far satisfactory, as it shows Commander M'Clurc to have been making his passage along shore, which has been further confirmed by natives here, who were on board the " Investigator " at Point Berens or Return Reef, where they describe her to have had an easterly wind with no ice in sight. The " Enterprise," it has been mentioned, was visited the year following not so far to the eastward by eighty miles. From these positions it is reasonable to infer they had not again communicated with the shore to the west- ward of the Mackenzie, as the natives of this place, who are in yearly communication with the Esquimaux who frequent the mouth of that river, have, to our repeated inquiries as to whether they had heard if the ships had been seen by the other people, answered they have not, or they would have heard of it. It will give some idea of the difficulty G G 2 III \i I' 452 DISCOVEUY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. of making the Esquimaux comprehend the meaning of our notions, when it ia considered the *' Investigator " had an interpreter on board, who will have explained the object of the letter given by Commander M'Clure, and we had been eight months constantly making inquiries for such things, and endeavouring to explain our business here, without tho individual charged with the paper knowing what it was for ; and if the canvass bag had not been found useful, its contents would never ha'T been known. In order to impress iq)i>n them the value of such things as papers and messages, I gave tho man a 'considerable present of tobacco, very much to his surpri&j and that of his companions, which had the effect of producing an old American song book, the only article of paper remaining in their possession. I have r.ow to mention the occurrence of a native man being shot by accident, which at the time caused us con- siderable trouble and uneasiness, but eventually I have had reason to believe it was viewed by most of tho Esquimaux in its true light. On the morning in question, June 8th, the quarter- master of the watch, David Dunstall, came into my cabin, and informed me he had had a dreadful misfortune, and, to my horror, that he had shot a native alongside the shii), and on hurrying outside I found the man was shot through the head, and must have died instantaneously. The man who had been the cause of the unlooked-for event showed by his manner that it had been an accident; and, upon making some further inquiries, I found that several natives had arr /ed .alongside the ship previous to the time they were allowed, and although desired on that account to go away several times, they could not be .G12. APPENDIX. 453 (T of our " had an object of had been jh things, thout the at it was useful, its ich things jusiderablo ,nd that of jing an old remaining native man sed us con- lUy I have aost of the le quarter- my cabin, rtune, and, ongside the ■n was shot intaneously. inlooked-for in accident; found that previous to ired on that luld not be induced to do so, and the quatcr-mnstcr of the watch took out a fowling-piece in hid hand, in order to frighten them, and when motioning with it for them to go away, it went off and lodged the contents of the barrel in the back ])art of the poor man's head. The remainder of the party, five or six, ran away so speedily that there was no means of overtaking them, and the body being left, it became necessary to consider the best means of disjwsing of it. We soon afterwards removed it to such a distance from the ship that the natives could advance to it without fear of us, and at the same time it gave no pretext for their coming any nearer to the ship. Wlicn this had been done, and a large quantity of tobacco left with the body as an intima- tion of our friendsliip, all that we could do was to hope that some of our friends amongst them would still have sufficient confidence to come down and give us an oppor- tunity of explaining this affair. In this expectation we were not disappointed, as two of the chief men came to the ship at once, having, before leaving the settlement, exerted their influence to quiet the people in their first outbreak. One of these men, who was remai'kable for his intelligence, was made to comprehend the possibility of such an accident; and great pains were taken to show him that the charge was shot intended for birds not men. When this impression was established, we requested them to go back and explain it to the people. By the time they had arrived at the place where the body had been left, a great many had collected, amongst them the wife and friends of the unfortunate deceased, but who, I was glad to find, had left no children. They sat round, and appeared deeply engaged in conversation for about two hours, listening, as wc supposed, to the explanation ; then G Ci 3 1! ! I i : ' ^ I 454 DISCOVERY OF THE NOHTII-WEST PASSAOE. they sccmcil to cxamino tho body, and hia own dccr-skins having been brought down, lie was wrapped in them and placed on a eledgc, which was drawn by hia wife leading and four men, one following, acroaa tho bay to tho cemetery, near Point Barrow. None of tho othera ac- companied tiic procession. A few of them came as usual alongside the ship, but as they were for tho most part of those known not to bo friendly to us, our people were kept on