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<\RCTiC lIJiRUliS: 
 
 FACTS AND INCIDENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 ARCTIC EXI'LORATIOXS 
 
 i 
 
 FROM THE E.\:;iIKST VOYAGIIS TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE 
 
 FATE OF SiU JOHN FK'WKMX, EMIiltACING 
 
 -SKETCHES OF CO.MMEKCFAE ANJ) 
 
 liEI.IGlorS liEsUIXS. 
 
 By REV. Z. A. MUDGE, 
 
 Author of - Views trom ]',.vmo, th Rock," " W, ,<■„ Uu i ," - F, 
 f'KiNTS OF Roger Williams," ejc. 
 
 K)T- 
 
 F^OUR I L. L. U S T R A T I O N S. 
 
 NKW YORK: 
 
 NELSON & PHILLIPS 
 cixcixxATi: HrrciiiocK & WAf. ur.x. 
 
 yi'MMV SCIIiidL DKI'VUr.MKNT. 
 

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 f. 
 
 
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 az-n 
 
 .1 
 
 Eiitoivt! .•iiTuriUiii,' t,) An ol"Cui;;^-rcss. in the vcu- 1^ 
 NELSOi-T & PHILLIPS, 
 
 ill tlie Office cf llic 1. 
 
 i!ir;tri;iii of '.'oni/i'iv-^ at W 
 
 l-llUi'/tilll. 
 
 1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 WE have endeavored in this volume to give 
 the principal facts in the wonderful his- 
 tory of arctic exploration, down to the discovery 
 of the fate of Sir John Franklin. We have not 
 included, however, the Grinnell Expedition of 
 1853-5, sent out under Dr. Kane, which, though 
 seeking Franklin, did not embody in its results 
 any facts concerning him, but is yet so remark- 
 able in its achievements, so full of thrilling in- 
 cidents, and so rich in information, that we 
 have reserved our sketches of it for another 
 volume, which will embrace all the late arctic 
 voyages. 
 
 In the arctic history here presented we have 
 given the results of a wide range of study in 
 this class of literature, including both that pub- 
 lished in this country and in England. 
 
 In the orthography of words belonging to the 
 extreme northern regions we have used the 
 simplest form, supported by good literary author- 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 PRI:I"ACE. 
 
 ity, following mainly that of Professor Dall, of 
 the Smithsonian Institution, in his standard 
 work on Alaska. Thus, we have Esquimo, used 
 in a collective and individual sense, Kamchatka, 
 Bering, etc. ; words more grateful to the eye, 
 more easily written, and more readily spoken, 
 than in their old forms. 
 
 Though mainly secular in character, our book 
 will yet be found, we are persuaded, decidedly 
 healthy in moral tone, and, in some of its chap- 
 ters, of marked religious interest. It has been 
 written for our young people, and from this 
 stand-point the author wishes it to be judged. 
 
 Z. A. M. 
 
 1 1 
 
COiN TENTS. 
 
 Ci.APTKU p^^^ 
 
 I. Northmen Navk;at()rs „ 
 
 1 1. An Arctic Gold Fever ig 
 
 III. I'i:rils by Sea 25 
 
 IV. IcE-BOL'NI) „2 
 
 v. .Set ADRiF'i- .^ 
 
 \'l. SlIIl'WRKCK AM) l':sCArK ,o 
 
 \'II. Arctic Mi^siox-WoRK ^(j 
 
 VIII. A SiDDKx Retreat 5, 
 
 IX. Strikinc; Incidenis yc 
 
 X. iMi'oRiAxr SrccEss 34 
 
 XI. Arctic Sea-^Toxsters ^6 
 
 XII. DoWX TIIIC Cori'ERMIXE J05 
 
 XIII. A CiiEERECL Arctic Wixter 120 
 
 XIV. Arctic Revival Work 133 
 
 XV. Lost and Forxi) j.^ 
 
 X\'I. Down the Great Fish River 150 
 
 XVir. Franklin Missixg— The Search Commenced 173 
 
 XVIII. Steaming Through Ice-Floes jgs 
 
 XIX. Sigxificant Relics 301 
 
 X X. Vankfe Ice-Figiitin(; 220 
 
 XXI. 1'reaks of Atmospheric Rffraction 235 
 
8 CONTI.XTS. 
 
 CiiAi-TRit Pao„ 
 
 XXII. Df, II avf.n's Wondkrful Drift 252 
 
 XXIII. TiiK Xorih-Wkst Pass.\{;k Discovfrkd. . . . 267 
 
 XXIV. TiiK I >i.sKRTi-.i) Ships 279 
 
 XXV, Th!', Fatf of Sir John Franklin 2qi 
 
 >♦• 
 
 Illustrations. 
 
 <s 
 
 NiPi'En in the Ice 2 
 
 Sawinc; a Channei oo 
 
 Ross' Rescue 15^ 
 
 Floating Icebergs 226 
 
 a 
 
pAriK 
 
 267 
 279 
 2QI 
 
 ARCTIC HEROES. 
 
 -♦-♦- 
 
 2 
 90 
 
 157 
 226 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NORTHMEN NAVIGATORS. 
 
 OUR readers need not shiver at the thought 
 of a voyage into the regions of cold and 
 ice. They will, of course, not wear their summer 
 garments, but go clothed m the warmest furs; a 
 material made by God for arctic wear, the equal 
 of which for this climate no woolen factory would 
 think of producing. They must go with a reso- 
 lute spirit, too ; for no timid, fireside dreamers, lov- 
 ing yellow-covered literature, the last dime novel, 
 or sickly story books, need engage to accompany 
 us. Should they wish to do so they must first 
 throw all such trash into the fire, and agree to 
 stand erect, facing the North Pole with unflinch- 
 ing bravery. To those who will do this, whether 
 manly boys or womanly girls, we promise no small 
 stores of useful knowledge, no little interest 
 from thrilling adventures, and sometimes positive 
 amusement from laughable incidents. 
 
 Do you ask where we are to go } Take a map 
 of the Arctic Ocean. See where Spitzbergen pro- 
 
lO 
 
 Arctic Hkkoks. 
 
 jects toward the Nortli Tolc on one side, and, not 
 far from it, where (Ireenland advances — we do 
 not know how far — and where Nova Zenil)la and 
 the Siberian Ishmds stand as sentinels at a very 
 respectaljle distance. No i)art of the continents 
 of Asia or America chiims to extend as far as we 
 }jro])(jse 10 go. It is into what is marked as an 
 ocean, spotted by tliese small portiors of land, 
 that we intend to sail, not neglecting, however, to 
 make ourselves accpiainted with the regions of 
 cold lying a little further south. 
 
 What is called the Arctic Ocean is of vast ex- 
 tent. Its shore-line circle is many thousai.v^s of 
 miles. Its area four and a half mi'lions of s([uare 
 miles. It has a beauty and grandeur of its own. 
 We shall not stop here to describe theni, l)ut will 
 only say that its sky, at times, flashes with a light 
 marvelous in its variety of form and color; its 
 waters float icy islands wrought into magic forms, 
 and its cold, thin atmosphere is fanned by wings 
 of birds so many in number that we could no 
 more count them than we could count the leaves 
 in the forests of the sunny South. These we will 
 show our readers in due tmie, if they do not 
 leave our company. 
 
 We shall certainly introduce them to some of 
 the bravest and best of men, and show them a 
 peculiar people who live in a land of perpetual 
 cold. 
 
 Who were the first visitors of the arctic resions.? 
 We cannot answer that question with certainty, 
 but we know who were voyagers there many hun- 
 
Norllunoi Navigators. 
 
 i I 
 
 dred years ago. A l)old navigator from Xorway, 
 by the iiaim.' of Other, sailed in .\. D. Syo round 
 the northern extremity of Iceland, lie was the 
 first to cross the arctii: circle. This was a grt^at 
 voyage for a time when a ship was not as good as 
 our shore-trading vessels ; but he made no discov- 
 ery. Some years afterward an Icelander, nametl 
 (lunbiorn was driven off tlie coast of his country 
 in a storm. Away his little bark scud before tlic 
 wind, until it came in sight of a high rocky cjast 
 of an extended land. The storm had subsided, 
 the wind changed, and so he steered for Iceland 
 without going ashore. He reported his discovery, 
 but noJKjdy cared to try the stormy voyage, and 
 for nearly a hundred years nothing more was 
 known of it. iii 982 a fierce Iceland chief be- 
 came too turbulent to be esteemed by his king a 
 safe subject, and was banished for a term (jf years. 
 Being as bold as he was wicked, he wisely resolved 
 to spend the time upon the ocean in search of un- 
 known lands. It may be that he had heard of 
 Gunbiorn's story. At any rate, he sailed away to 
 the west, and came to the same great land. He 
 stayed there with his ship's crew three years, 
 learning all he could of its extent and character. 
 He then returned and persuaded a colony to go 
 to this land of promise. 
 
 This chief's name was Eric, known as Red Eric. 
 He seems to have been a speculator in new lands 
 — perhaps he formed a stock company; and, to 
 make his speculation succeed, he called the new 
 continent Greenland. Those whom he persuaded 
 
f ' i 
 
 12 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 !; 
 
 to go were much greener^ we think, than the land. 
 But good came out of his project. 
 
 Not long after the settlement was made, a son 
 of one of the colonists, wishing to join his father, 
 started in a ship for Greenland. He sailed a 
 long, long time, driven by contrary winds and 
 drifted by strong currents. At last he came in 
 siglit of land. He looked carefully toward the 
 shore as he coasted at a safe distance. He came 
 ftnally to the conclusion that this 7uas a green 
 land, and, as he had learned before leaving Ice- 
 land that Eric's Greenland was perpetually white 
 with snow and ice, he decided that he had sailed 
 out of his way. He steered to the north and saw 
 other lands. These are now believed to have 
 been Nantucket, off the coast of Massachusetts, 
 Newfoundland, and Labrador. He reached Green- 
 land all right in 987. He had not landed in any 
 of these newly discovered countries. 
 
 Ships sailed in those days, it is said, four miles 
 an hour in good weather, so that a hundred miles 
 a day was good speed. Eric's long voyage must 
 have made his sailors, if not seasick, very sick of 
 the sea. 
 
 But Eric himself was neither. Thirteen years 
 later, in the year 1000, he sailed through the same 
 waters. He landed on Rhode Island, and, having 
 examined the vicinity, made his winter-quarters 
 at the mouth of what is now known as Taunton 
 River. Here a woman of his company gave birth 
 to a child, whom they named Snorre Thorfinnson. 
 Little Snorre was, so far as we know, the first 
 
 m 
 
Northmen Navigators. 
 
 13 
 
 American born of European parents. He called 
 the country Vineland, because he thought it 
 abounded in vines. 
 
 The spot where he made his winter-quarters, 
 the birthplace of Snorre, is not far from Ply- 
 mouth Rock, and was within the range of the 
 excursions of the Mayflower pilgrims. It may be 
 that Eric visited the shores of Plymouth harbor 
 during the winter. In the spring he sailed away 
 to Greenland. 
 
 These voyages were made nearly five hundred 
 years before Columbus discovered America! So, 
 after all, that great man only revived knowledge 
 which the world had forgotten. But it does not 
 rob him of his laurels. No printing-press had 
 perpetuated the knowledge, and men were as 
 ignorant of our great land in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury as they were in the eighth. 
 
 After Eric's voyages occasional ships might 
 have been seen in American waters up to the year 
 1347 ; but no colonies were formed. 
 
 These facts are obtained from the " Icelandic 
 Annals " — old records of Iceland — which careful 
 investigators of history have of late years exam- 
 ined very critically. A learned Englifjli writer 
 says of them: "The authenticity of the Icelandic 
 manuscripts seems to be fully esi:ablished :"* and 
 a recent American writer says of them : " These 
 narratives are plain, straightforward, business-like 
 accounts of actual voyages made by the Northmen, 
 
 * " The Polar Regions." By Sir John Richardson, LL.D. 
 P. 30. Edinburgh. i86r. 
 
14 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 If 
 
 ' !i 
 
 11 M 
 
 :|i 
 
 in the tenth and eleventh centuries, to Green- 
 hind, Newfoundhmd, Nova Scotia, and the coast 
 of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Within 
 the whole range of literature, of discoveries and 
 adventures, no volumes can be found which 
 have more abundant internal evidence of authen- 
 ticity."* 
 
 The colony of Northmen in South Greenland 
 became somewhat important in spite of its cold, 
 its never-melting snow, and its distance from the 
 civilized world. These old annals, which describe 
 the voyages into the arctic regions, refer to the 
 whales and seals, some of which were taken. An 
 account of the way they caught the whales in 
 those early days would be curious. 
 
 The Roman Church sent to the colony priests 
 as early as the last of the tenth century. We 
 have an account of the demand by the Pope of 
 his " pence " from these colonists. It was called 
 '''' Peter s pence,'' but we never could see what the 
 good apostle had to do with it, nor do we believe 
 these Northmen could ; but they paid the demand 
 with walrus tusks. 
 
 It is a singular fact of history that this colony 
 became extinct nearly a hundred years before 
 Columbus discovered the New World, and its 
 memory was at the time well-nigh lost to man- 
 kind. "The Black Death," as it was called, which 
 clothed other portions of the world in mourning, 
 is held accountable in part for its decay ; war, 
 
 * " Ancient America." By John D. Baldwin. New York : 
 Harper ^S: Brothers. 1872. 
 
Northmen Navigators. 
 
 15 
 
 Death's ever ready helper, liad its share in the 
 work, and, it is surmised, the savage Ksquimo 
 added the finishing stroke. The reader will hesi- 
 tate to charge this crime upon these people when 
 he has made their intimate acquaintance. 
 
 Columbus' successful voyage opened a new era 
 in the history of explorations. It began from that 
 time to be carried on, not as by the Northmen, 
 by reckless men on their own responsibility, but 
 by Governments, and well-organized companies, 
 through able, intelligent, and responsible navi- 
 gators. John Cabot was such a navigator, and so 
 was his son, Sebastian. They we^ii Venetians, but 
 lived in Bristol, England, and were sent out by the 
 king and merchants of that country. In 1497 fa- 
 ther and son landed on the coast of Labrador, and 
 then voyaged along the coast of America to Vir- 
 ginia. The next year the son made a northern 
 voyage alone ; afterward he made an attempt to 
 find the north-west passage into the Asiatic seas — 
 the first, it is said, of the many attempts which 
 have occasioned most of the history of which we 
 are writing. He expected to sail quickly to the 
 land where "spices do grow," but instead he 
 found, as he declares, " such greate heapes of ise 
 which I durst passe no further." All was cold 
 and dreary — no balmy breezes nor fragrant odors. 
 Even the people disgusted him, being " like l)rute 
 beasts in their behavior, dressed in beasts' skins 
 and eating raw flesh." Yet he meanly kidnapped 
 three of them to carry home as specimens ! How 
 would he have liked it if the Esquimo had stolen 
 
i6 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 !1 
 
 I , 
 
 !l!'' t 
 
 *i! 
 
 him ? Thus, with his nose turned up at the coun- 
 try and its people, yet keeping three of them un- 
 lawfully and unmercifully under his nose, he sailed 
 away South, and discovered Florida. The natives 
 of this country would not have been as amiable as 
 were their northern brethren had an attempt been 
 made to select specimens from their number ! 
 
 In 1500 Gaspar CortereaJ, a gentleman brought 
 up in the court of the King of Portugal — a man of 
 liarning and ability — sailed into the arctic seas in 
 command of many ships, made important dis- 
 coveries for hundreds of miles above Labrador, 
 stole a few natives, and returned home. The 
 next year he visited, as is sup])osed, Hudson 
 Strait, but the sea avenged the crime he com- 
 mitted against the people whom it nourished, and 
 devoured him together with his vessel. One of 
 the ships returned home in safety, but nothing 
 was ever heard of Gaspar or his crew. 
 
 Gaspar had a brother, Miguel, who begged the 
 king to allov/ him to go in search of the lost one. 
 Three ships were put under his command, and he 
 sailed for the region about Hudson Strait. On 
 arriving in the vicinity of the probable loss of 
 Caspar's vessel, the three ships took each certain 
 inlets to examine, agreeing upon a harbor of meet- 
 ing. Two of them met, after a diligent search. 
 But the ship commanded by Miguel never re- 
 turned. The sea had, doubtless, swallowed up 
 both him and his men. 
 
 There was still another brother of these Cortereals 
 whose name was Vasco. He begged to be sent in 
 
 T ; 1 
 ' t i 
 
 ■M' 
 
Northmen Navigaicrs. 
 
 17 
 
 search of the missing vessels. But the king's grief 
 was like Jacob's, bereaved of his children. He 
 refused to let Vasco go, but sent armed vessels 
 which searched in vain. Thus ended the arctic 
 explorations in connection with these fimious Cor- 
 tereal brothers — famous more for misfortune than 
 success. 
 
 The next expedition was sent out by a com- 
 pany of merchants. Its president was Sebastian 
 Cabot, now an old man, retired on a comfortable 
 pension given by the king " in consideration of 
 the good and acceptable service done by him." 
 Three ships were fitted out, and the command 
 given to Sir Hugh Willoughby, " a valiant gentle- 
 mane," under whom was Richard Chancelor, "a 
 man of great estimation for the many good parts 
 of wit in him." The task given them to perform 
 was to find a north-east passage to China and India, 
 which, of course, they expected to perform. They 
 reached Nova Zembla, and were forbidden further 
 progress by the ice. Sir Willoughby returned to 
 the mouth of a river of Lapland, and established 
 his winter-quarters. The ship commanded by 
 Chancelor pushed forwafd, reached Archangel, 
 and opened the way for trade with Russia. In 
 the spring some Russian fishermen visited the 
 quarters of Sir Wil', ghby, and found both him 
 and his entire company frozen to death. 
 
 But such disasters did not retard other explora- 
 tions, and we shall next describe an arctic /ever^ 
 
i8 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AN ARCTIC GOLD FEVER. 
 
 ;iii!!: 
 
 1?' 
 
 ii 
 
 ,1' 
 
 
 FROBISHER was a learned and able man. 
 He lived in the days of the famous maiden 
 queen of England, Elizabeth. " I'here were 
 giants " in her reign, and Frobisher was one of 
 them. He was known to fame in his day as a 
 hero in the defeat of the great Spanish Armada, 
 but better known as an arctic explorer. 
 
 In early life he became an enthusiastic admirer 
 of Sebastian Cabot and his adventures. He was 
 sure that a north-west passage to India could be 
 found, and that he was the man to find it. He 
 declared that this was the only great thing which 
 remained to be done. No wonder, then, that he 
 gave his time and strength to secure the means of 
 accomplishing it, by converting others to his own 
 faith. Fifteen years he went about preaching 
 " Cathaia " as the promised land, and the north-west 
 as the way to it. Men's ears were dull and their 
 " shoulders " cold toward him. But Frobisher's 
 zeal did not abate. Opposition is the flint which 
 strikes fire from some men. The sparks of en- 
 thusiasm which the smitten Frobisher emitted 
 soon set the nation on fire. In 1576 Ambrose 
 Dudley, Earl of Warwick, took up his cause. 
 Under his patronage, three vessels were equipped 
 
Au Arctic Gold Fever. 
 
 19 
 
 for the enterprise. They were small affairs after 
 all. The two larger ones were; about thirty-five 
 tons each — hardly equal to a coast-wise fishing 
 vessel of the present day — and the third was an 
 attendint,"; " pinnace " of ten tons, with a crew of 
 four men. London flocked to the banks of the 
 Thames to see the magnificent exploring fleet 
 sail. Queen Elizabeth, from her window at Green- 
 wich, waved the adventurers a cordial farewell. 
 Not content with this, she sent a gentleman of the 
 court on board the commander's vessel to wish 
 them " happie successe," and to make known her 
 " goode likings of their doings." 
 
 The fleet reached, in July, what its commandor 
 called Friesland — prol)al)ly the southern coast of 
 Greenland. The storm king, who reigned with 
 vigor in this region, forbade their approach to the 
 shore. The pinnace, with its crew, was lost. The 
 " Gabriel," one of the other vessels, considering 
 " discretion the better part of valor," scud inglo- 
 riously away and reached England in safety. But 
 Frobisher was true to himself and the enterprise. 
 Calm when the tempest raged with fury, and self- 
 possessed in danger, he inspired his cre;^ with 
 courage, and pressed onward. After many days 
 he reached a drearv shore. The ice soon shut in 
 on the outside, and he [)ushed forward into a 
 strait to which he gave his own name. He soon 
 espied some strange beings in the water, which he 
 at first thought were porpoises. Ikit they proved 
 to be the Esquimo in their kayaks, or boats. He 
 describes them as "savage people, like to Tartars, 
 
! !■ I 
 
 1 
 ,1 
 
 20 
 
 Arctic Hkroes. 
 
 Iiii! 
 
 Ii'-I 
 
 ' .1 
 
 lit ' 
 
 ■'B 
 
 having long black hair, broad faces, and flatte 
 noses ; the women being marked on the face with 
 blewe streekes downe the cheekes and round the 
 eyes, and wearing bootes made of seal-skins, in 
 shape somewhat resembling the shallops of Spain." 
 
 But a sad incident soon interrupted all inter- 
 course between the natives and tlie strangers, A 
 boat's crew of five men went ashore. Their long 
 absence caused alarm. Trumpets were bhjwn 
 and a cannon was fired to call them back, but in 
 vain. Frobisher hastily and unwisely assumed 
 that they had been violently treated by the Es- 
 quimo. His method of revenge was equally un- 
 wise and unworthy of his character. He enticed 
 one of them alongside '' by the tinkling of a bell." 
 He then " pluckt him up, boat and all." The 
 poor fellow bit his ;ongue in his rage and despair 
 — " bit it in half by the way." 
 
 Frobisher immediately sailed for England, where 
 he was cordially received, though we cannot see 
 what he had accomplished, except to meanly steal 
 a suspected, but unsuspecting, confiding native. 
 A little incident inflamed this cordiality into a 
 wild enthusiasm. Each of the adventurers had 
 brought home some mementos of the explora- 
 tion, such as flowers, grass, and stones. Frobisher, 
 among other things, presented his friends with 
 specimens of the minerals of the discovered land. 
 One piece, as the story goes, was thrown into the 
 fire. It burned for some time and was then taken 
 out, and "being (pienched in a little vinegar it 
 glistened witli a bright marquessct of gc)lde." 'J'he 
 
"5 
 
 An Arctic Gold Fever. 
 
 21 
 
 The 
 
 fever which followed was much like the California 
 "gold fever" of our day, or the diamond fever of 
 the Cape of Good Hope. Frobisher was tlic lion of 
 the hour, thougli he seems no way responsible for 
 the public faith in the character of his exhibited 
 minerals. Some "gold-fmers" gave opinions to 
 suit the {.eople's wishes, though it is said that a 
 responsible assayer declared that the minerals in 
 (}uestion did not contain a particle of the precious 
 ore. But the steam was up, the frcn/ied train 
 which was to return laden with gold was set in 
 motion, and common sense was run off the track. 
 Both the common people and the queen and her 
 court ;3hared alike in the excitement. The (jueen 
 commanded that another expedition should be 
 immediately put in readiness. She gave her " lov- 
 ing friend, Martin Frobisher" very full directions 
 for his guidance. In some of diese she had an 
 eye to other interests than those of discovery, or 
 even those of golden treasures. She assumed 
 that he would again attempt to land on the stormy 
 coast of " Friesland." So she directed him to 
 take certain condemned persons and leave them 
 there. This little service would relieve her of 
 some troublesome subjects, and he might, as a 
 matter of good-will, " speak with them if ])ossible 
 on his return voyage," giving them at the first 
 such food and weapons as he could well spare, 
 duly instructing them to conduct themselves well 
 and get the good-will of the natives. She further 
 directed him to bring home a few of the natives 
 as specimens. As they were not to be returned, 
 
 V 
 
22 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 ''ii 
 
 • 'ii 
 
 ■1! ''^l 
 
 H 
 
 *it! 
 
 and their consent to the transportation was not to 
 be taken into the account, he was cautioned to be 
 careful where and how tliey were taken away. 
 There is one excuse for sucli transactions, which, 
 tliough poor, is the best we know; it was in 
 accordance with the spirit of the times. 
 
 liut a better suggestion from the (jueen was this : 
 He sliould, if possil)le, leave some i)ersons to win- 
 ter on the golden shores of the new country. 
 I'hey were to be instructed to make notes of the 
 state of the country, nature of the air, and observe 
 what time of the year the coast was free from ice. 
 He was to leave them well supplied with food 
 and arms, with a " pinnace," and all other things 
 necessary for their comfort and safety. It does 
 not api)ear that these last suggestions were acted 
 upon by the explorer. The voyage, hovv(;ver, was 
 made. A little island in what has been known as 
 Frobisher Strait, called Countess of Warwick Isle, 
 was selected, and two hundred tons of the mineral 
 were brought back to the delighted queen, and to 
 her equally delighted people. She called the new 
 land " Meta Incognita," and declared that this 
 voyage greatly increased her hopes that the north- 
 west passage to India would be found. 
 
 A new expedition was immediately put in sail- 
 ing order. One hundred persons, representing 
 various trades and callings, were appointed as set- 
 tlers. Fifteen vessels were to convey them to 
 the goodly land, Frobisher being commander. 
 Twelve of the shi])s were to return with the ore, 
 and three were to remain with the colonists. 
 
 ^ 
 
An Arctic Gold Fever. 
 
 23 
 
 The expedition sailed, attended with the j^reat 
 expectations of the nation, and a heroism of its 
 niL-n worthy a better aim. Danj^ers and distresses 
 beset them during the voyage. One vessel, carry- 
 ing the materials for a large wooden house for the 
 use of the colonists on their arrival, was crushed 
 by icebergs and sunk. Another, under cover of 
 the night, had turned her prow homeward, and 
 sailed for England. The rest were tossed amid 
 *' incredible pain and peril." At last a fresh breeze 
 cleared away the ice, and they sailed through a 
 clear sea and soon sighted land, which they suj)- 
 posed to be near Frobisher Strait. iUit soon this 
 dawn of hope was followed by the darkness of 
 despair. A fog envelojjcd them, and the vessels 
 were sej)arated, each lost to the proper course. 
 They were driven about at random, while their 
 ears were saluted by the dismal sound of ice 
 crushing against the ship, and of colliding ice- 
 bergs. 
 
 When at last the sky became clear, and the 
 scattered ships reunited, the pilot confessed that 
 he knew not where they were. But Frobisher 
 declared that he knew the coast, and that they 
 were all right. But they failed, after many at- 
 tempts, to effect a landing. The natives refused 
 to be conciliated, which is not strange, if the policy 
 of former expeditions had been practiced among 
 them. We shall see that later explorers found 
 them kindly disposed. 
 
 Thus hindered in his main design, Frobisher fell 
 back upon the passion of his life, and proposed to 
 
K 
 
 24 
 
 Arctic Hi:i<of,s. 
 
 
 !||;!.i .'I 
 
 the other commanders to abandon the colonization 
 scheme and sail on a voyage of discovery. lUit 
 they rejected the j)roposnl. 
 
 Much time had been wasted by these l)affled 
 efforts and divided counsels, and their jjrovisions 
 began to fail, while at the same time the vessels 
 were crippled by their icy foe ; orders were there- 
 fore given to spread sail for home. No settlers 
 had been landed, no gold obtained, not even the 
 deceitful ore of former voyages, and no discoveries 
 had been made. 
 
 Thus ended the arctic gold fever. Frobisher 
 fell into neglect, but did not lose his credit, nor 
 the people all of their faith in northern gold 
 mines; for they were slow to believe that he had 
 brought home only "fool's gold" — a micaceous 
 sand — and that " it is not all gold that glitters." 
 
 .i 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
Pnils by Sea, 
 
 n 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PKRILS BY SEA. 
 
 FAIT-URE to secure any substantial success 
 tlid not restrain the zeal of the queen, nor 
 the spirit of entL'r[)rise in other explorers. Imme- 
 diately on the completion of Frohisher's last voy- 
 age, Sir Mumphrey Ciilbert obtained from l''.liza- 
 beth full power to undertake a voyage of discov- 
 ery in the western waters, and to colonize such 
 land as was not already claimed by some Christian 
 sovereign. 
 
 Sir Humphrey was a man of mental force and 
 culture. He had studied the north-west passage 
 theory, and given to the world- his conclusions in 
 well-written pages. He belonged to a distin- 
 guished family, being half-brother to Sir Walter 
 Raleigh. His brother Adrian was already at the 
 head of an influential company for discovery in 
 the north-wf:st. 
 
 The queen's terms with Sir Humphrey were 
 very generous. He was to have for his own, for- 
 ever, all the heathen countries which he might 
 discover, to exercise absolute authority over them, 
 only that they should do homage to his sovereign. 
 Exactly where the distinguishing line was to run 
 between the discover's absolute rule and due 
 homage to England's queen, is not defined in his 
 
t. 
 
 lil- 1l 
 
 26 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 H.l 
 
 ,.t 
 
 ■ ; t 
 
 ri 
 il, ^,'<t 
 
 patent. It was expected probably that both would 
 exist mainly on paper. The queen, however, 
 added a more substantial qualification. Sir Hum- 
 phrey was to pay her one fifth of all revenues the 
 countries in question might yield. The right of 
 the natives to the land of their fathers was, of 
 course, not considered. It was to be a blessing 
 great enough for them to be owned and governed 
 by the enlightened strangers. 
 
 Sir Humphrey left F^ngland June, 1583, with 
 five vessels. They had not been long at sea be- 
 fore a fatal sickness occurred among the crew of 
 one of them, and it returned to England. With 
 his remaining fleet the commander landed on 
 NeW'foundland and took possession in the name of 
 his queen. A very cool beginning of ownership 
 in the new world, as he was not even the discov- 
 erer of this land. 
 
 A Saxon miner of the expedition soon reported 
 that he had found a silver mine. But lands and 
 precious ore could not stay the progress of dis- 
 ease. Another vessel was sent home with the 
 sick. The exploring scjuadron consisted now of the 
 " Delight," the largest and best vessel, the " Gold- 
 en Hind," and the " Squirrel," a small affair of 
 ten tons, in which the commander himself sailed. 
 With these he put to sea the 20th of August. On 
 the ninth day out a tempest came down upon 
 them, and the " Delight" and " Golden Hind" were 
 driven among rocks and shoals. The " Delight " 
 was on the lead, and struck a quicksand, in which 
 her prow was held firmly. Her stern was soon 
 
Perils by Sea. 
 
 27 
 
 T would 
 owever, 
 r Hiim- 
 lues the 
 ■ight of 
 was, of 
 blessing 
 overned 
 
 53, with 
 sea be- 
 crew of 
 . With 
 ded on 
 name of 
 /nership 
 discov- 
 
 eported 
 ds and 
 of dis- 
 th the 
 of the 
 ' Gold- 
 fair of 
 sailed. 
 On 
 upon 
 i" were 
 elight " 
 which 
 IS soon 
 
 it 
 
 beaten to fragments by tlie waves. When the 
 ship struck her boat was afloat at the stern, hav- 
 ing been hoisted out the day before to pick up 
 some birds which had been shot from the deck of 
 the vessel. Into this a part of the crew entered. 
 All could not enter; and the (juestion, severely 
 testing the unselfish heroism of every one, was 
 pressed upon them : Who shall remain by the ship ? 
 Captain Browne, who had been transferred from 
 the " Swallow " into the " Delight," at once set the 
 noble example of preferring the safety of others to 
 himself. Others followed this exami)le, and six- 
 teen only, including Mr. Clarke, the master, escaped 
 in the boat. The captain and one hundred men 
 calmly awaited their fate, and perished on the 
 breaking up of the vessel. 
 
 Those who were in the boat were scarcely to be 
 congratulated. Overladen, and without provis- 
 ions, they drifted before the furious tempest. 
 The nights were starless, and the darkness awful. 
 At the end of two days it seemed that the boat 
 could not longer float in the heavy sea, and one of 
 the sailors, by the name of Headly, proposed that 
 they draw lots, and that the four getting the four 
 shortest lots be thrown overboard, to increase the 
 chance of the safety of the rest. To this proposal 
 the master gave an emphatic " No ! " " We will 
 all live," he exclaimed, " or die together I " 
 
 Four days passed away, and no relief came. 
 On the fifth, Headly and one other man died. 
 All except Clarke were in despair, and cried for 
 death to end their misery. He calmly exhorted 
 
k 
 
 i^ 
 
 t 
 
 t • 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 t 
 
 ■ i 
 t 
 
 VI 
 
 frt 
 
 28 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 them still to trust the Divine arm and hope for 
 deliverance. On the sixth day, when hope seemed 
 to bo gone, he boldly declared that the morrow 
 would bring deliverance, adding, "If it does not, 
 throw me overboard." About noon of the seventh 
 day the shore of Newfoundland was seen. In the 
 middle of the afternoon they landed, with diffi- 
 culty creeping from the boats. Their first act, 
 most fittingly, was to fall on their knees and thank 
 God for their deliverance. The stronger then 
 brought water from a brook, and all quenched 
 their thirst. They found near them a good supply 
 of wild berries, and, building s. hut of boughs, 
 they remained on shore a few days and were 
 sufiiciently recruited to row quietly along the 
 shore, landing for water and their supply of fruit. 
 Soon a Spanish whaler picked them up and landed 
 them at a port in the Bay of ]]iscay. They trav- 
 eled on foot through France, and arri^'ed in En- 
 gland the latter part of T583, to tell the sad result 
 of their hopefully begun expedition. 
 
 We left the "Golden Hind" in the midst of the 
 storm which proved so disastrous to the Delight. 
 She beat off from the rocks among which they 
 were entangled and reached the open sea. All of 
 both vessels non united in requesting the com- 
 mander to return to England. In no wise daunted 
 by his misfortunes, he agreed to do this, after se- 
 curing a pledge from his men to sail with him on 
 another north-west expedition the next spring. 
 
 Having spread their sails for the homeward pas- 
 sage, Sir Humphrey several times left tue " Squirrel" 
 
 ,f 
 
Perils by Si a. 
 
 29 
 
 to spend an hour on board the " Gohlen Hind." As 
 his little craft was overloaded, both below and on 
 deck, and was not considered safe, the captain of 
 the " Hind " besought him to remain in his ship. 
 *' No," says the noble commander, " if there are 
 perils ahead I will share them with those in whose 
 company I have passed tlirough so many." Once 
 he came on board the " Hind " to have an injured 
 foot dressed by its surgeon. His condition offered 
 a good occasion for him to remain. But neither 
 his own comfort, nor a feast prepared by the 
 Hind's officers and crew, could entice him from 
 his post of danger. Soon after his return a storm 
 arose. In the afternoon of the day it commenced 
 Sir Humphrey was seen sitting in the stern of his 
 little imperiled craft with a book in his hand. 
 He shouted, " Courage, my lads, we are as near 
 heaven at sea as on land." They were his last 
 known words, '['hat night the " Squirrel's " light 
 was seen for a few hours glimmering in the dark- 
 ness, and rising and falling with the waves. Soon 
 that disappeared, and the career of the brave little 
 ship, with its noble commander and crew, was 
 closed. The " Golden Hind " returned alone, to 
 anticipate in part the recital of the sad tale of the 
 rescued boat's crew. 
 
 The next English explorer, John Davis, was 
 more chary of perils by sea. He was willing, 
 however, in order to find the much-desired golden 
 gate, or rather the north-west gate to the gold 
 and diamonds of the east, to subject himself to a 
 reasonable amount of peril. 
 
!l 
 
 30 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 Some '* divers worshipful merchants of London," 
 not deterred by treasures already lost in similar 
 adventures, fitted out and put Davis in command 
 of two vessels — the "Sunshine " and "Moonsliine." 
 
 They sailed from the Thames in June, 1585, 
 and in six weeks they were on the coast of Green- 
 land. Their early and first peril was from a 
 dense, long-continued fog bank. During its 
 gloomy darkness they were affrighted by terrific 
 grindings and loud roarings, wiiich greatly [);iz- 
 zled them. They could not be the crash of thun- 
 der, nor the sound of distant waterfalls breaking 
 through icy restraints. Ikit they wxM-e soon able 
 to explain these intimidating sounds, for the 
 grinding together of huge masses of ice soon 
 became a familiar, if not a pleasant, sight and 
 sound. 
 
 When the fog cleared away, and Davis and his 
 men were able to view the shore, they were not 
 greatly comforted. He says : " The country was 
 as dreary as it is possible to conceive. The loath- 
 some view of the shore, and the irksome noise of 
 the ice, were such that they bred strange conceits 
 among us, so that we supposed the place to be 
 waste, and void of any sensible or vegetable crea- 
 tures. So we named the same — Desolation^ 
 
 But they found even these regions not all deso- 
 lation. Sailing west, he discovered a clear sea, 
 with " gieen and pleasant isles bordering on the 
 shore." Even the natives smiled upon them, and 
 they entered into trade for furs. 
 
 A favoring wind springing up, Davis spread his 
 
 1 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 'If 
 
 1 
 
Perils by Sea. 
 
 3^ 
 
 sails and steered vicross an expanse of water until 
 they rounded a cape in great spirits, calling the 
 point of land " The Cape of God's Mercy." There 
 was no ice, and the commander thought that the 
 way "to Cathay " was found at last. "Why," he 
 exclaims, " the water is of the very color, nature, 
 and quality of the ocean ! " Sailing on over two 
 hundred miles in the happy delusion, he was con- 
 firmed in it by their arrival at a cluster of inviting 
 islands. But the old fog banks soon turned the 
 current of their thoughts. A storm arose and the 
 sea became boisterous. Not liking fogs and 
 storms, Davis (}uickly sailed to Engkmd, hoping 
 to come into those regions again another day. 
 
 Twice again he visited the same coast, making 
 surveys of the western coast of Greenland, and 
 making the worh! acquainted with the waters now 
 known as Davis Strait, and thus o})ening a wide 
 door for those who might follow. He had not, 
 however, filled his ships with gold, nor sailed to 
 Cathay through the icy north, and so he gave way 
 to other and newly-risen stars. 
 
!:f 
 
 32 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 ' .1 
 
 ■il 
 
 u 
 
 I. ' 
 
 ?f i; 
 
 !i'i 
 
 
 :;ii 
 
 SI 
 
 iii' 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ICE-BOUND. 
 
 Wnn^E England was sending her heroic 
 men to arctic regions, other nations were 
 on the alert. Among them none were more en- 
 terprising than the Hollanders. We give an 
 example of the heroism of the great Dutch com- 
 manders. \ 
 
 In 1596 William Barentz sailed into the Avaters 
 between Spitzbergen and Nova Zcmbla. It was 
 his third voyage into the frozen regions, yet the 
 perils he was now called to face were enough to 
 make even his well-tried courage fail. The ice 
 drifts came crowding around them until it had 
 made escape impossible. He says : " It made all 
 the hair of our heads to rise upright with fear, and 
 forced us, in great cold, poverty, misery, and grief, 
 .to stay all that winter." But they strove manfully 
 against such a dreaded necessity. 
 
 On the nth of September all hope of relief was 
 given up, and a council was called in which the 
 question was discussed how they might best de- 
 fend themselves against wild beasts and the cold. 
 They finally determined to build a hut upon the 
 land, and " so to commit themselves into the tuition 
 I God." 
 
 This being determined, the next question was, 
 
Ice-Boiuid, 
 
 33 
 
 ler heroic 
 tions were 
 : more en- 
 : give an 
 utch com- 
 
 tlie waters 
 a. It was 
 IS, yet the 
 enough to 
 
 The ice 
 til it had 
 
 made all 
 
 fear, and 
 and grief, 
 
 manfully 
 
 relief was 
 tvhich the 
 best de- 
 
 the cold. 
 
 upon the 
 he tuition 
 
 r 
 
 Of what shall our hut be made ? No trees grew 
 on the shore upon which they had l)een cast. 
 Looking about for material, they stumbled ui)on a 
 good (juantity of drift-wood. They joyfully re- 
 garded this needed article as coming through the 
 direct interposition of (jod. \\'eli did Barentz 
 write : "We were much comforted, being in good 
 hope that God would show us some further favor. 
 The wood served us not only to build our 
 house, but also to burn during the whole winter, 
 \\'ithout it, without all doubt, we had died there 
 miserably with extreme cold." 
 
 They at once set to work to build their house, 
 But they had not learned arctic house building. 
 Some put the nails they i)urj)Osed to use between 
 their lips, and when they removed them the skin 
 was taken too, and the pain was as if they had 
 been burned. The bears, also, troubled them. The 
 reader will wonder at this, as he will at this party's 
 hut constructing and other management, when he 
 has followed later explorers into the arctic regions. 
 White men had not yet learned of the simple 
 Esquimo how to live amid ijerpetual ice and in- 
 tense cold, and to regard the visit of the bear as 
 the good gift of the Great Spirit. A bear troubling 
 a whole ship's crew, when his fur and meat were 
 just the needed articles, and then walking auda- 
 ciously away, would have made an Esquimo 
 woman shrug her shoulders, and, with her peojjle's 
 peculiar laugh, to say, "White men all same as 
 
 bov 
 
 tl 
 
 I ^Si' 
 
 When the hut was finished the needed stores 
 
 
■ 1 
 
 , 1 
 
 Jh 
 
 ill 
 
 I 
 
 
 l» 
 
 ' 
 
 i 
 
 > 
 
 ( 
 
 ■II! 
 
 : I 
 
 <!'= 
 
 ^IjH 
 
 34 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 were removed lo it Honi llie shi[j. All this time 
 the oi)en water was within " arrow-shot " of the 
 vessel ! Dr. Kane would have found a way to 
 "cut her out," and thus to have escaped. 
 
 When the cracks in their house were chinked 
 with the weed they found about the shore, and all 
 their goods removed from the vessel, they " set up 
 the dial and made the clock strike." 
 
 It was now November, the sun had ceased to 
 appear above the horizon, and the long winter set 
 in. Regulations for the company were adopted, 
 and each assigned his daily round of duty. 'J'he 
 dignity of the officers was duly regarded, the mas- 
 ter and pilot being exempted from cutting wood 
 and " such rude labors." Habits which concerned 
 health were wisely regarded. The surgeon con- 
 trived to make a bath tub of a wine-jjipe, in 
 wiiich all bathed in turn, and at stated times, and 
 were much benefited. Traps were sometimes set 
 for the foxes that came skulking round ; foxes, 
 however, it would seem, were too cunning to be 
 caught. 
 
 The snow shut them up for days together, and 
 the cold stopped their clock, so that the slow- 
 moving hours were counted only by the hour-glass. 
 Their only light was the economically supplied 
 fire. Ice formed in their sleeping berths, and the 
 smoke and impure air were continual annoyances. 
 Linen froze the instant it was taken from hot 
 water. The painful stillness without was occa- 
 sionally broken by the thunder of icebergs as they 
 were rent asunder, or brought into sudden con- 
 
 
 ,1 
 
 I 
 
Ice-Bound. 
 
 35 
 
 111 
 
 hot 
 occa- 
 s they 
 con- 
 
 41 
 
 tact. At other times tlie bark of the fox or the 
 growl of the bear would fall on their ears. W hen 
 not employed in cooking many spent their time in 
 bed. 
 
 No wonder, in view of all these discomforts, at 
 the dismal tone of the following extract from the 
 commander's diary ! "It was foul weather again, 
 with an easterly wind and extreme cold, almost 
 not to be endured ; whereupon we looked pitifully 
 one upon the other, being in great fear that if the 
 extremity of the cold grew to be more and more, 
 we should all die there with cold; for what fire 
 we made it would not warm us. Yea, and our 
 sack, which is so hot, was frozen very hard, so that 
 when we were every man to have his part we were 
 forced to melt it in the fire. We had of this, 
 every second day, about half a pint to a man. At 
 other times we had water, which agreed not well 
 with the cold, and we needed not to cool it with 
 snow or ice; but we were forced to melt it out of 
 the snow." 
 
 On the 7th of December they Nvent on board 
 the ship, and brought to the hut "some coals." 
 Of these they made a cheerful fire, in which they 
 for a while rejoiced. But the escai)ing gas gave 
 them all a sudden dizziness, and one fainted. 
 Evidently they came near being suffocated. The 
 door was opened, and they felt better ; and then 
 " a glass of wine was served out to each man, 
 to recover him completely." 
 
 On the 19th of November they tried to get 
 
 some cheer from the fact that the time of the 
 3 
 
•m 
 
 36 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 11 
 
 sun's absence was lialf expired. The seamen's 
 shoes had now frozen so lliat they could not wear 
 them, and tliey made tliem slippers of skins, and 
 wore several pair of socks at once. 
 
 Their stock of wood was expended by the mid- 
 dle of January, but it was re])lenished by weary 
 digging in the snow. Going to the ship one day, 
 a fox was discovered in the ca1)in ; he was caught, 
 carried to the hut, his flesh eaten, and his skin 
 made into warm slippers. 
 
 On^" Twelfth Night" — a national holiday — they 
 tried to be merry. From their scanty allowance 
 of wine they had saved an extra ];ortion for this 
 occasion. When mentioning this wine they add : 
 "We fancied ourselves at home in Holland." If 
 they were indebted to me wine for this "fancy," 
 wine, true to its character, was to them a cruel 
 "mocker." We think this was even so, for they 
 " soaked biscuit in wine, drank to the three kings 
 of Cologne, and comforted themselves as if they 
 had been at a great feast." They drew lots to see 
 who should be king of Nova Zembla, and the lot 
 fell to the gunner. It is said, in fact, that they 
 were as happy as if they had been in their own 
 houses among the dykes of Holland. But where 
 wine presides at the board, headache and sleepless 
 nights follow, and "sweet home "" dissolves like 
 the baseless fabric of a vision." 
 
 The next few days were very stormy, and, no 
 doubt, very "blue." They remained in their hut 
 and heard the foxes fearlessly running over the 
 roof. The bears passed in and out of their dc- 
 
 ii 
 
 .^ 
 
Ice- Boh ml. 
 
 n 
 
 mgs 
 they 
 :o see 
 lot 
 they 
 own 
 here 
 )less 
 like 
 
 d, no 
 r hut 
 the 
 r de- 
 
 serted ship. The cold grew more intense. With 
 their feet to the fire, their socks burned before the 
 flesh felt tlie warmth, and their backs were cov- 
 ered with frost. 
 
 On the 24th of Janiia'-y three of the men, going 
 to the sea-side toward the south, caught a glim])se, 
 as they thought, of the sun above tlie hori/on. 
 Ihit their connnander doubted the good news, as 
 the sun was not due by his reckoning. Many 
 days following were densely cloudy, and they ol)- 
 tained no additir)nal evidence of his welcome 
 return. 
 
 Though the cheerful sun came not to the ice- 
 bound and suffering wretches, death entered their 
 abode. On the 26th they carried one of their 
 number out to his deep-snow grave. lie had long 
 been sick, an.l now, around his cold remains, they 
 read "cert^.m chapters from Ood's Word," and 
 mournfully chanted their psalms. 
 
 A polar bear, which had, no doubt, during the 
 winter, observed the ways of these strangers, and 
 not l)eing attacked, very naturally resolved to at- 
 tack them. He came boldly up to their dwelling. 
 They attempted to shoot him, but their "match- 
 locks " missed fire. The bear, despising the arms- 
 length fighting of the white faces, made a rush at 
 the door of the hut. 'J'he men rushed in, and 
 held it fast on the inside, having in tiieir flight, 
 dropped the bar by which they usually secured it. 
 After trying to force it the bear walked away, but 
 suon returned, mounted the roof, and roared furi- 
 ously for admission. The terror of the inmates 
 
1 
 
 t i 
 
 i 
 
 'M 
 
 
 1 
 
 %. 
 
 
 If 
 
 1 
 
 "l 
 
 1 
 t 
 
 i' 
 
 38 
 
 Arctic Ili'.kor.s. 
 
 was now very ^rcat. If he sliould break tlirough, 
 there woiihl I)c just one too many in tlicir rk;sc 
 <iuartcrs. P>ut the hear contented himself, by 
 necessity, as he couhl not break through, with 
 " sound and fury," and w ent away. 
 
 On the 4th of May the open sea came within 
 five hundred paces of the ship. 'I'liey decided, 
 however, not to wait tlic chances of being able to 
 float their ship, but resolved to venture their safety 
 in their boats, They had a voyage before theni 
 of many hundred miles over a cold and stormy 
 sea. They re))aired their two boats, and, on the 
 13th of June, the forlorn i)arty, twelve in number, 
 left that "desert, irksome, fearful, and cold coun- 
 try." They were destitute of every comfort, and 
 of ahnost all the common necessities of existence. 
 Soon three of them died, and were committed to 
 the dee]) ! 
 
 After many weary days they came in sight of a 
 long-desired cai)e. When the good news that the 
 ca])e was in sight was shouted from the deck, 
 Piarentz was below examining a chart which I)e 
 Veer, one of his companions, had made of the 
 coasts they had seen on their voyage. He had 
 become very weary, and desired to be carried on 
 deck that he might see the land. 
 
 Not long after the sad tidings was communicated 
 from the other boat that Claes Andriz was dying. 
 " I shall soon follow Andriz ! " said Barentz. " De 
 Veer," he added, "give me something to drink." 
 
 He took the cup from De Veer, drank, fell back 
 into his arms, and died. 
 
 
 IM! 
 
Icc-Bouiiii. 
 
 39 
 
 I'he comjjany in the olhcr boat were, at the 
 saive lime, closiiij; the eyes in death ot' Anchi/.. 
 
 The two boats were now in an ahnosi de^perato 
 condition. 'I'heir commander had been tlieir prin- 
 cipal navigator, from his superior knowledj^e and 
 experience. His courage and hopeful temper had 
 been the inspiration of their flagging si)irits. 'I'hey, 
 however, manfully contended against the fearful 
 difticulties ; and in Sei»teml.)er, having been nearly 
 three months o\\ board their frail boats, they 
 reached the coast of Lapland. They say: "We 
 now saw some trees on the river side, \\\\v \\ coiii-- 
 fortcd us and made us glad, as if we then had 
 come into a new world ; for in all the time we had 
 been out we had not seen any trees." 
 
 Having arrivetl at Coola, which we understand 
 to be a ])ort of La[jland, they fmished a voyage of 
 eleven hundred and forty-three miles, and [mt 
 their boats in the " Merchant's H(nise, us a sign 
 and token of their deliverance." 
 
 In a few weeks they sailed for Amsterdam in a 
 Dutch ship. They api)eared before their friends 
 in the dress they had worn during their perils, 
 and were received as those who, being lost, were 
 found. They were honored and feasted. The 
 common people heard their story with wonder, 
 and they were invited to repeat it before the min- 
 isters of foreign States at the Hague. 
 
40 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SET ADRIFT. 
 
 n 
 '*»■ 
 
 T 
 
 HE next 
 
 an 
 
 d h 
 
 Hudson. T 
 
 prom I n 
 onors of a 
 kluscovy 
 
 'im 
 
 t candidate for the i)crils 
 ic exploration was Henry 
 wealth-seeking company 
 first sent him out in 1607, His orders were t • 
 penetrate directly to the North Pole. Hudson 
 seems to have answered, in spirit : I will try, gentle- 
 men. He reached, by the way of wSj)itzbergen, the 
 latitude of 8i4^\ an a})})roach to ilie point to wliicli 
 he was sent not much exceeded at any time since, 
 until the last American expedition under Captain 
 Hall. He then coasted awhile about Spitzbergen, 
 and came home declaring that there was an insur- 
 mountable ice barrie" across the way to the pole in 
 that direction. This declaration has never been 
 proved false. 
 
 He was next sent to find a north-east passage 
 to India, a result much desired by his employers, 
 as, in their estimation, it would be eipiivalent to 
 the discovery of great riches. In the spirit of 
 I'll try, he sailed in 1608. He made the coast of 
 Nova Zembla after hard fighting with the Ice 
 King, into whose domains he had dared to pene- 
 trate. ]^>eing defeated by his veneral)le sovereign 
 of the whole northern region, he returned home 
 and testified that a north-east passage to India in 
 
 % 
 
Sc'f Adrift, 
 
 41 
 
 ships had no existence, except in the fancies and 
 wishes of certain merchants who woukl make haste 
 to l)e rich. This testimony of the brave sailor 
 stands unimpeached to this day. Hudson's sailors 
 declared that while at one time out in a boat, dur- 
 ing this voyage, they saw a merr.iaid. They did 
 not, however, catch her and bring her to England. 
 So a grave doubt rests u])on their testimony. 
 
 Tlie Dutch did not believe the faithful state- 
 ment of Hudson, l)ut would have him try the 
 north-cast passage again. He did so, in 1609, and 
 was warned off, as before, by the grim Ice King ; he 
 obeyed, and turned his ships toward the American 
 coast, taking care to steer away from the regions 
 controlled by his frosty majesty. He arrived at 
 what is now New York harbor, and discovered 
 the beautiful river to which his name has been 
 n*.tached to this day. This was exploring to good 
 purpose, whether it satisfied the merchants of Hol- 
 land or not. 
 
 The next year a rich company of London mer- 
 chants started him off again. Strange to say, the 
 explorers again confronted their old enemy on the 
 south-east coast of Iceland, where they dropucd 
 anchor. They were beset with fog, and soon found 
 themselves beset also by "bergs" and "packs," 
 the skirmishers of the Ice King. They wisely 
 took the hint and left. Going round to the west 
 coast they caught a fine lot of fish. Here they 
 saw Mount Hecla in a blaze, the brightness of its 
 fires lighting up tlie land and sea, and sparkling 
 from the eternal snows. 
 
42 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 They inadc a harl)or, wlicre llicy killed a good 
 sup]3ly of sea-fowl. Attemiiting to sail, they were 
 driven into another harbor, where they found warm 
 springs, in which they bathed; some of them were 
 hot enouidi to boil their fowl in. 
 
 They now sailed away for Greenland, and coasted 
 along its north-west side, seeing many whales. 
 Scudding before the wind, they went west of 
 north, and encountered great quantities of floating 
 ice, on which were numerous seals. Hudson was 
 carried along with the current which bore the ice, 
 and after fruitless attemj)ts to get free from it gave 
 np the attempt, and yielded to feelings of dis- 
 rourag'Miient. He called his men together, showed 
 tliem his chart, and called their attention to the 
 faot that they had sailed a hundred leagues further 
 than any of their countrymen had done. He then 
 submitted the question to them whether to go 
 further or to return. 
 
 The council thus called seems to have l)een 
 divided and insubordinate. The commander, as 
 might have been supposed, was obliged to assume 
 the responsibility, which he did by pushing for- 
 ward. He soon after discovered some islands 
 under >vhich he found shelter. Going ashore 
 they found game and drift-wood, and, being re- 
 freshed and encouraged, called them tlie " Isles 
 of God's Mercy. 
 
