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I.aa diagrammas suivants illuatrant la mAthoda. 1 2 ^: Z 2 '-?%» 32 X 6 ^.t:!".-. j.i * ^i», " rf, y I'' '' 1 ' \ VWJ*a*k-. ,J}\:^u^'.&^*'<»h ^ vjiii^'t i,^^^da r -^ I*" w <:71//v'^//a^ ■■%■ TME. ^ UttiW Itatea irinnfll €xft¥i\m IN 8EAKCH OF SIE JCteN FEANKLIN. ■■-'•4 '" a f trsnnal larwtiitt. ■1 '. ■ •0 * .■-T -» BT ELISHA KENT KANE, M.D., U. S. K. > NKW eoi-riON. PHILADELPHIA : CHILDS & PETERSON, 124, AECH ST. LONDON : ^^^^^^^ J'J^P? j2^ gAT ERIjQSTRR ROW, ■ -4 1857. ^ ^ ■ ^ >v mm S. m Vj Cij^ _^x Qm$70 7 a Si 5 x- / '^ / r HENRY GRFNNELL, THE AUTHOR, AND ADVOCATE, ANd/paTRON OF THE UNITED STATES' V EXPEDITION IN SEARCff OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, ifl Unta. ia ^luimlali. "J . r j(fl3 ■9S~0%».^ N* «»* 4 • K f NOTE. -v> It may apologize, perhapJ7V*sofije imperfections in this book, to mention, that tliff greater portion of it has gone through the press without the author's re- visal. While he was engaged in preparing it, the lib- erality of Mr. Grinnell, of New York, and Mr. Peabody, of London, enabled him to set on foot a second Polar Expedition, which sailed under his command on the 31st of May last. It was his purpose lJ|^odel some of the chapters, and to add one or tw?li° collateral topics, if his time had not been engrossed by the prep, arations for his departure. July, 1853. ■''V- # mmmmmttM '♦t ■-■^, / A SKETCH » or TDK LIFE OF- SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. From "Allibon^a Dictionary of Literature and Authors." I Sib John Franklin, an eminent navigator, bom 1786, at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, entered tlie Royal ifavyaa a midshipman in 1800, was present at the battle of Trafalgar in 1806 and the battle of New Orleans in 1814, and was selected io 1819 to head an expedition overland from Hudson's Bay to tltf Arctic Ocean. After "encountering- great hard- ships, and very freqriently at the point of Meath from hunger and fatigue, he reached home in October, 1822„ In the next year ke was married to MimPorden. In 1825 he submiitiBd to Lord Bathurst "a plan for an olPption overland, to the mouth of the Mackenzie River," and thence by tfea, to the northwest extremity of America, with the combined object also of surveying the coast between the Mackeiiae and Copper Mine Rivers." This proposition was accepted; and, to superintend the expedition, he embarked at Liverpool, February 16, 1825, after the "severe struggle of taking leave of his wife, whose death, then hourly ex- pected, took place six days after his departure.'* After encounteri;ig great hardships, the moving masses of ice forced the heroidWilors to retrace their steps. September 1, 1827, Captain Franklin arrived at Liverpool, married a second time tn November of the following year, and in 18JJ9 received the honor of knighthood. .r The prae'roring seal of Lady Franklin in stimulating flie searcli for N TU 1 » Tin LIFi; OF silt JOHN frankTlin. I '. Il Sir John, for tcti years past, is wcil^ known to the World. He was greatly disappointed at his unsuccessfiil attempts to accdniplish the object of his voyages; remarking, with reference to his compulsory return in 1827 : — ^ ' .. "It was. with no ordinarypnin that I could now bring myself even ' to- think of relinquishing the groat object of my ambition, "[the dis- covery of a northwest passage from the Atlantiq to the Paci6c'0cean,] and of disappointing tho.flattcHng hopes which had been reposed in my exertions. But I had higlier duties to perform than ^tho gratificS- tiod of my' own feelings; and a mature^onsideration of all things forced me to the conclusion that we had reached that point beyoqd which perseverance would be rashness »nd the best efforts would be fruitless." • - ^ The Montreal Gazette of September 11, 1822, remarks:— "It appears that the toils and sufferings of the expedition have been of the most trying description, apd that, if they do not exceed belief, they were at least of such a nature as almost to overcome the stoutest heart, and deter all future attempts of a similar tendency." . But this writer little knew the iron stuff of which Sfr John Franklin was made. ■• On the 26th of May, 1845, Sir John started upon a third expedi- . tion, in two ships, the Erebus and Terror; he was heard from on .the 26th of July of the same year, and passed his fi^t winter in a cove' between Cape Riley and Beechy Island. Since thar period, many expeditions frt)to England and America have been despatched in search of the adventurer; but it was not until November, 1854, that news . reached Englaild, which le&ves little doubt that the whole party perished in the winter of 1850-51. See London Gentleman's Magazine, No- vember, 1854, 749; December, 1854, 594-95. Since the above was' ' written, we have farthei- intelligence,— by the return of Mr. James G. Stuart's expedition, despatched by the British Hudson's Bay Company, 18th November, 1854; arrived at St. Paul, Minnesota, Wth December,' 1855,— which places beyond all doubt the loss of Sir John Franklin and his party. Some of their shoes, cooking-utensils, &c. were foui^ amofl^t hfl E sq uimaux, who declared that they had di^ of starvaliop;— J » LIFE (TF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. II ohn Franklin J / By a curious coincidence, on the da^ tWat wo are penning this article," (October II, 1855,) the last expedition — Hcnt specially in search -of Dr. Kane and his party — which sailed from N"cw York in Juno, 1855, has arrived at home. The explorers bring with them Dr. Kane and all , ' of his ootnpany save three, — a carpenter^ a cook, and a seaman, lost by death. The renumlJcr of tlio party are nj^oro or less fropt-bitten. Of the last exjjeditiorfi— the steamer (propeller) Arfctie-, Lieutenant Simms, and the barque Relpatie, Lieutenant Hartstene^— the Arctic (Lieutenant Hart8teno.iWa8 on board) made its way flbrth to latitude 78° 32', when it was stopped by the ic(5. The Advance,. Dr. Kane's vessel, had been puslttSd as far north as possible, when she wda frozen in, and of course had to be abandoned. The ship's company were found by thJmctio and Release on the island of Disco. They have been absent from homo since May 31, 1853, and are received with great rejoicings. They have ^ made several important discoveries, and added largely to our knowledge of the inhospitable region the perils and discomforts .of w&ich they have so tiravely encountered. ^ . "' '* ** #- » « The reader-who desires to pursue this interesting to(pic must refer to the following publications '•-:A. Captain John Franklin's Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sck, 1 819-22, with an 'Appendix on wrioua Subjects relating to Science and Natural Histor^, London, 1823, 4to, pp. 784; 34 Plates and four >%s, £4 4«. The Appendix . on Natural History is by Sir John Richardson, Sabine) Lieutenant Hood, &c. The plates are beautifiilly engraved by Finden (some of them colored) -after drawings by Lieutenants Hood and Bjick. A second and third edition were published in 1824, both in 2 vols. 8vo, without the plates. ' «• ' . Also an.edi^on in PJiiladelphia, 8vo, same year. ' " The unstudied and seamanlike sim|flicity of the styloTs not the least of its merits; and the illnstratipns and embellishments, from the drawings of the late unfortunate Mr. Hood, and Mr. Back, are of a very superior kind." — London Quarterly Review. " , " A work of intense and in^gfid painful interest, from the sufferings of thcee who performed this jourrn^ of value to geography by no M. ^"'>. ^ LIFE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. means proportional to these sufferings; but inst^ctive in meteorology and natural history. "-Stevenson', Voyages and Travels. 2. Captain John Franklin's Narrative-of a Second Expeditibn to the Shores of the Polar Sea, 1825-27; including an Ace^of the Pro- gress of a Detachn>ent to the Eastward, by John Richardson, M.D., a .R.S, &c. Surgeon ani Naturalist to the Expedition. Illustrated by • numerous Maps and Plates, 1828, 4to, pp. 447. £i 4,. The Second Expedition has not in England been published in §vo, but see beW ' ♦'The views of Arctic Scftnery with which this volume is both illus- trated and embellished are ofVtreme beauty. They supply, in a great measure, the absence of picturesque description, and delineate, with lingular truth, the striking peculiarities which distinguish the aspect of these regions from that of the temperate olnn.tes."~£din. Review ' It IS difficult to do sufficient justice either to the skUl and intelli- gence displayed in its conduct, or the information to be derived from It. — American Quarterly Review. There is an edition published in 1829, London, 4 vols. 18mo, of Sir John Franklin's Two Journeys to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in 1819-27, with engravings by Finden, £X. An edition of the second expedition was published in Philadelphia, 1828, 8vo. The reader must also peruse-1,. Mr. P. L. Simmonds's account of Sir John FTBuklin and the Arctic Eegions, 1851, 12mo; 2d ed., 1852, 12mo; 3d ed., 1853, 12mo. 2. Papers and Correspondence rdative to the Arctic Expedition under Sir John Franklin. Ordered by the i House of Commons to be printed, March 5,' 1850-52, fol. 3 The Frankhn Expedition, or Considerations on Measures for the Discovery and Relief of our Absent Adventurera in the Arctic Regions; with Maps, by the Rev. W. Scoresby, D.D., 1850. 4. Arctic Searching Ex- pedition : a Journal pf a Boat Voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea in Search of the Discovery Ships under Command of Sir John Frankhn; with an Appendix on the Physical Geography of North America. By Sir John Richardson, M.D., F.R,S., &c.. Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets. Published by Authority of ((he Admiralty. With a e olored.Map, several Platoa printed in Co lo», .fid Woodcuts, 2 vols ^^'^) LIFE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. XI "Valuable alike to the scientific studenjt ok the future wanderer over these wild plains, and the lonely settler whom European enterprise may locate among these far^distant tribes. It is a book to study rather'thwi to read; and yet so attractive in its style, and so instructive in its col- lation of facte, that many wiU be led to its study as a work of science whilst merely engaged in ite perusal aa a book of travels."— 5ri«a«to. 5. A Lecture on Arctic Expeditions, delivered at the London Insti- tution, by C. R. Weld, Esq. Second edition. Map, j^st 8vo. "An intelligent general view of the subject of Arctic Discovery from early times, a rapid b^ll-informed sketch of i<^ heroes and its vicis- situdes in. modem daySfa hopeful view of the chances of Franklin's return, and an account of the circumstances of the original expedition and of the voyages ia search, which will be read with ' considerable interest just now." — London Examiner. 6. Article entitled Attempte to find a Northwest Passage, in North American Review, Ixix. 1; and the following articles on Sir John Franklin and the Arctic Regions : 7. Nort;h American Review, Ixxi 168. 8. New York Eclectic Magazine, xx. 60! 9, 10. Boston Living Age, (from the London Examiner,) xxiv. 275 and 279. Search for Sir John Franklin. 11. Fraser's Magazine, xliii. 198; same article, New York Eclectic Magazine, xxii. 420. 12. Fraser's Magazine, xliv. 502. 13. Boston Living Age, (from the London New Monthly Maga- zine,) xxxi. 291. Second Expedition of Sir John Franklin; 14. Lon- don Quarterly Review, xxxviii. 335. 15, 16. London Monthly Review, cii. 1, 156; 17. South Review, iu. 261. Track of Sir John FrankUn. 18. New York Eclectic Magazine,- xxii. 112. Also, 19. Meares, J., Voyages made in 1788-89 from China to the Northwest Coast of America; with Observations on the Existence of a Northwest Pas- sage, ,&c., maps and plates, 1790, 4to. To the above must be added— 20. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane's Narrative of the Expediti(jn in seareh of Sir John Franklin, New York, 1854, 8vo, the Voyages of Beechy, Pany and R«ss, Back's Arctic Expedi- tion, Sabine's North Georgia Gazette, 1821, 4to, and A Souvenir of the late Polar Search^iy the Officers and Seamen of the Expedition, 185% ^'W / 8vo Nor must the Hiatorioal Accounts and numerous essays of Sir xii LIFE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. John Barrow upon this subject be overlooked by the reader. We are promised another work from Dr. Kane, who, as mentioned above, has returned this day from a fruitless search after Sir John Franklin. Upon the subject of a Northwest Passage we append an interesting paper : — "THE EFFORTS MADE TO DISCOVER A NORTHWEST PASSAGE. "The attempt to discover a northwest passage wa« made by a Portuguese named Cortereal, about a.d. 1500. It was attempted by the English in 1553- and the project was greatly encouraged by Queen Elizabeth in 1386, in which year a company was associated in London, and was called the 'Fellowship for the Discovery of the Northwest Passage.' The following voyages with this design were undertaken, under British and American navigators, in the years respectively stated : — 07., Sir Hugh WiUoughby's expedition to find a northwest passage to China «,-'m'^/T*J'.'''""°*' May 20, 1563 Sir Martin Frobisher's attempt to find a northwest passage to China 1576 Captain Davis's expedition tp find a northwest passage 1585 Barentz's expedition .-„. Weymouth and Knight's " j„„„ Hudson's voyages ; the last undertaken... !...".!!".....' 1610 Sir Thomas Button's ,„.-, Baffin's ,„,- „ , ... 1616 Foxe's expedition (A number of enterprises, undertaken by various countries, followed ') Middleton's expedition ,„.„ Moore and Smith's !..."..... 1740 Heame's land expedition ._„„ Captain Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgrave, his expedition......."....."."."!" 1773 Captain Cook, in the Resolution and Discovery j^Z' j-yg Mackenzie's expedition ^»„ Captain Duncan's voyage ,_.- The Discovery, Captain Vancouver, returned from a voyage of sui-vey "and discovery on the northwest coast of America gept 24 1795 Lieutenant Kotiebue's expedition Qct' 1815 Captain Buchan and Lieutenant Franklin's expedition in ihe Dorothea and Trent ■ , 1818 Captain Ross and Lieutenant Parry, in the Isabella and Alexander..". 1818 Lieutenants Parry and Liddon, in the Hecla and Griper. Mav 4 1819 They return to Leith v o ,on^ „ ' . „ , , Nov. 8, 1820 Captains Parry and Lyon, in the Fury and Hecla May 8 1821 Captain Parry's third expedition with the Hecla May 8* 1824 Captains Franklin and Lyon, after having attempted a land expedition' again sail from Liverpool p^^ ,535 Captain Parry, again m the Hecla, sails from Deptford March 25. 1827 Oct 6, 1827 LIFE OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. xiii Captain John Ross arrived at Hull, on hia return from his Arctic expedi- ,. lion, after an absence of four years, and when all hope of his return /^ had been nearly abandoned Qg^ jg /igaa Captain Back and his companions arrived at Liwsrpool from their perilous Arctic land expedition, after having visited the Great Fish River, and examined its course to the Polar Seas gept. 8 1835 Captain Back sailed from Chatham in command of His Majesty's ship Terror, on an exploring adventure to Wager River. Captain Back, in the month of December, 1835, was awarded, by.the Geographical So- ciety, tie King's annual premium for his polar discoveries and enter- prise...... t June 21, 1886 Dease and Simpson traverse the intervening apace between the discoveries of Ross and the Castor and Pollux River Oct. 1889 Sir John Franklin and Captain Crozier, in the Erebus and Tewor leave ^^"8'"^ •" May 24, 1845 Captain James Ross returned from an unsuccessful expedition in search of Franklin ; -„._ . , 1849 Another expedition (one sent out by Lady Franklin) in search of Sir John Franklin, consisting of two vessels, sailed from England April-May, 1850 Another, under Captain M'Clure, who succeeded in Tweeting a transit over ice from ocean to ocean; and another under Sir Edward Belcher 1861 Another, consisting of two vessels, the Advance and Rescue, Uberally purchased for the purpose by Henry Grinnell, a New York merchant, and manned at government cost from the United States navy, under command of Lieutenant De Haven, sailed from New York '..May 1850 The expedition of Dr. Kane, in the Advance. Kane discovered the open Polar Sea, in latitude 82o 30' N May 31 1853 The last expedition, consisting of the Release and Arctici"^der Lieu- tenant Hartstene, sailed j^^^^ jggg He reached the highest north latitude next to Kane, and retum8...0ct. 11, 1855 "There may be some omissions in the above, but it will be found eenerallv correct." ' < CONTENTS. hi CHAPTER I. I»TKODucT0Rv.-The Atctic Sea.- Sir John Franklin.- Lady Franklin's''''"' Appeal.-Orgam2ation of the American GrinneU Expedition 13 CHAPTER n. Preparations for Departure.-Tlie Advance and Rescue.-Equipments - Officers and Crew ... -i r • CHAPTER HI. Departure from New York.-Creature Comforts—First Iceberg -Off St , John 8 CHAPTER IV. Davis's Straits.-Counter-drift._Beginning of Arctic Day.-Fogs -Tlie Sukkertoppen CHAPTER V. male-fish Islands.- Disco. -Tl.e Emma Eugenia. ^ Kayacks. _ Tl.'^ Landing.— Esquimaux Huts CHAPTER VL Boat Party to Lievely.-Royal Inspectorate—Purchase of Furs -Floral and geological Character.- Field Ice CHAPTER VII. The Middle Ice-The North AVater-Omenak's Fiord.-Interior Water Connection between Coasts of Greenland CHAPTER VIIL Formation of Icebergs— Debacle from Glacier.- Mr. Grund, and Structure of Berg Ice 17 24 29 35 43 50 aiiz. — Color - 66 CHAPTER IX. Svartehuk.— Refraction CHAFFER X. Jumpiflg^ff Plac«.^Hone8ty of KayackeT8.-P«r in "the Pack;"-It," Elements and Form 7b ■ *1hri« *-»#''■!* ■*? ■*•*»•■ *-s«i*M«.., ^1 i 4 xvi X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. Navigation of the Pack. — Conning Ship.— Heave!— iWarp!—^Track!— Haul' 'iS CHAPTER X]U Devil's Thumb. — Seals.— Birds.— Boring the Pack.— A Beiir Hunt.— Fast ! — Planting Ice-anchors / .^ 86 CHAPTER XIII. The Ice.— Snow-covered. — W^ter-sodden.— Honey-cOmbed. — Tough.— Red Ice.— Currents.— Under Current's.-^Effects of ./. 96 CHAPTER XIV. Melville Bay. — Glaciers.— Race with an Iceberg. — Berg splitting loo '. CHAPTER XV. / Opposite Duneira Bay.— Glaciers —Height of Bergs.— Decepgons of Fog. — Formation and Forms of Bergs. — Birds ... //... 107 ^' I ' ^• ^ CHAPTER XVt Bear Hunt.— "Warm Fog.— Hummocking — A Pinch.— Crustacea and Birds 1 18 CHAPTER XVII. Refraction. — The Arctic Cuisine. — Glaciers. ^Advantages of Steamers.— Esquimaux. — Frozen Families near Cape York 128 CHAPTER XVni. The Crimson Cliffs of Beverly. — Be^ssie's Cove. — G^cier Formation. Red Snow. — Atmospheric Transfers ic4 CHAPTER XIX. Arctic Highlands.— Florula.— Moss Beds.- Auks' Nests.— Trapping Auks. — A Black Fox. — " Good-by to Baffin."— Continuous Dayhght \\\ CHAPTER XX. Entering Lancaster Sound.— Penny's Squadron.— Sir John Ross and the Felix— The Prince Albert.— Cape Riley.— Traces of Sir John Franklin : his Encampment ^ 151 CHAPTER XXI. Visit to the Encampment. — Beechy Island.- Discovery of the Graves. Description of them. — Conclusions : and Conjecture as to Franklin's Course Ul . CHAPTER XXII. United Searching Squadrons.- Visits.- Ice drifting.— My first Bear.— Bar- „ low's Inlet. — Cornwallis Island. — Hummocks and Break-up.— Cold jn^ ^^ creasing.— Rendezvous of Unign Bay no '^-tP*"'*'-*!* ■■•'■»«-.*-»<*r*'*"^i!^**f"*e*. «' CONTENTS. XTII CHAPTER XXIII. - ; Wellington Channel.-AGale.-ExciHngNavigatio„.-Order8 for Return ^'" llpalt"" """"^'^ -"'-'— I- thickening. J-Caught in the L - --•-(- V-. 181 CHAPTER XXIV. /' M-elli„gton Channel-Drift Northvard.-Discoveries.-Grinnell Land... 191' CHAPTER XXV. (Jrinnell Land.— Discussion of Priority of Discover)- / 2U0' \ CHAPTER XXVI. In the Ice of Wellington Channel— An Ice Battle r£,i» » CHAPTER XXVII. SIO CHAPTER XXv/l. 219 - .........i^.. — i^iiori lo coi -Vessels. — Spontaneous Combustion. — Shore inapr.,.«,M» , , ^^r" *■-"■'-' ^-— ~;ii-^^^^^^^ CHAPTER XXIX. Drifting about Outlet of Channel — FfTnrt f a „^ \r ,_ „ '^"'"inei— tnort X6 communicate with British re inaccessible. — cnts. — Leopold's Is CHAPTER XXfjC The^Cold-Frozen Stores.-Ices.-A Wallc.aFree^mg to Death-Cos- 227 239 CHAPTER XXXI. Continued Drift.-Off Croker's Bay.-Pale Facei Ti.„ « w r, Darknes8.-Christmas. Theatre, and Gms.-Se;;^^^ T^t "Tp """ ress of returning Light ...^.. / scurvy.— Traces and Prog. CHAPTER XXXIL; ,^ Continued Drift.-NeV Year.-Walks renewed.l-Eightb of Jan Near Cape Osbom-Approaching Baffin's Bay.SmToul'of ^^^--CriUeaJ Situation of the Vessels ^^ "t^vMimoiiQQ oi 257 \ V' \ y ♦ . \ yl XT1|1 CONTENTS. I* X CHAPTER XXXIir. ' Continued Drift. _ Preparation for Contingencies. -Results of intenso ""■*• I ressure.-Insiay._ Sunrise, Noon, and Sunset in one. -El rcgrcsado del Hoi — Theatre '^ ■ ..283 CHAPTER XXXIV. (Continued Drift.-Extreme Cold.-Explosions.-Mcteor8.-Refraction.- The Area of Drift-Routine Life.-Perspiration at-42°. -Washington's B.rth-day^-Cold Amusements.-The Scurvy.-An Insect ?-Our two C ooks.-Our lowest Temperature.— Hygienic Resources 297 CHAPTER XXxV. Meteors.-Scintillation of Planets.-Auroras.-Day Auroras 3 1 -j CHAPTER XXXVr. The Rescue in her Ire Dock. - Treatment of Scurvy. - Imagination. - Progress of Disease.-Meteors, Spicule. Parhelion—Imperfect Observa- tions.— Rate of Drift.— Water.— Frost Smoke 334 . CHAPTER XXXVII. SnowDrifts.-The open M'ater.-Ice Voices.^Seal Stalking.-Ice Com- inot.ons.-Narwhals at Play-State of the Ice Pack.-An Excursion.- 1 hp i\ arwhals again.— Changed Phase of the Ice 334 CHAPTER XXXVIII. April.-Thawing.-Mpasures of Heat.-Thermometrical Fallacies.-Clear \^ater.-Endo8mosis.-Salting the Ice-Put out Cabin Lamps—Sur- gicalSkillofaBear: his Escape: his Instincts. 345 . CHAPTER XXXIX. House-cleaning.-The Half-deck-Progress of the Season. -Somateria -Narwhals releasing themeelves. - Noises of Narwhal and white " hale.— May-day.— Sleeplessness.-Snow-blindness _ 354 I CHAPTER XL. ' Trying to cut out.-Scurty.-Costume, Skill in Tailoring.-Birds.-Lan.l Cape Searle.-Conditiofi of the Advance.-Ineflfectual Attempt to launch her.—' Y- Arctic Voya^eres' of the olden Time .363 « CHAPTER XLI. Cape Walsingham.-Mount Raleigh.-Rate of Drift increasing.-Refrac- tion, an Esquimaux »— Dear killed by the Rescues— A Tide— The Seals : their Habite.— Infiltration of Salt Water through the Ice.— Sum- ma»7 of M ay ,^^ ,/i: suits of intense . — Ice Masses.' — n. — Approach of csado del Sol. — Page 883 — Refraction. — — Wasliington's lect? — Our two 8 297 18. 3ia Imagination. — erfect Observa- 324 ng. — Ice Com- n Excursion. — 334 llacies. — Clear Lamps. — Sur- 345 1. — Somateria. al and white 354 Birds. — I>and, mpt to launch ing. — Refrac- . Tide.— The e Ice. — Sum- -"- .., »fe=^ CONTENTS. xi, CHAPTER XLII. The Ice.- Its Geological Analogies.- Its Progress of Formation, its'''*' Changes, Decay, Destruction —Apparent Causes 3^1 CHAPTER XLin. June^-The Break-up.-The Rescue Free.-The Advance and her Camel. -Rolling Ice.-The Calves-State of the Ice after the Break-up 39f. CHAPTER XLIV. Our Floe.-Efforts for Release-Remembrancers on the Ice-Partial- Disengagement—Release.^Liquid Water.-Magnilicent Floe 404 CHAPTER XLV. Fantastic Forms of Ice.— Explanation.— Archipelago of Bergs -JFor Wei Imgton Channel again:-The Sukkertoppen.-Condition of the Settle- ment-Recruiting— Godhaven- Architectural Bergs.- In the Ice again—Seal Hunts.-Habits of the Seal—A Lee Ice Shore— Incrusted « Bergs—Esquimaux— Unas and Company— Arrival at Proven 410 CHAPTER XLVI. Proven— The Hosky House of Cristiansen : its Furniture. -Emplov- ments and Habits of Imnates-Fourth of July.-Visits from the Jane O'Boness and Pacific ^. CHAPTER XLVIL Uppernavik-The Governor's Family .-Petersen-Bright Atmosphere and clear Water— Baffin's Islands-Gathering Duck Eggs -The Ei- der : their Nests, Habits, and Enemi^.— The M'LeUan.-Tlie WlmlinR Fleet.-The Prince Albert, M. Bellot, and Mr. Kennedy.-Picturesque uergs.-Echoe8.-Adventure in the Skreed.-Esquimaux Dogs— Starv- ing Colony— Training and Employment of Dogs 431 CHAPTER XLVIIL '^Sitt!rJ'^"''''~^Z''' '"'""■ '''''' "'''«''*' C»J«'-' Configuration, Structure, Movement.-Curvature of Ice-Primary I^orms of Bergs - Changes and secondary Forms-Studded and imbedded Bergs— C™,- ' «i WimitH ^kks ^rinntll ^^^Mion. ■o CHAPTBR I. INTRODUCTORY. ^ The! region which is known on our maps as th6 Arctic Ocean is inclosed between the northern shores of Asia, Europe, ^d Amerida. It has an area Of about four and a half millions of square miles: its • tributary waters epcceed those of the Western Atlan- tic from Hudson's Bay toj the Caribbean; and it girds the Pole with an ii;e-lock^d coast of nearly three thou- sand marine leagdes : it ijs a mysterious sea, that has baffled for centuries the rlesearch of navigators. One of the more recenj; attempts to penetrate its retcesses will form the subject of this volume. About the year 1816, t^e notion of a northwestern passage, which ha^ fallen for a time into the same categdry wi^h the! Eh Dorado and the Cathay of a less practica^era, ^iegan U> fiiid favor with the BriV ish government. | The s^^irit of private enterprise took the samevdireJBtion. "S^ear after year expedition followed expeditioii, under Commanders of tried gal- lantry and intelligence. siVt they all came back without traversing the forbidden channel; bearing contributions, indeed, to our knowledge rtf its charac- ter and aspects, but accumulating proofe also of the hazards of exploring eveif its baixietr^T s ■J r tii-l' 14 S-'i'x INTRODUCTORY. T fr was in 1844 that Sir Jojin Franklin was ap- pointed to the charge of his latest Polar expeditioL " . His first visit to the Arctic regions had been in lai^ ^ as a captain in Commodore- Buchan's squadrof ^^^ . after this had returned unsuccessful, he hall! that most fearful of all the overland jouifite] period, the descent to the mouth oflhaJftbermine wTstr T t *r'' rV"' '^^^"^^*^^' ^" conjunction with Sir John Richardson, the more western portions Qt Arctic America. No officer could have. been found in the marine of m country tvho combined more admirable qualifica, . tions fcr the duties of an explorer. To the resolute ' S^ and powers of endurance, which his former"' exp^ffbns had tested so severely, Sir John Franklin uni^d many delightful traits of character. Within enthusiasm almost boyish, he had a spirit of large but fearless forecast, and a sensitive kindness of heart that commiserated every «ne but himself He is re- membered to this day among the Indians of North America, as "the great chief who would not kill a mosquito." His vessels, the Erebus and" Terror, were soon fit- teifor^a; and on the jgM^y, 1845, h^ weigh, • ed an#>r, with a pick^MCd as ni^a bS of officers as ever volulW^lra service of peril. Ihey were met by -a whaler on the 26th of July fol. lowing, in the upper waters of Baffin's Bay, moored ^ to an iceberg, and waiting for an opening in « the pack. Ihey have not been seen since. ^' When the year 1848 had arrived without any tid/ l^d^m of this gallant party. Great Britain dispatched iree separate expeditions to reclaim them. Th« i / INTRODUCTORY. 