board to avoid any treacherous retaliation. During the day I was gratified to find the wives of tho principal chiefs came on board, and expressed their sorrow nt the absence of their husbands, who were at the open water looking after whale; but they had been sent for, and were coming on board as soon as tlyjy returned. Tliey told us also that all work was stopped for five days, tho women not being allowed to sew for that tinjc, which seems to be a general custom on the occasion of any deaths, and remarked that we ought not to have any hammering on board for tho same time; and as I was anxious to show every sympathy in our power, the caulkers at work outside were ordered to cease work, and the ensign hoisted half-mast, tho meaning of which was explained and understood by them. In the evening one of the chiefs who had been first down after the accident visited us with his wife, and brought the intelligence that a division existed in camp as to revenging themselves on us, but, as the chiefs were unwilling to favour it, it seemed probable nothing of the sort would be attempted. However, proper precautions were taken to avoid any surprise, particularly as a thick fog at the time of sleep favoured such a design. On tho following day the four chiefs, with their wives, APPENDIX. 455 came on board, when, with the aasiatancc of the ofliccra the whole nfTuir was again cxpln.incd, which ihcy accmcd to coinprchenil, anil appeared to entertain no fear of going below n8 usual when asked. Wo were quite aware of their inability to control individuals, but they havo to a certain degree a good deal of sway, and recommended us to make presents to all the people who lived in the samo house as the deceased, and cautioned us not to stray away from the neighbourhood of the ship, as the feeling of n great many of them was uncertain. On their leaving they were made presents, and desired to bring the house party to the ship at the expiration of five days, the time they strictly confine themselves to the house, and I believe are seldom intruded upon. They arrived at the ship in duo time, numbering as many as ten, accompanied by the chiefs. The widow was young, and seemed in unaffected grief, which the large presents she received did not dissipate ; but time and a continual course of kindness on our parts brought her to forget her loss so far that eho regretted to mc, and I believe in sincerity, the thoughts of the ship going away. Our intercourse from this time, as might bo expected, could not be conducted with the samo satisfaction it had previously been, although no trouble or inconvenience was spared to do away with their unfavour- able impression. The views they entertained of the case very much assisted a reconciliation, as they had no idea of any such thing as a general control existing amongst us ; the act was set down as purely an individual one, and the whole fault of it attributed to the man as an act of his own, while they seemed to consider the remainder not in any way concerned in it. About fourteen days after the occurrence a large o o 4 i 11 ^11 !l 4 l| 1 ! 456 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH- WEST PASSAGE. 4 »l collection of people had assembled at Point Barrow to Avitness some dancing festival previous to setting out to the eastward. A party from Cape Smyth afterwards endeavoured to get up an united force to attack tlie ship, without being able to succeed. However, the chief and a good many of the Point Barrow people wishing to make a merit for which to be rewarded, of their not joining our enemies, I was obliged to tell them that I should be very sorry if the people came down with bows to the ship again, but if they did, a good many would be killed. This appears to have put an end to it, as we were next told of the departure of the hostile party, and were not troubled with any more reports of that description. We now watched with some anxiety the preparations for the departure of the natives, as the time was approach- ing for the departure of our boats for Cape Lisburne, and their transit over the ice could not be effected without some risk of interruption until the numbers of the natives became decreased, so that we were much pleased to see them in a state of forwardness. On July 4th they commenced leaving, and continued to follow for three successive days. Each party halted to sleep near the ship to have an opportunity of begging from us till the last moment, and as I had prepared some printed papers for them to dis- tribute among the eastern Esquimaux at Barter Island, they were treated with every indulgence ; and those entrusted with the printed papers received a present of tobacco, some buttons, prepared in England, bearing information concerning the Arctic search, and some other small trifles to keep them reminded of their charge, which ihey faithfully promised to pass on. I redeemed a .11 lGE« APPENDIX. 