 Sailing again, and borne hither and thither by 
 the varying ice-laden current, he was at last car- 
 ried much to the west of what he expected l)y the 
 rush of the tide into the great bay which bears 
 
 ir'^ 
 
Sa Adrift, 
 
 43 
 
 his name. Gaining ihe slicltcr of another ishuul, 
 a ])oat was sent ashore. They found iijioi-i it 
 herds of deer — though their clumsy guns failed 
 to bring down any — abundance of wild fowl, and 
 some herbage and scurvy-grass. The boat ex- 
 plorers were called on board by an alarm-gun, as 
 a storm was coming on. The crtnv, having been 
 consulted before, now /'.fV/^/tv^v/ their advice. They 
 wanted to stay here and recruit. But Hudson was 
 elated by the idea of the vast sea into which he 
 had just entered, and thinking, perhaps, that the 
 way to " (J- :' iK-^y " was at last open to him, weighed 
 anchor "i'' ' ^ re away. The muttering storm of 
 discontent among the crew, r,o long gathering, 
 began to break out in fitful gusts. Hudson at 
 once assumed the stern authority of the shij)- 
 master, and degraded two of his officers, the mate 
 and boatswain, making Bylot mate and Wilson 
 boatsw^ain. In doing this he is accused of acting 
 under the influence of a spirit of revenge for 
 provocations a long time before given by the de- 
 graded men. This :-.eems to us unlikely, his own 
 safety forbidding 'e master to take such a time 
 to pay off old gnu 
 
 After some exciiii. ■; adventures, in which tlie 
 crow and their commaauer came into collision, 
 they began tc 'ook about for winter-quarters. It 
 was November, tlie nights ^^ e long and cold, and 
 the snow every-where deeu. Drawing their ship 
 up near the shore they were soon frozen in. Their 
 provisions were '">w, and all were put on a short 
 allowance. T\\ few, ever forward with their ad- 
 
..!. 
 
 44 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 vice, counseled the biiilding of a house on shore. 
 This seems to have been good advice, but Hudson 
 flatly refused to have it done. A most unfortu- 
 nate state of irritability had been fostered between 
 the two parties. Some time later, when the com- 
 mander saw the necessity of a house on shore, he 
 commanded the carpenter to build one. " I nei- 
 ther can nor will," was that officer's reply. Hud- 
 son attemjited to strike him, and hurled at him 
 sharp words. " I know my d'lty ; I am no /i<?use 
 carpenter," rejoined the car])eii < 
 
 This, as it may be seen, is }:)Oss / a one-sided 
 account. It does not accord with the later, noble 
 conduct of the carpenter to ]iis commander. 
 
 After further delay the house was built, but in 
 such a manner that it proved of no use. 
 
 The winter was a severe one, and their pro- 
 visions were nearly exhausted. Sickness, of 
 course, prevailed, and much suffering was ex- 
 perienced. They, however, shot a great many 
 wild fowl, and procured ^rom beneath the snow 
 some moss and buds, all of which were eaten 
 and acted favorably in staying the progress of the 
 scurvy. 
 
 In the spring the Esquimo visited them, and 
 a trade was entered into for furs in exchange for 
 trinkets. 
 
 Hudson now prepared to return home. With 
 a sorrowful heart, and, it is said, with tearful eyes, 
 he distributed to the compnny a portion of the 
 small remnant of their provisions, not more than 
 enough to last ten days. He remarked in giving 
 
Set Adrift, 
 
 45 
 
 \\\ 
 
 ten 
 the 
 
 tith 
 es, 
 the 
 lan 
 
 in a; 
 
 I 
 
 it out : " I also gi\e you a bill of return,, so that if 
 you ever get home you may show it." 
 
 A short time after they caught '' fourscore small 
 fish," which, though but little among so many, 
 ought to have impressed them that they might 
 look for a providential su])ply. 
 
 They set sail, we may be assured, witli heavy 
 hearts. But a feeling worse than that of heavi- 
 ness was indulged by many. They dropped an- 
 chor before clearing the bay — now Hudson Hay 
 — when the rebellious spirit on board assumed the 
 form of open violence. The mutineers took an 
 occasion, when officers and men were widely scat- 
 tered about the ship, to seize the commander as 
 he was leaving the cabin and to tie his hands 
 behind him. 
 
 " What do you mean to do .'' " he demanded. 
 
 " You will know when we get you into the 
 boat," was the reply. 
 
 The rebels, who were strong in numbers, were 
 armed, and jjresented deadly wea])ons to the 
 friends of Hudson. Some of the sick l)oldly de- 
 nounced the mutineers, and told them that they 
 would find England, if they arrived there, a worse 
 place than their present one. 
 
 Hudson and eight sick men were violently 
 dragged into a small shallop, with only two days' 
 provisions. Tlie carpenter, though regarded as a 
 friend of Hudson, was not put into the boat with 
 him. When he saw the fate that had been devised 
 for his commander, he denounced, in no smooth 
 terms, the rebels, and boldly declared that he 
 
46 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 ::, ;•;;!; 
 
 111 
 I 
 
 preferred his comjjany in the boat to theii in the 
 ship. Ihs noble conduct seems to have subdued 
 in a measure even his wicked shipmates, and they 
 allowed him to take his chest, musket, powder 
 and shot, a few cooking utensils, and some other 
 necessaries, and a small addition to the stock of 
 ])rovisions. 
 
 The shallop was then set adrift, wliile the sliip 
 hoisteu sails and bore away. Doubtless the muti- 
 neers watched the victims of tlieir great crime, 
 until they were lost in the rapidly increasing 
 distance. 
 
 Night threw her mantle over the separated par- 
 ties. The morning dawned with a clouded sky 
 and stormy winds. All day the gale drove fields 
 of ice over the open Avaters, and rendered naviga- 
 tion imi)ossible, while the great icebergs went 
 plunging througli the deep, or fiercely rushed to- 
 gether like angry gladiators. Hudson and his 
 companions were, without doubt, lost on that 
 fearful day ; yet no messenger, even in the form 
 of a faintly intimating relic, ever appeared to tell 
 the story of the time and circumstances of their 
 last moments. Posterity drops a tear over their 
 watery graves, and history perpetuates the memory 
 of Hudson in the name of the bay which he dis- 
 covered. 
 
 The guilty ship's company steered homeward, 
 keeping the headlands in view. On one of these 
 they landed to secure a needed supply of sea- 
 fowls. Meeting on shore peaceably disposed Es- 
 cpiimo, they began to trade with them, exchanging 
 
5t/ Adrift. 
 
 47 
 
 
 trinkets for furs and fresh provisions. At one 
 time a boat having articles for such [)urposes on 
 board, went ashore, dreen, who seems to liave 
 been the chief villain of the ganf(, ventured, with 
 otners, away from the boat, and mixed freely with 
 the natives, showing goods. I'ricket only was left 
 in the boat. Seeing the stranifcrs thus off ihoir 
 guard, and temj)ted, no doubt, by the coveted 
 trinkets, a savage attacked Pricket with a deadly 
 weapon. A desperate struggle ensued, I'ricket 
 finally killing the assailant. A general conlb'rt at 
 once commenced, in which four of Green's party, 
 fighting their way to the boat, reached it only after 
 receiving serious wounds. The remaining one 
 jumped into the sea from a rocky point and swam 
 to the boat after it pushed off, seizing its stern, 
 and begging to be taken in ; his comi)anions, it 
 seems, being regardless of his fate. The savages 
 persisted in their attack, and were beaten off with 
 a pike and hatchet. Green was killed on the s])ot. 
 The rest reached the ship, l)ut three died of their 
 wounds. The cry of the blood of their murdered 
 commander was s])eedily avenged. 
 
 The ship was now insufficiently manned, and 
 there were no relieving parties to go ashore for 
 birds. With great labor they killed and salted 
 three hundred. They then sailed out of the strait, 
 and bore away for England. The last ringleader 
 in the rebellion died on the voyage. They reached 
 their own country, after being driven to the very 
 extremity of starvation, a wetched, guilty com- 
 pany as ever returned from an arctic exploration. 
 
 Jl 
 
 Hi 
 
 W 
 
 31 1 
 
 3. 
 
48 
 
 Arctic Hi'.koi;s. 
 
 M 
 
 Their suffering, miserable condition seems to liave 
 turned aside the sword of justice, usually so (juick 
 in old England to i)unish crimes like theirs, and 
 they were not arrested. Indeed, two of them 
 sailed in the next arctic expedition. 
 
 iiiiii 
 
 i|i 
 
 1 
 a 
 e 
 c 
 c 
 
 .ill 
 
Shipwreck ami Escape. 
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SHIPWRECK AND ESCAPE. 
 
 HUDSON'S discovery of a great body of 
 water, extending farther west than previous 
 voyagers had sailed, created great excitement. 
 Much controversy was the result, some contend- 
 ing that the highway to India, so long sought, led 
 out of it. But it was a long time, as we shall see, 
 before much additional knowledge was obtained 
 of regions lying farther west. 
 
 In 1616 V.'illiam Jjaffin discovered the b;iy 
 which bears his name. It is a vast extent of 
 water, eight hundred miles long and three hundred 
 wide. Its discovery was a full compensnticn to 
 the world for the failures of many previous expe- 
 ditions. Its waters have yielded great treasures 
 to the adventurous whalemen. Baffin larely 
 missed opening to navigation Lancaster Sound. 
 He sailed by and observed its entrance, but wlmt 
 lay beyond remained unknown for two hundred 
 years. 
 
 While the English and other nations were ])ush- 
 ing their ex]:)lorations westward fi'om Hudson 
 and Baffin Bay, the Russians were, with equal 
 energy, surveying the Arctic coast-line of their 
 own extended possessions. From time to time 
 expeditions were sent eastward from the White 
 
m 
 
 50 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 'i,, 
 
 'I 
 
 I ■ 
 
 Sea, discovering tlic rivers and bays along the 
 Siberian coast, to tlie Lena. Other exjjeditions 
 sailed west from Bering Strait to tlie Kolyma 
 and Lena. 'IMie sufferings of these adventurers 
 were very great. Their vessels were small affairs, 
 varying from ten to fifty tons, and in the means 
 of comfort and safety of life which they afforded 
 comjuired unfavorably with the jileasure yachts of 
 our bays. This is true of all the exploring vessels 
 of these early times. 
 
 Passing the smaller expeditions which, in their 
 aggregate discoveries, opened extended lines of 
 sea-coast, we present more fully that of the fa- 
 mous Russian commander. Captain \'itus Bering. 
 In 1728 he was given the command of two vessels, 
 the " Fortuna " and " Gabriel." He sailed from 
 the mouth of the Kamchatka River in July, and, 
 coasting northward, reached a point in Bering 
 Strait where the land swept off to the westward. 
 This, he assumed, proved the separation of Asia 
 and America, thus settling one of the great ques- 
 tions for which the voyage had been undertaken. 
 This done, Bering returned home. He was afraid 
 of the winter and its Ice King, and seems to have 
 cared more for ease and satety than great ex- 
 ploits. 
 
 Bering's timid policy lost him no favor with his 
 Government. He was advanced to the rank of 
 commander, and his lieutenants given commissions 
 as captains. Supply depots Avere established on 
 the Kamchatka coast, the exploring interest was 
 kept up by the discussion of various projects, until, 
 
Shipivrcck a) id Escape. 
 
 51 
 
 SKI 
 
 hcs- 
 
 en. 
 
 •aid 
 
 lave 
 
 ex- 
 
 in 1 741, Bering again made tlic long overland 
 jorrney from St. Petersburgh to Avatcha, Kam- 
 chatka. His exj)editiun from this j)ort consisted 
 of two vessels — the " St. Peter," commanded by 
 himself, and the "St. Paul," Chirikoff, cajjtain. 
 They sailed on the 4th of June, and on the 20th 
 of June the vessels were separated by a storm, 
 and were not again in comjjany. About the mid- 
 dle of July the " St. Paul " anchored off the Ameri- 
 can coast. The long-boat, with eleven armed 
 men, was sent ashore. Anxiously, for six days, 
 the commander waited in vain for its return. 
 Then a smaller boat, with six men, was sent to 
 search for it, but neither of the boats returned, 
 and the fate of the men remained a matter of 
 conjecture. A sad intimation, however, of their 
 end was given by the appearance the next day of 
 two canoes filled with savages. On seeing the 
 Russians crowding their vessels' deck, they made 
 a fierce outcry and paddled swiftly away. 
 
 Having now no boats, Chirikoff sailed back 
 to Avatcha, having on his voyage lost twenty- 
 one of his seventy men ; four, among whom 
 was a celebrated naturalist, Crozere, died of 
 scurvy. 
 
 Bering, in the " St. Peter," had a more eventful 
 career. The first land he made on the American 
 coast was examined by two boats in reference to 
 a supply of fresh water. One of them, com- 
 manded by Steller, met a small company of the 
 natives, who were peaceably disposed. They con- 
 sisted of men only, who had been on a fishing ex- 
 
 'A 
 
 I 
 
 il 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 *' ''\\ 
 
 
 f } M 
 
52 
 
 Arctic Hmroes. 
 
 ii 
 
 ■in 'i • 
 
 cursion. They liad captured a whale, and offered 
 the strangers some of tlie blubber, urging them 
 to eat. 
 
 ThoUL'-h the result of these boat excursions was 
 favorable to a longer stay, I'ering hoistetl sail and 
 ])Ut to sea. A violent storm, which lasted seven- 
 teen days, overtook him, and he was driven far to 
 the southward. 'I'o add to his disasters the scurvy 
 broke out among the crew, A good supply, freely 
 eaten, of the whale's llesh which the ]^sf[uimo 
 tendered might have prevented this. As it was, 
 the men were generally disabled, and many died. 
 The steersman was ujjheld by a comrade on either 
 side, both about as feeble as he. When the ship's 
 watches were changed, it was but one set of invalids 
 succeeding another. A cold rain, by whi(di they 
 had been drenched, was succeeded by sleet and 
 snow. The nights grew longer and the darkness 
 more intense, while, at the same time, they been me 
 entangled in a scattered group of islands. The 
 supi)ly of water was small, and tlie ([uality poor. 
 The sailors were at last so few in numl)er and so 
 weak that they were unable longer to manage the 
 ship, and she was for several days driven by the 
 wind or drifted by the current. On the 4th of 
 November the crew rallied, and attempted to re- 
 gain command of the ship, and i)ut her prow to 
 the westward. \\'hile struggling to accomplish 
 this they were thrilled with joy at the sight, in the 
 distance, of snow-capped mountains. They knew 
 not whether they were those of their own Kam- 
 chatka or some far away island. Before they 
 
 ^ 
 
S/iipivivck and liscaf^c. 
 
 53 
 
 I 
 
 could reach the shore the long, dark, and intensely 
 cold ni^ht set in. I )uring its weary, slow-passing 
 hours, the cordage supjxjrting one side of tlie 
 masts gaNe way, reiulering the larger sails useless. 
 'I'hus cripjjled, and about destitute of water, they 
 deterniined, at all risks, to run the vcssl-I ashore. 
 For this purjjose, when the morning dawned, they 
 hoisted some light sail u{)on the (pnvering masts. 
 Seeing the ship drifting upon a rocky reef, they 
 threw out an anchor; but the cable soon parted, 
 and she struck twice \\\>v>w it. A moment after, 
 however, a huge wa\e lifted h.er u]), and bore her 
 safely over the reef into calm water with a sandy 
 bottom. They were but a short distance from the 
 shore. They were in a land-locked harbor, and 
 had been driven in through a merciful ])rovi(lence 
 
 ' the winds and waves through the narrow and 
 only {)Ossible entrance. They restetl until noon 
 of the next day. Piering had been for some time 
 confined to his berth with the scurvy. W'axcl, who 
 succeeded to the command, and Steller, surgeon 
 and naturalist, now landed to explore the country. 
 It was dreary enough. There were no trees in- 
 viting them to a shelter under their intertwining 
 branches; no Es([uimo huts offered tlieir simple 
 hospitality. One feature only was cheering : there 
 was a beautiful stream of i)ure water, which the 
 Ice King, forbidden by the (Ireat King, had not 
 yet touched by his congealing wand. It was mur- 
 muring a plaintive welcome to the forlorn strangers 
 as it rushed over its rocky bed. 
 
 Waxel and Steller found some excavations in 
 
 i 
 
 
 m 
 
 i ii 
 
 J .-' 
 
 \ M 
 
54 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 1* 
 
 ,1 
 
 mm 
 
 the banks of this stream, which they resolved to 
 cover with the sails of the ship as the best tem- 
 porary provi.iion they could make for the sick. 
 This they did, and in a few days attempted to 
 bring them ashore. Some died the monient they 
 reached the open air; othe.s died on board the 
 boat, and some immediately on Lnnding, 
 
 These deceased comrades were laid in a solemn 
 row on the shore to await a kindly burial ; but 
 their bodies were instantly attacked by rapacious 
 foxes, who mangled some of them before they 
 could be interred. 
 
 On the second day of the removals, Bering was 
 brought ashore and placed in a hut by himself. 
 He was tenderly carried by his men from the 
 boat, and his necessities were met as far as the 
 painful circumstances allowed. But he ra]oidly 
 sunk under his disease, his age and temperament 
 being against him. He became delirious as his 
 life drew to ^ 'jlose, imagining his friends to be his 
 enemies, and not permitting some of them to come 
 into his presence. He indulged the strange fancy 
 of scooping u\) the loose sand near his bed and 
 covering his feet with it. He was very angry if his 
 attendants rer-io'/ed it. He was finally left to 
 gratify this strange desire, and he sunk into the 
 arms of death, half buried by his own hands. His 
 name was given to the island, which has become 
 to all nations, and all succeeding generations, his 
 monument. 
 
 No other officer d ed, though several others 
 were at times attacked vvitli the prevailing disease. 
 
 "^m^ 
 
Shipivrcck and Escape. 
 
 55 
 
 lers 
 Ue. 
 
 But the disasters of the wretched company were 
 not ended. A few days after the burial of their 
 commander a violent storm arose. The sea broke 
 over the reef girding their harbor, and rolled vast 
 waves to the shore. Their ship, their only de- 
 pendence for escape, swung uneasily at her moor- 
 ing. She had lost two anchors, and one only 
 remained. None but men situated as they were 
 can appreciate the anxiety with which they watched 
 her unequal contest with the mighty sea. All 
 day of the 29th of September she bravely clung 
 to her anchor. The night, long, dark, and fearfully 
 tempestuous, set in, and left the shipwrecked 
 islanders to watch through its hours in torturing 
 uncertainty. 
 
 When, at last, the morning lighted up the shore, 
 the ship was seen won the bjach, buried dcp 
 in the sand, and sadly shattered by the waves. 
 A large part of their provisions, which, strange 
 to say, had not been removed to the shore, 
 was lost. 
 
 ^J'he party began now to look about them most 
 carefully. They soon learned that they were 
 upon an island. They found drift-wood, by dig- 
 ging under the snow, for improving their huts and 
 for fuel. This was a timely supply, without which 
 they must have perished. The blue and white 
 foxes, which annoyed them on landing, and sacri- 
 legiously attacked their dead, were glad to keep 
 out of their way, and were made to help largely 
 in supplying their table. "The sea-beaver," as 
 they called another of the island animals, they ate 
 
 it,' 
 ^1 
 
56 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 m 
 
 only when hard pressed for food, as their flesh was 
 hard and " strini^^y." 'I'hcy even turned up their 
 noses at tlie flesh of the seal, pronouncing its 
 smell and taste decidedly disagreeable, (which 
 proves that they were not driven very near to the 
 verge of starvation.) The " sea-lion " they jjro- 
 nounced excellent. The walrus was much rel- 
 ished, the flesh being " like beef," and tlie young 
 ones tasting like " the best veal ;" they used their 
 fat for butter. They even salted several hogsheads 
 of this walrus meat for their voyage of esca])e, if 
 they ever made one. A part of the small remains 
 of the provision saved from the ship was put 
 away for the same purpose. 
 
 At a time in the winter when they seemed in 
 some danger of falling short of provisions a whale 
 came ashore near their huts. They found its 
 flesh, when separated by boiimg from the fat, good 
 eating. In the spring another whale stranded 
 upon their beach. Thus God wonderfully pro- 
 vided for these shipwrecked islanders. 
 
 It was now April, 1742; the snow had melted, 
 and the wreck and drift-wood were uncovered. 
 They began to debate the (piestion, How shall we 
 escape from the island ? — a question, one would 
 think, hard to answer. Waxel proposed tearing 
 the old wreck to pieces, and the construction of a 
 smaller vessel of the materials. All concurred in 
 the proposal. But the carpenters of the expedi- 
 tion, three in number, had died during the winter. 
 Here was a serious perplexity. In the emc-gency 
 a Cossack, by the name of Sawa, who had worked 
 
SJiipivrcck and Escape. 
 
 57 
 
 
 awhile in a Russian navy-yard, stepped forward 
 and said he would try. The commander sug- 
 gested the dimensions, Ibrty feet long and thirteen 
 ])road. The vessel was begun in May, and on the 
 loth of August it was launched and named the 
 " St. Peter." It had one mast and one deck. A 
 cabin was built on the after-part, and a cook-house 
 on the fore-part. The shot and iron of the wreck 
 were used as ballast. Arrangements were made 
 for four oars amid-ships. Favored by calm weath- 
 er after the launching, they hung the rudder, put 
 in the mast, " bent the sails," took the provisions 
 and the few valuables their shij)wreck had left tht \-<, 
 adding no small amount of furs collected on the 
 island. Having built their sailing vessel, they 
 added to it a boat large enough to carry nine 
 persons. 
 
 Seldom have men reduced to so desperate a 
 condition risen to one so hopeful. On the i6th 
 of August they bid adieu to their island home, 
 manned their oars, rowed over the reef, and, when 
 well out to sea, hoisted sail and steered for Kam- 
 chatka. Their vessel behaved well, to the joy 
 of all and the honor of Sawa. On the 27th they 
 safely entered the i)ort from whence they had 
 sailed with such high hopes fifteen months be- 
 fore. Chirikoffs shi]), though it had been out in 
 search of them, was there. They were, of course, 
 w\armly welcomed, and became the heroes of the 
 hour. Sawa was regarded as the rescuer of the 
 company, and was made a nobleman of inferior 
 order. 
 
 X-. 1 
 
 * i 
 
 4 
 
 
II 
 
 t ,1 
 
 58 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 Thus ended the last expedition under Bering — 
 its shipwreck and escape. 
 
 Having thus shown the progress of arctic dis- 
 covery into the middle of the eighteenth century, 
 we will pause to glance at some of its moral and 
 religious results. 
 
 ! " -;i' 
 
Arctic Mission - Work, 
 
 59 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ARCTIC MISSION- WORK. 
 
 WE have related in an early chapter the 
 fact that a Danish settlement in (Ireenland 
 immediately followed the pioneer voyagers. We 
 have noted, too, the history of a Roman Catholic 
 mission which attended it, and given passing notice 
 of the remarkable circumstance that the entire 
 colony, with its mission, was mysteriously blotted 
 out. We devote now a few pages to the revival 
 of the mission-work there by better teachers with 
 a purer faith. 
 
 In the early part of the eighteenth century a 
 Norwegian boy by the name of Hans Egede list- 
 ened to the wonderful legends of his fatherland 
 with deep interest. The stories concerning the 
 Zenos especially impressed him. Mixed with tales 
 of their shipwreck on the Greenland shore were 
 vague accounts of heroic Christian efforts for the 
 conversion or its heathen people. The lack of 
 reliable information as to what had been done 
 afforded a broad field for the exercise of his lively 
 imagination. His desire to preach Christ in Green- 
 land grew with his increasing years, and became 
 the staple of his talk. But the Church received 
 his suggestions coldly, and the world laughed at 
 him. Being thus restrained, he became parish 
 
 I? 
 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 ¥ 
 
 - *f; 
 
r 
 
 60 
 
 AKcric Ilr.HOES. 
 
 ; I 
 it 
 
 \ \ !i! 
 
 -%. 
 
 minister at Vogcn, in tlic north of Norway, was 
 married, and had four cliildren. TUit the fiery 
 zeal of his youth for Greenland and its perishing 
 heathen burned with unabated intensity. His 
 wife even opposed it, Init Egede had no rest. 
 " He that forsaketh not all that he hath for my 
 sake is not wortliy of nie," seemed ever ringing in 
 his ears. He spread the matter before (iod in 
 earnest daily prayer. His wife's ol)jections were 
 first removed, and she became an ardent co- 
 operator, declaring she was ready to forsake all 
 lid to face every toil and danger. He pressed 
 his suit upon the Mission College, and was rejected 
 with some assurance of future aid. He next ap- 
 peared before the king himself. Royal ears were 
 opened to his imi)assioned appeal, difhculties gave 
 way, ten thousand dollars were raised, a small 
 vessel, called the '* Hope," ]nirchased, and Hans 
 Egede with his family landed in Greenland in the 
 summer of 1721. He chose for his first station 
 a small island near the mouth of the Baal River, in 
 latitude about 65°. 
 
 Strange to say, Egede, with all his seemingly 
 God-inspired zeal and his undoubted Christian 
 heroism, mistook at first, at least, the vital duty of 
 a true a])Ostolic missionary — that of preaching 
 Christ, He began his instructions with the story 
 of the creation, and endeavored thus indirectly to 
 prei)are his hearers for the story of the cross. His 
 ('hristian si)irit conciliated the natives, and sub- 
 dued the opposition of prejudice which first at- 
 tended his good offices. Still none were con- 
 
Arctic Mission- Work. 
 
 6i 
 
 verted, Kc toiled on ten long years, patiently 
 praying and waiting. 
 
 In 17 ^r Kgede seems to have begun to have 
 some fruit, for several were baptized. Two of 
 these were taken to Denmark by the colonists, 
 and their story awakened a deep interest in the 
 minds of the devoted Moravians of that country. 
 Their story was reix)rted to the congregation 
 at Herrnhut. Matthew Stach arose and said : 
 "Send me to Greenland; the Lord hath called 
 me." His cousin, Christian Stach, added, " Me, 
 too, hath (iod commanded to go!" Christian 
 David, a veteran teacher, united with them in 
 the noble enterprise. 
 
 The congregation which said to these brethren, 
 "Go; (rod be with you, and bless you ! " were a 
 poor persecuted people. They had only their 
 blessing to give. 
 
 These three started for Copenhagen, a district 
 of five hundred miles, afoot, carrying their entire 
 worldly substance on their backs. The day be- 
 fore starting they received an unsolicited dona- 
 tion, and while this lasted they refused all prof- 
 fered charities by the way. 
 
 When they arrived at Copenhagen they were 
 regarded as fanatics. Count Pless inquired of 
 them how they would support themselves in 
 Greenland. 
 
 "With our hands," Avas the prompt reply. 
 
 " How will you find shelter and a home ? " 
 
 "We will build a house and live in it." 
 
 " But there is no timber in Greenland ! " 
 
 1 I 
 
 fit 
 
 
 '*:; I 
 
 I 
 
 
 iff 
 
 4 
 
P :i 
 
 r. 
 
 62 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 it ' 
 
 ?l'i!! 
 
 "Then we will dig a hole in tlie ground and 
 live in that ! " 
 
 " No," replied the count, " that will l)e too l)ad. 
 Here's money enough to buy lumber for a house ; 
 carry the material for your home with you, and 
 God bless you ! " 
 
 They arrived in Greenland in April, 1733, and 
 built their humble house on the mainland near the 
 island on which Egede had so long toiled. They 
 put u}), also, a house in which to receive the natives 
 who might visit them. They called their locality 
 Herrnhut. Scarcely had they become settled be- 
 fore the small-pox swept away large numbers 
 of the natives, and prostrated the missionaries. 
 While thus burdened they were cheered by the 
 unexpected coming to join them in their labors 
 of two of their brethren from home, Beck and 
 Boenish. These so diligently and ai)tly applied 
 themselves to the Esquimo language that they 
 soon printed for native use copies of the Lord's 
 Prayer, the Ten Commandme.its, and the Apostles' 
 Creed. But they were unsuccessful in hunting, 
 not having learned the ways of the natives in this 
 respect. Their stock of provisions was much 
 reduced, so that there remained for the entire 
 mission only a barrel and a half of oatmeal, with 
 no apparent resource when that should be eaten. 
 The Esquimo, seeing their reduced state, watched 
 for the moment when starvation should make 
 them helpless to utterly destroy them. But the 
 men of God cried unto him, and in the spring of 
 1736 ample supplies were sent by an unknown 
 
Arctic Mission - Work. 
 
 63 
 
 benefactor in Holland. Having thus enough to eat 
 for the present, more hiborers and more mouths 
 to feed came from their home. In the sum- 
 mer following, the mother of Matthew Stach, a 
 widow, and his two sisters, joined the mission. 
 The mother immediately relieved the men of the 
 burden of domestic affairs, and the sisters — Rosina, 
 twenty-two years old, and Anna twelve — showed 
 great aptness in learning the native language, and 
 soon became efficient spiritual hel])ers. For two 
 years from this time this united, undinching compa- 
 ny of eight Christians endured all manner of annoy- 
 ances from those whom they came to tell of Jesus 
 and his love. Hideous bowlings saluted their ears 
 by night. Whenever they went out they were 
 mocked, pelted with stones, and threatened with 
 death. Their boats were loose.ied from their 
 moorings and set adrift. 
 
 Thus affairs stood when a party of South Green- 
 land natives arrived at the settlement. One of 
 them, Kayarnak, was at one time sitting near 
 Beck while he was attempting the translation of 
 the Gospel of Matthew. He was curious to learn 
 what the white teacher was doing. Be(^k read to 
 him the .story of the cross. The savage and his 
 companions listened with tearful eyes. " Tell me 
 that again," exclaimed Kayarnak, He became at 
 once a keen and earnest inquirer. He came and 
 settled near the mission, bringing two other fami- 
 lies, who became inquirers. The other South 
 Greenlanders mocked and soon left; but five 
 candidates for baptism, including Kayarnak, camt; 
 
 \\ ai 
 
 n 
 
 11? 
 
i 
 
 11 
 
 lil 
 ."I 
 
 64 
 
 Arctic Hkroes. 
 
 M 
 
 out of the tlirce faniilics. Morning and even- 
 ing ])raycrs were established in these hoiiseliolds, 
 and tliey progressed raiiidly in the knowledge of 
 the Christian faith. 
 
 Sunday, March 29, 1739, was a great day at 
 Herrnhut. Kayarnak, his wife, a son and a daugh- 
 ter, were baptized in the midst of prayers, thanks- 
 givings, tears, and tlie nielling jiower of the Spirit. 
 The aged ICgede had been called home by Ids king 
 to teach the Est[uimo language to those ])urpos- 
 ing to join the colony. But his son had taken his 
 place in the mission-work, and rejoiced at this 
 harvest home. 
 
 This baptism of the Spirit was followed by a 
 baptism of blood. A brother of Kayarnak, who 
 had become an in([uirer, was killed, and Kayarnak 
 himself was driven, with his family, under the 
 threat of death, to South (Ireenland. JUit he 
 carried the presence of the Saviour and tlie good 
 news of salvation with him. Soon twenty-one 
 boats, filled with his countrymen, came to Herrn- 
 hut inquiring about this new way and a risen 
 Christ. At the exj^iration of a year Kayarnak 
 himself, with his family, accompanied by a brother 
 and family as inquirers, made their weltome ap- 
 pearance at the mission. After a brief but faith- 
 ful career Kayarnak died, attesting joyfully in 
 death, as he had in life, the power of Divine grace. 
 The good work spread. In one Es(|uimo hut the 
 inmates sat up all night listening with unwearied 
 attention to the Word of Life. 
 
 In 1747 the material for a house of worship 
 
 
»n 
 
 Arctic li fission - Work. 
 
 OS 
 
 was sent from Denmark l>y tlie friends of tlic 
 mission, and it was dedicated with great joy. Tlie 
 next year tliirty-five natives jjrofessed to obtain 
 renewing grace and were baptized. A fevv years 
 after a devastating disease was introduced from the 
 whale-ships, and nearly two score of the native 
 converts died; but in death they triumphed, and 
 witnessed a good confession. 
 
 A few years later Matthew Stach, assisted by 
 two recruits from the home congregation, estab- 
 lished a new mission at a more southern jioint, 
 which he called Lichtenfels. In a great emer- 
 gency for a church, these brethren laid their case 
 before (jod in prayer. God had given them the 
 ears of the natives, whole families had professed 
 to find Christ, and a house of worship was deeuu-d 
 necessary for the permanent usefulness of the 
 mission. Thus situated, the winds and the strong 
 current which had visited more souti^.ern shores 
 brought a large amount of drift timber. Out of 
 this the church was erected. 
 
 From this time the good work went stcidily 
 forwaid, its harvest-fields covering a greater area, 
 its sowers and reapers increasing, and its sheaves 
 more perfectly ripening for the heavenly garner. 
 The whole New Testament was in due time 
 translated and ])rinted in Esquimo by the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society. A training-school has 
 been established at the Herrnhut Mission to pre- 
 pare native Christians to preach to their coun- 
 trymen. Re-union meetings of the native con- 
 verts are at times held. At one of these two 
 
 ■1 
 { 
 
 *1 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 HI 
 
 '111 
 
 "itt 
 
 'i m 
 
66 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 hundred and thirty-seven partook of the sacrament 
 together, rejoicing with great joy. 
 
 Thus have arctic exi)lorations been followed by 
 the precious inlluences of the (iospel. 
 
 The reader will now readily recall the last 
 cliai>ter — its story of shipwreck and escape — and 
 go with us on another voyage of exploration. 
 
 ■) 'i 
 
 ii'i« 
 
A Sudden Retreat. 
 
 67 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A SUDDEN RETREAT. 
 
 THEwSE repeated disasters of the explorers 
 seem not to have dam])cned the ardor of 
 eitlier the governments or the sailors in their 
 desire to sail round the continents through the 
 northern sea. Their desire to visit the North 
 Pole was as intense as if they knew it to consist 
 of a mountain of gold. 
 
 In T743 the British Parliament offered a reward 
 of one hundred thousand dollars to the lucky 
 navij^ator who, sailing through Hudson Strait, 
 shouV come out on the other side of tiie Ameri- 
 can continent. It a])pears to have been assumed 
 that this prize could be taken by one giving cer- 
 tain proof that this could be done. So land as 
 well as sea expeditions were tried. These started 
 from the trading depots of the Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany, and 'traversed their vast territory toward the 
 Arctic Sea. In 1869-72 Hearne reached a large 
 and rapid river — the Coppermine — and floated 
 nearly to its mouth. The next expedition, ten 
 years later, by Mackenzie, followed the nobler 
 Mackenzie River in the same direction. Neither 
 were certain that they had reached the ocean. So 
 the century closed with the vexed question un- 
 answered. 
 
 
 .,i< 
 
 IVI. 
 
 ;'''V * 
 
 ^tii 
 
 d; 
 
 
 
 
w 
 
 n 
 
 '^'■ 
 
 68 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 "Vars now for many years kept the tlioughts 
 and ships of commercial nations at home. \a- 
 jjoleon Honaparte, fiercer tlian a i)ohir bear, was 
 making sad havoc of thrones. When, at hast, the 
 smoke of battles had cleared away, the attention 
 to arctic exi)loration was renewed, largely by the 
 influence of William Scoresby; a cai)tain of a 
 whale-shij). When a boy, in a whaler commanded 
 l)y his father, he had reached a higher latitude 
 than any yet attained. He was only twenty-one 
 years old when his father retired from the service, 
 giving his son the command of his ship. 
 
 In 1 817 Captain Scoresl)y observed a remarkable 
 chaiige in the northern ice-fields. He reported 
 that Baffin May, and the waters even far beyond, 
 were free from ice, while large quantifies were 
 drifting south over the Atlantic to mvlt in a warmer 
 region. He called the attention of Sir Joseph 
 Banks, President of the Royal Society, to tl.is re- 
 markable fact in a v.ell-written letter. The old 
 enthusiasm bc'j;an to glow amon^;; the great men. 
 Scoresby's suggestions were readily taken up. but 
 not the man. Thougli eminently ([ualified for the 
 command, which he sought, of one of the explor- 
 ing ships, "Mily officers from the na\y were allowed 
 the honor, "red tape" prevailing over common 
 sense and the best interests of exploiation, 
 
 Two fine ships were soon in readiness: tlie larg- 
 er, the " Isabella," three hundred and eighty-five 
 tons, was commanded by ^Ir. (afterward Sir John) 
 i<(i^s; tlie smaller, the " .A'exander," two hundred 
 and fifty tons. 
 
 I 
 
 \\ 
 
 as under the commaiul of Lieu- 
 
A Siiihicn Retreat. 
 
 69 
 
 tenant Eidward Tarry. 'I'licse vessels were not 
 only larger than their predecessors in the same 
 service, but were better furnished in all respects. 
 The beit instruments known to science were on 
 board, and a man skilled in using them, Cai)tain 
 Sabine, was detailed for that purpose. Not the 
 least valuable member of this ex[)edition was an 
 Esciuimo by the name of Sackhouse. He had 
 been converted through the intluence of the Danish 
 mission in Greenland, and had been twice in vScot- 
 land, spending a corisiderable time under l^^nglish 
 instructors. He had a pleasing address and a 
 true Christian siji'it. He now joined the expedi- 
 tion as an interpreter. 
 
 A skillful draughtsman, ^.ieut. Hoppner, was 
 taken to sketch the headlands and bays and other 
 objects of interest, and to devote his tinic es[je- 
 cially to laying down charts of 'he coast. Special 
 stress was laid, in the orders given to Captain Ross, 
 on the importance of affording the scientific ofticer 
 and the artist every possible opi)ortunity to o^jerate 
 in their departments of the service. 
 
 On the 30th of April, 1818, the shi[)s sailed. 
 >assed the southerr 
 
 »g \> 
 
 ap 
 
 and coasting northernly, they were soon ice- 
 locked. On one occasion the two ships made fast 
 to an iceberg, and made a merry-time of it. The 
 officers admired the scenery. Far to the east was 
 the dark outline of ''Greenland's icy mountains," 
 while to the west was a dreary horizon ot masses 
 of [Kicked ice. For a short distance around their 
 berg was open water. 
 
 r ;■ 
 
 'iH 
 
 /nil 
 
w 
 
 if ••! 
 
 70 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 f 
 
 si 
 
 Upon the berg itself were sights worth seeing. 
 The scientific men — a little groii],) — occupied an 
 isolated spot, busy with their instruments. At a 
 distant jioint a party of sailors were shooting sea- 
 fowl, bringing down many at every shot; near the 
 ship were sailors tal'ing in ice for water; higher 
 u)) the crystal mountain were some of the men 
 amusing themselves by sliding down from the top 
 into the valley below ; others were quietly looking 
 on, finding a real ]jleasure in seeing the hajjj^iness 
 of their comrades. But the most exciting scene 
 was a b-itH- going on between a part of the offi- 
 cers and men of tlie two ships. High up tlie tjerg 
 was a company behind an icy rami)art. Below was 
 an assail i. g party, boldly ascending, as best they 
 could, the slip})ery height to dislodge them, l^oth 
 parties were well armed — with snow-balls! 'Die 
 fight finally proved rather a (-o/t/ one, and ended 
 without bloodshed. It afforded a pleasnnt evi- 
 dence that there were no jealousies among the 
 members of this expedition. 
 
 Leaving the iceberg, they found favorable sail- 
 ing until they reached the Danish and Estpiirao 
 settlement of Disco. Here was a fieet of twenty- 
 five or thirty English whale-ships, waiting for the 
 ice to open. It had the appearance of .1 home 
 seaport. 
 
 A party of Esquimo came on board Cai)tain 
 Ross' ship, and the value of Sackhouse as an in- 
 terpreter was soon seen. A trade for dogs and 
 sledges was soon completed; after which the artist 
 made a sketch of the group of u.iti »cs, whit h greatly 
 
A Sudden Retreat, 
 
 pleased th'^m ; they then danced Scotch reels on 
 deck with the sailors, to the delight of all i)arties. 
 
 Sackhouse was especially attracted by one of 
 the half-Danish young ladies. One of the ofticcrs, 
 noticing his partiality, gave him a lady's shawl, 
 sparkling with a sjjangled border, as a present to 
 the young belle. He received it gladly, and pre- 
 sented it to her with a graceful bow. I'he young 
 woman blushingly acknowledged the gift, and in 
 return gave vSackhouse a pewter ring taken from 
 her finger. 
 
 Sackhouse went on shore with the visitors, and 
 not returning seasonably the next day, messengers 
 were sent to hunt him up. He was fcjund, after 
 some search, in a hut seriously injured and suffer- 
 ing greatly. He had gone out early to shoot some 
 specimens of natural history for the members of 
 the scientific corps, Thinking, as he said, " Plenty 
 powder, plenty kill," he had overloaded his gun. 
 The result was " plenty hurt " in the breaking of 
 his collar-bone by the recoil of his gun. It was a 
 considerable time before his full recovery. 
 
 The ice breaking up, our explorers sailed, in 
 company with the whalers, up the eastern side of 
 Baffin liay. While the whole fleet were within 
 sight, at various distances, there occurred a natural 
 phenomenon, curious enough to t!^em, ])ut (piite 
 common in the arctic regions, vSome of these 
 ships, by unequal refraction, appeared from the 
 deck of the " Isabella " as if they were lifted up to 
 .a great height, while others at a greater distance 
 were flattened to the surface of the sea, 
 
 I 
 
 «i 
 
 \%\ 
 
72 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 I • I. 
 
 1 
 
 'A 
 
 The slii[)S were soon taiiu;lu to keep out of each 
 other's way, as the mighty i( e-currents sometimes 
 brought tliem in violent collision with each other. 
 
 Occasionally the ships were towed along the 
 edge of great masses of floating ice by the sailors 
 tugging at a long rope. As the ice was thin, they 
 not unfrequently broke through and received a 
 cold bath, iUit as they did ncjt ha[)pen all to 
 break through at the same time, the unfortunate 
 one had only to hold fast to the rojje and be 
 drawn out. 
 
 The explorers came, at one time, to an island 
 about which were some Es([uimo with their dog- 
 sledges, the ice being unbroken on the land side. 
 They had evidently never seen white men nor 
 their ships. They looked amazed for awhile, and 
 then scampered off. In a few hours they sliyly 
 returned. Sackhouse api)roached them with signs 
 of peace. When at a distance he shouted, " Come 
 on!" to which they replied, "No; go away!" 
 One drew his knife, and added, " I can kill you ! " 
 
 But Sackhouse was full of tact and courage. 
 He threw them some beads and a shirt. These de- 
 sirable things not ({uite overcoming their fears, he 
 tossed them an luiglish knife. 'I'hey made a rush 
 for this, and, as one picked it uji, they all pulled 
 their noses and exclaimed, '* Heigh yaw ! " Sack- 
 house pulled his own nose and echoed, '* Heigh yaw !" 
 
 The gifts, nose pulling, and "yaws" were potent 
 peace-makers, and a talk commenced. 
 
 "What," asked the natives, pointing to the 
 ships, "are those great creatures.''" 
 
 
yl Sudden Rclrcat. 
 
 
 ih 
 Id 
 
 
 
 
 " Houses made of wood," s:iid Sackhoiise. 
 
 " No; they are alive. We saw them mi)ve their 
 wings, bid they come from the sun or moon .^ " 
 
 " From that way," said Sixkhouse, pointing 
 south. 
 
 " No," said the doubting natives; "there is only 
 ice that way." 
 
 As the I'lsquimo could not be enticed on board 
 the ships, commanders Ross and Parry came out 
 with their hands full of presents. 'J'he Es(|uimo 
 began to move off at their ap[)roach. Sack- 
 liousc called to the ofhcers to i)ull their noses 
 and shout, "Ileigh yawl" 'I'he magic words 
 opened a friendly intetcourse. Among other gifts 
 they were jjresented with a looking-glass. They 
 gazed steadily at their own faces for a few mo- 
 ments in blank amazement, and then broke into 
 an immoderate laugh, in which both parties joined 
 heartily. ^ 
 
 The exj)edition reached at last Smith Sound, 
 as it was called, but Ross strangely passed it by 
 without attempting an ex[)loration ; in the same 
 way he jjassed Jones Sound, losing the op[)or- 
 tunity of proving that they were both straits. 
 
 Entering I.ancaster Sound, they found the water 
 entirely free from ice in a westerly direction. With 
 high hf)pes, before favoring winds, they sailed for 
 awhile directly on the highway to the s])ice islands 
 of India, as most, if not all the men, e\cei)t Ross, 
 believed. All at once the " Isabella" tacked ship 
 on the return vo) age. Parry reluctantly followed in 
 the "Alexander," . i-if'ed and vexed. The expe- 
 
 I 
 
 f 
 
 1 ' ' 
 
 4 **„ 
 
 
 ff 
 
 1 
 
If 
 
 ^1 It 
 
 lii 
 
 '•?■ 
 
 Kl 
 
 74 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 dilion arrived safely in England, where a hue and 
 cry was raised against Ross. He declared, in self- 
 defense, that he clearly saw a-head a dark outline 
 of mountain barriers, proving that navigation ex- 
 tended no further. As it has since been proved 
 that none existed, it is not strange that Parry did 
 not see them. 
 
 Thus ingloriously ended this finely-equipped 
 expedition. 
 
I 
 
 Striking Incidents. 
 
 75 
 
 i1 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 STRIKING INCIDENTS. 
 
 AT the same time that the Ross and Parry 
 expedition left England for Baffin Bay, two 
 other ships sailed on the same general errand. 
 They were the "Dorothea" and "Trent." The 
 first was commanded by Captain Buchan, in com- 
 mand also of the expedition, and the other by 
 Lieutenant John Franklin. Captain Buchan was 
 instructed to sail his ships between S])itzbergen and 
 Greenland, touching at neither, but keeping straight 
 on to the North Pole, and from thence to the ap- 
 pointed place of meeting with Ross' ships on the 
 western coast of America. Both expeditions were 
 to " conquer success," and do what others had so 
 long tried to do. We have seen how Ross came 
 out ; let us follow Buchan. 
 
 He, too, as an incidental but important duty, 
 was to see that all possible experiments were made 
 during the voyage "on the elliptical figure of the 
 earth ; on magnetic phenomena ; on the refraction 
 of the atmosphere in high latitudes in ordinary 
 circumstances, and over extensive masses of ice ; 
 and on the temperature and specific gravity of the 
 sea at the surface and at various depths; and on 
 meteorological and other interesting phenomena." 
 
 The two ships, having left England in April, 1818, 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 s i 
 
 fi 
 
 '11 
 ml. 
 
 
 hi 
 ril 
 
76 
 
 Arctic Hi:i<oes. 
 
 I it! 
 
 li 
 
 wi;re in a few weeks entangled in tlie ire, with a 
 storm iii)on tlieni. 'i'hev, however, kept t(Jij;ether, 
 and succeeded in t^ettinir under the lee of Hear 
 Island, lying nearly two degrees south of Spit/- 
 bergen. This was then a famous fishing-ground, 
 but was especially noted as a resort for walruses. 
 The Muscovy Comi)any sent its ships here for 
 their (jil. One ship's crew sometimes killed a 
 thousand of these sea-monsters in a single day. 
 Some of them are as large as the average si/e of 
 our oxen. 'I'heir face is said to have s(^mewhat of 
 a human ex])ression. It will appear from the f(jl- 
 lowing facts, given by Lieutenant I)eechey,an oflicer 
 of the exjicdition. that they ])ossessed great affec- 
 tion among themselves, though savage toward their 
 enemies. Me says: "In the vast sheets of ice 
 which surrounded the ships there were occasionally 
 many pools ; and when the weather was clear and 
 warm, animals of various kinds would fre(iuently 
 rise and si)ort in them, or crawl from thence upon 
 the ice to bask in the warmth of the sun. A walrus 
 rose in one of these pools, or ojjenings in the ice, 
 close to the ship, and, finding every thing (juict, 
 dived down and brought up its young, which it 
 held by the breast by pressing it with its llijj[)er. 
 In this mr.iner it moved about the }>ool, keej)ing 
 in an erect posture, and always directing the face 
 of the young toward the vessel. On the slightest 
 movement on l)oard the mother released her 
 llipl^er an.d jnished the young one under the water; 
 but when every thing was again »|uiet brought it 
 tip as before, and for a length of time continued 
 
StriktHi^ Iiicidoits. 
 
 77 
 
 to play a])out in the pool, to tlie great aimiseinent 
 of the seamen, who gave her credit for abilities in 
 instructing her young, which, though i»ossessed of 
 considerable sagacity, she hardly merited." 
 
 Another scene presented by the walruses was 
 quite as serious as amusing, and, though a litik,- 
 comic, came (juite near being tragical. One of 
 the sailors of the "Trent" having, from the ship's 
 deck, wounded a walrus, a i)arty of seamen manned 
 a boat to secure the prize. No sooner liad they 
 pushed off from the ship than a detachment of the 
 walrus army attacked them. 'I'hey came on, snort- 
 ing with rage, and terrific in numbers, size, and 
 swiftness, with which they rushed to the assatdt. 
 The boat's crew were taken by sur])rise and thrown 
 off their guard. Some of the enemy, making a 
 battering-ram of their heads, rushed furiously at 
 the boat's sides, making it tremble in every joint 
 with the concussion. Others endeavored to upset 
 it i)y hanging over its sides while hooked on by 
 their tusks. lUit the crew, recovering their self- 
 possession, fought for their lives. They pricked 
 the enemy in the face with sharp lances, or smote 
 them over the head with hatchets. They, however, 
 were growing faint with the unefpial contest, while 
 the walrus leaders ])ushed forward fresh recruits to 
 take the place of their wounded comrades. Just 
 at this crisis a monster walrus, evidently the ( ham- 
 pion assailant, rushed \\\)ox\ the boat and seized it 
 with his great tusks. He had darted in, to K:ni,\ the 
 fray, jjroclaim the victory, and carry off the sjjoils. 
 ]3ut there was one loaded gun in the boat which 
 
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 7« 
 
 Arctic IIi'Kof.s. 
 
 luid been licld in reserve, as there was no time to 
 
 load others. 
 
 Th 
 
 IS 
 
 a sailor seizec 
 
 1, tl 
 
 irust Its 
 
 muzzle (hjwn the monster's throat, and fired. The 
 l)oastful champion floated off,' a lifeless mass of oil 
 and blid)l)er. His companions instantly snorted 
 a retreat, and literally bore liim oil", keeping him 
 from sinkinj4 by swimming under him, and bearing 
 him up by their tusks. 
 
 At one time a larj^e number of walruses were 
 basking in the sun upon the beach. The seamen 
 fired into them, wounding several, while the rest 
 rushed into the sea. Recovering from their panic, 
 they returned, and seeing no enemy near com- 
 menced tumbling their wounded fellows o\er with 
 their tusks until they reached the water; .hus re- 
 covering the fallen, they all disappeared together. 
 
 On the 28th of May an arctic fog enveloped the 
 ships soon after they had sailed for Bear Island. 
 A blinding snow was added to the fog, and the 
 ships lost sight of each other. I'hey had agreed 
 that in such a case they would meet in Magda- 
 lena Bay, a good anchorage on the north-west side 
 of Spitzbergen, where they were both snugly shel- 
 tered on the 3d of June. They had learned, as 
 might have been expected, that it was impossible 
 to sail to the pole, as they had been instructed, 
 without touching either at Greenland or Spitz- 
 bergen. " That little way to the North Pole," as 
 one of their patrons had lightly termed it, was a 
 bit harder to navigate than the landsman su])posed. 
 
 A marked feature of Magdalena Bay was four 
 glaciers, the smallest two hundred feet high, mov- 
 
 V' 
 
StrikiuiT hicidoits. 
 
 79 
 
 ing seaward over the slope of a mountain. The 
 largest of the four extended several miles inland ; 
 the smallest was called the " 11 angina; h eberg," 
 as it seemed re.idy at any time U) droj) into the 
 sea. So slightly, in fart, did the |)rojc(ting ice of 
 the glaciers adhere to the mountain or the con- 
 gealed mass behind it, that the least noise brought 
 down a berg. Deechey describes two very grand 
 launches of this kind, which the- ex|)Iorers were 
 fortunate enough to witness. He says: "The 
 first was occasioned by the discharge of a musket 
 at about a half a mile's distance from the glacier. 
 Immediately after the report of the gun a noise 
 like thunder was heard in the direction of the 
 glacier, and in a few seconds more an immense 
 piece broke away and fell headlong into the sea. 
 The crew of the launch, suj)posing themselves to 
 be beyond its influence, quietly looked upon the 
 scene. Presently a sea arose and rolled toward 
 the shore with such rapidity, that the crew had no 
 time to take any precautions, '('he boat was in 
 consequence washed upon the beach and com- 
 pletely filled by the succeeding wave. As soon as 
 their astonishment had subsided they examined 
 their boat. They found her so badly stove that 
 it was necessary to rei^air her in order to re- 
 turn to the ship. They had also the curiosity to 
 measure the distance the boat had been carried 
 by the wave, and found it to be ninety-six 
 feet." 
 
 At another time Beechey and his companions 
 were treated to a still grander sight: "This oc- 
 
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 80 
 
 Akl'J'ic Hr:KC)KS. 
 
 rurri'd," he snys, "on a remarkably fine day, wlieti 
 the (|uietness of the l)ay was first interrupted hy 
 the Tailing l)()(ly. Lieiitenanl l''raiiklin and my- 
 self had approaeiied one (>( thesu stu|)endous 
 walls of ice, and were endeiivoring to search into 
 the innermost recess of a deej) cavern that was 
 near the foot of the glacier, when we heard a 
 report as of a cannon, and, turning to the (juarter 
 whence it ])roceeded, we perceived an immense 
 piece of the point of the herg sliding down from 
 the height of tw(; hundred feet at least, into the 
 sea. It dis|)ersed the water in every direction, 
 accompanied by a loud grinding noise, A (pian- 
 tity of water which had previously been lodged in 
 fissures, now made its escape over the point of the 
 glacier, in many small cataracts." 
 
 The immense waves created by this majestic 
 launch, rolled over the bay and struck the " Dor- 
 othea," which lay upon her side, aground, four 
 miles away, 'i'hey released her tackle, ])Ut her 
 in an iii)right position, and passed on, seeming to 
 laugh at the sport they made as she reeled and 
 tumbled at their bidding. I>eechey adds : "The 
 ])iece that had been disengaged, at first wholly 
 disapi)eared under water, and nothing was seen 
 but a violent boiling of the sea, and a shooting uj) 
 of clouds of spray, like that which occurs at the 
 foot of a great cataract. After a time it reap- 
 I)eared, raising its head full a hundred feet above 
 the surface, with water jjouring down from all 
 parts of it. Then, laboring as if in doubt which 
 way it should fal!7 it rolled over, and, after rock- 
 
StrikifiiS Incidents. 
 