16 were well devised; but peculiar drawbacks seemed to attend their efforts, and before the . beginning of 1850 they had all abandoned the search, almost with- » o.ut attaining the first. threshold of inquiry. Then- failure aroused every where the generous syrapatliies of m^. Science felt for its votaries, hu- mamty mourned its fellows, apd an impulse, holier and more energetic than either, invoked a crusade of rescue. T^t admirable woman, the wife of Sir John Franklin, not content with stimulating the re- newec^ efforts of lier own cduntrymen, qlaimed the co-operation of the world. In letters to the President of the United States, full of the eloquence of feeling she called on us, as a "kindred pe6ple, to join heart and hand in the enterprise of snatching the lost navi- gators from a dreary grave." The delays incident to much of our national legis- lation menaced the defeat of her appeal. The bill making appropriations for the outfit of an expedition Iingere^Von its passage, and the season for commenc ing operations bad nearly gone by. At this junctiire, a noble-spirited rnQtchant of New York, of whdin as an American and ^ man I can hardly trust myself to speak, fitted out two of his own vessels, and proflfered them gratuitously to the government. Thus prompt- ed by the munificent liberality of Mr. Grinnell, Con-^ gross hastened ttrfcake the expedition under its charge and authorized the president to detaU from the navj? such necessary officers and seamen, as might be will, ing to engage in it. ^^ Though I accompanied this expedition as its sen. ' lor naedical officer, I had no claim to be considered as Its historian. Such a province belonged strictly to HP- o u r comma nde r; b utiie having declined mailing anf , r- ^. ^^ if ■ 16 INTRODUCTORY. Other than an official report, I have heen invited to prepare a history of the cruise, under the form of a personal narrative. I had promised my brother at parting, that I would keep a journal, to furnish topics perhaps, for a fireside conversation ; and I have chosen to draw most of my materials from this record. I might have done more wisely, if I ha^ been content to substitute sometimes the educated opinions of oth- ers for those which impressed me at the moment. My apology must be, that I do not profess to be ac- curate, but truthful. ■ i li >i^ « l i ii .mi i CHAPTER 11. I- J On the 12th of May, while bathing in the tepid waters of the Gujf, of Mexico, I received one of those courteous little epistles from Washington which the electric telegraph has made so familiar to naval offi- cers. It detached me from the coast survey, and or- dered me to « proceed forthwith to New York, for duty upon the Arctic Expedition." Seven and a half days later, I had accomplished my overland journey of thirteen hundred miles, and in forty hours more our squadron was beyond the limits of the United States : the Department had calculated my traveling time to a nicety. During the fraction of a day that was left me at iNew York, I strove assiduously to secure a few imple- ments for scientific observation, as well as to get to- getherlhe elenients of an. Aretie wardrobe, ^hadrof-^ course, the zealous aid of Mr. Grinnell in these hurried ._,u^.*»it!aa ./ ) 18 VESSELS AT ANCHOR arrangements ; but I could not help being struck with the universal sympathy displayed toward our expedi- tion. From the ladies who busied themselves in seal- ing up air-tight packages of fruit-cakes, to the mana- gers of the Astor House, who insisted that their hotel should be the free head-quarters of our party, it was one continued round of proffered services. I should have a long list of citizens to thank if I were allowed to name them on these pages. ^L^ It was not, perhaps, to be expected that ^^xpedi- tion equipped so hastily as ours, and wit^ dn^ Engross- ing object, should have facilities for observing very accurately, or go out of its way to find matters for cu- rious research. But even the routine of a national ship might, I was confident; allow us to gather some- thing for the stock of general knowledge. With the assistance of Professor Loomis, I collected as I could some simple instruments for thermal and magnetic reg- istration, which would have been of use if they had found their way on board. A very few books for the dark hours of winter, and a stock of coarse woolen clothing, re-enforced by a magnificent robe of wolf- skins, that had wandered down to me from the snow- drifts of Utah, constituted my entire outfit ; and with these I made my report to Commodore Salter at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Almost within the shadow of the line-of-battle ship North Carolina, their hulls completely hidden beneath a projecting wharf, were two little hermaphrodite brigs. Their spars had no man-of-war trigness ; their decks were choked with half-stowed cargo ; and for size, I felt as if I could straddle from the main hatch to the bulwarks. __-A* this fi r st s i ght o£ t h e Qrimi el l E jcpeditien, I eoa-- . ::-:\. ,i „-«^*jj. IN NEW YORK HARBOR. 19 fess that the fastidious experience of naval life or board frigates and corvettes made me look down on these humble vessels. They seemed to me more like a couple of coasting schooners than a national squad- ron bound for a perilous and distant sea. Many a time afterward I recalled the short-sighted ignorance ot these first impressions, when some Ifude encounter * r i '""^ "^^^ ''*'°'^^'* ^"^ ^*^^*y very secondary thoughts. -^ The "Advance," my immediate home, had been orig- inally intended for the transport of machinery Her timbers were heavily moulded, and her fastenings of the most careful sort. Shp was fifty-three tons larger than her consort, the « Rescue ;» yet both together barely equaled two hundred and thirty-five tons. ' To navigate an ice-bound sea, speed, though import- ant, IS much less so than strength. Extreme power ol resistance to pressure must be combined with facil- ity of handling, adequate stowage, and a solidity of Jrame that may encounter sudden concussions feariess- ly ; and It seemed to both Mr. Grinnell and Lieutenant Ue Haven that these qualities might be best embodi- ed in such small vessels as the Advance and Rescue It was, indeed, something like a return to the dimen- sions of our predecessors of the olden time ;• for the three vessels of Frobisher summed up only seventy- five tons, and Baffin's largest was ten tons less in bur- den than the Rescue. As the vessels of our expedition were more thoroughly adapted, perhaps, for this dan, gerous service than any that had been fitted out be- fore for the Arctic ^eas, I will describe them in de- Daii. Commencing with^ the outside: the huUjyAs Mter- -idiy double, a brig within a brig. An outer sheathing / ,J mm 1 r " r'i i i ■ li J ' I If ' 1 1 11 11 1 ' 1! , H 1 4 •r Jl -1 If f J J 1 1 1 t i i 20 VESSELS AT ANCHOR of two and a half inch oak was covered with a sec- ond of the same material ; and strips of heavy sheet- iron extended from the hows to the beam, as a shield against the cutting action of the new ice. The decks were double, made water-tight by a packing of tarred felt between them. The entire interior was lined, ceiled, with cork; which, independently of its low conducting power, was a valuable protection against the condensing moisture, one of the greatest evils of the polar clilnate. The strengthening of her skeleton, her wooden frame-work, was admirable. Forward, from kelson to deck, was a mass of solid timber, clamped and dove-tailed with nautical wisdom, for seven feet from the cutwater ; so that we could spare a foot or two of our bows without springing a leak. To prevent the ice from forcing in her sides, she was built with an extra set of beams running athwart her length at in- tervals of four feet, and so arranged as to ship and un- ship at pleasure. ^From the Samson-posts, strong ra- diating timbers, called shores, diverged in every di- rection ; and oaken knees, hanging and oblique, were added wherever space permitted. Looking forward to the hampering ice fields, our rudder was so constructed that it could be taken on board and replaced again in less than four minutes? Qur winch, capstan, and patent windlass were of the best and newest construction. A little hurricane-house amidships contained the one galley that cooked for all handfs, and a large fun- nel of galvanized iron was connected with the chim- /ney, in such a way that the heat circulating round it might supply us with melted snow. An armorer's forge, a full get of ice anchors, a couple of well-built B» »CALt or STATUTL MILCS . MMj t fausr "t ■■' T""' * ' " Mh CHARf Fjdiibiling; the rpcput disco^ries iu tlw ARCTIC REGIoInS prniectfd by (hti.t.A.Srhott.Esq.JJS.ioiistSurvey.fh^ii thrhihsl iiitA inatfriohv dmosited with Lie\ ' '~ « -^ . ioIns fd by Chas.A.Srhott,Bsq.,U.S.CoiistSu>^\\fTOni thrhihsl and nuiteriaU dqioxited with Lieut. it^ay.TtS-^Vttro/frti *iE-l.DEHAVEN,ESQ.^Vwfli/?» *™« f" the navigation of ^euurews c«^ted of man^f.w«.s:jsgira.vaour= -m: ., ; . 22 'VESSELS AT ANCHOR climes and habitudes, with constitutions most of them impaired by disease, or temporarily broken by the ex» cesses of shore life. But this original defect of mate- rial was in a great degree counteracted by the strict and j udiciou* discipline of our execiitive officers. The crews proved in the end willing and reliable ; and, in the midst of trials which would haVe tested men of more pretension, were never found )f> waver. I re- cord, in the commencement of "^s narrative, how much respect and kindly feeling"l|iw one of their lit- tle body, entertain for their ess^ml contribution 1» the ends of the expedition. '» ^ Of my brother officers I can not say a word. I am so intimately bound to them by the kindly and un- broken associations of friend and mess-mate, thati I shrink from any other mention of them than such m my narrative requires. All told, our little corps 'bf officers numbered fcKJBj; for each ship, including that non-effective limb, the doctor. Our two crews, with the aid of a cook and steward, counted twelve and thirteen ; giving a total of but thirty-three, whose dis- tribution and positions will be seen in the accompa- nying list. „ •• ADVANCE. Officer*. Lieutenant Commanding — Edwin J. De Haven, commanding the expedition. Passed Midshipman — William H. Murdaugh, acting master and first officer. Midshipman — William I. Lovell, second officer. £. K. Kane, M.D., passed assistant surgeon. ^ren. William Morton, Henry De Roque, Johii Blinn, Gibson Canithers, Thomaa Dunning, William West, Charles Berry, Louis Costa, William Holmes, Edward Wilson, William Benson, Edward C. Dtelano, James Smith. most of them en by the ex« sfeot of mate- by the strict officers. The able; and, in s^ted men of vaver. I re- irrative, how le of their lit- »ntribution 1» IN NEW YORK HA^bJr. RESCUE. < > Officert. i""'*iiI^'T~®"'""" ^ Griffin, commanding the Rescue Pajicd Mtdihtpman— Robert R rar.«, . ivescne. Ba«,,.«.„_He':::; BrJ: aeeo„;rffic'er * ™"*" """ '"* "«-'• Benjamin Vreeland.M.D./aasistant Crew. surgeon. 23 L.::;?X'.'Be';S„tr^^^^^^^ ^;^- B^c. Wmam Stewart, Alexander Daly. H. J. White i-Total. 33 Johnson, Jame« <.i,. g the expedition, and first officer. lilanithers, Thomas n Holmes, Edward r^-'Qm — 7T" I:' I . CHAPTER III. About one o'clock on the 22d of May, the asthmatic old steain-tug^hat was to be our escort to the sea moved slowly off. Our adieux from the Navy Yard were^ silenl^ enough. We cost o^r country no compli- mentary gunpowder; and it was not untU we got abreast of the-.dty^ that the crdwded wharves and shipping showed how much that bigger Ijommunity sympathized with our undertaking? Cheere and hur- ras folloV^d us till we had parsed the Battery, and the lerry.boats and steamers came out of their track to salute us in the bay. The sky was overeast before we lost sight of the spire of old Trinity; and by evening it had clouded over so rapidly, that it was evident we M to look for a dLrty night outside. Off Sandy Hook the wind fresh- ened, and the sea grew so rough, that we were forced to part abruptly from the friends who ha^ kppf. ,i. ■vi-A \:MS^^^J\ ~\ - THE OOOD-BY. 20 company We were eating and drinking in our little cabin, when the summons came for them to hurry up mstantly aftd leap aboard the boat. The same heavy squall which m^e us cast loose so suddenly the cable of the steamer gathered upon us the night and the storm together; and in a few minutes our transition wa^ complete from harbor life and home associations to the discomforte and hardships of our career. The difference struck me, and not quite pleasantly, as I chmbed oyer straw and rubbish into the little pe- cuhum which was to be, my resting.pla^e for so long a time. The cabm, which made the homestead of four human beings^was somewhat less in dimensions than a penitentiary cell. There was just room enough for two berths of six feet each on a side; and the area between, which ia known to naval men as " the coun- try, seemed completely filled up with the hinged ta. ble, the four camp-stools, and the Jockers. A hanffinir lamp that creaked uneasily on its "gimbals," illus- trated through .the mist some long rows of crockery shelves and the dripping step-ladder that led directly from the wet deck above. Every thing spoke of cheer- less discomfort and narrow restraint. By the jrext day the storm had abated. We were out of sight of land but had not yet parted with the ^t ^ oar well-wishers. A beautiful pilot-boat, the Washington, With Mr. Grinnell and his sons on b^ard, continued to bear tis company. But on the 25th we saw the white flag hoisted as the signal of farewell. We dosed up our letters and took them aboard, drank healths, shook hands-and the wind being fair were ^ out of sight of the schooner before evenilTg Inow began, with an instinct of future e xigencies •^"^y^fij^ retiieat; Th^ only sporrSouTd call my \. |r " fl- ^. }"'■' E.^/' S;*-'; /'^.■•^; m§Ww ■ lA ■'•\ ' V ?- "' > i f- •'• 26 CREATURE COMFORTS. f^^ !? /■^*r-> own was the berth I have spoken of before. It was a sort of bunk — a right-angled excavation, of six feet by two feet eight in horizontal dimensions, let into the side of the vessel, with a height of something less than a yard. My first care was to keep water out, my second .^ to make it warm. A bundle of tacks, and a few yards of India-rubber cloth, soon made me an inx- penetrable casing over the entire wood- work. Upon this were laid my Mormon wolf-skin and a somewhat ostentatious Astracan fur cloak, a relic of former travel. Two little wooden shelves held my scanty library ; a third supported, a reading lamp, or, upon occasion, a Berzelius' argand, to be lighted when the dampness made an increase of heat necessary. My watch ticked from its particular nail/Ai^-» jnore noiseless monitor, my thermometer, occupiqa Mother. My ink-bottle was suspended, pendulunslfashion, from a hook, and to one long string was fastened, like the ladle of a street- pump, my entire toilet, a to()tii-brush,.a comb, and a hair-brush. Now, when all these distributions had been happily accomplished, and I crawled in from the wet, and cold, and disorder of without, through a slit in the India- rubber cloth, to the very centre of my complicated re- sources, it would be hard for any one to realize the quantity of comfort whiph I felt I had manufactured. My lamp burned brightly; little or no water distilled from the roof; my furs warmed me into satisfaction ; and I realized that I was sweating myself out of my preliminary cold, and could temper down at pleasure the abruptness of my acclimation. From this time I began my journal. At first its entries were littl^ else than a selfish record of personal ^scoraforts. Tf wbs less Ifian It ibrthlglit since J was" i w ■ m m a !im » m ^^ i p mi ^ * ^ f* ' Ji^ itwi. OFF NEWFOUNDLAND. 27 Bt sTrice ] was under the sky of Florida, looking out on the live oak with its -bearded moss, and breathing the magnolia. Comfortable as my bunk was, compared with the deck, 1 was conscious that, on the whole, I had iiot bettered my quarters. But with the 7th of June came fine, bright, bracing weather. We were off Newfoundland, getting along well over a smooth sea. We had been looking at the low hills near Cape Race, when, about noon, a great mass of whiteness was seen floating in the sunshine. It was our first iceberg. It was in shape an oblong cube, and about twice as large as Girard College. Its color was an unmixed, but not dazzling white : indeed, it seemed entirely coated with snow of such unsullied, unreflecting purity, that, as. we passed within a hund- red yards of it, not a glitter reached us. It reminded me of a great marble monolith, only awaiting the chisel to stand out in peristyle and pediment a floating Par- thenon. There was something very imposing in the impassive tranquillity with which it received the lash- ings of the sea. The next day we were off" St. John's, surrounded by bergs, which nearly blockaded the harbor. A boat's crew of six brawny Saxon men rowed out nine miles to meet us, and ofler their services as pilots. They were disappointed when we told them we were "bound for Greenland ;" but their hearty countenances bright- ened into a glow when we added, " in search of Sir John Franklin." We ran into an iceberg the night after, and carried away our jib-boom and martingale : it was our first adventure with these mountains of the sea. We Jhumped aga,inst it for a few senhnds, but slid off^ smoothly enough into open water afterward. Two 5HBSS sasRe In 28 OFF NEWFOUNDLAND. days later, we met a j|cAoo/ of fin-backed whales, great, crude, wallowing sea-hogs, snorting out fountains of white spray, and tumbling, porpoise fashion, one over another about the vessel. My journal compares them to a huge old-fashioned India-rubber shoe. I whales, great, it fountains of shion, one over compares them oe. ■«)■■■ « i -^^ -- — Z'"'^. CURRENT CHART or BAFFIN'S BAY ,T„i„trd I,v ,nia..A.S.4.att R.,.r.8.c..<..l .s,„ ^ IHnu tb.. Inij bnnk €f the Adr.uu-.-, ami lo ""■ P"»'rt«'.ji'nrii;a 111- HT BANK. |fj • o ■TV'.' THI SUKKKBTOPPEH. CHAPTER IV. We were now drawing near to Davis's Straitk, and the names which recorded our progress upon the dsharts were full of Arctic associations. - The Mita Incognita of Frohisher and the Cape of God's Mercy greeted us from the American coast : ^Spe Farewell was on our starboard quarter, and the *' Land of Desolation" nearly abeam. A piece of drift-wood, a wanderer from the region of trees, passed us on its northward journey. The course of this drifl^-wood illustrates remarkably the benefi- cent adaptation t)f ocean currents to the wants of man. It lig found abundantly on the lower coasts of Greenland, an^, passing round them from the At- lantic, floats along the eastern shore of Baffin's Bay to the north, in opposition to the general tendency . of its waters, i — -the great oounter-current^ whietiln the"North At* lantic borders jthe Gulf Stream, flowing from the north- ,1 .fifep- 30 daVIs's Straits. east to the southwest, is defected at Cape Farewell, and carried abruptly along the west coast of Greenland toward the north. Such is the observation of all the Danish settlers, strikingly confirmed by -the accumula- tions .of ice on the southeastern shores of the Penin- sula. This ice is evidently from tjie Spitzbergen Seas ; and at seasons of the year when the upper waters of Greenland are comparatively unobstructed, it com- pletely fills up the iiords of the southeastern coast: Thus the settlements of Baal's River and Julianshaab are for months of the summer in a state of blockade, owing to the inroads of the ice-fields from the south ; - while at Holsteinberg and to the nortTthe land is per' lectly accessible. • , ^The drift-wood is at first entangled with these frozen iriasses ; but there is every reason to believe it contin- ues its way onward long after tlie ice has left it. At Egedesminde, for instance, it is almost a staple com- modity ; though in the Bay of Disco, where the current is controlled by .local causes, it is found only in some places. Our expedition met it as high as Storoe Island, in latitude 71°. . When it is remembered that this wood, coming from the Atlantic quarter, is the offcast of the great Siberian and American riv6rs, and that the distant bay to which it travels has its great discharge of water from the north, we can appreciate the importance of the reflex current in supplying these destitute shores with fuel and timber. Our enemies, the icebergs— for we had not yet learned to regar4 them as iriends— made their appear- ance again on the Ifftlf. One of them wa& an irreg. ^lSJ^M?»ngle+ at Jefist fl. ^uarter^ot^ ffiii©^^^ its presenting face. Its summit reminded me of the THE ARCXic DAY. '61 crevasses-' seen in the Alpine glaciers. It was com- pletely cut up with jagged ridges and intervening • hollows, through some of which the water of the sur- face drainage fell in little cascaded. The night.had now left us : we were in the contin- uous sunlight of the Arctic' summer. I copy the en- tries from my journal of the 17th. " We are just ' turning in,' that is, seeking our d.en for sleep. It has been a long day, but to me a God- send, so clear and fogless. My time-piece points to half past nine, and yet the sunshine is streaming do\^n ^ the little hatchway. " Our Arctic day has commenced. Last night we read the thermometer without a lantern, and the binnacle was not lighted up. To-day the sun sets after ten, to rise again before two; and during the bright twilight interval he will dip but a few degrees below the horizon." We have followed him for some time past in one scarcely varying track of brightness. Ttje words night and day begin to puzzle me, as I rec- ognize tjhe arbitrarjj?^ character of the hour cycles that have borne these names. Indeed, I miss that soothing tranquillizer, the dear old darkness, and can hardly, as I give way to sleep, bid the mental good-night which travelers like to send from their darkened pillows to iViends at home. "Only one iceberg was seen to-day. The sun was behind it, his Jow rays lighting up the sea with crim- son, and defining the black shadow of the berg like a silhouette. While we were watching it, one of those changes of equilibrium, sq frequent in partially sub- merged ice, caused it first to tremble, and then to roll ill long oscillatihg curves. At^ he same mmnftnt, m yr-„„ iaJs of birds, which had roosted unseen in its inhos- '»a.\*'iL.^-if' 32 ZONES OF MIST. pitable clefts, rose into the line of sunshine, and flew in circles round their unstable resting-place." Our little vessel pursued her way without drawback, heading, as nearly as the wind permitted, for our ap- pointed rendezvous with the Resdue. The zones of discolored sea, ^hich we met upon entering Baffin's Bay, still continued, though less frequent than further to the south. Their color varied from a chocolate to a muddy green, and it seemed as if their general di- rection was governed by some uniform cause Hot di- rectly connected with superficial currents. Of eight belts which I noted, five had a marked trend from the northeast to the southwest.^ It struck me as remark- able, too, that the movements of the acalephae beneath the surface were seldom in the axis of the stream. They crossed it obliquely. May it not be that such belts of discoloration as are visible at the surface are merely protruding ridges of great, submerged ar6as ? My meteorological abstract shows for this period a / comfortless alternation of fogs, scanty sunshine, and j drizzling rain. These fogs extended generally over jbl I considerable surface, and, though not accompanied by s^ch changes of wind or temperature as to at^tract no- P tice, had no doubt some relation to the fishing shoals over which we were passing. Sometimes, however, we entered continuous streams of mist, not exitending higher than our cross trees, and emerged from them again so suddenly as to make me ascribe them to local refrigeration induced by the neighborhood of ice. The '^effect of these fogs upon the diffusion of light was far from pleaifant. Our now nominal twilight reminded me of a%ri^ht glare, subdued by aground glass screen : our eyes suffered more than during the unobstructed _--„ — _-_^ — -^■aua ahi-nei^::::^^ -^—~ ..m .t. «» THE SUKKERTOPPEN. 33 On the 20th an unknown schooner came within the same dome of mist with ourselves. We had not seen a sail since leaving Newfoundland, and the sight pleased us. We showed our colors, but the little craft declined a reciprocation. On the same,^ay, juttingr up above the misty hori- zon, we sighted the mountainous coast of Greenland. It was a bold antiphrasis that gave such a vernal /title to this birth-place of icebergs. Old Crantz, the quaint- est, and, ill many things, the mpst exact of the mis- sionary authorities, says that it got the name from the Norsemen, because it was greener than Iceland— a poor compliment, certainly, to the land of the Geysers ! We first made the coast near Sukkertoppen, a re- markable peak, called so, perhaps, because its form ii^ not unlike that of a sugar-loaf, perhaps because'viS top is whitened with the snow. Mountains that mark their unbroken profile on the distant sky are very apt to suggest these fanciful remembrances to the naviga- tor; and it is probably this which makes their names so frequently characteristic. This peak is a noted lahdmark, and gives its name to the entire district it ovferlooks. Our. own observa- tions confirm those of Gr^ah and Ross, which place it m latitude ^5° 22' north, longitude 53° 05' west. It may be seen under ordinary circumstai^ces many miles out to sea. We were favored in our ^neir of the Sukkertoppen. We had approached it through an atmosphere' orfog; and when the morning of the 2$d gave us a clear sky' we found ourselves close upon th% beach, so close that we could see the white ^urf mingling with the snow jHt^fe^Aam^ggeaAmlinhospitable region never met my eye. Its unyielding expression differed from /M-*, - I« / 34 THli SUKKERTOPPEN. arty that belongs to the recognized desert, the Sahara, or the South American Arridas ; for in these tropical wastes there is rarely wanting some group of Euphor- bia or stunted Gum Arabt* trees, to qualify by their contrast the general barrenness. It was startling to see, beneath a smiling sijn y,nd upon the level of the all-fertilizing sea, an entire country without an ap- parent trace of vegetable life. The hills had the peculiar configuration that be- longs to the metamorphic rocks, Their summits were gnarled and torn ; and in the immediate foreground, some gneissoid spurs of lesser elevation were so round- ed as to resemble gigantic bowlders. The axis of the chain seemed to. incline rudely from the N.N.W. to the S.S.E. Its sides were nearly destitute of those minor valleys that characterize the more recent deposits. Yet, even at fifteen miles distance, I could remark the clean abrupt edge of the fractures, which creased their otherwise symmetrical outline. Over these hills the snow lay in patches, occupy- ing principally the protected and dependent grooves. But, with the exception of a few escarped faces, too pre- cipitous to retain it, the various inclinations of the sur- ) lace appeared to be covered equally, without regard to their exposure toward differ- in model, and graceful as the nautilus, to which ^ ^ »5> i Jv drift-wood or whalebones, and then roofed in with earth, skins, mosses, and broken-jip kayack frames. One small aperture of eighteen inches square, cover- ed with the scraped intestines of the seal, forms the window ; and a long, tunnel-like 6ntry, opening to the south, and not exceeding three feet in height, lead^/ to a skin-covered door. Inside, perched upon an efe- vated dais or stall, with an earthen lamp to establish the "focus," several families reside together. I have seen as many as four in an apartment of sixteen feet square. . , Some of these huts were garnished with little tin- seled pictures, and looked as if their inmates were not insensible to the decorative vanities of other lands. Others were a very caricature of discomfort — mouldy, dank, and fetid ; their rude ceilings distilling filthy water, and sometimes covered with introverted grasses {poa Danica), which had originally formed part of the outer thatching, but now intruded upon the greater warmth of the interior. I had but a few hours to examine this group. It evidently belongs to that class of rocky islets known to the Danes as "skerries," skiers, which are the not unfrequent appendages of a primary coast ridge. Well-defined gneiss, with intersecting veins of coarse red feldspar, was the basis material, the quartzine ele- ment greatly predominating. From several rude sec- tions, I made the dip of the strata to the northeast to be at an angle of 25° or 30°. v.. '-*■ ' '■■ ■"" ■> " PlWI»«il—IMpllM| fed in with Euik frames, uare, cover- I, forms the , ening to the eight, lead^y pon an efe- to establish er. I have sixteen feet h little tin- es were not ►ther lands, t — mouldy, lling filthy rted grasses part of the the greater group. It lets known ire the not aast ridge, is of coarse irtzine ele- tl rude sec- ortheaet to X ■■*iik ^i- rj^B ixB i .1ft •^'^ V ' WHALEFISHf^eiSLES ( ; mnrianmlttnl UL ^' 'undi'y 'ffTfe/f vimltrn) JO. 15' r,.r .si/jfeicuf'^i 'i :i — *- t tatifor ffMur/cAi. Mut s I f '/aiJj V ctr CIUBT OF Till WUALI-riiU IILANDS, mT'mmmmm ■ I ' 1 i , i JO ^ o M ^ «r .'V CHAPTER Nl t t '■./. O&R commandet intendefl to remain at the Crpwn Prince Islands no longer than Was absolutely neces- sary for our consort, the Rescue, to rejoin ^ us j but, upon reviewing our hurried preparation for ike %ard' ships of the winter, he. determined, with characteristic forethought, to S6nd a boat party to the settlemWt of Lievely, on the neighboring island of Disco, Ibr the double purpose of collecting, information and ^urchas- ing a stock of fu rs.