457 )l irrow to 2 out to ^oured to )ut being [ many of merit for neraies, I L-ry if the n, but if xppears to d of the bled with eparations approach- purne, and lOut some 03 became them in ommenccd sive days. have an ment, and jin to dis- er Island, \nd those n-esent of bearing onie other r charge, deemed a long-made promise to the chief, giving him some gun- powder. I think it had a good effect, by showing we had no fear of them ; and I was fully aware he had a sufficient quantity for mischievous purposes, as his gun, when in our possession, we found well loaded with ball-cartridge. I accompanied one party a short distance on their journey to see if I could gain any useful hints for our own boats. The " oo-mi-aks " were secured on small sledges, and seemed to be easily drawn by three people. The principal part of their barter (whale-blubber and seal-oil) was carried on small truck-sledges, drawn by the women and dogs, the men seeming to confine themselves to the charge of the boats ; but at lanes of water and different passes they mutually assist each other. The rate of travelling whilst moving was expeditious, but they made frequent halts to smoke, and before I left them, although near their place of encampment, they ate a hearty meal. Between the 4th and 7th of July, as many as twenty- seven to thirty " oo-mi-aks," accompanied by ^ 50 people, passed to the eastward, much to our satisfaction, as it left us with comparatively few to trouble us in our prepara- tions for sending away the boats. On the 7 th I made an excursion across the bay to observe the state of the sea-ice, and walked two miles to the westward in the offing without being able to get a glimpse of open water in any direction from the highest hummock. This made me form the idea of taking the boats over the ice to the southward until we fell in with it. On the morning of the 9th I left the ship with the gig and whale-boat intended for Cape Lisburne. They were placed on two strong sledges drawn by their own crews and officers. Lieutenant Vernon and Mr. Gordon (mate). ■■■!l' *J 458 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. .11} ; .'ii ;: i ;r assisted by an auxiliary party of ten, including myself and the carpenter, making up twenty in all. Thirty- four days' provisions for the boats' crews, clothing, am- munition, &c. were carried on two native sledges drawn by dogs, a third conveying provisions for the auxiliary party. Parts of the transit over the ice were attended with difficulty, and the whole was very laborious, re- quiring the utmost strength of all the parties, assisted at times by natives, and for two days by a strong and favourable breeze, enabling us to make sail on the boats, which lightened the labour very much. Travelling to the southward for three days, the open water appeared within two miles of the beach at what seemed a most eligible place for launching the boats. I walked, ac- companied by Lieutenant Vernon, to the open water, but the hummocks intervening seemed to offer too great an obstacle to the transit ; however on the following morning, July 12th, as the weather was favourable, I decided to attempt it, and succeeded in launching the boats safely at noon. They soon after shoved off with a favourable breeze, which they held for eight hours only. On the 15th, whilst calculating on the progress they might have made, a party of people were observed coming down at 8 o'clock in the evening, tracking an "oo-mi-ak," and on making out some of our people amongst them our astonishment was so great we could hardly believe our eyes. I went without loss of time to meet them, not in a very agreeable state of mind; but when I counted the full number of the party I was comparatively easy. It appears that on the night of the 13th, finding the ice closing on them, they managed to get the boats on to the floe, and fancied themselves safe although drifting to the ■'.'t'ii.fi'iauu^ >^' APPENDIX. 459 northward. The ice continued to press in towards the land, crushing the floe and piling it up to nearly twenty feet in height ; and at length the floe gave way beneath them, and the gig was partly filled with pieces and could not be vvithdrawn further towards the land. The whaler, a lighter boat, was also stove ; and as she could not be brought further, the whole party were obliged to make the best of their way to the shore before the ice should ease off, as it seemed inclined to do, and leave them on detached pieces. Fortunately the danger, so imminent, was of that slow though overwhelming nature that they had time to provide themselves with three days' preserved meats, and their arms and ammunition, with which they were enabled to reach the ship. I have forwarded Lieutenant Vernon's journal, which will show their Lordships how that officer and his companion, Mr. Gordon, acquitted themselves on the occasion ; and I have much satisfaction in mentioning the high terms in which he spoke of the conduct of the crews, not a man of whom expressed his opinion until they had decided on deserting the boats, when from their manner ho concludes they thought it high time; and he further describes them as obedient, cool, and intrepid from the commencement of the danger until their return on board. The loss of the ship's boats was a heavy misfortune ; but when it was considered the whole party had found their way safely to the ship, we were too much rejoiced to give a look of regret after the boats, which could not have been saved. Two days after the return of the boat party I had serious thoughts of despatching another in a native " oo-mi-ak," to keep our appointment at Cape Lisburne ; but on weighing the matter maturely, I gave up the idea. in i /) 460 DiscovEuy of the