 8r 
 
 ing about sr)nie minutt's, at length became settled. 
 We now approached and found it nearly a (piarter 
 of i mile in circuinferenee, anil sixty feet f)Ut of 
 water. Knowin[,' its specific gravity, and niakitii^^ 
 a fair allowance for its inequalities, we conipuicd 
 its weiiiht at 4=; 1 1660 tons. A stream of salt 
 
 water was s 
 
 till tl( 
 
 owinti down its sides, aiu 
 
 d i: 
 
 icre 
 
 was a continual cracking noise, as loud as that of 
 a cart whij), occasioned, I sup[)ose, by the escape 
 
 of (onfi 
 
 ned 
 
 air. 
 
 ()ur i'Xi)lorers found, as others have (huie, the 
 temj)erature on the west coast of Spitzbergen to 
 
 be mild, there beinu little sensation of cohl, cv 
 
 un 
 
 w 
 
 hen the thermometer was (;nly a few degrees 
 above freezing. When the sun shone through 
 the pure atmosjihere the effect was enlivening 
 and brilliant. The azure hue was more clearly 
 defined than that of an Italian sky. The radia- 
 tion of the sun was intense at times. Heechey 
 says: " Hence are found rarities of Al[)ine i)lants, 
 
 grasses, am 
 
 1 lid 
 
 lens, sue 
 
 h 
 
 as m more southern 
 
 climes flourish in great luxuriance. They are 
 found ascending to a consideralWe height, so that 
 we have fre([uently seen the raindeer browsing at 
 an elevation of fifteen hundred feet." 
 
 'I'he shores of the islands (;f .Spitzbergen are 
 the resort of animals of various kinds and in 
 great numbers. The exi)lorers found Magdalena 
 Bay a lively [)lace in this respect. Sea birds, of 
 various species, filled the air with th.eir merry 
 cries. Wlierever they went, groups of walruses 
 were basking in the sun and indulging in their 
 
 il 
 
 lii 
 
 t\.\ 
 
;1 
 
 
 % 
 
 82 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 playful roar. The husky bark of the seal saluted 
 their ears by day and night, 
 
 Beechey in referring to the great numbers of 
 
 "the little auli," one variety of sea-fowl, says: 
 
 "We have frec[uently seen an uninterrupted line 
 
 of them, extending full half way over the bay, or 
 
 to a distancf^ of more than three miles, and so 
 
 close toj.L't I. •,■";; Uv3l thirly have fallen at one shot. 
 
 T]it<i ii' i.u rcKium mir^hi he ibout six yards broad 
 
 V aiiij O'i 'vi 'j 'Jeep; :.q that, allowing six birds to 
 
 a cAuAc yard, there vvu'.dd be four millions of these 
 
 creatures on the win^ at noe time. They rise in 
 
 such nuivibe'i] as to darken the air, and their 
 
 ■chc:u3 is dif ..inct'y aiidibk^ at a distance of four 
 
 - rniler.." 
 
 At viie ot tiie i'jl.ts they found the Eider-duck 
 in such numbers that it wjs difficult to walk with- 
 out Ueadin^v on ilu-'ir nests. Against all ordinary 
 intnKicr>: of tVi't sea-fo".vl kind they fought with 
 courage. When foxes, or other largv.. animals, 
 appioached, th'-v iias*ily drew over their eggs the 
 fi, j»vn of iheir nests and glued it down by a.i offen- 
 sive yellow fluid. This protection was complete 
 when once tlie enemy snuffed the odoi". 
 
 The islands near the anchorage of the shijjs 
 were clothed with a soft carpet of moss. To 
 these pastures herds of deer swam, feasted, and 
 grew fat in great numbers. One small island 
 above supplied the expedition with forty carcasses, 
 the fat on the loins of which was from four to 
 six inches thick. One of them weighed two hun- 
 dred and eighty-five pounds. 
 
 I 
 
Striking Incidents. 
 
 8 
 
 « 
 
 
 Of the affection of these beautiful animals 
 Becchey tluis writes : " They showed evident 
 marks of affection for each other. They were at 
 tlii.s time in pairs, and when one was shot the 
 other would h.;ng over it and occasionally lick it, 
 bemoaning its fate; and, if not immediarely killed, 
 would stand three or four shots ratiier than leave 
 its companion. This compassionate conduct, it is 
 needless to say, doubled our chance of sue ess, 
 though I must confess it was obtained in violation 
 of our better feelings." 
 
 The boats of the "Trent" captured several 
 reindeer as they were swimmiiig from one island 
 to another, 'i'hese they attempted to domesticate 
 on board of the shi[), but the jioor things were so 
 frightened that they broke their limbs in their 
 struggles, and were in mercy killed. 
 
 On the 7th of June the ships attempted to pio- 
 ceed on their voyage to the pole. They had the 
 usual amount of buiTetings by the winds, driftings 
 by adverse currents, and collisions and imj^edi- 
 ments in the floating ice, resulting in their return, 
 after about three weeks, to Magdalena Bay. 
 
 Resting awhile, and repairing damages, they 
 again steered northward. This time the ship 
 *' Dorothea" was more roughly handled, and came 
 near going down with all her crew. 'I'he " i'rent," 
 under the management of the skillful I'Vanklin, 
 fared l)etter, but was badly battered. Both re- 
 turned to Spitzbergen for repairs, and then re- 
 luctandy returned to England with the old report 
 
 — Ice is king at the north ! 
 6 
 
 ^!s 
 
 \l 
 
 » 111 
 

 l» -i 
 
 i 
 
 J. 
 
 84 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IMPORTANT SUCCESS. 
 
 TmC two c.\j)l()rations just noticed — Ross' to 
 Lancc'^ter Sound, and Buchan's to Spitz- 
 bergen — having ended, others were immediately 
 projected. Commander Ross fell into the back 
 ground for seeing mountain obstacles where none 
 were. His second in command. Lieutenant Parry, 
 
 was the 
 
 coming man. 
 
 lie had declared that 
 
 
 all attempts at the north had been abandoned on 
 the eve of success. His faith and courage were 
 suited to the spirit of the times, and his subse- 
 quent success ])roved that both sprung from real 
 str'cngth of character. As we are to sail with this 
 noted discoverer now for the first lime in full 
 command, let us pause and seek a more intimate 
 ac(}uaintance before we start. 
 
 Edward Parr^ ivas the son of Dr. ]\irry, »)f 
 Bath, J^lngland. He early manifested :i desire to 
 »ee the world. When a child he was once found 
 in his father's librlfc-y astride of n globe. Not 
 finding it the most convenient hobby-horse, he 
 looked on this side and then on that, as he sat 
 mounted, and exclaimed, " How wise it would be 
 to go round it ! " Vet he neither purposed nor 
 desired to enter the navy. But a divinity directed 
 he tide of his life, which he wisely took at the 
 
luiportaiit Success. 85 
 
 flood. Until within j few days of his first sea 
 voyage lic was ^tu(lying his father's profession, 
 wliich lie intended soon to enter. It hapi'ened 
 that just at this time a hidy friend was visitnvj; the 
 family who was rel.Ucd to Admiral Cornwallis, 
 then in command of the Channel fleet. W'iih a 
 woman's instinct, tliis lady friend had seen i^d- 
 ward's adaptation to the sea, and had often urged 
 his father to ])larc him in the navy. Strange 
 enough, she at this m(jment succeeded, wiien he 
 was on the eve of professional life — the father con- 
 senting and the son agreeing to go on a sea no)- 
 age. Admiral Cornwallis was " interviewed," and 
 in a few days Kdnard was shii)i>ed on board the 
 "\'ille d*:; Taris." His ship was immediately sent 
 to aid in oluckading the French coast t(^ prevent 
 Bonaparte from invading England. He afterward 
 saw service in the Baltic, and later, in the arctic 
 seas, with the whale-fishery protection fleet. He 
 had been in Halifax almost soon enough to 
 snuff the smoke of the famous battle between the 
 " Chesapeake "and " Shannon." So, though he had 
 not gone round the globe, he had ])eercd over 
 some of its edges. In 1817 he was recalled from 
 service in Bermuda by the alarming illness of his 
 father. Remaining idle for some time he felt a 
 sailor's restlessness, and wrote to a friend, seeking 
 a position in an African discoverv expedition. 
 Before closing ihe letter, his eye fell u[)on a scrap 
 in a newspaper cone erning a polar expedition. 
 He at once added : " Hot or cold is all one to rne 
 — .Africa or the l\;le." This letter was shown to 
 
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 86 
 
 Arctic IIkkoes. 
 
 1 ' 
 
 
 E' 
 
 
 M'-. Barrow — Serretar}- of the Admiralty, ^Tfer- 
 ward Sir John — tlicn the chief official promoter of 
 arctic discovery voyages. He smiled, pocketed 
 the letter, and obtained for Edward a commission 
 as second in command of tiie John Ross expedi- 
 tion, where we have made a slight but favorable 
 acquaintance with him. 
 
 Let us now return to the story of this chajjter — 
 Parry's first voyage in full command. 
 
 In two months afier the arrival in England of 
 the ships sent out in 1818, two ships, the " Hecla" 
 and " ('iri|)er," were sent into the naval dock to be 
 made as strong as oak and iron could be made, to 
 fight th.. arctic ice in the spring of 1819. Clreat 
 deliberation and careful incjuiry and examination 
 were used by the Admiralty before selecting a 
 commander. But Tarry said playfully, " I am sure 
 they \\]]\ give me some finger in this new pic." 
 He was at last ])ut in command, and given the au- 
 thority necessary to equip the ships and appoint 
 their officers and crew. The command of the 
 "Griper," a gun-brig of one hundred and eighty 
 tons, was given to Lieutenant Liddon, 
 
 It is a singular fact that while Parry was given 
 this flattering authority, yet he sailed on this ex- 
 pedition with no higher rank than that of lieu- 
 tenant, while his neglected former commander, 
 Ross, was promoted to a captaincy. The pro- 
 motion was given, probably, to conciliate wounded 
 
 pr 
 
 u 
 
 le. Parrv, who never seemed at a to^ 
 
 pertinent word, complacently remarks m reference 
 to these facte. "Promotion is nothing to the 
 
 
Important Success. 
 
 «7 
 
 command of the ' Hecla,' with the chart of Lan- 
 caster Sound in my hand." 
 
 'I'he two vessels contained ninety-four men, 
 fifty-eight in the " Ilecla," and thirty-six in the 
 " Grii)er." They sailed on the nth of ^Tay, 1819, 
 a fortnit^ht later tlian the start of the preceding 
 year. JUit they made better time by a month in 
 reach i in the mouth of Lancaster Sound. But to 
 reach it they had to fight tlieir way along the 
 west coast of (ireenland, although they had no 
 worse difficulty than " lloes " and threatening bergs. 
 But when they undertook to force their way through 
 the middle i)ack, the work was truly terrifying. 
 Now they were pushing cautiously through the 
 loose current or wind-driven ice ; then thev were 
 "tracking" along the edge of ice as solid, appar- 
 ently, as the land, the sailors strung along with tiie 
 drag ropes over their shoulders ; and, at another 
 time, they hastily " tumbled " into their boats to 
 tow the ship from a threatened "nip" between 
 two icebergs. A week was thus sj)ent ; the western 
 side of Baffin Bay was gained. A\'ith a fair, fresh 
 breeze, a clear sea and jubilant feelings, the ships 
 entered, and went spanking up Lancaster Sound. 
 The mast-heads were crowded by the officers, and 
 the men were scattered about the rigging, all with 
 throbbing hearts, waiting the developments of theii' 
 sailing through these hitherto unknown waters. 
 The men on deck received the messages sent down 
 from the crow's-nest with almost breathless inter- 
 est. Every day's western progress added to their 
 now greatly excited hope. On and still 01. they 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
88 
 
 Arctic Heroes, 
 
 H 
 
 
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 sailed, and no bugbear mountains impeded their 
 course, nor for a long time did any real obstacle 
 destroy their ciurished exj)ectations. Once land 
 ahead caused a momentary despondency, but it 
 proved to be an island. In endeavoring to go 
 south of it, they discovered an opening fiDin the 
 Sound southward \vhi( Ii Tarry nanied I'rince 
 Regent Inlet. vSoon after they discovered a brt/ad 
 channel to the north, and called it Welliiigton 
 Channel. Thus they were giving to the world 
 a knowledge of these im})ortant waters which 
 stand so jjrominent on the present maps of the 
 arctic regions. 
 
 A\'hen they had sailed to the ioo° west longi- 
 tude, a curious and important incident occurred. 
 The compasses first became very sluggish, and 
 then failed altogether as they turned into Trince 
 Regent Inlet. They felt sure the " magnetic 
 north pole " was not far away, but they could not 
 stop to ascertain the interesting fact, for were 
 they not at last on the long-sought northern high- 
 way to India .' A\'hat was the magnetic pole to 
 that ? They soon re.u hed the meridian, i io° west 
 from (ireenwich. ilis majesty's government had 
 offered ^25,000 to those of his subjects who first 
 reached this j)oint, and the money was now theirs ! 
 They lay now off a large island to which they gave 
 the name Melville. They pushed on some days 
 more, slowly and laboriously towing and warjjing 
 the ships, until thev were reluctantly convinced 
 that nothing was kit to them but to find, as well 
 as they could, the best iiarbor in which to spend 
 
 
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Important Success. 
 
 91 
 
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 the long arrtir winter. ( )i-i the T2th of Sei)temher 
 thev were hchl fast hv tho ice. A < (jinpanv was 
 sent out to obtain inforinalion concerning tlieir 
 ])osition, and the) wi.'re o\'ert;ikei"i h\ a snow-storm, 
 and did not return at tlie apiiointed time. I'our 
 other parties were sent in seart h of them, and 
 several days of paijiful suspen^e |)assed before all 
 were safely returned. A good harbor was found, 
 under Melville Island, two miles off. To this they 
 resolved to cut a channel and tra( k their ships. 
 They accomplished it in four days, officers and 
 men working in good spirits, though often up to 
 their knees in water. They anchored the ships 
 about a " cable's length " from the shore, amid the 
 heartiest cheers. 
 
 Parry's qualifications as a leader in an arctic 
 adventure were now more than ever to be tested. 
 To govern men having the shar]) points of cliar- 
 acter possessed by sailors requires a master-hand, 
 even when there is work for them to do, and hope 
 of the immediate accomplishment of a desired 
 end to stimulate them. Hut to keej) them under 
 discipline and in good si)irits through long months 
 of darkness, with nothing to do, is the test of 
 superior tact and energy. Fortunately Parry was 
 equal to the situation. 
 
 The ships were immediately strip])ed of their 
 sails, the upper dec:ks cleared and covered in. 
 This made a roomy place tor exercise and amuse- 
 ments. Hunting parties were organized and " game 
 laws" established, that they who "stayed by the 
 stuff" might share with tn(;se who took the ])rey. 
 
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 92 
 
 Arctic IIkrofs. 
 
 But game was not abundant. The musk-ox's time 
 to arrive at the ^i(■inity was in May, and his time 
 to leave was the last of September — just as the 
 strangers arrived. Hears were occasional visitors, 
 and the deer herds remained only through Octo- 
 ber. The men seemed not to be skilled in taking 
 these animals, though they shot a few deer. Once 
 a bear followed a man to the very side of the ship. 
 He was wounded, but got off. On another occa- 
 sion fifteen deer were seen lying down, not afar 
 off, guarded by a faithful stag, who stood as a 
 sentinel with head and ears erect. They were 
 ai)])roached by the hunters and off they ran, their 
 leader giving the alarm and occasionally making 
 the entire circuit of the fleeing herd as if to warn 
 them to keep together; when any one lagged be- 
 hind he quickened its ste[)s by a blow on the rump 
 with his horns. Not one was taken by the pur- 
 suers. Neither seals nor walruses were seen ; 
 even most of the sea-fowls left before mid-winter. 
 Wolves and foxes remained to give hideousness to 
 the darkness. The " great whales " were abun- 
 dant, but none accommodatingly stranded upon 
 the beach, as they did for the shipwrecked island- 
 ers of the Bering expedition. 
 
 Vegetation was as meager as the animals Avere 
 few. Dwarfed willows, a mean saxifrage, and 
 small mosses and grass, made nearly the sum of 
 Melville Island greenness. It was, indeed, a dis- 
 mal place, and contrasted sharply with the hoped- 
 for islands beyond the continent to which they 
 believed, a few weeks before, they were sailing. 
 
 *' TO liM»« » V 
 
Important Success. 
 
 93 
 
 But Parry kept the thoughts of his men pleasantly- 
 occupied. 
 
 Each tlay nil took a dose of lime-juice and 
 water as a preventive of scurvy. The sailors had 
 their times of marching around the cleared and 
 covered upjjer-deck, to the tune of a hand-organ 
 and vivacious songs. 
 
 The sun left them the 5th of November, l)Ut the 
 men's thoughts were taken from the gloomy fact 
 by the commencement of a series of ingeniously 
 continued amusements. Dramatical ])erformances 
 had been suggested, and LieutL-nant lieechey was 
 ai-pointed manager; other ofticers came for\\;n\l 
 as "star" performers. The jjlays were both orig- 
 inal and selected, Parry writing some of them 
 himself. 'I'he prei)arations, of course, e.xcited the 
 curiosity of tlie sailors, and gave them ];leasant 
 anticipations; and when the first i)erformance, 
 that of " Mi.'js in her Teens," came off, they were 
 convuised with laughter, and were sui)i)lied with a 
 topic of talk for their idle hours. 
 
 Another means of diversion was the publishing 
 of a weekly newspaper. Parry had given the 
 name of North Georgian to certain islands of the 
 vicinity, so the paper was called, " The North 
 Georgian Gazette and Winter Chronicle." All 
 were invited to contribute, Captain Sabine taking 
 charge as editor. Doubtless its pages were very 
 spicy, and its weekly appearance looked for with 
 interest ; but the lack of a column of " home 
 news" was sadly missed. 
 
 When Christm.is came it was enlivened by a 
 
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 94 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 4 
 
 dramatic performance of " The North-west Pas- 
 sage," written by Parry. All had as good a dinner 
 as the circumstances allowed. The officers' table 
 was sii])plied with a piece of English roast beef, 
 preserved since May without salt, simply by 
 freezing. 
 
 The sun reappeared above the horizon the yth 
 of February. On the lyth of March daylight 
 had so far ventured as to invite all to outside 
 work, so the dramatic jjerformance closed with 
 a spirited and appropriate address. 
 
 Parry now improved the time in making explo- 
 rations. They found on the western side " one of 
 the most habitable and pleasantest spots yet seen 
 in the arctic regions, the vegetation being more 
 abundant than in any other place, and the situa- 
 tion favorable for game." 
 
 The ships were not released from their icy fet- 
 ters until the ist of August. Before they left, a 
 L.^ge block of sandstone was selected on which 
 they engraved a record of their stay. 
 
 When relieved from their ten months' imprison- 
 ment the explorers made perilous efforts to sail 
 farther west. But on the 26th of August, after ^ 
 consultation of the officers of both ships, a voyage 
 home by the old way was declared to be the only 
 sensible course to be pursued. 
 
 They arrived in England in two months, and 
 were received joyfully ; and well they might be, for 
 Parry had greatly enlarged the knowledge of the 
 polar regions, and made a long stride toward the 
 western opening of the north-west passage. He 
 
and 
 for 
 the 
 the 
 He 
 
 Intportafit Success. 
 
 95 
 
 had, too, brought l^ack every man with whom he 
 sailed, excepting one seaman, who died at Melville 
 Island of an old disease. 
 
 Parry was immediately promoted to the rank of 
 commander, and honors were showered upon him 
 from every quarter. But as for himself, his first 
 act on landing was to march, at the head of his 
 officers and men, to church, to render public 
 thanksgiving to God for their preservation, and to 
 acknowledge his hand in their success. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ARCTIC SEA-MONSTERS. 
 
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 OUR narrative of arctic discovery thus far 
 has shown that the vast extent of waters 
 included in Davis Strait and T3affin Bay had 
 become considerably well-known to the civilized 
 world. But the reader may be disposed to in- 
 quire, What profit to mankind have been these 
 perilous adventures? We shall not be surprised 
 if this question is frequently asked as we pro- 
 ceed. Since the question is a natural and proper 
 one, we will pause occasionally to answer it as far 
 as we are able. 
 
 The Greenland whale-fishery followed in the 
 wake of these discoveries, and has, down to a late 
 period, been a source of wealth both to the new 
 and old world. It is so arctic in its character that 
 v)ur knowledge of this icy region would be imper- 
 fect without a sketch of this perilous business. 
 Fortunately we have the material for such a sketch 
 furnished by William Scoresby, brought before 
 the reader on a previous page, a captain of a 
 whale-ship, an intelligent man, a bold explorer of 
 the early part of this century, and a true Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 The old Northmen did a little at catching the 
 mon *ers of the deep in the waters north-east of 
 
^ 
 
 Arctic Sea- Monsters. 
 
 97 
 
 Greenland. In the history of Ohther's voyages, in 
 the tenth century, tliere is sometliing said about 
 the Norwegian whalemen, They carried on this 
 grer.t business on a small scale, no doubt, and with 
 little capital. Later accounts speak of whales on 
 the shores of France and Spain, troubling the 
 nets of the fishermen. As the whales scorned the 
 nets, which, indeed, were not -et for them, the 
 fishermen shot their arrows into tneir huge bodies. 
 These, very likely, weie at first scorned, too; but 
 men are always great on expedients to conquer 
 inferior animals, so that his majesty of the sea 
 became, in time, subjected to the lord of creation. 
 Whales, like ships, have in every age been occa- 
 sionally wrecked. This comes not from being 
 blown ashore, nor, we presume, from being carried 
 ashore by strong currents, but by pursuing their 
 prey too eagerly toward the beaches, and so getting 
 aground. It may be that they get up exj)loring 
 expeditions, and are too eager to see the men and 
 things on land, just as men are often wrecked by 
 beir'i; too eager to see the whales and other sights 
 on the sea. Be that as it may, so common was it 
 in 1315 for whales to get stranded on the British 
 Islands that the king, Edward II., declared by law 
 that "all wrecked whales shall belong to the 
 crown," and a hundred years later Henry IV. 
 gave to the Bishop of Rochester all the stranded 
 whales on the coast of his bishopric. What this 
 "picking" amounted to we are not informed, but 
 it must have been regarded by the bishop as rather 
 a fishy way of supporting his dignity. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 The ships of the Russian Company were the 
 first "to strike oil" in tlie west (irecnland seas. 
 This was in 161 1, and the next year all maritime 
 Eurojje was attacked by the oil fever, and fleets 
 spread all sail fur these waters. The whales here 
 caught were not as large as those they had been 
 catching, as they seldom exceeded sixty-five feet 
 long, whereas those mostly caught near Spitz- 
 bergen were not seldom a hundred feet. But 
 these are a different species, having no fins along 
 their backs — " smooth ba^-ks," as the sailors call 
 them — and they contain a wonderfully large fount- 
 ain of oil. Their head is immense; and the lip, 
 which is from fifteen to twenty feet in breadth, 
 and five to six in height, is attached to the under- 
 jaw, and forms the cavity of the mouth. This, 
 when open, must therefore expose a very roomy 
 place — a comfortable sitting-room, at least, for a 
 small family. Scoresby thinks that such a mouth 
 M'ould contain a ship's "jolly-boat," "men and 
 all." Parts of such boats, with now and then a 
 man, have certainly been taken into such mouths 
 in the deadly conflicts between these whales and 
 the whalers. In these cases the /hui^ may be 
 "jolly," but the //le/i are in another state of mind 
 altogether. 
 
 The fins, placed about a third of the length of 
 the body from the snout, are from seven to nine 
 feet long, and four or five feet broad. Immense 
 paddles are these, when worked by an engine sixty 
 feet long ! The tail of the whale is an article he 
 much esteems, and, if consulted whether to part 
 
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Arctic Sea- Monsters. 
 
 99 
 
 with his head or tail, would, we are sure, unhesitat- 
 ingly say, "Neither!" It contains a hundred 
 scjuare feet, supjjosing it to belong to one (jf 
 average size, and it is with this, in part, that he 
 tries to escape from his enemies, the whalemen ; 
 not succeeding in this, or if taken unawares, he 
 frightens them off by a commotion with it which 
 makes the sea boil; or he may gi\e it a flourish 
 and send boat and men high in the air, or to take 
 their last plunge in the great deep. 
 
 His eyes, placed in the side of his head, are 
 small — only about the size of those of the ox. He 
 has no ears, and no place can be discovered for 
 the admission of sound until the skin is removed. 
 So he is slow to hear, cjuick to see, and great at 
 blowing. The way the latter is done is this : he has 
 on the top of his head two nostrils, that is, holes, 
 narrow, but six or eight inches long. Through 
 these the whale breathes, throwing high into the 
 air, when he does so, a vapor mixed with mucous, 
 making at the same time a loud noise. 
 
 This Greenland whale has a mouthful of whale- 
 bone, which answers his purpose instead of teeth. 
 It is the same article that we have for umbrella- 
 frames and other uses; but in the mouth of the 
 original owner it is in wide, long sheets with a hair- 
 like fringe. These sheets or plates are suspended 
 from each side of the upper jaw. A large whale 
 carries in this way a ton and a half of tliis article. 
 
 When feeding on the minute animals which 
 crowd the olive-colored waters, the Greenland 
 whale swims swiftly just under the surface, with his 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 capacious mouth open. The water which thus 
 pours into it goes out at its sides, passing through 
 the hair-like strainer, leaving the food behind. 
 
 The female whale gives birtli in the spring to 
 one offspring, to which she gives nourishment at 
 her breast. Her new-born child is a nice large 
 baby, often fourteen feet long. It stays by its 
 mother a year or mere, and there is the strongest 
 affection between them. Scoresby relates the fol- 
 lowing incident illustrative of this: — 
 
 "The men of a whale-ship's boat launched a 
 harpoon into a baby whale, or ' sucker,' which was 
 unwatchfully sporting in the deep with its mother. 
 It was easily drawn to the stern of the boat by the 
 line attached to the cruel harpoon which had 
 entered the vitals of its victim. The mother, for 
 the moment, had not missed her child. When she 
 saw w^hat had been done while she was off her 
 guard, she came at the i)oat with a fury that made 
 even the brave old whalemen tremble. Bending 
 with all their might to their oars they rowed away 
 from their maddened enemy, at the same time 
 letting the line out to which was attached the 
 young w^hale, which, of course, dropped far astern. 
 The mother, though mad enough to swallow the 
 boat, men and all, stopped, picked up her wounded 
 child, and started off in an opposite direction. Six 
 hundred feet of line w^ere run out, making a heavy 
 burden for her, in addition to the object of her 
 care. When the end of the line was reached the 
 men still retained its attachment to the boat, thus 
 giving the whale the boat to carry as well as the 
 
Arctic Sca~Monstcrs. 
 
 lOI 
 
 line and the * sucker.* Still she clung to it, darting 
 this way and that to disengage it from tlie line. 
 AVhile her maternal affection was thus exhausting 
 her, the boat stole up, harpoons were i)lunged into 
 her, and mother and young became the prey of the 
 fishermen." 
 
 The arctic whale, though it can fight for its 
 young, and is dangerous when closely pressed, is 
 very timid and unconscious of its strength. If it 
 were not so the whalemen would fare badly. 
 When struck by the harpoon, slyly thrown into 
 him, he rounds up his back, turns his head down- 
 ward, throws up his enormous tail, and dives 
 down — down he goes at the rate of ten or twelve 
 miles an hour, and stops not until he reaches oottom. 
 The line attached to the harpoon he carries with 
 him smokes as it runs over the side of the boat, 
 and woe be to the man around whose legs it may 
 accidentally be coiled; he is jerked overboard 
 and carried down, or his limb torn from his body. 
 The boat even, if the line " fouls," that is, fastens 
 to any part of it, is carried under, like the cork on 
 a boy's fishing-line when a big fish gets hold of 
 the bait. 
 
 When the whale has been down from twenty to 
 thirty minutes, up his huge form rises to the sur- 
 face, disturbing the sea and rolling great waves 
 over its surface. The watchful boats cautiously 
 approach, and the monster receives sharp thrusts 
 from steel-pointed lances, or from more deadly 
 harpoons. The signal is given, and fresh crews and 
 
 other boats hasten to the scene of conflict. The 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 sea, and sometimes the men, are stained with 
 blood. If there is an ice-floe near, the whale im- 
 mediately rushes for it and dives beneath the sur- 
 face. If the whalemen's line of a mile or two 
 long runs out before the whale is out of breath, 
 his tormentors are glad to "cut away " and lose 
 line, whale, and all, rather than risk i)eing drawn 
 iintler the ice. If no such refuire is at hand the 
 frightened, bleeding, exhausted monster continues 
 to dive and rise to the surface, the whalemen all 
 the while greeting his reappearance with a thrust of 
 their weai)ons, now wounding, and i\u n, with the 
 shout of " Stern, all ! " darting as swiftly away. It 
 is brute strength against intelligent skill, and the 
 contest is unequal. That tail does occasionally 
 strike avenging blows which clothes a whole ship's 
 com])any '. ourning, and puts its (lag at half 
 mast wher returns home ; but the sea-monster 
 
 is loser in the contlict. 
 
 The following incidents will show the whale's 
 side of the contest. A small whale was harpooned 
 by a ship's boat. Other boats at the moment 
 pushed off from the ship to share the danger and 
 triumph of the fray. But the whale proved to be 
 both wide awake and plucky. After his first dive 
 he started off on tlw run. The relief boat came 
 up, for, with a boat in tow, an iron in his side, and 
 the exhaustion of a long, breathless dive, he made 
 only slow time. The harpoons of four boats were 
 lodged in him, but still he pushed ahead. One 
 boat, thinking to end the chase, ventured too near, 
 and was instantly sunk. Finally, he took in tow 
 
A re tic Sea - ^ I ousters. 
 
 103 
 
 six miles of line and three boats, but he was not 
 captured until he had drawn his captors nine miles 
 from the sliip. 
 
 At another time a boat made fast to a whale. I'>y 
 hard rowing two others attached themselves, and 
 all pricked him with their shari) lances, and lacer- 
 ated him with their harpoons at every opportunity. 
 To get rid of these annoyances he struck off from 
 east to south under water. I laving obtained a mile 
 of line he swung round in a circuit, working off at 
 the same time from the ship. This serious sport 
 went on for seven hours, and then a storm arose. 
 But both sides refused to yield the contest. To 
 impede the progress of the whale, and to keep 
 together, the boats were lashed one to the other, 
 and put broadside lo. Still the smitten monster 
 tugged away at the line, now weighing of itself half 
 a ton, for another seven hours. The night being at 
 hand and the storm increasing, the boats began to 
 think of retreating. But to cover their retreat 
 they attached the end of the line to a large cask, 
 and moored one of the boats to the cask, raised 
 upon it the ship's flag, and abandoned the whole. 
 They lay by as near as possible during the night, 
 and in the morning looked upon a deserted field. 
 All was gone, and they returned ingloriously to 
 the ship. 
 
 While some whales thus sho\ved fight, the greater 
 number yielded their coveted treasures of oil, and 
 the arctic whalemen, while often adding quite as 
 much as the mere explorers to the world's knowl- 
 edge of the northern seas, enriched their ownc: ;. 
 
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 Arctic IIkroes. 
 
 One ship's car^o of whalebone and oil sometimes 
 sold for a hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 But these gains, like the knowledge of the ex- 
 ])lorers, were obtained at the expense of much suf- 
 fering from the cold, great risks from blinding 
 fogs, from icebergs, ice-lloes, currents, and storms, 
 as well as of much jjcril from the whales them- 
 selves. The early whalers which followed in the 
 wake of discovery ships seldom returned with ail 
 the men with whom they left home. Flags at half- 
 mast, on returning to the home harljor, solemnly 
 attested the dangers of hunting the arctic sea- 
 monsters. 
 
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 111 
 
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 Vomn the Coppaminc. 
 
 105 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 DOWN T HE C O r r !•: R M I N E . 
 
 IN our story of lUichan's expedition to the 
 Spitzber^^en waters ue introduced, as second 
 in command, John Franklin. Since he is now to 
 appear chief actor in scenes of darin*.; and peril, and 
 is to be long before us in our narratives of the ad- 
 ventures of others, we give a few facts of his pre- 
 vious history. He was trained from boyhood for 
 a life on the .^ca. He first appears in history as 
 a midsi.ipman on the Australian coast survev. 
 While thus engaged he was shi[)wrecked in the 
 " Porpoise." As midshipman and master's mate 
 he was in the fleet with the naval hero, Nelson, 
 and at the battle of ("openhagen. He was lieu- 
 tenant at the bloody battle of I'rafalgar, in 1805. 
 He belonged to the ship " Bedford " in the attack 
 on New Orleans in 1815, and there, commanding 
 in the boats, he was wounded. His conduct on 
 the occasion received " honorable notice " in the 
 report of his superior officer. He obtained, in his 
 naval experience, the reputation of a thorough 
 seaman, a skillful surveyor, an ajjt handler of 
 nautical instruments, and a high-minded, honor- 
 able man. 
 
 The spring after his return with the Buchan ex- 
 pedition he was given the independent command 
 
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 of a new one, at tlie same time that his friend 
 Parry was so honored. Ihii it was one somewhat 
 out of the line of his previous ex])erience. He 
 was instructed to proceed through Hudson Bay 
 to one of its designated depots on its coast, tlien 
 to go by land to the source of the Coppermine 
 River, follow it down to the Arctic Sea, and push 
 his way in boats along the coast eastward. It was 
 hoped that Parry and Franklin would thus meet 
 and prove a north-west passage. 
 
 P^anklin left England on this hazardous under- 
 taking in May, 1819. His companions were John 
 Richardson, naval surgeon, George Back and 
 Robert Hood, midshi])men, and John Hepburn, 
 servant. Dr. Richardson was an enthusiastic and 
 competent naturalist. • The midshipmen were apt 
 sketchers of natural objects, and skillful in maj.)- 
 ping out the surveys. The servant proved himself 
 a worthy helper in the enterprise, and not inferior 
 to any member of the expedition in times of great 
 exigency. 
 
 They arrived at the York Factory, on the south- 
 western shore of Hudson Bay, August 30, after 
 full an average amount of arctic peril from the ice, 
 currents, and storms of the bay. Here they were 
 provided with a boat for river voyaging, provis- 
 ions, ammunition, and such necessary things de- 
 manded by the enterprise. On the 9th of Septem- 
 ber they set out, and, after ascending numerous 
 rivers, crossing lakes and swamps, making port- 
 ages around falls, and weary climbing over hills, 
 they arrived at Cumberland House, on Pine Lake, 
 
Dow 71 the CoppcnnifU'. 
 
 107 
 
 the latter part of October. They had traveled 
 full seven hundred miles. The midshipmen had 
 taken sketches. Dr. Ricliardson had secured 
 valuable contributions to science, and their com- 
 bined efforts had resulted in a survey of the route. 
 Here they paused until January. They were now 
 on a chain of lakes, including the Slave Lakes, 
 which bore north-west, and then nearly due north, 
 until, with contiguous rivers, they communicated 
 with tiie source of the Cop])erniine. In January 
 the party divided, and Franklin, Back, and Hep- 
 burn pushed north-west to Fort Chipeway, on 
 Lake Athabaska, Dr. Richardson and Midshipman 
 Hood remaining at the Cumberland House until 
 spring. Franklin arrived at his point of destina- 
 tion the 26th of March, having made a journey of 
 eight hundred and fifty-seven miles. The party 
 complained bitterly of the difliculty of snow-shoe 
 traveling. A clumsy machine of two or three 
 pounds weight, attached to swollen ankles and 
 galling, bleeding feet, kept them often in an agony 
 of pain. 
 
 When the April rains thawed the ice, innumer- 
 able frogs commenced an incessant din. So in- 
 stantaneous was their croak, with the loosenin"" '^f 
 the ice, that Mr, Hood declared that they must 
 have come forth full grown, and just as tlie fall 
 freezing arrested -hem, Franklin speaks of some 
 experiments Dr. Richardson made of the effect of 
 cold on fishes. Several were taken in a lively 
 condition from the water and frozen in a low 
 temperature for thirty-six hours. In this state. 
 
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 they could be broken by a blow from the hatchet, 
 and their intestines taken out solid. When ex- 
 posed to warmth and gradually thawed, they were 
 wide awake again and ready for a swim. 
 
 In July Dr. Richardson and Hood having joined 
 the party, Franklin began to think of pushing 
 forward. Sixteen Canadian half-breeds — French 
 and Indian — were engaged to accompany them, to 
 whose party a Chipeway woman was soon added. 
 With these the expedition left the fort the latter 
 part of July, 1820, in three boats, the crews join- 
 ing as they paddled off in a lively boat song. At 
 one of their early stoi)ping-place; they secured 
 two interpreters, and the valuable services of a 
 Mr. Wentzel, an agent of the fur company, who 
 was to manage the Canr; bans of the expedition — 
 no light task — and the Indians whom they might 
 meet, he being experienced in both branches of 
 service. 
 
 An Indian chief by the name of Akaitcho, and 
 several of his men, joined them soon, and were use- 
 ful as hunters. All went well for awhile, the dis- 
 coverers making good progress northward. Deer 
 were plenty, and the hunters were successful in 
 getting a supply from their herds, and securing 
 other game. But as they went north the deer dis- 
 appeared, and their provisions were not abundant. 
 The Canadians became discontented on short 
 rations, and threatened rebellion. This feelmg 
 Franklin at once checked by stringent discipline. 
 But the whole party were soon brought to a stand. 
 They built huts, and went into winter-quarters, 
 
Doiv7i the Coppermine. 
 
 109 
 
 calling the place Fort Enterprise. They had 
 traveled five hundred and fifty miles since leaving 
 Fort Chipeway, making over fifteen hundred 
 miles since the commencement of the year, and 
 twenty-two hundred since leaving York Factory. 
 
 When established in his winter-quarters, Frank- 
 lin planned a journey to the head-waters of the 
 Coppermine. He declared his desire of assuming 
 all the risk of an immediate descent to the sea, 
 even, and inquired of the chief Akaitcho w-hat he 
 thought of it. '■ Well," he replied, after using 
 all the argument occurring to him, " I have said 
 every thing I can urge to dissuade you from going 
 on this service, on which it seems you wish to 
 sacrifice your lives as well as the Indians who 
 might attend you ; however, if after all I have 
 said you are determined to go, some of my young 
 men shall join the party, because it shall not be 
 said that we permitted you to die alone, after hav- 
 ing brought you hither; but from the moment 
 they embark in the canoes, I and their relatives 
 shall mourn them as dead." 
 
 Thus, no doubt, wisely counseled, Franklin gave 
 up the idea of reaching the sea, but he sent off 
 Hood and Back, with a few Canadians, in a canoe, 
 to ascertain the distance to the Coppermine River, 
 while he and Dr. Richardson started afoot for the 
 same purpose. After much suffering from great 
 exposures and insufficient food, both parties were 
 glad to get back to Fort Enterprise. 
 
 It was soon apparent that Franklin's large party 
 could not live on the resources of the vicinity, 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 and have provisions enough for the voyage to the 
 sea. In this emergency Back volunteered to 
 return to Fort Chipeway and hurry along sup- 
 plies, which were to come from the Cumberland 
 House. This most daring ])roposition was ac- 
 cepted, and Mr. Wentzel, two Canadians, and two 
 Indians, with their Avives, agreed to go with him. 
 This party set out October i8. Wentzel, on 
 reaching Fort Providence, returned, taking two 
 Esquimo guides with him. Back and the Cana- 
 dians and Indians suffered greatly as they pushed 
 forward. Being nearly starved, one of the women 
 cut a hole in the ice and caught a fine pike, and 
 gave it all to the white men, not one of the In- 
 dians being willing to eat a morsel of it. On 
 being asked why, they replied : " There ^vill not 
 be enough for us all, and we are accustomed to 
 starvation, but you are not." 
 
 At one time while crossing on the ice a narrow 
 arm of Slave Lake he fell through. Though the 
 cold was intense, he escaped unhurt. On another 
 occasion while crossing a sheet of ice over deep 
 water it began to give way ; he increased his 
 speed, the ice bending beneath his feet, and he 
 had a long race for life, not daring to stop until 
 he reached the shore. The party had no better 
 lodging- place than a camp in the woods, and 
 Back had for a covering orly a blanket and deer 
 skin, while the thermometer was often forty de- 
 grees below zero, and once fifty-seven below. 
 Sometimes they were two or three days without 
 any food, and not unfrequently on short allow- 
 
 ii' 
 
Down the Coppermine. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ance. We shall not wonder, then, at the followin'^ 
 statement : " One of our men caught a fish one 
 day, which with some moss scrai)ed from a rock 
 made us a tolerable supper. While we were eat- 
 ing it I perceived one of the women busily scrap- 
 ing an old skin, with the contents of which her 
 husband presented us. This consisted of pounded 
 meat and fat, but a greater proportion of Indian 
 and deer hair than either. It was eaten by us, 
 after three days' privation, as a great luxury." 
 
 It was under such circumstances that Back 
 made the whole journey to Fort Chipeway and 
 back on foot, much of the time on snow-shoes, 
 traveling in all eleven hundred and four miles. 
 He was absent five months, but returned safely, 
 probably saving the expedition by bringing in 
 timely supplies. No more heroic act is on record, 
 nor one exhibiting greater power of physical en- 
 durance. Even the Indian women must have 
 conceded that this white man could stance and 
 walk with the best of the Indians. During the 
 five months of Back's absence, the party at Fort 
 Enterprise had no small fight with cold and hun- 
 ger. Fish were caught until the fifth of Novem- 
 ber, and afforded a timely supply of food. After 
 that the^' were sometimes short of necessary sus- 
 tenance. The cold in the mean time froze the 
 trees to their v'ery centers. So hard were they 
 that in attempting to cut them they spoiled their 
 axes, so that by tlie end of December only one 
 was fit to use. This embarrassed them in getting 
 fuel for iheir fires. 
 
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 1 12 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 The chief of his men were off much of the 
 time on hunting excursions, while the people in 
 the fort were anxiously waiting the result. 
 
 It is ])leasant to state that, under these circum- 
 stances, the Sabbath was strictly kept as God's 
 day, Divine service was regularly performed; the 
 wood of the day was laid in on .Saturday, and all 
 secular labor, not a necessity, was omitted. The 
 Canadians attended, though Roman Catholics; 
 not understanding English perfectly, the Lord's 
 Prayer and the Apostles' Creed were read to them 
 in French. 
 
 Each day they had two cups of tea without 
 sugar, and on Sunday they broke the monotony by 
 taking one cup of chocolate instead. 
 
 Akaitcho had little success in hunting, and the 
 number of his followers who hung about the fort 
 expecting to be fed had increased to forty; he 
 was at last persuaded to take them and leave. 
 He insisted, however, on leaving behind, to be sup- 
 ported by the discoverers, several women, among 
 whom was his wife and daughter. The daughter, 
 Green Stocking, was esteemed very beautiful, and 
 had been twice married, though only sixteen years 
 old. I-Ier mother now wished her to remain with 
 her, and so she was quite annoyed when Mr. Hood 
 took her portrait, for she said : — 
 
 " The Great Chief of the pale faces may send 
 and take her to be his wife." 
 
 Various expedient's were devised to occupy the 
 minds of the party in the long ten months' im- 
 prisonment. The officers were, of course, much 
 
Down the Coppermine. 
 
 1^3 
 
 employed with their journals and scientific observ- 
 ations. In the evening all joined in athletic and 
 other games in a large hall. Hepburn became 
 proficient in making soap and candles. The Ca- 
 nadians had a whim that it was a mysterious oper- 
 ation, and that its success was hindered if a woman 
 approached the kettle. So Hepburn was rid of 
 female intermeddlcrs at least, thouirh the women 
 
 ' CD 
 
 got the best of it by being spared the heavy labor. 
 
 The new year, 1821, came in rather gloomily. 
 The English tried to be merry, but the heart will 
 be heavy on one scanty meal a day. In this state 
 of things an ice-covered Canadian, sent ahead to 
 herald Back's coming, cheered them with packages 
 of letters from England and the news of approach- 
 ing provisions. With spring the deer returned, 
 and the hunt was rewarded with game. 
 
 They now made preparations for the journey to 
 the Coppermine and the voyage on its waters to 
 the sea. Their Indian chief promised to stock 
 Tort Enterprise with provisions by the first of 
 September for their use should they return that 
 way. 
 
 On the 4th of June a party, under Dr. Richard- 
 son, started ahead, and Frankh.i followed soon 
 after. The journey of nearly a month to the Cop- 
 permine was made one of great fatigue by heavy 
 portages and scanty daily food. They all, how- 
 ever, safely embarked on the river. 
 
 For awhile their Indian chief and his followers 
 accompanied them, making themselves useful by 
 hunting excursions along the shore. Dr. Richard- 
 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 son keenly observed the shore as they passed for 
 ol)je('.ts of scientific interest. He was surprised at 
 the few fur-benring animals in all their travels. 
 The Indians had made so reckless a slaughter of 
 them that they were nearly exterminated, so that 
 but few beavers even were seen. He records in 
 connection with this statement the following inci- 
 dent : One day an Englishman was out hunting 
 this interesting creature. Soon he caught siglu 
 of five young beavers at play on a floating log. 
 They were having an exciting frolic, in leaping 
 upon the log, then pushing each other off, and 
 scampering over their little play-ground. The 
 sportsman crept softly up, sheltered by the bushes. 
 As he raised his gun to fire, their innocent expres- 
 sion of face, and child-like affection and confi- 
 dence, 50 reminded him of the children he had left 
 at home, that he dropped at once his gun and a 
 tear, and left them unharmed. 
 
 As the expedition approached the sea they 
 came into the country of the Esquimo, the dead- 
 ly enemies of the Indians. Franklin suggested to 
 Akaitcho that it was a good time to make a treaty 
 of peace. This he consented to do, but shcvved 
 great fears the nearer he came to his enemies. 
 On the other hand, the Esquimo fled the moment 
 they saw the strangers. Finally, Akaitcho re- 
 fused to go further, and returned to Fort Enter- 
 prise with his men, promising to meet Franklin's 
 party there. The next day Mr. Wentzel and four 
 Canadians were sent back to Slave Lake to for- 
 ward dispatches to England, and to see that the 
 
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 Down tJic Coppermine. 
 
 IIS 
 
 Indians were faithful to their engagement in refer- 
 ence to a supply of provisions. 
 
 Franklin was now in sight of the sea, and in the 
 region of the musk-ox, several of which he killed. 
 They had when attacked a singular, and for them- 
 selves, an unfortunate hal)it. They at once hud- 
 dled together, as if feeling a sense of safety in 
 being screened from their enemy by one another. 
 
 They arrived on the shore of the great Northern 
 Oceans July 19, after a most painful and perilous 
 journey of three hundred and thirty-four miles, 
 one hundred and seventeen of which were made 
 by dragging their canoes and stores overland. 
 
 They now paddled along the coast with their 
 frail canoes. The shore for awhile afforded good 
 landing-places, so that they could encamp at 
 night. But soon a steep and high rocky point, 
 against which broken ice was piled, turned them 
 further out to sea. Just then a violent storm 
 arose, the thunder crashed, and their canoes were 
 frightfully tossed by the sea. They were com- 
 pelled to seek the nearest hiding-place. They 
 found a few seal, which were too shy for their 
 hunters, and some small deer, which fell into their 
 hands. But the deepest gloom rested upon the 
 encampment. The season of the severest arctic 
 cold was setting in, and birds and beasts were 
 leaving the desolate shore, while the men, whose 
 courage had been remarkable, began to grow faint- 
 hearted. Franklin saw that an immediate return 
 was a necessity. He had followed the shore-line 
 nearly six hundred miles. 
 
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 On their return voyage they went up a river 
 they had passed a few days before, until they 
 came to an impassable fall. Stopping here to 
 make two small portable canoes of their two large 
 ones, they started in as straight a line as possible 
 for Fort Enterprise, one hundred and fifty miles dis- 
 tant. Their suffering from cold and hunger soon 
 became too shocking to be detailed. An idea of 
 it may be formed from the fact that they ate the 
 leather and raw hide of their old shoes. Too 
 weak to carry any burdens, Dr. Richardson's 
 scientific specimens were thrown away, and, in 
 spite of all remonstrance, the men abandoned 
 the canoes. In these dreadful hours of want 
 Franklin devoutly says : " We looked with hum- 
 ble confidence to the great Author and Giver 
 of all good for the continuance of the support 
 which had always been given to us at our greatest 
 need." 
 
 When they came to the Coppermine they were 
 detained nine days in constructing a raft on which 
 to cross. Richardson, with a heroic devotion to 
 the interest of his companions, proposed to swim 
 the Coppermine, and carry a line tied around his 
 body by which the raft could be drawn safely 
 across. In attempting to carry into effect this 
 proposal he nearly reached the opposite side, 
 when, exhausted by swimming and chilled by cold, 
 he sank. His companions drew him back by the 
 rope in almost a lifeless state. They immediately 
 rolled him in a blanket and placed him before a 
 fire, when he revived sufficiently to give directions 
 
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 Down the Coppermine. 
 
 117 
 
 in further efforts for his recovery. It was many 
 months before he entirely recovered. 
 
 >Vlicn twenty-four miles from Fort Enterprise, 
 Hood's strength enlirelv failed. Dr. Richardson 
 and Hepburn agreed to stay by him, and try to 
 nurse him for further effort, while l^'ranklin jnessed 
 on with the rest of the party. Before parting all 
 united in prayer, thanking (lod for the recent 
 rescue from imminent danger of one of their num- 
 ber, and invoking Divine aid in further labor and 
 peril. 
 
 When Franklin had gone on some distance, 
 three Canadians, and Michel, an Indian, turned 
 back. The Indian reached Richardson's camp, 
 but the others, as he reported, had perished by 
 the way of hunger and cold ; but his conduct hav- 
 ing been for some time strange, Hepburn ex- 
 pressed to Richardson the opinion that Michel 
 had murdered the Canadians. While these pain- 
 ful thoughts were indulged, Michel shot Hood 
 through the head when alone with him in the 
 tent. Though the ball had plainly entered the 
 back of its victim's head, Michel declared Hood 
 had shot himself. The murderer was armed, and 
 much stronger than the united strength of both 
 white men, and used threatening language to 
 them. In this awful state they lived for three 
 days, the Indian watching every motion. But at 
 last Richardson found an opj^ortunity to save 
 their own lives, and end the guilty career of the 
 murderer by shooting him with a pistol. 
 
 Franklin, on reaching Fort Enterprise, found 
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 neither food nor their proinisinp; friend, Akaitcho. 
 Back had ])een there, and left a note saying lie had 
 gone after the chief, and, if need be, should push 
 on to the next fort and hurry up supplies. After 
 eipjhlccn days of terrible suffering at the fort, in 
 whic;h many of the men died of starvation, Richard- 
 son and Hepburn dragged their emaciated forms 
 into the presence of their companions. The re- 
 united explorers shocked each other by their ghost- 
 ly faces and sei)ulc:hral voices. Another week of 
 starvation passed, in which two more Canadians 
 died. The Englishmen, in all their weakness, 
 never omitted their morning and evening religious 
 service. Si)ending most of the day lying on the 
 hard floor, for they had no beds, the one most 
 able would read from God's Word comforting 
 promises, and from " Bickersteth's Scripture 
 Helps." There was a melancholy interest at- 
 tached to the latter. It was given them by a 
 pious lady before they left London, and was in 
 poor Hood's hands when he was shot. How 
 sweet the thought to his friends that some " Script- 
 ure Help " occupied his last earthly thoughts. 
 
 On the yth of November three Indian mes- 
 sengers arrived from the ever-faithful and indom- 
 itable Back with sup[)Iies. These Indians not only 
 brought food to the sufferers, but nursed them 
 with untiring devotion, and conducted them slow- 
 ly and cautiously to a place api)ointed by Back. 
 Here were sledges and dogs and the comforts of 
 the early days of their explorations, and by easy 
 stages, stopping some months at Fo-t Chipeway. 
 
Doivu the Coppennine, 
 
 119 
 
 they reached York Factory in July, 1822, alter 
 an absence of three years, into which luul been 
 crowded many life-times of suffering, and during 
 which they had traveled five thousand five hun- 
 dred and fifty miles ! 
 
 When they reached England honors and con- 
 gratulations awaited them. Franklin had been 
 made cajnain, llood and Back lieutenants, and a 
 post of honor, pay and comfort had been provided 
 for Hepburn in the navy-yard. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
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 A CHEERFUL ARCTIC WINTER. 
 
 IN May, 1821, while Franklin was in the midst 
 of his overland expedition, of which we have 
 just given an account, his friend Parry commenced 
 his second voyage. Jt was hoped, as before, that 
 they would find the north-west passage and meet. 
 
 We left Parry, on his return from Lancaster 
 Sound, in the church with his officers and men, 
 giving thanks to God for his guidance and preserv- 
 ing care. We shall see him putting his x'"ace again 
 toward the icy regions, in the same devout spirit. 
 
 The flag-ship, this time, commanded by Parry, 
 was the "Fury;" his second in command, Lieut. 
 Lyon, took charge of the " Hecla.'^ The ships 
 fortunately possessed about the same capacity for 
 sailing, which kept them together. Many of the 
 officers and men of the first expedition were in 
 this, and the utmost harmony prevailed. 
 
 An incident occurred, as the ships were sailing 
 down the Thames, of a sad character, but bring- 
 ing out the excellent Christian spirit of the com- 
 mander. There was on board the " Fury " an old 
 seaman by the name of John Gordon, a tall, well- 
 proportioned man of great strength and activity. 
 In the commencement of the former voyage he 
 was like many sailors, rough, ready, profane, and 
 
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A CJieerful Arctic Winter. 
 
 121 
 
 in 
 
 coarse. But during tlie long ice-imprisonment at 
 Melville Island, under the religious instruction of 
 his commander, he was born of the Spirit. His 
 Christian intluence on shipboard promised now to 
 be of the most positive character. But in attempt- 
 ing to throw a kedge-anchor from a boat the line 
 5'ttached to it became entangled round his body, 
 jerked him overboard, and drowned him. 
 
 Parry, in writing to his parents soon after this, 
 says : " I can safely say I never felt so strongly the 
 vanity, uncertainty, and the com})arative unimpor- 
 tance of every thing this world can give, and the 
 paramount necessity of a preparation for another 
 and a better life, than this." 
 