^ The execution of thjs du^ he de- volved upon me. ^ ^. /J We started on the 27th, Mh Lovell/ myself, an Es- quimaux pilot, and a crew of five menl As we rowed along the narrow channels before wi\emei-ged from this rocky group, I observed for the first tiite that extreme transpareney^4he^ water whioki^s^gtroften— been alluded to by authors as characteristic of sthe Po- i . • ^•■■vrrifm»,MK'--:'n.« base of tt^ / ««rionrtinwdf wfisroboneT-^le Mr!%^ 4^ ^% © '%^ t s ■', # "tit:* — '^ 1 HON dltz, in- a;jcd^toal^longji|gjo the colpiy, ^a» sniEg up thf m^^ hl^^tittenfioiif was^ called to a 1 fisSp^ up tttf pjrd, h^«itten!ioi1r wasv called to «. large nii^i^t of t)«|^id seals, wliW'^re sporting, c^ut b6-/ feeati one ofthggl'^e?| #at pr6tri|tp bay. WbiM ipproacffit'g p' |Pjj|iT|^ ^ i^V^e hearA . a stt^nge soun(|,repii||^ati|tefvt^^ of^ ^k, and app^ntfy 'ptoi^feding from'the bp^dy |i%ie ice. At the same time the .seal, which the mo- Irieiit before had been perfectly unconcerned, disap- peared entirely, and hik Esquimaux attendants, prob- ably admonished by previous experience, insisted upon removing the boat to a greater distance. It was well they did ^o; for, while i^zing at the white face of the glacier at a distance of about a mile, a loud ex- plosive detonation, like thel<^ack of a whip vastly ex- aggerated, reached their ears, and at the same instant, with .reverberations like niar thunder, a great mass fell into the sea, obscuring every thing in a cloud of foam and mist. J The undulations which Tadiat^d from this great centre of displacement were fearful. Fortunatel)i for Mr. Grundeitz, floating bodies do hot change their position very readily under the action of propagated waves, and the boat, in consequence, remained outside the grindu^g fragments; but the commotioh was in- tense, andUhe rapid succession of huge swells such as to make tne preservation o£ the little party almost mi- raculous. . The detached mas§ s minutes, but it w its equilibrium. berg.*x i» applied by ua.. I restrict it to detached i adjusted itself after some hour before it attained oated on tUe sea, an ice- listinction to the glacis of ice tii tUu. (i '^ icEi?fciios. ': 59 „ ^ The mass thus detached appea/ed, from the descrip- tion of my informant, to be a nearly compjeteparallel. opipedon. It measured, by rude estimate, three hund. red yards on its exposed face, by about one hundred and fifty m breadth ; its height ^bove the sea " greater , than that of our main-mast." The leading circumstances of this narrative were confirmed m our owi^J^fter experience in Melville Bay.' Disruptions are witnessed not unfrequently in icebergs after they are afloat, and sometimes on a majestL scJale. Instances of, the flfc^oc/e^re more rare. - yul^ 2. The next day we passed this fiocd and stood on our course beyond an imposing headland, khowft on tffe charts as Cape Cranstown, through a sea unobstructed by floe ice, but abounding in bergs In the afternodn the wind subsided into a mere ' cats-paw, and we were enabled to visit several of the icebergs. I am amused with the embarrassments .S "^M^T^ exhibits in the effort to describe Vmk •J^np IS that.no objects ever impressed me more. ^^he% ^as something abou^ them so slmn. berops and so pure, sq.jnassive yet so evanescent, so ' ^ajesticin their cheeSess beajrty, t^thijut, after all, any.of lie salient points whick give char^ter to ^el g^ption^th^tth^,^lmost^Jmed to me the mate- f ^^' T! ^' ^^^"'^ «J^ things WbeTdefihitely- ■'.\ ."■ ■. f ' . N ^ 60 The first that we approached was entirely inaccess- ible: Our comiti,aHder, in whose estimates of distance and magnitude I have great confidence, made it nearly a mile in circumference. With the exception of one rugged corner, it was in shape a truncated wedge, and its surface a nearly horizontal plateau. The next pre- sented a well-marked characteristic, which^ as I ob- served it afterward in other examples, enabled me to follow the history of the berg throughout all its changes of equilibrium : it was a rectili^^r groove at the water- line, hollowed out by the action of the waves. These " grooves" were seen in all the bergs which had remained long in one position. They jvere some- times crested with fantastic serratures, and their tun- nel-like roofs were often pendant with icicles. On a grounded berg the tides^may be accurately guaged by , tiiese lines, and, in the berg before me, a number of them, converging to a point not unlike the rays of a fan, pointed clearly to those changes of equilibrium which had depressed one end and elevatpd the othei^ -- A third was a monsljqr ice 'mountaiffj at lep,st two hundred feet high, irregularly polyhedral in shape, and its surface diversified with hifi and dale. ;^pon this one we landed. I had never* appreciated before tter glorious "varietjrijf iceberg scenery, ^he seerat^ the base of this berg was dashing into hollow caves •\ ■ -'-":^[?^ pta.J!SP..L '■!/;■. hollow oaves ICEBERGS. ; 61 of pure and intense ultramarine; and to leeward the quiet water lit the eye down to a long, spindle-shaped root of milky whiteness, which seemed to dye the sea as it descended, untH the blue and white were mixed m a pale turkois. Above, and high enough to give an expression akin to sublimity, were bristling crags. ® This was tfle first berg that I had visited. I was struck with Its peculiar opacity, the result of its gran- ulated stoucture. I had incidentaUy met with the of ^ev. "-1?'".Tt" *'"' ""'* P^" "''he natufe ot nev^, and, while I was at a distance, had loAed with the firn or consolidated snow of the Alpine gla- ciers. I now found cause, for the first tiih'e, to chaLe this opinion. The ice of ks berg, although ZZ md vesicular was true glacK ice, having the ftaSr" lustre, and other external characters of a nearl^ W geueous growth The same authority, in speaki.ro* these bergs declares that "the occurrence of true ice IS comparatively rare, and is justly dreaded by hips " From this impression, which was undoubtedl/defi from the appearance of a berg at a distance, I ai^ compelled to dissent. The icebere is true ™ IT^ always dreaded by ships. Indeed fhoughmS'ieA'; night, the Polar glacier must be regarded as strictlv XtomT"? '""T"'^' "'"' "°* e-ntL ;'df! mm trom the glacier of the Alps Fhe general color of a berg I have before compared t«„l i"'™'- ^"* "■•«" "^ '■""'toes are yZ^. K. ^*>.rww„i<.^e^pt^„— :.r^ %i " «» ' ICEBERGS. fractured bergsurfaoe. It reminded me of the recent c\ea\Q000Sm0a^ of ||ront;ian — a resemblance more striking from the. slightly lazulitic tinge of each.- -: m . ■ yr- • I A ^i ^ " CHAPTER IX. . We pursued mir way, flapping lazily along side of the "pack," and sometimes forcing an opening through its projecting tongues. On the morning of th^ 3d, while heating between the ice and the shore, we steod ^lose in to a lofty headland, known as Svartehuk, or Blacli Head. This dark promontory deserves its name. It js of the usual metamorphic structure, ow- ing its color to the hornblende it contains. The re- treating character of the coast to the nortf^W south of it, makes it a noted landmark among'tli^S^s. At the distance of three miles, I sketched an escarped 1^ section of it, discolored by irdn-clay conglomerates, and -exhibiting a gnarled^ ami irrepfar striTcture. i._ > -^i-^i^^i ni REFRACTION. Oiir American birth-day, the 4th of July, could not pass us without at least a festive eHbrt; so we tap- ped a bottle of Heidsieck ii» the cabin, and all hand^s spliced tha main-brace. But the day was neverthe- less a busy one. What little wind we had was near- ly dead ahead, though we managed to work along the open water, making "the pack" and the shore by al- ternate "taxjks." At 8 A.M. it fell calm, leaving us entangled among fragments of heavy floe. We got the brig's head to the eastward with difficulty, and, in the midst of a dense fog, fired our blunderbuss and hove to for the "Rescue," no objects being visible more than a half ship's length from the decks. The fog left us about mid-day, and the atmosphere was so clear in the afternoon, that the land, although thirty miles off, was seen distinctly. The watei and the sky, in somewhat anomalous contrast with this ex- tremely pellucid state of air, had a pearly or ash-colored , tinting, and the floe ice, of which large quantities werti around us, varied like the shadows of a daguerreotype. Toward 11 P.M. the temperature of the water fell to 30°, while that of the air rose to 36° and 37°. liook- ing toward the shore, I observed p, sort of shimmering, as of the heated air above ft stove, and, at the same time, the base of the hills assumed a columnar char- acter, as marked as in the basalts of Stafia. Soon aft- erward, the entire land came up to us thrqjigh a high, ly refractive medium, and the vertical arrangemenl which had displiiyed itself before in columns was broken into waving curves, the, parallelism of their lines remaining unchahg^d.' As the sun reached his greatest meridional depression, this was accompanied by an extreme distortion. The homogeneous charac- teiT#th«"irtmusptreTer Was sin giTlarl^ / ■ REFRACTION. 65 was like gazing at a panorama through badly blown i|>n:d uneven gla«s. The little islands about the shore were eleVated into Champagne bottles and mushrooms, and some head- lands, which I had sketched before the'^di^tdi'tion, now sent out lateral prolongations which almost bridged the coutiguous hills. / ; ' Although I httve since feenma^.beautiful displays of this phenomenon, } have never known it more strike ingly varied within such limited compass. My sketch shows in the^to^r Un© the true profile of the coast; the two loWMs ^ive a very imperfect id«a of its successive j^ks^^ m t&fra^Ud. ' It, was, indeed, im- possible to embod)r^hem in a drawing. A thousand forms, inverted, looming, and distorted most extrava- gantly, were shifting about within an arc of ten de- grees of coast. At the same time, we had out among the icebergs, toward the southwest, the repetition on ^^ ^"JHfed scale o Lth e comp lieated modifieatiea».of^ refraction seen off Ramsgate, and described by Pro- *. *t ijs.feA rable in its way. X^e sea swell, af e- \i .- V ^* ,r " "V' n rt t t:.^':.'":-\: ■■^ .iiuiji|ip4^(i^,u^ TEMPER VTURES. \ 69 no evidences of refraction visible, except some slight loomings of the more distant bergs. The same ther- mometers now gave, both below and aloft, 36° and the water had risen to 38°, The surface of the sea at this time was cafs-pawedas far as could be seen. A bar6ly perceptible breeze, which set in suddenly from the northeast, haa undoubfedlf contributed to restore the" homogeneity of the atmosphere. My sketches of the coast, which had now been vis- ible for nearly three daiys without interruption, show what strange diversities of outline may be induced by refraction. The illusions are so perfect that it is hard- ly possible to arrive at the normal aspect of the shore " Such changes, especially of altitude, must be a source . ol serious embarrassment in the recognition oUand- ' marks. ■^r I ) ^1- ",. ^- ' ' ' ■ • :'^ ■ ' "■'i > ^^ — ' -r- ' , * ... ^ 4 l^irH ^ " ... /. * - '**. I ■1 ■ HH ,♦?. OUMiAK AND KATACK. CHAPTER^X. ..N . July 6. The ,6th found. us in latitude^7,2° 5,4, beat- ing to windward, as usual, betwfeen "the pack" and the h^nd. /Fhis hmd was of some interest to us, for we were now in the neighborhood of the Danish set- tlement of llppernavik. ' . Wfth tlie exception of oiie subordinate station, eigbt- eewf miles further to the north, this is the last of the lilahilh settlements. It is the j umping-off placfe of Arc tiftjjiiiiavi^ators — our last point of communication with tfiie outride world. Here the British explorers put tl^e date to thteir official reports, and send home their last letters of good-by. We sent oura without the d6lia>y of seeking .the little port; for a couple of k;aya6k8 boarded .us twenty miles out to sea, and for a few bis- cuits ghidly took charge of our- dispatches. The hon- jesty of th6se poor Esquimaux is proverbial. Letters :Comnjitted to their care ite delivered with unerring safety to the superintendent of Ihe' port or station- We were boarded, too,4)y an oomiak, or woman's boat..%fc4rninfr from a si/f'ce^sful seal huot From the crJP^ '^^ coiisisting of thre^ Svomen and foftr iften, '*%■ r' ■'W %'' THE MIDDLE PACK.> 71 de^7,2°v 44';bea-t- "the pack" and iterest t& us, for the Danish set- te station, eight- i the last of the -offplacfeof Ar*"- Qunication witii explorers put tl^e home their last thout the d^lajf pie of kiayadcs 1(1 for a few bis- ih^s. The hon- erbial Letters I with unerring rt or station- ak, Of woman's il h un t From we purchased a goodly stock of eider eggs and three young seals. " , Jvlij 7. We had now passed the seventy-third de- grefe oflatitude without being materiaHy retarded by ice. The weather was one uribrollen sunshine, and worthier of the Bay of Naples th^l Baffin's The coast on our right hand consisted k low islan J^, so grouped as to resemble ^ontinuous%nd. They were a part of the archipelago at the mouth of the large faord of Ovinde Oerme, and varied in size from mke knobs to lofty headlands sot less than fifteen hundred feet high. To our left was a coast of a diffete char, octer-^the ice. Thi^Vehad |iow skirted since the 3d. We knew it, therefore, to be a pktt of that great barrier, the "middle pack," around Xs^ dangerous ' cnrcuit we had to pass before reaching the western- waters. By standing in and out, we made the dis- tance of the pack from shore to l4 abou^ thirty miles. Ihe space between was clear, ^nd it was along this as upoiv a great riVer, we had thus far pushed our ^mv uninterrupted. r ., •' ,fift/" Z""' *^^J"^^i°ff «f *he 7th, a large vacant shetft. of^water shJ>Wed itsdf to the westward, pene- ' tr^^ting the ice a^ far as the eye could reach ; "ahd from ' the top-majt-head we could see the southern margin oiiAhis ice losmg:itseI«int^ clear, waterjr horizon 'It wa0 a strong temptation. Our commander determined. tQ|il"y for a passage through.",^ ^„ ; / A^.this day exercised a somewKafr oonttollinff^influ «nce upon our future progress, I will give its occur-' . rences a* they stand in my JDurnrtl. 'at c^5ienced,'' s^ysthe log-book, with "the pa^ ahead, a four-knot. breeTe from the JLJSJL, and^^^u,. -- and foto men,. .■ ^^'^)o tti^ southwest." ^ Byten we fosll^^ in ^ m .- ;* 1^. K S' Si «n«'aBr' *■•" ¥ h 72 FAST. .# ice . but. by cutting and -boring, succeeded inpfenatrat- ing it, and sailed on through loose streamy until noon. ' " W# now entered fairly the so-thojjght open water, keeping the shore on our starboard beam, and steering for the northeast; and north, at a rate of six knots, through an apparently unobstructed^ sea. But the sanguine anticipations W our ,eoinma(/Mer were soon to be moderated. By four in tniff afteifnoon, after plac- ing at least fifty miles between us and the coasi, the leads began to close ajfound us. Fearing a separation from the Rescue,, w&^^ took her in tow and continued our efforts ; but from 5 P.M. until the termination of the day, our progress was absolutely nothing. The morning of the 8th oper^ed upon us fast in summer ice. "Ju/i/8. FasU Around us a circle of snow-covered ice, streaked with puddles of dark water^ and varied (alas for the variety !) by the very distant looming of some icebergs. In the centre of this dreariness Are the two vessels — 'Advance' ^nd ' Rescue.' \ " Our commander, loth to ^relinquish his hopes, de- termined to ' bore.' This operation, which consists in forcing a passage through the ice, continued through- out the night — 'all hands' jumping upon the floes, and working away with crow-bar, boat-hook, ice-an- chor, and warping-lines. The result ofall thii labor was, that the two vessels made about three qlarters of a mile into deeper entanglement; an^ nowf at 11 P.M., we are fast in the apparent centre of a solid sea. "All the men are asleep except Dunning, our watch- man ; and but for his tramp on the deck overhead, and the scraping o£ my pen over the paper, the silence is complete. My mess-inates, thoroughly tired out, are breathing heaVily froiil their bunks. ^^Jiilj^ Q. Although wo commenced bright and e arly •> l . iii|l j iii<| -|lMft1 l right and early FAST. 73 to warp our way through the impacted *i(^e, we found, " ^^^\T ^^'^^'•' that the entire day's reward w^ ahout three miles. 'We are now again fest, eomplete- ^ beset, and only waiting to rest the crew before we renew our effortsf." ' - - , . What these efforts were it may be as well to ei, pl^m, for the benefit of ffreside navigators, and perhaps ' Xlr; ■ ^^''' ^^" ^« ^"^^ *« *« -- in ships kney that It IS easy enough to drive along in a clear sea o^^free wiad, or to haul into dock, or to warp up a quiet .iver,buttin-g> aside the lazy vessels a^ they saving a anchor. -How do we sqil, and haul, and warp in these Arctic Seas ! It is a Wg story, and, to understand it, we must begin at the\eginnin^ HUMMOCKII. J ^,r\ u"^^ ^"'""^^^ *'''^* enormous winter growth which, under the name of the "grmt pack," S r w.*" '^' "^"^^^"^^ i"fl"««««^ «f the Gulf easWn* W.h-t- this "middle" pack, into whose eastern margm we had now thrust ourselves ? Ihe short but ardent summer of the Arctic zone. flu. AM..... \ — ' ^"^'^ py arapuj ( jritt toward Ui« Alhuihc uceariTamiy c^ponSvHnrci^ent^ I ) ■ .«.■ 11. THE Mq)DLE ICE. from the warm regions of ithe equator, soon reduc^ the winter pack into straggling fields of diminished thickness and integrity. These, uniting again by their cohesive tendencies, form aft irregularly lenticu- lar raft, which occupies the central portions of the bay, and is called the " middle" ice, to distinguish it from the great pack of winter. This, then, is the summer remnant of the winter growth — a patch- work composed of all sorts of ice, di- versified in pattern, age; and condition, and varying in size fro^m small fragments, called •' skreed," to "floes" or "fields, so limited that the eye defines then extent. The floes may be said to lunn the basis of the pack. Their thickness ranges from a few inches to many feet, and their diameter is often many miles. I can not attempfr-to ^escribe the uniform dreariness of their water-sodden marshes and long snow-Covered platforms, without a point to mark "the!;;level waste, the rounding gray." This sameness, however, is Ht>t always so ab^lute; for, at the margins of the floes, where their rsJ'gged edges have come into grinding contact, the ice is piled up into ridges^thq-t streak the surface like the mounds of a, recej»tly-d itched meadow. These are the " hummdcks." | The near eff'ect of the ice and wetter, where they come together is not without beauty of its own. The water is itself of an inky darkness, a quality seemingly independent of mere contrast.' It is rarely even ruf- tled by the >vind ; and its placid surface reflects the marginal ice„ with its submerged tongues, in mirror- ^k€ accuracy. ^ This ice is ihe -gi^at bugbear of Baffin's Bay navi- Ration: yet I can not help thinking .that soToewhat too much stress is laid by the English narifators upon .^ 1^ THE MIDDLE ICK, 70 ues, in mirror- its character of a central barrier. Not only its condi- tion, but Its general extent, varies with the season. It IS well known to the most observant of the whalers that the wmds of the early spring, ,o^ « breaking-un" period, almost enable them to determine its position in mivan^e. A preponderance of northwest winds will drive It from the American coast; or the northeasters ol the spring and summer will often distribute it into bng stragghng bands, that intrude upon certain por- rDfcfisS: ''''' ^^ ^^ ^^"^' ^-^^^"^' -^ The axis of Baffin's Bay, according to our own ob. servations, which add nfearly thirty miles to tjie width ot Davis' Straits at Cape Walsingham, is from the north by east. The great bodies of ice which enter his bay from Lancaster Sound and the northern es tuaries of Jones and Smith, are undoubtedly impressed by the earth's rotation as they ^^ceed to the south thus causing an accumulation on tl^pasts of North Amer ica, which augments with theincrea^ing radius of rotJ ' tion, while the Greertlaad side is left compttely o^? As ,^e advance to th^e torth, this passage becomt . morecircumscribedanduncertaii>,sothattheiceisgr - erally encountered by the whalers before they reaSfthe 01 latitude 73 50 they enter apon a region of nearly peT«tnal ice. Here the middle paek intrudes uJo« the shores, Wd fills that large idUoe indelS which IS known as Molville Bay«^his torn i v^^ « Ij- applied by the wh^rs to a sweep of coast extend ingfrom the Devil's Thumb, or WilcLCtto C, Pes' Dudley Diggs and York, It comprise^ on the charl the several b<^ys of PrinjMjfcgent MelviHe n,, and Alli.«,n. "^^P^"". ^o'viHe, Duneua, 1 >i J^ ^■v ■ik;v^:.. If ! • V 76 THE MIDDLE ICE ITS CAUSES. The causes of this accumulation, so disastrous the navigation of the western,and northern waters bf the bay, may be attributed In some measure to the Mgh latitudes leaving the ice as yet unafiected by the southerly and westerly influences to which I hav^ al- luded, and therefore more open to local causes of de- viation, such as currents and winds. The neighbor- h6od of this region to the sources of ice supply, the sounds of Jones, Lancaster, and WolstejpdiQlmey-may be relerred. to ap "aiiother cause ; for the ice, alter changing i^ts origin&,l axis of drift, has not yet attained its free rate of motion in a new direction. Then, too, there are some peculiarities in the current action of the bay, as yet imperfectly studied, which can not be without their influence. It is altogether probable that a portion of the interval between the eastern and western coasts is the seat of a partial slackwater, or even rotating eddy. And" in addition to all these, there is the direct agency of that great body of water which issues from Lancaster Sound. This passes from west to east, in latitude 74° 3Q' ; and my notes indicate the axis of its course as the line at which the Melville Bay accumulation begins. All of these causes are undoubtedly aided by the numerous bergs discharged from the glaciers of this portion of the Greenland coast, which have often mave- ments counter to those of the surface ice, and retard its descent and progress very considerably. ' It is though this ice-clogged bay that the great fleets of Baffin whale ships have, for the last thirty- two years,, made an annual attempt to pass. The mysticete, driven from their feeding grounds on the coast of Greenland, have sought a refuge on the west- em side ; and their seats of favorite tesort, in the ear- ly part bf the season, are now in the water^^of Lan- THE Middle ice. 77 10 caster, Prince Regent, and Wellington Sounds, and tlu indentations of the northwestern coast of Baffin's Bay The vessels which have succeeded in penetratin.r thiJ intervening ice-barrier, before ^gust are sure of a full cargo ; but after thi« time alMrts are useless. The " fleet" is spoken of as « baffl^lf and is obliged to seek other "grounds" to the soUtK and west. It is in fact a great lottery, the caprices of the ice controlling the efforts of the most daring; and, for the last two years or "seasons" before our ai;«val, the whalers had com- pletely failed in effecting a passage. I have been surprised that this region has been so little attended to by the very able English hydrogra- phers who have visited these seas. The valuable -''wmd and current" generalizations of Lieutenant Maury would be especially applicable to ice navicra. tion^ and their application to the fishing grounds'of Baffan s Bay would be a matter of large utilitarian in. terest. The commanders of the whaling ships are an intelligent set of men, and they have acquired, by dint of long and sometimes dearly bought experience, a valuable tact in the navigation of this intricate region It IS surely to be reg^tted that the materials which' they could, furnish have not yet been made a subject of scientific record and comparison. Since the vear 1819, from which we may date the opening of Mel- ville Bay, no less than 210 vessels have been destroy, ctt in attempting its passage ! ■^ . * '^n^ F" 1 * ' 0» - '■■ /" ' I- 1 « * *• ••'. • ■■ . i 1 1 > ! *, ' v V"- ..- 1—- .^ i 1 i 1 1 *. !*' ■ ., ° • ". ■ :_ ^ " " •' ^■'\ •/ : / / ^B^^ ' ' * Wtk ■■ ■ ■1 ■■ I '•f. ■ n H HI ■ ■ 1 HI^H P w w^ ■■' <• '*' . - -f; . ■ - ; A • '■- - •r ■ ' .; " ' f > « ■• y '' ■% , ^ " / ^■' j ll " , ' ■■ 1 I" V ' - • n * > .• ■■ : ■^■■■i / i ■■', , ■ ■ " < 1 ^ '\ ."4 •' ' % " . ' 1 \ rr • ■ ■'; / -r^ ': 1 1 ■ ■ tf ■ t ... - ^ # ■'■'■; \ ■"■r""',; -.:. -i; ",. j '. ,^ ■J . • ■ ■> .ll . . . ' I:-. .:■ /■.. ■ ■ '■■■ .'a. . :. '■ ... .i' A.. ' ' ■' .. ' 'v. :-*riL« 4»; IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT.3) 1.6 1.1 MiWS& WIS ■ 50 ^^ M^B 2.2 ut IS |A0 2.0 IL25 i 1.4 m 1.6 \ •♦ *■ Sciences CorpDration 23 WfST MAIN STRKT WIBSTHt.N.V. MSM (716)«72-4S03 ..A ^^^5^ )!». CHAPTER XL We left the American expeditioii^ on the threshold, of th6 ice of Melville Bay, immovably fixed, to nil appearance, in, the middle pack. I promised at that time to describe the sort of efforts that were making for its release ; but I shall do better, perhaps, by giv- ing a general view of what one of the figures of speech allows us to call ice navigation. To those who pre- fer a more specific form of narrativ^I give the choice of dates from the 8th to the 29th of July, and permit them to be assured that they ate reading the story of our progress for the day they have chosen. Let us begin by imagining a vessel, or, for variety, two of them, speeding along at eight knots an hour, and heading directly lor a long, low margin of ice abqut two miles off. "D'ye see any opening?" cries the captain, hailing an officer on the foretopsail-yard. "Something like *a lead' a little to leeward of that iceberg on our port-bow." In a little y^hile we near the ice ; our light sails are got in, diif commander taking the place of the officer, who has resumed his station on the deck. Before you, in a plain of solid ice, is a huge iceberg, and near it a black, zigzag canal, checkered with re- cent fragments. /^ Now commences the process of " conning." Such work with the helm is not often seen in ordinafy seas. T4ie brig's head 4s pointed &r the ©pen gap ; th& wateh^ i the threshold. ' fixed, to till mised at that were making rhaps, by giv- ures of speech liose who pre- ive the choice y, and permit g the story of en. )r, for variety, nets an hour, margin of ice 3ening?" cries retopsail-yard. Bward of that vhiie we near r commander 3 resumed his huge iceberg, iered with re- ning." Such ordinary seas, tp^; th« wftteb X ' : - 1 • • A '■ ■■0:'' . j >■ • j i 1 ■' '- " . ■ 1 •r y '■\ ' r i ^„,.