north-west passage. ft- ' f r 'in m as by no means In our power could it reach the rendezvous by the appointed time ; and as the ship would be obliged to wait for the return of the party, the delay would render it impossible to regain this place as a winter station, in the event of its being so ordered. With these con- siderations, and a present prospect of an early release, I thought it better not to divide our small force at a time when the services of every one would be required to extricate the ship, and to take the earliest opportunity of going to the south in order to recruit the health of the ship's company. As early as July 25lh we were enabled to swing the ship for local attraction ; and the ice having cleared away for a considerable space in our neighbourhood, we moved into the fairway to be ready for the first opening in the offing. The natives brought us a report this morning that our deserted boats had been seen drifted near the shore at the Sea Horse Islands, and their contents made a prize of by a small party, who succeeded in bringing the gig to the land. On our passage down, beating close along shore, some natives brought the shell of the boat off, exchanging her readily for a native " oo-mi-ak " wc had provided our- selves with in the mean time. In watching the dissolution of the bay ice, we had flattered ourselves this season was fourteen days before the last, which it really was in the thinness of the ice ; but from the absence of strong winds it remained sta- tionary, at a time when the sea was open the preceding year. Every day at this period (the end of July) seemed to effect a marked change in the ice, and on the 30th a perceptible motion to the northward was observed in some SE. APPENDIX . 461 dezvoua obliged 1 render ition, in ;se con- ilcase, I it a lime ttlred to tunity of h of the ving the red away e moved IS in the that our )re at the ize of by ig to the ng shore, :changing ided our- , we had ,ys before the ice; aincd star- preceding y) seemed he 30th a 5d in some of the heavy hummocks in the offing, and a lane of water sufficient for the ship was found by Mr. Hull (second master), whom I sent to observe the state of the ice to seaward. In consequence of this report I set out in a boat on the following day to trace its extent, preparatory to moving the ship, and to sound along shore to find how close we could approach in case of necessity. Everything seemed favourable to our purpose, and I fully expected to return in the evening and get under weigh ; but on approaching Cape Smyth I had the mortification to find the lane of water terminate so close to the shore that a native " oo-mi-ak " could not have passed. This was one of the disappointments of ice navigation, which teaches one patience, and requires to be borne with, in addition to others we are liable to, even under favourable circum- stances. From the 1st to the 6th of August an officer was sent each day to Cape Smyth, to bring the earliest intelligence of any change in our favour; but each day brought the same unwelcome report, that the ice was still close with the shore, and no open water to be seen. It seems a strange complaint in these latitudes, but the fineness of the present season was the cause of our detention. During the month of July the wind was registered one day from five to six in force ; for four days four ; and the remaining twenty-six barely averaged two, proving the extreme of fine weather to be a greater obstacle in moving masses of ice than the reverse state of it. On the 7 th, a fresh breeze from the eastward gave me some hopes of a change in our favour ; and on visiting Cape Smyth I observed a narrow lane of water extending •if :i 462 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. as far as the eye could reach to the southward. On getting on board at eight p. m., we left our anchorage, where we had found shelter for eleven months and four days, seven days later in the season than Captain Parry had been enabled to leave Melville Island. Wo carried a favourable breeze for eight hours, and had made con- siderable progress, when the wind shifted to S. \V., with thick weather and heavy rain, which made it difficult to avoid coming in contact with the ice, from the nt. rrowness of the channel we had to beat in. A continuation of thick weather and light contrary winds on the following day prevented our making any progress ; and in the afternoon, finding we were losing ground, I made fast to a large floe- piece, when we found the drift to be one mile an hour, cast, being very nearly in the opposite direction to our course. After a few hours we were enabled to cast off, on a light wind springing up from the northward, and run along shore to the S. W. ; but the ice had become gradu- ally closer during the few hours of westerly winds, and we had much difficulty in picking our way during the night, as a thick fog prevailed. On the following morning, August 9th, the outer edge of the land floe in th*? depth of Peard bay was found to extend unbroken from the land to a distance of nine miles, and the ice outside seemed too close to offer us a passage in the desired direction ; but as the wind was fresh and favourable, 'the ship was forced into open water by ten a.m., having sustained some severe but unavoidable shocks in doing so. I was now anxious to keep close in with the land, in order to stop any boats that might be making their way to Point Barrow in con- sequence of our failing to reach Cape Lisburne ; and at two P.M., in passing the Sea Horse Islands, we got into tE. APPENDIX. 