 No other incident worthy of note occurred to 
 the discoverers until their arrival at the mouth of 
 Hudson Strait. Here a supply transport, the 
 " Nautilus," which came with them thus far. re- 
 turned home with the last news. 
 
 Let the reader now turn to a good map of North 
 America. He will see that Parry's first voyage 
 was past this strait, through Davis Strait and 
 Baffin Bay to Lancasti^r Sound, then due west to 
 ]\Ielville Island. Nozv he proposed to go west, 
 through Hudson Strait to Southampton Island, 
 and then to work his way north through unexplored 
 waters to the Polar Sea. It was a bold plan, and 
 we shall see how bravely it was prosecuted. 
 
 The ships were soon enveloped in fogs. When 
 these lifted they revealed a barren shore, drip- 
 ping with melting ice, hills covered with snow, 
 and whole lleets of icebergs, one covinting fifty- 
 
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 Arctic HEiiOKS. 
 
 lour. A single berg, which attracted special atten- 
 tion, rose two huridred antl fit'ty-cight feet above 
 the sea. These crystal islands were no welcome 
 sights to the strangers, When they ran a-tilt 
 against each other, as they often did without warn- 
 ing, it would be neither pleasant nor safe to be 
 between them. I'here was another performance 
 which the bergs fancied, but the sailors did not; 
 they occasionally launched into the sea a large j^art 
 of one of their sides ; this destroyed their balance, 
 and they immediately turned something like a 
 somersault. As the ships must of necessity some- 
 times go c|uite near the bergs, as there was never 
 any advertisement when this performance would 
 come off, and as it was attended by a great com- 
 motion in the sea, the whole thing was decidedly 
 disagreeable. 
 
 They reached, through much toil, the south- 
 east shore of Southampton Island; the next pcmt 
 at which they aimed was Repulse Bay, the most 
 northern yet known water in this direction, lying 
 a little west of the extreme north of this island. 
 They pressed on up the nearest — the west — side, 
 though the round-.bout way on the east side of 
 the island was known to be much clearer of ice. 
 Though sometimes decidedly warned off by the Ice 
 King, they did enter Repulse Bay and found clear 
 sai'"ng. Sending up a shout for the north-west 
 passage, they spread their sails for di.e west. But 
 it ])iovod a short tr\\) to the land boundaries in 
 that direction. A little cu'st-fallen, they came out 
 of the bay and sailed north, observing every little 
 
A Chcrvfitl Arctic Winter, 
 
 123 
 
 inlet wliich turned west. At the entrance of one 
 of these, which they named Lyon Inlet, after 
 the second oflicer in command, tliey found a small 
 island. As tlie season for further navigation was 
 ended tliey cut a canal in the ice to the southern 
 shore of this island, which they called Winter 
 Island, and drew up their ships into winter- 
 quarters. 
 
 They were better prepared with provisions, 
 means of warming the vessels, and comforts every 
 way, than on the first voyage. Once adjusted in 
 their outward arrangements to their situation, 
 Parry set in operation the means to interest and 
 profit his men, and so to niake them contented and 
 happy. A thoughtful Christian lady had put on 
 board a large and well-constructed magic lantern. 
 This was set up, and afforded much amusement. 
 The officers formed themselves into a niusical 
 band. Parry himself joined, as he claimed to be 
 " a pretty tolerable " performer. After a little 
 practice they treated the crews to free concerts. 
 We presume their audience were delighted and 
 not over critical. 
 
 But the Christian commander aimed not at 
 amusement only. The lower decks of both ships 
 were cleared, and made inviting school-rooms. 
 Here, several evenings in each week, the men were 
 taught reading and writing. At Christmas sixteen 
 well-written copies were handed to the teachers 
 bv sailors who when the school began could not 
 write a line. It was said by the commander, with 
 great satisfaction, '* Though many came out with me 
 
 
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 124 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 who did not know a letter, when we returned home 
 there was not a man who could not read his Bible." 
 The position of the ships was in waters never 
 before visited by white men, but Esquimo were 
 soon found to be there. They at first viewed the 
 strangers at a distance vvith agitation and wonder. 
 When invited nearer they came on, running, skip- 
 ping, and laughing, being well-nig> beside them- 
 selves with the strange things beforo them. But 
 they were soon on easy terms with ♦^^he sailors. 
 The hand-organ and "fiddle" were put in opera- 
 tion, making them wild with delight. They sung 
 and danced in their way, uproarious the while with 
 laughter, in which the strangers joined heartily. 
 At one time the fiddler was sent out upon the ice, 
 and " all hands " joined in the dance, savages and 
 white men, officers and sailors, making a sight 
 "both rare and comic." The "figure" of the 
 Esquimo consisted in stamping and jumping with 
 all their strength. One young sailor, a fresh, ruddy 
 fellow, excited the special attention of the Esquimo 
 ladies. They patted him on the face, and danced 
 about him in a ring. The natives were so excited 
 generally that they became uproarious, cutting the 
 most extraordinary capers, and acting as if they 
 were drunk. One of their jokes was to come slyly 
 up to the sailors, shout piercingly in one ear, and 
 give the other a rousing slap, bursting at the same 
 lime into a loud laugh. The cook of the " Fury " 
 was so fine a jumper that he was singled out for 
 this kind of compliment. The poor fellow found 
 his honors so uncomfortable that he had to flee to 
 
 1 i 
 
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 A Cheerful Arctic Winter. 
 
 125 
 
 the ship to escape them. Parry says of himself: 
 "While lookinj^ on I was sharply saluted in this 
 manner, and, of course, was quite startled, to the 
 great amusement of the bystanders." 
 
 One of the natives, glorying in his superior 
 strength, and having thrown sevetal of his coun- 
 trymen in wrestling trials, tried his muscles on 
 one of the ofificers. The officer was a strong man 
 and skilled withal in the game, so that the Es{[ui- 
 mo soon came in contact with the ice rather vio- 
 lently, at which the whole company set up a pro- 
 voking laugh. But the vanquished champion, 
 with admirable good sense, though rubbim; his 
 shins for pain, joined heartily in the merriment. 
 
 The same officer appointed himself teacher "of 
 polite accomplishments." He took several Es- 
 quimo women and taught them to bow, courtesy, 
 shaRe hands, turn their toes out, and put on draw- 
 ing-room airs generally, master and pupils pre- 
 serving the while the most becoming sobriety. 
 
 But the Esquimo had an eye to trade as well as 
 fun. One day a company of their women came 
 on board and sought the officers. As the ther- 
 mometer was twenty degrees below zero, the white 
 men were not surprised that their visitors were 
 unusually well burdened with fur clothing; but 
 their modesty was for a moment shocked when 
 they began to undress in the open air. But they 
 soon ascertained that the women had on several 
 suits, the outer ones being intended for sale, they 
 having put them on as a convenient way of get- 
 ting their goods to market. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 The Esquimo matU; loud protestations of hon- 
 esty in their business visits, and we shall present 
 some pleasing illustrations of a good claim being 
 made to such professions. But exceptions would 
 occur, and they were lound to bear watching. 
 One lady sold a single fur boot, but refused to sell 
 the other though offered for it a good price. The 
 zeal slie showed in refusing naturally excited in 
 the purchasers of fur boots *' for ladies wear " a 
 desire to obtain. But as the market was "tight" 
 in this direction, the buyers rudely took the arti- 
 cle by violence, it proved to be a valuable boot, 
 containing two silver spoons and a pewter plate. 
 The lady thief laughed heartily at the incident 
 as a good joke, being sorry apparently only that 
 she had not succeeded in getting off with her 
 booty. 
 
 Soon after the visit of the Esquimo the ex- 
 plorers saw for the first time a village on the near 
 sh;.ie, of buow huts. It burst upon them like 
 stage scenery behind a suddenly drawn curtain. 
 All wondered that not even the sharp look-out 
 from the crow's nest had seen it before. But the 
 Esquimo explained the mystery by putting one 
 up in a few hours. They were constructed of 
 smoothly cut blocks of snow, so adjusted as to 
 make an architectural dome, th.e key-block going 
 nicely into its place. It was entered by a hole at 
 the side, into which a long tunnel was fitted. All 
 M'ho entered must get dowm upon their knees and 
 creep through this tunnel, which was fastened up 
 on the inside, when necessary, with a block of ice. 
 
A CJieerful Arctic Winter. 
 
 127 
 
 Inside there was a raised platform of snow around 
 the sides. Upon this skins were thrown, making 
 thie sleei)ing-j)Kace for all the inmates. A Jiolc was 
 left in the top for ventilation, into which, when 
 they wanted the cold shut out, they fitted a piece 
 of clear ice. This answered for a window. A 
 large bone was fixed across the ceiling, to which 
 they hung a stone lamp. Seal oil and various 
 kinds of fat were burned in this, affording a fire 
 for all purposes. These simple people seem to 
 build th(Mr homes by a kind of instinct, like the 
 beaver, and when not in contact with a higher 
 civilization, the same arrangement passes from 
 father to son, essentially unchanged for genera- 
 tions. 
 
 Parry on a visit to one of the huts purchased 
 the stone lamp of the housekeeper. She took it 
 down, em})tied out the oil, and wiped it out with 
 a part of her dress. This not making it sufii- 
 ciently clean to satisfy her tidy notion, she licked 
 it out with her tongue. 
 
 Among the visitors to the ships was a woman of 
 a very remarkable character. As her husband's 
 name was Okotook, we will call her, in brief, 
 Mrs. O., for her own name is hard to write or 
 speak. Mrs. O. had a fine musical ear, and a 
 soft, pleasant voice. She was expert with her 
 needle, and neat and clean in all her w(*rk. She 
 did not look at things new and wonderful to her 
 with a vulgar stare, but was curious to know 
 their use. Mrs. O. had another excellence still 
 more wonderful for an Esquimo ; she would not 
 
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 128 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 steal — at least, the strangers believed that she 
 would not. Her honesty certainly shone in two 
 or three incidents which are given in the narra- 
 tive. Here is one. She had promised to cover 
 for Parry a small model canoe, but as it was not 
 done on time he charged her with a want of good 
 faith. Her vehement gestures and face of injured 
 innocence ([uite moved him. After a while an 
 Esquimo came in with whom the canoe had 
 been intrusted by Mrs. O. to bring it to the com- 
 mander. She immediately charged him with the 
 delinquency. Parry adds: "It is impossible for 
 me to describe the quiet yet proud satisfaction 
 displayed in her countenance in thus having 
 cleared herself from a breach of j)romise." 
 
 Being well convinced of the superior intelli- 
 gence of Mrs. O., it occurred to Parry that she 
 might know something of the coast which he 
 wished to explore. So he put paper and a pencil 
 in her hand, and, with some difficulty, succeeded 
 in making her understand what he desired. She 
 began at once to fill sheet after sheet until she 
 had filled a dozen with the outlines. of the coast. 
 The officers, who looked on with deep interest, 
 saw her indicate the turn of the land to the west, 
 giving a water communication in that direction. 
 This chart was afterward proved to be essentially 
 correct. • 
 
 Mrs. O. had a son, Toolooak, who inherited 
 his mother's gifts and strong natural affection. 
 He would sit in the cabin of the " Fury " hours 
 together, with pencil and paper, absorbed in 
 
^'1 CJiccrful Arctic Winter. 
 
 'J 
 
 129 
 
 sketching. His particular delight was in drawing 
 animals, of which he seemed never tired. 
 
 Parry asked him one day if he would go to En- 
 gland with him. 
 
 "No!" he replied promptly, repeating it with 
 emphasis many times. " No ! If I should leave 
 my father Okotook he would cry." 
 
 Okotook w^as at one time sick. His wife im- 
 mediately manifested the deepest concern, sitting 
 by him for hours with her hair disheveled, refusing 
 food and rest. The physician of the expedition 
 gave him a dose of medicine. It was his first 
 dose, and he took it with great fear and agitation. 
 Taking the cup in one hand he extended the other 
 to his wife, who grasped it with both of hers. She 
 evidently expected some great catastrophe to fol- 
 low. But Okotook recovered, and great in their 
 estimation was the white man's medicme. 
 
 Such is the remarkable picture given of Mrs. 
 Okotook. But alas for the heathen ! Before part- 
 ing with her she developed to the strangers unmis- 
 takable traits of the savage. The reader will per- 
 ceive more and more, as our narrative progresses, 
 that the Esquimo, though having many amiable 
 traits, and comparing favorably with any heathen 
 on earth, are savages still, having but low moral 
 sensibilities. How can it be otherwise since they 
 see God so dimly. 
 
 We will give only a few additional touches to 
 our picture of Esquimo life and character before 
 leaving Winter Island for further discoveries. 
 
 Parry invited the belle of the tribe to sit for her 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 jjortrait, and wlicn it was finished, he inquired of 
 her cUkI her husband what prLSciilhc sljould make 
 theui for the favor. 'I'hey both exckiimed, " A 
 packet of talU)\v candles!" These l)eing given, 
 they immediately ate them ! The wick of one, in 
 going down, slightly embarrassed the kidy, and 
 Parry politely drew it out of her throat. 
 
 Commander Lyon invited an '' intelligent " young 
 Esquimo to dine with him. He was first in- 
 stnicted in the etiquette of the white man's table, 
 and shown how to use a knife and fork and napkin. 
 After dining, he was directed to the toilet stand to 
 wash. He manifested such delight with the piece 
 of perfumed Windsor soap that Lyon gave it to 
 him. He laughed his thanks, and ate it on the spot. 
 We shall find in i^.iost of the Arctic voyages 
 thrilling bear stories, some of them tragic, and 
 others comic, but most of them having the matter- 
 of-fact character of substantial meals to starving 
 explorers. Here is a comic one. One of the 
 Esquimo was busy in disengaging from his net a 
 seal he had taken, when he felt a slap on his 
 shoulder. Thinking it came from a companion, 
 he continued to work. But a second slap caused 
 him to look up, when, horrors ! a grim old bear 
 sat on his haunches with uplifted paws and open 
 mouth directly over him ; he seemed to say, " My 
 good fellow, don't trouble yourself further about 
 this seal ; LU take it off your hands !" 'i'he imme- 
 diate result was a healthy run by the Esquimo, 
 and a good meal on seal's flesh by the bear. We 
 cannot say that we think the transaction was ex- 
 
A Cheerful Arctic Winter. 
 
 13T 
 
 actly fair on tlic bear's part, but these things touk 
 ])lace in a heathen land. 
 
 The merry winter at Winter Island was not 
 succeeded by an early spring nor a successful 
 summer. Sickness came just before navigation 
 could be resumed, and three men died. In July 
 the expedition sailed up Fo.x Channel, and, after 
 many failures, much delay, and several land ex- 
 cursions, the ships got into a narrow lead of water, 
 at first free from ice. It soon, however, presented 
 a field of " soft ice," through which, for some liiiie, 
 they forced the ship by crowding on all sail. 
 Parry had seen from a high point on shore to which 
 he h.id climbed an oj^en sea beyond this strait, 
 and this, of course, inspired intense desire to \)Wr.\\ 
 through. But, alas ! they soon ran against sc^lid 
 ice, where they remained for another wintc/. 
 They .lamed the place Igloolik. A second Arctic 
 winter may be endured, but it seems impossible 
 for it to be enjoyed. The third summer's toil did 
 not yield great results, but Parry was sure the 
 water he was in was f^ither the Polar sea or an arm 
 of it, though we may see by the map that he was 
 not as near it by several degrees as when on his 
 first voyage. So strong was his conviction that 
 he had almost grasped success, that he ])roposed 
 confidentially to Commander Lyon to spend a 
 third winter in the Arctic ice. His plan was to 
 send Lyon home in the " Hecla " witli dis))atches, 
 and remain himself in the " Fury," and push north 
 the following summer. He even prepared his dis- 
 patches, saying to the home authorities that he 
 
 IH: 
 
 •y ' r 
 
 »•. 
 
w 
 
 132 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 should undoubtedly come home by way of Kam- 
 chatka. This was plucky, but human energy is 
 nothins^ when ojjposed to the defiance of ice and 
 cold. These sent the scurvy among the men of 
 the " Fury" and " Hecla," and they turned their 
 prows homeward, which they were glad to reach 
 in October, 1823, having been gone three sum- 
 mers and two winters. 
 
 'HI 
 
i '■ 
 
 Arctic Revival Work. 
 
 133 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ARCTIC REVIVAL WORK. 
 
 WE have found Captain Parry a pleasant and 
 profitable guide in our excursions into the 
 regions of cold, and as we are assured we shall not 
 find his enthusiasm nor excellence of character 
 diminished, we will follow him to the end of his 
 career as an explorer. 
 
 He remained at home only about six months 
 after the close of his second voyage, and during a 
 part of this time he was prostrate with sickness. 
 In May, 1824, he sailed again with the " Fury " and 
 " Hecla," this time choosing the " Hecla" as his 
 flag-ship, the " Fury" being commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant Hoppner. Prince Regent Inlet was to be the 
 waters through which tlie north-west passage was 
 now to be sought. The reader will see it just 
 north of Boothia Bay, near which he spent the last 
 winter of his late voyage. To reach it, however, 
 he proposed to take his first route through Lan- 
 caster Sound. 
 
 As the details of this are much like those of the 
 other expeditions, we shall only dwell upon a few 
 striking incidents. 
 
 It was Sunday morning in Davis Strait. All 
 
 were assembled for Divine service except those 
 
 required to sail the ship ; now, as she often had 
 
 done, bravely fighting the ice. Parry had nearly 
 9 
 
 
 ''»( 
 
 M 
 
 \ \ 
 
 i 
 
 1 f 
 

 
 I I. 
 
 II' .:. \^ J 
 
 134 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 ended a sermon he was readini:;, when the quarter- 
 master crept up to him with evident agit*ation, and 
 whispered a few hurried words. The commander, 
 without betraying any emotion, asked a few ques- 
 tions in a low tone, and sent him back to his post 
 of duty, continuing his reading, as though nothing 
 had happened. The sermon finished, the Divine 
 blessing implored, he raised his hand and said : — 
 
 " Now, my lads, all hands on deck — but mind, 
 no bustle ! " 
 
 The fog had cleared up during the service, and 
 the ship was heading toward the land. The ca[)- 
 tain, judging from what the (juarler-ma.-^ter reported 
 thai there was time to finisli the sersice, now took 
 his place of command, and the ship was soon out 
 of danger. 
 
 '* I knew we could trust our captain!" ex- 
 claimed one of the sailors, wiping a tear from his 
 weather-beaten face. 
 
 The vessels reached Regent Inlet in Septem- 
 ber, and attempted to sail south. Tliis was pre- 
 cisely what they attempted to do in the same place 
 on the first voyage in 1819, but were jirevented 
 doing bv tlie ice ; thev found now the same un- 
 yickling barrier, and were forced i'lto winter-<piar- 
 tcrs on the east side of tlie inlet, near its mouth. 
 Here were no F^squiino and no animals, but plenty 
 of (-old, ice, and utter desolation. Besides, most 
 of the men had exjierienced three Arctic winters, 
 so that tlie " Am of the thing " was gone, but the 
 awful .jilence of the long night, and the oppressive 
 dteariness, remained. But hov,- strange are God's 
 
Arctic Revival Work. 
 
 135 
 
 ways ! and good as strange I This dark winter was 
 the occasion, to many of the men, of the coming 
 into their hearts of the light which shineth more and 
 more imto the perfect day I Even to Captain Parry 
 it commenced a new era of Christian experience. 
 The fact may be thr , briefly stated : — 
 
 On his return from his hist voyage he learned 
 that, during his absence, his father had died. 
 This deeply affected Jiim, as his home ties had 
 been of a remnrkablv strong character, and his af- 
 fection for his fuhor very intense. It created in 
 him searching self-e.xamination, and new aspira- 
 tion in the Divine life. 
 
 Fortunately for the further cultivation of this 
 
 frame of mind, thi 
 
 pu 
 
 rser of the " Hecla, 
 
 Ml 
 
 Hooper, was a man of dec]) experience in the spir- 
 itual life, and of unceasing Christian activity. 
 Between the captain, therefore, and his purser 
 there sprung up a close Christian friendship, and 
 many Arctic hours passed swiftly by while they 
 were conversing of the higher Christian life. 
 
 Parry commenced now a careful, thorough study 
 of the New Testament, applying its truths to his 
 own heart as he had never done. Thus seeking, 
 he found the blessing of a greater measure of the 
 
 Tl 
 
 le entrance 
 
 Spirit. He says of the result : 
 
 of the word giveth liglu ; ' so it was in my experi- 
 
 ence. 
 
 H( 
 
 e speaks especially o 
 
 f 1 
 
 lis increasec 
 
 •eh 
 
 f ^'hrist as received into the heart 
 
 ap])renension o 
 
 by faith, and as the only means of entrance into 
 
 th( 
 
 u 
 
 narrow way 
 
 Thus blessed in a Christian heli)er, and thus en- 
 
 4*» 
 
 
 V 
 
 ■^l\: 
 
 ;t- 
 
 n\ 
 
w^ 
 
 ■36 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 hi 
 
 i 
 
 •■; 
 
 \u 
 
 larged in his own experience, his labors for the 
 sijiritual welfare of his men could but be attended 
 with marked results. 
 
 The schools, now having the zealous labors of 
 Mr. Hooper, became at once so popular that all 
 the men of both ships attended them. Parry says : 
 *' They made such a scene of quiet occupation as 
 I never before witnessed on board a ship." 
 
 Mr. Hooper's journal affords us the following 
 glance at one of the Sunday evening meetings : 
 " I ha 'e been this evening gratified beyond meas- 
 ure by the conduct of my school. We assembled 
 as usual, and Cai:)tain Parry read to us an excel- 
 lent sermon. We then read over three or four 
 times the second lesson of the day, and I ex- 
 pounded it to the best of my ability. After this 
 we went to ])rayers, and having closed, I wished 
 them good-night as usual, when my friend John 
 Darke, a seaman of the ' Hecla," said he wished 
 to say a few words. He then dropjjed upon his 
 knees, and in a few simple but affecting words 
 returned thanks for the blessings enjoyed by him- 
 self and shipmates in a Christian captain and a 
 Christian teacher, imploring the blessing of God 
 upon Captain Parry and myself. After this he 
 desired for himself and his shipmates to thank me 
 for the trouble I had taken. The countenances 
 of every one spoke the same thing, and showed 
 that Darke had been put forward by them to utter 
 these kind words." 
 
 This Darke, some time after the return of the 
 ship, acknowledged, in a letter to Hooper, that the 
 
 V 
 
( 
 
 Arctic Rci'ii'd/ Work. 
 
 ^67 
 
 instruction he received in the " Hecla " was the 
 means "of saving his soul." 
 
 Thus passed the winter. The spring was occu- 
 pied in i)art by e.\i)loring parties in various direc- 
 tions. It was not un.il July that the shi))s were 
 afloat and the voyage renewed. But it w;s soon 
 brought to a disastrous close. The " floes," great 
 masses of ice, were in active operation, forced on 
 by stormy currents and high winds. One of these 
 seized both ships and tossed them upon the shore 
 as if tliey had been its i.)laythings. They were 
 '!,oi off at high water, hut the '' Fury " was in a 
 blinking condition. All haras worked at tlie 
 pumps until the) were exhausted in body and 
 bewildered in mind. The '' Hecla " c ame to her 
 rescue, but she continued in a (lesi)erate condi- 
 tion until finally she went ashore again a hopeless 
 wreck. 
 
 All hands were now piled into the " Hecla," 
 leaving no room for additional stores from tiie 
 "Fury." Thus situated there was no course left 
 to the disappointed Parry but to return home. 
 The '^aj:0\\ was yet early, the sea oi>en southward, 
 and ^'.xmed to him like turning his back ui)on 
 the lon^ . i ught prize. 
 
 Thougii unsuccessful in the main object of his 
 
 l^ iges, Parry had added, more than any otlier 
 explorer, to ■ • geographical knowledge of the 
 ])olar regions. This was appreciated, and, even 
 now, fresh honors were sliowereci ujion him. Put 
 h. turned from these to let his new Christian light 
 6l);r ; in active, self-denying labor for the salvation 
 
 f: 
 
 ' 
 
 , i; iV 
 
 i:'i..- 
 
I3'S 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 iV 
 
 of souls. I''roin henceforth many were to know 
 him as a faithful Christian, who would never have 
 known him as the brave, successful navigator. 
 This change, he says, made him the subject of 
 many sneers; but he could well afford to receive 
 these unmoved, having the approbation of the 
 good and the Sinile of his Master. 
 
 While thus working for Christ, Parry married a 
 daughtei of Sir John Stanley, v.'ho seems to have 
 entered into all his 1 '.ors. 
 
 But his enthusiasm polar exploration was 
 
 unabated. A sledge jou. .ey from Spitzbergen to 
 the northern ice center was now all the talk. The 
 suggestion is said to have come from Scoresby, 
 the intelligent and bra\e captain of a whaler, 
 whom we have met before. Parry and Franklin 
 had conversed together concerning the jjroposal. 
 So, early in the s]>ring of T827, Parry was sent in 
 his well-tried " Hecla," with a picked crev,-, to 
 make the bold experiment. 
 
 Their departure from England was honored by 
 a " flag raising " on board, by his wife, and by the 
 presence and blessing of many friends. The ship 
 touched at a port in Norway and took in eight 
 reindeer and a sup[)ly of their moss provender. 
 With these they expected to make long and rapid 
 journeys over le\'el if not smooth ice ; to this end 
 they received lessons in their management and 
 care from the Norwegians. 
 
 ilaving reached a point a little north of Spitz- 
 bergen, rhey committed the " Hecla " to her ice- 
 prison and hoisted out their two boats, the " En- 
 
A rctic Re: 'ii 'a! \ \ 'ork. 
 
 139 
 
 d 
 
 eavor 
 
 and "■ Enterprise." These wc-e each 
 twenty feet long by seven wide; tliey were fin- 
 ished with a floor inside affording a good slecjMng- 
 pi 
 coil 
 can 
 
 ice; runners were so framed that the boats 
 Id be placed upright upon them ; a water-proof 
 
 vas covering was provi 
 
 ded 
 
 w 
 
 heeh 
 
 anc 
 
 1 1 
 
 IX- 
 
 tures to make a carriage of them were stowed 
 away among the freight; and the material and 
 workmanship of all were of the best character. 
 
 They were thus ])repared to sail, slide along on 
 runners, or trundle ahead on wheels. 
 
 Disappointment and baftled plans are always 
 in order 'v^ the icy regions. Instead of something 
 like a plain, and a solid continent of ice, as otiier 
 explorers had seen, or thought they saw, our voy- 
 agers were confronted at the start bv ul!;1v hum- 
 mocks — jagged piles of ice — and drifting lloes. 
 The reindeer could be of no use and they were 
 left behind, probably as junks of frozen venison 
 for future use. Having spent some weeks in short 
 explorations, and in deferred hope of a better 
 condition of traveling, the boat excursionists left 
 the shi}) in the middle of June. There was at the 
 moment an open, smooth sea, and they sailed 
 away joyfully through eighty iniles. Then came 
 floes, small and separated by oj^en spaces of water, 
 so that now they traveled by alternately dragging 
 the boats along the ice, and launching them for a 
 sail. 
 
 Parry adopted a novel method of dividing the 
 working time ; they slept by day and journeyed by 
 night. By this arrangement they avoided the 
 
 
 
 it 
 
 •*■ 'III 
 ■*^ if' 
 
 t J 
 
 u 
 
 -ll 
 
 H 
 
 tf 
 
 1 
 
 -■f 
 
 
 
 4. 
 
 S5-J 
 
 i 
 
TT 
 
 140 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 I 
 
 .'IS I 
 
 ' i ' 
 
 f^l 
 
 ' ' 
 
 
 glare, which caused a troublesome snow blindness, 
 and had the warmest part of the twenty-four 
 hours for sleei)ing. It worked well. 
 
 'i'hey arose in the early evening, attended to 
 family prayers; breakfasted on warm cocoa and 
 biscuit, cooked by a fire of spirits of wine, their 
 only fuel ; changed their dry sleeping furs and 
 boots for the wet ones of ::he night before, and 
 they were ready for a start. They made it a point 
 to have dry clothes to sleep in, but did not mind 
 drawing on a wet or frozen boot in the morning* 
 for if it was dry, it was sure to be wet soon after 
 starting. They stopped at midniglit to dine, at 
 daybreak they supped, chatted, said their prayers, 
 and went to sleep to be awoke by the sound of a 
 bugle in the evening. They tried hard to make 
 the night pleasant and successful, and the day a 
 time of sleep. 
 
 But the explorers spent their strength for naught 
 and labored in vain, for while //iry were toiling 
 over the extended ice-rafts toward the north, these 
 rafts were drifting south. Once, after five days 
 of seeming good progress, the officers took an 
 observation and ascertained that they had ad- 
 vanced eight miles. Worse than this, they some- 
 times tramped miles northward to find themselves 
 farther south than when they started. This was 
 a rough joke of the grim Ice King, who seemed to 
 put his finger to his nose and say with a ghastly 
 smile: " Beautiful progress I you must persevere tc 
 the pole ! " But they did not, for having reached 
 almost to the eighty-third degree of north latitude 
 
Arctic Rcvh'd/ ]\\)7'k. 
 
 \4i 
 
 — farther in that direction than civilized man had 
 ever before gone — they turned round. On the 
 back trip they shot and ate bears, the rightful 
 owners of the soi/. But these natives were equally 
 unscrupulous; for the strangers, when they ar- 
 rived at Table Island, where they had deposited 
 supplies, ascertained that the white polars had 
 eaten all they wanted, which was just the amount 
 they found. . 
 
 The expedition arrived home safely in Septem- 
 ber, and thus ended Sir Edward Parry's arctic 
 experience. 
 
 I 
 
 U > j 
 
 W-i 
 
 I! 
 
 ii^ 
 
i'. 
 
 
 
 ; 's 
 
 11 
 
 142 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 i 
 
 
 i'' 
 
 H-' -■■ 
 
 5 I; 
 
 CHAPTini XV. 
 
 LOST AN J) FOUND. 
 
 W 
 
 HILE Parry was making his third voyage 
 in the north-west, and his sledge journey 
 in the north-east, Franklin was on a second land 
 expedition. He and his friend Richardson took 
 the great Mackenzie River this time, and sailed 
 down to its entrance into the Polar Sea. Here 
 they separated, Franklin going west, hoping to 
 reach liering Strait, or, at least, Icy Cape, near 
 the dividing line of the British and the Russian — 
 now the United States — possessions; Richardson 
 going east to survey the coast to the Coppermine. 
 Lieutenant Beechey, in the mean time, was sent 
 in a ship to Bering Strait, to work his way east 
 to Icy Cai)e and meet Franklin. The voyager 
 from the Mackenzie did not cpiite reach Icy Cape, 
 but Beechey's boats passed it and were within one 
 hundred and sixty miles of Franklin when insur- 
 mountable barriers turneci him back. The expe- 
 ditions had essentially the same incidents as that 
 we have narrated, only, haN'ing the advantage of 
 their former experience, and having at tlie start a 
 better outfit, their sufferings were far less. 
 
 About ten years had jxissed away, filled with 
 many stirring events relating to the arctic regions, 
 since Captain John Ross's unfortunate return from 
 
 I' 
 
 i: 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 143 
 
 Lancaster Sound. His llicn subordinate officer, 
 Pcirry, liad earned in llie time, anil retired upon, 
 his laurels. Ross, a really brave commander, 
 chafed under the ])ublic censure imposed upon 
 liim. In fact, it seemed harsh, and he had many 
 sympathizing friends. They desired for him, as 
 he desired for himself, an opportunity to retrieve 
 liis reputation, Thit the (Government was out of 
 breath with its hcjt haste to get to the north pole, 
 lierades, whether their enterprises succeeded or 
 failed, they cost great sums in gold and silver, 
 r:nd many lives. So, having tried Parry and 
 Franklin, in whom the nation had unqualified con- 
 fidence, and who had done much, they would not 
 trv one who had failed where he mi'j-ht ha\'e sue- 
 ceeded. So Ross turned from the (lo\ernn)ent to 
 a friend; that friend, in his mental distress, was 
 Felix Booth, a wealthy merchant. He had been 
 desirous for some years to send Ross to the arctic 
 regions on the resources of his aniple purse, but 
 he woidd not do it because the (lovernment had 
 offered a hundred tlipusand dollars to any one 
 who should discover the north-west ])assage. He 
 would not be looked upon as seekin,^ the golden 
 bribe rather than honor and the public good. 
 But whei , in 1828, the Government withdrew the 
 offer, he set about the preparations of an explora- 
 tion. He laid down for the expense eighty-five 
 thousand dollars ; Ross himself added fifteen 
 thousand more, and the material aid was sup|)osed 
 to be secured. But what exijensive a 
 
 ^ 
 
 musements 
 
 these arctic journeys are I This goodly sum, as 
 
 f»t 
 
 H' 
 
\] 
 
 
 i M 
 
 \ 
 
 1 
 
 :',■ 
 
 & 
 
 k 
 
 i^M 
 
 M' i 
 
 !i.J 
 
 
 H 
 
 fj ■', i 
 
 !! ■ I 
 
 N'' 
 
 144 
 
 Arctic Hkkoes. 
 
 we shall see, purchased the means of only a small 
 expedition. 
 
 The " Victory," a Liverpool merchant-ship, was 
 bought, and sent into the dock to have her hull 
 toned up with the best of oak and iron f(jr the 
 arctic fight. She was also adjusted to a steam- 
 engine. The steam-engine was an infant at this 
 time ; it was, therefore, expecting too much of it 
 to supj^ose it could withstand such terrible foes as 
 those found at the extreme nortli. 
 
 On the 23d of May, 1829, the "Victory" 
 steamed down the Thames ; but her engine broke 
 down, and she paused at the Isle of Alan for re- 
 pairs. She was again delayed by an accident to 
 her engineer. A supply-vessel, the " John," ;i .d 
 been employed to go with them to the mouth, or 
 thereabouts, of Prince Regent Inlet, and having 
 deposited for them her cargo of stores, to scud 
 home before the ice fetters were thrown around 
 it. But these delays caused her crew to sec an 
 arctic winter as one of the contingencies quite too 
 likely to happen, and they flatly refused to go. So 
 Ross sailed with only the " Victory " and a small 
 cargo of supplies, less than he expected. 
 
 Science of our day, with its ocean-steamers of 
 wonderful capacity, mav, perhaps, laugh at the 
 " Victory's " steam-engine. When fairly at sea it 
 kept the captain and other officers up to aid the 
 engineer to keep its rickety joints together. The 
 sailors had to turn out at night to blow the bellows 
 to keep up steam, and to gather ice for the boiler. 
 We hope Jack didn't siwear profanely at this new 
 
 r 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 145 
 
 mode of sailing ! We know he did a better thing; 
 at the welcome orders from the (luarter-deck he 
 pitched the troublesome thing into the sea! 
 
 Having reached South Greenland, the " Victory " 
 ran into a Danish port for the purchase of a further 
 outfit for arctic winters. They were soon on 
 friendly terms with the governor, the religious 
 teacher, and the Christianized Estpiimo. There 
 was lying in the harbor the hull of a London 
 vessel recently wrecked. Ross purchased her 
 stores, and was thus fully ])rovisioned ; this addi- 
 tional sujjply probably saved the explorers from 
 ultimate starvation. 
 
 They found Lancaster Sound and Barrow Strait 
 nearly free from ice, and reached thu beach 
 in Prince Rege; t Lilet, on which the wreck of 
 the "Fury" was left by Parry; 1nit nothing of it 
 could be found. The tent-poles remained, and 
 near them the casks, tightly sealed, of sugar, meat, 
 flour, cocoa, and other provisions, left by Parry 
 nearly four years before. All were in good order, 
 although the bears had left evidence that they had 
 tried upon the casks the strength of their teeth 
 and paws. Here was another timely addition to 
 their supplies; there were twenty-three men to be 
 fed, and had they then known the length of time 
 they were to depend upon these provisions, they 
 would have been even more thankful that bruin's 
 teeth and claws had not opened the casks. 
 
 They found the navigation favorable, so they 
 did not stop long at Fury Beach, but cruised south 
 on the western side of the inlet, passing through 
 
 if ' 
 
 ^M' 
 
 t 
 
 k I 
 
vf 
 
 146 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 I I 
 ■t 
 
 V'o 
 
 hf 
 
 II 
 
 r 'I 
 
 \i 
 
 ' I, 
 
 \i^ 
 
 a strait into a large gulf which Ross named after 
 his patron, Boothia. Sailing on they reached its 
 southern extremity, nearly opposite the Fury and 
 llecla .Strait, where Parry had sjjent a winter during 
 his second exi)edition. Here they found a good 
 harbor, and seeing signs of the rajjid approach of 
 the winter prohibition of all activity of either ship 
 ox men, they ])repared to sj)end the season's im- 
 prisonment in it. They first cut for their vessel a 
 canal, so as to bring her near the shore, involving 
 a long and tedious work. 'I'he j)0wder and many 
 of the stores were then removed to a sheltered 
 place on the land. To make their home in tiie ship 
 warm and dry they resorted to several very ingen- 
 ious Yankee-like contrivances. Covering their 
 deck, first with snow two and a half feet thick, and 
 stamping it down until it became as solid as ice, 
 they then spread over it a dry sand from the shore, 
 making something like a gravel -walk. They then 
 banked up with snow the ship's sides, and roofed 
 the deck over with canvas. 
 
 The vapor of the cabins, instead of being allowed 
 to condense, and thus keep every thing damp and 
 cold, except at the exj)ense of a great amount of 
 fuel and a high temperature, was conducted 
 through the upper deck into the open air by tubes. 
 Over the mouth of these tubes iron-tanks were 
 placed, the open side down. The tanks being in 
 an atmosphere averaging many degrees below zero, 
 the vapor as it reached them froze solid. This 
 they cut out and carried below, thus not only keep- 
 ing their apartments dry, but securing a supply of 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 147 
 
 frcsh-watcr ice. The air necessary to make the 
 fires burn was brought in copper tubes directly 
 to the fire-phice, and so warmed before it was dis- 
 tributed through the cabin. Two anterooms were 
 made, the outer one for the men's wet < lothes. 
 
 Their supi)ly of provisions, on examination, was 
 ascertained to be sufficient for two years, used 
 liberally, and could be made to last three years. 
 The health and spirits of the men were, therefore, 
 kept up by three meals a day, and i)lenty to do. 
 
 ^^'ith these hap])y sufficiencies there was one 
 fortunate lack; only a small quantity of licpior re- 
 mained. Ross, like a sensible man, though in this 
 respect ahead of his age, declared on the spot that 
 he believed that without it his men would endure 
 the cold better, and be less likely to be attacked 
 by their terrible enemy, the scurvy. Under the 
 counsel of so good an adviser, the men cheer- 
 fully and at once agreed to dispense entirely with 
 their "grog," and reserve it for strictly medicinal 
 purposes. 
 
 Divine service was daily performed, the Sabbath 
 regarded by the omission of unnecessary work, 
 divine service for all, and a special service in the 
 evening — a kind of Sunday-school — for the sailors. 
 Every week-day evening the secular schools were 
 in operation. 
 
 Thus far Ross' expedition was a success. He 
 had surveyed three hundred miles of hitherto un- 
 discovered coast, and reached a point within two 
 hundred and eighty miles of Franklin's furthest 
 eastern journey from the mouth of the Coppermine. 
 
 1 rn| 
 
 
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 f * ( 1 
 
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nr^ 
 
 p ' 
 
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 !'■• 
 
 
 148 
 
 Akctic Heroes, 
 
 As they had sailed along the coast they had ob- 
 served traces of Esquimo, but seen none. Whales 
 had fearlessly played about the ship, not yet taught 
 to be shy by the deadly harpoon. 
 
 Havinaf become fairlv settled, the men turned 
 their attention to hunting. Be:irs and Vv'olves 
 were not plenty, but caused o^^^.asionally a healthy 
 excitement. Foxes were more abundant, and 
 were sometimes trapi)ed, though the arctic fox has 
 the cuteness of his relative ol warmer climates in 
 keeping out of harm's way. The seal-traps were 
 more successful ; the seal oil and skins proved 
 very useful, and so would their flesh, if the ex- 
 plorers had experienced tho extreme hunger of 
 many later visitors to those regions. 
 
 Sea-fowl were quite plenty ; one species of gull, 
 the kittiwake, attracted special attention by iis rare 
 beauty. Its bill was lemon- jolor, its plumage a 
 blending of ash, black, and white, and its legs 
 li d. 
 
 Commander James Ross, a nephew of the cap- 
 tain, vs'ho had accompanied his uncle, proved an 
 exp'^'it hunter, and, in fact, every way an efficient 
 officer. 
 
 In January a rep )rt of the "Victory's" cannon 
 brought to the explorers a welcome company of 
 Esquimo. They were shy at first, but on the ap- 
 proach of 
 
 qjt; 
 
 >ey 
 
 military order, brandishing their spears and knives. 
 The captaii shouted some friendly words in their 
 own language, which he had learned elsewhere, 
 and they immediately sent back the kind saluta- 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 149 
 
 tion. Ross ihrew away liis gun and repeated " Aja 
 tima!" I'be Esquimo shouted "Aja tinia," tossed 
 aside their spears and knives, and were soon on 
 excellent terms with the white taces. 
 
 There were women and children among the 
 visitors, ''i'he mothers generally carried their 
 babies in a big fur hood which hung from the 
 back of their neck ; but sometimes they adopted 
 a mode of carrying these household treasures 
 which is not usual, we think, even with the Esqui- 
 mo — they tucked them away in their boots ! 
 
 One of their young men was drawn on a sledge, 
 he having but one leg; the other had been am- 
 putated in the following savage way : 'I'he uj)per 
 j)art of the leg was first bound tightly with strips 
 of hide; the flesh of the lower part was then cut 
 off with the r dull, cKimsy knives, and the bone 
 was slipped into a hole in the ice and snapi)ed 
 off! We hope the doctor did not charge heavily 
 for this kind of surgery I The surgeon of the 
 " Victory " kindly made the young man a wooden 
 leg, on which he strutted al)Out, with the most ex- 
 travagant expressions of delight. 
 
 When April 1830 came, the discoverers were 
 astir; some made a special business of hunting, 
 game being now more abundant, and the necessity 
 for fresh provisions more urgent ; others were off 
 on exploring excursions, in two ])arties — 01 j led 
 by Captain Ross, and the other by Commander 
 James Ross. The commander was the man of 
 greater enter])rise, and general knowledge ; he 
 was wide awake in securing scientific as well as 
 10 
 
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 •.» 
 
 
 150 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 geographical knrnvleoge. His excursions were es- 
 pecially directed to finding a j)assage out of the 
 gulf where they were, in a westerly direction. 
 But the most intelligent natives assured them that 
 the only way into the sea beyond was farther 
 north, meaning through Barrow Strait, already 
 discovert^d by Parry. 
 
 All of the excursions of the younger Ross were 
 made with dog-sledges, and Ksquir.io as guides. 
 After having been out with them several times, he 
 and the surgeon visited their camp to get guides 
 lor further exploration. Instead of the usual friend- 
 ly greeting, the men met them, armed with knive'^ 
 and spears, and with angry faces. One old mm 
 was especially excited, and rushed at the visitors 
 with his spear, but was restrained by his son. The 
 women and children huddled together, aside, evi- 
 dently expecting a scene, and the men formed a 
 line abreast, grasping their spears and knives. 
 Ross could get no exjjlanation of this show of 
 a bloody light, and affa-is with the strangers were 
 becoming critical. They had each a loaded gun, 
 but they were reluctant to shoot down men who 
 had been, up to this time, fast and valuable friends, 
 and were even now evidently acting under some 
 serious misunderstanding. But to prevent being 
 stabbed and overpowered, the officers brought 
 tlicir gun^ to their shoulders and tlieir fingers to 
 the locks. One look at tlie muzzle of the guns 
 WIS happily quite enough for tlie timid foe. 
 Tiicv, j-robably, had seen the lightning blazing 
 Lw.;! I'.e:;', 'uard tlieir thunder, and seen them 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 151 
 
 deal death to the wild beasts. They broke and 
 ran like sheep. The women then approached 
 with friendly signs, and Ross succeeded in get- 
 ting this explanation of the threatening incident : 
 The old man, whose resentment was so intense, 
 had just lost a son by the falling of a stone 
 on his head. Their medicine man had attrib- 
 uted the fatal accident to the witchcraft of the 
 white faces; therefore their braves were bent on 
 
 revenge. 
 
 Ross succeeded in restoring confidence, the 
 
 frightened men came l)ack, guides were readily 
 
 obtained, and the explorers went on their way. 
 
 The excursion, however, proved •-. '^ad one. 
 Their provisions failed, and they were obliged to 
 kill and eat seven of their nine dogs. This resort 
 is much like taking the wheels from a carriage for 
 fuel when on a long journey. The men were 
 longer in getting back, having to draw the sledges 
 instead of riding, and when at last they rcncht-d 
 the ship they were but skeleton men. 
 
 Thus the sumnier wore away, and the " Vic- 
 tory " was still bound with ice fetters. August 
 came, promised them freedom and an open sea, 
 broke its promise and departed. September 
 stepped forward with i/iiitini^ sunbeams, loosened 
 the bands of the im])risoned shij), and she sailed 
 joyously from Felix Harbor, where she had spent 
 eleven months ; but the breezes had only well 
 filled the sails, and her |)row felt its renewed 
 power to cut through the waves, when she struck 
 a rock ! In breathless suspense all awaited the 
 
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 152 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 result, when she swung off and started again, but 
 only to ground in the sand, where she seemed in- 
 clined to stay. Quickly as possible she was light- 
 ened l)v removing the stores to the shore. With 
 deep anx''^ty they watched the effect of the re- 
 turning tide ; and when it was shouted, " She 
 floats I she floats ! " every heart bounded for joy. 
 
 With all sails spread, they sailed away — four 
 miles, and, night coming on. Captain Ross fastened 
 his sliip to an iceberg, as if he had not been ice- 
 bound enough, and w: ted for the morning. The 
 morning came, but not the sailing ; they were 
 once more held firmly in the grip of the Ice King. 
 Many laljorious days were s[)ent in sawing the 
 thick, firm ice, and warping the ship through the 
 canal thus made; when reaching a comparatively 
 sheltered place near their old quarters, they spent 
 anothe. .vinter. 
 
 Tlie only noticeable incident of this winter was 
 the discovery by the scientific, younger Ross, of 
 the long-sC'Ught " Western Magnetic Pole " — a 
 spot where the needle of the compass dipped and 
 stood still. The discoverer was in ecstasies, and 
 thus records his feelings : " 1 leave my readers to 
 imagine my transj)orts ; all my perils and fatigues 
 were forgotten, and I felt as if 1 had nothing to do 
 but to go home and be haj)})y for the rest of my 
 days." 
 
 'i'he explorers built as good a monument to 
 mark the spot as the circumstances allowed, put- 
 ting a sealed canister beneath it containing docu- 
 ments relating to the discovery. Their fci/ini^s 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 153 
 
 prompted tliem to build a monument over it as 
 high as an Egyi)tian jn'ramid. Hut, after all, later 
 science has shown that this discovery was of no 
 practical value. 
 
 The second winter passed and the third sum- 
 mer came, bringing great labor, much suffering 
 from cold, and insufficient food, and constant 
 " ho])e deferred." \\'hen in August they were 
 under sail again, they made, as during the preced- 
 ing year, a few miles only, and then were again 
 frozen tight for a third winter. Three weeks of 
 navigation in a year, and a progress of four miles, 
 they wisely concluded would not pay, so they de- 
 cided to take to the boats and sledges and make 
 their escape the quickest and easiest way possible 
 as soon as the third winter should be ended. 
 Therefore when April, 1832, arrived, they began 
 to move out of the " Victory " toward Fury lieach, 
 a distance of one hundred and eighty miles in a 
 direct line, and three hundred by the windings. 
 The goods they needed to carry being many and 
 heavy, and their strength small, they took light 
 loads, carried them a short distance and then set 
 them down to return for more, thus going over the 
 s.?me ground two or three times a day. The first 
 month they made thirty miles in a direct line, but 
 had traveled, incluaing the repeated journeys and 
 the windings to avoid hummocks, three hundred 
 and twenty-nine miles. During this m(jnth ter- 
 rific storms of wind had hurled the sleet into their 
 faces and piled the snow in their path. 
 
 They now made their last journey to the ship, 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 nailed her colors to the mast, and bade her 
 farewell. 
 
 When they reached a point near enough to 
 Fury Beach, where, it will be recollected. Parry's 
 sliij) " l'"ury " had been wrecked, and where there 
 was now a dei)Osit of boats and provisions, the main 
 party halted, built a temporary shelter, and rested. 
 Commander Ross soon pressed on, with a few 
 picked men, to Fury Beach, to examine the con- 
 dition of things and to return. The captain 
 moved forward with the main body more slowly ; 
 young Ross meeting them on his return with the 
 good re])ort that the store of provisions were in 
 good order, and, though some of the boats had 
 been washed away, enough remained for their pur- 
 pose, (^n the first of July the whole party reached 
 Fury Beach. Having now access to a larger stock 
 of })rovisions, they ate hearty meals, rested, and re- 
 cruited. They called their canvas-mansion Somer- 
 set House. 
 
 Having spent a month at this jjlacc, getting 
 ready to man the beats for further progress to 
 Baffin Bay through Barrow Strait, they bid adieu, 
 as thev hoDed, to the Somerset House. But they 
 i\] into Jkarrow Strait when 
 
 only got 
 
 ■y 
 
 driven back to the Somerset House to spend yet 
 
 another winter. 
 
 This fourth winter, amid arctic 
 
 darkness, cold, and short i)rovisions, was the most 
 fearful of all ; but yet only one man died. 
 
 All felt, when the next traveling season arrived^ 
 that they must reach the waters of the whalers and 
 be rescued by them, or perish. With this feeling 
 
 i/ . 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 155 
 
 th'^v had. l)y incredible lal)or and endurance, got 
 out of Regent Inlet once more, j)assed Cajje \'ork, 
 wound along the water lanes in the ice until they 
 had reached Navy Board Inlet, which we may 
 find on the map, about half way between Cape 
 York and Baffin Bay. They drew their boats to 
 land, pitched a tent, ate their supper, went through 
 with the Divine service, in which, we doubt not, 
 they introduced the prayer: "Lord, preserve our 
 lives, and bring us again to our homes and friends." 
 At four in the morning the watch startled all by 
 the thrilling shout, " A sail ! a sail ! " 
 
 The boaiswere manned, and with all of their little 
 strength, now stimulated to almost desperate exer- 
 tions, they rowed out to sea, making every possible 
 signal to attract attention. But the ship kept on 
 her course, not seeing them, and was soon out of 
 sight. A sullen despair, which ])recedes the fatal 
 crisis, was settling down upon the crew, when 
 Captain Ross shouted, what he scarcely dared be- 
 lieve, " Another sail I " After a little pause, and 
 almost breathless suspense, he added: "Yes, she 
 bears down upon us ; we are seen ! " and " we are 
 saved! " was soon added a^ the sail drew nearer. 
 The wind subsiding, the ship lowered her boat, 
 commanded by her mate. As he approached Ross 
 he said inquiringly : — 
 
 " \'ou have lost your ship, sir ? " 
 
 " Yes, we beg you v-ould take us in. What is 
 the name of yoi^r vessel .' " 
 
 " The ' Isabella,' once commanded by Captain 
 Ross." 
 
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 Arc'I'ic IIkroks. 
 
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 '* I am that Ca])tain Ross, and these men are. the 
 crew of tlie ' \'iclory.' " 
 
 " Ini])Ossil)le ! " was the (jiiick reply. " Captairi 
 Ross has hccn dead these two years! " 
 
 ISiit Ross was satisfied that lie had the best in- 
 formation on this point, aiid it was not difficult to 
 satisfy tlie nuitc and his captain of the fact. 
 
 When tlie facts were known on hoard the 
 " Isabella " she received her old commander with 
 a tumult of joy. \\'hen all were on board there 
 followed a scene, says Captain Ross, so ludicrous 
 that it drove for the moment all serious thoui^hts 
 away. All were in a frame of mind to Ije amused : 
 " Every man was hungry and was to be fed ; all 
 were ra'j:u;ed and were to be clothed; there 
 was not one to whom w;ishing was not indispens- 
 able, nor one whose beard did not deprive him of 
 all human semblance. All was to be done at once : 
 it was shaving, washing, dressing, eating, all inter- 
 mingled ; it was all the materials of each jumbled 
 together, while in the midst of all there were in- 
 terminable (juestions to be asked and answered on 
 both sides — the adventures of the 'Victory,' our 
 own escapes, the politics of England, and the news, 
 now to us four years old." 
 
 But night came, and all was comparatively quiet. 
 The sick had been cared for, the hungry fed, the 
 ragged clothed, the unwashed cleansed, and, of 
 course, all — and they were many — of the despond- 
 ing among the explorers comforted. The rescued 
 tried to sleep, but the beds were too warm and 
 comfortable, Ross says of himself that he had to 
 
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 73 
 
Lost and Found. 
 
 '59 
 
 leave his berth for a liardcr place before he could 
 sleep. 
 
 The explorers arrived in London on the iQlh 
 of October, 1833, havini:; l)een absent four years. 
 Honors and emoluments were ])lentif'ally bestowed 
 upon them. The officers were promoted, Cai)tain 
 Ross receiving a " knij^iithood," and his ne])hew a 
 captaincy ; the sailors received double pay, and 
 the Parliament, the next year, returned to Ross his 
 fifteen thousand dollars, with an addition of ten 
 thousand — the goodly sum of twenty-five thousand. 
 His patron, Felix Boot.\ they made Sir Felix. 
 
 The shout of the nation seemed to be, The lost 
 is found ! and they killed the fatted calf. 
 
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 Arctic Heroics. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 DOWN THE GREAT FISH RIVER. 
 
 ^"r^IHi^ long absence of Caj)!. Ross excited great 
 X alarm in England, 'rhoiigh his expedition 
 was one of private enterprise, and he had not been 
 a favorite of the masses as an explorer, yet now 
 that he was believed to be a suffering prisoner in 
 the arctic ice, or already, with his men, a victim 
 of cold and starvation, great and universal sympathy 
 was felt. Men in high places of authority and in- 
 fluence began to talk, in 1832, of sending an expe- 
 dition in search of him. The government finally 
 determined to do it. When liack, who was in 
 Italy at the time, heard of this decision, he 
 hastened home and was accepted as its commander. 
 He will be recollected by the reader as a hero in 
 the two land exi)editions of Franklin. He was 
 now expected to go over a ]jart of the routes of 
 those journeys, reach the Polar Sea through the 
 Great Slave Lake and the Great Fish River, then 
 work his way east toward Prince Regent Inlet, 
 over unknown land and waters, in hoi)e to meet 
 Ross or learn his fate. Such a journey was easily 
 marked out on ])aper, and was very nice to talk 
 about in the comfortable parlors of the great men. 
 It was just the enterprise, too, to inspire the en- 
 thusiasm of the daring, skillful, and persistent Back. 
 