^„ . .^.ti^.u4«Eik^^4/iUi^daJba.bu^.:Lr if>«^-«..'.^4^.. .wL^Ldis^aHH ■A;^- A JAM> • oj axe stationed at the braces ; a sort of silence prevaUs Presently comes down the stentorian voice of our com' mander « Haxd-a-staxboard," and at the same moment the yards yield t» the ready^hauj at the brmies. The bng turns her nose into a suaSen indentation, and bangs her quarter against a big lump of « swaahine" ice « Steady ^here !» For half a minute not a sound, until a second fell—- Down, d^n ! hard down "' and then we rub, and jprape, and jam, and thrust aaide, and are thrust aside j^bu^^mehow or other find our' selves in an open canaVlosing itself in the distence. 1 his IS "a lead. X As we move on, congratula^inf ourselves— if we thmk about the thing at all— that we are « good" fm a few hundred yards more, a suddeu exclamation, ad- dressed to nobody, Jut sufficiently distinctive, comes from the yard-arm (we'U caU it "pshaw !"), and. look- ing ahead, we see ^^t our « lea^" is getting na^wer, Its sides edging toward each other-it is losing its' straightness. At the same moment comes a complica- ted s^ession of orders : « Helxn-a-starboard '" « Port '" Btod, hard, hard !" (scrape, scrateh, thump !) « Eugh '" an anomalous grunt, and we are jammed fast between two great ice-fields of unknown extent. The captain comes down, and we all go quietly to supper. Next come some processes unconnected with the sails, our wings. These will explain, after Arctic fashion, the terms " heave," and « warp,'^ and " track " and "haul," for we are now beset in ice, and what lit- tle wind we have is dead ahead. A couple of hands under orders, of course, seize an iron hook or "ice-an' chor of which we have two sizes, one of forty, and _^9lher of about a imndred^ouads. Witfrthis they^-- 82 HEAVING. jump from the bows, and "plant it" in the ice ahead, close to the edge of the crack, along which we wish to force our "way. To plant an ice-anchor, a hole is cut obliquely to the surface of the floe, either with an ice-chisel, or with the anchor itself used pickaxe foshion, and into this hole the larger curve of the an- chor is hooked. Once fast, you slip a hawser Lj around its smaller end, and secaire it from a slips by a " mousing" of rope-yarn. The slack ' 8 of the hawser is passed around the shaft of our patent winch — an apparatus of cogs and levers . standing in our bows — and every thing, in far less time than it has taken me to describe it, is ready for " heaving.'^ * Then comes the hard work. The hawser is hauled taut; the strain is increased; every body, captain, cook, steward, and doctor, is tak- ing a spell at the " pump handles" or overhaul- ing the warping gear; for dignity does not take care of itsu hands in the middle pack ; until at last, if the flbes be not too obdurate, they separate by the wedge action of our bows, and we force _our way into a little cleft, which is kept open on either side by the vessel's beam. But the quiescence, the equilibrium of the ice, which allows it to be thus severed at its line of junction, i§ rare enough, Oftentimes we heave, and haul, and r sweat,imd, after parting a ten-inch hawser, go*to bed % ■\ ^ TRACKING. 83 wet, and tired, and discontented, with nothing but ex. penence to pay for our toil. • This is « warping " But let "« suppose that, after many hours of this sort of unprofitable labor, the floes release their press- Aire, or the ice becomes frail and light. - Get ready the hnes! Out jumps an unfortunate with a forty, pound hook" upon his shoulder, and, after one or two duckings, tumbles over the ice and plants his anchor on a distan cape in line with our wished-for direction ffie poor fellow has done more than carry his anchor; lor a long white cord has been securely fastened to it which they '« pay out" from aboard ship as occasion requires. This is a whale-line-cordage thin, light s^ng, and of the best material. It pLes i£d through a block, and then, with a few artistic turns around the capstan. Its "slack" or loose end is car ned to a httle windlass at our main-mast. Now comes" the waipmg again. The first or heavy warping we caUed '« heavmg:" this last is a civilized perfoTmanc" 'all hands" walking roui^ with the capstan-bars to he click of Its iron pauls, of else, if the wateh be fresh to a jolly chorus ol' sailors' songs. We have made a few hundred yards of this light warpmg, when thefloes, never at rest, open into a tort- uous canal agam. We can dispense with the slow traction of the capstan. The same whak-line k passed out ahead and a party of hnman horses take u. m tow Eaeh man-^r horse, if you please-hal a canvas strap posing over his shoulder and ft^tened Int fT ' "'' ^^"*i«^^J3^' ^ this is a chapter ex-. planatory of terms, " toggled to the warp." This haj nessing is no slight comfort to hands wet with water' at the Ireezing point ; and with its aid they tug qjong. • X ■ »iftMfiy»fthiTi'i.-iYi SaKSBBJHBrST j_. S4 IMPRISONED. sometimes hi a weary walk, and sometimes at a dog- trot. This is." tracking.". When we could neithex^*Jieave," nor " warp," nor " track," nor sail, we re§oHed to all sorts of useless ex- pedients, such as sawing, cutting, and vainly striving to force our way into a more hopeful neighborhood. It was long before experience taught us to spare our- selves this useless labor, and, even after we had become convinced that the periods fbf efFe(?tive effort of this sort were so few and far between, it was hajd for men of our temperaments to await idly a change for better things. ^ We were twenty-ohe days thus imprisoned, never leaving a little circle of some six miles radius, and measuring our progress by yards and feet rather than by miles. For the rest, my journal must give its own picture of this season of " besetment." N. jr DKVU's THUMB. CHAPTKR XII. iJtm f! ^'^ t^^nty-four hours helples* wZ rt ""'™/" ™y *«<=«'»' more than twe7 ty yards. The wind, which had been from the north east, hauled/yesterday afternoon to the westward smce whe^Tblowing at tunes qnite freshlyjrhr^'' to southwest by west. From the eommencement of this change to this moment, the pack has been stead '"& ^"'"7 "7 ""'' »»- impo„e:"ab{:"'- JMow I begin to reahze some of the scene, H« scribM in polar travel. Go „p te the forei;! h ighi ered ice Here and there a very distant berg breaks 1 X.Th'^' '""* *ejh»mmocks and the ™L^L «e softened down by the distance into one plane sur!^ ^ 86 SEALS. face of cold white, and, except to landward, there is nothing to arrest the eye. " This shore, however, although fifty miles off, is visible enough, showing throughout all the hours of our now perpetual day a tall peak, rising like a light- house from a group of hills. This striking landmark is called the * Devil's Thumb.' * , a "July 11. The wind changed at 8 A.M., coming from the northward and eastward ; but the pack seems as yet uninfluenced. We are hemmed in as closely as ever. "Last night Lieutenant De Haven, who had been fixedly examining an object between us and the shore, passed the glass to me, with the question, 'What do you make of that ?' Without any hesitation, I an- swered, *A mast, with gaff and main-sail partially clewed up.' It seemed to me that one of the Danish fore-and-aft schooners had anchored at the edge of the pack, or just within it. Our commander thought so too; but a glance through a Fraunhofer telescope showed it to be a mere freak of refraction. " "Several seals were seen upon the more distant floes, but, in spite of all my efforts, I could not approach near enough for a shot. They are always on the alert, and at the slightest suspicion betake themselves to their holes. The Esquimaux use a canvas frame or screen, which they move before their persons, and, by a patient process of stalking, succeed in getting with'- in rifle shot. The Danish company supply them with arms, and they seldom miss their aim. I managed to get sufficiently close to recognize two species— the Greenland Saddle -back and the Vituline {Phoca Groenlandica and P. vitulina) ; but -strange to say, the -Rough seal, the Phoca fcstida of the Greenland fau^ SEALS BIRDS. 87 "iTen^^ "tich «,e had .eel .„ ms^y, ^^ „„e.„,,^ ture of solitary enjoyment, rolling not unlike TL ™bM„g h, head •>,z"ZL:'"fc:cLT. seal „„ather his ^pec^ are full „f IXwil At a e,de v,pw, with his caudal end slued mndZihe de from you, and his head liiled suspicioSi^ he air, he 13 tlie exact imase of a Hno- ni. j louring his wrig^es, he ^tembl a'^eafraif ITu tie whUe ai^r, he turns his Wk toyou' a„dtises t on h.s Side flippers Ulce a couching hunter pSi^^ for a shot, the very image of an Es'uima^x." ' ' tKe. in coupon. TW^.^cS™'^ ri' o"^ SQrvations while in the nack V^^h , Ihe Bearded seal (F. barhntn\ «++ • •size than any of these tZ ^ '"' * ^^""^^ »-iiy ui taese. i wo overgrown ohesfi mnn sters were seen at a distanPA T^i^ , ^"' .e0.e^. dii^Hng^"- of youth. ^ universal accompaniment _J'Ishot to^y several specimens of |Re Wi fe pff"- SLOW PROOKESS. of Baffin's Bay, well called the Ivory {Lams ehurne-, us). It is a singularly beautiful bird, so faultless in its purity of white, as to be descried with difficulty on the surface of the snow. The legs, (Which are deep bjack, are all that you see at a little distance. A specimen «hot a few days afterward had numerous ash-colored spots on the wings and shoulders, perhaps immature markings. " ^ " In addition to the Ivory, I have noti^d, since our entry into-the pack, the Silvery and Burgomaster gulls (L. argentatus and L. glaucus), but the kitti wakes (i. tridaciylus) have disappeared. The raollemokes are still abundant. TWo terns, one the Sterna arctica, the other unrecognized, with a soUtary Lestris {L.par- asiticfi), complete our catalogue of birds. " The Aneroid index now stands at 29° 05', correct- ed — lower than it has been since leaving New York. "Jtt/y 12. The changes in the ice since dinnerhave been such as to invite us jto renewed exertion. They were indeed protean; the pack was not the same fyt ten minutes together. Go belbw, congratulating your- self on the headway you are making, and vi^hen you coipe back you are hopeles^y * fast.' Go down again to chronicle your vexation, and you are surrounded by open leads before you have put away your joiirnal. Stranger still is M^e uncertain influence of warping. A single whale-line will sometime^ force the brig into a barely perceptible crevice, eolarging it into a * track- able' canal, while in another attempt a four-inch hawser will be stranded without producing the slight- ' est eflfect. * "This afternoon before we began our work, except thsit the -jvater-pools had become larger and more fre- ^4[uent, you would not at firat glance have detected any A BEAR. 89 ^ Change; but by fixing the eye carefully and contmn ^«^^3^"P-; line iA advance pf us. where an oM^^^^^ ^ Kad closed two days before, you could perceive a ve^ shght separation The closed line had become aY2 at leaat three or four, inches wide On o„r 1 a Uh^ffoe. .^he aperture^ at fifef a mere crack, wMen e to a couple of feet. dTviding, a«. it did so, tto fie dj of at least ^twenty acres area. Tlio traction c^at,„tt mg, our wedge-shaped bows insinuated tSemse ™' mto a self-made channel, and, acquiring new momln alter us. b«oh instances illustrate strikingly the ef .Zi; \ * '5'° "-™''" ^'^-^ impossible to influ. ^nofthei,„es.thoy^^:i]:;;;::^^,^^^^^^^ " mUe working with the rest of the crew upon the «., I was starred by a cry of 'bear.' Sure eZi 1 was thaf menagerie wonder. Not, howe™ the sleepythmg which, with begrimed hai , anlsubduld -ed past us on' the flolrHhort Lr^ilf^ ^^ . t a^^:^'^ "'X'""'«- ■"«»' nine feet lo^as we afterward found by meisuring his tracks, kis ^™d his head and neck jm a Une with the lo^g axis _^l'!'^<4«'icatQ yelltaw^not tawny, buta true— = - 7 ■<:U :4V 90 A BEAR. ochre or gamboge — apd his black, blue-black, nose looked abrupt and ^-ccidental. His haunches were regularly arched, and, supported as they were on pon- derous legs, gave him an almost elephantine lod^ The movements of the animal were peculiar. A sort of drawling dignity seemed to oppress him, and to for- bid his lifting his august legs higher than was abso- lutely necessary. It might have been an instinctive philosophy that led him to avoid the impact" of his toes upon ice of uncertain strength ; but whatever it was, he reminded me of a colossal puss in boots. " I will not dwell upon our adventures, as, on mur- derous thoughts intent, we chased this bear. We were an absurd party of zealots, rushing pell-mell upon the floes with Vastly more energy than discre- tion. While walking in the lightest manner over sus- picious ice, my companion next in line behind me dis- appeared, gun and all ; yet, after getting him out, we insanely continued our chase with the aid of boats. After laboring very hard for about three hours, repeat- ed duckings in water at 30° cooled down our enthu- siasm. The bear, meantime, never varied from his un- concerned walk. We saw him last in a labyrinth of hummock ice. . " In the evening it blew a gale from the southward and eastward, holding on until midnight. Strange to say, it produced no marked effects on the pa^k. At first we feared a nip, for, judging from the wind which swept our floes, it must have been severe in the open sea. But we rode it out in our icy harbor without ^ny trouble, although the undulations of both ice and wa- ter told of the commotion outside. " Our day's progress was one mile and a half. ^^July 13. 'Fast ag ain ! for, excopt that mile a nd . a FAST. 91 half Of yesterday we are nearly where we started from is It to them that we owe our exemption from the "/M/y 14-15. the AmerioOexDedihnn .a a half a ship's length. - '^''^^^Pedition advaiiees mertVh^-.^'I "^'T ^*''^»^«' ^^^ it be midsum- me ? The ice through which we yesterday attempt- ed to work our way was from two to four Lt tWck and as th^ broken fragn^ents closed around the yes sels, they froze into a solid mass Fnr .,1 t tte the™„.eter stood beW Tu; fI"^„TpI 'Z^ the mean temperature of the entire day wL but 34™ The sun shines always, and, except when in his ^ brght that we go about in owIJike gogXtha buckle over the nose. Yet, with all this liStJ^l . On the 13th two vessels were entered in the loy « we could »i ot o„: :c » bng, and three barques. They proved tn b. ??' ers, returning from their ufcucceS Ittlt f„ etrate Melville Bay to the North wl*^ ■*"" % P« Which W^Sv^irS^-'^ «i»'i '*->.. 92 'AST ENOUGH. half an inch thick; This process of cementing going on in the month of July looks discouraging. We have now been ten dadys beset ; and, with the exception of the 12th, when/an unusual wind slightly aflfected our ice, we have advanced but little more than a couple of ship's lengths. Indeed, for the past five days, our progress has/been absolutely nothing; for, although our daily observations prove that the great pack is in motion, our relative position remains unchanged. In four days yVve have made about four miles of southerly drift, and to-day our chronometers indicate another four to the west. How very sad it would be to remain prison.yound in this icy prairie until the season of search/has passed by ! Certain it is that some great commotion must influence this ice, if it is ever to lib- erate us, for upon thaws we can place no reliance. "/To-day we organized foot-races, and our friends of the Rescue had a regular divertissement of single-stick, foot-ball, and fancy matches against time. Our best riinner made his mile in seven minutes eleven seconds. / "July 18. To-day is our eleventh day since enter- ing the ice, our sixtb of nearly absolute immobility. We made, however, two ship's lengths by alternate warping and cutting through ice three feet thick. Our incessant exertions have fatigued us : .we have already parted four cables by heaving; fortunately no- body injured. " I took to-day a long gun- walk, bringing back a couple of tern and some gulls. Our commander counted from aloft nearly a hundred seals, distributed listlessly over the ice. I have tried in vain to stalk them. "July 19. The men turned in at midnight, to awake agam at six* Ail hands are pretty well used up. ..^r-l;; HEAVING. 93 great pack have been ^11^ Z °T^ '''° level, some peculiaritv i^2 t ^ „°°* "nbroken rescued here anTZt a K«t f ^ "^ '^^ """^ >"« leaving it in the f„r„f °' *?^ ""'">*'• ^'^n^ent, for»tfe,adilYrnt:Lr;?SrS ''''^•' our only avenues of escape Iti^ a "° "<"' that o„.,fforts of proZ- ar J dCtT ' If^f '"T and, although some hXC St „T.t"r. '*^'^^' of the slack the «•«.♦ V, "^'"*"*a''e charge the snatcttith s^h fol T'^T '^^'^ <■"» smoke arise from the fSn""" '"^ """ "'"""^^ "^ at:r:?tii".":i:t'tet:r^'^™°-- r^tz tt rsr rJ > ^- ™s:i: |H«itta. On sucHart e, ^ "^"^ '" *■"> ^'^"^'^ consummation and ml ,. *"^ '' *" ^'^P'^W man and anch;r suddeX S'° """^ ^ '"'™ ^'^" l"* often necessaralL to 1. '■'■*''" t"^"""' I* *« er after its attT^k forThrh ""^""f " ""' '"'^- projections catch the rone ,!. 'T™'"'' ""■• """^ divert the line of t™.r% ' 1"'"'' "''»»«''. ■»'»nW ' orswim to clea. the ■ sl^T "olT*' '."."P- ^'^«' Slack Operations likif this are t iKfc:*! a /' ^ 9'4 ANOTHER BEAR. N severe trials, both of energy and health ; more severe, I sometimes think, than any which are encountered in the systematic explorations of the British voyagers. ''July 20. We failed to reach the 'lake' yesterday, gaining it to-day. We cast oflf from the Rescue and made three minutes and twenty seconds of sail, meas- ured by a Parkinson and Frodsham chronometer! That over, we are again wedged in ice. " Our commander, who had heretofore miraculously escaped his ducking, while standing upon a miniature South America of ice, punching with a boat-hook at a little Cape Horn, went down suddenly this morning, leaving a Terra del Fuego of slush and water to mark the place where he had been. He had some trouble in scrambling out. "A short time after this, while we were joking about his adventure over a quiet little noggin of whisky- punch, Mr. Boatswain Brooks, a capital seaman, who did watch duties on board the Rescue, whispered down the hatchway, 'A bear along side !' This time the ras- cal was right aboard of us, and we kept below the bul- warks, so that his wanderings were rather matters of caprice than of fear. •' lie was a young animal, not more than six or sev- en feet in length, with a color even more delicately tinted than the other, for the yellow was only appar- ent at the armpits, haunches, and spinal ridge; his mCizzle, lips, and dew-laps were of dark purple. " When first seen ho rose upon his hind palms, and, lifting his neck in the direction of our brig, snuffed the air inspectingly. Satisfied with our appearance, he walked well within shot ; but just as we were about to reward his confidence with a bullet, he gam- -bole d off to a ttetgfabortng htt mmock . The poor fei .i,.v. o A^.A • K * NO PROGRESS. 96 low had such ajoik of life enjoyment that I felt glad that I haxl not fire^ although my hand was upon the trigger. "Once upon thisl little hill of ice, he was at home agam, favormg us |ith some hear play, snapping at the inoffendmg icic es, ruhbing his mouth sideways against the snow, ak rolling over and over from top to bottom I mentiW all these as characteristics of the animal. Of course we chased him, and of course we failed. We had U yet acquired our exf,erience as bear hunters. ^^f^l^ ^i* l\'"^li yesterday, and the ice is per- ceptibly affected. Tl/ese rains, of which we have now had several, exercise weaker floes. "Heaving, boring, noting ! "July 22. A^ we ,were in the act of warping inte a narrow chasm, the capricious ice closed in upon us mpping us on our counter, and heaping up some,two "We filled our water casks from a pool in a glued- up iceberg, and saw another bear ! We were too wise this time to phase him. "Our progress— not to be measured by yards.'.' a very rapid influence upon the sailing, but no progress worth CHAPTER XIII. !• I HAVE continued m^ journal long enough to prove the wearying sameness of oi*^ days. I wish now to say a few words about the iQcal characters of the seat of our imprisonment. The ice was of several kinds. One was the true material of the winter floe, varying in thickness from seven feet to as many inches. This was snow-cover- ed, patched by fresh water-pools, and sufficiently un- altered to retain its crystalline structure in full integ- rity. When it was over two feet in thickness, por- tions take^g^from its surface gave no evidence of sali under the test of nitrate of silver. A second ice I have called water-sodden. It sel-* dom exceeded a foot in thickness,' but was irregularly thawed in patches and striated lines. It was thor- oughly infiltrated with salt water, and broke readily under a blow, displaying at the lines of fracture the vertical prisms of its crystalline structure. This ice formed the basis of the pack I and although, by sftlftfit- m (' " 97 SNOW .ICE. wedge-acfion of our bows "^ '""'">' '»«"•<' the Athird variety of inow... 41, i_ l«lar. seen beneath the TJ '"'"oycombed or eel- masses. This ice, though „l''"'''°' °"™-8^«™ was sometimes so soft tLtl T ^"^ tenacions, hoolc through it. lUeltu^^ '"'"''' P'""^" » '><«'*■ mesan cheese. '««"n'>Ied a grossly-ceilukr Par- tmrnamHE. 2 '""gh «' whitleather Kl, with yater, it was as iinlieldin^ j^^hait. -WewereoftSS IX^ "mpaoted in its insi^^ ■ fracture nor give A^tnT"'- I* ™"'^ "«"^« f e a cork, iLingt m^^^ y^™ '-""r P'""'" '^ differed so little in^ecrgrav tlfc ""' ""'' '* to Anain almost suspended A* ^ '^"'^'^ «" But the surface of all tliL J- J-/ ■ overby fhe leading feator» f 'f'^ ""^ """tied snow aa at homS rounH TlT'^''"'' ''""'■■ n°« "'ating tree, hut a::Sa Xtlf T ""'r*'"- ™ch as resides in itself ThTs I 1. ™"'*y ^"« might a* first |npJK,se forif ri= • .^u ^ *'""'«y "^ one impress their,;shS:;tri:"1^^^^^^ pools eat themselves int„ T i ' ( V""'^' ™<"''acfc "gain, and briglt s I" trtlV'^LTf *'^ = " fr«»«^ "long the lej. tLZ^^^L'V^I' "■»'»' rivers this great ma.s of floItW fi'l^'r 'l''"™ '"'" ™« «t"e areas protected Kv^ ..' '«»™ Jiere and there P»«'s are ham W t^J '"^ '^^'- ^'"'^^ l^ke-like *« obserJ^e'S^fe t!' J"?.*"" "i^-^ h^ often obserred theVh S b of tb *''' ■''™^ hav, ^i" of them -eoted i^^::- rm^^cir; -<; <»^ V ''¥, 98 CUJIRENTS. / color, the shades varying from a rose-pink to a de- cided red. For a long time I supposed these. reflected images to be real, till one day the captain, (dl^lliiigjny- attention to this " red ice," thrust a boat-hook at it, and cried out that it was a reflection. This reflected im- age is generally very well defined, and beneath it there is sometimes a secoaid image of a bluish tinge. The explanation is at once suggested by the fact. The movements of this aggregated plain upon itself are even more incapable of analysis thaii the great general laws of its drift. I spent many days in trying to determine the sur- face currents by the movements of the acalephse, es- pecially the clios, in the leads ; but the disturbing in- fluences of th^floes moving upon each other prevented any reliable dedjictions. Camphor floats were equally deceptive, probably from the same cause. ■*■ 1 found, however, that there existed in nearly every case a second current, some one or two fathoms be- low the first, alnd that the upper of them generally followed the direetion of the wind ; so that I regarded it at last as a tolerable index of the surface drift. The second or inferior current is more difl[icult to explain by rule. It is influenced, of course, by the shape of the floes, their various deflecting angles, the degrees of resistance they exert, as determined by their weight and mass, and no doubt by other causes of which we are ignorant. Taken in connection with the great general move- ment of the pack, these currents form a complicated problem of high practical interest to those who navi- gate in the ice. But its solution must be reserved for scientific men. Much as I respect the ice-masters, the Gre enland pilots as they are termed, who have devo ted their lives to its practical study, I confess that I am al- FISH. 99 together skeptical as to their abilitv t. area like this. Even ihT / generalize in an trend of the pack can ^/IT^ ""^^ «^"^«*-«' the seen the ice open Lto plralT . T^"'"^^' ^^^-e from horizon t^o horilon '^la '"/ *'""^"'^^^ ^^"^^« ward, without any obse^ed j. ^ "" T'^'^^^ ^ft^^" or temperature. thLfcaXtX' 'd^T "*' "^'^^' vilinear, and we seemed ^ 7" 1'^^'^^^ ^«^«°^« «»r. system of rotation. "" *^^ "^""^'^ ^^^ great " but the red-throaTed diver T^Lt ^"^ ^^^^^^^ "«^ Temm.) aboundedln thlT^f ^'"*"' ^eptentrionalis guillemots (^n^ 1"*^;^^^^^^^^^ The black us in group , or w^re t JT ^^•'""'"^^^^^^ P^«ed -issed VklttLlkT The u"r^ ''^ ^^^^«- ^^ onlybytheGlaucousandIv ry^uSr Th^^^^^^^ in company with tern ,nA a '"*' '""' ^ere flight which distinS thi Ln""^ "■"' ^''«='"""' dentin the Ivorvvarier 1 ^ "' " ««P«cially evi. attractive UrTi Z'^l^^^'^f^^'lr^P^^", the mo.. ten, one " boatswain " a^rrf A ! ? .""' J"®" "fMar- ;y -n, except » Xt'jiJrie T^'^nT ™»»- these complete the list Tridactyl gnll- it often in fhe surface nl, fh 7°^*^*- ^^ ^"^I't It never exceeded six Icvlr ^1°'"^ *« '«^s- obtained some sp'r^^r oHe'rn fanf 'str'""" f"" ' no less than three inri;..;^ '/^'^lans. fetrange to say, parasites, andt^ete ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^thes^ ^covered with th em. ~ ^'^^^^^^^^ #k \ i^TERJNO MELVILLE BAT. CHAPTER XIV. Our position, on entering this pack twenty-one days ago, was latitude 74° «8', longitude 59° 04'. Our ob- servations now gave us a latitude of 73° 54', longitude 60° 06' — an average progress of about a mile a day. We had therefore been three weeks completely im- prisoned, and the seasori Ibr useful search was rapidly flitting by, when, On tljle 27 th of July, came the dawn- ing promise of escape. A steady breeze had been blowing for several days from the northward and westward, and under its in- fluence the ice had so relaxed, that, had not the A^ind been dead ahead,* we should have attempted sails. Our floe surface, disturbed by these new influence|^ gave us a constantly-sftfting topography. It was cu- Tious to see the rapidity of the transformations. At BORING, ; lOl our bows buried in hummnl "^ °" <"" ^^^y po^t clogged wHh frotXdiTr- ""' """ ''""'■ lanes were radiating from us i„ . ' !l? """"*«' "P™ becoming rivers, and puddClT^''"'^""'"'' "«''» - for five n.inntes;evenrS L "? ••■^'"P*"g ^h^ad , But changes ^ere^ n^n ""h "IT '™ ■«*'"• lowering, the gulls hwi left ?,!' , ^ 1 ''/ ^^ »"'«'™S fallen te^hs .i^fcel" ^^Lte'T"'^*" »^ 4:ru^rcr::-Sir.'''^'-^er,ong like *ater was visible to th„„ T ^"'*''' ^"^tWng 30m. P.M. we " cit off " IT* ""^ «'^*' ■""• "« 9h feelings of joyous relief be^"'^^?"^r'''»''.«ith' wind soon freshened to a sfTb ?°" *" '<^- This along to the "ortheasrin rs^*2]«'' "' T "-hed . Broken floes running out inl " . ^'*^ ''^^'S'' ^Me^ofus; but, onl/t^ I. t^. """^ *"« "» »" bored through them foTth! u """^ ""»" »««. we Bay. •* '" *''"n«''ore circuit of Melville , After a little whil«'tl>a u ' ■ though onr windTtitded r" '"*"""■ ' ""O "'• ' hardly be called a J" hetT ""^ T" "''^ '"«' <^"l The inshore sim of the indent^lwmWped by si sweep of glftciei;, through which i^WSia^iere the dark ^headlands of the coast foVce themselves with se- vere contrast. Outside of this, the shore, if we can call it such, is again lined with a heavy ledge of ^d ioe^ thicker and more permanent than that in ion. This extends out for miles, forming an icy argin cmf^ftCh, known technically jOs the ** land ice," te' w BER08. 