463 d. On 3, where ir days, rry had irricd a lie con- V., with fficult to rrownesa of thick ring day fternoon, irge floe- an hour, 1 to our cast oiF, and run le gradu- nds, and iring the morning, depth of the land emed too but as as forced ne severe V anxious any boats w in con- ; and at got into tliree fathoms in endeavouring to close the shore for the purpose of sending a boat to put up a mark, which we were not able to accomplish, as the wind was found to blow rather on shore, and was too strong to admit of the ship lying off and on with safety. I accordingly bore up to run for Cape Lisburne, and on the following day, August 10th, at eleven a.m., communicated with Her Majesty's Ship " Amphitrite," Captain Frederick, from whom I received their Lordships' orders directing me to remain at Point Barrow, but the health of the crew would have prevented my doing so had I received the order previous to leaving; and as there seemed no dif- ficulty in returning during the present season, I repaired in company with the " Amphitrite " to Port Clarence, to await the arrival of the " Rattlesnake," and to obtain the changes found necessary in the crew, with an increased supply of provisions and fuel for another year. Our return seemed the more necessary as their Lord- ships' instructions direct provisions to be left in the neighbourhood of Point Barrow, which I had not done, considering at the time I left it was probable I should return. A reference to Sir. E. Belcher's instructions relative to the north coast seemed also to make it desirable that the " Plover " should return to the station she was known to occupy by that officer, in the event of any of his parties advancing with the certain hope of succour at Point Barrow. RocHFORT Maguire, Commander. Her Majesty's Ship "Plover." Port Clarence, 21st August, 1853. THE END. f' ^1 > L Me London; Printed by Spottiswoodb & Co., Now-f treeU Square. :?i; j : % » i i^ i ■ ■, ■ 1 li ^ H j ;.i\: 1 ■ u '■ A: Ba; ; Cafr I Ceci Loui Low Arts, A] Arnr Bout Driin ( Chcv Fuiff GwiM Harft Ani Trerri Huni] Jamei KSnifl 7.ou(l( MncD Mnljn Mosfli Ptesse Kichai Scrivei Stark'! Steam- Ure'i I Young Blogra Arnffo (( Ro(len( Duikin DuiiKi-r Clintor Cock ay Dennis ForsttT Fulchfi Ilarfori Hay dor Ha viva I Holcrof Lardnei Maunde Memoir Memoir Merirali Rogers *i RusRelP *t St. John Southey Stephen Sydney t Taylof'H ^AtiTtOI M' heel IT Books Acton's I " C Black's T Cabinet ( ^ " ] Caat's Fni Qilbart's Hints on How to N Hudson's ^ " Of Kcsteven' Gardner's Loudon's nion - Maunder') J^ t U8T of WORKS in GENERAL LITERATURE, rUBLISHBD BY Messrs. LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, and ROBERTS, 39, PATBBKOSTEB BOW, LONDON. CLASSIFIED INDEX. Agrlcniture Affairs and Rural Pagfi. Biyldon on VaUilnf? Renti, Ac, - 4 Calrd's I.ettert on Agriculture - fl CecH'i Stud Farm . - - 6 Loudon'a Affricullure - - - 13 Low'i Elements of Agriculture - 13 and Arts. Manufactures, Architecture. Arnoll on Ventilation - - - 3 Bourne on the Screw rropeiler - 4 Urtinde'i Dictionarv of Sr[fnce,v%c. 4 " Orjiaiiic Chemistry- • 4 Chcvreul on Colour - - - Crfiy'tCivil Fngineerinfj - - fl Fuirfiiurn's Infoimii. for Knglncers m Gwill'a Kncyclo. of Architicture - 8 IIiirfortl'sEngr.ivirigsufter Michael Angelo - . - - . R TItfirlni; on Pnner-Makinff - - t> iiumplireys'H rarnhli'S Illuminntt'd 10 JamcBonsSacred & Legendary Art 11 '* Commcnpbce Hfok - 11 Kfinig'sricto lal Lifi-of I.uther - H Loudon's Hural Architecture - 13 MncDougJill's Theory of Wiir - 14 MnUn'fl Anhnrisma on Prawing - 14 Moseley'sKngineering - - - Ifl Piesse's Art of Perfumery - - 17 Richardson's Artof Homemansliip 19 Scrivenor on the Iron Tr.ide • - 13 Stark's Printing - - - - 23 Steam-En«ine,by the Artisan Club 4 Ure'i Dirtionaryof Arts.&c. - 22 Young on Prcc-Uall'ielliUMn - 24 BiOKrapby. Arnso'B Autobiosraphy - - 23 «' Lives of Scitntific Men - 3 Bodenstedt and Wafiner'a Sihamjl 23 RurVingham'9 (J. S ) Memoirs - 3 Buiisen's nippnl}tus - - - 6 Clinton's (Fynesi Autobiography 6 Cockayne's Marshal Tureime - 23 Dennistoun's StninBe* Lumisden 7 Forsler's He Foe and C'tuinhill - 23 Fulcher's Life of Cuinchorim^h - 8 Harford's Life ofMUhnel Aiigelo- 8 Havdon'^ Autobiogranhy.by Taylor 9 Hayivard's ' hesterfttld and Selwyn 33 Holcrofl's Memoirs - - - 23 Lardner'a Cabinet Cyi-Inpcedia - 13 Maunder's Biographical Treaiiury- 14 Memoir of the Duke of Wellington '23 Memoirs of James Monlgomrry - 15 Merivale's Memoirs of Cicero - 15 Rogers's Life and Genixia of Fuller 23 Russell's Mrmt'irs of Moore - • \Q " Life of Lord Wm. Russell 19 St. John's Audubon . - - 19 Southey's Life of Wesley - - I'O •* Life and Correspondence 2(t " Select Correspondence - ^fl Stfphen'iEcclrsiiistical Biography 21 Sydney Smith's Memoirs - - 20 Taylor's Loyola - - - - 21 " Wesley - - - - 21 Wal^Tton's Autobiography AEssayp 22 Wheeler's Life of Herodotus • 24 I Books Of General Utility. Acton's Bread-Dook ... 3 " Cookery .... 3 Black's Treatise on Brewing . . 4 Cabinet Gaietteer . . . . fi " Lawyer ... - a Cast's Invalid's Own Book - - 7 Gllbart's Logic for the Million - 8 Hints on Etiquette .... 