Dozen the Gnat Fish Rircr. 
 
 i6i 
 
 He left F^n^land February, 18^5,^, with Dr. Kin.u;, 
 who went as surj^'eon and naturalist, 'i'hey were 
 honored and cheered forward as they passed 
 through New York city, and sailed, u]) tlie Hudson 
 to Albany. At Montreal they added to their com- 
 pany Canadians, four volunteers from the artillery 
 service, and an old Indian boat-manager and guide 
 by the name of Paul. 
 
 In two canoes, Paul guiding the leading one, 
 they shot down the St. Lawrence to the Ottawa, 
 and then ascended that river in a north-westerly 
 dnection. 'J'here were many water-falls and rapids 
 for them to pass, some enchantingly beautiful, others 
 imj)ressively grand, but all imposing exhausting 
 labor upon the explorers. The canoes and their 
 freight had to be carried overland round these de- 
 scending waters, the goods often in little parcels, 
 ar'l so in fretpient return trips, and the canoes lifted 
 up ^, recipitous rocks and through tangled forests. 
 
 These water-falls are about as troublesome to 
 the voyagers in descending the rivers as in ascend- 
 ing, and much more dangerous. Back tells the 
 following story of the experience of some Indian 
 acquaintance which illustrates this danger : A party 
 were approaching a landing-place from which they 
 were to carry the canoe round a grand cataract. 
 In order to reach the landing they were obliged to 
 go round a point of land which extended into the 
 rapids, a short distance only from the edge of the 
 falls. A strong oarsman stood in tlie bow ; another, 
 erect also and watchful, stood in the stern. They 
 reached the point, fearlessly struck out into the 
 
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 162 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 rushing current, and witli a few vigorous strokes, 
 which threw the si)ray high over tlieir heads, came 
 round under the lee of tlie land. The sheltered 
 landing was nearly reached, tlie danger seemed 
 ])ast, and tiie oarsmen relaxed tlieir vigilance. 
 Suddenly an eddy swung the prow of the canoe 
 round and it darted out into the current. Swift as 
 an arrow, it shot toward the cataract until it seemed 
 to hang over its very edge. But the Indians, ex- 
 perienced in this kind of peril, were masters of the 
 situation. They struck their paddles deep into 
 the water, and with the desperate strength of men 
 working for life they brought the canoe to a stand, 
 ami inch by inch moved off until the quiet waters 
 of the landing were reached. They then landed 
 on shore, drew up their canoe, threw themselves 
 on the grass to rest, grunted their satisfaction, and 
 cherished the recollection of the incident to relate 
 around their camp-fires. 
 
 But the perils of the risers were not the only 
 ones our explorers encountered. Their comfort 
 was often destroyed and their lives put in jeopardy 
 by myriads of sand-flies. They covered every 
 exposed part of their persons with blood- thirsty 
 rai)acity. To brush them off was only to remove 
 those which were already gorged, or in part filled, 
 for those with keener a])petites. For every one 
 killed, thousands came to avenge his doath. It 
 was a conflirt waged by the explorcis in which 
 they were su**'.^ to be beaten. The Indians threw 
 thems^elves on tlie ground, and fairly roared with 
 anguish. Back adds : — • 
 
 4' 
 
Jil 
 
 ^r 
 
 Doivn the Great Fish River. 
 
 163 
 
 "As we marched into the confined and suffocat- 
 ing chasms, or \\aded through the cUdsc swamps, 
 they rose in clouds, actually darkening the air. 
 To see or to si)eak was equally difticult, for they 
 rushed at every undefended i)art, and fixed their 
 poisonous fangs in an instant. Our faces streamed 
 with blood, as if leeches had been applied, and 
 there was a burning and irritating pain, followed 
 by immediate inflammation, j)ro(lucing giddiness, 
 which almost drove us m.iil, and caused us to 
 moan with lain and agony." 
 
 Some o^ the Indians seemed to regard these 
 tormento's wirh superstitious reverence. When 
 Back at one time endeavored to smoke them out, 
 an old Indian shook his liead. " Had," he mut- 
 tered, "very bad! 'I'he great white chief" — re- 
 ferring to Fra.iklin — "did not do so. He never 
 killed a fly." 
 
 "This," says Back, " was true of Franklin. He 
 (juietly 1)1l\v the gorged insects from his hands, 
 saying, ' The world 'S wide enough for 1)oth of 
 
 The first most important stopping-place was 
 Fort Chipeway, on the Athabasca Lake, where 
 the reader has been several times with {''rank 1 in 
 and others. This is distant from M(»ntrcal at 
 least two thousand miles, the way they had trav- 
 eled. It was now the middle of July, and they 
 desired to push on, if j^ossible, as far as the (Ireat 
 F'ish River, flowing, as they believed, out (;f the 
 Great Slave Lake into the sea. Their nunibt-r 
 liad been increased, just before arriving at l'\trl 
 
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 164 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 Chipeway, by a Mr. M'Leod, an old employi* of 
 tlie Hudson I5ay Company, who brought along 
 his wife and three children. A fine romantic 
 journey for women and boys and girls did this 
 i.xploring expedition afford! It was after their 
 manner o^ life, so we do not hear that they either 
 loitered behind or fainted bv the wav. 
 
 Before starting from this point let us look at 
 the company Back had gathered about him, and 
 at their "fixings." He says: "At my feet was a 
 rolled bundle in oil cloth containing three blank- 
 ets, called a bed; near it a piece of dried buffalo, 
 fancifully ornamented with long black hairs, which, 
 alas I no art can prevent from insinuating them- 
 selves between the teeth as you laboriously masti- 
 cate the tough, hard flesh ; then a tolerably clean 
 napkin, spread, by way of a table-cloth, on a red 
 piece of canvas, aiid sui)porting a tea-pot, some 
 biscuits, and a salt-cellar; near this a tin plate; 
 close by a square kind of a box or safe of the 
 same material, rich witli a pale, greasy hair, the 
 produce of the colony at Red River; and the 
 last, the far renowned /<^v///y//Vr^//, the best food of 
 the country for expeditions such as ours. Behind 
 me were two boxes containing astronomical instru- 
 ments, and a sextant lying on the ground by a 
 washing apparatus, a gun, an Indian shot-pouch, 
 bags, basins, and an unhajjpy-looking ja])anned 
 pot, whose sad bumps seemed to reproach mc 
 for many a bruise endured upon the rocks and 
 portages. 
 
 " My crew were not less motley than the tent. 
 
'I! 
 
 Doivn the Great Fish River. 
 
 165 
 
 It consisted of Englishmen, Canadians, two mctifs 
 or half-breeds, and three Iroquois Indians. Isabel 
 could not produce a worse confusion of inhar- 
 monious sounds." 
 
 Having arrived at Fort Resolution, just south 
 of the Great Slave Lake, Back took four of his 
 crew to press on to the Great Fish River, while 
 M'Leod came on with the rest, to some point on 
 the north-east side of the lake, where he was to 
 prepare winter-quarters. 
 
 Back was successful in finding the outlet of the 
 river from the lake, and sailed a few days on its 
 waters. This (rreat Fish River now bears Back's 
 own name. He was delighted with his success 
 thus far. He seemed to see a tiiumphant vovage 
 on its waters to the sea when., in the spring, he 
 should renew his explorations. With these feel- 
 ings he turned back to Fort Reliance, as he i ailed 
 the spot where M'Leod had prepared winter-tpiar- 
 ters. 
 
 Here he found not only his own company, but a 
 starving troop of Indians who had come to hang 
 about the camj) and live ujjon ils charity. He 
 generously bade them welcome, though he feared 
 a short supply of food ere he reached the sea. 
 
 One day Back was taking some observations 
 with his astronomical instruments. Several of the 
 Indians looked on with pu/zled and anxious ex- 
 pressions of face, while they exchanged signifi- 
 cant glances at each other, or muttered aside in 
 low tones. They were evidently discussing the 
 question of the probable use of the instruments. 
 
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 1 66 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
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 At last ihey arrived at a conclusion quite satis- 
 factory to themselves, but dangerous to the white 
 stranger. The instruments were, they said, to 
 raise the devil with, and they were, no doubt, 
 the cause of the famine. Re\ :nge, for such a 
 calamity, was next in order in an Indian's mind. 
 So Back's generous gifts of food came, in good 
 time, to conciliate the fighting men. 
 
 The cloud which this condition of thirgs gath- 
 ered was silver-lined by tlie coming of Back's 
 old friend, the chief Akaitcho. He led off in 
 successful hunts. He scorned the suspicions 
 which the instruments had inspired in his follow- 
 ers, and, in addressing lUck, said : '* The great 
 chief trusts us, and it is better that ten Indians 
 perish than that one white man perish through our 
 negligence and breach of faith." 
 
 As the winter progressed, the cold, the stinted 
 supi)ly of food, and the desolation which every- 
 where prevailed, excited in the exjjlorers a feeling 
 •of despondency. Even Back confesses that in 
 spite of himself he at times felt his customary 
 resolution falter. 
 
 Such was the state of heart at the camp April 
 23, made specially burdensome by a rumor that a 
 favorite interpreter and guide of Back's forme- 
 voyages had perished of hunger and cold in an 
 attempt to visit him. While all were under these 
 depressions a knock was heard at their cabin- 
 door. Without waiting for the knock to be an- 
 swered the stranger walked in and thrust a dis- 
 patch into the captain's hands, saying : — 
 
Down the Great Fish River. 
 
 167 
 
 K 
 
 (( 
 
 He returned, sir! " 
 
 What I Augustus ?" exclaimed Back, "Thank 
 
 God ! " 
 
 *' Not Augustus, Captain Ross, sir; Captain 
 Ross has returned ! " 
 
 The news seemed too good to be true. But 
 the dispatches told the story ; they contained 
 extracts from English i)apers affirming the joyous 
 fact. Captain Back says; ''In the fullness of our 
 hearts we assembled together and humbly offered 
 up our thanks to God fur so wonderful a preserva- 
 tion. 
 
 The day was spent as a festival, and the gloom 
 which had rested upon the camp was dissipated. 
 Among the Indians who enlivened the camp 
 by their presence was "Green Stockings," the 
 "beauty" of her tribe, whom the reader may rec- 
 ollect as appearing in Franklin's narrative. She 
 was now accompanied by a group of children, 
 one, a babe, hiding away in her hood. When she 
 was accosted by the pet name of her younger 
 days she smiled, shook her head, and remarked, 
 
 I am an old woman no 
 
 w." But she was evi- 
 dently pleased to have Back sketch her portrait. 
 
 In June the explorers started for Great Fish 
 River. Though the search for Ross was happily 
 ended, the captain desired to add something to 
 the world's knowledge of the shores of the Polar 
 Sea. A boat thirty feet long had been built. 
 This they put on runners, fur it was a long jour- 
 ney to the Fish River, through swamps and over 
 lakes ye' fro/en. They reached it safely on the 
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 Arctic Hkroes. 
 
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 28th of June. Here their valuable friends, 
 IM'Leodand Akaitcho, bitl them farewell. The 
 chief si)oke desijondingly of their enterprise. He 
 said : " Indian don't know this river, and can't 
 help you if you get into trouble. Ksciuimo live 
 by the shore and will say, ' l*eace, peace,' and 
 strike you in the dark, I am afraid Akaitcho will 
 never see the great chief again ! " Thus warned 
 Back started, a company of ten persons in all 
 composing the expedition, and floated down the 
 rive.;. It proved to be a river extremely winding, 
 full of rapids, whose rushing waters were thrown 
 into sheets of foam by the numerous bowlders, 
 and cataracts whose roar was at times heard 
 several miles away. Its banks through its entire 
 length, five hundred miles, were without a tree. 
 Every-where nature seemed to have written the 
 warning words, Alan is not invited into these 
 regions ! T-ul the explorers sailed on without the 
 invitation, a^id in spite of the warning. 
 
 The half-breeds of the company were able 
 canoe-men. They were born and trained in the 
 midst (;f such wild scenes. Back says of one n( 
 them :— 
 
 " He ran our rickety and shattered canoe down 
 four successive rapids, which, but for his skill, 
 would have whirled it and every body in it to 
 certain destruction. Nothing could exceed the 
 self-possession and good judgment with which he 
 guided the frail thing along the narrow line be- 
 tween the high waves of the torrent and the re- 
 turning eddy. A foot in either direction would 
 
Down the Great Fish River. 
 
 169 
 
 have been fatal ; l)ut with the most perfect ease, 
 and, 1 uuiy add, elegance and grace of action, his 
 keen eye fixed iii)on the /v/;/, he kept her true to 
 her course through all its ra])i(] windings." 
 
 At another time they passed five rapids in a dis- 
 tance of three miles. They had scarcely taken 
 breath on smoother sailing, before they were con- 
 fronted by the most ai)palling one they had yet 
 met with. The water, hemmed in by walls of ice, 
 
 rushed ihrouuh a narrow bed full of rock? 
 
 'X\m 
 
 Capt 
 
 lin and Mr. King stepped ashore and moun 
 
 ted 
 
 the high bank, while the half-breeds undertook 
 the perilous voyage. Mr. King was farther down 
 the stream than Back, and both were watching, 
 with intense anxiety, the experiment. The lives 
 of those ashore, as well as those in the canoe, 
 were staked on its success. It shot safely, passed 
 the captain, and was hid from his sight below 
 Dr. King. The captain just then heard what 
 sounded to his excited mind as a wild shriek ! He 
 saw King throw up his gun at the same time and 
 rush forward. With an agitation more intense 
 than he often felt, he followed the doctor. Having 
 reached a point from which he could look beyond 
 the rai)id, he was relieved and gladdened by the 
 sight of the bout in a quiet bay, and the crew 
 safely landed. It was their wild whoop of triumph 
 that he had heard. 
 
 On the 29th of July they came in sight of the 
 highlands at the mouth of the river, and were soon 
 on the shores of the chilling, frowning Arctic 
 
 
 '■\: 
 
 'f: 
 
 jlji 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 i. 
 
 il 
 
 Sea. Less than two weeks' experience taught 
 
 ■tl! ;i 
 

 i: 
 
 ill 
 
 '' 1 
 1 1 
 
 
 'I 
 
 "j' i 
 
 170 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 them the impossibility of unvaiiing the secrets of 
 its shores. On the sen, successive masses of 
 broken ice barred their progress. ( )n land, they 
 sunk knee deep in a slush of i( e and snow. I'or 
 ten days they had not a sjjark of fire, and, of 
 course, neither warm food nor dry garments. 
 Back, being a sensible as well as a brave man, 
 wisely turned his face homeward. He had found 
 the river, during his five hundred miles' voyage, 
 expanding into five large lakes, rushing through 
 rapids and pouring down cataracts, eighty-three 
 in all. In the return trip these eighty-three de- 
 scents in the river were to be {)assed by " port- 
 ages," that is, by carrying on land the boat and 
 its freight, often lifting both up craggy precipices. 
 The voyage would have terrified many explorers 
 into imbecility and failure. Lack and his men 
 accomplished it safely. 
 
 In September they went into winter-quarters at 
 the old home at Fort Reliance, on Slave Lake. 
 Here he found M'Leod and the faithful Akaitcho, 
 who had made some most welcome preparations 
 for their coming. Here, again, the hunt was be- 
 gun, the schools put in operation, the Sabbath 
 service observed, and the winter made as swift- 
 footed as was possible to the slow-moving arctic 
 months. It was the old experience of long, dark 
 nights, cold, and dreariness. 
 
 Back arrived in England in September, 1835, 
 having been absent a little more than two years 
 and seven months. 
 
 He had not seen the North Pole, but his men 
 
!' 
 
 Down the Great Fish River. 
 
 171 
 
 had picked up on the shore of tlu- Polar Sea a 
 piece of drift-wood nine feet long, which they de- 
 clared was a part of it. This may have satisfied 
 the ambition of the '' rank and fde " in respect to 
 arctic discovery, considering how much of ])eril 
 and suffering it cost, but it did not satisfy their 
 leader. The ne.xt year, 1836, he was off again in 
 the shi]) " Terror." This time he was to take 
 Parry's route thrcnigh Hudson Strait to Fury and 
 Hecla Strait, examine the lower part of Prince 
 Regent Inlet, enter Re])ulse Bay, and by sledges 
 or shii)s, or by both boats and sledges, hnd his 
 way to the coast of the Polar Sea, whi( li he left 
 about eighteen months before. Said those who 
 sent him : "You can easily do this in one season, 
 and so escape the arctic winter." A nice little 
 plan ! The scientific gentlemen at home would 
 have done well, may be, at trying their hand at its 
 execution. 
 
 The first thing King Ice did, even before the 
 " Terror " reached Fury and Hecla Strait, was to 
 frown upon it from a l)erg three hundred feet 
 high ; he then gave it a terrific shaking up in '* a 
 nip " between huge masses of ice. He next caught 
 the shi}) in an icy cradle, gathered around her an 
 immense floe, and rocked her al)out four months 
 at will. No quiet rest for the winter in a chosen 
 harbor was allowed. He toyed with her through 
 the long season, from September to the summer 
 of the next year, with malicious humor ; now 
 opening the floe and letting her down into the clear 
 sea, then boxing her on one side with a crystal 
 
 I' M 
 
 ..' 
 
 1 
 
n 
 
 t 
 
 i ' 
 
 ;t' 
 
 w 
 
 .:i 
 
 
 172 
 
 Arctic Hicroes. 
 
 block, "like the side of a house," and giving her 
 a buffet on the other by " a huge wave of hum- 
 mocks." To vary the sjjort two floes were oc- 
 casi(jnally brought together, giving her agonizing 
 " nii)s."* I'inally, the " Terror," thoroughly ter- 
 rified, was dismissed, the latter part of the summer 
 of I-S37, from his Ice Majesty's dominions, crippled 
 and crestfallen. The profits of the expedition 
 were a zero. But liack had done all that skill and 
 courage could do, and he was rewarded by being 
 made Sir George Back. He then rested from 
 arctic labors. 
 
 * See Frontispiece. 
 
 ^m^ 
 
 I' 
 
Franklin ]\Iissi}ig — Search Cotnincncaf. 173 
 
 I 1 
 
 II 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 FRANKI.IN MISSIN'd: TllF. SF.AKCII C0MMENCF:D. 
 
 W\\ arc about to commence a sad era in the 
 history of arctic explorations, or rather an 
 era havini; its commencement and stimulus in a 
 melancholy event, yet in its exhibition of heroism, 
 and in the outlay of treasures and men to secure 
 the results scnight, surpassing all other eras. V/c 
 shall endeavor to give its most striking features. 
 
 In 1S44 Sir James C. Ross returned from the re- 
 gions of the South I'ole, having made a successful 
 exploration in the ships " Erebus " and *' Terror." 
 The fever for more excursions to the North Pole 
 broke out anew in England. These well-tried 
 ships were docked, rejuvenated, ecpiipped with all 
 the skill which wealth could command and ex- 
 perience suggest, and put in command of the 
 veteran officer. Sir John Franklin. He hoisted his 
 flag on the ' Erebus," and gave the command of 
 the " Terror " to Captain Richard Crozier, a com- 
 panion of Ross in the recent Antartic voyage. 
 All the persons composing the exploration were 
 one hundred and thirty-eight, every one tried, 
 picked men. The transi)ort " Daretto," under 
 the command of Lieutenant Criffith, was laden 
 with provisions, to be transferred to the ships in 
 Davis Strait. 
 
 V 
 
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 H 
 
 
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 ill. 
 
 * I 
 
 ht 
 
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 * 
 
 ! 
 
 s ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 174 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 The instructions given to Sir John were some- 
 what in detail, yet left large discretion to his 
 judgment, as determined by circumstance. The 
 substance of the suggestions of the home authori- 
 ties were these : He was to i)roceed with energy 
 antl directness through Lancaster Sound, to or 
 as near Melville Island as ])ossible the first season. 
 Then came the old command, to push on to 
 Bering Strait — if he could. It was only nine hun- 
 dred miles ! True, the greater jiart of that dis- 
 tance had been navigated, and the track maj^ped 
 out by different men, inchubng Franklin himself, 
 starting at different times and from various points, 
 such as Bering Strait itself, the mouth of the 
 Mackenzie, and of the Cojjpermine River. But 
 for one expedition to make a continuous push 
 through tlie whole distance was quite another 
 thing. But it was assumed that he would get 
 through somehow, if not by a direct westerly or 
 south-westerly course, by one north-westerly, up 
 Wellington Channel. Having reached Bering 
 Strait, the rest of his instructions could be easily 
 followed. He was to sail to the Sandwich Islands 
 and Panama, and send a special messenger with 
 the good news. 
 
 All this planning was grandly comprehensive. 
 It pleased Him by whom alone human devices 
 come to pass to throw over the results, for many 
 long, weary, and anxious years, a dark cloud. What 
 appeared when it lifted we shall see. 
 
 The expedition sailed on the 19th of May, 
 1845. The " Daretto " gave the ships her suppliess 
 
Franklin Missing — Search Commenced, i/; 
 
 after reaching Davis Strait, according to the pro- 
 gramme, and returned. The ** Krebus " had five 
 bullocks on board for fresh i)rovisions in an eifier- 
 ijency, and the whole stock of food was ample for 
 three years. The explorers were seen on the 26th 
 of July by the whaler " Prince of N\'ales," nearly 
 in the middle of IJaffin Hay, two hundred and 
 ten miles from the entrance to Lancaster Sound, 
 anchored to an iceberg, waiting the moving of 
 the ice. Here the curtain drops. 
 
 Suspense concerning the fate of Franklin had 
 grown i)ainfully intense in the fall of 1847. Two 
 years had passed without a word of information. 
 The English Government planned immediately 
 three searching expeditions, and they were sent 
 into active scrvit '■ with all the dispatch consistent 
 with thorough preparation. The first was to sail 
 up the I'acific to Bering Strait and operate east- 
 ernly. The second, under the eminent explorer 
 Sir John Richardson, whom the reader has met 
 before, was to go down the Mackenzie, and search 
 along shore to the Coppermine. The third, un- 
 der the popular J. C. Ross, was to penetrate Lan- 
 caster Sound, and find and follow Franklin's route. 
 This last was on a grand scale, consisting of two 
 fine ships, the " Enterprise " and " Investigator," 
 each attended by small steam tow-boat " launches," 
 All these were in oj^eration in the early j)art of 
 T848. In the early fall (jf tliat year rumors 
 through the whalers reached the home authorities 
 concerning the plans of Ross which alarmed them. 
 They regarded them as desperately brave. They 
 
 M 
 
 ^ 
 
 ■ I 
 
 i 
 
h 
 
 I 
 
 V 
 
 It 
 
 1 1' •■ 
 
 176 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 at once sent the " North Star," supply ship, under 
 the command of Jaines Saunders, hiden with pro- 
 visions for Ross, and bearing specific orders. The 
 " S.ar " was not to allow herself to be caught in 
 the ice, but to return that season ai all events, 
 leaving at some well-known point lier sui)i)lies if 
 she (lid not find Ross. She did not overtake Ross, 
 but did get caught and wintered in the ice. 
 
 All these explorations closed unsuccessfully to 
 ward the end of 1849. 
 
 'Die public mind was now continually stimu- 
 lated in its interest concerning the lost ones. The 
 veteran exjjlorers — and they were many — as well 
 as the veteran managers of ex[)lorations, came for- 
 ward with their speculations and advice. Large 
 '•ewards were promised, both by the Government 
 and Lady Franklin, to excite t^he zeal of the 
 whalers in making careful in(]uiry of the Esciuimo, 
 and in making diligent search along the shores, 
 while }"ursuing their calling. 
 
 The Government, thus si)urred on by its own 
 desires and by public o])inion, started three more 
 expeditions in 1850. The first, ia the tried ves- 
 sels the " Enter])rise " and " Navigator," sup- 
 ])orted by small crafts, were this time to start on 
 the immediate search at liering Strait, inasmuch 
 as they did not gei through from the other end. 
 'I'he second, under Dr. Rae. an old officer, was to 
 try the Mackenzie and shore route. The third, 
 a naval expedition, was to make another effort bv 
 way of T,ancaster Sound, through which I'ranklin 
 was supposed to have passed. Before we notice 
 
 ^ 
 
 I 
 
I 
 
 Frank I ill Missing — Sec re h Commenced. 177 
 
 this squadron in detail, let us glance at certain 
 non-offuial enterprises. 
 
 There was an exp.edition under the command of 
 Captain Penny, an energetic, experienced com- 
 mander of a whale ship. It consisted of a staunch 
 ship, the " Lady Franklin," and a clijiper-brig, 
 the "S()i)hia." This e\])edition was prompteil 
 and mostly j.aid lor by the devoted wife of 
 Franklin. 
 
 In addition to l*enny's vessels, Fatly l'"ranklin, 
 out of her own purse, and with an exha'-stive 
 generosity, fitted out the '' Prince Albert," a 
 schooner-rigged era t of only ninety tons, but of 
 faultless build. 
 
 Another expedition, under the veteran Sir John 
 Ross, was e<iuij)ped by public subscrijition, the 
 Hudson Bay Company ))aying twenty-five hundred 
 dol'ars. She sailed in June, 1850, a little later 
 than the other vessels. 
 
 Whih' Fngland was thus stirring iii the Chris- 
 tian work of saving the lost, the I'nited States was 
 not an idle sj)ectator. Her naval ships, the " .\d- 
 vance " and " Rescue," we shall meet in the lu^rth- 
 ern regions, aiul give them special notice in due 
 time. These i)rivate enler[)rises were all destined 
 for the regions beyond Lancaster Sound, and. as 
 we shall see, met, and in a measure co-operated 
 together. 
 
 The English naval S([uadron, consisting of the 
 sailing vessels " Resolute " and " Assistance," 
 rigged as barks, and two screw steamers, the 
 " Pioneer " and " Intrepid," formed a searching 
 
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 178 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 m 
 
 expedition of peculiar interest. The steamers 
 were tenders to the barks. Steam, as we have 
 seen, had been tried before in the arctic service, 
 but with no great success. In this case it was used 
 on an ample scale, and with a skill and success 
 resulting in jiart from the lessons of previous 
 failures. 
 
 Having taken a look through the other vessels, 
 w will lastly examine the " Pioneer," and take up 
 our (juarters for the voyage in her. 
 
 The " Resolute " was selected for the service 
 because she was well built, and of the \ery best 
 material. lUit a strong build for ordinary voyages 
 was not considered sufficient for the boxing she 
 was to receive in the regions of perpetual ice. 
 She was strengthened with heavy tiniben-: until 
 her frame seemid the greater part of her. Ship 
 architecture was sacrificed to ship endurance. 
 Her bow became so broad that it resembled more 
 that of a mud-scow than a sailing vessel, so that 
 she i)ushed the water before her rather than sailed 
 through it. An old " salt," who had been many 
 times among the arctic floes and bergs, scorned 
 the clumsy thing as he looked at her while she 
 was in the dock-yard. " Lord, sir," he exclaimed, 
 addressing his commanding officer, " you would 
 think by the c[uantity of wood they are putting 
 into them shijjs that the dock-yard maties be- 
 lieved they ( ould stoi) the Almighty from moving 
 tlic tloes in Baflin Bay ! Every pound of African 
 oak they put into them the less likely they are to 
 rise to pressure, and you must in the ice either 
 
 f 
 
•el, 
 
 i 
 
 Franklin Missing — Search Commenced. 1 79 
 
 rise or sink. If the floe cannot pass through the 
 ship it will pass over it." 
 
 Internally the " Resolute " was arranged and 
 equipped on the most generous scale for the safety 
 and comfort of all on board. Hot air was distrib- 
 uted through the cabins and between the decks 
 by an original and ingenious contrivance. Double 
 defenses were made against the arctic cold. 
 Ami)le and convenient cooking apjjaratus and 
 apartments were provided. Thv mess-room of 
 the crew was not neglected, but made Ix^th com- 
 fortable and inviting. A large '.aiitain's cabin 
 gave him room for meetings of business, or social 
 intercourse with the other ofl'icers ; and the gun- 
 room answered for the officers when they met 
 toiiether for their nv..'als. 'I'iie whole fore e of the 
 " Resolute," officers and crew, consisted of sixty 
 men. No expense or pains were spared to make 
 this vessel equal in adaptation to her mission to 
 any one which had ever sailed, and the " As- 
 sistance " was in every essential particular her 
 equal. We have dwelt thus in detail on the de- 
 scription of the " Resolute " because of her mar- 
 velous later history. The reader will not forget 
 her. 
 
 'Y\\Q. propellers were each of four hundred tons 
 burden, and were propelled by engines of sixty 
 horse-power; they were rigged as three-masted 
 schooners. Heavy extra planking was fastened 
 securely to every part of both frame and decks, so 
 that the sailors called them " bread-and-butter 
 built." Their bows, made in a wedge form, were 
 
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 1 80 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 almost solid on the inside with oak and iron. 
 The screw, stern-post, and riulder might be bat- 
 tered olT by llie ice, and yet tiie vessel n ade to 
 swim, The internal acconnnodations were good, 
 only that the heavy carjjio of coal to drive the 
 engines crowded Jack and the officers into close 
 quarters. A sufficient (juantity of this article was 
 taken to enable tliem, with a consumption of 
 seven tons a day, to tow the ships three thousand 
 miles. If left without the burden of the sailing 
 ship, they could steam five thousand miles. They 
 carried about fifteen months' provisions. The 
 crew of each steamer consisted of thirty men, 
 all told. 
 
 The whole scpiadron was considered very smart 
 — both men and \essels — and the enterprise was 
 undertaken in the spirit of men \\ho counted on 
 
 taking the prize 
 
 It left I'ln^Iand in the middle 
 
 of the si)ring of 1S50. It was under the command 
 of Captain Austen, whose flag-slnij was the " Reso- 
 lute." C'ajHain ( )mmaney commanded in the 
 " Assistance," and Lieutenant Osborne in the " I'io- 
 
 neer, wi 
 
 th 
 
 whom, as we have stated, we are to 
 
 deal, and Lieutenant Rater in tht 
 
 Intrc. 
 
 I'or the sake of directness of statement we will 
 use the first person. 
 
 On the 24th of June our squadron was in Jkaffin 
 Bay, steaming north through an open sea, ^hile 
 the i( ebergs careered about us, some in solemn 
 grandeur from their great si/e a.. ' '-onqiact make, 
 and others almost ludicrous in their fantastic 
 forms, etc. ; all mingled together, and occasionally 
 
 i 
 
 
Frav^'Hu Missifig — ScarcJi Couininiccd. i8i 
 
 colliding in wild magnificence. '* Hard a star- 
 board I vStcady ! Port I port I " was shouted by 
 the officer in command, and we Hew past some 
 huge crystal island against which the angry bil- 
 lows vainly dashed. The excitement was novel 
 to some of us, and delightful to all. A storm soon 
 came down upon us, yet we sped watchfully and 
 fearlessl) on : — 
 
 " And now tlicre came ;)oth mist and snow, 
 And il grew wondrous cold ; 
 And ice, mast high, came floating by 
 As green a> emerald. 
 
 Through the drifl.s the snowy cliffs 
 
 Did send a dismal slieen ; 
 Nor shapes of men or beasts we ken- 
 
 The ice was all l)etween. 
 
 It 
 
 With sloping masts and ilripping prow. 
 As who pursued with yell and blow, 
 
 Still treads the shadow of hix foe. 
 
 And forward bends hi-, head, 
 The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, 
 And //.'/-/// riwn/ aye we lied." 
 
 l'i! 
 
 ti 
 
 Having hauled in for the land, we touched at 
 the Danish settlement of Upernavik, We were 
 soon off again and fell in with some whalers, and 
 sighted Cajitain Penny's expedition — the " I.aily 
 Franklin " and the '* So])hia. 
 
 the wind," we made fast to an ii cTcrg. I his is 
 done by sinking a h.cavy iron hook in the herg, to 
 which a cable is attached. This is a risky way 
 of anchoring. It may hai)pen tli it the first blow 
 
 A storm be 
 o an i( eber^. 
 
 in; 
 
 V 
 
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 IF^ 
 
 ii 
 
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 4 
 
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 .1 
 
 V ' 
 
 ■■ i 
 
 m 
 
 182 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 I 
 
 that the sailor strikes, in order to settle the hook 
 into the i< chcrg, rends the whole nia^s ; or the i)art 
 on which he stands may sheUe (jIT, and he be 
 pre(:ij)itatcd with it into the sea; or if the sjjot 
 selected has not been carefully chosen to avoid 
 such an accident, an overhanging i)iece of ice 
 may, at the first stroke of his crowbar, fall upon 
 his head. Hven the ship itself may be injured 
 by the disruption of the berg under these cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 On this occasion we chose a berg one of whose 
 sides sloped to the sea, having no overhanging 
 points. The "Pioneer" and "Intrepid" were 
 soon made fast to it, and we rode out the gale 
 securely. 
 
 On the first of July the welcome signal came 
 from the flag-ship: "Take the ships in tow," 
 With a sixteen-inch hawser we took the " Resolute " 
 by the nose. We were in company with Captain 
 Penny's ships and several whalemen, but we soon 
 left them astern. We dodged the bergs, pushed 
 into an opening of the ice here, and made one in 
 looser ice there, making headway through the 
 loose pack as only propellers could. We were in 
 the midst of scattered islands, from some of which 
 the boats of the whalers were getting great quan- 
 tities of eggs. After having for some time pushed 
 our way through sonu- rotten ice six im lies thick, 
 we came to a narri)\s lead of open water near the* 
 land and made fast for the night. Some of us 
 climbed to the highest point of the near land to 
 enjoy the profound silence of an arctic night. Of 
 
in 
 
 le 
 
 la 
 h 
 
 Wi- 
 ld 
 k, 
 ie« 
 us 
 to 
 
 0{ 
 
 Frankliu Missing — Scan/: Coinntoiced. 183 
 
 course our ni^lit was as the day, antl we wore rest- 
 less and unable to sleep under the constant hla/.e 
 of light. JUit birds and beasts iiad retired to rest 
 with their wonted regularity, as if it was a night 
 of darkness. A heavy bank of clouds al.)i)ut the 
 sun and the subdued tints of the sky gave a 
 pleasant (|uietude to the scene. .\way westward, 
 
 across Haffin IJav, the direction wi 
 
 w 
 
 ould 
 
 K 
 
 o. 
 
 was ice, i( e, ice. Now and then we could catch 
 a glimjjse of the windings of a narrow oi)ening 
 of clear sea. We will push through the windings 
 on the morrow, we thought, anil we shall see no 
 more of the sailing vessels. lUit while we nuised 
 Penny's " Lady Franklin " and " Sophia " sj)ed by. 
 A breeze had sprung Uj), and the wide-awake 
 Penny had spread his sails to it, and was beating 
 
 the steamers. It 
 
 won 
 
 Id never do I We hurried 
 
 on board, and, having had only a two hours' instead 
 of a night's halt, we took the " Resolute " in tow 
 and pushed forward. So mucli i'or the s])ur of a 
 good example ! The " Intrei)id " followed, tugging 
 the " Assistance." In the morning at seven o'clock 
 we had passed Penny's s(|uadron. After a tow of 
 thirty hours a block of ice dcOed the butting of 
 our sharp jjrows, and both steamers and tiie ships 
 hauled uj) to convenient icebergs. The sea-fowl 
 called loons were about us in countless nundjers. 
 Thousands (n)uld have been brought down by 
 our guns if we had been disposed to devote 
 ourselves for awhile to the sport. 1 clind)ed a 
 
 small island near the " Pioneer. 
 
 he on 
 
 ly o] 
 
 )en- 
 
 ing leading westward commenced astern of u; 
 19 
 
 II 
 
 m 
 
 \ iff 
 
 \ 1: 
 
 m 
 
 hi 
 
 s 
 
J <" 
 
 hi 
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 't 
 
 
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 } 
 
 184 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 Into this tlio provoking Penny was already enter- 
 ing, and was shooting ahead of our position. I 
 amused myself in ])icking some anemones, pop- 
 pies, and saxifras which grew in sheltered nooks. 
 Though flowers of this rough arctic region, they 
 possessed a delicate beauty. 
 
 When our vessels stoi)ped, Captain Osborne sent 
 the captain of the forecastle, with a boat's crew, 
 to a headland not far off to get a supply of loons. 
 The boat returned the next niurning without having 
 shot a single fowl, th.ough not a man had a charge 
 of powder or shot left. Captain Osborne called 
 for the commander of the boat, and in([uiretl Ikuv 
 he managed to fire away one jxjuikI of powder 
 and four of small sluH and not bring home *i 
 loon. Hanging his head, like a school-boy caught 
 robbing his seat-mate's dinner-bask .'t, he an- 
 swered : — 
 
 " If you please, sir, we fired it all into a bear I " 
 
 What ! " said the ca'jtai 
 
 n, 
 
 shot a bear witli 
 
 N 
 
 o. 4 s 
 
 hot 
 
 es, 
 
 sir ; and if it hadn't have been for t 
 
 wo or 
 
 tliree who were afraid of him, we would have 
 brought him aboard, too.'' 
 
 Sending the bear-hunting forecastle officer about 
 his business witli a reprimand for disobeying or- 
 ders, the captain learned afterward the following 
 facts : '{'he boat's company, in })absing a small 
 island, saw a bear watching for his dinner at a 
 seal-hole. 'i'hey at once agreed that to be the 
 first to bring a bear home would immortalize both 
 
 thcm an 
 
 d th 
 
 eir shi{ 
 
 nev unmec 
 
 liatel 
 
 y 1 
 
 )0 
 
 ured 
 
w 
 
 lu 
 
 11- 
 
 \ 
 
 or 
 
 )iit 
 ill 
 
 Dili 
 
 I'raiikliu Missixg — Search Coinnuuccd. 185 
 
 into his l)ro;i(l sides showers of biril-sliol I It 
 probably made him feci a lilllc uiu omfortablc aiid 
 considerably vexed, especially at being molested 
 while pursuinu; an honest business — that of getting 
 a needed meal, lie growled, snapped his teeth, 
 ami trotted rcnmd the island. The valiant hunters 
 followed him, giN'ing him more and more bird-;-.hot. 
 Not liking to be pestered in this way, bruin plunged 
 into tlie w;;ter antl swam to a |)ie<'e of broken ice. 
 The heroic hunters followed, and gave him a brass 
 button and the blade of a knife, and the like missiles, 
 whi( h, ill the absence of balls, they had crammed 
 into their guns. They *' made him jumi)," as " ( )ld 
 Abbot," the officer of the forecastle, declared, and 
 us he reached the ice he was bleeding and torn, 
 though not very seriously injured, for a p<jlar bear 
 can stand (piile a (pianlity of bird-shot, besides 
 several bullcMis and knife-blades. Abbot was 
 after him, ami as the bear attempted to get on the 
 lloe the battle was renewed. Old Abbot wanted 
 bruin's skin, and bruin desired to keep it ; and, 
 besides, began to gi\e ^^igns, by earnest fighlin 
 that he considered the joke carried far enough. 
 The knights of the small-shot and boat-hooks were 
 glad to retreat with their own ^kins, leaving bruin 
 master of the held and four pounds (jf lead, but 
 Old Abbot declared in tiie forecastle talk, that if 
 he had been courageously sustained by his men 
 the bear might ha\e been brought to the ship. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 ])ushing up the eastern or (Irccnland side ot" MafTin 
 J^ay toward Cape York and Dudley Higgs, both 
 of which may be easily found on the map. ()i!r 
 objc< t was to get into the open water generally 
 found on its northern boundary, and so cross to 
 the eastern side and get into J Lancaster Sound. 
 
 " The middle pack," as it was called, filled the 
 center of the bay. Its eastern side was less fre- 
 quently navigabh- than the western. 
 
 We started in the morning through a narrow 
 in-shore " lead." W'c were soon beset with " bars " 
 of i( e with holes of water between ihem. The 
 "Pioneer" undertook to break throu;j,h the l)ar>> 
 with its sharp ])r()w, and then to drag the " Resolute" 
 after it. We put on a full head of steam, and then 
 rushed at it furiously. 'I'he ice thus smashed was 
 ])ushed astern by the men, and a clear channel 
 given us for another effort. We run a>lern far 
 enough to get a good headway, set the proj)eller in 
 motion, and came ui)on the bar again with a con- 
 cussion wliich caused our vessel to ipiixer like a 
 striuk bullock. Fragments of ice Hew like the 
 spray, and great rents were made in it, and large 
 cakes were broken off. But getting these cakes out 
 so as to make a clear channel for another drive was 
 a task which needed double our number (jf men. 
 These could not be si)ared for the ])resent from 
 the other vessels, so, before our brave boys could 
 get theni out, they froze solid again ! Not only so, 
 l)Ut the icy debris about the " Pioneer " froze in 
 tlu' meantime, and the P'rost King held us in his 
 firm grip. Scores of slrt^ng men now ( ame from 
 
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 the other vessels to hrlj) iis. Hut it ^v,l^ to.) late ! 
 Ice tools — saws, ( hisels, iroii-jioiiued poles, claws, 
 and liiU'S — were of no a\ail. We were unwillin:;ly 
 ''docked," and had only to make the best «if it, 
 and wait tor the fickle arctic thaws, winds, and 
 currents to come to our aid and set us free. 
 
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 CHAPTER XVni. 
 
 STEAMING THROUGH ICE-FLOES. 
 
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 I 'V 
 
 WE were not disposed to improve the leisure 
 of the '' Pioneer's "confinement by repeat- 
 ing old Abbot's experiment of hunting polar bears 
 with bird shot. But the following incident, taken 
 from Captain Osborne's journal, shows that our sport 
 was not without its excitement and danger : — 
 
 " A few birds flying about induced myself and 
 some others to go out shooting, a foggy night 
 promising to be favorable to our larders. The 
 ice, however, was full of holes, and very decayed, 
 in addition to which it was in rapid motion in 
 many piuces from the action of wind and tide. 
 The risk of such sporting was well evinced in my 
 gallant friend M.'s case. He was on one side of a 
 lane of water, and I on the other ; a bird called 
 the burgomaster flew over his head to the sea- 
 ward, and he started in the direction it had gone. 
 I and another shouted to warn him of the ice be- 
 ing in rapid motion and very thin. He halted for 
 a moment and then ran on, leaping from piece to 
 piece. The fog at this moment lifted a little, and 
 most providentially so, for suddenly I saw M. 
 make a leap aiid disappear. The ice had given 
 way ! He soon rose but without his gun, and I 
 then saw him scramble upon a piece of ice, and 
 
SteafniHiy tJirouHi Ice- Floes. 
 
 1S9 
 
 on watching it, observed with a shudder that both 
 he and it were drifting to the northward and 
 away from us. Leaving my remaining companion 
 to keep sight of M., and thus to point out the way 
 on my return, I retraced my steps to the ' Pio- 
 neer,' and, with a couple of men, a hand-line, and 
 boarding pikes, started off in the direction M. 
 was in. 
 
 " I could tell my route pretty well by my com- 
 panion's voice, which, in rich Milesian, was giving 
 utterance to exclamations of the most original 
 character : ' Keep up your courage, my boy ! 
 Why don't you come back .'^ Faith, I suppose it's 
 water that wont let you ! There will be some 
 one there directly ! Hay ! hay ! hay ! Don't be 
 downhearted any way.' 
 
 " I laughed as I ran. My party placed them- 
 selves about ten yards apart, the last man carrying 
 the line ready to heave in case of the leader 
 breaking through. So weak was the ice that we 
 had to keep at a sharp trot to prevent the weight 
 of our bodies resting long on any one spot ; and 
 when we sighted our friend M., on his little piece 
 of firm ice, the natural exclamation of one of my 
 men was : ' I wonder how he ever reached it, 
 sir!' 
 
 " M. assisted us to approach him by pointing 
 out his own route, and by exteriding our line, and 
 holding on to it, we at last got near enough to 
 take him off the piece of detached ice on which 
 he had providentially scrambled. 
 
 " I never think of the occurrence without a 
 
 
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190 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
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 sickening sensation, mixed with a comic recollec- 
 tion of my companion's ejaculations." 
 
 Our confinement was for only one day. Even be- 
 fore our captain's return with his half-frozen friend 
 M., the turn of the tide gave evidence that the ice 
 '.bout the vessel was loosening and drifting away. 
 They did not arrive a minute too soon. At noon 
 of the next day we had the ships in tow, tugging 
 away to the north-west. The fleet of whale ships, 
 with all sails spread, showed an ambition to be up 
 with us. Penny's ships were still ahead. We 
 soon sighted the Devil's Thumb, a cape making 
 the southern boundary of Melville Bay. It was 
 an unattractive name given to a place of sad asso- 
 ciations to sailors. Stormy winds blow here which 
 have sunk many a noble craft. In one year 
 twenty-eight whale ships went down before their 
 terrific force. 
 
 We made good progress for two days, quite as 
 long as good progress could be expected to con- 
 tinue in those regions. Wc had gone down to 
 dinner with an intelligent captain of one of the 
 whale ships. Our dinner and talk were abruptly 
 broken off by an alarm from the deck. The face 
 of the sky had vailed its smiles, and it was frown- 
 ing terribly. A moaning gale, carrying before it 
 a brown vapor, heralded the storm. The ice 
 gleamed fiercely and the floes rapidly crowded to- 
 gether, as if to make a united attack on the ships, 
 icebergs clashing in the mean time most sav- 
 agely. Woe to the ships which came between 
 them in their terrific assaults. 
 
Stcamifig t /trough Icc-Floes. 
 
 191 
 
 A scene of the most exciting interest now com- 
 menced. Suddenly the ice was peopled with five 
 hundred men. Long saws, with evCry expedient 
 known to arctic voyagers, were put in operation 
 to open safe retreat^' in the solid ice, known as 
 '■ docks," where the ships, each in his own cuddy, 
 might, be safe from the contending floes. Each 
 crew worked as for his own life, as well as that of 
 his vessel. Defiant songs from h^ 'rse throats rose 
 above the piping wind. Loud laughs and sharp 
 witticism of the men mingled with the decisive 
 orders of the officers. The ice was an average 
 thickness of three feet. Saws teu feet in length 
 were used. Huge blocks were cut out which were 
 drilled, charged with powder, and blown to pieces, 
 the officers doing this delicate part of the woik. 
 
 In an incredible short time explorers and whale- 
 men were securely stowed away in a sound part 
 of a floe, ready to go with it to any contest it 
 might choose. The pressure of the whole pack 
 was expended upon a chain of icebergs nearly ten 
 miles north of our position. Floes charging ice- 
 berg? was an unequal fight. Though every cubic 
 yard of the solid ice which composed the floes 
 weighed a ton, yet when hurled against the 
 grounded bergs it was broken into fragments, 
 thrown back, and piled into elevated heap^. The 
 din of the battle was heard afar off. 
 
 A bear, snuffing, perhaps, the odors from our 
 many camp fires, came in sight. Away scampered 
 a multitude of hunters, rushing pell-mell at the 
 game, armed with whatever first came to hand. 
 
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192 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 Bruin, alarmed in good time, and having a long 
 start of his foes, might have won tlie race. But a 
 sharp appetite, tempted by a seal which lay across 
 liis path, overcame his discretion. He stopped to 
 eat, and that meal cost him his life. He was shot 
 by the foremost hunters, and brought home in 
 triumph. 
 
 The floes broke up as suddenly as they formed. 
 Channels of water appeared in various directions. 
 Through these the steamers towed the " Resolute " 
 and "Assistance." The other sailing vessels w^ere 
 " tracted " along these channels, as in canals the 
 boats are drawn by horses. The crews of the 
 whale ships, often counting sixty men, were fast- 
 ened to a long line by their " tract-belts," and, with 
 shouts and songs, made their heavy ships plow 
 through the water at good speed. 
 
 Frequent bars of thick ice brought to a stand- 
 still the sailing vessels, but we, with our powerful 
 wedge-like prow, pushed by the giant engine, 
 drove through them, dragging at our heels the 
 " Resolute." The men from the whalers came 
 quizzing round, wondering at our power ; even 
 Penny "gave it up," and rated steam a success in 
 arctic navigation. Some of the whale ships, dis- 
 couraged by this tedious way of making j^rogress, 
 turned back, though a few hung upon our rear. 
 
 The bars at last gave way, and Penny was the 
 first to enter the clear sea. The " Pioneer " and 
 " Intrepid " made the best speed they could with 
 their awkward sailing charges. We could only 
 sail three miles an hour thus encumbered. Alone 
 
 / 
 
Stcwniug i/nvitgk Ice- Floes. 
 
 193 
 
 
 we could have made five. Onward we steered, 
 and we vainly imagined Ave should have no more 
 ice-packs, but were soon to be in the " nt)rth 
 water," and thence, sailing westward, to gain Lan- 
 caster Sound, and the region where we hoped to 
 get upon the track of the lost Franklin. How 
 this hope thrilled our hearts! But a few days only 
 passed before all the searching squadrons were 
 once more ice-bound. Between us and the shore 
 was solid ice, called the land-floe, thirty miles in 
 extent. It followed the irregularities of the coast, 
 and seemed as firm as if it were an unchangeable 
 part of it. Here and there, fast anchored within 
 it, was a noble iceberg. We were held tight 
 by the heavy, drifting ice, which, as it crowded 
 against our ships, well deserved the name of 
 *' pack-ice;" at any rate we were packed into it 
 very closely. 
 
 The glare of the sun so dazzled the eyes of the 
 men as they walked about near the ship, that 
 many ludicrous appearing spectacles were devised 
 to screen the eyes, causing much merriment. 
 
 We were entertained too, as we sauntered about, 
 by a beautiful refraction, Distant objects were 
 lifted into the clouds and seen double. Some 
 were curiously distorted. Captain Penny's ships, 
 full thirty miles away, and whalers, lying in dif- 
 ferent directions, were brought into full view. 
 
 As the ice yielded to the current below, holes 
 were opened. In these narwhal, or sea-unicorns, 
 soon appeared, puffing and plunging about, seem- 
 ing to be in fine spirits. An officer of the " In- 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
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 trepi'.l " fired at one of them, and, by special good 
 luck, gave it a mortal wound. It was captured, 
 dragged to the vessel, and great rejoicing made 
 ov("- it. Its flesh was rei)ulsive in smell and 
 taste, and not to our liking as food. Some of the 
 men ate it with a relish, and declared it tasted like 
 chesnuts ! Just under the skin is a layer of fat or 
 " blubber," which we carefully removed and boiled 
 down to make oil. 
 
 The spiral horn protruding from the front of 
 its head, was about five feet long, and the whole 
 fish was nearly eleven feet long. We reckoned 
 its size about pn average. The horn had a blunt 
 but polished point, the rest of it being covered 
 with slime and a greenish sea-weed. The fislier- 
 men have various opinions about the use of this 
 horn. It seems too clumsy as a weapon of attack 
 or defense. Some think that he roots with it on 
 the bottom of the sea, as a hog does in the sty. 
 Others declare that they have seen him probe the 
 fishes with it from the crevices of the ice, where 
 they had hid to get out of his way. It must be 
 quite handy for such a purpose. But as this tusk 
 does not seem to be of very great use and is worn 
 only by the male narwhal, it has been suggested 
 that it is simply a badge of superior dignity. 
 Baby narwhals wear two of these tusks, but one is 
 deemed sufficient when they become grown folks. 
 
 We left the carcass of our specimen to be 
 devoured by the sea-fowl, and the greediness 
 with which great numbers of them feasted upon 
 it, showed t/iei'r opinion of narwhal flesh. The 
 
 tel" i 
 
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Steaviino^ throt(i^/i Icc-FIocs. 
 
 195 
 
 Esquimo consider it good eating, and no doubt \vc 
 should if very luingry. All agree tliat its flesh is 
 an excellent preventive of the scurvy. 
 
 The good luck of the officer who shot it in 
 securing a tusk to carry home as a trophy, caused 
 the sport of these fish to be much disturbed. 
 Showers of bullets were poured into them ; and, 
 if they could not dodge them they soon learned 
 to be shy. 
 
 After refraction and the narwhals had, in turn, 
 entertained us, a huge iceberg gave a rare exhibi- 
 tion for our gratification. We had noticed its 
 great size and solidity. It looked sufficiently 
 massive to defy the winter storms and . jmmer 
 thaws of centuries. All at once it began to fall 
 to pieces, as if shaken by an earth([uake. Large 
 masses fell from it into the water, shattered into a 
 thousand pieces ! The sea around it seethed like 
 a caldron. The swell that it occasioned lifted the 
 floes for ten miles. We were glad that its dissolu- 
 tion took place at a safe distance from us. 
 
 One day Captain Penny,, being on board of us, 
 went into the " crow's nest," and swept the hori- 
 zon with his glass. Hurrying to the deck and 
 making preparations for a hasty departure for his 
 own vessel, he exclaimed : " The land ice is break- 
 ing up! " We knew that his keen and practiced 
 eye could not be deceived, and that ten miles of 
 icy girding of the shore was soon to be in motion, 
 threatening destruction to whatever came within 
 its powerful "nips." We instantly armed for the 
 conflict, and every man was at his post of duty, 
 
 
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 196 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 awaiting the onset. Soon it came. Every timber 
 and j)lank cracked and groaned, the treenails and 
 iron b(;Its snap])ed \vith siiarp reports, and the 
 vessel was lifted l)odily and considerably thrown 
 owr on her side; the deck arched with the press- 
 ure on her side, the bulk-head even cracked, and 
 the wh(jle noble craft was wrung with a (|uiver of 
 agony. The floe held us in its giant grip, and, as 
 if intent upon our destruction, piled up as high as 
 the bulwarks. 
 
 I'he men, without orders, but by a general im- 
 pulse, packed up their clothes, and oth-.r little 
 l)roperty, and brought them upon deck. They 
 were ready for the desperate scramble for life 
 upon the ice, when the fatal crisis of the " Pio- 
 neer" came. They stood in knots waiting for or- 
 ders, while offi. with anxious eyes watched the 
 floe edge as it shly ground against the sides, 
 to see if the strain was lessening. Suddenly the 
 writhing vessel, like a deer loosened from the 
 deadly coils of an anaconda, settled back into a 
 natural position. We were safe ! But a dee}) 
 scar on her side forty feet long, and twenty-one 
 broken timbers ui)on one side, bore witness to the 
 severity of her trial. 
 