193 or "the fust." A^ainsf ♦»,: through which we 3 h ™^'^'"' *^" ^'^^^ "^"ft" • O"^ initiation intcTthe myst^ies nV fhJ • " ominous enoagh. , It bW a^^ 4« flT^''" ^"' • . scene of noisv onM^nti P ^"® ^®"ff was a though whii re:&':;r ''V """^ '•'"^■ driiW by.us. TwicI in T t^ "^'^^ ^ 'hey to escape these bIJS V "'?''**« ^»'« «»"e *wgs finniy';„t;t:itdT„?hrvrt''J!:r r- '•^- tentbnwaso^onnr«« J- "/"® ^*«t Plam. Our at- ' which we" d^nrJZ^'' >»«- »-io«sly to those we could not he^D Lti ^ »Pon the open water; but ..;rth^ st^i^ni^rrr -ChS:r "^ nt uua uffi^, „4,^ nrsTgave nre the idea 104 A RACE. of a great under-current to tjie northward. Their drift followed some system of advance entirely independent of the wind, and not apparently at variance with the received views of a great southern current. On the night of the 30th, while the surface ice or floe was drifting to the southward with the wind, the hergs were making a northern progress, crushing through the floes in the very eye of the breeze at a measured rate of a mile and a half an hour. The disproportion that uniformly subsists between the submerged and upper masses of a floating berg makes it a good index of the deep sea current, especially when its movement is against the wind. I noticed very many ice-mount- ains traveling to the north in opposition to both wind and surface ice. One of them we recognized five days afterward, nearly a hundred miles on its northern journey. In the so-called night, " all hands" were turned to, and the old system of warping was renewed. The unyielding ice made it a slow process, but enough was gained to give us an entrance to som& clear wa- ter about a mile in apparent lengtlj. While we were warping, one of these current-driven bergs kept us constant company, and at one time it was a regular race between us, for the narrow passage we were striving to reach would have been completely bam- caded if our icy opponent had got ahead. This exciting race, against wind and drift, and with the Rescue in tow, was at its height when we reached a point where, by warping around our opponent, we might be able to mak^ sail. Three active men were instantly dispatched to prepare the warps. One took charge of the hawstfr, and another of the iron crow or chisel which is used to cut the hole] the third, a OUR PROSPECTS. 105 brawny seaman, named CosfA «,„ • ^, ing the anchor Lnd drivi„; u CI"" f" "^ °^«« -lid ice. when, with a «e Ln/^r "*" ""' ran across the ber? anW »1^ i """"^ef. » crack about twice the sSjlr r '"'*^"^ * ^^'"t rest One man remafneS „f 'K T '"™'''' *■"» «>« mass, a second es"^:dXSl?t°r:''"»'='P'^ and chain shrouds of thTboZrif buf° "'^V"?^^ anchor and ail, disappeared i^fc V ,''°°'' "^^to! ciful Godsend,' the S™ fra^^'^j A" "'^'• so cleanly that when it J,^ ^ ^'"^^'^ off rractured surf^t, tn2 bro^ht n^?^ "''"''' *"« alo"« with it. Scar^ 5t deftb >.''""^ ^^'^l*' by the captain as he pass^ th t ^ " '''*' <^»Sht safe on board ThL Z^ thejib-boom, and broniht o»r cruise, wt J^^^:^-^^ ^-^ ear,/in by obser^tion and chron °" P"^'"™' «« determined 2r', longitudT.r'so rXwinr '"",'-'* '^° o^' »"' "<''•''• "f'*"- broke upon „s Xt wir^'"'' .*■•" *^'«'»"'»»'' "h"* « of g„ei.: a'd oreXmfT" P^""''"^"''- figuration of theirsuriW 'P'''" ''*"'''^- ^he con. eighteen mileshL »„ ' '^" ^""^ » ''i''«nce of My first f..i; '"'>' *«™ erected. of the Alps BSMhtfLT" '■'"'''' *" *'«' glaciers amazement, if i' 1 '! [^1 "? "*"" S»™ ?'■«=« *» ^■£.^, « 108 HEIGHT OF BERGS. luents of ice growth. -Before us was an extended area of ice, rising by a regular talus till it cut against the sky, at the height of perhaps nine hundred feet. Its area, visible to the eye, measured rudely from two project- ing headlands, was about forty miles by ten in one unbroken sweep ; and its edges, where it entered the sea, were abrupt precipices, resembling the terrace- work of trap-rocks. The icebergs were very numerous : I counted two hundred and eight within the horizon ; ^nd the in- shore or glacier face was quite choked ■wiih. grounded masses, the mate recent product of this great manufac- tory. Bbr. l i.l ii m »i. i M« i liWMipiliiff.i «ilf »»f ^ ^) ' , ! ' -J.U Wi g g^ t 110 DECEPTIONS 0F> FOG. off on the level of the decks, every thing was clearly- discernible at an elevation of forty feet, I saw dis- tinctly, the surrounding bergs rising above a sea of mist. • One" phenomenon, however, struck me as novel : at least I have never seen it' described. Jt was this: Though the bergs were thus obscured at their bases by a dense^ plain of vapor, the Rescue, at an equal dis- tance, was visible throughout her entire extent, encir- cled as by an oriole in a clear atmosphere. Repeated observations have suggested to me this explanation of this phenomenon. These fogs, due to local refrigeration, We merely ex* cgptional breaks-in upon our pervading sujishine. They are generally temporary, and the stratum of precipita- tion is so narrow that the sun is hardly intercepted. Evaporation- contin,ues as before ; the decks arO dry and heated ; and the radiating influences of the vessel while stationary invest it with a sort of dome or halo of transparency. I have noticed this effect when look- ing at one of our brigs from on board the other, and have found that, if the sun was obscured for an^ length of time, the hull disappeared, and the upper rigging only protruded from a sea of mist. My sketch at the " head of this chapter will show some ^ of the curious phases of this phenomenon. The effects of fogs upon our (estimation of dimension and disitance are well known : men are magnified "to giants, and brigs " loorfT up," as the sailors term it, into ships of the line. They are especially interesting among the icebergs of this region. Two bergs were measured trigonometrically on the 4th, with a careful- ly ascertained base-line of four hundred yards. One of these, which I ha d estimated by ey e as ne a rly three DECEPTIVE DISTANCES. m hundred feet high, gave but eighty-four. A second measured by Captain Griffin, give but forty I h^^' Cht i' rr*' " *" ^ "'"' *^° ""ndrJd feet ^ tributes this effect to an in:;:^"irh?^rarr dt IncTitse f wT T *'" '"'^ ^"'^ -«Srff dt tance itself falls under an interesting class of dccen tions almost convertible with the other, and ifkTu dependent on the educated habitudes of tke eye oir deas of distance determine our appreoiatioro^maTi ^tLs,y":p;,i:;tif^:*- Henry, T"" "- - relative motim, "TiT "7^^ "" apprehensitm of fn.m tirrncelJrs-elJer "'""^ """"'"'-^ .ev^IlTrrhtlXr erj-eaf ^^^^^^^ ^« ! =oftt';*roraT^"^^^^^ mo young ice on a larffe scale Whon *u Ucles about the'si Jo^a^I^lri: "'vZt'^'- ««oular rays shoot out in every direciiflT.i'"' very little while interlock theZ,lvr fa 2 '" t of crystals. The ice film is non^mZ" it a7* minutes more it has thickened to Zet L »„H 7 comes dangerous to navigators 0„!f' I ^ T tmmmfH' 112 BEROS. Advance herself, though plated with iron as perhaps no other vessel has heen, showed unequivocal marks of damage upon her sheathing. She was heeled over, and fortified with three additional strips of holier iron, extending back from her cut- water to her beam. Our position was immediately opposite Duneira Bay, or, more exactly speaking, within it, at the dis- tance of perhaps twelve miles from the shore. The scenery was peculiar, wanting the sameness which generally characterizes an Arctic landscape, and the atmosphere so bright that -we could see every wrinkle on the face of the hills. An immense glacier formed a parapet wall of white masonry at their feet. On the other side of us was what had been the sea, a ragged surface of ice, unbroken except by the black rivers which wound themselves among its ridges, and here and there by the pinnacle of a projecting iceberg. Be- yond came the varying horizon of icebergs ; and still further on, shaded towers and sunlit pyramids of ice penciled their fantastic outlines against the sky. The sun, at its midnight elevation of three degrees, bathed the whole hemisphere in the purple light of our Amer- ican sunset. , The bergs were an interesting subject of study. I counted one morning no less than two hundred and ten of them from our decks, forming a beaded line from the N.N.W. to the 8.S.E. It was, in fact, an investing chain of ice mountains, for the offsets from the glaciers completed an apparent circle. As we warped slowly along, I had an opportunity of partially measuring some of them. One, a magnif- icent specimen of ice architecture, was 195 feet high; another was, on its longest face, 310 fathohis, or 1860 feet : its height was 140 feet ; and, reduci ng its m ass •9mm ^ • i«i*«Pl!!!MW mi r r ■^> t to a have - > Tl allov Appl ter f ment wate we hi 8oti4 its W( than 1 coast we 88 of wh Ma] From edge, which allhel enite, them angula even hi regnlai mere p powder ly chan rocks h; there b< cillatioi Othei raines t! ited mai f'^lW FORMATION OP BERas. 113 u tc a parallelopipedon, its remaining side could not have been less than 1000 feet The symmetrical character of this great body of ice allowed me to estimate its magnitude and weight Applying the recognized proportion of 8.2 below wl' ter for 1 above, and assuming, as Scoresby's expeit ments seem to iuftfifv ♦i.o* ♦k-_i ^ / ^iperi- water in th. r, ,J ""rty-five cubic feet of water in the Greenland seas have a weight of one ton ^wZZTo?:." T' ■^""-^ of cubic fte":?!^' to wetlt' / .J*'^;*'"' " ""'"""^ "f tons for L^tu .T *'""■**'"* »' 'o»»t one third lareer than the one which Scoresby measured on the easS we sa*r others afterward still more stupendous one of which I measured topographically. ' Many of the bergs were covered with detritus From one which had thawed down tolhe « edge I obtained some specimens of different^^ks «U belonged to the primary series— quartz ffneisa «v emte, angitic gree„.sto„e and clVsIate^SoS o'f' them were marked with well-deflLd striie whhout rLrttf • ™°°*''' '»'' occasionalty'p:; sH even nighly ; others were cut in facets nf rr.r,Z r reOTilnri'fv Tk^ • 1 . facets qi more or fess regularity They varied in size from large blocks to mere pebbles, conglomerated in the ice with finel^ powdered gneissoid material.. The be^ had e^det." L?T^^/*' equilibrium; audit seemed as inh^t ocks had been cemented in its former base and hL 'ted matenal h«I , Imear arrangement, as if dmp^ " ^1 ,.^ 114 FORMS OF BKRG3. in series during the progress of the original glacier. In one instance ah escarped face of berg waa impressed in intaglio lyith the^ mould of the cliff from which it had been severed, and the upper ^natgmal line was studded with j^ngular and attrited fragments, evident- ly deposited during thq[ movement of the glacier. This interesting fact, which I have not found noticed in any of the books, admitted of no deception. We could not stop to collect specimens, but I had time to make an accurate sketch of the section, and was near enough to recognize the schistose character of the adhering detritus. The glacier, although too distant for nice observa- tion, showed h.pw vety readily such a debacle might carry with it not only the impression of its valley side, but rudimentary moraine traces, deposited from the ridges adjacent and abqye. With a Fraiinhofer glass, I cojild see that the dark knob-like protrusions, which rose here and't^ere above the surface of the glacier, were the presenting faces of hills that went back in winding ridges, on both sides of which a discolored line indicated the accuoiulatidn of detritus. The forms of these tergs were constantly varying under the actioii .of the waves and the consequent changes in their equilibrium. Many of them were in- terjesting, some^ fantastic, and some occasionally beau- tiful for their symmetry ; but I do not think they im- pressed us as vividly as they se^n to have done other voyagers with their resemblance to more familiar ob- jects. Except when they came to u^ embellished by refraction, we had few of these imaginative pictures. Yet there was" about the forms, and the coloring also, trf the berg ice, a harmonious variety and grace, that =ne€ded no prototype to commend tfa em»— — ^ .„»i«iSS»»T.Mte 4? DECEPTIVE DISTANCES. ^^ denting all the varieties of ZT « '"'''*'="» P'*-- theae were of the i^ti; dt« "^T^'Tr ' ""* structures, where the d«LT '^ ™- '" ">« »'<1«> air were aided by IsS;"^""™ "^ *« »»" "-"l ■with these eonsti^rsWfti'^ "!"?« '^''°*"<'». »" V. r in m atto m pt tu W.^^ .^^^^ our command ^ I -^' f -^----pH» .^^11^ -: »--^ ^ j=*i.* 116 BIRDS. with detritus, which we expected to reach in a few minutes, a hard hour's pull left us the meagre satis- faction of finding the object perched on the summit of a lofty berg, whose base was even then below the horizon. That isolated projection upon an expanded level, and destitution of points of comparison, which make the pyramids so deceptive to the Egyptian trav- '^ eler as he approaches them over the desert, have an equally marked application to the icebergs of the Polar Seas. » We had been struck, as I have mentioned already, by the absence of birds since our approach to the mid- dle ice. Now, however, our stay had been so pro- longed, that the absent^ne began to meet us on theii j return. Among the first and most welcome was the ^ little Auk, the Rotg6 of the whalers, coming down from its breeding-places in the still further north. This bird, the Uria alle of Temminck, occupies, ac- cording to the ornithologists, a](i intermediate position between the Auk and the Guitt^mot. It is of the size of a partridge, fat, and delicately flavored ; and it came to us in such immense flocks as to form a highly im- portant addition to our diet list. Indeed, no other bird migrates in such numbers, or contributes so largely to the pleasures of the Arctic table. Sir James Ross, in the Investigator, killed four thousand ; and Mr. Martin, of the whale-ship En- terprise, who received the parting farewell of Sir John Franklin in this region, assures us that this far-sighted commander had killed and salted down so many of ' these birds as to augment his resources by nearly a two years' supply of food. For ourselves, without any special organization for the pursuit, we shot enough ^ them, from the4ime of their arrival tiU r^we^eat er e d jMfa-i^p j^ HUL' ,m^ A': iR^Vii ^»^ •\ BIRDS. 117 They were first seen on the 6th, flvin„ ;„ j^f^i. . part.es to the southeast and iejZ^ri^^''^, hours of low sun to the floes A« +i,«, I "unng tne Aun.e™., they would cor:hest*Z^^;rr es, so crowding the m«gins of the floes and tK" i^ on f e oS^es^L'^irr:' ti y':.tt approached near enough to be knockei down^a po es and boat-hooks. The whalers even shit tC m n.„re tfan a .ZZVl HZtlZr" *" *.\ v\. ■=!& CHAPTER XVI. August 7. This morning our friends of the Rescue killed a bear. His curiosity cost him his life. When first seen, he was swimming toward the brig, breaking the newly- formed ice with his fore paws. Findiii| his progress by this method unsatisfactory, he made a succession of dives, coming up each time nearer his assailants, who were advancing to meet him in a boat. He had a strange look as he rose after one of these submersions, breaking the ice with his upward mo- mentum, panting, and shaking his head like a dog to free it from the water. Captain Griffin^ who was one of our best shots, lodged a ball under his left shoulder without effect. Several other bullets struck him be- fore he turned to get away ; and even when one of them had severed the lumbar vertebrae, the hardy an- 'imal regained the floe, dragging after him his para- lyzed extremity. In this condition he was brought to- bay, and received the coup-de-grace from a bayonet. This bear had a coating of fat round the back and abdomen, which measured nearly three inches. When the animalls in good condition, this investing ,,,«'.. .-jte' BEAR HUNT. 119 He is *h««f„^ i'y V;„*rK' '^''^*"*^- we ate liWally of his "teatni.J '^r^*"' '^' somewhat of Kmp oU ^"^^ *'">' ™™"'' «^- "Thetha^l",^"C T'i "^ *''-^^- neous eruption- and Sc^rlT t " P"^'«»' » outa- from its poisonou £ Kn° '"°^'"'™S -^i"^' "Pon which the be^etfly fXf i\t "'"• nutritious throuehont T A^7 -J P»'"'*''Ue and what anomalons fet of , t^™'"*'' *" **^' *'"' »»»*■ ™m and th«ef^*:iTe7:TyT; '"; '•"^■ effect irom it. On the cnnf,,„ v ^' '"""'' ■"> "' during the t^r^ * rr Sf""*"'"^ "■«' jected by the crew. ThisMel wwlfc h "^ "°™'-'«- generally into our syste^a .t bol'''* ^r "T'/'^^ :ri:;iiis:irrof^-' ^ -^^^^^^ expenence of our party. ^ ^^*^ *^® Three days after this we ha^ another hunt Thr bears were seen stalkinff over iha fl^T 1 \ ^**^®® almost at the same 2ment ft ^ """^ ^"^' ^'^^ ed on the land icT WM? ^^ """'" ^«''« ^«P«rt- party to a^ttLMhosr^o^Z H 'r^^*^^ "^^^ Mrater ahead of Z LTll ^^ ''^^ ^^ *« *he -warn W^Td the hrir T^^^^^^ oH fo^uation, was not wider than The Sch^^^^ T -- ^wfttttes therefore broualif «„, k^fx ._•., . T'^P*®^ ^— = M+K»«fe, V •'^''"'i^"*"'P8. and a coup Bs therefore brought our boat within s^ 4ii^, .i.* -,.♦ \ 120 WARM FOG. The animals showed no signs of fear ; instead of retreating, they bore directly down upon us. Imagine three huge beasts, of the largest size seen in our men- ageries, in white contrast with the dark water ; their mouths open, as is their custom in swimming ; aid so close, tji^t you could see their teeth shinjng over their dew-laps. , I do not think that we distinguished ourselves. The captain's gun missed fire ; and I reserved mine for an occasion that never came. Mr: Lovell deposit- ed hi,s bullet in the base of the brain, killing his ani- mal at first shot ; but, while we were securing him, the rest turned tail, gained the floe, and escaped. August 9. The day, although warm and. delight- ful, with a temperature at, noon of 38°, became to- ward its close suddenly obscured by fog. Our sensa- tions of cold attendant upon this change v^ere sin- gularly disproportioned to the thermometrical indica- tions. At 8 P.M., the temperature of the surface wa- ter, which had previotlsly been 31°, suddenly rose to 36° ; the air falling to 29°. This, while it had a direct connection with the fog, was interesting, as it marked the presence of a belt of warm water, surrounded by the same ice iiiftuences which depressed it before. I have had repeated occasion, while passing through this bay, to remark these sudden elefvations of tempera- ture in the surface water: the large areas office in their immediate neighborhood make the fact worth noting. ^ During this fog, we made fast ta a permanent floe, awaiting our consort, the Rescue. The ice mean- while drifted rapidly to the northward and westward while the wind was from the opposite quarter. We sighted to-day a second spire of trap, r^embling 4- ^j ■»<««>o™»*«mi; v-. " '^ I-*!*!' ■^i.wjpfV,* . ROUGH WEATHER. 121 ' ' the Devil's Thumb Tf « r 'neit; so aamed by sl l^h » *^«'''i'>«'» Menu- which aie marlced on the th . 1; '''''« i«'«• ^^^^-^=^^.1% - i' 122 HUMMOCKINO. I t by a fearful experience, seek protecting bights among the floes or cut harbors in the ice. For us, the word delay did not enter into our commander's thoughts. We had not purchased caution by disaster ; and it was essential to success that, we should make the most of this Godsend, a "slant" from the southeast. We pushed on ; but the Rescue, less fortunate than ourselves, could not follow. She was jammed in be- tween two closing surfaces. We were lookmg out for a temporary niche in which to secure ourselves, when we were challenged to the bear hunt I have spoken of a few pages back. Upon regaining the d^ck with Mr. Lovell's prize, we were struck with the indications of a brooding wind outside. The ice was closing in every directjion ; and our master, Mr. Murdaugh, had no alternative but to tie up and aw^it events. The Rescue did the same, some three hundred yards to the southward. By five A.M., a projecting edge df the outside floe came into contact with our own, at a point midway between the two vessels. This assailing floe was three feet eight inches thick, perhaps a mile in diameter, and moving at a rate of a knot an hour. Its weight was some two or three millions of tons. So irresistible was its momentum, that, as it impinged against the solid margin of the land ice, there was no recoil, no m- terruption to its progress. The elastic material cor- rugated before the enormous pressure ; then cracked, then crumbled, and at last rose, the lesser over the greater, sliding up in great inclined planes: and these, again, breaking by their weight and their contmued impulse, toppled over in long lines of fragmentary ice. This imposiiig process of dynamics is called "HttmmoAkmgJ"- Its most striking featurewas/its jOSud j£^WU j-i^.^ 1 «» S'; A PIKCH. 123 unswerving, unchecked oontinuousness. The mere S ™ T '""''"^ P-Portioned either to thri" • S^d ^'r "l ^r''^""'"''™^ off-'' -hich it tl«a^^ t if hv ° J*"*" """•'" ""^ th™^' into toeair, as if by invisible machinety. I irst, an inclined face would rise, say ton ieet • then r ™f h""' a grinding, tooth-pulLg cZ'ckZ Zn he aJh t' T"' '"""'» " «"«'' "-1 here Z Ind f,t """' """•'^'"S '''«' " 'he sec. ond and just as yo^ are oxpooting to see the whole fhe rtrT' "" ^'™' " ''™'«', larger than any „, the rest, and converts all its predecessors into a cha- otic mass of crushed marhle. Now the fragments thus comminuted are about the size of an old-faslned Conestoga vvagon. and the line thus eating its way's several hundred yards long. ^ The action soon began to near our brig, which now fee by a heavy cable, stood bows on^^waitingTe' onset. It was an uncomfortable time for us as we Z^ZttlT*^ " *" """•" "" ^"-' " he! ,ll.r A P"''"'«- ^"t. thanks to the in- verted wedge action of her bows, she shot out like a pifiWhread, and backing into wider quarters The Be«=„e was borne almost to her beam endsZt event •rrsffi*"""^- ^•'-"^"^o^hotC This Closure of the seaward ice upon the land fln« w^ evidently connected with a chanrof winds 0„ the day before, the 10th, the ice m relaL Jlund us under a gentle air from the northward : b«t IJ^^ ually increasing breeze from the P S P ^ ftbout ninQ in th^ JT • ^. t^-^t.., commencing ame^the evenmg,T^T«ghtened the floeT ^ / 124 ICE OPENS— CRUSTACEA. and this morning bore them down upon us. As the wind hauled to the S.S.E., the ice opened again ; and on the early mornihg of the twelfth we warped ahead into a safer berth. ~_- We cast off again about 7 A.M. ; and after a weari- some day of warping, tracking, towing, and sailing, advanced some six or eight miles, along a coast-line of hills to the northeast, edged with glaciers. The currents were such as to entirely destroy our steerage way. Our rudder was for a time useless ; and the surface water was covered by ripple marks, which flowed in strangely looping curves. Op. the 13th the sea abounded with life. Cetochili, as well as other entomostracan forms which I had not seen be- fore, lined, and, in fact, tinted the margins of the floe ice ; and for the first time Itioticed among them some of those higher orders of crustacean life, which had herel»fore been only found adhering to our warping lines. Among these were asellus and idotea, and that jerking little amphipod, the gammarus. Acalephae and limacinse abounded in the quiet leads. The birds, too, were back with us, the mollemoke, the Ivory gull, the BurgoniEtster, and the tern ; and while the little Auks crowded the floes below, feeding eagerly upon the abundant harvest of the ice, the air Above us was filled with swooping crowds, equally intent on their marine pasture grounds. I can not mtbik that the powerful mandible of the Fulmar petrels ever conde- scends to the 8un«i va- riously, ^f jr:"^ eLr^eXir "'-"^ ^'"■ course; and althoueh wewU7 ^j?*" "P"" »" some i„tercepti„R "ce 17^. "^ *" ■"" '""""gt parsed the trfals of tlT; batl'T ""''r* """* "« '"-' mg the North Water ^' "° """""y W'"'- Jn'roferiotfntls'l'^'' ™ '""^ *^-g. - they receded rt„;d^«l"iT""^ We had (Wd i all th. „ T ' .*''* ^r™' K'^cier. in a neaHHont ntou* cSf""' ""^ ^"''^ T'"'""' to lose it. The XlTJ ■ ""Z ** ''"« "'»"t ready. ^'^ ''*^ '"""•''y diminished al- -,»■ .•»• CHAPTER XVII. As the afternoon, advanced, we had another visit of the phenomerffe of refraction This time they passed hefore us in all the costumes and mutations of a car- nival frolic. I am afraid to paint them from recollec- tion, and would make an apology, if I could, for the seeming extravagance with which they reflect them- selves in my journal. "6 P.M Refraction again! There is a black globe floating in the air, about 3° north of the sun. What it is you can not tell. Is it a bird or a balloon ? Pres- ently comes a itort of shimmering about its circumfer- ence, and on a sudden it changes its shape. ^ Now you see plainly what it is. It is a grand piancp, and nothing else. Too quick this time ! You ha^ hardly named it, before it was an anvil— an anvil large enough for Mulciber and his Cyclops to beat out the loadstone of the poles. You have not got; it quite adjusted to your satisfaction, before your anvil itself is changing; ' it contracts itself centrewise, and rounds itself end- wise, and, prestw; it has made itself duplicate—* pair of colossal dumb-bells. A moment! and it is the t black globe a^m" HiEFRACTlON. 127 lhea,«,lves above Tandt'/"^' ^'^ ""«' -ater blended with ;«! o^hr^' "''/ ""'' 1^"'^ you could not determTne wte.Tih/"''^'' *»^' *'"'* other ended. Your ship w^" .h„ ^^l "' *° sphere ; ice shapes of indelriCl^ °°T™ ""^ ' '"^* Boating, like yoV onrtM^rleThtr bird as apparent ^.n the deeps of the' sea o^^^^n 1 continuous element above Nothf„7 ,/l ""* ouriously beautiful than „„r Itirt the Re^ """^ she la, in .id.spa», ,„p„^ J»-'J^^«-^^^^^ This unequally refractive condition continn J on te i;™ '''»™"» to g"« the impression, it ,^1 on me at the momnnf; a.nA i au r tuaue from ray ^ournT^m^t^ ''^''' "^ again gle line * ^'^'"^ ^' modifying ^ sin- "^i/i'wj/ 13. To-night, at ten o'clock, we were on ^n 1 "f/.''"^' ^"PP«««^ *o ^« Ca^ M X ^Iren, attracted by the irremilnr r«j- ^- j;««ivnie, «un, then about L hou"lt t r^W^t tSt rf Im curve, I saw suddenly flaiinis „„ r!!.„ri t the sign, of active combUon^ ^r^ Z^^f black smoke rose ahnvA +K« v. • *"iumes oi expanding a«it::u':srr''''Bsr:r^H'^t eeye,by its <=on.pensation%„rdiZnr8^;«*;hT^°^ of masses, mingled with it riain» «n^ f ir il^onddisap^aring, ^iZV^^^^^T^ vHnar waving mn v « if >at**.vP^j--w^»^^^---.,.j — .~ir^' " ' f-'- — — "'vy lAiix iiuiH was nie De *f««vemen* of air, Wefiea^y an adja^e^ \ .. i * * ^ ,. ,i;-i.- %'^ ( 128 REFRACTION. heat. The whole intervening atmosphere was dis- turbed and flickering. "Upon looking at this curious spectacle through our best Fraiinhofer glass, the clearly defined edges of a number of krge icebergs could be seen, borne by re. fraction into the air, duplicated by inversion, and pre- serving that vertical parallelism of sides before alluded to as pharacteristio of the refracted berg. From the lowTferface of their inverted images were exhaling — if I toiay use the word — ^those wonderful clouds of ap- parent smoke. Here, top, at an altitude which, judg- ing by the bases of the bergs, corre^onded to the re- fracted or secondary horizon, a lateral distortion sent out huge tongues, like projecting rafters, which, when not obscured by the 'smoke,' contrasted black against the sky. All this was so combined with architectur- al forms, that it was hard to avoid the impression of some mighty city in conflagration." During all these phenomena, the position of the sun with reference tdttj^ elevated object had a marked influence. In^diately below his disk, the excessive . illuminatiorlpreAfented my taking altitudes by the sex- £ tant ; but j^n either side of it, to a distance of twenty degrees, \ could note that the falafe horizon, which I had selected as an index of the uplift, rose as it reced- ed from the sun. A similarly progressive elevation of the Infracted bergs was observable by the unassisted eyet The range thus noted was from .06' to 1° 40'. The entire sea at this time was studded with frag- ments of floating ice. Heretofore the more sttiking manifestations of this sort of refraction had occurred on warm sunny days, when the area immediately ad- jacent to us was entirely ice-bound ; and we had re- marked, on several occasioh s , that the p resence nfopan ':>.