9 How to Nurse Sick Children • - 10 Hadaon'sEiecutor's Guide - - 10 " on MakinfE WlUt - . 10 Rpsteven's Domestic Medicine - 11 Lardner'8 Cabinet Cyclopedia - 13 Lou'lon's Lady's Country Compa- nion 13 Uaunder*i Treasury of Knowledge IS " Biographical Treasury 14 " Geographical Treasury IS " Scientific Treasury - 15 Maunder'M Treasury of History " N.ituriil IHstory - Piesiie's Art of Perfumery Piscator's Cookery of Fish • Pocket and the Stud ... Pycrofi't* Knglish Reading - Reece's Medical Guide - - • Rich's (Jomp. to Latin Dictionary Rirliardson's Art of Hi>rMeman»hip Riddle's Latin Dictionaries - Roget's English Thesauius - Rowton's Debater . . . - Short Whiit Thomson's Interest Tables - Wfbster's Domestic Economy Weit on Children's Diseases • WiUich's Popular Tables Wilmot's Ulackstone . . - Botany and Gardening. Hooker's Rritish Flora - - - ** Guide to Kew Gardens - «' *• " KiMv Museum - Lindley's Introduction to Botany " Theory of Horticulture • Loudon's Hortus llritannLCUS " Aniiteur (jardentr " Trees and Shrubs - " Gardening - . . " Plants - - - . *• Self Instruction for Gar- deners, fee. - - - - Ptruira's Materia Medica Riverx's Itose-Amateur'sGuide - Wilson's Hriticih Mosses CUronology. Blair's Chronoloirical Tables - 4 Brewer's Historical Atlas - • 4 Bunsen's Ancient Egypt - - 6 Haydn's Be'^tson's indca - - 9 Jaquemet's Chronology - - 11 Johns* Nicolas'hCalendar ofVictory 11 Nicolus's Chronology of History • 12 Commerce and Mercantile Affairs. Gilbart'ji Trcati!»e on Banking - B Lorimer'ti Young Master Mariner 13 Macleod'n B-ttiking • . - 11 M*('ulloch'8(;ommerce A Navigation 14 Scrlvenor im Iron Trade - - 19 Thomsoo't; tntereHi Tablcf - - 21 Tooke's History of Piioes - - 2*3 Tuson'8 Britihh C -.nsul's Manual - 2'J Criticism, History^ and Memoirs. Blair's Chron. ana ffistor. Tables - 4 Brewer's Hixtorical Atlas ... 4 Bunsen's Ancient Egypt - - 5 " Ill|ipolytUA - - - 6 Burton's History of Scotland - 5 Chapman's Gustavus Adolphua - 6 Conybeare and Huuson's St. Paul 6 Erskine'i* History of India - - 7 Gleig's Leipsic Campaign • - 23 Gurney's Hlstor cal Sketches - 8 Haydon's Autobiography, by Taylor Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions - ]l Jolms& Nicolas'sCatendar of Victory 11 Kembte's Anuto Saxons Lardner's Cal)inet Cyclopedia MacAulay's Crit. and Hist. Essays " History of England " Speeches . . . Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works " History of England - ,__ M'CuUoch'eGeographicalDictionary 14 Maunder's Treasury of History - 15 Memoir of Uie Duke of Wellington 23 Merlvale's Hlatory of Rome • .15 " Roman Republic- - 15 Milner's Church History - - 15 Moore's (Thomas) MemoirSf&c. - 16 Mure's Greek Literature . 16 Normanby's Year of Revolution - 17 Raikes'fl Journal - • - .18 Ranke's Ferdinand A Maximilian 23 Kiddie's LauQ Dictionaries - - 18 Roberts's Southern Counties > 18 Rogers's Essays from Edlnb. RcTiewlB Roget's English Thesaurus . .18 RuHsell's Life of Lord W. Russell 19 { Schmits's History of Greets •> 19 1 Smith's Sacred Annals • - . 20 ' Southey's Doctor • . - -20 Stephen's Ecclesiastical Bioi;rnphji 21 *' Lectures on FrenLh History 21 Sydney Smith's Works . - . '^0 " Select Works - 23 " Lectures - • 20 " Memoirs - - SO Taylor's LoyoU • _ . . 21 " ^Vesley - . - - 31 Thirlwall's Historyof Greece - 31 Thornbury's Sliaknpeare's England 21 Townaend'sStotit 'rriuls - - 22 Turkey and Chriktendom • - S3 Turner's AnuloSaions - • VI " Middle Ages • • - 33 " Sacred HUt.ofUie World 23 Vehse's AuatrianCourt - - - 22 Wiule's England's Greatness - 33 Whlteloeke's Swedish Embassy - 34 M'oods's Crimean Campaign- - 24 Young's Christ of History - - 24 Geograpby and Atlases. Arrowsniith's Geogr. Diet, of Bible Brewer's Historical Atlas Butter's Geography and Atlases - Cabinet Gazetteer • . _ - Cornwall : Its Mines, ftc. Durrieu's Morocco - - . Hughch's Australian Colonies iotiiiston's General Gazetteer &luuiidt-r's Treasury of Geography M'Cutloch's Geographical Dictionary " Russia and Turkey - Milner's Baltic Sea . . . '* Crimea - . . - " Russia .... Murray's Encyclo. of Geography - Sharp's British Gnietteer Wlieeler's Geography of Herodotus Juvenile Books. Amy Herbert - . - - - Cleve Hall Earl's Daughter (The) - Ezperlt'nce cf Life ... Gertrude - - . - GiUiart'B Logic for the Young llowitt's Boy's Country Book " (Mary)Children'8Yeaf - hors -.--_- Katharine Ashtun ... Latieton Parsonage ... Uargarel Percival - . . . Medicine and Surgery. Brodie's Psychological Inquiries - 4 Bull's Hints to Mothers- - . " Managementof ('hlldren - 5 Copland's Dictionary of Medicine - 6 Cust's Invalid's Own Book - . 7 Holland's Mental Physiology • 9 *' Medical Notes and Reflect. How to Nurse Sick Children - - 10 Kesteven's Domestic MeUiiino - 11 Perelra's Materia Medica - - 17 Reece's Medical Guide - - <• 18 ' West on Diseases of Infancy . - 23 1 Wilson's Distector's Manual . 24 ! Miscellaneous and General ' Literature. I Carlisle's Lectures and Addres&^s 33 Defence of £'c/i;"''o/i''«'(/» - - 7 ] Dichy's Lover's Seat • - - 7 Eclipse of Faith - - - - ' Greg's Political and SocUl Essays 8 ! Gurney's Evening Recreations - 8 I Hassall on Adulteration of Fcol > 9 1 Haydn's Book of Dignities > - & Holland's Mental Physiology . 