 For eleven days we struggled in this pack. But 
 our great deliverance from imminent death gave 
 us hope for the future. Surely the Divine hand 
 upheld us, and we shall not fall in coining perils. 
 So we felt. The men shouted and sung while 
 at their exhausting work. Sometimes roars of 
 laughter evinced their unflinching courage. Men 
 
Steaming througJi Ice- Floes. 
 
 197 
 
 and officers shared alike in lal)f)r and peril, and 
 rejoiced together; both hove at the cai)stan, and 
 dragged at the tract-line. The dignity of the 
 quarter-deck was laid aside as useless; Jack, feel- 
 ing the responsibility of the hour, took no advan- 
 tage of the familiarity of his superiors, but played 
 the part of a man. 
 
 When the giant of the north bid us stop, we 
 had our sports upon the ice. No school-boys ever 
 played heartier, ^[en of gray hairs mingled with 
 the youngest in the i)lays of youth. The panting, 
 running, lea})ing, clajjijing of hands, roars of laugh- 
 ter, shouts of "There now, that's not fair; run 
 again," and uproarious exclamations of triumph, 
 all declared we were boys again. 
 
 While the crowd was thus employed, a few were 
 quietly pitching quoits. A still smaller number 
 strolled off, and, may be, talked of the past and 
 sagely discussed the future. 
 
 We occasionally had a bear chase by way of 
 variety. Bruin was keen on the scent, and had a 
 tough hide, which, though not ball proof, enabled 
 him to carry off many with impunity. He could 
 endure, too, long teasing and many thrusts from 
 our pikes. But his skin was in great danger when 
 a troop of our "boys" went shouting after him. 
 We always pitied, but always killed him when we 
 could. The way he sometimes showed his teeth 
 at us gave stimulating assurance that he had the 
 will to kill us without the pity. 
 
 The early part of August, 1850, found us once 
 more afloat in tolerably clear water. The squaa- 
 
 
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 198 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 run having scparalctl when drifting in the floes, a 
 vexatious delay occurred to enable all the vessels 
 to come together again. 
 
 AVhile thus waiting we saw in the ha/y distance 
 a schooner with two smaller crafts in attendance, 
 "i'hey J.ung upon our rear for several days before 
 we could make out what they were. On (losing 
 up they i)roved to be the " l'"elix," a searching ves- 
 sel, commanded by the veteran exi)lorer. Sir John 
 Ross, with a small sailing-boat towing astern, and 
 the " Prince Albert," in charge of Commander 
 Forsyth. Their news from England was joyfully 
 received, it being a month later than uAT own. 
 All our friends were well and all hojjeful of our 
 success. We put these last letters from home 
 away to read and reread in the dark, long arctic 
 winter, when, may be, clouds might be darkening 
 our prospects of ever seeing again the loved ones 
 who wrote them. 
 
 Our course was now one through alternate floes 
 and open water. On the ninth of August Captain 
 Penny slipped into a narrow lane of water and 
 shot ahead of our squadron, and the new comers 
 did the same. The steamers themselves seemed 
 to resent this dropping into the stern chase. 
 Three weary days had they chaffed behind a bar- 
 rier of ice two or three hundred yards broad and 
 three feet thick. They could endure it no longer, 
 and they addressed themselves to the work of 
 its destruction. Its weakest part was carefully 
 studied. The incumbrance of the ships was for 
 the time shaken off. The larger part of the crews 
 
StcaminiT thryudt Icc-Floes. 
 
 199 
 
 I! 
 
 crews 
 
 were sent to tlie place of attack, with short hand- 
 lines, claws, iron hars, chisels, and various other 
 tools. Sonic of the oUiccrs accompanied them 
 with gun[)Owcler. 
 
 All bein|j; ready, the j)roj)ellers, in turn, drew 
 back, and, with a full head of steam, rushed at the 
 floe. The wedge-bow penetrated, crushing many 
 tons and cracking the ice in every direction. The 
 crushed i)ortions floated awjy of themselves. 'I"he 
 cracked and loosened parts were immediatelv 
 manned by the blue jackets with lung lines in 
 hand; men on tlie bows of the steamer held tht, 
 other end of this line, she shot astern, carrying 
 great rafts of ice, and the jolly men who were 
 upon them. Wiien one steamer went thus astern, 
 the other dashed into the breach. The gun- 
 powder, the while, dealt the icy barrier hard blows. 
 The scene was exciting, and the blood warmed in 
 our veins in spite of arctic cold. The enemy 
 surrendered at discretion, and the next morning 
 we were steaming joyously on after the Ross and 
 Penny squadrons, dragging our clumsy ships at 
 our heels. Myriads of birds crossed our track, so 
 stupidly tame that we might have taken tons of 
 them. 
 
 Our steamers soon caught up with the " Felix " 
 and the " Prince Albert," and avenged themselves 
 of the late stern chase by taking them both in 
 tow. 
 
 August 13th we were steaming under Cape 
 
 York; Melville Bay was passed; its turbulent 
 
 waters and icy barriers w^re conquered ; " large 
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 200 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 waters " stretched away to the west and invited us 
 on our desired course. The "Assistance" and 
 "Intrepid " paused at Cape York to communicate 
 with the natives, while our steamer pushed on. 
 "We passed Penny, who, though he knew the " Fe- 
 lix " had letters for him from home, held stead- 
 fastly on his course, Avith characteristic pluck. 
 
 In the evening the " Intrepid " overtook us with 
 orders to turn back. Imi)ortant information, it 
 was said, had been obtained of an Esquimo con- 
 cerning the fate of Franklin. The "Intrepid," 
 having left us this order, pushed on after Penny to 
 get his well-tried Danish interpreter, Mr. Peter- 
 sen. Incredulous as to the story of the Esquimo, 
 we reluctantly turned our prow from the coveted 
 western shores of Baffin Bay. 
 
Significant Relics, 
 
 201 
 
 4- 
 f 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 S I G N I IT C A N T RELICS. 
 
 'T^MI': story, on account of which the exploring 
 X fleet was detained, was rej)eated on the 
 deck of the '^Pioneer." The relator was Adam 
 Beck, a South (Ireenland Esfjuimo, who had re- 
 ceived from the white settlements what civilization 
 he had. His story, in brief, was this: That two 
 ships were crushed in the ice a little north of Cape 
 York, where we now were, in 1846 ; some of their 
 men wore epaulets; the entire crew were soon 
 after murdered by the natives. 
 
 Mr. Petersen, the Danish interpreter, regarded 
 the whole story as a pure fiction, and charged Beck 
 with lying, in the expectation that his stoVy would 
 induce some of the ships to return, and he by this 
 means get a passage to South Greenland. An 
 Esquimo lately taken on board our steamer took 
 the same view. We, of the "Pioneer," regardec 
 Beck as a liar. But Sir John Ross, of the " Felix " 
 gave some credit to the story, so our commander, 
 Austin, sent the " As^,\stance " and " Intre])id " to 
 make further inquiry about the region named as 
 the scene of the wrecks and murder; thry were 
 also to ascertain the fact about a shij) which the 
 natives agreed had wintered safely in that region 
 the last season. This ship proved to be the " North 
 
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 202 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 Star." Having done this errand, the "Assistance" 
 and " Intrepid " were to cross to the west side, 
 and examine the north shore of Lancaster Sound. 
 
 On the 15th of August we, the " Pioneer," with 
 the " Resohite "' and " Prince Albert " in tow, 
 gUidly started again westward. After four hours 
 of the old experience with the ice-pack, we reached 
 the western waters. For forty-seven days we had 
 l)cen in almost perpetual conflict with ice. It 
 had beset us behind and before. In calm and 
 storm, by day and night, whether we slept or woke, 
 off or on our guard, it never left us, except for a 
 brief moment, that it might gather strength for 
 a fiercer attack. Such had been Melville Bay. 
 But here was nothing except water ! How beauti- 
 ful ! Even the great giants of the north, the ice- 
 bergs, watchful sentinels of the regions of cold, 
 only seldom showed here their majestic forms. 
 We turned our bows south-west, and steamed on 
 both night and day. Our only annoyance was a 
 dismal fog, but through it we steered. At one 
 time, a spanking breeze starting up, the " Resolute," 
 setting all sail, took our steamer in tow, and for four 
 hours returned our favor, in part, of long and weary 
 hours of towing. It was a capital joke, and we en- 
 joyed it. 
 
 We were soon at the mouth of Lancaster Sound, 
 where we dropped the " Prince Albert," to proceed 
 to Regent Inlet, while we explored for awhile a 
 little further south. 
 
 On the 26th of August, after days of a calm sea, 
 wc were running from the north side of Lancaster 
 
Significant Relics. 
 
 203 
 
 Sound, toward the south-west, across the entrance 
 to Regent Inlet, toward Leopold Ishmd. A piping 
 breeze was after us, giving assurance of an arctic 
 gale. Ahead Cape York gleamed luridly through 
 an angry sky, while the falling mercury warned us 
 that the clear sea, with which we cared not for the 
 tempest, might at any time give place to our old 
 enemy, the floes. The " Pioneer " rolled and 
 pitched like a sea-monster in mental agony, and 
 refused all the devices of her staggering ofticers to 
 comfort her. About half-})ast one in the morning 
 the lifting of an angry sky gave us glimpses, 
 through snow and squalls, of a i)recipitous coast 
 not far ahead of us. Increasing daylight shoived 
 us an intervening pack, along whose edge the gale 
 made the sea boil, and sent over it clouds of 
 spray. It was a wild, terrific sight, and would have 
 been a scene to enjoy but for the serious work it 
 was likely to give us. It wore away to the north. 
 Toward the close of the day we were not far from 
 Beechey Island, near the mouth of Wellington 
 Channel. We were having ni<ihts now that were 
 not all daylight, and the welcome moon shone 
 beautifully as the sun dipped behind North Devon. 
 While we were admiring the scene the man at the 
 mast-head startled us with the shout, " /v sail I " 
 It proved to be Penny's "Sophia." Yes, Captain 
 Penny was at hand as usual. Two officers came 
 on board, and gave us the following welcome 
 intelligence : — 
 
 The " Intrepid " and "Assurance " had cruised 
 about the locality where, according to Adam Beck's 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 story, two shi[)S luid, in 1846, been crushed. But 
 they found nothing, either in relics or the talk of the 
 natives, to confirm the tale. They had ascertained, 
 liowever, that the exploring vessel, the " North 
 Star," had si)ent comfortably the last Avinter there. 
 JUit since following us into Lancaster Sound their 
 searching had been well repaid. They had found 
 at Ca})e Riley, the eastern land-side of the mouth 
 of Wellington Channel, numerous traces of a visit 
 from English seamen. Bits of rope, broken bottles, 
 a part of a deep-sea rake, and the various marks of 
 an encampment, were scattered here and there. 
 
 Having found these stimulating relics, a boat- 
 load of officers and men visited Beechey Island, 
 lying just a little seaward of the cape. They 
 picked 'ip on the shore more relics of English 
 visitors. Looking sharply about they observed 
 upon a cliff, which rose sharply from the beach, a 
 cairn — a rounded heap of stones. With almost 
 breathless haste and deep solicitude they ascended 
 the cliff and removed the stones carefully, one by 
 one. But no word of writing or further clew to 
 the identity of those raising the cairn was found. 
 While standing with disappointed-looking faces 
 about the upturned foundation of the monumental 
 pile, they saw with alarm a hungry polar bear trot- 
 ting boldly toward the two men left in charge of 
 the boat. None of the party had brought arms 
 of any kind from the vessel. Here was a fix! 
 The men launched the boat and rowed in haste to 
 the steamer. Bruin gave chase. Now what if he 
 turns back and attacks the unarmed party on the 
 
Significant Relics. 
 
 205 
 
 island I He seemed, before giving chase, to have 
 deliberately surveyed the whole party, both those 
 on the hill as well as the men in the boat, and to 
 comprehend the situation. But he scorned to 
 attack the defenseless; or, perhaps, he had heard 
 rumors of these strangers which led him to think 
 that it was wisdom to give them a wide berth. He 
 followed the boat a rod or two, turned off and 
 swam for the ice-pack, on which he soon dis- 
 appeared. We think there were no more unarmed 
 visitors on the island during the season. 
 
 Captain Penny having heard of these traces, as 
 all believed, of Sir John Franklin, returned to his 
 own ship, as he declared, " to take up the search 
 from Cape Riley like a blood-hound." This he 
 did with good results. He soon reported that 
 another camping-ground was discovered. The 
 tent-floor was neatly paved with stones. Bird 
 bones were strewn around, and remnants of meat- 
 canisters found of unmistakable English make. 
 
 The American Grinnell Expedition, in the "Ad- 
 vance " and " Rescue," on the same errand as our- 
 selves, under the command of Lieutenant De 
 Haven, was now joined with our squadrons in the 
 exciting search. The shores of the entire vicinity, 
 in a sweep '^f many miles, were likely to be closely 
 examined. Here were now our four vessels. Penny's 
 two. Sir John Ross's "Felix " and her tender, the 
 "Mary," and the American "Advance" and 
 " Rescue." Penny, as usual, was in luck, and 
 soon found evidence of more tent-encampments. 
 But, as he was carefully examining one day the 
 
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 206 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 southern slope of Reechey Island, he found a large 
 number of preserved meat-tins. A rounded pile 
 of these, filled with sand, was discovered on the 
 top of the slope; but a careful removal of these, 
 can by can, revealed no documents. 
 
 Beyond these, and farther north, Avere still more 
 important relics. The site of a carpenter's shop, 
 an armorer's working place, washing-tubs, coal- 
 bags, pieces of old clothing and rope; and, lastly, 
 the decisive evidence of the English visitors, *hree 
 graves. These were scrupulously neat, like all 
 the graves of Englishmen, even of the poor, whether 
 in the rural cemeteries at home or on foreign 
 shores. The inscrii)tions contained no inflated 
 verse. They were as follows : — 
 
 "Sacred to the memory of J. Torrinton, who 
 departed this life January i, 1846, on board H. M. S. 
 ' Terror,'-aged 20 years." 
 
 "Sacred to the memory of \Vm. Braine, R. N., 
 of H. M.S. 'Erebus;' died April 3, 1846, aged 32." 
 
 "'Choose you this day whom ye will serve.' 
 Joshua xxiv, 15." 
 
 "Sacred to the memory of J. Hartwell, A. B., 
 of H. M. S. * Erebus,' died January 4, 1846, aged 
 25 years." 
 
 " ' Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Consider your 
 ways.' Haggai i, 7." 
 
 Here then, at last, was decisive proof that Frank- 
 lin's ships were not crushed by the ice in Baffin 
 Bay, nor the men murdered by the natives. Thus 
 far we were on the right track. Now, if in some 
 of the monuments of stone, such as we had dis- 
 
Significant Relics. 
 
 207 
 
 covered, ])iit up beyond a doiil)t by the men of the 
 "Erebus" and "Terror," we could find a docu- 
 ment left by Franklin, telling us the route taken 
 by him after leaving Beechey Island, all the ex- 
 ploring squadrons would joyfully face any danger 
 in following him. To find such a record now 
 engaged the attention of every ship's company. 
 Much additional evidence was obtained that he 
 had made Beechey Island his first winter-quarters ; 
 but no documents were found. 
 
 Winter was now well upon us. The American 
 vessels took a courteous leave of us, and bore 
 away, as they had been ordered, for New York. 
 By the middle of September our squadron were 
 caught in a floe, a mile from (Griffith Island, the 
 nearest land, where we were obliged to make a 
 stop for the winter. Captain Penny and Sir John 
 Ross, with their vessels, had chosen snug winter 
 retreats twenty miles from us, near Beechey Island. 
 
 It was arranged for the three squadrons to take 
 three different routes m the spring : one to the 
 north-west, up Wellington Channel ; one west, 
 past if possible Melville Island ; and the third 
 south-west, beyond Cape Walker, along the west- 
 ern shore of Boothia. During October parties 
 were sent out as far as possible in these directions to 
 make deposits of provisions, securing them from the 
 bears' sharp teeth and strong paws by heaps of stones. 
 
 One of these parties were saved from a plunge 
 into the water, if not from drowning, by the 
 sagacity of a shaggy polar who was at the time on 
 a hunting excursion. The officer in charge had 
 
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 208 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 not noticed that he was getting on newly formed 
 and weak ice. Just ahead was bruin cautiously 
 feeling his way along by stojjping occasionally and 
 jumping upon the ice to try its strength. The 
 explorers took the hint of caution and soon found 
 reason to do so. We are sorry to record that they 
 sliot their good adviser, and subsequently dragged 
 him to the ship for dog food. 
 
 One illustration of our manner of camping on 
 these excursions will answer to show their general 
 character. 
 
 There are seven of us, officers and men ; com- 
 mon labor and peril pretty much removing official 
 distinction. It is an October evening. One al- 
 most unbroken mantle of white covers sea and 
 land. It is a dreary monotony, and all nature 
 seems to shiver in the frosty atmosphere. We 
 make a " soft spot," by clearing away the larger 
 pieces of limestone, and arranging the smaller 
 pieces into something like a floor of paved work. 
 We erect our brown Holland tent over this. One 
 of us is cook for the day, aided by one who will 
 be cook to-morrow. The cooking apparatus is a 
 boats' stove, eighteen inches long and nine broad, 
 in which lignum viiic is used as fuel. Water is 
 obtained by melting the snow, and then the boil- 
 ing and cooking is done in the open air, and so 
 supper is not hurried up wdth boarding-house 
 promptness. 
 
 While two are thus employed, others take guns 
 and try their luck in securing fresh provisions. 
 Bear meat is not sought after just now, and the 
 
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guns 
 
 Significant Relics. 
 
 209 
 
 animal under whose skin such meat grows har. 
 liberty to keej) botli his skin and flesh and give 
 our camj) a wide berth. 
 
 The hunters having returned, tlic cook reports, 
 — "Supper is ready, sir." It is -x pcmmican sup- 
 per! It is supposed \.o be made of the best rump- 
 steaks and suet, worth a shilling and six-pence a 
 pound. Our men generally vote it composed of 
 worn-out horses and Russia tallow. Ii is not 
 sweet in savor, though strong in nourishment. 
 To the dainty it is nauseous, but to an arctic 
 appetite, especially to those making, as we propose 
 to do, sledge-journeys of four or five hundred con- 
 tinuous miles, it is a delicious morsel. A ''jolly 
 hot basin of tea," with biscuit to crumb into it, and 
 our dish is fit "to set before the ([ueen." 
 
 Supper being done, the tent is carefully swept, 
 and the pebbles which coraj^ose our bed are re- 
 arranged. We call this last operation — " Stirring 
 up the feathers." A waterproof blanket is thrown 
 over these to prevent the moisture which the 
 warmth of our bodies raises from the frosty " feath- 
 ers " from wetting us through. Boots and jackets 
 are taken off and used for pillows. Then we all, 
 except the cook, draw our legs and bodies into 
 blanket-bags, roll ourselves up in wolf-skin robes, 
 and, our prayers being said, we are about ready 
 to compose ourselves to sleep. But while the 
 cook is "clearing up," getting ready the breakfast 
 for cooking, fastening down the tent, and seeing 
 that every thing is in order, many a tough yarn is 
 told, and laughter-exciting joke made. After a 
 
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 210 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 while the cook, having "tucked us in," shouts — 
 "All riL;hl ! " Then we, seven jolly explorers, 
 lying alternately head and feet across the tent, 
 "cuddle down " and sleep ; yes, sleep soundly, with 
 the thermometer outside 30° below zero. 
 
 An arctic winter was now, November 8, fairly 
 Uj)on us. We obtained to-day the last glimpse of 
 the sun. Two of us went upon the heights of 
 (Iriffith Island at mid-day, and saw his i)leasant 
 face, though he was in fact seventeen miles below 
 the horizon. We were indebted to refraction for 
 this last adieu from the King of Day. However 
 hopeful of the future we might be, and possessed 
 as we certainly were with more occasion for cour- 
 age than most other sojourners in the long arctic 
 night, the bravest needed to stay his mind upon 
 God. This, we trust, many at least of our com- 
 pany felt. The religious services of our vessel 
 had a more solemn meaning. The prayers were 
 deeper toned. The following form of supplica- 
 tion, written for us before we I'eft England, and 
 included among the thoughtful presents of kind 
 friends, was used with profit : — 
 
 " O Lord, our Heavenly Father, who teachest 
 man knowledge, and givest skill and power to ac- 
 complish his designs, we desire continually to 
 wait, and call, and depend upon thee. Thy way 
 is in the sea, and thy paths in the great- waters. 
 Thou rulest and commandest all things. We 
 therefore draw nigh unto thee for help in the great 
 work which we now have to do. 
 
 " Leave us not, we beseech thee, to our own 
 
SigiiiJicaHt Relics. 
 
 211 
 
 own 
 
 counsel, nor to the imaginations of our foolish 
 and deceitful hearts; but lead us l»y the way 
 wherein we should go. Do thou, () Lord, make 
 our way ])rosperous, and give us good success. 
 Bring all needful things to our rememl)rance ; and 
 where we have not the presence of mind, nor the 
 ability, to perform thy will, magnify thy power in 
 our weakness. Let thy good ))rovidence be our 
 aid and protection, and thy Holy Si)irit our (luide 
 and Comforter. Endue us with such strength and 
 patience as may carry us through every toil and 
 danger, whether by sea or land; and, if it be thy 
 good pleasure, vouchsafe to us a safe return to our 
 families and homes. 
 
 " Bless us all with thy favor, which is life, and 
 with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus; and 
 grant us so to pass the waves of this troublesome 
 world, that finally we may come unto thine ever- 
 lasting kingdom. Grant this for thy dear Son's 
 sake, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
 A glance at our good ship, inside and out, and 
 at what is going on in and around her, may inter- 
 est the reader : Our upper decks are now cleared 
 of all the lumber and covered in ; boats secured 
 on the ice ; the warming apparatus set at work ; 
 masts and yards made as snug as possible ; rows 
 of posts set up to show the road in the darkness 
 and snow-storms, from ship to ship ; hole cut in 
 the ice, >.o be kept always open, for a supply of 
 water in case of fire, and a winter round of duties 
 entered upon to keep up the discipline, cheerful- 
 ness, and health of the men. 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 This work being done — the rm/ work was easily 
 and soon done — tlie men found ])lcasure and 
 healthful enij)loyment in rciK\vin;j; the sports of 
 boyh(jod. They built snow walls, houses, and 
 forts, such as all boys in the lands where snow is 
 found have delighted to build. They cut out of 
 the snow obelisks, sphinxes, vases, and cannon. 
 'I'hese were sometimes carved with taste and skill, 
 and gave the floes a picturescjue appearance. Uut 
 their greatest triumph in snow sculjjture was in the 
 statue of liritannia. Its stately form, looking 
 west, was admired by all. 
 
 . These out-door amusements were, of course, 
 only for awhile. When tliey failed the wits and 
 tact of the officers were drawn out to keej) every 
 mind healthfully exercised. Schools, religious serv- 
 ices, newspapers — one an illustrated sheet — a ( lub- 
 room, a saloon, dramatic performances, mask balls, 
 and instructive lectures — all claimed a share of 
 attention. Artists and musicians, orators and 
 teachers, common laborers and professional men, 
 were all represented in this routine of instruction 
 and amusement. Men gifted in telling the stories 
 of the " olden times," especially if they could 
 repeat the tales concerning early arctic heroes, 
 were always sure of an attentive audience. 
 
 It is a day of total darkness so far as the sun is 
 concerned, but the manner in which it is spent 
 fitly represents the average of our winter days. 
 Let us ste]) below. The lower deck and cabins 
 are lighted with candles and lamps. No external 
 air is admitted except that which is under control 
 
Si(^nifica}it Relics. 
 
 213 
 
 as it passes in through pii)cs and passes out 
 throujijh ventilators. Double doors are rarefuUy 
 adjusted to prevent draughts. It is breakfast- 
 time. Reeking hot cocoa steams on every niess- 
 tabie. We are not on " short rations," and a 
 hearty meal is eaten. This done, a few remain 
 below to clear u^) and arrange for dinner; the 
 rest pull on warm clothes and go on deck. Here, 
 after the domestic work below is done, all hands 
 are mustered. The officers inspect the men to 
 see if they are clean, watching sharply every occa- 
 sion of disease. The shij) is then examined to 
 sec if every part is clean, and all hands disperse 
 to their petty labor, and then amuse themselves 
 according to their several tastes. The ujn^'r 
 deck being covered, as we have stated, is kept 
 clear for gymnastic exercises. If the wind is not 
 violent a few venture to stroll away from the ship 
 on the ice. 
 
 At noon the seamen dine on soups, and pre- 
 served meats called by them "salt horse." The 
 officers dine later on fare not essentially different. 
 The resources of the men in inventing entertain- 
 ment flitgs a little in the afternoon, and the evening 
 meal with hot tea comes to break tlie monotony. 
 It is school night, and the pupils go to their self- 
 imposed tasks, and the teachers to their gratuitous 
 service. Bookish men con over some interesting 
 volume. Artists are sketching or painting by 
 candle-light, and men given to the use of the pen 
 are writing up their journals, or putting on paper 
 thoughts born under the inspiration of arctic skies. 
 
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 214 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 Music, chess, and cards receive their share of 
 attention, while social conversation is seldom wa.it- 
 ing in vivacity ; and, since we unfortunately have 
 not learned the better way, cigars, pipes, and grog 
 bring round the bed-time. 
 
 But in spite of all our amusements, labor, study, 
 conversation, and earnestly-cultivated heroic brav- 
 ery of which we boasted, there was a very noticeable 
 tendency among us to talk of England, friends, 
 and home. 
 
 While the above methods of passing the time 
 occupied the attention generally, there were some 
 who devoted all their energies to render successful 
 the object of our search. They were practicing 
 the various ingenious means, put into our hands 
 before we left home, of communicating with the 
 lost ones. Rockets in the calm evenings glowed 
 and flashed along the sky, and were responded to 
 by Penny's ships, though we were twenty miles 
 apart. 
 
 We employed balloons in a novel way. Those 
 of oil-silk, capable when inflated of raising a 
 pound, were used. When one was all ready to 
 ascend, a piece of slow match five feet long was 
 attached. Along this match-rope, at short inter- 
 vals, pieces of colored silk and paper were secured 
 with thread; on them were printed information of 
 our present positior. and intended lines of search 
 in the si)ring. The balloons, when liberated, rose 
 and sailed away, dropping the glaring messages 
 on the white snow as the match burned. Our 
 silent prayers followed them that they might fall 
 
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 Significant Relics. 
 
 215 
 
 ,hare of 
 m wiiiit- 
 ely have 
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 oic brav- 
 oticeable 
 , friends, 
 
 the time 
 ere some 
 ,uccessful 
 practicing 
 )ur hands 
 with the 
 5s glowed 
 )onded to 
 nty miles 
 
 Those 
 raising a 
 ready to 
 long was 
 lort inter- 
 e secured 
 mation of 
 of search 
 ated, rose 
 messages 
 id. Our 
 might fall 
 
 under the eye of some one belonging to the lost 
 ships. Great care was used to send ihem up when 
 the wind promised to carry them to the north and 
 north-west. 
 
 A few fire-balloons were also sent up. 
 
 It was vexatious to see these aerial vessels sail 
 about in the upper currents of air in the most 
 fickle manner. Starting off north-west, they were 
 soon gliding away to the south-east, altering their 
 course several times before disappearing from sight. 
 
 The greatest distance at which we found any of 
 these pieces of silk or paper was fifty miles. Some 
 may have gone many times as far. 
 
 Another means of communication used were 
 carri'ir-pigeons. We of the " Pioneer " brought 
 out none of them, and wc confess that we were 
 inclined to laugh at the idea of these birds being 
 able to reach their far-away home in safety if dis- 
 patched from any of our exploring ships ; but there 
 were four of them on board the " Felix," given to 
 Sir John Ross by a lady friend living near Ayr, in 
 Scotland. He agreed to set two of them at liberty 
 when he went into winter-quarters, and the oiher 
 two when Sir John Franklin was found. On the 
 7th of October, 1850, when snugly tucked away in 
 his harbor, near Beechey Island, he sent off the 
 youngest couple. They were put into a basket 
 attached to a balloon, a slow match being so 
 arranged as to liljerate and launch them into the 
 air, to commence their flight at the expiration of 
 twenty-four hours. The balloon ascended to com- 
 mence its aerial voyage when it was supposed that 
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 216 
 
 Arctic Heroes, 
 
 the atmospheric current -would bear it many miles 
 their -.vay. It blew a gale at the time and the 
 temperature was below zero. In about five days 
 one of them, as the lady owner affirmed, reached 
 the dove-cot where it was l)orn. It had disen- 
 cumbered itself somehow of the message with 
 which it was intrusted, though its feathers bore 
 evidence of its having started with one. The dis- 
 tance in an air line was not less than twenty-four 
 hundred miles; the distance which the balloon 
 had borne it we, of course, cannot tell, but its sus- 
 tained flight on the wing must have been truly 
 wonderful. 
 
 The experiments we made to use kites as signals 
 to parties at a distance were not very successful; 
 but we used them to good purpose. When our 
 sledges were running before a strong wind on 
 level and smooth ice we let fly the kites as sail ,, 
 and with shouts and laughter sped on our way. 
 But, of course, we could not often have smooth 
 sailing and a fair breeze, so that for the greater 
 part of the time the sails were a dead weight on us. 
 
 There was among us another device for convcv- 
 ing intelligence to our lost friends, though it must be 
 confessed we adopted it more for amusement than 
 in confidence of its success. Curious little arctic 
 foxt:. were slyly peering about our ships. Some of 
 these we caught, fixed a brass collar on them, on 
 which our message was engraved, and then set them 
 free. The discharge of on^ of these foxy postmen 
 was a signal of a general chase by officers and men, 
 with bursts of laughter and wild shouts which, 
 

 Significant Relics. 
 
 217 
 
 issful ; 
 in our 
 
 d on 
 sail ,, 
 way. 
 
 rnooth 
 greater 
 
 on us. 
 
 invcy- 
 
 uist be 
 t than 
 arctic 
 me of 
 
 jem, on 
 t them 
 
 ostmen 
 d men, 
 which, 
 
 at times, seemed so to bewilder them that they 
 ran hither and thither, making their capture easy 
 if we had desired it. A more courteous dismissal 
 would, we think, have better disposed them to a 
 faithful delivery of our messages. 
 
 These liberated foxes were presumed to immi- 
 grate to distant and more friendly ncighborl oods 
 after this rough experience. But it leaked out 
 that the " men " in the forecastle were nightly re- 
 capturing these collared gentlemen, making dainty 
 meals of their flesh, and lacking away their skins 
 for future speculations with fur-dealers. Orders 
 were promptly issued that foxes taken alive must 
 be liberated. Jack, from the going forth of this 
 edict, took good care that all foxes putting their 
 noses into the traps should be found dead. The 
 fact seemed to be that these cunning animals liked 
 the fare they scented and occasionally tasted about 
 our ships, and were willing to risk their lives in 
 getting a second taste ; they seemed in nowise in- 
 clined to do our errands to our lost friends. 
 
 The dark winter passed thus away. On the 
 7th of February, 1851, a man at the mast-head 
 proclaimed the good news that the sun had re- 
 turned. The rigging of all the vessels was soon 
 manned to get a glimpse of his welcome face. He 
 had been absent three months. He was greeted 
 with prolonged and hearty cheers. For one whole 
 hour he blessed us by his presence and then re- 
 tired, promising us a longer stay each successive 
 day until he should pay us the long summer visit. 
 
 Preparations were now hurried forward for the 
 
 
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 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 proposed sledging. Time flew on rapid wings, 
 and April was upon us before we were fully ready 
 for it. Five hundred men, British and Americans, 
 were astir within the frigid zone, aiming at the 
 same result — that of saving Sir John Franklin. 
 
 The men of our squadron were mus*^ered, on the 
 T2th of April, under a projecting poini of Griffith 
 Island, to be inspected by our chief. 1 his done, 
 we returned to our ship and spent the i!'abbath 
 quietly, having religious service, and in^lulging 
 some sober though not depressed feelings in ref- 
 erence to the responsible and Irborious duties 
 which we were to enter upon on Monday. But 
 that day came breezy with blinding snow. Tues- 
 day evening came with abated wind, and the 
 thermometer o/i/y fourteen degrees below zero, so 
 we donned our traveling gear, harnessed ourselves 
 to the sledges, listened to a brief but earnest 
 prayer, in which we were commended to God's 
 providential care, and started. 
 
 We will not detain the reader with the details 
 of our desperate struggles over hummocks, our suf- 
 ferings from snow blindness and frost bites, and 
 our varied perils and the unflinching bravery of our 
 men for fifty-eight days. Our return journey was 
 five hundred miles in a direct line. The last day 
 homeward we made twenty-five miles. This may 
 attest the pluck with which we closed our search. 
 The other sledge parties returned soon after. Only 
 one man had fallen, and he faltered at the be- 
 ginning. No additional information concerning 
 Sir John had been obtained. Penny's sledge parties 
 
 
Significant Relics. 219 
 
 to the north-west had been equally unsuccessful. 
 No news of the lost ones came from any explor- 
 ing party, though thousands of miles had been 
 traversed ♦^o secure it. 
 
 Our icy fetters having fallen olf on the nth of 
 August, the steamers took their ships in tow and 
 once more pushed out of Lancaster Sound. Cap- 
 tain Penny's ships left for England at the same 
 time, and Sir John Ross was homeward bound. 
 Our squadron spent a few weeks in vain search 
 further north, when we, too, squared awav for 
 "home, s>veet home." 
 
 \\ 
 
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 rod's 
 
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 220 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 ! HI 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 YANKEE ICE-FIGHTING. 
 
 WE have referred to the fact that the people 
 and Government of the United States were 
 r(jt idle spectators of the efforts of England to 
 save her lost explorers. The American interest 
 in the searching expeditions sent out in 1848 from 
 England was preparing the public mind for one 
 which should fly the stars and strij^es. To prompt 
 this interest, Lady Franklin wrote to the President. 
 Through him she called upon us, '' as a kindred 
 people, to join heart and hand in the enterprise 
 of L latching the lost navigators from a dreary 
 grave." 
 
 Congress moved in the matter, but with a tardi- 
 ness which belongs to "great bodies," Delay in 
 this business was the assurance of failure, so that 
 the coming forward just in time of a princely 
 merchant of New York, tendering a part of the 
 resources of his purse, saved probably the credit 
 of our nation in reference to the arctic search. 
 Mr. Henry Grinnell fitted out two of his vessels, 
 and gave them for the enterprise to the Govern- 
 ment, The President, under the authority of 
 Congress, detailed from the navy such officers and 
 seamen to man them as he deemed competent to 
 the service, and as had also an ambition for the 
 
Yankee Ice-Fighting, 
 
 221 
 
 w 
 
 e people 
 ites were 
 gland to 
 interest 
 848 from 
 I for one 
 
 prompt 
 ^resident. 
 
 1 kindred 
 mterprise 
 a dreary 
 
 h a tardi- 
 Delay in 
 e, so that 
 L princely 
 irt of the 
 the credit 
 ic search, 
 is vessels, 
 e Govern- 
 hority of 
 fftcers and 
 npetent to 
 on for the 
 
 perilous undertaking. The vessels received the 
 appropriate names of " Advance " and " Rescue." 
 They were small brigs, both together rating only 
 two hundred and thirty-five tons. Tiiey were 
 simply lumbering coasters to the eye, but, judged 
 by their adaptation to the service to which they 
 had been a[)pointed, brave looking crafts. Their 
 hulls had two coverings, each, of two and a half 
 inch oak plank ; a heavy shield of strips of slieet- 
 iron extended from the bows along the sides. 
 Their decks were double, and made water-tight. 
 The inside was ceiled with cork, to secure greater 
 warmth and dryness. Their wooden frame-works 
 were made doubly strong. The rudders could be 
 unshipped and taken on board in four minute^". 
 Neither careful planning, skill, nor expenditure of 
 money were wanting to make them all they needed 
 to be. 
 
 The crews were man-of-war's men, of various 
 nationalities, constitutions, and habits, and were 
 not especially promising in their make-up, but 
 proved true under severe tests — a fact creditable, 
 we should think, to the officers, as well as men. 
 The larger vessel, the " Advance," carried thirteen 
 seamen and four officers ; the " Rescue " had the 
 same number of officers, and twelve seamen. 
 
 The expedition was commanded by Captain 
 De Haven, in the " Advance," under wliom was 
 Lieutenant Griffin, in the " Rescue." Elisha K. 
 Kane, M.D., who rose to such distinction among 
 arctic navigators, and to whose ready pen we are 
 indebted for rich stores of information of the 
 
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 222 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 northern seas, was the surgeon of the flag-ship, 
 " Advance." 
 
 After all that was done to make the outfit 
 thorough, the comforts and aids in prosecuting 
 the search on the part of the American vessels 
 compared poorly with those of the steam-propeller 
 squadron wc have just described. The cabins 
 were of small dimensions, containing just four not 
 roomy berths. Jack's cjuarters were, of course, 
 crowded. The smashing of floes was to be done 
 by the brigs themselves, without the powerful aid 
 of the giant steam-engine. 
 
 The squadron started on its errand of love on 
 the 2 2d of May, 1850. The witnessing crowd 
 waved them kind adieus from the wharves and 
 house-tops, and many a " God bless you ! " was 
 breathed as the news of their departure was read 
 in the households of the land, while many hearts 
 in the fatherland were thrilled with joy at their 
 noble purpose. 
 
 We shall assume a cozy place in the cabin of 
 the flag-ship, where we hope to be no intruder, 
 while we carefully note the events more or less 
 peculiar to this expedition. 
 
 On the 17th of June the night left us, or rather 
 the darkness, for our sun, having retired at the 
 unseasonable hour of ten P.M., rose at the early 
 hour of two A.M. We learned by the nerve-dis- 
 turbing continuance of blazing light how blessed 
 is darkness to the heavy eyelids. 
 
 We were, in a few more days' sail, well into the 
 region of icebergs and glaciers, and the rugged, 
 
Yankee Ice-FigJiting. 
 
 223 
 
 ice-bound and snow-clad shore of Grf^enland came 
 into view. A solitary berg, of majestic propor- 
 tions, attracted our attention. Behind it the sun 
 was shining, lighting the sea with a crimson hue. 
 While we were watching the berg it lost its balance, 
 probably by the shelving off of some projecting 
 crag, and it began to swing back and forth, rolling 
 vast waves in a widening circuit over the sea. 
 This sudden action of the berg startled from their 
 resting-place in its icy crevices myriads of birds, 
 which rose in a dark, circling cloud above it. The 
 scene was novel to us and impressive. 
 
 On the 24th of June our sun, having descended 
 to the verge of the horizon, started again on its 
 upward course. 
 
 We were soon at a Danish port in the Bay of 
 Disco. Here we learned that the English squad- 
 ron, under Commodore Austin, had left only the 
 day before. His steamers, the " Pioneer " and 
 " Intrepid," would keep him, we thought, in ad- 
 vance of our clumsy sailing vessels. 
 
 While we waited on deck for our boat to be 
 manned to carry us ashore we observed a black 
 object in the water coming from the land toward 
 the ship. It moved rapidly and seemed like a 
 Newfoundland dog. As it approached we could 
 discern a black projection from it too long for the 
 neck and head of a dog; while a curious flapping 
 was going on, first on this side and then on that, 
 as it sped swiftly along. When in a few moments 
 it was along side, we obtained our first clear view 
 of a Greenland kayak. It was canoe-shaped, and 
 
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 224 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 over its frame seal skins were tightly drawn. It 
 was both air and water tight, excepting a hole 
 nearly in its center, just large enough to receive 
 its occupant. It was eighteen feet long and twen- 
 ty inches wide, running off to a sharp point at both 
 ends. 
 
 The Esquimo sailor was nicely adjusted to the 
 hole in the center. His undressed, hooded, seal- 
 skin coat was drawn closelv over a rim aroiind the 
 hole, fitting tightly, and completely shutting out 
 the water. He seized in the middle an oar bladed 
 at both ends, and, dipping it on either side rapidly 
 and with wonderful skill, skimmed over the water 
 as if boat and man were parts of the same animal 
 — a thing of beauty, grace, and vivacity. As we 
 rowed to the shore a fleet of these kayaks hung in 
 our wake, or hovered about our sides, just outside 
 the dip of our oars, like hungry sea-fowls after a 
 morning breakfast. Our first impression of the 
 people, who are Esquimo with some Danish blood, 
 was one of disgust. Oil and fat, raw hides of seals, 
 scraps of fish and discarded bones, and various 
 kinds of garbage, were scattered every-where about 
 the huts. Inside they were still more filthy — men, 
 women, and children, old people and the invalids, 
 were crowded into the smallest possible space. 
 Their summer huts, in which some of them were 
 now living, were made of reindeer skins. Their 
 winter houses were half under ground. We saw 
 in one, only six feet by eight, a father, mother, 
 four children, and a grandfather, a tea-kettle, a 
 rude box, two rifles, and a litter of puppies. 
 
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 While we were rowing among the islands of 
 Disco Bay we noticed the remarkable transparency 
 of the water. This has often been noticed by 
 voyagers to the Polar Seas as characteristic of 
 them. We could see every feature of the bottom 
 at a depth of sixty feet. A luxuriant growth of 
 deep green plants, and long, tangled grasses, waved 
 as gracefully as if they were the objects of constant 
 observation by admiring men. 
 
 We obtained at (lodhavn, on Disco Island, our 
 outfit of fur clothes. The most important arti- 
 cles were a close-fitting jacket, called a "jumper," 
 with a hood like that worn by our ladies on a 
 water-proof, and water-tight seal-skin boots. 
 
 We were soon under all sail crowding our way 
 toward the f/or/A loatcr — the iceless sea beyond 
 Melville Bay. Vessels sometimes cross from the 
 Greenland to the west side of Baffin Bay, farther 
 south, and occasionally they see an opening 
 through the middle waters, but generally it is 
 the quickest and safest route to keep on the east 
 side until reaching the northern opening. On the 
 first of July we began our conflict with field-ice — 
 broken fragments of great extent. 
 
 July 2 we were sailing in water free from the 
 drifting cakes of ice, but the huge, cold, dignified, 
 but at times sparkling icebergs were about us. 
 We observed one, a monster ice mountain, whose 
 top and sides were varied in form, including hill 
 and dale. It was at least two hundred feet high. 
 On this a company of us landed. The scenery to 
 which we were treated from one of its hill-tops 
 
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 228 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 V-U 
 
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 II i 
 
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 was beautiful. Below, the water was surging into 
 the caves and grottoes at its base, sending up a 
 murmuring sound of plaintive music; above us 
 were wild, projecting crags on which the sea- 
 birds screamed their harsh but joyous notes of 
 freedom. 
 
 A\'e Avere treated, by that curious operator in 
 arctic views, refraction, to a fine panorama as we 
 were, on the nth of July, slowly moving over an 
 almost quiet sea. A st'^ip of horizon, resembling 
 an extended plain — a true watery horizon — first 
 appeared. Then above it was a horizon of re- 
 fraction, with an aerial ocean margin, lined with 
 structures ever varying in form. Great needles, 
 obelisks of pure whiteness, cities in majestic pro- 
 portions, but instantly passing into the chaotic 
 forms of the wildest ruins, and buildings of archi- 
 tectural grandeur, whose outlines we had just 
 begun to xan, when the whole vanished. The 
 excited imagination of :he inebriate could not 
 create a more fantastic scene. Suddenly, as by a 
 flash, they re-appeared, to dance, dazzle, and amaze 
 for a moment, and then to vanish as swiftly. 
 
 If the creations of refraction are the baseless 
 fabrics of a vision, navigation in this ice-bound 
 sea with our sturdy little vessels is a real thing. 
 Let us try to show our readers how 7ae did it. 
 
 We are now in a little space of clear water. 
 Look beyond .his over the bows of our vessel. 
 It is onf^ extended and almost boundless plain of 
 solid ice. A little distance to the left is a huge 
 iceberg rising above the icy plain like some hill 
 
 > I 
 
ng into 
 ig up a 
 )ove us 
 he sea- 
 Dtes of 
 
 •ator in 
 I as we 
 over an 
 ambling 
 n — first 
 of re- 
 ed with 
 leedles, 
 tic pro- 
 chaotic 
 f archi- 
 ad just 
 I. The 
 lid not 
 as by a 
 i amaze 
 
 baseless 
 sbound 
 1 thing, 
 it, 
 
 water. 
 
 vessel. 
 
 )lain of 
 
 a huge 
 
 n)e hill 
 
 Yankee Ice-Fighting. 
 
 229 
 
 
 from the level land of the shore. You see that 
 narrow oi)ening in this field of ice, commencing 
 just on our left. Its irregular course may remind 
 you of the wandering streams through the mead- 
 ows at home, as it follcvs for awhile the base of 
 the berg, and then is lost to the sight in its ser- 
 pentine windings. This is kno\vn among arctic 
 navigators as a "lead." We propose to break 
 away from the icy prison in which we have been 
 h-^ld for some time by navigating that " lead " by 
 what is called "conning." The sails are put in 
 trim and the brig's head is directed co the open 
 gap. Men are stationed at the ropes which con- 
 trol the sails. Silence for a moment prevails as 
 Ave wail for the concussion. The commander 
 thunders his orders to the man at the helm, the 
 sails, by a steady haul on the ropes, aid the vessel 
 in the course the helm has given her, and she 
 thrusts her nose into the gap. Away she goes 
 banging her sides against the ice, crushing it with 
 her bows, and making, it may be, a headway 
 equal to a few times her length. Somebody in 
 the rigging who is watching the " lead " exclaims 
 " pshaw ! " as we bring up, all-stan ling, in a short 
 turn of the " lead." P'or a time we scrape, scratch, 
 and thump our way, until two great, solid ice- 
 fields shut us in, and forbid our moving another 
 foot until their sovereign pleasure is further com- 
 municated. Some one exclaims, " eugh ! " and 
 we all go quietly to supper. 
 
 When we come on deck again we have been 
 refreched by food and rest. We all have a mind 
 
 
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 230 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 to work and are ready for the word of command. 
 Our caj)tain now changes the mode of attack on 
 the enemy. The wind is light and dead ahead, 
 and there is not enough sea-room to get headway 
 on the ship if it were not, so smashing the ice by 
 sailing into it is for the present " played out.* 
 The ice-anchors are ordered out. These are 
 strong iron hooks, of which we have two sizes, 
 one weighing forty and the other a hundred pounds. 
 Two men jump from the ship with one of the 
 largest and settle it into the ice ahead near the 
 edge of the crack through which ^^ e wish to force 
 our way. The large hooked end of the anchor 
 being sunk firmly, to the smaller hook of its other 
 end a new, strong, large rope — " a hawser " — is ad- 
 justed. The other end of the hawser is wound 
 around "the windlass" with cogs and levers at- 
 tached. All hands in turn man the levers, bring- 
 ing a strain on the hawser which draws with im- 
 mense power on the ice-anchor. Captain, cook, 
 steward, doctor, and seamen sweat away at the 
 levers, dignity stepping aside to let muscles have 
 control. The crack gradually opens, the ship 
 crowds herself in, until the hawser's length is 
 drawn up to the anchor, which is then carried 
 ahead and ihe operation repeated. This we call 
 hea-. ..ig. 
 
 May be the ice refuses to be thus crowded 
 aside; we toil and strain away with the powerful 
 machinery which draws upon the ten-inch hav, s- 
 er ; it smokes with the tension, snaps with a loud 
 report, and we give it up and go below. We have 
 
Yankee' Ice-Fighting. 
 
 231 
 
 ' 
 
 had nothing to pay for our hard work but the 
 satisfaction of those who try. 
 
 We wait, rest, recover our strength end energy, 
 and try again. Now perhaps the Ice King is in 
 better temper toward us. He relaxes his grip, 
 we heave along until our way becomes so easy 
 that the hundred pound ice-hook is taken aboard. 
 A man now jumps out with the forty pound hook 
 on his shoulder. The ice has changed its mode 
 of attack ; it has become treacherous, and gives 
 V vv' as he leaps over the cracks, and from one icy 
 ;•■ ;■ lo another. Occasionally he gets a ducking. 
 Attached to the anchor he carnes is a light, thin, 
 strong cordage, called a whale-line, made of the 
 best material. He plants his anchor firmly in a 
 distant ice-cape lying in the direction of our de- 
 sired course. The shij) end of the line is passed 
 round " the capstan." The drawing in of this line 
 is light work compared to the "heaving; " strong 
 bars are put in the sockets made for them in the 
 machine we call "a capstan," by which it is made 
 to turn 'vi.r. thus wind round it and draw in the 
 cord. V:i hands grasp these capstan-bars and 
 walk ruua*;; ..f the sailors are fresh and in good 
 humor, we :.-.rch to the jolly chorus of tlvjir 
 JO" The ship " walks " through the broken ice 
 until all the cor^l is drawn in and she reaches 
 the anchor. The merry work is then repeated, 
 and we make a little jjrogress. This we call 
 wa?-p-f!g. 
 
 S- . u jur fickle Ice King gives us an opportunity 
 for air',.-., „ J J. style of progress. As the floes are 
 
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 232 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 ever changing, so we change our expedients. A 
 canal of clear water is allowed us. Both heaving 
 and warping are abandoned as too hard or slow 
 work. The line is run out, and the men harness 
 themselves to it. This is done by putting a strap 
 over their shoulders and then fastening it to the 
 line. Thus " accoutered," the men-horses tug 
 away, or start off, if there is clear sailing and good 
 footing, at " a dog trot," drawing the vessel after 
 them. This we call ^. i ^. 
 
 When we could neithi "heave," nor "warp," 
 nor "track," we wasted our strength on "sawing," 
 "cutting," "prying," and other expedients, im- 
 pelled by our want of experience and our ardent 
 temperaments. We spent twenty-one days in this 
 kind of toil, in a circle not more than twelve 
 miles in diameter. W^e measured progress from 
 day to day by yards and feet, not by miles. This 
 will do to illustrate our way of getting out of ^ig/it 
 places. 
 
 On the eleventh of July the "Devil's Thumb," 
 a so-called landmark of the nearest shore, was 
 plainly visible in the clear atmosphere, though 
 fifty miles off. We were still in the "pack." 
 
 " What do you make of that ? " said the com- 
 mander, addressing Dr. Kane, and directing his 
 attention to an object between us and the shore. 
 Dr. Kane took the glass De Haven had been 
 using, and looked. " A mnst, with gaff and main- 
 sail partially clewed up," answered Dr. Kane 
 decidedly. Both thought that one of the Dan- 
 ish schooners had anchored at the edge of the 
 
Yankee Ice-FiHitiuer. 
 
 233 
 
 ): I 
 
 com- 
 ng his 
 shore, 
 been 
 main- 
 Ivane 
 > Dan- 
 of the 
 
 pack. A more powerful telescope was brought 
 up from below and directed toward ihe schoon- 
 er, but it was not there! It was a trick of re- 
 fraction ! 
 
 The next day we sighted a ])olar bear, the first 
 which had crossed our track. He was less than a 
 half mile off, trotting leisurely, not deigning to 
 notice us. Probably he held in low esteem all 
 ships and the savage intruders upon bear territory 
 which they contained. We proved that his 'ength 
 was nine feet by measuring his tracks. His color, 
 as compared with the white snow, seemed a deli- 
 cate yellow ; his nose blue-black ; his broad, regu- 
 larly arching haunches, resting upon ponderous 
 legs, gave hinn the look of an elephant. 
 
 Of course we gave chase to the bear, with guns 
 in hand and murderous intent. The ice being 
 weak in places, our zeal was far greater than our 
 discretion. ^Ve did not get a shot at him in all 
 the chase of three hours. Though we did not 
 return with the })olar, we did return wetter if not 
 wiser men, for several of us got repeated duck- 
 ings. As to his polar majesty, he never once 
 varied from his dignified, unconcerned walk. 
 When we last saw him he was in the dim distance 
 among hummocks of ice. 
 
 A few days after this incident, as we were ^vaii^ 
 i>p^, our men organized foot-races with the crew 
 of the " Rescue." \\'e had fancy matches against 
 time. Our best runner made his mile in seven 
 minutes and eleven seconds. 
 
 While our commander was punching the ice, as 
 
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 234 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
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 he stood upon a projecting point of the floe, it 
 gave way and soused him in. He had some diffi- 
 culty in getting out. I'he incident was serious in 
 its liabilities, but as "all is well which ends well," 
 especially with men in our line of business, we 
 laughed at it when safe in the cabin. 
 
Freaks of At mo sp I i eric Rcfnxction. 
 
 235 
 
 f\ 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FREAKS OF ATMOSPHERIC REFRACTIOX. 
 
 OOON nftcr our first experience in bear-hunt- 
 »-J mg, a shout came down the cabin where we 
 were sitting, "A bear alongside!" It proved to 
 be a young bear, not more than two-thirds grown. 
 He came quite near, and leisurely surveyed the 
 bng as he raised himself upon his haunches and 
 snuffed the air, as if (pierying what manner of 
 animals we might be. We kept below the bul- 
 warks watching his innocent gambols, and, we are 
 almost ashamed to say, .seeking to reward his con- 
 fidence with a bullet, He rubbed his nose against 
 a hummock, snapped at the icicles, and rolled^ over 
 and over. He Avas well within the range of our guns 
 at one time, but just as we were about to fire he 
 gamboled away, full of the enjoyment of life. We 
 felt glad we had not fired, but, of course, we 
 chased him, bent on taking his skin, not doubtin- 
 our right to it-if we could get it. But the little 
 rascal seemed to think that it belonged to himself, 
 and he kept it uninjured. 
 
 On the 28th of July we were in that famous 
 water, Melville Bay, in which the whalers as well 
 as explorers have always had a dreary voyaging. 
 A thrilling incident gave us an emphatic ""hint 
 oi what we might expect. We were among the 
 
 
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 floes, but hnd entered a narrow channel of clear 
 ^vnter, which nj^peared to be a mile lon<,r. The 
 ^vind was ahead, and we were engaged in our now 
 well-tried ])usiness of warping; Init huge bergs, 
 driven ])y the strong northern deep-sea current, 
 were sailing i.n the very teeth of the breeze. One 
 of them ke])t us company for some time, and, 
 while we were enjoying the clear water of " the 
 lead," puslied forward to get ahead of us, and thus 
 shut us out of any further advantage of it. This 
 exciting race was going on, we having the " Rescue " 
 in tow, when we reached a point where, by warping 
 round our opponent, we might be able to make sail 
 and get rid of him. Three men were sent to plant 
 the ice-anchor in liis side to hold the warp. The 
 hole for it had been <ut by the iron crow; a 
 brawny seaman by the name of Costa was in the act 
 of lifting the anchor, to settle it into the solid ice, 
 when, with a thundering noise, a crack ran along 
 the berg. Instantly a mass twice the size of our 
 ship separated from it. One man remained on the 
 rolling berg, another jumped into the ropes of our 
 bowsprit and escaped ; but ])oor Costa, anchor 
 and all, disappeared in the chasm with the separated 
 mass. But the broken fragment had made a per- 
 pendicular descent into the sea, and when it rose 
 it brought Costa up with it ! He was seized by the 
 captain as he was passing the jib-boom and taken 
 safely on board. God's hand was apparent in his 
 rescue. Costa was terribly scared, and we were most 
 emphatically warned to beware how we attempted 
 to put our iron into the heart of an iceberg. 
 