■ / THE"duiSINE. 129 temperature of the water tn Ty ! '"' ^"'^ «a board ship. tCJou Jt ttT^^ t^ '^^ Another extract from my journal „f «,. ! «.g k- less of imaginativeVnW " ™"' "'°™- manyships'mu^kerto'l ;; t^rClXT' T" "^ entv birds T\^^.r ^ ' ^ brought back sev- not flo ung ^z "z z: r^"* *'""' '""y -<"«. notice thei, w^Sf their eZs?u,lTr' '"' T" ' «uetie,,ut.ns,.::Kl?:?a"xxr co,ik*He'^""°^'""™"^y- Yesterday our F.«nch of a truss^'partriL'''^B:S''rr''""°''^'*«™ and withal most cTriciousJ.. ^^' """^ ^'~»«' where to find him On?^ I '• '"'" """ "»' *«" Je-Me; -t^hirXXtirat df^ ^ As a part of mv Polar nr^J; "^lyuwc, and damnable. beit /esteem a'd^r S ^L^S^" " P<""^al. thing ; and. in the course of my o„^^ "•' "^"^ have ah«ady manajred f^ °' "^ ^''''nary experience, I «aly; and with a little patiencV^d a ^^l'"' ,''"' •au^piguanle. is very ex • 132 ESQUIMAUX. f ing opportunity had gone by. In all of these casesn steamer would have been of incalculable^d vantage. ** August 15. The Rescue, which has proved herself a dull sailer, had lagged astern of iis, when our master, Mr. Murdaugh, observed the signal of * men ashore' flying from her peak. We were now as far north as latitude 75° 58', and the, idea of. human life somehow or other involuntarily connected itself with disaster. A boat was hastily stocked with provisions and dis- patched for the shore. Two men were there upon the land ice, gesticulating in grotesque and not very decent pantomime — genuine, unmitigated Esquimaux. Verging on 76° is a far northern limit for human life ; yet these poor animals were as fat as the bears which we killed a few days dgo. ^ Their hair, mane-like. flowed over their oily cheel^s, and their countenances had ^e true prognathous character seen so rarely ^mong the adulterated breeds of the Danish settle- ments. They were jolly, laughing fellows, full of so- ■ cial feeling. Their dress consisted of a bear-skin pair of breeches, considerably the worse for wear; a seal- skin jacket, hooded, but not pointed at its skirt ; and a pair of coarsely-stitched seal-hide boots. They were armed with a lance, harpoon, and air-bladder, for spear- ing seals upon the land floe. The kaiack, with its host of resources, they seemed unacquainted with. "When questioned by Mr. Murdaugh, to whom I owe these details, they indicated five huts, or fam- ilies, or individuals, toward a sort of valley between two hills. They were ignorant of the use of bread, and r^ected salt beef; but they appeared familiar with ships, and would have gladly invited themselves to visit us, if the officer had not inhospitably declined 4he^ honofv'- -____-__^ — :„, — _ t% FEOZBN PAMIHEs. ■ - jgj thl'ern""*?'^ '■"'"! ^"P" ^o'i that *.e met tttr;';tJK:T^«ir'n^™^^^^ that were met bv Sir John B„ "*'""'« «»«* nomads, and whom he des^n^Tted Cc;?„,Iv™'"^t"'^*'''' "ArotioHighlandera " *™<"'^"y enough, as the landed atneariy tt'ZVt^Z^Z »'«« --ive »Id had sUut o^artr;^lf'''^""*'™^"''ich should his veracity'of „^X;rtfS''r:?"r ^""'' the snofl SrJZl? T"""' '"4'»« -W. the tint which he ha. ;r;b:^ *" '"" ^' "' O'^*"-" latitude 76- 04' N nearlv n }^^^ ^^ «" deied on one side ^1 S'«,ief. rth 'T *™' ■»'■ •by dWlaiions:fromif^?'°l^'';°J-f '•'»-<' ,-^-.fo.a.»j;s say;s*^ / ''^' :'■'',■■../ y "^^'M 136 GLACIER FORMATION. hill, came dashing wildly over the rocks, green with the mosses and carices of Arctic vegetation j while from the dome-like summit a stream, that had tun- neled its way through the ice from the valley still higher ahove, burst out like a fountain, and fdfU in a cascade of foam- whitened water into the sea. . The glacier itself was of the class which Saussure has designated as i^ second order. It was a small but elegant typejof glacial structure, and was to me conclusive as to the identity in all essential features of the Polar and Alpine ice-growths. Its material was hard but vesicular ice, and seemed mark«d by strati- fied bands rudely parallel with its rocky base. These bands commenced with bluish-green compact ice, near- ly transparent, and then gradually shaded oflF as they rose into a more vesicular structure, which ended in an alnibst granular whiteness. These markings, which I had an opportunity after- ward of studying in, the bergs, were seemingly inde- , pendent of veined or ribboned structure. I look upon them as indices q( the annual growth ; made up by the snows and Q-tmospheric deposits of the non-thaw- . ' ing season, gra4ually melted, compressed, and refrozen during the p>Itemating temperatures of the summer / months. This view will explain the compact, trans- parent character of the lower portions of the band, and ' al§!9l.its gradual transition into a nearly granular ma- terial ; for the surface thaws and rains which follow , the long winter growth, percolating to the bottom, would impress the mass throughout its extent with these different changes. ; The direction of these lines was thus nearly in the * long axis of the glacier. As they descended to the surface of its trough, a gradually deepening earth-stain GLACIERS. 137 made the stratification for a f.m^ near its base its sub tance^^rsoT '''"^"* ' ^^* detritus and pa^ty silt tW .^*L'°^'^««9'«'-ated with it from soil. ^'*^**^*^^^d to distinguish -St upon the waten^the'Ch: '""!?? *^*^^ was flanked by the wajis of Ihe v^H T*^^^^ ^^^« southern sweep wa^ comnwl. , ^^' ^"* ^** ^^^^^e ed. On this I l^e tZl ^^ ^^^ ^^^ ""^bstruct- just detailed. ^' observations which I have th'^:^^s}^:^r^*^-^^adnot Professor Fp/ws ;„ ZTl . ""-O^ws detaUed bj haveill„,X?rhe ?;2^'ir'r'' "■'ght.perhaps.' ".ought it best to adhere to7v or-"'^' ^"' ^ ^'^ then, with views not direct^ i^prr^.^'LT'^'^ sion. J^ "^parted by the occa- inches in^dth xKlf 7,f'^*r" *» nineteen' entered the sea was ete„:?j^'"'|''^« -We it from its face, measured rad!?vK f"'*^f^^^k ^ponding Une of r„„^ ZH ll "^"^'"^ » «'™- ' »d it there »pre^?tae1f o„t J t* to" '"* "™"*y ' «rea, and its sides were lesT!™ . °°™'' * ff^^atef into the sea beyond thewirr^"'' J'' P""™'*"" ' i-7 over aVtt^m r^'n^^l^? ''^''* ''«'*. f 'Ob presented facette, of aSn'^''S:!' i;™? "f ^hrT«,ttorthu, immersed^^*^?-:..^ ^-T** W *v *^^.bnsi„.nre^'^~so„^i'-^T 10 J ''•■ 138 RED SNOW. / boat-hook ; aiid through the clear liquid I could see that a sort of beveling prevented the ice-mass from actu«d by Saussure, ice-fieldsj and I mysT". ^^ "JP"" *« Spitzbergen i* on the floe ioeTB^",*t57/'' ""' "»<" ''"h land. ''**'' » Bay «fty ifliles from any ButlwouldsuBireatrt.f . • ' situations, we can f^t BlsriT" '" *^^ 'V-«rtoved of the "tmosphere frl'tgl^^J^r the exemption not mean merely cfliuv^'refe tthi ^' '"" ' "<" fa, &o., as detected by FresInL :. T™ *''<'^' "iirect transportation of viS '"'' »*»"' >»>* » Tie highly^oli J aL dt ^ T"^"" "'»*«ri'"- "inter-ice admits of sueh tfZ ^'^ °'^ «•« A««« indefinite extent. I have eS"?*'"" *" '» «'"«'«« Piiloaophical Society al^:^t''' '"*'"' ^'»«"»« large to be tecogni Jd mT„,5. w^"*™" sufficiently *ch I cllecSTtteT,! o^l"' """"^^te^ eye! , mouth of Februarv is,/ ^ *^*P« ^-iai' in the the ahore. ^' ^^'' ^""^ ^"'onty odd miles from on the coast of AfricX t^^Stf^^' "°> ''•'^* mterest to this diffusiorof or„ ^ "** '"P*"" » Arctic snows. '"«^"' 'Pf™les over the To return tn tb. .. f j^m^,. n,-„, „ \., . -_A«il-.i^'iA,^.-'f' 140 RED SNOW. to the southwest, which stretched obliquely across the glacier at the seat of its emergence ftom the valley. It was here in great abundance, staining the surface in patches six or eight yards in diameter. Similar patches were to be seen at short intervals extending up' the valley. Its color was a deep but not bright red. It resem. bled, with its acQompanying impurities, crushed pre- served cranberries^ with the seed and capsule strewn over the snow. It imparted to paper drawn over it a nearly cherry-red, or perhaps crimson stain, which be- came brown with exposure ; and a handful thawed in a glass tumbler resembled muddy claret. Its coloring matter was evidently soluble ; for, on scraping away the surface, we found that it had dyed the snow beneath with a pure and beautiful rose color, which penetrated, with a gradually softening tint, some eight inches below the surfsice. 1 ->'' .' ' J ^ (,1^ J ^ t > jA&L^ At 4 P.M. we left t^ some pleasant associai name of "Bessie's Co tne northward. The am traca and ciios, on which CHAPTER XIX. 'Sting spot, for which «gestedto me the *fnmenced beating to »wded with entomos. 's of^Auks were feed- ^g. The prospects of OM^^ "Wuks were feed- One mile from fte sho^ J 5 *"■" "»«'''''««"'?■ bottom, at twenty-thm! 7:^ ^'" "°.*""''?' *» ""ky "fi" «P" with JterSfoe tterr' *'""'• ^'""g »» tt' west, we sb«d closet ,S? "" P^''*^ *° About eleven o'clock C w!™^ ! ' '^™™'''e spot, midway between Cap^ Yor^r/n If,**" ""^ » '''^H foeground was of rugged sylni^. ^ '"'' "'^^- I*» we could distinctly see thf t° "*'''' »»<• »ver these «»ming torrent He« tt ""*'. ™^'''"? <'''™ in a By ".eans of our old fti!!^ * ™«»i»g-Place. «» "lose that the sides rf„" **" "*'P* T '"«>'ed in A few inches oniv i^f "***'' ^""^^ UlEllcli "Wharf The sun waTsnT^T""*"*'"* from - ^ bathe every thin" ™1":' 'his midnight hou" poll, delioiously unlike th^A?."""*''"* "f i^'m w«^ in black JshXwbutth'"^^™- '^''^^'' ke walls of the cove I^^'^" *f *'"'"' «'™«<1 A«k» crowded these r^fei?^'".'^^"™n»l'ine. The »J--'»nU started ::':Sa:r ^■"i*^" 'Ait* * II. «.K ^.tf5 142 FLORULA. O on either side of the so-called Peninsula of Greenland. The culminating peak of the northern abutment of this indentation gave me, trigonometrical! y, 1383 feet; and others, more distant, were at least ong, third higher. -The cove itsel? measured but six hundred yards from M\xS to bluff. It was recessed in a regular ellipse, or rather horseshoe, around which the strongly-featured gneisses, relieved, as usual, with the outcroppings of feldspar, formed lofty mural precipices. I estimated their mean elevation at twelve hundred feet. At their bases a mass of schistose rubbish had accumulated. I have described this recess aS a perfect horseshoe : it was not exactly sifch, for at its northeast end a rug- ^ed little water-feeder, formed by the melting snows, ^ient down a stream of foam which buried itself under the frozen surface of a lake. Yet to the eye it was a f: nearly absolute theatre, this little cove, and its arena a moss-covered succession of terraces, each of indescrib- ': able richness. y Strange as it seemed, oil the immediate level of snow and ice, the constant infiltrations, aided by solar rever- beration, had made an Arctic garden-spot. The sur- face of the jnoss, owing, probably, to fhe extreme altern- ations of heat and qpld, >yas divide^ inU) regular hex- agons and otffer polyhedral? figureB^i^nd scattered over . these, nestiing between the tufts, apd forming little groups on their southern faces, was k quiet, unobtru- sive community of Alpine flowpring plants. The %eak- ^ ness of individual growth allowed no dijibitious species to overpower its neighbor, so that many families were crowded together in a rich flower-bed. In a little space ^' that I could cover with my pea-jacket, the veined leaves of t^ Pyrola were peeping out among chickweeds and =-=-8axfl^age8, the sonel and RonuncAiiis. m florula. 143 poor gentian, stunted and reduced hnt cf n i-, shoe, and frin^ 'it '1^ ^ T*" "^""^ horse- Shrubs and trees "the 11 '^,"'" "'"' *"^'- only typed those LZZt^^ Zf\T''' things had lost their UDriahtn«r ^ , ^^® P"^'' the elements ,y traX^l^nTihrr^r tr*"^ . impfessive eZlCTllZTZ ""ft- ""' "" ""^ and in fruit— I could covpr if , ."s*'*''*"W m flower «ia honeysueWe (iX; JXT^ftrii *"« sylvania woods— I could sti^^lt i^^^ . " ^""n- button-hole; the ^ Jit^'^X: ?£"!" "^ ^ marabou feather. ' ^'''f^gona, like a green a trefoil olo™ ; If^f jt^^"; "-^'y larger than ;.thea,j„st buu:x*i",efr^^:^/,^°""i by olawJite rIdeCk^\"'t;^''"'' h"e and there inhospitable soil had ISV^ , *" Penetrate the Burfa^-trirfolfht^^ '""".T'™' ■"" "P"" th" moss whieh ^^rd It^eatrrno:,^ '"'' ^"^'^'^"^ -^evation. „fT 7»^"""™?8. wWletaking sextaatet ^^^ahons of the headlands, to mea^ureTh! ^0^0! / i44 MOSS-BEDS. of this cove, both by sections where streams from the lake had left denuded faces, and by piercing through . them with a pointed staff. These mosses formed an investing mould, built up layer upon layer, until it had attained a mean diepth of five feet. At one place, near the sea line, it was seven feet ; and even here the slow processes of Arctic decomposition had not entirely de- stroyed the delicate radicles and stems. The fronds of the pioneering lichens were still recognizable, en- tangled among the rest. Yet these little layers represented, in their diminu- tive stratification, the deposits of vegetable periods. I counted sixty-eight in the greatest section.* Those chemical processes by which nature converts our au- tumnal leaves into pabulum for future growths work slowly here. My companions were already firing away at the Auks, which covered in great numbers the debris of fallen rock. This was deposited at an excessive in- clination, sometimes as great as 47° ; its talus, some three hundred feet in height, cutting in cone-like proc- esses against the mural faces of the cliff. There was something about this great inclined plane, with its enormous fragments, their wild distribution, and steep angle of deposit, almost fearfully character- istic of the destructive agencies of Arctic congelation. I had never seen, not even at the bases of the mural traps of India and South America — or better, perhaps, than either, our own Connecticut — such evidences of active degradatibn. It is not to the geologist alone ^ • r copy the number of these layers as I find it marked in my journal ; yet . ' I do 80, not without some fear that I may be misled by the chirography of a very hurried note." My recollections are of a very large number, yet not so arge as that which my respect for the littera tcripta induces me to retain io the text. I I from the ? through brmed an atil it had ilace, near (the slow thely de- he fronds zable, en- r diminu- eriods. I * Those s our au- ^ths work ly at the debris of essive in- >• lus, some like proc- led plane, tribution, haracter- igelation. tie mural perhaps, lences of ist alone journal ; yet ograpliy of a •, yet not so to retain in ■« t * w'*:!X'd^j:*: r^ssf, -a*U™aj_, / >•*>. ». I' ' •''* AnKs' NESTS. I^S' ; , Jte existence of the earth t * '"°" ^o'-g o» since ■ , fr-'io" of time against it "rte'^T"*^'"'^ t-nhe ^ on with solemn force to thl j ' *"•* ^ey carry ns edge. ,nd mOnnC ^av^nTomr'""' *'"' '"''^'"'^ hare been worn down intl rl^ 5^ •"""« .'"^h *»" 'oy- Well may th~Xd"" ''^''""'S"»'««^'"- ters."* Theypoint wfth i™ "zoological chronomS- • tation of year^. ^ TbeiMnZ'""T '^"S"' *° tko 'o- tion ! °" "'"ost deciphers the nota- - A^^ht^tSrt:,:'*''^'""''^"™- *-«««'« • though far advanced?h*„oIrT"f '"""'"'«'»>. fledglings were lookiL do ""'f"" ''J'' «" ^e young and the mother, with' erZ fti^r '" """'^''»' constantly arriving from theJ. tt P'?™"***'. were study the domestic hawL „f^t "^f ,'' ^^ " *'«h ^ grants at their homesttadll rf. *"*'" ^""''' emi- o»e of flieir most^ubr cot ^'"^ "''"»'""'«• "P ^ »h« * »s ■' n.ay seem to dweJl nnot^l"^ ^T"' SWioulons tr-viai, my position bl™!"!. VJ*""' W"ently so • erated velodty of thH.! "^^^Ser. The accel- y .the masses cause d them to Ie»n ,,ff '*«W''wiSSiS,"irSj.^ P* ' V I '^4G (•W'' TRAPPING THE AUK r 5?Jy 111 clepectefvlines. Several uncomfo luid^readj^^passed by ir^, soi|||g eve a*|d my Vv^aIf(ng-polGfiAva)^jerlqp frdrS^|ay.'1iSft" buried in th(|;jj|iins. '»f &jj^ helpt^s. I <^8&ftjienced my own half-invoI|i|itary (l^^fit, expfecting^ momenWily to follow ]|]g,/^p6ie, wheii'n^j fma caujghlJ^proi ^it^frop^ of feldlp^, againef x^^^h'^^roiig; spffit^^mb t^o minor streams, ^^l^j-^t^'wi nips^ succeescle4 iii reaehijn^ '^ V ,-''^.. . '' ^j?' '-^^ jsat |H)oa? the temporary secul-ity 61 this little i1|^|^ed by falling fragjnents, and awaiting '0W adjustment to a ilew «^iilUbrium before I ule^^ descend, I was struck writh the Arctic orig- ality" of 6very thing around. It'^IHs rhidnight, and '^b sun, now to the north, was hi«||en by the rocks ; J^ut the whole atmosphere was pink iJfith light. Over head and i^round me w^hirled innuiri^able crowds of Auks and Ivory gulls, screeching with*«xecrable clam- or, almost in contact with my person.', On the ^(i"ozen lake below', contrasting with its snowy coiyering, were a couple of ravens, fighting zealously forV^orsel of garbage ; and high up, on the crags above me, sat some unmoved, phlegmatic burgomasters. I missed my opportunity of inspecting the nests of the Auks. They issued from the crevices between the detached fragments, and, it is probable, deposit- ed their eggs, like other Uria, upon the naked rock. Some of the men succeeded in reaching their squabs by introducing their arips. It is said that the Esqui- maux trap them by spreading out thetf clothing oppo- site these apertures, so that the/^ir dioiffa en disturbed, pass into and fill the sjeeves le at this cove, I saw SjU^^J^BSftis a black ani mtlBAich, but for its ctppar^HHHper size, I v^ould /" / k,. V - '^ ■ . ■ * BLACK FOX. ,., 147 »'-»*ieh were uridoubtedTvont ^'*^'^^.^& ,^ Thej.wer» probably Z "bt^?''.'P?^• , ' Ross, about which there hi h ^'"'" °^ ^" J»'"> Throwing a«de less oblur„^: "7''. ''r-oh. fox was dark sooty brown or bl» l! ""^ff ""«*'»■•. this ■ am disposed to think oTtbf S' ""' '''''«' "". <« I ..^^e white fox (il't;;^\'rr'"r™'-'»'- -n of head and'di^inishf Tst mShTbt' T?"^" by the absence of its winter ooverC ""^ '^P'-^ned , TherestofthedaywasbeantiSlTelear W it in working to windward, and a Ipm r"' ed to get observations, riis snoT tb T'" '""''■ hat we reached in Baffin's Bay wit I "^/<""'«ra I here sawand collected in fhYp^tectit , ''" '"'• the grasses and saacifraw, » , P'°°'*<' "ooifs, among 1-ia (c i>»4aTR;rnii:,rtt'''^^°'''' Plectrophanes were seen *!«, Emberiza and .hl^rail'littfc'tb*^^'' '''^ '■''^-^ towards Wolstenhotae SoS Id b"*'- ^'' '*^ west in mote ODen water Z' t ^"* *«™^ ^ the - -eb. It w4^o:t; td ,::bti7'"'""''™"^ winter somewhere amoLtt "** *» ''e™ to We were past the b^I^'heLrT "' ''"'*^'> '™1- ter Sound, with the moS ofl ^ ''"'"'* ''»' ^'"«"«- "a, and a breeze a^r ?! reTrT ""™ """« ""''er how the toneiof feallifc *" my journal, I see ™' '^'""' '"P«r-abilitytodS '■I X 148 QiOob-BY TO BAFFIN. would still keep them in the advance ; and we were ignorant of their course and intended scheme of search. We had dreamed hefore this, and pleasantly enough, of fellowship with them in. our efforts, dividing be- \ tween us the hazards of the way, anil perhaps in the "* long winter holding with them the cheery intercourse ^of kindred sympathijes. We waked now to the prob- abilities of passing tne dark days alone. Yet fairly on the way, an energetic commander, a united ship's com- pany, the wind freshening, our well-tried little ice- boat now groping her way like- a blind man through fog and hergs, and now dashing on as if reckless of all but success— it was' impossible to repress a sentiment almost akin to the so-called joyous excitement of con- flict. ' . We were bidding good-by to "ye goode baye of old William Baffin ;" and as we looked round with a fare- well remembrance upon the still water, the diminished * icebergs, and the constant sun which had served us so long and faithfully, we .felt that the bay had used us kindly. ■ ^ Though I had read a good deal in %e voyagers' ' boots about Baffin's Bay, I had strangely and entirely misconceived the prominent features of its summer scenery. Thereis a combination of warmth and cold in the tone of its landscapes, a daring, eccentric vari- ety of forms, an ii\tense clearness, almost energy of ex- pression, which might tax Turner and Stanfield to- gether to reproduce them with an apprdach to truth. How cou^d they trace the features of the iceberg, melt- ing into shapes so boldly marked, yet so ilndeftned ; or body forth, its cold varieties of unshaded' white, or the azure clare-oBkcure of this ice-chptsm ! Thert are the - bl a ek MHs,bloW upoa rolling snow ; the iee-plain, mar^^ . ■ V CONTINUOUS DAYLIGHT. X. 1J9 in. above b'oth! Sht„fh''p':™S:" '"'^■™- permanency compared with th'e e„h. ,' '"""'"^ beat agaihst its sides. 'Pk^meral ruins that AU this is attempered bv the w«™ i ■ ed atmosphere. The skv of B « ™ I ""^ "^ " ""*- eight hundred miles from^hePo?,-^"^' t''""^'' •"" emness, is as warn as"he bL f m '?'* "^"^^ "'"'''■ rain. What art™ then .! u^^^'^' ""^^ " ^""^ ^fenedeharaiUIrtheiowsf ^^Z""'^'^' '""' " but there was no iwulght '""' ' ™" "* '"'™''. m^^e f pktLrft wL' *"^- ^^"^ ""^^^'''^ "''y ^ "i^ht Arctic sun'setntru„r" 1T *"* """<'■ tliat, whether you ate or Ti T' »"'' P'«asant to (i„d « daylight':!"!:, ' P ' - to- 1 *"''*"■ ""' forced upon you ib, <,vct.™ f " "'''some night I could dine'a? ZZlZ s"un"T."'T. a'ternatioL. eo to bed at noJTday ^tnd P / '^"™''' ""'' coils and cogs, called'a w„t ^ ,T ^PP"™*"^ "f ™er aiffl no wo^ ***"=''' *"»''' ^ave been no «*emed to JgL thrown off Tb '1'™"* '«'*«'™''- 1 6ct, I cojaferdr,T!i ?^ ''"^'y "'■ '•""■■B. In .vjJBWff, dnst-covered, on our lockers-I am t #: u NTINUOCS DAYLIGHT, .% •5 *. #• fe *$^ )ting the words of my journal--^puzzled me, as * things obsolete and fanciful. This was instinctive, perhaps ; but by-and-by came other feelings. ,, TJMiilMdljrf;ual light, garish and un- fluctuating, dis'iffflrttettmer *I b^l^m© gradually aware - of an unknown excitant, a stimulus, acting constant- ly, like the diminutive of a cup of strong coffee, ^jbf sleep was curtailed and irregularis my meaf hours H^ upon each other's heels; and but for stringent regula- tions of my own imposing, my routine wou,ld have been completely broken up. ' My lot had been past in the zone of liripdendrons and sugar-maples, in the nearly midway latitude of 40°, I had been habiti<|ited to day and night -and every portion of these two great divisions hadjipme its pe- riods of peculiar association. Even in the tropics, I •had-mourned the lost twiligSt. How much more did Mniss the soothing darkne^, of which twilight should have been the precursor! >I began to feel, with more of eniotion thi^ a man writing for others likik to con- fess to, how admirable, as K. systematic law, is the cal- tqni^tion'^day ^nd nigh t-4- words that type the two gw^ conmtions of living .nature, action^ and repose. ,T ^tamig PfOVIsIon trnnsnnrf .f T ' . "^^^^^ ^^lar, ttis ™-ng pr„v,s,„n transp„; ;?ra;e";nmer: wS 152 ENTERING LrANCASTER SOUND. somewhere in Lancaster Sound, probably at Leopold IslaUd. For the rest, God speed ! " As she slowly forged ahead, there came over the rough sea that good old English hurra, which we in- herit on our side the water. * Three cheers, hearty, with a will !' indicating as much of brotherhood as sympathy. ♦ Stand aloft, boys !' 9,nd we gave back the greeting. One cheer more of acknowledgment on each side, and the sister flags separated, each on its errand of mercy. " 8 P.M. The breeze has freshened to a gale. Fogs have closed round us, and we are driving ahead again, with look-outs on 'every side. We have no observa- tion ; but by estimate we must have got into Lancas- ter Sound. " The sea is short..and excessive. Every thing on deck, even anchors and quarter-boats, have * fetched away,' and the little cabin is half afloat. The Rescue is staggering under heavy sail astern of us. We are making six or seven knots an hour. Murdaugh is ahead, looking out for ice and rocks ; De Haven con- ning the ship. " All at once a high mountain shore rises before us, and a couple of isolated rooks show themselves, not more than a quarter of a mile ahead, white with break- ers. Both vessels are laid to." The storm reminded me of a Mexican " norther." It was not till the afternoon of the next day that we were able to resume our track, under a double-reefed top-sail, stay-sail, and spencer. We were, of course, without observation still, and could only reckon that we had passed the Cunningham l^ountains and Cape Warrender. About three o'clock in the jmorning of th^ 2 1 st^ an. m-f 7// i'' I- S^R JOHN ROSS. ov«r, Weared to be a launch, deckel Wbre the Wind, ship^^ ;;',XaT, ' "'"' '^'''-' <'"vlng tie schooner was under a fw^f^'^^'J"""- The lit -med fluttering otrl;e'~'^*'P^^^^^^ Presently an old fellow wiZI , f "■ ""PP'ea 1^1 "'ght gear, appeared iX ,1' °'<»'' *<*«« , »ere on the lead. - r*" »"''«'« Advance "Before we separated, Sir Johr. n ' ' and stood at the side of hi „S H """^ "" ^'^^' ' borlt man, apparently v«nrl»«r ;•,*"* ^"""B- w^U able to bear hJp^t^C.Tf"' '" y»'»' -""I I'fo- He has been w^d "i tf r^^ '"«' '"'^"'^ "f ■aents-twice desperl°dv 1."? .'^'" ^"^wl ™»'^o- *"«»'• He'.asS^j^?«"*Aftomh<^ ' «%, and performed in ™trf!/''''''"*»''''''«'^»'»l- ^ feat of wintering fou^^ T ** ""P^aileled here ho is again, in a fltt?S.ti "^".l *""'*'• ^"^ u*mg his puse Mid hisEr^ ' '*®'' '^■'Wl*-" ' 'he crusade of search f«rTf^^' ^«™1'<«1 himself in - *Ad«Wty iS^^-^/t^;;^* <*™'«J«- We met him n 154 THE PRINCE ALBERT. 1 Soon after midnight, the land became visible on the || ^ north side of the Sound. We had pissed Cape Charles Yorke and Cape Crawfuril, and wire fanning along, sluggishly with all the sail we could crowd for Port Leopold. It was the next day, however, before tye oame in <* sight of the island, and it was nearly spent 'when we found ourselves slowly approaching Whaler Point, the ^ - seat of the harbor. Our way had been remarkably "^ clear of ice for some days, and we were vexed to find,^ therefore, that a firm and rugged bfirier extended ?Jlong '^ the western shore o£ the inlet, and apparently across ^ the entrance we were ^^eking. It was a great relief to us to Sge, at hklf gast six in," the evening, a top-sail schooner working towfttd us through the ice. She boarded us at t^n, and proved to be Lady Franklin's own search- vessel, the Prinwif' , Albert. * .^ '^'^ This was a very pleasant meeting. Captain For- ^ ^ syth, who commanded the Albert, and Mr. Snow, who * acted as a sort of adjutant under him, were very agree-lij,.^ able gentlemen. They spent sonie hours with us; which Mr. Snow k»s remeirftered kindly in the journal . «"' ' he has published ^since hisAreturn to England. Their little vessel was much less ]^rfectly fitted thap ours to - - j^ encounter the perils of the ice ; but in one respect at least their expedition resembles our Own. Jhey iW to' rough it : to use a Western phrase, they ]^ no fan-,. , ' - cy fixings — nothing but what a hasty outfit &nd a';yim- ited ptirse could supply.- They wex& now boutid for Cape Rennell, after Svhich ttey propoacd|^m[aking a * *" sledge excursion over the lower Boothian and Gock- ^ burne lands. ' The Nortl\ Star, they told ua|jjiad been caught by I «r L CAPE RILEY. 155 om drift/she had T"/} ^^"""^^ After a peril- Sound, wh Jce afL"^ V r** '" '"'"""^ Wol.fe.holm« ed r:i^^Xti:tf?'^ "^^' '^''^ - - p-t. lighted the shore aS ° , '*'''''' *■>« *^"- We fturd very closeiv „ T,'"^ *" *'"' ^^'* "^ Cape terraces of bS.'i:^^''''' ■""''^'"-^. »-".- in the hills like a vasUWr*""'' ""'"'''" "«'-- »neofthem,themostco„ J '^ "''"'' *«'° """s, . /baJJ. K couple of ho„ " aft""'' "'*'' " ""^-^taff and .^(Slandi, Theca^t™ f- T^" *»" "^^^ enough »v hWtone, but a?^',trt!," ''^'''•°J^<'«"gt<>''gueof 5 • 4ses U> the height of r T" '"'''""' " 'he cliff . »S «>««lfor»ationC Onnt n'^'"' ""''•"• «'"«'>- • *- two days beC us :' h tl^T"?'^ "^ "-" ;. trepid; belonging to :f»r,'t!