9 Hooker's Kew Guides - - - 9 Howitt's Rural Life of England - 10 " Visitsto RemarkablePlaccs 10 | Jameson's Commonplace Book - 11 Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions - 11 Last of the Old Squires - - 17 Macaulay's Crlt. and Hist Essays 13 ** Speeches ... 13 Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works 14 Memoirs of a Mattre d'Armea - 23 " lil^;' In : 11 CLASSIFIED INDEX. Maitland'i Cliurch in the Cutacombi H MArtini'ttu't MiHCflUnleB - - U Pucal*! Worltt, li; I'ciirct - ■ 17 PilUnH'ii C^uiitrtltulioiiK tuKitucutionlT rinneyou [)urutiuu of Huinun Llfu 17 Printins: lu OrlKin, Ac. - - 3;< Pycrofl^s EngliNh Iteaillnff - - Itt Hlih'i Conip. to I.nlin Uictlon.irjr Is Hlilillc'a L^itln Uk'tionuriei - - IH Rowtun'i DebattT - • 1m Sennuril's NurriitiveofhiiStilpwrecklO Sir Huger de Coverley - - - '•!«) 8mith'i( Rev. Sydney nVorki Southey'i Cummon -pliice Books - " The Doctor 4c. Bouvettre'a .\ttic Philoaonher " ConreBtionBofu Working Man SpenciT's I'Hychology - Stephen's EiHdye - - - - Stow'e TralnloK System Strdchey's lletirt'w Politics - Thomson's I.. iws of Thoujjht Toivnsend's Stnte Trials Williili's Popular Tables Yonae's Ent(lish-Qrei'k Leitcon • '* Latin Oradiu Zumpt's Latin Ciramnaar Natural HUtory In general. Catlow's Papular Conchologr ■ 6 Ephemera and Young on the Salmon 7 Oosse's Natur.tl History of Jamaica H Kemp's Niitural History oTt'reation 23 Klrby and Spence's Kntomology - 11 Lee's Elf ments or Natural History 1'^ M.inn on Reproduction - - 14 Maunder's Natural History • •IS Turton'sSbellsorthenrltishlslands ti Van drr Hueven's Handbook of Zuolu^ly - . - • - 22 VonTschudl's Sketches in the Alps it Wsterton's Essays on Natural Hist, 'il ITouatt's Thu Uog - ... 21 " TheHorsa ... 21 l*Volume Bncyclopaedlaa and Dictionaries. Arrowsmith's Geogr. Uict. of Dible 3 Blaine's Rural Sports - - . 4 Brande's Science, Literature, and Art 4 Copland's Dictionary of .Medicine - A Cresy's Civil Engineering . . 3 Gwilt's Architecture - - • H Johnston's Ot'o^raphlcal Dictionary U Loudon's Agriculture . ■ .13 " Rural Architecture - 13 " Oaidening - • . 13 " Plants .... 13 *• Trees and Shinki - . 13 &PCultoch's(ieo;jrraphical Dictionary 14 " DictionaryofCommerce 14 Murray's Ency(.'o. of Geografliy . 10 Sharp's British Oasetteer • .19 Ure's Dictionary of Arts, 4c. . - Ti Webster's Domestic Economy . 22 Rellslous 9$ Moral Works. Amy Herbert - . • - 19 Arrowsmitli's Geiigr. Diet, of Bible 3 Bloomfitld'BOreekTestament . 4 Calvert's Wife's Manual . . G Cleve H.tll ..... jo Conybeare's Essays . . . e Conybeure and Hanson's St. Paul 6 Cotton's Instructions in Christianity 7 Dale's Domestic Liturgy . . 7 Defence of Bcii/>ieo/Foi«* . . 7 Discipline ..... 7 Earl's Daughter (The) ... 19 Eclipse of Faith ... 7 Eoglishman's Greek Concordance 7 „ , •' Heb ftChald.Concord. 7 Etherid.:e'B Jerusalem ... 7 Eiperience (The)ofLife - . 19 Gertrude ..... ]g Harrison's Light of the Forge . 8 Hook's Lecturcson Passion Week 9 Home's Introduction to Scripturet 10 " Abridgment of ditto . 10 Humphreys's i'aioWes Illuminated 10 Ivors - . _ in Ivors - - . . . Jameson's Sacred Legends . " Monastic Legcnda - " Legendsoftlie Madonna Lectures on Female Em- ployment . . - _ . Jeremy Tavlor's Works - aalisch'sCommentury on Ejrodut- Katharine Aabton Kftnig'sPictorUl Life of Luther - Laneton Parsonage Letters to mj Unknown Friends . " on Happiness - . . Lynch's Rivulet . . . . Lyra Germanica . . . _ Macnaught on Inspiration - MaiUand'iChttrcbinCatacoinbi - Martineau's Christian Life • *' Hymns . • . MilniT'sChuri'li 01' Christ Montgnmary's Original Hymns • Moort on the Use of the Hwty " " Soul anil Body " 's Man and bis MoUvtt . Mormonism ..... Neale's Closing Scene . . - Newman's (J. 11.) Discourses " on Universitlrs Hanke's Ferdinand & Maaimilian Readings for Lent •• Conflrmation - Robinson's Leiicon to tht Orecli Testament ..... Saints our Example ... Sermiin in tlie Mount Sinclair's Journey of Life Smith's (Sydney) .Moral Philosophy " (0.) Sacred Annals • " Harmony of Di\ine Dis- pensations " (J.) Voyage and ShipH-reck of St. Paul .... Soulhey's Life of Wesley Stoplien's Eccleilisticul Biography Taylcr's (J. J.) Discourses . Taylor's Loyola - - - . " Wesley .... Tbi'ologia Germanica ... Thomson on the Atimemcnt . Tliuinb llible(The) Tomline's ltitrodu'-tiontothvili6/f 'Turnri's S.iiTtd History . Twining's Ilible Tvpes - Wheeler's Popular Ilible Harmony Young's Christ of History " Mystery . - . - Poetry and the Drama. Alkin's(Dr.) British Poets - . Arnolil's Poi-ms .... Baillie's (Jo.inna) Poetical Works Bodes Uallails from Heroilotus - Calvert's Wife's Manual '* Pneuma - . . - Flowers and their Kindred Thoughts 11 Giililsmith's Poems, illustrated . 8 L. K. L.'s Poetical Works Linwood's AntliologiaUxomenaii- Lynch's llivuli'l . . - - Lyra Germanica . . - - Mac.mliiv's Lavs of Ancient Rome M.ic Doliald'B Within and Without MontgiTii'ry's Poetical Works *f Original Hymns Moore's Poetical Works •' Kpicurf an .... " Lall.i Rookh . " Irish Melodies . . - " Son^s and Ballads . Reade's Man in Paradise Sliakspearc, bv Bowdler Southey's Poeiiral Works *' British Poets - . - Thomson's Seasons, illustrated . MoscIey'sEnglneerlng4Architectur«I7 Nomos 17 Our Uoal Fields and our Ciial'Pits Owen's LecturssonCiimp Anatomy IVreira on Polarised Liglit - Peschel's Elements of Pliysirs Political Economy and Statistics. Caird'a Letters on Agriculture . *> Dodd's I'ootl of London " ' I Greg's Political and Social Essays S Ji-nniiijis'ti Sociiil Delusiims - - !1 Lainp's Notes of a Travelbr- . 