Freaks of AtmospJicric Refraction. 237 
 
 >> 
 
 Five days after tliis incident we recognized one 
 of these bergs which were now racing witii us, a 
 hundred miles on its northern voyage, still sailing 
 against wind and surface ice. 
 
 On the morning of the first of August our friends 
 had a successful encounter with a bear. He was 
 walking toward the brig, cautiously treading over 
 weak ice. Having probably found it too rotten to 
 "bear his heavy feet, he made a succession of 
 plunges, coming each time nearer the vessel, break- 
 ing the ice as he rose. He stared about as his 
 head came through the ice, as if amazed, and he 
 panted and shook the water from his shaggy coat 
 like a Newfoundland dog. He seemed to have an 
 intense curiosity, and his attempt to gratify it in 
 comini.: near the strangers cost him his life. Several 
 well-directed bullets struck him and he turned 
 away, weak and bleeding. A\'ith much difficulty 
 he regained the floe, but it was only to meet a 
 bayonet thrust which killed him. 
 
 Three days later three bears were seen on the 
 ice which lav between us and the land. AVe were 
 in a lead about three hundred yr.rds wide, and 
 while we were getting ready the boats to give them 
 chase, 'hey plunged into the water and came 
 directly toward us. In two or three minutes they 
 were within shot of the boat, coming on with their 
 mouths open and showing their teeth, panting us 
 if eager for the fight. The captain was the first to 
 try his skill as a marksman, but his gun missed 
 fire. The second officer. Midshipman Lovell, 
 brought his gun up, lodged a ball in the base of 
 
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 1^1 
 
 238 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 V i 
 
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 the brain of one of the animals, and killed him 
 instantly. Dr. Kane reserved his fire for a better 
 chance, which did not come. While we were secur- 
 ing the dead bear the rest turned back, scrambled 
 up the floe, and ran away. 
 
 Just as we reached the deck of the "Advance " 
 with our prize, the heavy floe upon the seaward 
 side of us began to move in toward the shore ice. 
 The two vessels were in the clear water between 
 them. The projecting edge of the outside floe 
 came in contact with the inward or shore ice, about 
 midway l)etvveen the "Advance" and "Rescue." 
 The assailing floe was nearly four feet thick and a 
 mile in diameter. On the enormous mass cam j, 
 with its millions of tons weight, striking the solio. 
 margin of the land ice with a force which seemed 
 sufikicnt to grind both to powder. But the land ice 
 endured the concussion without flinching, while its 
 assailant was first pressed together, then crowded 
 up in great inclined planes, which rose until broken 
 and toppled over in long lines of fragments. The 
 immense cakes of ice, as they rose, seemed thrust 
 into the air by an almost silent, mighty, and in- 
 visible machinery. 
 
 There was a terrific sublimity in all this w^hen 
 seen at a safe distance. But when the attacking 
 line neared our brig, bringing us between it and 
 the unyielding land ice, the sublime was lost in the 
 appalling. We expected her sides to be ripped, 
 and, perhaps, crushed in, or the whole craft to be 
 borne down by the pressure. After a moment's 
 painful suspense the crisis came. The floes came 
 
 , i 
 
 hu\r\ 
 
Freaks of Atmospheric Refmetio?t. 239 
 
 together, not in a straight line along the whole 
 length of our vessel at once, but made an acute 
 angle at her bows, out of which she sli|)ped like a 
 squeezed watermelon seed shot from your thumb 
 and finger. Her hawser snapped like pack-thread, 
 and away she shot backward into more sea room. 
 
 The " Rescue " was tipped over so as almost to 
 lay her masts on a line with the floe, and then 
 placed on her keel again and lifted upon the ice. 
 The rudders of both vessels were lifted from their 
 places. 
 
 The second day after this encounter with the 
 " nip " the wind changed, the surface-current started 
 the seaward ice off, the lead opened, nnd we sought 
 a safer berth. 
 
 A few days after the floes had entertained us 
 by " nipping," refraction, our ever-welcome friend 
 stepped forward with his entertainment. He was 
 never more himself nor in a better condition to 
 show his wonderful dramatic poAver, See there, 
 just north of the sun ; a black ball floating in the 
 air ! it is launched from his hand. What can it be } 
 Perhaps a bird or a balloon. There ! its circumfer- 
 ence shines, glistens, and changes its shape ! Now 
 we know just what it is ; plainly it is a grand piano ! 
 No, not quite so fast with your opinion ; it is an 
 anvil ! Right this time ! It is an anvil big enough 
 for the giants of the north, if there be any, to 
 hammer out upon it the North Pole, or any other 
 poles they may fancy. Poh ! it is no longer an 
 anvil. It is narrowing in the center, and rounding 
 off at the ends. It is a pair of huge dumb-bells. 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
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 ti4 
 
 /- 
 
!l 
 
 240 
 
 Arctic Heroes, 
 
 
 ■ i 
 
 I 
 
 '< 'K. I 
 
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 Hi i 
 
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 ll'l-l 
 
 'lil>r 
 
 V ■"■ 
 
 with which the pliant gymnasts strengthen their- 
 brawny arms for a turn at boxing I 'I'here, it has 
 cliangcd again ! It is nothing but tlie bhick ball 
 now. 
 
 Our performer now becomes more sober, but 
 not less skillful. He operates on a magnificent 
 scale ; he has taken tlic wliole horizon. He blends 
 the pearly sky and pearly water so that you cannot 
 discern the line of separation I Our ship is in tlie 
 hollow of a great s[)here- Icy shai>es of wonderful 
 beauty and variety are floating all about us. Jiirds 
 are seen flying both above and below. Our con- 
 sort, the "Rescue," rests, in du[)licate, serenely in 
 the sky ! 
 
 On the next night, at ten o'clock, our performer 
 again exhibited. The sun was nearly at its lower 
 curve. Suddenly there are signs of combustion 
 flar'ng all around him. Oreat volumes of b'ack 
 smr ' arise, contracting and expanding in its up- 
 ward .:ourse, and as it rolls off into si)acc black 
 specks rise with it, expand, fall, and disappear! 
 The rarified air above the whole waves and quivers 
 with the heat. It is some mighty city in conflagra- 
 tion ; some burning Chicago or Boston! No; it 
 is only the jugglery of refraction ! 
 
 We were now, August 15, near Cape York, the 
 northern boundary of Melville Bay. The " Rescue." 
 had lagged astern, though we were in clear water. 
 ^Vhile we were leisurely looking around from our 
 deck she gave us the signal of "men in sight." A 
 boat was immediately laden with provisions and 
 sent to the shore, for, as we were so far north, the 
 
Freaks of Atmospheric Refraction. 24 1 
 
 livers 
 
 idea of human licings involunfaiily ((juncctccl itself 
 with disaster. Hut two nieii were soon seen on the 
 shore ice, gesticuhuing in the most ludicrous and 
 violent manner, ihey were genuine specimens of 
 the Esc^uimo. 'I'hougii living in this icy, bitter 
 cold, and desolate region, they were as fat as the 
 bears we had lately killed. They were jolly, laugh- 
 ing fellows, full of sociability. 'I'hey were armed 
 with a hari)Oon, lance, and air-bladder, and had 
 been hunting seals. They had no kayak, and 
 seemed unaccjuainted with that convenient article 
 of their more southern relatives. They intimated 
 that there were more of their i)e()|)le in a valley 
 toward which they pointed. They had evidently 
 seen ships before, and invited themselves aboard ; 
 but the officer of the boat declined the invitation. 
 They belonged, we concluded, to the wandering 
 fishing and seal-catching Esquimo of this region 
 whom John Ross, and, after him, the l''.nglish navi- 
 gators term "Arctic Highlanders." 
 
 A touching incident occurred near this place in 
 1830. The seamen of a whaler landed from their 
 boat and walked to a group of huts. They ob- 
 served as they approached the death-like stillness 
 which pervaded the vicinity and the absence of 
 recent tracks in the snow. They lifted the skin 
 of the door-way and entered. There, around 
 an oilless lamp, were the corpses of five human 
 beings. The frosty finger of death had left them, 
 save the sunken eyes and darkened lips, in the 
 attitude and with the expression of life. The 
 babe was frozen in the hood of the reindeer coat 
 
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 242 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 which enveloped its mother, snd the dog was stark 
 and stiff at tlie feet of its master. 
 
 Several other huts exhibited the same melan- 
 choly sights. As the implements for seal catch- 
 ing lay in the tents, and Ps that animal abounds in 
 the bays, and affords both food and fuel for these 
 people, they must have been Si. itten by a preva- 
 lent disease, or their supplies shut off by some ex- 
 traordinary occurrence. 
 
 A company from the " Advance " landed in a 
 little cove near Cape York. Here we had an op- 
 portunity of examining the "red snow " which we 
 had seen on the cliffs during; our last ten miles' 
 sail. Its color was a deep but not bright red. A 
 kind of brick-dust lay upon its surface, and other 
 portions of its coloring matter was evidently of a 
 vegetable origin. It imparted to paper when 
 drawn over it a cherry-red which faded into a 
 brr wn. The snow resembled, with the impurities 
 it contained, crushed preserved cranberries, and a 
 handful thawed in a glass tumbler looked like 
 muddy claret wine. 
 
 There was near a beautiful little cove. On one 
 side of it was a glacier which came down from its 
 valhy birthplace above. One side of the glacier 
 clung to the cliff, the other side which it presented 
 to us was a solid, almost perpendicular, crystal 
 wall ; its end descended into the sea. A .stream 
 from the vaHey, which had worn a channel in the 
 glacier, leaped, when it reached the edge of the 
 glacier wall, infro tne sea below in a cascade of 
 foam-?parkling water. 
 
 !/.! 
 
Freaks of Atmospheric Refraction. 243 
 
 The side of the cove opposite to the glacier was 
 watered by misty spray from the cascade, and 
 was green with beautiful arctic mosses. It seemed 
 a fairy spot in comparison to the barren sight of 
 weeks past, aad was indeed a charming spot which 
 we could not forget. Dr. Kane named it "Bessie's 
 .ovc. 
 
 The next day, while sailing leisurely along, we 
 saw an indentation in the high, precipitous, rocky 
 shore. Into tins we warped our vessel, so near 
 that we stepi)ed out on the rocks as upon a wharf 
 The sun was at il*? lowest curve, for it was the mid- 
 night hour of four P.M. The cove at the base of 
 its walls was in black shadows, but far above it 
 was bathed in a sparkling sunlight. A torrent of 
 water rushed down the sides, with which we filled 
 our tanks fo; the trip across the North Water into 
 which wc had now come. 
 
 The slope into the cove at one place was cov- 
 ered with terraces of rocky and icy fragments. 
 Birds in myriads hovered about it, or settled down 
 into its crevices. A party of our men were blazing 
 away at them and bagging hundreds. Their nests 
 were not all forsaken of their young, and fledglings 
 were peering down upon us by thousands and 
 opening their mouths for the food their moth •'■s 
 were bringing them from the sea. 
 
 Drawn by a wish to study the domestic habits 
 of these arctic birds, Dr. Kane clambered ujj to 
 one of their most populous colonies, -without duly 
 considering how he might get down. As he as- 
 cended the sharply inclined plane, with a walking 
 
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 244 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 pole substituted tor his gun, the fragments re- 
 ceded from under his feet, and rushed down with a 
 thundering noise to the plain below. He stopped 
 to take breath, and was startled to see every th'ng 
 about him in motion. The entire surface seemed 
 to be sliding down. The position was one of real 
 danger. The masses, gathering swiftness as they 
 descended, leaped over the terraces, and filled the 
 air with fearful missiles. Some whizzed by his face, 
 and others sliot Tver his head, and his walking- 
 pole was jerked from his hand and buried in tlie 
 rubbish. He commenced returning, fearing that 
 the downward trip might be swifter than w is 
 pleasant or safe. Seeing a ])rojecting rock not 
 far from him, against which the sliding rubbish 
 divided into two streams, he made a desperate 
 jump and landed upon it. He here waited for 
 the troubled fragments to adjust themselves. The 
 scene around him was wonderfully original and 
 arctic. The sun was " setting into sunrise " near 
 the horizon, and the wiiolc' atmosphere "was pink 
 with light." Auks and ivory gulls screeched with 
 deafening clamor around him, sometimes flapping 
 their wings almost in his face; dignified "burgo- 
 masters " sat unmoved on the crags above, seem- 
 ing '.o enjoy the embarrassment of the obtrusive 
 stranger; while far below, their black forms con- 
 trasting with tlie white snow, two ravens contended 
 for a choice bit of garbage. 
 
 Quiet being restored, the doctor descended 
 safely, wiser concerning arctic hill-sides if not in 
 the habits of arctic birds. 
 
Freaks .f Atmospheric Refraction. 24$ 
 
 Its re- 
 with a 
 tof)ped 
 f thing 
 jcemed 
 of real 
 as they 
 led the 
 lis face, 
 alking- 
 i in the 
 ng that 
 an w iS 
 Dck not 
 rubbish 
 asperate 
 ited for 
 s. The 
 nal and 
 e " near 
 /as pink 
 led with 
 flapping 
 " burgo- 
 e, seem- 
 btrusive 
 ms con- 
 ntended 
 
 ascended 
 if not in 
 
 On the iStli of August we turned tlic [iows of 
 our shii)s west, with the waves dancing past us 
 and the l)rec/e in our sails. W'u had accom- 
 plished the western passage, and were spanking 
 along toward Lancaster Sound. The next morn- 
 ing about eight o'clock the i)leasant news was 
 brought to tlie ca])in from the deck that two ves- 
 sels were following in our wake. We slackened 
 sail and so did the " Rescue," and hove to near 
 us. Soon the larger of the two vessels was along 
 side, and her captain came on board. It was 
 Penny with his s(|uadron — the " I.ady Franklin " 
 and the " Sophia " — bound with us tc --earch for 
 the lost. Such a greeting was exchanged as those 
 only can give who are bound together by like toils 
 and aims. When the " Franklin " started off, acain 
 there came booming over the sea a hearty old En- 
 glish hurra — "three cheers, hearty, with a will." 
 Our boys "stood aloft," and gave back the 'greet- 
 ing witli vociferous earnestness. 
 
 At eight o'clock the same day we were in ' \n- 
 caster Sound, groping our way through the fog, 
 and staggering under a heavy sea and a tempest 
 of wind. A day later, early in the morning, a 
 vessel was reported ahead, tugging after her a 
 small sailing craft. ^Ve shook out our reefs and 
 scud before the gale, the sea dashing over us at 
 every roll. \\'e soon came up with the stranger. 
 It was the " Felix," Sir John Ross commander. 
 
 with her little tender, the " Marv 
 
 'I'he hailin*' 
 
 ofificer. in the midst of our talk, shouted. 
 
 Vou 
 
 
 li 
 
 
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 \^j, 
 
 it 
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 and I are ahead of them all I " So it was, Penny 
 
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 246 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 was astern, and Captain Austin, with nis sailing 
 sliips and steam proj)ellers, was liovcring about 
 tlio mouth of the sound. • 
 
 Soon Si/ John himself came on deck, and stood 
 l)eside his hailing officer. He was a sipiare-built 
 man, apparently, but a little stricken in years, and 
 well al)le, as he was willing, to bear his jjart of the 
 rough toil of arctic search, tie was in the very 
 region where, seventeen years before, he was 
 picked up, after four ; accessive winters spent in 
 polar snows. 
 
 The next morning we had passed the opening 
 into Regent Inlet, and sighted Port Leopold, on 
 its north-western side, ^\'e were anxiously locjk- 
 ing for a " lead " into the harbor, for the ice beset 
 it, when we saw a top-sail schooner working out 
 to me'.c us. Her commander was soon on our 
 deck. It was Lady Franklin's own searching 
 vessel, the " Prince Albert * " 
 
 The " Rescue" had gone to Ca})e Riley, at the 
 eastern side of the entrance to Wellington Channel, 
 and we pushed forward immediately to that point 
 in company with the " Prince Albert." On arriv- 
 ing there we learned that Lieutenant Griffin, of 
 the " Rescue," had shared with the J-nglish steam- 
 propeller squadron in the discovery of the evi- 
 dence of Sir John Franklin's first winter encamp- 
 ment. The commanders, Ross, Penny, and De 
 Haven, soon met on board the " Felix " to ar- 
 range i)lans of further search, and the greatest 
 harmony of feeling prevailed. Our pan was to 
 push up Wellington Channel. While these ofhcers 
 
 i • 
 
sailing 
 r about 
 
 d stood 
 rc-built 
 irs, and 
 t of the 
 le very 
 le was 
 pent in 
 
 Dpening 
 lold, on 
 ly look- 
 :e beset 
 ing out 
 on our 
 arching 
 
 •, at the 
 Jiannel, 
 at point 
 n arriv- 
 iffin, of 
 I steam- 
 he evi- 
 ncanip- 
 and De 
 to ar- 
 [greatest 
 was to 
 oflicers 
 
 Freaks of AtmospJicric Refraction. 247 
 
 were in council an excited messenger came run- 
 ning over the ice with thrilling news. " (iraves! " 
 he shouted. "Graves, sir! graves of Franklin's 
 men ! " We all hurried off to see for ourselves. 
 
 An account of these marks of Franklin's winter- 
 quarters has been given by Lieutenant Osborne, 
 of the propeller squadron, and we need not repeat 
 them. The hint they gave us inspired our zeal 
 to obtain further knowledge of his fate. At two 
 o'clock in the morning of September 4 we were 
 awakened by Captain De Haven to witness the 
 rare appearance and movements of the ice. • We 
 had seen the wonders of the floes, but this was 
 the mobc wonderful. The thickness of some of 
 the cakes of ice which had been raised upon 
 the floes by their collision was fourteen feet ! 
 They were piled in hummocks not seldom forty 
 feet high ! We were fast to a great floe by three 
 anchors. The wind was blowing a fresh breeze 
 from the north, and huge ice rafts, with up-piled 
 blocks, far above our heads, were scudding past 
 us to the west, under the pro])elling power of the 
 current. They created a decided sensation among 
 U; as we stood watching them from our deck. 
 There comes a monster thirty feet high ! Will he 
 smash in our stern .'' No, he shies off so near that 
 we are fanned by the wind of his crystal sails. 
 There comes another whose projecting crags will 
 certainly become entangled in our rigging and 
 sweep away our masts. No, he too just touches 
 us with his frosty fingers, as if forbidden to do 
 more, and then swings off into the deeper current. 
 
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 248 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 A little ]-)rojection of the main floe into the chan- 
 nel turns them aside as they a[)proach us. How 
 plainly do we see in ihis arrangement the care 
 over us of llim who made the sea, and directs all 
 that is in it. 
 
 While we were coasting during the day along 
 the floe and sighting the western shore of Welling- 
 ton Channel a bear attracted our attention. As 
 exciting as such a sight always is, we could not 
 stop to chase him. But he was very obliging. 
 Instead of striking landward, he plunged into the 
 water just ahead of us. Dr. Kane and one other 
 of the officers brought tlieir guns to bear at a fair 
 range and fired at the same moment. 0//e of the 
 bullets went amiss, indicating its course by splash- 
 ing in the water just ahead of its mark. The 
 other killed the bear outriglit. The boats were 
 got out, and he was brought alongside and with 
 difficulty hoisted aboard. He was a monster, 
 weighing, we estimated, sixteen hundred pounds. 
 He measured nine feet from tip to tip, and his 
 carcass was larger than that of an ordinary ox 
 when fatted for the market. His build was solid, 
 and the muscles of his arms and haunches fear- 
 fully developed. 
 
 The question was pleasantly raised Whose 
 bullet hit ? It was found that the one which had 
 done the murderous deed had entered the ear 
 and lodged in the brain. This was weighed and 
 ])roved to belong to Dr. Kane's gun. It was his 
 first bear ! H-e skinned him on deck the next 
 morning with the thermometer below zero. This 
 
Freaks of AtDiospJicric Refract ion. 249 
 
 ister, 
 mds. 
 his 
 -y ox 
 iolid, 
 "car- 
 
 'hose 
 
 had 
 
 ear 
 
 and 
 
 s his 
 
 next 
 
 This 
 
 
 skin is now in the rooms of the Academy of Nat- 
 ural Science at Philadeli)hia. 
 
 Our game was at this time two bears, three 
 seals, a single goose, and a fair table allowance of 
 smaller sea-fowl. The goose was killed by officer 
 Murdaugh, on the wing, with a rifle. The " Res- 
 cue " boasts of four bears, two hares, and a supply 
 of smaller game. It must be recollected that our 
 hunting was not systematically done, but was only 
 incidental to our other absorbing business. 
 
 On the eleventh of September all the searching 
 vessels except Penny's were clinging by their 
 anchors to the fast ice near (Griffith Island. The 
 next day we had a fearful experience. The wind 
 blew a gale, driving before it clouds of heavy 
 snow. The " Rescue " snapped her hawsers and 
 disappeared to the seaward, leaving two men, her 
 boat, and her ice-anchors behind. The " Ad- 
 vance " snapped her stern cable, lost her anchor 
 and swung out, but s!ie fortunately held by the 
 forward line. The English squadron i)arted some 
 of their hawsers, and were in momentary danger 
 of coming down upon us. The wind roared, and 
 poured upon us its sleet and snow, and every thing 
 about the vessel froze. To add to the tcrrible- 
 ness of our situation, tlie main Hoe threatened to 
 part, and carry us ;.way with the liberated ice, 
 with our running rigging so ice-encumbered as to 
 make the working of the vessel impossible. We 
 are at sea, some distance from the shore, whose 
 harbors are unknown to us, even if the wind and 
 ice permitted us to seek one. We see signs of 
 16 
 
 
 
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 250 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 cheerful fires on board the English vessels. We 
 yet have none. About noon the whole fleet, hav- 
 ing knocked off the ice as best it could, got under 
 way for Clriffith Island, from which we had drifted 
 about fifteen miles. We were in anxious search 
 for our lost consort. We were staggering under 
 all sail, running for our lives, striking the ice with 
 our seven and a half solid feet bows, with such 
 fearful blows that our vessel quivered like a leaf. 
 While thus struggling, we came in sight of the 
 " Rescue " close under the island. We at once 
 drove our hard-headed little brig into the inter- 
 vening ice, determined to lay alongside of her. 
 She nobly thumped her way through, the English 
 following " the mad Yankees." 
 
 No sooner had we thus opened a channel to the 
 " Rescue " than orders were given by Captain De 
 Haven to both vessels to bear away for home ! 
 All regretted this, but so the home authorities had 
 commanded. We were not to spend the winter in 
 the ice unless under 7'cry extraordinary circum- 
 stances such as were not now upon us. We 
 parted with our fellow-explorers with sincere 
 regret. Only courtesies and hearty good-will had 
 been received from them, and many lasting friend- 
 ships had been formed. Some of our officers pro- 
 posed exchanging places with any of theirs who 
 might desire to return home; but none such were 
 found. Our captain tendered them a part of our 
 supply of provisions, and a point on the shore was 
 agreed upon on which, if we were able to land, 
 we were to make a deposit. 
 
 M 
 
n 
 
 We 
 hav- 
 mdcr 
 rifted 
 carch 
 under 
 ^ with 
 
 such 
 a leaf, 
 of the 
 L once 
 
 inter- 
 of her. 
 SngUsh 
 
 1 to the 
 ain De 
 home ! 
 ies had 
 inter in 
 ircum- 
 s. We 
 sincere 
 vill bad 
 friend- 
 ers pro- 
 irs who 
 ch were 
 t of our 
 ore was 
 to hand, 
 
 Freaks of Atuiosplicyic Refraction. 251 
 
 In a short time we had the " Rescue " in tow 
 steering westward. 
 
 As we were jKissing a curve of the coast soon 
 after, the captain called Dr. Kane's attention to the 
 shore-line six miles off. He looked, and saw the 
 naked spars of two vessels. " Brigs," says Kane. 
 "Without doul)t," rej^lies De Haven, Luth at 
 once exclaimed, "Penny!" On taking a glass, 
 the masts, yards, gaffs, every thing but the bo\('- 
 sprit, were distinctly seen. Oflicer Dovell was 
 called and saw tli^' *same. Murdaugh hurries up, 
 half dressed, from the cabin, takes a good spyglass 
 and looks. He sees a third vessel. 'I'he rest 
 look, all see the third one and pronounce it the 
 "Felix"— old Sir John Ross. 
 
 We change our course, and run in to s[)eak 
 with them. A fog settles aown between us, but 
 still we keep on. The fog in a few moments 
 clears away, there is only three miles between us 
 and them. We look, there is not a vessel to be 
 seen! We take a powerful glass, and see only 
 some hummocks of ice ! We were " sold " again 
 by that polar cheat, refraction. We were reluc- 
 tant to accept the joke, and went musing and mur- 
 muring away, saying : " How could we be so de- 
 ceived ! " 
 
 Soon after this the captain shouted down the 
 cabin stairs: "Doctor, we are frozen u])I" Yes, 
 we were Irozen up in mid-channel, at the mouth 
 of the great Wellington ('hannel ! What now 
 about our going home ! how about not wintering 
 in the ice! ! 
 
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 ^'t : 
 
 
 
 252 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 DE HAVEN'S WONDERFUL DRIFT. 
 
 TillC ice-island wliich had thrown its frosty 
 arms around our shi[)s as we were attempt- 
 ing to ])ass the entrance of Wellington Channel 
 lield them firmly. Up the channel northward it 
 hurried with us. In vain we entreated and pro- 
 tested that we desired to go ras/, not north ! Our 
 island was fiercely assailed at times by heavy 
 floes, now making their attacks on this side, then 
 on that, and occasionally on both sides at once. 
 At one time the ice near our ship, pressed by a 
 fearful power, cracked ; its outer edge of fourteen 
 inches of solid ice turned up and rose in great 
 tables, high in the air, until by its weight it 
 toppled over. This was followed by other tables, 
 sliding up the broken fragments of the last, so 
 forming heavy piles of ice rubbish, which after a 
 while would sink into the sea. 
 
 While thus the floes were toying with us, and at 
 times seeming intent on crushing us, the current 
 would occasionally swing us round through all the 
 points of the compass, giving us quite a sail south, 
 as if to flatter us with the hope of the homeward 
 voyage, while yet we were making daily advance 
 northward. 
 
 The collision of the floes at this time gave us 
 
De llavcHs Wonderful Drift, 253 
 
 frosty 
 
 2m pt- 
 
 annel 
 
 ard it 
 
 I pro- 
 Our 
 
 heavy 
 
 ;, then 
 once. 
 
 d by a 
 
 urteen 
 
 great 
 
 rht it 
 
 ables, 
 
 ist, so 
 
 after a 
 
 and at 
 urrent 
 all the 
 south, 
 lie ward 
 dvance 
 
 cave us 
 
 n 
 
 our first sight of a phenomenon of whiili other 
 explorers have sjjoken. When iii the darkness of 
 the niglU the great ice-tables were hurled upon 
 each other, a phosphorescent light was emitted, like 
 that of fire-fiies, or the "fox fire" of southern 
 meadows. It was verv beautiful. 
 
 At the end of our first week of drifting we had 
 made sixty miles from the entrance of the channel, 
 and s'till we headed northward. 
 
 One day a black fox came near our vessel, 
 nimbly skipping from hummock to hummock. 
 He looked cheerful, but desolate, away, as he was, 
 seven miles from the nearest land — a land look- 
 ing as dreary as the ice-fields themselves. Our 
 sailors set a trap for him. In the night we heard 
 his bark, and were sure he would be their prize in 
 the morning. But Dr. Kane, having killed a seal 
 the day before, and pitying the little wanderer, 
 had crept slyly out and put some of the offal, (}uite 
 a pile, outside of the snare. Fox had a splendid 
 supper without pay or penalty, and went on his 
 way rejoicing. 
 
 We try to be merry as we drift away into the 
 unknown nor^h. The " Rescue " was all the while 
 fixed in the ice near us. We began to think of the 
 necessity of wintering thus bound in arctic fetters. 
 The ice about our ships was adjusted to our con- 
 venience. We began to put some tons of the 
 coal from our hold. The boats were drawn about 
 twenty paces from the bow, and all hands were 
 at work getting ready the deck to be covered in 
 by "a felt" we had brought for the purpose. 
 
 
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 ^54 
 
 Arctic Heroes, 
 
 Two officers had been sent to the shore to 
 select a i)lace for a provision depot. lUit, whew ! 
 Mhat a noise tlic floes suddenly made, as if indig- 
 nant that ///I'/r i)ermission hnd not been asked 
 before entering upon the arrangements. Their 
 mustering forces hummed like bees and whined like 
 pui)pies, while now and then came crashes like an 
 avalanche and e.\i)losions like thunder, 'i'he land 
 l)arty hurried back in breathless haste. All hands 
 rushed for the boats and stores we had transferred 
 to the floe. Before dark all was on board excejjt 
 about two tons of coal, and the ice was in motion 
 in every direction. Our little cabin had been 
 cheerless enough. Every thing dripped with 
 steam, and was damp and cold. "A Cornelius 
 Lard Lamp" had been hung up and put in oj)era- 
 tion in the middle of Se])tember, and afforded 
 great relief. Our stove was not uj) until the 19th. 
 Now, October 2, we were surrounded by an arctic 
 frost-smoke, which made the darkness without 
 murky, waving — a peculiar, unnatural darkness. 
 The light and heat within, though poor, were 
 strangely welcome. 
 
 The ice soon knit together again, the frost- smoke 
 lifted up, and its /eU darkness disappeared. Dr. 
 Kane went out, gun in hand, and sat down, Es- 
 quimo-like, by a seal-hole. With the thermometer 
 lo*-' below zero, and the necessity oi perfect stillness 
 to assure success, it was no fun. One tedious 
 hour he waited ; some young seals appeared, he 
 fired, missed, and they darted away. Another 
 hour and they came again. He says: "Very 
 
 if 
 
Dc Haven s WoiulcrJ it! Drift. 255 
 
 strange are those seals I A countenance between 
 the dog and wihl African ape — an expression so 
 like that of huniariiiy that it mukes gun-murderers 
 liesitate. At last, at long shot, I hit one. God 
 forgive me! The ball did not kill outright. It 
 was out of range, struck too low, and entered the 
 lungs. The poor beast had risen breast high out 
 of water, like the treading-water swimmers among 
 ourselves. Me was thus supported, looking about 
 witli curious, expectant eyes, when the ball struck 
 liis lungs. 
 
 " For a moment he oozed a little bright blood 
 from his mouth, and looked toward me with a sort 
 of startled reproachfulness. Then he dipped; an 
 instant after he came up still nearer, looked again, 
 bied again, and went down. A half instant after 
 \v) came up flurriedly, Ijoked about with anguish in 
 h'o eyes, for he was (|uite near me ; but slowly he 
 sunk, struggling feebly, rose again, sunk again, 
 struggled a very little more. 'I'he thing was 
 drowning in the element of his sportive revels. 
 He did drown finally, and sunk; so I lost him 
 
 " Have naturalists ever noticed the expression 
 on thin animal's phiz } Curiosity, contentment, 
 pain, reproach, despair, even resignation, I thought 
 I saw on this seal's face. 
 
 " About half an hour afterward I killed another. 
 Scurvy and sea-life craving for tlesh meat led me 
 to it ; but I shot him dead ! " 
 
 A fox was caught about the same time. We 
 ate of fox and seal and pronounced them good. 
 
 Sunday, October 6, vvas a dismal day. We 
 
 
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 256 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 were fast in a luige cake of ice, driving southward 
 before a furious gale. Away we sped, onward, 
 onward for two days, during which we made sixty 
 miles, reached the outlet of Wellington Channel, 
 from which we had been violently dragged. 
 
 While thus beating about we caught a white fox 
 alive. He resented the chains of spun-yarn and 
 leather which bound him, but always had com- 
 posure enough for picking the meat from the 
 bones which were thrown to him and for eating 
 snow ; he would not touch water. His cry resem- 
 bled that of a small boy undergoing a si)anking ; 
 its tones expressed not only fear and j^ain, but 
 spite and ill-temper. He soon, however, became 
 good-natured. He would eat from our hands the 
 next day. Twice he was set at liberty, but he re- 
 turned both times to our L.a[) a few hours after his 
 liberation. 
 
 These white foxes seemed to have no instinctive 
 fear of man. They appron'^hed the ship's side 
 with more curiosity than fear. If we fired deadly 
 shot among them they scampered off but for a mo- 
 ment and returned. When we went out to them 
 on the ice we were allowed almost to touch them 
 \v'ith our hands. If we shouted they ran round us 
 in a nar'-ow circle, stopj^ed and stared when we 
 were still. One little fellow was caught, put in a 
 box on deck, fed for a few days, and liberated. 
 He scampered away a few rods, stopped, con- 
 sidered, and returned to his c ubby on deck. 
 
 Beintj for thrje weeks detained at the fickle 
 will of our ice-raft about Wellington Strait, Dr. 
 
 I .t 
 
Dc Hai <cn 's II 'ondcyful Drift. J 5 7 
 
 Kane put into effect his long-meditated attempt to 
 communicate with the English fleet at Union 15ay, 
 where we had left them. After facing appalling 
 dangers, and making repeated trials, the enterprise 
 was reluctantly abandoned. 
 
 It was now the eighth of November, and our 
 winter-quarters, such as they were, were com- 
 plied. The deck had its covering of felt drawn 
 down to the sides of the vessel. The room occu- 
 pied by the seamen and that of the officers was 
 made one by knocking away the cabin partition, 
 the two stov'es thus warming all alike. The ofti- 
 cers and rien of the " Rescue " had been ordered 
 on board the "Advance," and we made one fam- 
 ily. We banked up the sides Oi the vessel with 
 snow, uj) to the felt, thus increasing our defense 
 against the cola. Thus pre})ared, we could only 
 wait the will of our crvstal raft. 
 
 To occu[)y the minds of the men profitably 
 during the slowly-moving days. Dr. Kane gave a 
 series of popular lectures on science. They were 
 well received. 
 
 During the latter part of November our ice- 
 land had enlarged its dimensions to a fioe of 
 several scjuare miles, and this great raft had 
 swung round, putting its sharp end toward the 
 south, and giving indications of conducting us on 
 our homewarci voyage. I5ut we commenced 
 December cradled again on a paltry little island, 
 the " Rescue " still near us. Away we drifted, 
 the sport of contending Hoes which threatened 
 hourly to sink or crush us. At times our island 
 
 
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 258 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 
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 was not more than three hundred yards in diam- 
 eter, yet it held us in its grip. The floes would 
 hatter and crack it, let our vessels down, lift them 
 up, change their position, but always closing them 
 up again and insuring their imprisonment. Our 
 liability cT being witnesses of the sinking or crush- 
 ing of the vessels was so imminent that we lived 
 in a studied preparation to abandon them. Mr. 
 (Iriffin, commander of the " Rescue," was ap- 
 ])ointed as the executive officer to organize and 
 drill the united crews in reference to such an 
 emergency. He mustered them upon the ice 
 A\ith knapsacks fitted to their backs, filled with 
 such indispensable articles as they would carry, 
 and every man harnessed to his appointed sledge 
 in due order. Provisions are all packed, and 
 stores of all kinds put in compact order and duly 
 marked. The men are taught everv one his 
 place, and specific duty, at the instant of the 
 crisis, 'i'he little home Bibles and precious me- 
 mentos were slyly tucked in the knajjsacks. 
 
 I'he coolness of the men under these circum- 
 stances is well illustrated by the following inci- 
 dent : The '' Advance " had been lifted upon the 
 ice and so far laid upon her side that orders were 
 given to abandon her, as it was likely she would 
 be thrown upon her beam ends. As we stood 
 upon the ice, thinking all were out, Boatswain 
 Brooks shouted, " Stand from under," as the craft 
 vibrated with the jtressure upon her. Just then 
 an officer, recollecting that the fires in the stoves 
 had not been put out, and that they would set the 
 

 Dc Ha 7 'oi 's W 'ofida'fjil Drift. 259 
 
 
 vessel on fire, and thus insure the loss of every 
 thing, climbed back into the hohl. 'I'here at the 
 mess-table sat an officer who had been a few mo- 
 ments before relieved from watch-duly quietly 
 eating his dinner, and the cook as ([uietly waiting 
 upon him. " Vou see," remarked tlie hungry man, 
 "you are one meal ahead of me. You didn't 
 think I was going out upon the ice without my din- 
 ner.?" Cai)tain De Haven, in his official report, 
 mentions the gallantry and unflinching bravery of 
 all the officers, and the good conduct and subordi- 
 nation of the men in this and all such ]jerils. 
 
 But our vessel righted uj) a little, her bows 
 sunk low in the ice, and her stern lifted up, mak- 
 ing an inclined plane of the deck from the stern 
 forward. Thus she was mucli raked by the 
 wind greatly to our discomfort, as we felt the cold 
 through her sides, now no longer banked with 
 snow. In this truly arctic i)osition we drifted 
 steadily along the north shore of Lancaster Sound, 
 and began already to anticipate our rush into the 
 cross current of Baffin Bav. 
 
 To be further prepared for the impending crisis, 
 some of us tried tramps on the ice-floe, and camp- 
 ing out, in tents and sleeping-bags. The experi- 
 ment did not give cheering promise of any good 
 time to come when the shipr should be destroyed. 
 
 A poor bear ventured one night near the vessel. 
 An officer fired at his retreating shadow. 'J'he 
 next morning he was found dead some three hun- 
 dred yards from the sliijv ^\<t was wedged be- 
 tween two cakes of ice, and had in his agony 
 
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 260 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 rubbed his muzzle deep into the frozen snow. In 
 his death-march lie had twice stopped to lie down, 
 marking each spot with ])Ools of blood. 
 
 A poor little fox fell, too, before our sharp- 
 shooters. We pitied the beasts, struggling to live 
 in this waste, howling, arctic wilderness, but they 
 were eaten most joyously. 
 
 The effect of our isolated condition, and the 
 ever present darkness, rendered more intense by 
 a nightly, hazy obscurity, began to be apparent in 
 our physical and moral condition. Our com- 
 plexions were toned down to a peculiar waxy 
 paleness. Sunken eyes, strangely clear, hollow 
 cheeks and short breaths became general. Ap- 
 ])etites changed, became capricious and slight. 
 Many became mood), irrital)le, and imaginative. 
 Dreams invested our sleep, and were fondly talked 
 about when we were awake. Some, while in 
 dreamland, had laden themselves with luscious 
 water-melons with which to return on shipboard. 
 Others had found Sir John Franklin in a beautiful 
 cove, whose air was perfumed with blossoming 
 orange trees. Our hard-fisted matter-of-fact boat- 
 swain heard three strange groans out upon the 
 ice. He was sure of it, though he could see noth- 
 ing. The scurvy had touched several lightly, and 
 they were put under careful and stringent medical 
 treatment. 
 
 Christmas came. We paraded our good things, 
 of which we had some store. We joked, but did 
 it badly ; we laughed incessantly, but our laugh- 
 ing was bad, too ; we sung, but our songs were 
 
^ 
 
 now. In 
 ic down, 
 
 r sharp- 
 
 4 to live 
 
 but they 
 
 and the 
 
 tense by 
 
 )arent in 
 
 ur com- 
 
 iar waxy 
 
 , hollow 
 
 al. Ap- 
 
 J slight. 
 
 ginative. 
 
 ly talked 
 
 while in 
 
 luscious 
 
 lipboard. 
 
 beautiful 
 
 3ssoming 
 
 let boat- 
 
 ipon the 
 
 ;ee noth- 
 
 htly, and 
 
 medical 
 
 d things, 
 , but did 
 r laugh- 
 ngs were 
 
 De Havoi's Wonderful Drift. 261 
 
 boisterously noisy, with neither time, tune, nor 
 harmony. 
 
 The dinner being a pretentious failure, the men 
 tried a theater. It was on deck under our canopy. 
 The acting luas funny, and we laughed. None 
 knew their parts. The prompters could not read 
 glibly enough to be of any service. The gentle- 
 women were brawny, blundering men, dressed in 
 calico. The intervals of the orchestra were played 
 on a Jew's-harp by a comic fellow from the top of 
 a lard cask. 
 
 We had foot-races on the midnight ice. 
 
 Nor were the kindly Christmas gifts forgotten. 
 Dr. Kane found in his stocking in the morning a 
 jackknife, a Jew's-harp, a piece of Castile-soap, 
 and a string of beads. 
 
 The effort exhibited in these performances to 
 throw off the mental and moral, as well as physical 
 distempers induced by darkness, cold, and dan- 
 gers, was necessary, whether this was the best 
 way to do it or not. The officers, with the su- 
 perior resources of culture, needed them less than 
 the men. In fact, in the cabin, in all these peril- 
 ous, gloomy days, an honest courtesy toward one 
 another was preserved, whatever of brooding 
 home-thoughts and inward forebodings of evil 
 were indulged. 
 
 With the men it was different. The wild voices 
 of the ice and wind ; the strange sounds which 
 issued from the ship ; the sudden terrific ru})ture 
 in the da'-kness, and without a})parent cause, of the 
 hummcck. , <^he cracks, and the dark-rushing 
 
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 262 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 water that filled them, and the wonder-working 
 freaks of refraction, all stinuilatcd, sickened, and 
 op}jressed their imagination — they were (or the 
 forecastle a day and nightmare dream full of 
 horrors ! 
 
 We are now near the new year of 1851. We 
 are in sight of Ca})e Warrender, the great entering 
 landmark of the northern shores of Lancaster 
 Sound. We are only a few hours of favorable 
 sailing from Bafiin P)ay, and only twenty-four from 
 Grc nland. We have averaged for ten days about 
 five miles a day. We shall soon meet the cross 
 current of the great bay as it strikes that which 
 rushes out of the sound, and then will our situa- 
 tion l)e more critical perhai)S than ever. Our 
 trust is in Ciod. 
 
 The new year, 185 1, came in gloomily in spite 
 of an extra dinner and efforts to,be merry. By the 
 middle of January we noticed the unmistakable 
 evidence that we were in Bafiin ]^ay. Our knap- 
 sacks, sledges, India-rultber boat, and general 
 " traveling outfit," were in momentary readiness. 
 We put the frozen bear meat and some barrels of 
 bread on the floe for the emergency. But a sud- 
 den rupture of the ice swept them all away. So 
 after that we kept in readiness our stock of provis- 
 ions intended for the sledges on deck. 
 
 On the second of February the full disk of the 
 sun appeared at a (juarter before eleven. Al- 
 though he rose but to set, yet the stream of light 
 which heralded his coming and that which lin- 
 gered after his departure, as well as his pres- 
 
De Haven 's Wondtrful Drift. 263 
 
 ence, cheered every heart, and sent new iife 
 through the sliii). \\'e kiu-w he wouhl tarry longer 
 at each coming until he came to stay. 
 
 Sirius, no jjale dog-star in these arctic regions, 
 is resplendent in beauty. As it rises from its 
 banked horizon the fun-loving refraction plays 
 with it nightly freaks. Its colors are blue, crim- 
 son, and white. Now its shape is oval, now hour- 
 glass, and then square. It goes out into blank 
 darkness, and then flashes into life. It plays the 
 revolving light, as if it would attract and then 
 evade our notice. Beautiful, solacing, hope-in- 
 spiring Sirius ! Welcome observer of our dreary 
 
 , \ 
 
 voyage 
 
 1'o-day, the 25th of February, Dr. Kane caught, 
 in his reindeer hood, a bug I Its sole sign of life 
 was a feeble wriggle. Nothing which shares our 
 principle of vitality, save a seal and a fox, has 
 greeted us for months. The hardy sea-fowls are 
 far away. Even the raven, that dismal croaker, 
 dark bird of even arctic winter, clings to the dis- 
 tant in-shore deserts. "The terns are gone, and 
 so are the musquitoes ! There are no bugs in the 
 blankets, no nits in the hair, no maggots in the 
 cheese ! No specks of life glitter in the sunshine, 
 no sounds of it float upon the air. We are without 
 a single instinct of living thing ! " 
 
 It was now early spring. We fflt that our icy 
 bonds must soon be loosened, and that we should 
 want both shii)S in the best possible repair. The 
 *' Rescue " had been handled with especial sever- 
 ity ; her stern-post was battered away, her bow- 
 
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 264 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 sprit knocked off, and her bottom roughly beaten. 
 Our nic-n made out of her ice-b(id a dry dock ! 
 They dui,^ a i)it about her within eighteen inches 
 of the bottom of her keel, thus giving clear access 
 to her bottom. In three days of hard and earnest 
 work she was in good condition, ready for the 
 word of command from her gallant captain. 
 
 From this time onward hope grew stronger 
 with us, with the increasing length of the day- 
 light and the increasing signs of spring. The 
 birds came and greeted us with their harsh but 
 welcome notes. Seals thrust their heads through 
 the ice and played in the pools of water, often to 
 their sorrow, as the fatal bullet pierced them, but 
 to the joy of our scurvy-smitten men. The curious 
 narwhals puffed and snorted in the water oi)en- 
 ings, (3ur old friend, the bear, whom we had so 
 often loved, even unto his death, afforded us oc- 
 casion for several exciting and perilous incidents. 
 
 On the 24th of April the officers and crew of 
 the "Rescue" were ordered to their own ship. 
 She had been put in good internal trim, and the 
 fires had blazed in her stoves for several days. 
 
 June opened refreshingly. The air was warm, 
 the breeze agreeable. The snow-birds in increas- 
 ing numbers visited our deck, and delighted us 
 with their sweet jargon. They are confiding little 
 creatures, approaching our very feet. 
 
 Open water is in view from the top of a high 
 hummock, and is rapidly coming nearer. 
 
 On the 5th the long-waited-for break up came. 
 A grand swell of the sea under the ice caused it 
 
Dc llavcii s ll'outi.ifii/ Pi iff. 
 
 265 
 
 to rise and fall in jj,rcal waves. Tlie disruption 
 ( ainc suddcnl)', and with tciTifM' force. It shat- 
 tered our i( e-raft as window-ghiss was shattered 
 by the careless halls of our boyhocxl. But a heavy 
 fragnient clunL^ to our stern for three days, in 
 which it was cradled, holding it several feet out 
 of water, and keeping our deck in its old inclined 
 plane. We thrust at it, drilled and sawed it, until 
 at last it sli[)i)ed awa\', and we were on an even 
 keel I .l'\)r five days frc^ni the disrui)tion we 
 fought our way slowly through hea\'y floating ice. 
 ( )n the lolli, with a great sea, a press of sail, and 
 a spanking bree/e, we bore away for (ireenland. 
 The ne.Kt morning its shores were in sight. 
 
 Mow wonderful had been our esca})e from fatal 
 accidents at the moment of breaking uj). Dr. 
 Kane had been in the haliit of taking long and 
 solitary walks ui)t)n the ice, miles from the ship. 
 He had greased his boots for a walk a few hours 
 before the change, and would have been off but 
 for an absorbing interest in a bo(jk he was reading. 
 
 The commander of the " Rescue " was on board 
 the " Advance " when the shock which unfettered 
 us came. He rushed homeward, leaping the ice- 
 cracks, Avhich opened immediately behind him 
 in impassable chasms, reached his deck safely, and 
 waved us an adieu. 
 
 How wonderful, too, had been our drift I con- 
 tinuing throuiih nearlv nine months of time, and 
 
 more than a thousand nr 
 
 Ics O 
 
 f distance I \'et 
 
 we 
 
 were safe, and, though scurvy-smitten, ready to 
 
 renew the fight, along the western coast of Green- 
 17 
 
 ill 
 111'' 
 
 I;'- 
 
 
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 266 
 
 Arctic IIlkuks. 
 
 land — the old, |)erilous track — int(i tlic north 
 water, throuj^h Lancaster Sound and I^arrow 
 ^ Strait, u\) ^A'ellington Channel, and thus renew and 
 finish the search for Franklin! Ml this we at- 
 tempted to do ! We fouL;;ht ice and cold again 
 until August 19, reaching North Haftin Bay. Here, 
 cri))pled, scurvy-ridden, and haflled at every turn, 
 tlie game of another Wellington Channel search 
 jjlayed out I We could honorably show the white 
 feather and turn toward New York, where we 
 arrived September 30, 1H51, and were welcomed 
 on the pier by our noble friend, Henry Grinnell. 
 
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TJi€ North-ivest Passiii^c Discovered. 267 
 
 'k 
 
 CHAPIKR XXIII. 
 
 TllK NORTH-\Vi:ST PASSAGE DISCOVKKKD. 
 
 T\\\\ Iln^^lish fleet, whose career we have 
 noticed, saihng under Austin, Sir Jolin Ross, 
 and Penny, returned home, as we have seen, the 
 same fall in which l)e Haven reached New Vork. 
 iJut other explorers were still in the arctic ice. 
 Let us glance at their history. 
 
 The well-tried ami s])lendidly eciuipped shii)s, 
 " Enterprise "and '* Investigator," were di>pat( hcd 
 to Bering Strait, starting January 10, 1S50. It 
 was commanded by Captain Richard Collinson, 
 in the "Enterprise," Cajjtaiii Robert M'Clurc 
 commanding in the "Investigator." j'hey were 
 commissioned to find Sir John Franklin, and, by 
 sailing from the I'acific easterly to the Atlantic, 
 to prove the north-west i)assage. The ships were 
 separated befo e reaching liering Strait, and did 
 not again meet. We shall give the story of 
 M'Clure, as his voyage was one of deejjly inter- 
 esting results. 
 
 It will be recollected that no ship had sailed far 
 into the ice from this point. Ihit boat and sledge 
 parties from various points had explored great 
 distances along the coast. M'Clure met the 
 "Plover" at the edge of the ice-field, which had 
 been stationed there with supplies; he also fell \\\ 
 
 
 
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 26S 
 
 Arctic 11i.koi:s. 
 
 with the " ITcrahl," \vlii<h < amc annually to renew 
 llic provisic^ns of the " IMover." I'Vom these he 
 received tliree athlitional men and a(kliti()ns to 
 liis stores, and then {jhini^cd into the ire. lie 
 thus devoutly notes this fact in his journal : " I 
 consider that we have said adieu to the world for 
 the next two years. May that ami which has con- 
 du< ted us so far in safety still continue in jjrotec- 
 tion iijx)!! a service where all else is Aveakness 
 indeed I " 
 
 While fighting the ice they were entertained by 
 htids of walruses, some of which weighed, they 
 thought, thirty-five hundretl jiounds. 'I'he moth- 
 ers were attended by their babies. The sj^orts- 
 men immediatelv seized their u;uns to send the 
 fatal bullets among them. Jlut so tender did the 
 mothers seem toward their great babes, and so 
 playful and confiding were these oflsi)ring, that 
 M'Clure waved his hand authoritatively, saying: 
 " Don't fire, men! it's too bad!" and none were 
 killed. 
 
 The next incident of interest was the meeting 
 of three Ks(]uimo by a boat's crew which had 
 tione ashore. Thev were verv timid, havinn never 
 seen shii)s or white men Ijcfore. Al'Clure had 
 taken a Moravian by the name of Mierching as an 
 interpreter, who had been many years a mission- 
 ary to the Es(}uimo of Labrador. He sui.ceeded 
 in allaying their fears, and when the parties had 
 rubbed noses good feeling was established. The 
 captain gave them letters to be delivered to any 
 white men they might meet, containing dispatches 
 
o renew 
 best' he 
 tions to 
 r.e. He 
 nal: "1 
 •oriel for 
 h;is con- 
 , l)rotcc- 
 /cakness 
 
 iiinecl by 
 cd, tliey 
 le niolh- 
 j sjjorts- 
 send the 
 r (lid the 
 
 and so 
 nL^, I hat ■ 
 
 saying : 
 )nc were 
 
 meeting 
 lich had 
 ng never 
 lire had 
 ing as an 
 niission- 
 icceeded 
 rtics had 
 :i\. The 
 d to any 
 ispatchcs 
 
 77/1' Xort/i-Wi'st /\issiigt' Discovircd. 2()9 
 
 to the home authorities. Tiitse letters reached 
 their dcstinaticjn, though not until later inforni;i- 
 tion from the e.\i)edili<jn had come to lianil trom 
 another source. 
 
 Later they had Ks(|uimo vihitors in great num- 
 bers, who came off to the shijjs in their kayaks. 
 When they had examined the ship and their curi- 
 osity was somewhat satisfied, they commenced an 
 animated trade. They had salmon to sell, and were 
 especially desirous to obtain tobacco. Seeing the 
 sailors cut this article up before trading, a new 
 thought seemed to be suggested to the natives, 
 Avhich run in this wise : 'i'hese strangers cut up 
 the tobacco to get much for a small piece. Why 
 not cut our fish up! So at it they went, cutting 
 up the salmon until prevented by the white men. 
 
 Stealing was an easy accom])lishmcnt of the 
 Es([uimo along this coast as wll as elsewhere. 
 While Captain M'Clure was jiutting a present into 
 the right hand of a chief he felt his left robbing 
 his pocket. On being exposed the chief laughed, 
 and all his people laughed, esteeming it a good 
 joke ; and so much did they seem to enjoy it th;)t 
 the white men laughed too. 
 
 The farther the ex])lorers sailed east the more 
 shy and hostile the natives were. This was owing, 
 it was thought, to the fights constantly going on 
 between them and the wandering Indians who 
 visited their coast, and begat in them a bad tem- 
 per. But Mr. Mierching always succeeded in 
 bringing them to the nose rubbing, after which 
 matters went smoothly. In one case a brawny 
 
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 Arctic IIkkoes. 
 
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 chief was immensely i)leased with some gaudy 
 gifts. Connt'cting his good luck with Mr. Micr- 
 chiii!''. he endeavored to bribe him to make his 
 home among them. To succeed in this he brouglit 
 forward a blooming young daughter, and offered 
 her in marriage. He even jjrondsed to throw in, 
 to enlumce the bargain, a tent and *' fixings." He 
 was most crestfallen because his offer was refused. 
 