^ . ^'™'*''"'' """l h. ■-iad discoV^idUes :? a? """'' Sl^dron, ahd i"dic»tiois"thJ^ll;" ™'=™r<'»t. and other nio. /ajestj-s -rvice hJSte„ J:i|"V?t^ ^"""'• . SimilaT traces, ifwaf^^I, a^"^^ "' *''''' ^l»t.'- Beechy Jslaml a pToTecln ' f^u" '"'""^ "'- <»■ ten mile, from ^^5°^ *' ""'"'"" ^''''' «""•« ^^ZSX^^J'^-^-teretfwhil^the . ^cei^wereincompaijy. c • 1 •^ •4 ^: rt.< ' ^' , }' » '» I • 1 r • ":^ ■'!? 156 FRAlS'KLIN S ENCAMPMENT. I inspected these different traces very carefully, and noted what I observed at the moment. The appear- ances which connect them with the story of Sir John Franklin have been described by others ; but there may still be interest in a description of them made while they were under my eye. I transcribe it word for word from my journal. •' On a tongue of fossiliferous limestone, fronting to- ward the west on a little indentation of the water, and shielded from the north by the precipitous cliffs, are five distinct remnants of habitation. " Nearest the cliffs, four circular mounds or heap- , ings-up of the crumbled limestone, aided by larger stones placed at the outer edge, as if to protect the leash of a tent. Two larger stones^ with an interval of two feet, fronting the west, mark the places of en- triuice. " Several large square stones, so arranged as to serve probably for a fire-place. These have been' tumbled over by parties before us. " More distant from the cliffs, yet in line with the four already described, is a larger inclosure ; the door facing south, and looking toward the gtra,it : this so- called door is simply an entrance mad^ of large stones placed one above the other. The inclosure itself tri- angular; its northern side about eighteen inches high, built up of flat stones. Some bird bones and one rib of a seal were found exactly in the centre of this ti'i- angle, as if a- party had sat round it eating ; and tire top of a preserved nieat case, much rusted, was found in thp*sartie place. I picked up a piece of canvas or (luck on the gliff side, well worn by the jweather : the sailors recognized it at Once as the gore of a pair of trowsers. / v n> FKANKLIN'S KNCAM.MENT, 15? perfect than the 111 ^L '^"" f/f- '» w« JeS "On the beach some Tw ?"""" "' "" "''''" •'"to- the triangular inc'Ce T' "' *'""^ J""*"' f""" woed abo^t four fnte To'nHIirjr' P-- ,"f P-e and black, and in on« T, f ^'*'"'' ""'' «'hite, parts of a boat andTnn ^ ^r"' P'""«': ""dently wood." ' "'' "mrently collected as kindling 4tdt::;n;ShrTh '" *): ---- work of Esquimaux the whol/.'^ '"''"''' ""' "-^ «•« tradicted it : and the onirp '^^"^^' "fthem con- v-sited Cpe Kiley ^a" parfv 2""; """.'"•"'' '"'™ fore; and we knew from w7; '^'" ^-f S^t years be. encamped here. nTj^'a'""^ """ ''« ""^ ">" of hke vestiges on BeX w ' ^'"."""""'y'^ discovery a party movLg i^ S d.vT '''f ' "" "" *"«''' "^ ' ehannel : all thel" soel /'"", H^^^™ '* and the iin's squadron '^ "^ "^'' '"'"' P'^y *«■" Frank, e..trrfte7Cn'°ch^r;T "-^ "•« the .asiaV" LTis~,t:;;v ^"'"''^-' -"p promontory of limestn^r. ^"t '^ * Pemnsula or a atCapeKLy.lrnlTdri. tjltl^r '"" ' W; and'^hi": 'SrtVer„df ''■^"'''"^ ' ^ast of north, we saw'fh^ i ! ""* ^^"^ *« *he . i^arry merely sTZTthl ?^r"'' ^"^^ ^^-^er,. th^t the shoreletf^^^^^^^^^^ ^" ^. ^^«*^-VSo ^^^ '^' ^^^^^^EeTFunning surve)r f*' f? ■.:». >■ > .. V k. 168 FRANKLif S PNCAMPMENT. fih ',♦?, of this celebrated explorer had left nothing t composed of coarse siliciaus limestone, sweeps in long curvilinear terraces. Measuring some of these rudely afterward, I found that the elevation of the highest , plateau did- not exceed forty feet. Our way northward was along an ice channel close under the eastern shore, and bounded on the other side by the ice-pack,.at a distance varying from a quarter / of a mile to a mile and tliree quarters. Off Cape Spen- cer the way seemdd more open, widening perhaps to two miles, and showing something like continued free water to the diorth and west. Here we met Captain Penny, with the Lady Franklin and Sophia.. He told us that the channel was completely shut in ahead by «,cdmpacticebarrier,wKich connected itself with that * tQ the west, describing a horseshoe bend. He thought a southwester was coming on, and counseled us to pre-^ pare for the chances of an impactment. The go-ahead determination "iwhich characterized ou): commander made, us tesl'fhe correctness of his advice. We push- ed on, trafcltedfrthe iiorseshoe circuit of the ice without finding an outlet, and were glad to labor Back again almost iiiihe teeth of a gale. Captain Penny |>ad occupied the time more profita- bly. In company with Dr. Goodsir, an enthusiastic explorer a.nd highly educated gentleman, whose broth- er was an assistant surgeon on board the missing ves- sels, jie had been examining the shore. 6n the ridge of limestone, between Cape Spencer an^ Point Innes, they had come across additional proofp that Sir John's party had been here — very important these pro<>fs aa #:.. ■>,'?- franklin's ENCAMPMENT, 159 paper, bearing the -kteTuI H^^' T^ '^'"'"- the words "untU call«,J" „ '.fP^P*' fragment, with watchorder; and two ntK / ' ^'^'^"'^'Y Part of a name of one 'omallun^ffi*^"^"?*^' "^ "i* 'he surgeon of the T^n-r ThIvT l"/"'*''' ^"^^ '^^''^^'" ' the articles found bv c\Zi'"''*^'%^ """>"? with spies inserted in them IZ '" ^'"'* """"^' handle, as. if to fish „„';"' *"'' .""-ranged for a long footless stockSJs ti Jr?!? "[*""'' ' '«^"«' «»»« dress, &c., te ; aC wl tlT,?' *^? ""t""' *k« party that had sufreredt^i*tH "^'"' T''« «''■' ward. Acting „„ tWs i^C clplrp'^"^ '"'■ > proceed toward Lm^'X^^T" ^"^"y «"« ate»t to proceed tj;;rBTrCl tb shore of Lan««.sf«. «„.,_ j T . ^ .^^J"' «J«i& the north •fefic *oVe of Wa.t« Sol/™" b '^^ 1^ *'"' "»'*'• . them, or, more probabrtCir UetT/'^""''"**"''^ For inyself, iLiang oL V " tw^"? '"T"'- discarding ever,, deduct "„tK *'"','f *»■ ««■■ -^^. ^^^.^/J^, CHAPTER XXI. ci^^ ^^^i^:^;^:^^ »a cap.. vessels, under thfee diffe/it?- "'^ *« searching same ,uarte, of a mi.tl& *t ?"« ''"''^' -'""n thf 0- own. 'Both h" tTd Pe'^n'A r'^""^'"' ""'' ' ^ push through the J„!Zl^'±t'i^ k <>^<"t to push through Te ZnifTl""^ ""^' «V ^T^rt Srreat belt of ife, reach™ l*!*!,."^!*' ""^'^-'.d a^ •Srreat belt of 4, reachinirin , "***' •"■* ">»»<» ^ eentlVomLeopold'/wajV" "" .^'T'* ■'effular cres- al«„t half a mile train IT ^ *'"' "'"*''^™ «>•««. Captain OmmanncyTiththrT ?"'',"'' "■"' «'>'"">el ha* been less fort„„';"e^'^':,"J;H and Assistance, l"s way through the barrief h, , * t 7? '"'' *" ^"^^ •»'" Penny. TaW„T4 trdTl'T:""'''^ ""^ «"?■ « met Sir John Bo« and r '^ ^'"' '" ""f "'ay, » conference naturalTy took „^'""""'»<''"- Philips, and fi" concerted opera iLlf" "J"" *''«' »'«''* plans -"I' t'-.g^Ilant diS" estednT" 7'^ '"""'' ^*™''k ^l-"*'" by all the ofCrTtt ;'•■'"' ^''*'* *as 7 ™erg..tic, practical fSirsk * TT''""- ^''-'''''^ pan of action for each ,",!,' J!!"'' "' •"" "* ""ce a '-'f ""uid t<^, the wes :?;„:,': " t >- . "" "■"■- /■ T?o.s,s should V run ',"0 .w u-^.-w .»smimeii>a J.UIUK- —UVtf^W K I «^.i ■ !■ « mjv \. I 162 THt GRAVES. over to Prince Regent's Sound, comyiunicate the news to the Prince Albert, and so . relieve that little vessel from the now unnecessary perils of her intended expe- dition ; and we were to press through the first open- ings in the ice by Wellington Channel, to the north and east. It was wisely determined by brave old Sir John that he would leave the Maty, his tender of twelve tons, at a little inlet near the point, to serve as a full- back in case we should lose our vessels or become sealed up in permanent ice, and De Haven and Penny engaged their respective shares of her outfit, in the snape of some barrels of beef and flour. Sir John Ross, I think, had just lert us to go on board his little . craft, and I was still talking over ouy projects with Captain Penny, when a messenger was reported, mak- ing all speed to' us over ffie ice. The news he brought was thrilling. " Graves, N^ap- tain Penny! graves! Frariklin's winter quartfe^s!" We were instantly in motion'. Captain De Haven, Captain Penny, Comnmnder Phillips, and myself, join- ed by a party from the llescue, hurried on over the ice, and, scrambling along the loose and rugged skipe^at extends from Beechy to the shore, came, after a weary walk,,to the crest of the isthmus. Here, aiiiid the ster- ile uniformity of snow and slate, were the head-boards of three graves, made after the old orthodox fashion of gravestones at home. The mounds ,whicb adjoined them were arranged with some pretensions to syinme- try, coped and defended with limestone slabs. They occupied a line facing toward Cape Riley, which was distincfty visible across a little cove at the distance oi some four hurid^fed yttrds. ■"•* '~ J.' ft©' ftrSri. Ol bittvu IXtWyV *V WtT? teWMtTKlTY* ^ w cjfjo.y * "•■*«ii-i ',■<> .if • »i*^. t^^. S^: ■i^: w^W^^ \ ■■■< ^ 'J 163 "« THE graves; '^'^^SX^'^^- ^^ -Crip- "Sacred to the memory,, ' ' of ^ Bbaink, R. M;, H. M. S. Erebus Died ApriJ 3d, 1846, Inu ^Se** 32 years. Choose ye this day Whom ye Win aerve.. Joshua, eh. xxiy., ig,, 1'iie second -was : 'J "Sacred to the memory of ^rebus, _ »«ed 23 years. Thus saith the Lord, consider your way,.. Waggai, i., 7." The third and last of th. "'^^"' ' ' '" - ^;^^ finished 11:' tr^he t "^^ "°* ^^^ oi .tone-work, but if« ^eneTal" J^!^^"^^ was not pive-Jike, more like the S; ^^f '^°'" ^^« "^ore - i-ppier lands. It wt tS^'"^^ ^' ^^"^*-- "Sacred / , . '■ to / . , • / the memoiy ' John ToRR,wi,ToX who departed this life January 1st, A.D. 1846, >■ "n hoard of ▼ H. M. ship Terror, ' ^ a«ed 20 years." ■ . lsIr!??'p''^*V.^"^««^W^the Terror l.f T i»46 ! Franklin's shins thor, i, J ' ^"^ January, , vvi-. he occupied the™^^^^^^^ Two large stones Were imhp^T^ ^^^^^^ ' '^^one a little to the iZ o^l '"^ ^" ^"^^e lime. / a, more than a foot in diam f .\ • .■ I t , « . ■;,.,. -I , ~* ■ - II ..■.»-.■,■ I t ■ /.'>•■.'■' ' ' ■ ' •".■■■ ■ - ' -, ' ' .1 ■ _ " '' I ', . ' . "-■■,, t t %t ■si 'f.iy- ■ ' ' ■■' ft ' ■*>• . ■ \ \ ■ V - . •• ^ '""^ /" . • ft i ik 7 - IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) \ • 'U. » % \\ Uut. 1^ 2.0 L2I i u. 1 1.6 , - 6", .Sciences Corporation .ei %i WESV MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 ^ «t *■«■ vi '^ii^: 164 MOUNDS. eter, and two feet, eight inches high, which had evi-" dently served for an anvil-hlock : the marks were un. ■ mistakable. Near it again, hut still more to the east, and therefore nearer the beach, was a large blackened space, covered with coal cinders, iron nails, spikes, hinges, rings, clearly the^emains of the armorer's forge. Still nearer th'e'heaxih/liVLtmore to the south, was the carpenter's shop, its ftiarks equally distinctive. Leaving " the graves," and walking toward Wei- lington Straits, about four hundred yards, or perhaps less, we came to a m®und, or rather a series of mounds, which, consideting the Arctic character of the surface at this spot, must have been a work of labor. It in- closed one nearly elliptical ^rea, and one other, which, though separated from the first by a lesser mound, appeared to be connected with it. The spaces thus inclosed abounded in fragmentary remains. Among them I saw a stocking without a foot, sewed up at its edge, and a mitten not, so much the worse for use as to have been without value to its owner. Shavings of wood were strewed freely on the southern side of the mound, as if they had been collected there by the continued labor of artificers, and not far from these, a few hundred yards lower down, was the remnant of a garden. Weighing all the signs carefully, I had no doubt that this was some central shore establishment, ' connected with the squadron, and that the lesser area was used as an observatory, for it had large stones fixed as if to support instruments, and the scantling props still stuck in the frozen soil.. Travelling on about a quarter of a mile further, and in the same direction, we came upon a deposit of mow than six hundred preserved-meat caijf , aUranged in rfl giila r nrdflr. They had been emptied, and were now ,*0^ TRACES. 165 filled mth limestone pebbles, perhaps to serve »s con vement ballast on boating expeditions. " T It Tf* T""^ *^'> "o™ "'"'iotts vestiges of Sir • f " ^"■f"'' P«^y- The minor indications abou^ , the ground were innumerable: figments of oanv^ rope cordage.s^.cloth, tarpaulins; of casks,iron.wo^' et imed by long stitohes with common cotton stuff and made into a. sort of mdn nn«t . „ • ' white w»»t« ,„A "' '"<■» ""at; paper in scraps, wmte, waste and journal; a" small key; a few odds aod ends of brass-work, such as iWeht li Jrt „f « umiture of a locker; in a word,tf nlCe f hqmae of a winter resting-place. One of"rpIe^ which I have preserved, has on it the notation ?fZ' ^taomica^^sight, worked out to Greenwichtima With all this, not a written memorandum, or ^nt- mroross,oreventhe vaguest intimation oTZZt clVu 'Ti "'"u*''* P'^'y- The traces found a Capefliley and Beechy were still more baiffing The ■ Z.T ™""'<"'.r ". Wgh and conspicrus^rtion ton bu , though several parties ejamiued it, digging round It m every direction, not afngle partide of kf omiation could be gleaned. This is remXble mS r.,"'v^\T'^ P"^*'"*'' ™ A'"*'" command* «Si^ : John Frankhn, an incomprehensible omissionf H„ill*.''"T„"'**"''' ''**^««'> th" hills which come do™ toward Beechy Island, the searching partie^ rf tt Srr T^ ^- *'""''"'*'' °^»" »™ ^^^ol found tS r* ' ^°'^! "'""'^ defined, and unmistak^ ble both as to character and direction. They nointed to the eastern shores of Wellington S«und,rn th^^^ general ,»urse with the tracerdiscovered by pZv i^fl=fispJSpen«r anifoint fanes l°_^"j: 'V r^ 166 CX)NCLUSIONS. ^r Similar traces were seen toward Caswell's Tower and Cape Riley, which gave additional proofs of sys- tematic journeyings. They could be traced through the comminuted limestone shingle in the direction of Cape Spencer; and at intervals further on were scraps of paper, lucifer matches, and even the cinders of the temporary fire. The pledge parties must have been regularly organized, for their course had evidently been the subject of a previous reconnoissance. I observed their runner tracks not only in the limestone crust, ' but upon some snow slopes further to the north. It was startling to see the evidences of a travel nearly six years old, preserved in intaglio on a, material so perishable. The snows of the Arctic regions, by alternations of congelation and thaw, acquire sometimes an ice-like durifcliility ; but these traces had been covered by the after-snows of five wintei-s. They pointed, like the Sastrugi, or snow- waves of the Siberians, to the march- ^es of the lost coriipany. _^ Mr. Griffin, who perfodl^^ journey of research along this coast toward-iSHrorth, found at intervals, almost to-Gape Bowderi,^ traces of a passing party. A corked bottle, quite empty, was among these. Reach- ing a point beyond Cape Bowden, he discovered the indentation or ^ay which now bears his name, and on whose opposite shores the coast was again seen. It is clear to my own mind that a systematic recon- noissance was undertaken by Franklin of the upper waters of the Wellington, and that it had for its object an exploration in that direction as soon as the ice would permit. There were some features about this deserted home- ^jjjpnd inexpressibly touching. The frozen trough of oil ... V ■ h CONCLUSIONS. lei old watei channel had served «, ti,„ , , u i. for the cfew, of the losS „„ "^^ ^T *■""" Jack n«kes by ^awingT tlf the w\ ' T"" ''^ though io longer fed bv tL „ ,. j ^^ '"'"■'''• "'■ .» tht Washers hLlleftfhl?'' '"""'■ '«"""»«'' tie gardl,too: I dW not see"t If r'" T ^'"' "*■ describi it as still shoX tto^l ?"' '^''''™ . ttat weje transplantedTy ItfLmtr ™t ""r™"" plies a Purpose either +.. L», .^^^^- ^ garden im- . ti fro„.xr" ::r . T ""',/^' '» "-p measnre the value rfthtse gloverh .K^ ^^''^ *» could be bought for in E £ ! I **"* P™« *K .wod upon the g™*urrhf„: r"™*"™' -^ *» =rL!ra<^--i^* pa- cr; oftheflag-ehiD the Fr„l! ^ ?* '"""^ "^ *« "«w ' -t-varTusTiri?^"-^-- ■0 M ■«■ , • >• 168 CONJECTURE. I I a position which commanded a full view of Lancaster Sound to the east of south, and of Wellington Chaii- nel extending north. It may he fairly inferred, also, that the general health of the crews had not suffered severely, three only having died out of a hundred and thirty odd ; and that in addition to the ordinary details of duty, they were occupied in conducting and comput- ing astronomical observations, making sledges, prepar- ing their little anti-scorbutic garden patches, and ex- ploring the eastern shore of the channel. Many facts that we ourselves observed made it seem probable that Franklin had not, in the first instance, been able to prosecute his instructions for the Western search ; and the examinations made so fully since by Captain Aus- tin's officers have proved that he never reached Cape Walker, Banks' Latid, Melville Island, Prince Regent's Inlet, or any point of the sound considerably to the west or southwest. The whole story of our combined operations in and about the channel shows that it is along its eastern margin that the water-leads occur most frequently : natural causes of general application may be assigned for this, some of which will readily suggest themselves to Qie physicist ; but I have only !o do here with the recognized fact. So far I think we proceed safely. The rest is con- jectural. Let us suppose the season for renewed prog- ress to be approaching ; Franklin and his crews, with their vessels, one or both, looking out anxiously from their narrdw isthmus for the first openings of the ice. They coltie : a gale of wind has severed the pack, and the drift begins. The first clear water that would meet his eye would be close to the shore on which he had his encampment. Would he wait till the continued dr ift had made the navigation practicable in Lancas- o. CONJEcfl/KE. 169 out a long circuit; o wl^w L '^ "»' '^«* ^"k- through tlie open ead 7hZ, I ''/*'" *° *•>« """h who know FraSntci.atf.^^'?'^ '>™^ TI,o.e hi» determined pur^ie'^^n^n '"l''«'"''^»<' "Pinions, ly published letter^;;:: ^l^T'"^ '" ""^ '"'- think the question diffic^t il. T' *'" '"'""y alreadrpioneered theX '".^rtr;s''-'«'8- had' ourselves tempted hv tt./ ■ ^L ' '"^ ^e^'^ers, were north in WelhSn ^hannir* '""'."P""*"^ '<• 'he that some lueky'X.cSt linf "". '" "■« ''"^ beyond. Miffhtnoffh. ^^^: P^^^* "s to an outlet influence for it' 11'^^^'"^^'"' 'T ""^ "^ ing navigator, such a., h„? A careful and dar- lead to close. I canTmali i^."" ""' ™* ("'^ the the observatory wouWbtT *^?'r*«h ^"h which tablishment brSIn and tW '' *''' """"""''^ "- unde^tand how the Ire^rv^A 1"" '''"'"^- ^ <"»» "able, yet not wortIC ,„TJ,rh iT''-,""' ™'^ ™'- shore ; how one man ^;i^ f u '" ^'^^ "P»" the hfe blan^bt coat ^d TitiT" '"' ""**"'' «»ther his lostTey An^'';,''"''' ''""y?™' *he search for • seme explanation „fth„ „ ! "^"^"' <» ™"Jecture know what I ZfrX Tll^H^ ''^™- ' «''' "-" = * tendanton iustsul . J^ "' *^^ excitement at- from a we^l^ "L "^''r ■""» ■"'expected release «f energetinurSTrCtrt ^ ^*-' ^-P-t ^ ite^B**' 12 CHAPTER XXII. " "August 28. Strange enough, during the night, Captain Austin, of her majesty's search squadron, with his flag-ship the Resolute, entered the same httle in- dentation in which five of us were moored before. His steam4ender, the Pioneer, grounded off the point of Beechy Island, and is now in «ight, canted over by the ice nearly to her beam ends. He has come to us not of design, but under the irresistible guidance of the ice. We are now seven vessels within hailing dis- tance, not counting Captain Ommanney's, imbedded in the field to ihe westward. " I called this morning on Sir John Ross, and had a long talk with him. He said that, as far back as 1847, anticipating the ' detention' of Sir John Franklin— I . use his own Vord— he had volunteered his services for an expedition of retrieve, asking for the purpose four small vessels, something^iike our own ; but no one list- ened to hi«^," Voluijfteering again in 1848, he .was told that his nephew*s claim to the service tad re- ceived a recognition; whereupon his own was with- drawn. * I told Sir John,' said Ross, ' that my own ex- perience in these seas proved that all these sounds and inlets may, by the caprice or even the routine of sea- sons, be closed So as to prevent any egress, and that a missing or shut-off party must have some means of V, falling back. It was thus I saved myself from the abandoned Victory by a previously constructed house for wintering, and a boat for temporary refuge.' All =^ahis^ he says, he pressed on Sir John Franklin before m ' VISIT TO THE RESOLUTE. 271 it; he added, ' Franklin will^ ' ^^^""^ "P^« .0 be foHowi,, rtt^^ ICZyTVlC. the party, whose winter quarters w„ L '^j **"" .ento„to„,ye.p,„rMg deU™:„rat:t~^. Sound m the sprinff and tho» u .,^ Wellington leased, continued' onttt west' by San n^'™^ "• .Barrow', Straits t I have given thi^extr^Tf """"'' journal, though the theorylt suggests hislh "^ ch«.t^.t.^„nhtiX^rsera„'-«^^^ed aa I next Visited the Resolute. I shall no* V. * The officers received me fnr T «,„ i . »rdia.ity of reoognj JtrheAood Thr ^'* ""' tlemanly, well-edueated TtJ .. ^ "'* " e™" the hist^y of whatlrr °f™»". thoroughly up to of personal resonr: t^Z.T r """'"' ™'' '"''" meet an old acqualntattllu:! tZ"^™".' '" , at iTxr. unnnell s, before leaving New v«.i. When we were together last if wo ^ Y ^^^^- ■«.! Jung,. of Lu'zon,lt'; drbyTeVlT ^^and bamboo, in the glowing exL™ o^tl^t ~ 172 VISIT TO PENNY. ble exuberance : here we are met once more, in the stinted region of lichen and mosses. He was then a junior, under Sir Edward Belcher : I— what I am yet. The lights and shadows of a naval life are nowhere better, and, alas ! nowhere worse displayed, than in these remote accidental greetings. "Returning, I paid a visit to Penny's vessels, and formed a very agreeable acquaintance, with the med- ical officer, Dr. R. Anstruther Goojsir, a brother of as- sistant surgeon Goodsir of Franklin's flag-ship. "In commemoration of the gathering of the search- ing squadrons within the little cove of Beechy Point, Commodore Austin has named it, very appropriately. Union Bay. It is here the Mary is deposited as an asylum to fall back upon in case of disaster. " The sun is traveling rapidly to the south, so that our recently glaring midnight is now a twilight gloom. The coloring over the hills at Point Innes this even- ing was sombre, but in deep reds; and the sky had an inhospitable coldness. It made me thoughtful to see the long shadows stretching out upon the snow toward the isthmus of the Graves. " The wind is from the nortli and westward, and the ice is so driven in around us as to grate and groan against the sides of our little vessel. The masses, though small, are very thick, and by the surging qf the sea have been rubbed as round as pebbles. They make an abominable noise." The remaining days of August were not character, ized by any incident of note. We had the same al- ternations of progress and retreat through the ice as before, and without sensibly advancing toward the western shore, which it was now our object to reach. - The next extracts from my journal are of the date oL September 3 T >.«-v ICE DRIFTINO. 173' ice,we fi'nX'oL t;-;""'''"^' "■ -°''' '"e loose and began be^ttol^'^ S^l'™'' T" ^''^'' the field. Once there, wegot iffr,' ^-^f """"^ eastern shore by degrees JT.'^ f '^' ""'''"8 *••« coasts of Corn JaSZd"' W^Zr'"'"'::'^ seals— amonff them thp Ph« i ^^^' narwhals, is sometimes fourteen feet »r,H Tk ''f^P'^^i tobies ff»and and distorted byl; rl^Lv"'""?''^ "« «" that they rise up in cn„.! 1 V ^J*^'*'"" *''^*''« Aoes, .hen. fo^y fee^hir Tu taut :t?r "^ "^ leading— a life of finnsf«»+ ^ ^"^ ^® are laniparty than the Ufe of s4tard ^^"^ "5 " ^:lxt^^«-'---^ornrn^ were fa^ with three anlrswCt^'f*' ^' now. though the wind wt Itilf ft^ T" ""*• *"'' ^ and therefore in ^liTn t thHrmXl'T''' masses under themon nfih. va ' floating ward trend directh^!^, ^"^^'^^ '*°^« "^ ^ west- not borne ^^n'ZlteZssl^^^^^^ -- by in slowprocessiVm f^T>. 1 ' "*' ^ *^®y went V;., N "ir^^ '^ •*»•*-. 174 MY f;rst be;,ar. "I killed to-'day my first polar bear. We mede the - animal on a large floe to the northward while we were sighting the -western shores p/ Wellington, and of course 6ould not stop to shoot bears. But he took to the water ahead of us.'ahd came so near that we fired at him from the bows of the vessel. Mr. Lrfvell and myself fired so simultaneously, that ye had to weigh the ball to determine which Imd hit. My bullet stf uck exactly in the ear, the markThad aimed at, for h6 had, only his head above water. Thg^young ice was form- iiig so rapidly around us that it was hard work get- ting him on board. I was onp of the oarsmen, and sweated rarely, vwith the thermometer at 25°. * '• On the way back I succeeded in hitting an enor- njtous seal; but,,muchto'-my mortification, he sunk, after floating till we^Sarly reached him. "Without any organization, and with Very little time for the hunt, the Advance now counts upon her game list two polar bears, three seals, a ^single goose, and a fair table allowance of loons, divers, and snipes. The Rescue >oasts of four bears, and, in addition to the small gAiiie, a couple of Arctic hare^. Our solita. ry goose was the Anas bernicla, crowds of which now begin to fly over the land and ice in cu»oid streams to the east-of south. It ^93 killed b^ Mr, Murdaugh with a ri^e, on the wii^ "^ 'J " |Iow very much I nSsg my good^home assortment of hnnting materials ! We have not a decent gun on board ; as for the rifle I am now shooting, it is a flint- lock concern, and half the time hangs fire." ■ The next morning found me at work skinning my bear, not a pleasatft task with the thermometer below the freezing point. He was a noble specimen, larger than the largest recorded by Parry, measuring eight ■ ■ *-<./Mifl^*'' >..X:.:. MY BEAR. feet eight ihches and three quarters froi'tin t^ presented'the skin nn ... . f P '* ertiy of Natural S„' ' ^^ '''""'" *"»"«• *» 'to ■-Tl,!\. ™'*"" Philadelphia ■ \ llie carcass was lamer th«n *i » I. ^— fatted for market. wfest,rf H k"*^ "". "<""'">' "^ . ly sixteen hundrejCnU -'T't'' uT*''* ''^"^'■ id,indtheim,sclesnf,i, '"''"""'*''«' ™'y »9l- N W^eloped. ToZLfl ""'■'"'' ''»"»* '■«''rf% ■p«ct of the Art^c W S TT*^ ""« '"''"rior X mates used thfsi^otprs^"- f"»^J^<^- iress of hirtack and ha-nchelwith^^ «- ^nelN^nd. acter of the lees and til T ° columnar char- give you Atrl^rr ''T'"'""^' (<-' plantigrade ba^'^f » 1 "f ? "'T" »'«?''«'• The course are excluded from ^he SpSn""' "*"^^ ' wi'hn\';rarl^r^tr;rTr^r-''«^'^" --"'". a few miles ftom Can/R^J \ .^''" '"'"' '' ''»*. charts as a mere inter'^^'^Ai' '"' " '"'"''«' o" ""S weatfier to sight so aronrof T "^T^? ."">" wvofing He was .-pracle'ed hX^Lr "^""''"^' •»™- pcntus'^r ";.S r;" rf ''''■ '■-"""•^ ^'- which is the enCce./ 1™' <'«?'adation, between The momentl mtl^ T-'!' f" """"'''<'• these clifls a oii.^! ™'f' «"'"^'' *« shadow'of ed ice and ,ft ^'^ '' °" ''"y '"'9 *»■« newly.form. ft"idii^;xt?sr7'° "f *'P''''»X . . ■funded by hSXummA "^'""^ "^ '''"'' Ao^, ««- 1 uing Diank, repulsive sterility. . 