23 M'Culloch'sGrog.StatiHl Ac. Diet. 14 " Dictionary ni Commerce 14 " London - - - 23 Tegoborski's Russian Statistics - 21 Wilhch's Popular Tables . . 'ii The Sciences In general and Mathematics. Arago's Meteorological Essays . 3 '* Popular Astronomy - . 3 Bourne on the Screw Propeller . 4 " 's Catechism of the Steam- Engine ..... 4 Brande's Dictionary of Science, 4c. 4 " Lectures on Organic Chemistry 4 Druugliam and Houth's Vrincipin 4 Butler's Rolls Sermons ... 6 Cresy's Civil Engineering - . 6 DelaBeclie'sGeologyofCornwall,4c. 7 De la Rive's Electricity . . 7 Faraday's Non Metallic Elaments 8 Grove . ''f»rrela. of Phy^ical Forces 8 Herschcl's Outlines of Astronomy 9 Holland's Mental Physiology . 9 Humboldt's AspeetaofNatnn • 10 " Cosjnoi ... 10 Hunt on Light .... 10 Kemp's Phasis of Matter - - 11 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopiedia • 12 Mann on Reproduction ... 14 Marcet's(Mrs.) Conversationa . 15 MorcU's Elements of Psychology • 18 Phillips's Fossils of Cornwall, 4c. '* Mineralogy " Guide to ueiilogy Portlock's Geology of I.iiiiUonderry Powells Unity of Worlds Smee's Electro-Metallurgy Steam-Engine(The) Wilson's Electric Teb^raph Rural Sports. Baker's Rifle and Hound In Ceylon Blaine's Dictionary of Sports '' - Cecil's Stable Practict . " Stud Farm . . - The Cricket Field . Davy's Piscatorial Colloiiuies Ephemera on Angling • " Book of the Salmon Hawker's Young Siwrtsman ■ The Hunting Field Idles Hints on Shooting Pocket and the Stud Practical Horsemanship Richardson's Horsemanship . Ronalds's Fly-Fi»lier's Entomo lo:ry . . . - . Stable Talk and Table Talk . Stainton's June Stonehcnge on the G reyhound 1'liacker's Courser's Guide The Stud, fur Practical I'urpoNi Veterinary Medicine, Aie. Cecil's SUble Practice " Stud Farm Hunting Field (The) - Miles's Hurse-Shoeing - " on tlie Horse's Foot - Pocket and the Stud Practical Horsemanship Richardson's Horsemanship Stable Talk and Table Talk - Stud (The) Youatt's The Dog ... " The Horse Voyagres and Travels. Auldjo's Ascent ol'Mout Blanc Raines's Vaudois of Piedmont Baker's Wanderings in Ceylon Barrow's Continental Tuur . Barth's African Travels Burton's East Africa ** Medina and Mecca . Carlisle's Turkey and Greece De Custinc's Russia Eothen Ferguson's Swiss Travels . Flemieh Interiors - Forester's Rambles in Norway " Sardinia and Corsica Gironiire's Philippines ■ Gregorovius'B Corsica - Halloran's Jspan . Hill's Travels in Siberia Hoiie's Brittany and the Bible '* Chase in Riittany Ilowitt's Art-Student in Munich " (W.) Victoria - Hue's Cbineso Empire 23 17 17 17 17 17 18 18 18 20 4 33.1 Hue ami GabefsTartarv A Thibet Kennedy and Mont Hudson Blanc Hughes's Australian Colonies Humboldt's Aspects of Nature llurlbul's Pictures from Cuba Hutcliiiison's African Eaploration Jameson's Canada - Jerrmann's St. Petersburg . Kennurd's Eastern Tour Laing's Norway ... ** Notes of a Traveller M'Clure's North- West Passage Mason's Zulus of Natal Mayne's Arctic Discoveries - Miles's Rambles in Iceland - PfeifTer's Voyage round the M'orlil " Second ditto - Scott's Danes and Swedes . Seaward's Narrative Weld's United States and Canada Weme's African Wanderings Wheeler's Travels of Herodotus Wilberforce'e Biaail & SUve-Tiade Works of Fiction. AmoId'aOakfleld Mardunald's Villa Verocchio Sir Roger de Coverlef - Sonthey'e The Doctor 4c. • Trollope't Waiden •clajr'iEnglnnring&ArohitcctttrtlT moi ■■ r Cuiil FifliU and our (NmUPiU en'i LaclurHiimC'iimp AnAiomjr -eira on PoluriNCil Liulit - ichel'i ElvmcntK nt I'liytirt illlpt'i Foiilln ufCurnwall, &c. Minenilogv " Uulilf tuUiMiloiijr - ■thick'! (jpolimy nf I.iiiiUunderrjr wfUfi Unity of Worliln ee'i KliTtro-MetallurK)' - am-En«inD(Thf) liuD'i £l«L trie Tel t^rapli • Hi Sports. kcr'i Uiau »nil Hound in Ccjtlon ilnc'i Dictionary of Sport* ' • cU'i Sliiblf 1'r.ictlcf - " Stud Fiirm - - - - I! Cricket Field . • . ■ ,vy'i PUciitoritil Collo 4to. prii'o 27t. of the Steam-Engine in iitions to Minei, Mill*, 1{iiilwii}'», niid Agricul- ioal InKtructions for the yiana)!;onient of Engines xn-tli Edition, enlarged ; Fcp. 8vo. 69. 36 on the Screw Pro- 3US Suggestions of Im- US BouuNE, C.E. New Y revised and corrected. 38 and numerous Wood- Is. ary of Science, Litera* oniprising the History, Sciontiflo Principles of [uuian Knowledffo ; with [1 Deflnition of all tho use. Edited by W. T. and E. ; assisted by Da. Edition, revised and cor- ous Woodcuts. 8vo. 60g. Lectures on Organic )licd to Mnnufactim<8 j Ulcnehing, Culico-Print- ture, tho Preservation be. ; delivered before the al Institution. Arranged the Lecturer's Notes by Fcp. 8vo. with Wood- of History and Oeo- Conimcncemcnt of the 10 Present Time ; Ooni- 3ixtecn coloured Maps, ogical Order, with Illus- tho Rev. J. S. Bbeweb, English History and College, London. The E. WeUer, F.R.G.S. lalf-bound. [ical Inquiries, in a :cnded to illustrate the sysical Organisation on By Sib Benjamin C. 1 Edition. Fop.8ro.6s, ;h.— Analytical View Principia. By Henhy '.B.S., Member of tho of France and of tlie iplcs ; and E. J.Booxv, Peter's College, Cam- |4s. 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