 IJy the usual sawing, smashing, dodging in and 
 out of leads, going back and then forward, Caj)- 
 tain M'C'lure found, by observations taken on the 
 ninth of September, that he was only sixty mile:, 
 from a ])oint in iJarrow Strait to which several 
 explorers liad sailed from Lancaster Sound. He 
 writes; "Can it be ])ossible that this water com- 
 municates with barrow Strait, and shall jirove the 
 long-sought north-west passage! Can it be that 
 so humble a creature as I am will l)e penniited to 
 ])erform what has baffled the letUed and wise for 
 hundreds of years! IJnt all j)raise be ascribed 
 unto Him who has conducted us so far in safety! 
 ris ways are not our wa\s, nor ;hc means he uses 
 within our comprehension. T'le wisdom of the 
 world is foolishness with Him." 
 
 They were now in Prince of Wales Strait, and, 
 on the sixteenth, were within thirty miles of open 
 sea. through whic Ii they hoped to dash, and soon 
 reacli the familiar waters of Lancaster Sound, 
 Baffin Hay. the Atlantic, and the ]''.nglish ("hr.nnel, 
 where, with " north-west passage accomphshed " 
 inscribed on their tla;.', \\tMltli and fame awaited 
 them ! IMease do, your Majesty of the Ice Seep- 
 
f 
 
 : gaudy 
 r. Micr- 
 
 lake his 
 brought 
 
 offered 
 irow in, 
 s." He 
 refused. 
 
 in and 
 "d, Ca])- 
 i on the 
 tv mile:, 
 
 se\ eral 
 id. He 
 jr coni- 
 •ove tlie 
 lie that 
 litted to 
 wise for 
 is( ribed 
 
 safety! 
 
 he uses 
 
 of the 
 
 lit, :nul, 
 of ojjen 
 nd soon 
 Sound, 
 'hr.nnel, 
 .hshed " 
 awaited 
 2 Seep- 
 
 Tlie XortJi-ivcst Passage Discovered. 27 1 
 
 ter. grant us the small favor of a few weeks of cdear 
 sailing! lUit his majesty waved his scepter in 
 grim defiance, closed the leads, chained the 
 " Investigator " to an icy raft, and set her back 
 twenty-four miles in three Hays ! Here, after 
 harassing anxiety, many nii)s, frequent threats of 
 sinking and crushing, the "Investigator" was fast 
 \\-\ the tloe for winter. 
 
 On the twenty-sixth of October M 'dure made 
 a sledge journey, with a i)arty of his men, toward 
 Melville Island. After much toil and the usual 
 perils the water was d scovered, from the top of a 
 hill six hundred feet above the sea, whic:h washed 
 its shores. He had seen ihe nonh-west jjassage. 
 From a point of land u[)on which he was looking, 
 Parry, th.irty years before, had sailed home tnrough 
 Ikifti'i Bay. 
 
 In returning M'Clure came near i)erishing. 
 Having seen some bearings ahead from which he 
 felt confident he could make the ship, he started 
 off ahead of his men, thinking to get ready for 
 them a good supper on their arrival. When within 
 six miles of the ship night shut in, at the same 
 time a mist obscured every thing, which was fol- 
 lowed liy a fierce storm of blinding snow. He 
 climbed upon a hummock of ice whose elevated 
 flat top would give, he thought, a good position to 
 see the lights of his men if they passed, or of the 
 ship, if the mist cleared away. .After waiting an 
 hour he saw the glare through the mist of a blue 
 light. He fired to attract attention. Waiting a 
 little and perceiving no signs of approaching men. 
 
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 2/2 Arctic Hkroes, 
 
 he fired his only remaining charge of powder. 
 He listened, hoi)ing the shij) would answer, but no 
 cheering res])()nse broke the gloom. Once more 
 the blue light of the sledge j)arty dimly flashed 
 through the mist, nf)w at a grt^ater distance, and 
 then his hope from them vanished. Two more 
 hours passed ; he then, in fumbling in his ))Ocket 
 found a single lucifcr match. With this he en- 
 deavored to see the fice ol" his pocket-compass, 
 but it fizzed out and left him in total darkness. 
 It was half-jKist eight o'clock and there were 
 eleven more hours ot darkness; the cold was 15° 
 below zero, l)ears were jjrowling about, and he 
 was without a charge for his gun. lie hoped that 
 the sledge ])arty would reach the ship, and, finding 
 he had not come in, search would be made and 
 help arri\e. lie walkeel to and ivo up )n the 
 hummock until he t!H)ught it was about eleven 
 o'clock, and tiien that hope fled. Slipping down 
 from his slab ot' ice he landed under its lee in a bed 
 of soft, drv snow. I'eing thoroughly tired, he fell 
 asleep nnd slept soundlv. it was a sleej) like that 
 into which man\' under such ( ircumstances ha\e 
 fiUen, to be followed b\ the sleep (jf death. I'.ut 
 MTlure awoke retVeshed, nnd opened his eyes 
 upon a skv glittering wiih stars and illuminated 
 with the aurora borealis. He could see no shij), 
 and so he stumbled about among the hummocks 
 for several more hours. When the daylight ap- 
 
 pe 
 
 ared he had the mortification to see that ht 
 
 W^ 
 
 passed near the ship in the night, and walked 
 awav from it nearlv four miles. 
 
were 
 
 sluj), 
 nocks 
 
 The North-west Passage Discovered. 273 
 
 Returnin£i, he reached the '' Imesiicrator " wcarv 
 and hungry, but not otherwise the worse for a 
 night in tlie snow in 73 ' north hititude. The 
 sledge arrived a few hours hiter all right. 
 
 While M'Clure was absent, his men left with the 
 shi') had been grandly successful in hunting. An 
 attack on a herd of musk-oxen had brought down 
 three bulls, a cow, and a calf. These gave tweh e 
 hundred and ninety-six pounds of solid meat. 
 'I'he land explorers dcnvn the Mackei/.ie, of an 
 earlier date, esteemed musk-o\ an offense to the 
 stomach as well as the nose. l!ut i)rol)al)ly they 
 were not so hungry for fresh meat as was M'C'Jure's 
 men. 
 
 When the spring of 1851 ranu\ wide ranges of 
 Country, both sea and land, were >urvtjyed by 
 sledge-parties. They ga\e o(<a>ion fur many in- 
 cidents of great peril aiid wonderful deli\ eraiue, 
 which we cannot tlelail. While one parly were 
 hunting and ( ampii g in .1 tent, a hunter relumed 
 tired and chilled to within a rcjd or iwo of the 
 tent door. Here he was found, eserv muscle riiiid 
 as he lay stretched upon ihe snow, his mouth 
 open, and his eyes set in his head, but for the 
 providential going out of one of the occupants of 
 the tent, he would have been, in a ^hort time, 
 dead. Faithful and judii:ious trealment brought 
 him to life. He said that though he remembers 
 seeing the tent door, he was so irresistibly im- 
 pelled to sleej) that lie lay down to indulge in a 
 nap. 
 
 At another time a negro having wounded a 
 
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 Akctic Heroes. 
 
 deer, followed i'. to a great distanc-: In returii- 
 ing he fell down exhausted and sleepy. No en- 
 treaties nor shakings of Sergeant Woon, who ac- 
 tomi)anied him, could excite the least ambition to 
 get u]j and walk. Thfuigh the negro was a large, 
 heavy man, Woon strajjped his gun, with which 
 he dare n(jt i)art, to his back, took his arms over 
 his shoulder and heroically started for the ships, 
 many miles distance. At times he obtained relief 
 by sliding his load ahead down the hummocks. 
 He dare not leave him a moment as wolves were 
 prowling around. When within a mile of the ship 
 he became utterly exhausted, and unable to carry 
 him another stej). Laying down the poor fellow, 
 he hastened to the vessel and obtained hel[). The 
 man was safely borne to the care of the surgeon, 
 under whose treatment he was in a few days all 
 right. 
 
 This Sergeant Woon of the marines was a brave, 
 self-possessed hunter. Heing out on one occasion 
 pursuing a wounded deer, he was suddenly con 
 fronted by two musk-bulls. Like all kine of thci'* 
 sex they were fuU of fight, but would have been 
 content perha[)s to be let alone. Ihit Woon, 
 though he had but om.- bullet, put it into one of 
 thein. Wounded antl maddened, he turned upon 
 liis assailant. .As he ai)proached he received the 
 " worm " from the sergeant's gun. This caused a 
 pause, whicli he improved by reloading and using 
 the iron ramrod for a missile. The l;uii by this time 
 was within a few feet of his foe, with his nose to 
 the ground, out of whicl; poured a stream of blood, 
 
,f 
 
 TJic Xurth-wcst Passage Discovered. 2/S 
 
 to return in /lis way the sergeant's complimentary 
 salutations. But the ramrod was too quick and too 
 much for him. It entered behind his left shoulder, 
 passed through his heart, and came out at the right 
 Hank. 
 
 The sergeant returned to the ship and reported 
 venison and beef in temporary sto.age upon the 
 ice for the ship's use. 
 
 ft was late in the summer of 185 1 before the 
 " Investigator's " ice-fetters were loosened, and 
 then, instead of sailing north, she was treated to 
 an ice-bound drift twenty-five miles south. (liv- 
 ing u]> the hope of getting to Melville Island 
 through the channel in which ihey had wintered, 
 M'Clure sailed south, around IJank Land, u[) 
 its western side, and, by hard fighting and nipi)ing, 
 sailed round its northern extremity into Melville 
 Strait, thus actually reaching tht water which 
 made the navigable highway home by the eastern 
 route. The oi)en water of this highway was within 
 the range of a moderate sledge-journey. Of all 
 arctic tantalizing that whicli this expedition now 
 suffered seemed to be the most exciuisitc. The 
 prize was lying at their feet — a prize sought 
 for more than tvvo hundred years but not found — 
 while their hands were ])inioned behind them ! 
 
 M'Clure, seeing his vessel immovably frozen in, 
 prepared for winter, and, thankful to be alive, 
 call'^d the bay in which they were detained the 
 Biy of Mercy. 
 
 The expetlition was put upon short rjtiuns, in 
 view of ?. probable stay in the ice a third winter. 
 
 
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 276 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 Hut game abounded, musk-ox, deer, foxes, and 
 wolves I'-jing plenty. The wolves in the lf)ng 
 dark nights, impelled by hunger, came around the 
 ship and made the hideous night more hitleous 
 bv their howlings. Ravens audaciously made the 
 fan;ily of the strangers their home. They croaked 
 in the rigging, and came under the covering of 
 the ui)per deck. One shrewd fellow tricked a 
 dog out of his meal. He lighted on deck Ijehind 
 him, and, of course, canine left his bone to drive 
 him away. Raven hop|)ed back a few yards at a 
 time and thus enticed the dog some distance away, 
 when he flew back, and gobbled down his dinner 
 before he could return. This became a staple 
 trick of the ravens until the dogs began to " see 
 through it." 
 
 So bold did the wolves become that the men 
 told the story of the s])ortsmen i)ulling at one end 
 of the slain deer and the wolves at the other I 
 
 In Ai)ril, 1S52, M'Clure made a sledge-journey 
 to Winter Harbor, on Melville Island, the winter- 
 ([uarters of Parry in his famous voyage when this 
 region was first made known to the world. 
 M'Clure here found a cairn, under which Jaeuten- 
 ant M'C'lintock had de])osited a notice of his visit 
 the ))revious summer when on a sledge-journey 
 from Austin's steam squadron, which mc ha\e 
 noticed. M'Clure left under the same c ;iirn an 
 account of his visit and present whereabouts. 
 
 On returning to the shi[) they were glad to 
 learn that large additions had been made by the 
 hunter* to their slm k of provi^,ions, lUit the 
 
f 
 
 Tiic Sorth-i^'cst Passa[::c Discovered. 
 
 ■t — -t 
 
 -/ / 
 
 f! 
 
 spring and summer brought no relaxing of the 
 grip of the Ice K.'ng. A third winter in the 15. ly 
 of Mercy became a sure experience, an<l the final 
 abandonment of the " Investigator" (piite |)rol)a- 
 ble. L'nder these circumstances M'Clure assem- 
 bled his men and made known his jjlans. 'I'hey 
 were these : Two parties were to go home in the 
 spring; one by the way of the Mackenzie Ri\er, 
 another by the way of lieechey Island, where, as 
 the record left by MX'lintock on Mel\ ille Island 
 assured them, jirovisions and a boat to take them 
 to the Danish settlements of (Ireenland would be 
 found. As for M'Clure himself he proposed to 
 stay by the ship, with thirty of the strongest men, 
 and remain a fourth winter. He would then re- 
 treat on Lancaster Sound if help did not come 
 sooner. All cheerfuUy agreed to these proposals. 
 
 Spring came, and the preparations to carry for- 
 ward this scheme of escaj)e were matured, and the 
 two parties were about to start. 
 
 How fearfully ])eril(nis the route would jirove to 
 the mouth of the Mackenzie, up its portages, 
 through its deep snow, around its iuijienetrable 
 swamps, and over its many^ manv miles, before 
 reacldng the nearest station of tlu Hudson Dav 
 Company, the reader, recollecting Jolm I'"ranklin's 
 and lliK li'n journeys, well understands The jcirty 
 going cast would fa(~e the cnciiiic-s I )e lf:i\cn had 
 just encountered. M'( 'lure's fourth winter and 
 final esca|ie invoUed gri.-at risk and suflering. 
 The three parlies would be poorly equipped and 
 provisioned 
 
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 Arctic Hi:kol:s. 
 
 The commencement of this movement was de- 
 layed on account of the death of a seaman, the 
 first which liad occurred in the expedition. On 
 the day before his burial the captain and the first 
 lieutenant were walking a short distance from the 
 shij), pensively talking of the state of affairs and 
 seeking an icy grave for their shijjmate. What 
 happened to them, and how all these plans were 
 suddenly confounded as by an invisible hand, we 
 must turn aside to explain. 
 
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was de- 
 lan, the 
 n. On 
 the first 
 rom the 
 lirs and 
 What 
 ns were 
 :ind, we 
 
 T//C Deserted Ships. 
 
 279 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 T HE D E S E R T EI) SHIPS. 
 
 IX the spring of 1852 England sent out the 
 hirgcst exploring fleet that had yet sailed. 
 The names of the vessels will sound familiar to 
 the reader. They were the " Assistance " and 
 " Resolute," with their steamers, the " Pioneer " 
 and "Intrepid," and the "North Star." 'J'he 
 whole were under the command of Captain Edward 
 Belcher. Caj)tain Kellett had command of the 
 " Resolute." The expedition sailed in April. \\\ 
 July it was pushing through the ice of Ikiflin 
 l^ay with a fleet of whalers. There was a lane of 
 water into which the whalers and exploring fleet 
 dropped, forming a long line, the American whaler, 
 " APLellan," leading. The weather was fine, and 
 all seemed going well. On the morning of the 
 seventh word was passed from vessel to vessel 
 that the " M'Lellan " had been caught in a nij) 
 and was sinking, her crew having already aban- 
 doned her. Hearing this, the sailors of the ex- 
 ploring fleet poured into her to take the sinking 
 spoils. But Captain Belcher stopped that play, 
 sent competent hands with powder, who blew up 
 the ice which was crushing her, and set her free. 
 But the next day .?he was nipped again, and this 
 time the water poured into and soon sunk her to 
 
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 280 
 
 Arctic IIkkoks. 
 
 the water's edge, liclchcr sent his men to save all 
 
 that was possiljlc out of her, and she was then 
 bhiwn up to get her (Mit of tlie way of tlie other 
 ships. 
 
 In August the scjuadron reacluMJ its lu-ad- 
 quarters at Heec hey Island. 'I'he waters in every 
 direction were remarkably free from ice. Claptain 
 IJelcher with the *' Assistance," towed bv the 
 " Pioneer," stocxl up Wellington Channel. Captain 
 Kellett in the " Resolute," at the heels of the " In- 
 trej)id," j)ushed forward in an ojjcn sea toward 
 Melville Island. The " North Star " remained at 
 Beechey Island as a stationary store-ship to which 
 escaping boat parties might flee. 
 
 We will follow Kellett's fortunes. 
 
 There was on board the " investigator," which 
 we have just left under M'Clure at Mercy IJay, a 
 young man by the name of Creswell. Mis father's 
 anxiety for his safety led him to wait u\H)n the au- 
 thorities in England just as Relcher was sailing 
 and tender his advice. He told them that if the 
 " Investigator" was beset in the ice west of Mel- 
 ville Island, as he thought she would be, then 
 M'Clure would be sure to reat li .\felville Island 
 by sledges and leave notice of his whereabouts. 
 This Mas deemed good counsel, and now Kellett 
 •was following it under a full liead of steam. We 
 should ha\e said that our old accjuainlance, Lit'U- 
 tenant, now Captain M 'Ciintock, commanded the 
 propeller " Intrepid," who. it will be reineinbered, 
 had been at Melville island with a sledge j^arty 
 the previous year, and examined I'arry's records 
 
"1 
 
 The Deserted Ships 
 
 281 
 
 ()f' tliirly years before, a.id left additional ones of 
 his own. 
 
 This energetic e\i)l()rer soon, with the '* Reso- 
 lute " by the nose, after much thumping of the 
 ice, put both vessels into the vicinity of Melville 
 Island, and they went into winter-(iuarters at 
 Dealy Island, on its south-eastern shore. 
 
 Now came the sledge-jjarty excursions in every 
 direction. A fine resolute young offKH-r by the 
 name of Mecham commanded that which was to 
 tra( e the south line of Melville Island. He had 
 two sledges, named (he T)i!jcovery and tlie l''ear- 
 less, a deposit of provisions which he was to carry 
 t"orward for spring use and enough for twenty-five 
 days' present use. Each sledge bore a little llag, 
 given by home young ladies, with a sword arm on 
 a white ground, and the motto, in Latin, "Over 
 sea, land, and i( e." Over fro/en land, and through 
 .^uich ice and snow, the party sped. On their re- 
 turn, about the middle of ( )( lober. Mecham turned 
 aside to Parry's " Sandstone," and the cairn under 
 which ['arry and M'C'lintock had already left rec- 
 ords, and to which he was commanded to add one 
 of his own. On opening it, and unrolling the 
 parchments, he found M'( 'lure's deposit of April, 
 1852, about six months before! It contained 
 M'Clure's voyaging and the discovery of the north- 
 west passage, and his present position at Mercy 
 Bay. It was tlie first news from his shij) h)r two 
 years, and ^'' h was the anxiety felt concerning 
 him, that t vo vi.'ssels had been sent by way of 
 
 Ilering Str.ii 10 search for the searcher. Here 
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 282 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
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 was news of him not six months old I Here was 
 news, too, of his great discovery not yet known to 
 the world ! Alecham built a new cairn, put into it 
 his own record, and hurried off with his great news. 
 
 Captain Kellett was, of course, intensely de- 
 sirous to send a party forward immediately to 
 search for the ''Investigator." But Mercy Bay 
 was .^ hundred and seventy miles off, and the ice 
 would be too weak for sL'dging, and too strong 
 for boating until the darkness would prevent 
 either. So they spent the winter as best they 
 could. In March, while yet the peril of sledging 
 was great, a party started, consisting of eleven 
 men, under the command of Lieutenant Pim, 
 This officer was in the *' Herald," under Kellett, 
 when she met M'Clure in the ice at Bering Strait, 
 So he had been one of the last men who had said 
 " good-bye " to the officers of the " Investigator." 
 
 He had now started with two sledges, the larger 
 with seven men under his immediate command, 
 and the smaller with two men under Dr. Domville. 
 
 Very slowly, and with great peril and toil, they 
 made one hundred miles from the ship. Then 
 the larger sledge, in slipping from a hummock, 
 broke down. Here was a desperate state of the 
 expedition ! Domville advised a return with the 
 smaller sledge. But Pim, after due deliberation, 
 decided to take the dog-sledge and the two men, 
 and push on, while Domville went into camp on 
 the nearest land and waired his return, repairing 
 in the mean time, if possible, the sledge. 
 
 On sped Pim with his dogs, which he fed with 
 
 
The Deserted Ships. 
 
 283 
 
 preserved meat. One whole day he was sick and 
 confined to the tent. They met with no game, yet 
 onward they went. Weary days passed, and at 
 last the Bay of Mercy was gained,'but no " In- 
 vestigator " could be seen. Straight across the 
 bay went Pirn, hoping to find a cairn and records. 
 At two o'clock the men saw something black in the 
 distance. Pim took his glass and looked. " Men, 
 it's a ship ! "he exclaimed, and all rushed forward. 
 Pim soon got ahead, and saw two men walking slow- 
 ly toward him. Pim ran and shouted and threw up 
 his arms; as the wind and excitement prevented 
 his words being heard, he was at first taken by the 
 two men for one of their own party fleeing from a 
 bear. As he came nearer, and they saw his face, 
 black with the lamp smoke of his tent, and his 
 violent gesticulation, they took him for an Esqui- 
 mo, or a visitor from another world. Soon they 
 heard. "I'm Lieutenant Pim, late of the 'Her- 
 ald,' now in the ' Resolute.' Captain Kellett is 
 in her at Dealy Island." 
 
 Pim was instantly in the presence of M'Clure 
 and his lieutenant. Their hearts were too full for 
 words, and the hardy navigators melted to tears. 
 M'Clure says: ''The announcement of relief be- 
 ing close at hand when none was supposed to be 
 within the arctic circle was too sudden, unex- 
 pected, 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, leaped from their hammocks ; 
 the artificers dropped their tools, and the lower 
 
 
 
284 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 .t-fj 
 
 ' I 
 
 m 
 
 deck was cleared of men, for they all rushed for 
 the hatchway, to be assured that a stranger was 
 actually among them, and that his tale was true. 
 Despondency fled the ship, and Lieutenant Pirn 
 received a welcome, i)ure, hearty, and grateful, 
 that he surely will remember and cherish to the 
 end of his days." 
 
 Pim and his men, accompanied by M'Clure, re- 
 turned in a few days. They found Dr. Domville and 
 his party in good condition, having mended the 
 sledge and killed five musk-oxen. All arrived 
 safely at the harbor of the " Resolute " and " In- 
 trepid." 
 
 For about two months communication was kept 
 up between Dealy Island and Mercy Bay, and 
 much consultation of the officers was held as to 
 the course M'Clure should take. Captain Kellett 
 at first favored M'Clure's ])lan of staying by the 
 ship with a crew of the most hardy men. But a 
 council of the surgeons pronounced the sanitary 
 condition of the men as low and tending down- 
 ward. Three arctic winters had made the robust 
 puny. Only four among the healthy seamen 
 came forward when asked to volunteer to stay, 
 though the officers all voted to stand by the ship. 
 In view of all these circumstances, it was decided 
 to abandon the brave old " Investigator." Her 
 boats, provisions, and equipments generally, were 
 landed, and a well-guarded deposit was made of 
 them for the use of Collinson, of the " Enter- 
 prise," who was supposed to be pushing for these 
 waters; or for Franklin himself, should he or any 
 
 »t 
 
TJic Deserted SJiips. 
 
 285 
 
 hed for 
 ^er was 
 as true, 
 nt Pirn 
 ;rateful, 
 I to the 
 
 are, rc- 
 ille and 
 ied the 
 arrived 
 id " In- 
 
 as kept 
 ly, and 
 d as to 
 Kellett 
 
 by the 
 But a 
 sanitary 
 ; down- 
 ; robust 
 seamen 
 ;o stay, 
 le ship, 
 iecided 
 " Her 
 y, were 
 lade of 
 ' Enter- 
 )r these 
 
 or any 
 
 of his expedition be alive and drifting toward 
 Mercy P.ay. On the third of June, 1853, the 
 colors wefe thrown to the breeze, and officers and 
 crew bade farewell to tlie " Investigator." 
 
 It seemed an ignominious ending of her noble 
 career to be left alone in the darkness, cold, and 
 dreariness of this arctic region, to hear no sounds 
 of life except those of the croaking raven, the 
 howling wolf, -^.nd the barking fox. But we i)re- 
 sume her retiiing men, glad to save their own 
 lives by a wonderful deliverance, indulged in no 
 sickly sentiment over the vessel. 
 
 In a few weeks the sixty men of the " Investi- 
 gator " were comfortably settled on board the 
 "Resolute" and "Intrepid," in the midst of 
 abundance and good companionship. Lieutenant 
 Creswell, whose father had prompted the plan 
 which had saved the expedition in which he sailed, 
 was sent to Beechey Island with disj^atches for the 
 home authorities. When he arrived at the island 
 the " Phoenix " had just arrived with supplies for 
 Belcher, having left home in the spring. \w her 
 he sailed to England, where he arrived in Octo- 
 ber, and was cordially greeted. H : hkd not only 
 seen the north-west passage but had gone through it. 
 
 Kellett, having by sledge parties s. arched in 
 vain, far and near, fc traces of Franklin, made 
 arrangements to take his ships to Beechey Island. 
 It was now inidsummer, and the ice miglit break 
 up at any time. Me built a storehouse on the 
 island, and having filled it with provisions left in 
 it this record : — 
 
i! 
 I 4 
 
 
 i ■ 
 
 n 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 286 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 " This is a house wliich I have named the Sail- 
 or's Home, under the es])e(Mal jjatronage of my 
 Lords Commissioners of the A(hiiiralty. //err 
 royal sailors and mariners are fed, clothed, and 
 receive double pay for inhabiting it." 
 
 The ice did not let the vessels go until the mid- 
 dle of August. They sailed twenty-four hours 
 and then it held them fast again. The days of 
 summer wore a,way and winter api)roached, and 
 still no oi)en sea, nor even leads through which 
 they might bore, appeared. Game was plenty, 
 musk-oxen especially ; of this highly fragrant beef 
 they obtained and froze ten thousand pounds. 
 In September a gale i^iled the ice-pack about 
 them, made an island of their ice encasement, and 
 set them drifting whither thev would not. Hav- 
 ing toyed with them two whole months, they were 
 let alone for the winter in a good position due 
 east from Winter Harbor, and in longitude ioi° 
 west. Here, in tolerable comfort, the spring of 
 1854 found them, one only having died. 
 
 In the early part of the spring M'Clure went 
 with his men, on sledges, to Beechey Island and 
 took possession of the store-ship. Soon after an 
 order came from Belcher commanding Kellett to 
 abandon his ships and come to Beechey Island. 
 Kellett remonstrated, saying that his position was 
 a good one for an early escape ; that he had a 
 plenty of supj^lies; that the exp(idition was in 
 good health, and that parties concerned in desert- 
 ing ships under such circumstances "would de- 
 serve to have the jackets taken off their backs." 
 
The Deserted Ships. 
 
 287 
 
 Belcher seems to have considered tliis stroncr talk 
 for a subordinate, and he sent a i)erenii)t()ry order 
 to abandon the ships. Two of Kellett's sledge 
 parties were out on distant surveys. Leaving 
 orders for their guidance, he prepared his vessels 
 for abandonment. The engines of tlie " Intrepid " 
 were so left that the ship could be got under 
 steam in two hours. Both vessels were well pro- 
 visioned, and made ready, in every respect, for 
 occupation. He then calked down the hatches, 
 all hands took their last look of the " Resolute" 
 and " Intrepid," and started on their sledge jour- 
 ney. They arrived at Beechey Island safely, 
 utterly surprising M'Clure and his men. 
 
 During all of the time in which we have been 
 following the expedition of Kellett, Captain Belcher 
 was surveying Wellington Channel and its adjacent 
 waters. He had wintered in the ice, and extended 
 his search, fall and spring, by sledge parties. In 
 August of this year, 1854, his ships, the "Assist- 
 ance " and " Pioneer," were liberated. He imme- 
 diately pushed for Beechey Island, Waters about 
 this island were at the same time navigable, and 
 the leads extended fifteen miles up the channel. 
 There was a belt of ice only twenty miles wide 
 between his ships and this open highway home- 
 ward, and this belt was much cracked. Yet Cap- 
 tain Belcher was intent on hurrying home, with 
 seeming impatience of all arctic restraints. He 
 abandoned his ships on the twenty-sixth of Au- 
 gust, and all hands made their way to Beechey 
 Island. The sledge parties came in, one after 
 
! 
 
 I : . 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■• 
 
 li^ 
 
 288 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 another. The spirited Mecham had extended his 
 survey across the track of the " Enterprise," com- 
 manded by Captain Collin son, the consort, it will 
 Ije recollected, of the " Investigator." He was, 
 in 1852, net far in the rear of M'Clure. 
 
 The sledges being all in, the officers and crews 
 of the five ships, the " Investigator," " Resolute," 
 "Intrepid," "Assistance," and "Pioneer," were 
 put on board the " North Star," and the sails were 
 spread for home. Just then the " IMioenix," re- 
 turned from her home trij) with Lieutenant Cres- 
 well, accompanied by the " Talbot," both under 
 Captain Inglefield, hove in sight, rounding Cape 
 Riley. The men were then distributed in the 
 three ships. On the twenty-eighth of September 
 they landed safely in England. 
 
 A breeze, of course, was raised by Belcher's 
 extraordinary feat of leaving four of his five ships 
 behind him. He was court-martialed, acquitted, 
 and knighted. M'Clure received the knighting 
 without the court-martialing, and upon him and 
 his officers and men were bestowed the fifty thou- 
 sand dollars offered by the Government for the 
 discovery of the north-west passage. M'Clure's 
 superior officer, Collinson, brought his ship, the 
 " Enterprise," back through the waters he had 
 entered. Nothing had been added to the hints 
 which had been found by Austin at Beechey Isl- 
 and, in the early searching, to the knowledge of 
 Franklin's fate. The well-guarded dominions of 
 ice and cold still held their sad secret. 
 
 Some of our readers will recollect the remarka- 
 
TJic Deserted SJiips, 
 
 289 
 
 Ige of 
 
 ble later history of the veteran '* Resolute," one 
 of these al^andonecl shii)s. \Ve can but glance at 
 it. In 1855 Captain lUiddington, of New Lon- 
 don, Conn., in the whale-shij) ''(ieorge Henry," 
 found the " Resolute," imbedded in an ice-raft, 
 drifting through Baftin Uay. vShe had already 
 made twelve hundred miles of her homeward trij). 
 There was some ice in her hold; mold and damp 
 had damaged some things, but otherwise she was 
 essentially as Kellett had left her. (lood fires in 
 her stoves removed the dampness and melted the 
 ice, and her fine force-j)umi)s removed the water. 
 Her rigging was repaired, and some new sails set. 
 In a few days she freec herself from the ice, and 
 Captain Ikiddington, with ten i)icked men from the 
 "George Henry," arrived safely with her in New 
 London the twenty-fourth of December after a 
 rough passage of over two months. The En- 
 glish authorities relinquished all claims upon her. 
 Congress then purchased her of the owners of 
 the "George Henry," and she was i)ut into the 
 naval dock at Brooklyn and thoroughly repaired. 
 Every article left in her by Kellett was restored. 
 She was then manned by a naval crew and put in 
 command of Captain Hartstein, and, '' with sails 
 all set and streamers all afloat," she bore away for 
 her English home. When she reached British 
 waters she was honored as a veteran covered with 
 scars returning from many victorious battle-fields. 
 The highest naval officers hastened on board of 
 her. The queen herself paid her a visit. Com- 
 plimentary ensigns fluttered from every flag-staff. 
 
i,H 
 
 I 
 
 Ml 
 
 /) 
 
 » » 
 
 « ' 
 
 t 
 
 4 
 
 'i 
 
 
 290 
 
 Arctic Hkkoes. 
 
 Cannon thundered their noisy welcome in every 
 direction. Tlie i)ulse c*" the whole nation beat 
 with joy. The (jueen sent a distinguished artist 
 to put the " reception " on canvas for the royal 
 gallery. 
 
 The American officers who brought her home 
 were made the nation's guest, with such hospitality 
 as few if any strangers ever received. The sea- 
 men under them had substantial remembrance 
 from the queen's private purse. Old England 
 and the younger England of America met for 
 once with hearty congratulations. 
 
 The " Resolute '" herself retired on her laurels, 
 it is j)resumed, henceforth, if not knighted and 
 pensioned, yet exempt from further labor and 
 peril. 
 
 m- 
 
 I 
 
 ^^1 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 ,1 
 
 .1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 ^■i 
 
 ^ ■ 
 
 ■J 
 
 i 
 
 ■ 
 ■ 
 
Sir JoJin Franklin 's Fate. 
 
 291 
 
 in every 
 ion beat 
 ed artist 
 he royal 
 
 er home 
 )spitaUty 
 rhe sea- 
 mbrance 
 England 
 met for 
 
 " laurels, 
 itcd and 
 bor and 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE FATE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 
 
 SHORTLY after the return of T.eh her and 
 M'Clure a new sensation was given to the 
 interest attending the fate of Sir John Franklin. 
 
 Dr. Rae, a veteran exi)lorer in the employment 
 oft he Hudson Bay Company, ]jublished a letter in 
 the Montreal " Herald " of October 21, 1854, di- 
 rected to the governor of that company. Its sub- 
 stance was as follows : — 
 
 In the spring of 1853 the doctor started down the 
 Back, or Great Fish River On reaching its mouth 
 he went east and north, being directed to extend 
 the survey of the western shore of Boothia, a region 
 toward which we have sailed with Parry when on 
 his second voyage. Flere he met with Esquimo 
 who seemed intelligent above the average of their 
 countrymen. In the possession of these natives 
 were various articles at once recognized as be- 
 longing to the lost ex]jlorers ! Here there was a 
 clew to the secret which had caused many hearts 
 to ache, to reveal which two great nations had 
 long been devoting large treasures, and the serv- 
 ices of their best men. Rae, of course, bent all 
 his energies to the following up of the clew thus 
 given. Falling in with Esquimo hunters from 
 time to time, he ascertained' that nearly all of 
 
'A 
 
 hi 
 
 I i 
 
 II I 
 
 ii 
 
 ( » 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 1 
 
 ' ) 
 
 ■ ( 
 
 ^11 
 
 ■U 
 
 I j.i^i 
 
 rft. 
 
 Ii m 
 
 292 
 
 Arctic IIi-.koes. 
 
 tlu'in had heard of tlic party of white men from 
 whom these articles had been obtained. The 
 amount of the information obtaineil by comi)aring 
 these statements was in substance this: — 
 
 In the spring, four winters ago, (i(S5o,) several 
 I'lscpiihio families were hunting seal on the north 
 shore of a large island. The ishind was many 
 days' journ-.'y to the west and beyond a great river. 
 ])r. Rae at once underst(M){l tliis to be what was 
 known as King William's Land. While these Es- 
 quimo were thus em])loyed ihey saw forty white 
 men traveling to the south over the ice, along the 
 west sh()r(,' of t' island. 'I'hey v.ere dragging a 
 boat and sledges. They looked very thin, were 
 getting short of provisions, and were going south 
 where they could shoot deer. They could not 
 talk in th.e Escjuimo language, but they contrived 
 to purchase some seals of the natives, and to make 
 known the fact that their ship or ships had been 
 crushed by the ice. Eater in the season, but be- 
 fore the breaking up of the ice, the dead bodies 
 of thirty persons and some graves were seen on 
 the main land, and other bodies on an island near 
 it. These bodies were a day's journey from the 
 mouth of a great river, ((ireat Fish River,) and to 
 the north-west of it. Some of the bodies were in 
 a tent or tents. Some were under a boat which 
 had been turned up to shelter them. One of the 
 men had a telescoi)e strapped over his shoulder, 
 and his double-barreled gun lay underneath him. 
 It was no doubt that of an ofticer. Sad evidence 
 was given from the mutilated state of some of the 
 
Sir yoJui Frauklin's Fatf 
 
 293 
 
 icn from 
 1. The 
 mparing 
 
 ) several 
 he north 
 lis many 
 jat river. 
 ,-hat was 
 hese Es- 
 (y white 
 ilong the 
 agging a 
 lin, were 
 ng south 
 Duld not 
 ontrived 
 
 to make 
 lad been 
 , but be- 
 d bodies 
 
 seen on 
 ind near 
 from the 
 ,) and to 
 ; were in 
 at which 
 le of the 
 ihoulder, 
 ath him. 
 evidence 
 le of the 
 
 bodies, md the contents of the kettles, tliat the 
 wr^itched survivors had l)een driven to the des- 
 perate resort of feeding upon the llesh of their 
 fellow-comrades. Some had survived until the 
 sea-fowl began to return, maybe till the end of 
 May, for shots were heard, and feathers and fresh 
 bones of birds were found near some of the 
 bodies. 
 
 Rae purchased as many mementos of the sad 
 facts as he could bring away; they were at the 
 same time assurances of tne truth of the tales 
 which had been told him. Among these were 
 parts of watches, telescojies, cov'^jjasses, and guriS, 
 all of which had evidently beeri hiuken up by the 
 ignorant natives. Silver s}>ouns, silver tal)le-t'«irks, 
 and other tal)le plate were obtained. Some of 
 these were engraved with Franklin's name ; others 
 with the names of liis officers. In some cases the 
 names of the ships, *' Erebus " or " Terror," were 
 added. 
 
 Dr. Rae immediately hastened to England. 
 The iiXt?. of Sir John Franklin and his entire ex- 
 pedition was regarded as decided, and Dr. Rae 
 and his men received the offered reward of fifty 
 thousand dollars as the first discoverers of the 
 sad fact. 
 
 The English Government considered it morally 
 impossible that any one of the expedition should 
 be alive, and declined to peril the lives of other 
 brave met/, by encouraging further search. Ikit 
 Lady F'ranklin devoted all her available remain- 
 in.^ fortune for one more search to be directed to 
 
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 ill 
 
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it 
 
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 I:} 
 
 I'fJ 
 
 i3 
 
 4r 
 
 
 tu 
 
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 t. 
 
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 ■ I*. 
 
 'I; i 
 
 204 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 the very region named by the Esquimo. Others 
 came forward to aid in the expense. A steam- 
 propeller yacht of one hundred and seventy tons 
 was purchased, named the " Fox " — a small craft, 
 indeed, to go unattended on such an errand. But 
 love gave the vessel wings and courage. She was 
 commanded by our good friend. Captain M'Clin- 
 tock. The under officers and crew were picked 
 men. Carl Petersen, whom we have met in Sir 
 John Ross' last expedition, a tried man and apt 
 interpreter of F^squimo talk, was secured from 
 Denmark, his native land. The yacht was well 
 stocked with provisions and scientific instruments. 
 
 The " Fox," having reached the Greenland 
 coast, touched at a Danish settlement, where ad- 
 ditional coal, furs, and some other articles for an 
 arctic winter were obtained. Dogs and dog- 
 sledges were also added to their outfit. An Es- 
 quimo dog-driver, by the name of Christian, 
 volunteered his services, was taken on board, was 
 washed, cropped, and dressed in sailor clothes, 
 after which he strutted about among the men with 
 great satisfaction. There was a hand-organ on 
 board, with which he was greatly delighted. He 
 proved very useful in the management of the dogs, 
 and in teaching that art to the officers. 
 
 These dogs exhibited the characteristics of their 
 race, sometimes to the amusement, but often to 
 the sore vexation, of their managers. There was 
 one of the pack named Harness Jack. Sledge- 
 dogs are said to eat every thing except fox and 
 raven, but Harness Jack gobbled down a raven 
 
Others 
 steam- 
 ity tons 
 .11 craft, 
 d. But 
 'She was 
 M'Clin- 
 : picked 
 t in Sir 
 and apt 
 id from 
 vas well 
 •umcnts. 
 eenland 
 liere ad- 
 :s for an 
 id dog- 
 An Es- 
 hristian, 
 ard, was 
 clothes, 
 en with 
 rgan on 
 ;d. He 
 le dogs, 
 
 of their 
 Dften to 
 ere was 
 Sledge- 
 fox and 
 a raven 
 
 Sir yoJm Franklin's Fate. 
 
 295 
 
 with a gusto. He had a notion to wear his har- 
 ness continually. If when he had been off in the 
 sledge an attempt was made to take it off, he 
 showed his teeth most decidedly. 
 
 Jack was a favorite among the sailors and a 
 tyrant among his kind. There came one day to 
 another dog a whole family of little ones. Her 
 kennel was an empty barrel laid on it? side for that 
 purpose. Harness Jack mounted the barrel, and 
 though most uncomfortably situated, stood watch 
 over the heljjlcss brood night and day. But for 
 him the mother would have been bereft of her 
 children, for Esquimo dogs have the amiable pro- 
 pensity of eating young puppies. It is not at all 
 certain that if Jack had not been well fed for 
 his disinterested service, he would not himself 
 have indulged in the luxury of tender young dogs 
 for breakfast. We hope v;e do not wrong him by 
 the thought. 
 
 On one occasion an officer attempted to kick 
 Jack for his too great familiarity, and accidentally 
 sent his seal-skin slipper from his foot after him. 
 Jack picked up the slipper, scampered away to a 
 hiding-])lace, and gulped it down his throat in a 
 twinkling. 
 
 The " Fox," of course, tried the terrible passage 
 of Melville Bay, to reach the western shore through 
 the north water. The distance across this bay is 
 one hundred and seventy miles. They had made 
 one hundred and twenty of it in the early part of 
 September, 1857. A few days later a terrific gale 
 came on and broke up the floe. From this time 
 
■m 
 
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 I, 
 
 )] 
 
 ^ 
 
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 ii #S! 
 
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 i 
 
 5 ''. 
 
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 V 
 
 
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 I 
 
 
 
 296 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 our little craft was made a plaything by the winds 
 and currents, they sending it whither they pleased, 
 only being seldom pleased to carry it in the direc- 
 tion its captain desired to go. It was the old 
 game, played with De Haven and others. The 
 *' Fox " did not get rid of the ice by which it was 
 firmly held until late in April, 1858 ! During 
 ihis unwilling voyaging it drifted out of Melville 
 into Baffin Bay, and southward through Davis 
 Strait, and out into the Atlantic Ocean, a distance 
 of thirteen hundred and eighty-five miles I 
 
 The winter which was thus spent in the villain- 
 ous pack was attended by many perils but no 
 serious incident. The sailors contrived to get 
 some merriment out of Guy Fawkes' day, and 
 much healthful amusement, and as well as sub- 
 stantial profit, out of seal and bear shooting. 
 
 Nothing daunted by this worse than loss of one 
 entire year. Captain M'Clintock turned about and 
 tried again. This time he succeeded, and on the 
 sixteenth of July was in Lancaster Sound. He 
 steamed into Barrow Strait to the old station at 
 Beechey Island. From this he continued west, 
 and then south, into what may be found on the 
 map as Peel Sound, between North Somerset and 
 Prince of Wales' Island. Keeping near the coast, 
 he attempted to push through this long, narrow, 
 and continually narrowing sound as he went south, 
 which opens into a broader water which washes 
 the shores on which Dr. Rae's Esquimo had seen 
 the wrecked white men. lUit twenty-five miles was 
 all the southing the ice would allow him to make. 
 
Sir yoJm Franklin 's Fate. 
 
 297 
 
 le winds 
 pleased, 
 le direc- 
 tive old 
 i. The 
 h it was 
 During 
 Melville 
 1 Davis 
 distance 
 
 : villain- 
 
 but no 
 
 to get 
 
 ay, and 
 
 as sub- 
 
 s of one 
 •out and 
 i on the 
 id. He 
 at ion at 
 ?d west, 
 I on the 
 rset and 
 le coast, 
 narrow, 
 It south, 
 I washes 
 lad seen 
 liles was 
 :o make. 
 
 Going back into Barrow Strait, the " Fox " 
 steamed down Prince Regent Inlet on the east 
 side of North Somerset. On the extreme south 
 of this land is a strait, twenty miles long and one 
 wide, called Bellot Strait. M'Clintock had been 
 on this strait nine years before when with Captain 
 James Ross, but it was yet but little known. 
 Captain M'Clintock hoped with trembling to sail 
 through it into the southern part of Peel Sound, 
 and so get round the solid ice which had stopped 
 him on the west side of North Somerset. He did 
 push into it, and made half the passage through. 
 He then fell into the grip of the pack and was 
 drifted back entirely out of it. Again he went in, 
 and again was driven out. Five times did the 
 persevering " Fox " push its pugnacious nose into 
 Bellot Strait, and the fifth time it pushed through ! 
 They found a snug creek which they named Port 
 Kennedy, and went into winter-quarters. 
 
 Bellot Strait divides North Somerset from a 
 broad land called Boothia Felix. South-east of 
 Boothia and about one hundred and fifty miles 
 from M'Clintock 's present wintering-place is King 
 William Island. This last was the island where 
 Rae's Esquimo obtained their Sir John Franklin 
 relics. Opposite the winter harbor, Port Kennedy, 
 is the southern shore of Prince of Wales Island. 
 
 No sooner were the winter comforts secured, 
 
 than the wide-awake M'Clintock began to prepare 
 
 for sledging in the spring on a large scale. Three 
 
 parties, with dog-sledges, each of four men, were 
 
 to be sent out. The first, under the captain him- 
 19 
 
i 
 
 jij. 
 
 ■',! 
 
 I'i 
 
 ,1 
 
 I . 
 
 t; 
 
 , • I 
 
 I 
 
 298 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 self, accompanied by Petersen the interpreter, was 
 to examine the shores of Kin'g William Island, and 
 push forward to the month of the Great P'ish 
 River. The second, under Lieutenant Hobson, 
 was to survey the west coast of T3oothia. The 
 third, under officer Young, was to strike across the 
 sound to Prince of Wales Island, and follow its 
 shore along its southern, and a considerable dis- 
 tance up its western, line. 
 
 The winter passed away with its full share 
 of arctic comforts and ])leasures. The captain 
 thought that the greatest addition to pleasures 
 which could well be conceived would be a well- 
 filled letter-bag! One sad event occurred. The 
 engineer died suddenly of apoplexy. There was 
 no one in the vessel competent to take his place. 
 
 The sledge parties were off at the early day of 
 March 3, 1859, while yet winter, and ice, and 
 storms ruled the days. The captain soon fell in 
 with the natives, many of whom had relics of the 
 lost "Erebus" and ''Terror." They had not 
 seen either the ships or the wrecked men from 
 whom they came, but the account they gave of 
 both agreed perfectly v/ith the stories told Dr. 
 Rae. 
 
 Having obtained this information, M'Clintock 
 returned to the " Fox." The other parties had 
 come in. These were only preparatory trips. 
 The three great journeys commenced the second 
 of April. 
 
 M'Clintock and Hobson traveled together until 
 they came over against Cape Felix, the north 
 
 
Sir yoJiii Fraukliti 's Fate. 
 
 299 
 
 point of King William Island. The natives spoke 
 of the shifts being wrecked on the west side of 
 this island, one sinking and the other drifting 
 ashore, the latter being the source of the relics 
 they possessed. The men, they said, went away 
 toward the Great River, and the next year their 
 bones were found scattered along the way. 
 
 Hobson hastened on to the alleged locality of 
 the wreck. The captain examined the east shore 
 of this great island, and then went over to the 
 mainland and made diligent search about the 
 mouth of the Great Fish River. Returning, he 
 led his party up the western shore of King Will- 
 iam Island, along the very track which Franklin's 
 retreating men must have passed. The sledges 
 kept on the ice, and some of the party walked on 
 the shore, carefully examining every trace. While 
 Captain M'Clintock was walking on a gravel ridge, 
 w^hich the winds kept in a measure bare of snow, 
 he came upon a human skeleton. Ii vvas partly 
 exposed, with a few fragments of clothes lying 
 near. The perfectly bleached skeleton was lying 
 upon its face. The limbs and smaller bones were 
 either dissevered, or gnawed away by small an- 
 imals. A careful examination of the ground was 
 made, and more pieces of clothing, a pocket-book, 
 a clothes-brush, pocket-comb, a neck-handker- 
 chief with a loose bow-knot, a blue jacket, and a 
 pilot cloth great-coat with plain-covered buttons. 
 All these articles, with the style of dress, showed 
 that the deceased was a steward's or officer's serv- 
 ant. He had taken the gravel ridge for easier 
 

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 i 
 
 • ! 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 ■ 
 
 i 
 
 V 
 
 :l^: 
 
 y^ 
 
 U ^M i 
 
 300 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 travel, fallen on his face and died. It reminded 
 the captain of the remark of an old Esciiiimo 
 woman who had seen the escaping party : " They 
 fell down and died as they walked away." 
 
 Going on a little farther, M'Clintock found a 
 cairn put up by Lieutenant Hobson. He had 
 been as far south as this si)ot, and returned north 
 only six days before. He had left a note for 
 M'Clintock whi-ch gave important information. 
 He had not found the wreck nor seen any natives, 
 but he had found a record left by Franklin's party. 
 This lifted in part the vail which had hid the 
 secret of their fate for so many years. Hobson 
 had found it at Point Victory, on the north-west 
 coast of this island — King William Island. The 
 record paper was a printed form supplied to all 
 the arctic ships, and was soldered up in a thin tin 
 cylinder. The writing was upon the margin and 
 read as follows : — 
 
 "Twenty-eighth of May, 1847. — H. M. ships 
 ' Erebus ' and ' Terror ' wintered in the ice in lat. 
 70° 5' N., long. 98" 23' W. 
 
 "Having wintered in 1845-6 at Beechey Island 
 in lat. 74° 43' 28" N., long. 91° 39' 15" W., after hav- 
 ing ascended Wellington Channel to lat. 77° and 
 returned by the west side of Cornwallis Island. 
 
 " Sir John Franklin comma ding the expedition. 
 
 " All well. 
 
 " Party consisting of two officers and six men 
 left the ships on Monday, tvventy-fourth of May, 
 1847. ^^ G. M. Gore, Zieu^e/ia/it. 
 
 " Charles F. Des Vceux, Mate.'* 
 
Sir JoJin Franklin 's Fate. 
 
 30 r 
 
 men 
 May, 
 
 Thus far Franklin's expedition was one of al- 
 most unexampled success. From the time they 
 were last seen, by the whaler, in Baffin Bay, July 
 1843, they had made the passage of Lancaster 
 Sound and Barrow Strait, had pushed up Welling- 
 ton Channel a hundred and fifty miles to the 
 highest latitude ever attained, returned through an 
 unexplored channel west of Cornwallis Island, 
 and wintered at Beechey Island, Then they had 
 sailed south to their present position, and spent, 
 in comfort and health, a second winter. They 
 had sailed through five hundred miles of pre- 
 viously unexplored waters. They were now within 
 ninety miles of the known waters leading out 
 through Bering Strait to the Atlantic and dear old 
 England ! The north-west passage must have 
 appeared to Franklin as almost certainly known 
 to him, and to be easily demonstrated by a boat 
 journey, if not by his ships themselves. But how 
 soon was all changed ! The record we have 
 just noticed, written by officer Gore in May, 1847, 
 was taken out in April, 1848, and, by another hand, 
 the f^lowing addition made on the margin : — 
 
 ''April 25, 1848, — H, M. ships 'Terror' and 
 ' Erebus ' were deserted on the twenty-second of 
 April, five leagues N, N, W. of this, having been 
 beset since the twelfth of September, 1846. The 
 officers and crews, one hundred and five souls, 
 under the command of Captain F. R. M. Crozier, 
 landed here in lat. 69° 37' 42" N., and long. 98° 
 41' W. Sir John Franklin died on the eleventh of 
 June, 1847 ; and the total loss by death in the 
 
m^ 
 
 302 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 ^ n 
 
 I 
 
 
 expedition has been to this date nine officers and 
 fifteen men. 
 
 (Signed) F. R. M. Crozier, 
 
 Captain and Senior Ojjlcer. 
 (Signed) James Fitzjames, 
 
 Captain H. M. S. Erclun, 
 and start (on) to-morrow, 26, for Back's Fish 
 River." 
 
 « 
 
 A small additional note on the margin states 
 the fact that the document had been removed 
 to its present place of deposit, four miles, from 
 the place where "the late Commander Gore had 
 put it." 
 
 Gore himself then was dead, and only two 
 weeks after he had written "All well," his noble 
 commander, Franklin, ended his eminent life. 
 
 Captain M'Clintock now made the best speed 
 possible on the track of Hobson. After passing 
 the extreme west point of King William Land, 
 which they named Cape Crozier, they came upon 
 a boat. This Hobson had seen, and left a note 
 stating the fact. 
 
 This boat, its contents and surroundings, con- 
 stituted the saddest relic yet seen. Large quantities 
 of damaged clothing was scattered about in it, 
 but no record, pocket-book, memorandum, nor 
 journal of any kind, was found ; no name, even, 
 was found on any article of clothing. The boat 
 was swei)t and examined in every crevice. 
 
 The boat was of light but strong material, and 
 rested upon a stout-built sledge. It had been 
 
Sir yoJin Frank'lin \s Fate. 
 
 videiulv equii)i)cd in every particular for 
 lesijcrarc c.\r)edition ui) the Great Fish River. 
 
 303 
 
 the 
 
 evideiuh 
 
 desj)erare c.\i)etlition up 
 
 'i'hc most impressive relic of the boat was two 
 skeletons : one of a young man, the other that of 
 a strongly made man of midd'e age. They were 
 much broken, and the skulls were entirely missing. 
 Wolves had evidently visited the boat. Near them 
 were two double-barreled guns and five watches. 
 A large quantity of silverware, with names of 
 owners engraved on them, with a great variety of 
 such valuables, were found. The Esquimo had 
 not been here. 
 
 No graves nor other skeletons were found in the 
 vicinity. The boat's bow was directed toward the 
 shi[)s, back to which her men were evidently drag- 
 ging her. This may account for only two skele- 
 tons, and the small quantity of food found — a lit- 
 tle tea, forty pounds of chocolate, and a small 
 quantity of pemmican. The rest of them may have 
 gone forward to the ships, sixty-five miles, intend- 
 ing to retuvn. 
 
 M'Clintock, after the most complete search, 
 which did not add any material item to his infor- 
 mation, returned to his ship. The sledge excur- 
 sions were all ended late in July. Young had 
 made valuable discoveries, but had seen no traces 
 of Franklin. Both Young and Hobson were much 
 broken in health, and the commander was admon- 
 ished if he would save his men and vessel he 
 must improve the earliest opportunity of getting 
 away. On the third of August they moved a few 
 miles; on the tenth they got up steam, the cap- 
 
U!i 
 
 m 
 
 1 1 
 
 H 
 
 i 
 
 I'l 
 
 ' i 
 If 
 
 ! 
 
 3^4 
 
 Arctic Heroes. 
 
 tain, by the aid of the firemen, contriving to man- 
 age the engine, and made good headway ; on the 
 twenty-eighth they were at a Danish port in Green- 
 land, and on the twenty-first of September Cap- 
 tain M'Clintock was in London. 
 
 Honor and reward awaited the officers and crew 
 of the brave little "Fox." The relics were de- 
 posited in the United Service Institution. The. 
 fate of Franklin and his men was discovered. If 
 money, bravery, and good-will could have saved 
 them, our last chapter would have read, Franklin 
 saved ! 
 
 
 THE END. 
 
 .1 
 
 !,i 
 
 I i ' 
 
 ,. ! 
 
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