176 >^ EXPLORING. "September 6. The captain, Mr.Murdaugh, Mr. Car- ter, and myself started on a walk of exploration. The distance hetween the brig and the shore is not over three hundred yards, but the travel was arduous. The ice was eight and ten feet thick, studded with broken s bergs and hummocks. These fragments were seldom larger than our Rensselaer dining-r^oom, some twenty feet square, and, owing either to the rise and fall of the tides or the piling action of storms, deep crevices were formed around their edges,^ partially, masked by the snow which had found its way into them, and by an icy crust over the surface. Alternately jumping these crevices and clambering up the hummocks between ' them made it a dangerous walk. We had some nar- row escapes. Reaching the shore, we pushed forward about a. mile and a quarter to the head of the inlet, and then crossed over on the ice to a cairn- that stood near it. We foundaipthing but a communication from Captain Ommanney, whose vessels we saw as we en- tered the lead yesiterday, informing the Secretary of the Admiralty that he had been off this place since the 24th, and that * no traces are to be found on Cornwal- lis Island of the party under Sir John Franklin' — a somewhat too confident assertion perhaps, seeing that the island, if it be one, is more thfitn fifty miles across, and that the observations can haidly have extended beyond the coast line, , "September 7. The spot at which we have been ly- ing is in front of Barlow's Inlet. There is no barrier between it and our vessels but the^young ice, which has now attained a thickness of three inches. On the east we have the drift plain of Wellington Channel, impacted with floes, hummocks, and broken bergs; and -teethe «euth we loet out upea a wild a^^egation^t " 'f -^ jes were s we en- enormous hummocks Th k to have been so disinteomt^j t.^1 ^' "™y *««"» that raised them a toT , 'l"'" """flicting forces acter of tables, irhothel^ '"'* "'.'"^^"'br the char. ed ^ugar had been eZedlT \°^'''^ "^"'"^i^'' in one fUe, a»d tw„?tee IbCw "' '^^ "' '^'^ the summit bf these irres-uL bf ' '" ^'"'^^^'- ""d with a succession oSL o^^^'*"™ covkedover themselves multipliaA^n„L"°'^'.™'' ""^ '""'?' c«.wdedtogetre;rnlSCrd""t'^ *'«'»''»'*"y. "nd look a good deal li^eT^"' P?'"»'"=. ^ey would tyyards southof „r TheseTft '''''' ^'»"'' *^-'»- chored, solid hills risil th^l ?' ""^'*' »" ^l'«n- *»- bottom twe„'j;;rtr^:: f ™ *« ■'-^• the north of us ■^k ' f '.'^ ™'''' "^^ "oe to -ed as a„ ah„ Je'' fS't^d*! t ""''• -'^'"' of cape outside of our nositin'n V /''/°™"'^ " ^Of »hoe sweep to the nortWaH ' "T"^^ *"'' " ^-"^ tho eye could re«h f„ll„ Tj" ^^^'"^i. «s far m It formed, of co^'/" "r J.?8?''« *'»'! of the sho^ doroAustL.Vve'Ss^Zrmad'rtrrt """""'■ tance to the north and east of us '* """" "'^ of th?:th:rr:it:'er" "r-" *» -'^ ■»--« twenty-four honrs ?fll ^ted wf'' *"" *'"' "o^* but at 6 A.M of the fitfc r "^tween -33 and -37 ; P-M. of the 7th, it^ was at Ih' ""'^ *^" " ^^««« 30-68. At 2 P.M thi winJ h !, "T""*'^ ^^^^^t of ^^J^ JJ^aiid wLf ^ ^^ ^^^"Sred from ."g'.jS R -^^aiid went on increasing to a gale ^'^^"^^ ^l*"' i i ■J 178 ICE FORMING. "We were seated cosily around our little table in the cabin, imagining our harbor of land ice perfectly secure, when we were startled by a crash. We rush- ed on deck just in time to see the solid floe to wind- ward part in the middle, liberate itself from its attach- ment to the shore, and bear down upon us with the full energy of the storm. Our lee bristled ominously half a ship's length from us, and to the east was the main drift. The Rescue was first caught, nipped astern, and lifted bodily out of water; fortunately, she withstood the pressure, and rising till she snapped her cable, launched ^nto open water, crushing the young ice before her. The Advance, by hard warping, drew a little closer to the cove ; and, a moment after, the ice drove by, just clearing our stern. Commodore Austin's vessels were imprisoned in the moving fragments, and carried helplessly past us. In a very little while they were some four miles off." The summer was now leaving us rapidly. The thermometer had been at 21° and 23° for several nights, and scarcely rose above 32° in the daytime. Our lit- tle harbor at Barlow's Inlet was completely blocked in by heavy masses ; the new ice gave plenty of sport to the skaters ; but on shipboard it vfas uncomfortably cold. As yet we had no fires below; and, after draw- ing around me the India-rubber curtains of my berth, with my lamp burning inside, I frequently wrote my journal in a freezing temperature. "This is not very cold, no doubt"— I quote from an entry of the 8th— " not very cold to your forty-five minus men of Arctic winters; but to us poor devils from the zone of the liriodendrons and peaches, it is rather cool for the September month of water-melons. My bear with his =afsenic swabs is a solid lamprand some birds tluit RENDEZVOUS. 179 - wa.t.„g to be .Unned a. aMu*e,y ,,M witi. wik, an htrdei tiS r «*• -" -"* *» ice and tow it out inMhl „t»nt' ""'."." *'"' ^""^ carried it rapidly to ti:Zk.''wZ^^''''> "'"* this manner a space of some forfv "^ ^ «^ away in five the next morning weTe Zt^ Tfl "'™''«' "^ «* under weigh. We 4IZt c^ „ .'f "^'"^ "S"'" fasUime on the 9th, ZdTlZ '^"^ '">' '''»''■ ». t? the west i„ L;„t^;Vs'';:f ™- *^" "-'■ .oun?rarr r:t r ^'^ *« - ■■ *"« kludge and to^-AeJ"; Lm^l. " f.™"" ^^^ "f the pack, a distance oTlt lel^ I "T*"" "«'"' '» >ni"gled with the drift fl™!/ '*","''«^- This was »el; and in them steam!^ "" ^'"'"gton Chan- Kesolnte and PW ThVS""'"''''."^^"' *"« jet, but for the new ice there "'f ^""^ *'""«'; ^st. What, then was'our .^ T« " °''""' '^ *» ^he o«r paclc-bound neiJLT 1'"°""™' '''^*- *" ^«e prison and steam ahe^ltdlnt™-'-^ '""^ """' next, to be overhauled by Pe„'" J 7'"'' V^'' »"''' Ihe shores a ong which w« .r. same configuration with tbfjr/u.'^'"*^ "« "fthe feland; the cliffs hlwl *° '""^ ^-^t "^B^echy Wnff a^peltf'isrr/'^ "°* '^ ^'^^' •"«< *heir a»d shhfgle Ch The ,1 r""""""'5' ''y ''"'^es **"** »■""*''«> O' Hudson. Thereto ~~ 180 RENDEZVOUS. getting out of it, for the shore is on one side and the fixed ice close on the other. All have the lead of us, and we are working only to save a distance. Omman- ney must be near Melville by this time: pleasant, very ! x i. j.v, "Closing memoranda for the day: 1. I have the rheumatism in my knees; 2. I left a bag contaming my dress suit of uniforms, and, what is worse, my wm- ter suit of furs, and with them my 4ouble.barrel gun, on board Austin's vessel. The gale of the 7th has carried him and them out of sight. « September 10. Un&Ccountable, most unaccounta- ble, the caprices of this ice-locked region! Here we are again all together, even Ommanney with the rest. The Resolute, Intrepid, Assistance, Pioneer, Lady Franklin, Sophia, Advance, and Rescue ; Austin, Om- manney. Penny, and De Harden, all anchored torthe ♦ fast' off Griffith's Island. The way to the west com- pletely shut out." ..J.. .«»-.- ^t^- CHAPTER XXIII. relate to the furthest S o^^ '1 1" w''"'^ r- """""'•: "■"' -■»« of the topic wMch ZvTr brace may perhaps invite that «>rf r T ^ is best furnished V a oo^ntXlT^"'"'* *"" "S^«m.4«- 11, Wednesday Snow li-htanrf fl hTcTht" ' T^ """• r'" " "»" «^heT"toTi leakers aSd b«ldit CL^tif 1 ''°'^r" *'"' fined ice nff r.iZZ t , ^ *^ "^""K ^^e of the within three hundred yaxds of us. Penny like an in :^:rn^h;^reitH^"'^'f- " September 12, Thursday. We hav. h.A night. About 4PM th. i. """ * ""'g'' era! onr hV i T ' , ''**^ ^'"'»' ^Uoh had oov- the excentiZ „f P " ° squadron of search, with to thSioe tuhe"" f'^"* "^ '""'"'"''»- -*hle J^^oite^*^le»i»'?«•^'^^u«^e us i,^ ' rf. .:te«....j...... A GALE. it three the Rescue parted her cable's hold, and was carried out to sea, leaving two men, her boat, and her anchors behind. We snapped our stern-cable, lost our anchor, swung out, but fortunately held by the forward line. All the English vessels were in similar peril, the Pioneer being at one time actually free ; and Commodore Austin, who in the Resolute occupied the head of the line, was in momentary fear of coming down upon us. Altogethei: I have seldom seen a night of greater trial. The wind roared over the snow floes, and every thing about the vessel froze into heavy ice stalactites. Udd the main floe parted, we had been carried down with the liberated ice. Fortunately, ev- ery thing held ; and here we are, safe and sound. The Rescue was last seen beating to windward against the gJtle, probably seeking a lee under Griffith's Island. This morning the snow continues in the form of a fine cutting drift, the water, freezes wherever it touches, and the thermometer has been at no time above 17°. "September 12, 10 P.M. Just from deck. How very dismal every thing seems ! The snow is driven like sand upon a level reach, lifted up in long curve lines, and then obscuring the atmosphere with a white dark- ness. The wind, too, is howling in a shrill minor, singing across the hummock ridges. The eight ves- sels are no longer here. The Rescue is driven out to sea, and poor Penny is probably to the southward. Five black masses, however, their cordage defined by rime and snow, are seen with their snouts shoved into the shore of ice : cables, chains, and anchors are cov- ered feet below the drift, and the ships adhere mys- teriously, their tackle completely invisible. Should any of us break away, the gale would carry us into ^streams of heavy floating ice; and our running rig^ r •THE GALE. 183 // ging is so coated with'ioicles a^s +/> «, i -x • of tht'iitr„rrvr„: sr "-' ^™' *» ^-'^^ out from tha fl/ " , ®"^®"* o* *«« waves, stretching ■tWaid't'/r''"^"''^'"^*"'™''- The gale • ward Tndlt i, ^ ! fu' '" "P"" "^ *■«"» ""e east. W^, God'IrtCtr h "" "' "^ '"^^ «*ng obaemtions ' '"'™ "° """'"^ "f at'S^titL?*"- S'"""'™ -"king, that getting ulrtlhTh^ *>?« ^'l'""'"'" commenced «'--.tHeha.-thMedT:ss^,:r .-^'' V (^ 184 FOR Griffith's island. t hauled in ; the steamers steag(i^4|^^.d off went the rest of us as we might. TJiis Step* was not taken a whit too soon, if it be ordained that we are yet in time ; for the stream-ice covers the entire horizon, and the hirge floe or main which we have deserted is bare, iy separated from the drifting masses. The Rescue is now the object of pur search. Could she be found, the captain has determined to turn his steps home- ward. "11 20 A.M. We are working, i. e-, beating our way in the narrow leads intervening irregularly between the main ice and the drift. We. have gained at least two miles to windward of Austin^s squadron, who are unable, in spite of steamers, to move along these dan- gerous passages lik« ourselves. Our object is to reach Griffith's Island, frofli which we have drifted some fif- teen miles with the main ice, and then look out for our' lost consort. " The lowest temperature last night was +5°, but the wind makes it colder to sensation. We are grind- ing through newly-formed ice three inches thick ; the perfect consolidation being prevented by its motion and the wind. Even in the little fireless cabin in which i now write, water and coffee are freezing, and the mercury stands at 29°. ^ " The navigation is certainly exciting. I have nev- t)T seen a description in my Arctic readings of,any ihing like this. We are literally running for our lives, Surrounded by the inmiinent hazards of sudden con- Solidation in an open sea. All minor perils, nips, bumps, and sunken bergs are discarded ; we are stag- gering along under all sail, forcing Our way while we cab. One thump, received since I commenced writ- =4ng, jerked iAie time-keeper from ^ur binnacle down .M OBOEB FOB BETORN. 185 the eabm hatch and, but for our strong bows seven and a half sohd feet, would have stove us in. An„7h er fme, we c eared a tongue of the main pack by r d' ™f hfr?. T^^' '"""'■ Commodore Anstfn seems' 4 l.M. We contmued beatine toward ftrM.i,' , Island, till, by douUing a tongue of it^e .™: to force our way. ^The English seemei to watoh our movements, and almost to follow in our wake tin Z Washmgton Square, where we stood off and on the CO bemg too close upon the eastern end of Griffith's ihnd to permit us to pass. Our companions ntM httle vacancy were Captain Ommanney's Assistance er the Intrepid. Commodore Austin's vessel was t» the on hward entangled in the moving ice, but L^ mentanly nearing the open leads "While thus boxing about on one of our tacks we neared the north edge of our little opening ^ilZl hmled by the Assistance with the gM intfhigencTof ■ the E scue close under the island. Our captain, who was a his usual post, conning the ship from the fl«,! ' t^p^aU yard, made her out at the same time, and im- mediately determined upon boring the intervening c" mocRs nobly. Strange to say, the English vessels now joined by Austin, followed in our wlk^Tot' phment, certainly, to De Haven's ice-mastership to tZV"" Z T"'' "'""^''' *■«"> ^'8»«1 ^«« made to the Rescue to • cast off,' and our ensign was run up from the peak, the captain Had determ"u7uZ attemptmg a return t» the United States" JiMld not be my office to discuss the jwaq r^a ' J8 \ 1«6 THE RESCUE NIPPE1». this step, even if the question were one of policy alone. But it was one of instractions. The Navy Depart- ment, imitating in this the English Board of Admiral- ty had, in its orders to our commander, marked out to hi!n "the course of the expedition, and had enjoined that, unless under special circumstances, he should " endeavor not to be caught in the ice during the win- ter, but that he should, after completing his examma- tions for the season, make his escape, and return to New York in the fall." In the judgment of Commo- dore De Haven, these special circumsta^es did not exist ; and he felt himself, therefore, controlled by the gener'al terms of the injunction. I believe that there was but one feeling among the officers of our little squadron, that of unmitigated regret that we were no longer to co-operate with our gallant associates undfer the sister flag. Our intercourse with them had been most cordial from the very first.. We had interchanged, many courtesies, and I should be sorry to think that there had not been formed on both sides some endur- ing friendships. In a little while we had the Rescue in tow, and. were heading to the east. She had had a fearful night of it after kavkig us. She beat about, short-handed, clogged With ice, and with the thermometer at 8\ The snoVfell heavily, and the rigging was a solid, al- most unmanageable lump. Steering, or rather beat- ing she made, on the evening of the 12th, the feouthem edge of Griffith's island, and by good luck and excel- lent management succeeded in holding to the land hummocks. She had split her rudder-p^t so as to make hexMnworkable, and now we hav€her m tow. An anchor with its fluke snapped— her best bower ; and her little boat, stove in by the ice, was cut adrift: All ^v>^ ILLUSION. 187 gallant brethren soon lost th.^ , "**"*'' ""^ ■"« we steered our Zl Witt . r T 1." *''" """'• *"» Hotham. ™"™ *'*■"■ .fi«sh breeze for Cape "3 ■ M^tr Z/ZtJ^'^r "' T* '•"-«» Capes of tbe coast line atej' «ix miles off o^°\ " P™"* -ho w^ half undres:! Z ZZZ ■ anSt"'"' .mm.„g„ith the glass, saw a thTrnWch De h"' "'■ after a look ponfirmo^ x ' ^"^^'* ^e Haven, FeUx'ofdd s'thn "^ " '"'''''" '"'^'X"'"' 'The speak them. m,e fl t '■"'^'■' *"* P"''*!^ «» Still we sW on Lt^T"'' t'"'' "''"'"'^ '^em. ««.he .^Z o^rr^S,; 'St^aT^' "T "...ess than three niUesf^ n^iltt:^ \ wsagreemenf Ac. «!.>• i t mere was no ««« ttiose briffs^nf m^^ "u^ *"" *^^^« betters didir brigs, and althbugh we supposed the Lady s f 188 ICE THICKENING. k Franklin and Sophia to be ice-caught at or toward Cape Walker, I did not hisitate to name them as the vessels before us. Ten minutes of obscurity, we m\ ing directly toward them, a sudden interval of ^ri| ness^ — and they had parsed away. " Some large hummocks of grount^ed^cej^ neat them, and we try to convince ourselves thmlfsffy may have been closed in by changes in oUr relative- posi- • tions ; but this is hard to believe, for we should have seen their upper spars above the ice, I gazed long and attentively with our Frajinhofer telescope, at three miles' distance; but saw absolutely no semblance of what a few minutes before was so apparent." We were obliged several times the next day to bore throiMtfithe young ice ; for the low temperature cori- tinu^^and our wind lulled under Cape Hotham. The night gave us now three hours of complete dark'- ness.' It was danger to run on, yet equally danger to pause. Grim winter was. following close upon our heels ; and evbn the captain, sanguine and fearless. in emergency as he always proved himself, as he saw the tenacious fields of sludge ahd pancake thickening around us, began to feel anxioiis. Mine was a jum- ble of sensations. I haM|^|^esirous to the last de- gree ti|pit we might ^en^^H^^field of||u;ch,aD^ could hardly be dissatijMHpV^^ pronflWto real- ize nly wish. Yet. I hadSped that our wintering would be near our English friends, that in case of trouble or disease we might mutually sustain each other. But the interval of fifty miles betv^een us, in .^l Hhese inhospitable deserts, was as cdmplete a separa- ^ Jq^ as an entire continent ; and I confess t^^at I look- 1 ed at the dark shadows closing around Barlow's Inlet, ^e prison from which we eut ourselves on the sev^ntbr-i PARTIAL OPENINd, 189 like the grinding „f J„M formZ^ttor wj" tt slushy scrapmg of sluAe. We mav mZ , J»r, in the skating froHcs of eLH .u"" ™"*'"- reverberating ontcfv of , ,^hM ^ '"' "" P»''""«f us along the eS„f an'T, l'"'*-.?.*' '"'^^'^ " '■«>"> a tone a,,tM,, combined w h the'whir Sr"""" ..on. and the rapping „oise of c ose-^:^ ^ "^ '»°- was listening to the sound in jnv UmTi ^T ^ sorrowful Jay, close uponzero tZi tn "' *'*" * • stiffened limbs. Presently ir^rfes^ tl^ "' ""^ ed, then stopped, then went on'^Iii but j^C^^^^ . aT^t^rnr™ " --^•-^ -neWred' oaX:3arfroTi';-'"''o''''"\*'''' '™ >- once. As I reached the deck ,?^ "'",' "^ '^'^ "* ;;io^.getiif,a„dthes:srst:t',^^rd''pur„gtrh li ricr2rmred':"r\*°.'''''« *« ^-'t American "pXn t seCh^fs'TY'''''^"^ *''* .imb^ded in its cent™ Th ^*" ^'■'"'''"" ZZk, ^ f^"^"^^^ "=°"»«'=*«d with it, gave us am ,weretn.::itr:tn:'^orar'*f :^^^=-^=X-^.^-^^ % 190 THE BALLOON. aroiind to the westward. With a strong northwester, there might still be a hope for us. " This afternoon, at 6h. 20m., a large spheroidal mass was seen floating in the air at an unknown distance to the jiorth. It undulated for a while over the ice- lined horizon of Wellington Channel ; and after a lit- tie while, another, smaUer than the first, became vis- ible a short distance below it. They receded with the wind from the southward and eastward, but did not disappear for some time. Captain De Haven at first thought it a kite ; but, independently of the dif- ficulty lof imagining a kite flying without a master, and where no master could be, its outUne and move- ment convinced me it was a balloon. The Resolute dispatched a courier balloon on the 2d ; but that could never have survived the storms of the past week. I therefore suppose it must have been sent up by some English vifessel to the west of us. M make a formal note of this circumstance, trivial as it may Bfe ; for at first Franklin rose to my mind, as possibly signalizing up WelUngtpn Channel." Cape Hotham was at this time yearly in range, from our position, with the first headlafid to the west of it; and our captain estimated that we were about thirty miles from the eastern side of the strait. The balloon was to leeward, nearly due north of us, more so than could be referred to the course of the wind as we ob- served it, supposing it to have set out from any vessel of whose place we were aware. It appeared to me, the principal one, about two feet long by eighteen inches broad; its appendage larger than an ordinary dinner-plate. The incident interested us much at the time, and I have not seen any thing in the pubhshed --joamate^ &e Efigli^ seaofchers that explains it^ *ir CHAPTER XXIV. Phe region, which ten days before wn« + • b":r„„t""' fr^^ "»- almost Wed" wHaw' but one narwhal and a few sfifll tk t "'e saw a soUta^ traveler, oeetatLTy'^fli J^^™': ^ J t"' «ea»„ had evidently wrought its ch^e ' "" fi*k» T 1 , atiacnea to the mam ioo nff r^e incident, had vanished ^ ^^'^ *°^ of moisture had been excSe thJ^ ^"l^"/^*^^" mist. The temperature had been beJow i\.. "^^']^S point for a week beforo TV,, i ^ freezmg ifa d vit ivL. f.. ~.r ■ - more than a few hvin- ^»«« term of P'^e such eS,"tl v^tTd rT ' '''' "°* »*™- nsjtey. The c entr e of greatest cold i- 196 WELLINGTON CHANNEL. too near us, and the communication with open sea too distant. " 1 was in the act of writing the above, when a start- ding sensation, resembling the spring of a well-drawn bow, announced a fresh movement/ Running on deck, I found it blowing a furious gale, and the ice again in motion. I use the word motion inaccurately. The field, of which we are a part, Is always in motion; that is, drifting with wind or current. It is only when other ice bears down upon our own, or our own ice is borne in against other floesy*that pressure and resist- ance make us conscious of motion. » The ice was again in motion. The great expanse of recently-formed solidity, already bristling with hum- mocks, had up to this moment resisted the enormous incidence of a^eavy gale. Suddenly, however, the pressure increasing beyond its strength, it yielded. The twang of a bow-string is the only thing I caii compare it to. In a single instant the broad field was rent asunder, cracked in every conceivable direction, tables ground against ^bles, and masses piled over masses. The sea seemed to be churning ice. " By the time I had yoked my neck in its serape, and got up upon deck, the ice had piled up a,couple of feet above our bulwarks, i In less than another min- ute it had toppled over aglfiin, and we were floating < helplessly in a confused liiass of broken fragments. Fortunately th^ Rescue rettiained fixed ; our hawser was fast to her stern, and }^ it we were brought side by side again. Night.pass^d anxiously; i. e., slept in my clothes, and dreamed of '|)eing presented to Queen Victoria. 1 , .«. , ,.„ - » September 21, Saturday. We have drifted still ....^ore to the northward and e astward An observation OKINNELL LAND. 197 gave us latitude 75- 20' 38" N. We are apparently not more than seven miles from the shore. U is stiU of the characteristic transition limestone, very uninvit. .ng, snow-covered, and destitute; but we Lk at it "S! LI r" "^ " ""■"'■"""^ *" "-e landed ,.^1,'^°^ ™*" ^'^™"°"- Thermometer, maxi- mum 22 , mmimum 19°, mean 20° 35'. Wind Ventre "About tea-time (21st), the sun sufficiently low to give the effects of sunset, we saw distinctly to the north by west a series of hill-tops, apparently of the same configuration with those around us. The trend of the western coast extending northward from the point opposite our vessel receded westward, and a va! cant spa«e either of unseen very low land or of water ol us. Whether this Grinnell Land, as our captain JrlTe f'*' '"' " •"•■'«''™«™ of Comwallis Cd! or a cape from a new northern land, or a new direo. tion of the eastern coast of North Devon, or a new And, I am not prepared to say. We shall probably know more ofeach other before long ^ yf ember 22, Sunday. A" cloudless morning- no »now fill afternoon. Our drift during the nighthas beentothenorthwar*;and,exceptanoccasionflcrtk J» pool, our horizon was one mass of snow-covered „nI75° '*'"'*'''"")' «'«'"• ^ky with which the day opened gave us another opportunity of seeing the un d t StT- ",?""" ^"""^0" Sound, 'our lat . Jsdeiy artificial horizon was 7«- 24' 21"N., about sixty-" 198 GRINNELL LAND. miles from Cape Hotham. Cape Bowden, on the east- em side, has disappeared; and on the west, Advance Bluff, a dark, projecting cape, from which we took sextant anglfes, was seen bearing to the west of south. To the northward and westward low land was seen, having the appearance of an island,* and mountain tops terminating the low strip ahead. The trend "of the shore on our left, the western, is clearly to the westward since leaving Advance Bluff. It is rolling, with terraced shingle beach, and without bluffs. It terminates, or apparently terminates, abruptly, thus : after which comes a strip without visible land, and then the mountain tops mentioned above. Beyond this western shore, distant only seven miles, we see mount- ain tops, distant and very high, rising above the clouds. ''September 25, Wednesday. The wind has changed, so that our helpless drift is now again to the north. The day was comparatively free from snow ; but ndt clear enough to give us an observation, or to exhibit the more distant coast-lines. We can see the western shore very plainly covered with snow, and stretching in rolling hills to the north and west. A little indent- ation, nearly opposite the day before yesterday, is now in nearly the same phase— if any thing, a little to the southward. We have therefore changed our position by drift not so much as on the preceding days. The • I have followed my journal literally. I fin4. however, in my copy of tho loK-book. below the entry of the watch-officer which mentions this island a note made by me at the time : " I can see no island, but smiply this prolonga- =:;tion or tongue." — ^ _ ■'■)* ORINNELL LAND. 199 yet discovered o'fC^„rw!K'i''ThrT°^*Pf' we are nearing the shore ' f""^^ *'>'" thickenin, at thete^t'l : '^ T^hirtr "'''r ing sunshine and snow stnr^ • ul . """* """f- thought by Captain DeH^™'t"f "f ^"^^ " '" water. It may be th«t cT *»i« indicative of open and that this il a c^^tLtTo? i^''"'' ''""^ *''-''■ t-nding to the westtrd "(^/thisTarf "^''^"™' may be merely the highland clo„7s o^er tZTT ains seen on Sunday ; but De H.v.n """*■ iB rather a vacant spice or wateflT^"' *'"'* " exemption being due to Ih^ Z a 7 'f°'" "^ • *e em sfore (not Lt^^s^ t^'ireS^' ^^ ;^^^a barrier to the northern drift «nh:';::se^t:h:^ V ~\ CHAP^^R XXV. r I HAVE copied literally from my ^pumal the observ- ations which I noted during our rorithward drift, be- cause some of them bear on a ^^stion, unhappily*" made one of controversy, as to thfe extent and charac- ter of the discoveries vv^hich were dtie to the American squadron. It has been seen that on the 19th of September, 1850, we were in latitude 75° 20' 11" N., and probaJ^-* bly some seven miles frpm the western shore of Wel- lington Sound. At tttl^-tijiie I observed, but not with certainty, a large cape, several minor headlands, and an inlet or harbor, in the direction of Cornwallis Is!- and. These may, perhaps, have been the Cape De Ha- ven. Point Decision, and Helen Haven or Haxbor, dis- covered and named by Captain Penny in May of the following year. On the 21st, our latitude was 75° 20' 38". The sky being clear, and the position of the sun favorable, I saw distinctly, bearing north by west, a series of hill-tops, not mountains, apparently of the same configuration with those around us, and separated from CornwaUis , Island by a strip of low beach or by water. I have^ sometimes thought that this was the Baillie Hamilton Island, also discovered by Captain Penny in 1§51. On the 22d, our latitude was 75° 24' 21". I now saw land to the north and west ; its Horizon that of rolling ground, without blufis, and terminating abrupt- ly at its northern end. Still further on to the north came a s trip without visible land, and then land again^ • ""'-NELL land; j,(,j Captain De Haven tllal'/j'""'' "'"'"'^ Oom Captain De Haventoffi V^ ^'- '^"»"«"- or October, ISaTIZeST ' ""«'"' <•» ""o «h United States, sp;aksofatllf".°"' "'*"™ *° ">« about seven miles to the Z/h' If ™''' *«=»<'"'ff«I of September, 1850 "A„ha!„" pf*^""^' "" ""« 22<1 or four miles in width Jn»?*} ■ * ^^'' " '^ «■'«« h^and. This lat^ IX^t " '"" ^•'™«''"" our position, terminated abr'upTvIn"! "T*"^"^' ''""» to which I have given the Tme of Ma ™'*' ."*P«' " warm personal friend and ard^t . !'""^' *"«' » Hition. Between Conl n t ""PPorter of the ex: •«"t high land^llemS -'' *"'' ™™« "- channel leading to the westw,rT a ?^^^ » ^"^ ' ing cloud which hung ove^ irrtl '^^ ''.r'^' ""^'^'-^k- smok* was indicativ^.^T^ih?"'"""^ *"™'"' '"«"'*■ ' r«ition. « » , To ,r K '^'l *"'«'• '» *■>■>« di- Kfeadjnto the open sea Vv^r"^^ ^hich appeared ■ftost-smoke' hnngCa stnT^'''""''' *^^ "''"«' of of Maury, after the dist^^„^'i V'T '"'" *« "''«'« head of our National Of,!T.'' gentleman at the regard to an 00^"^?,^"^' ^^^ose theory v^ith i-i th«>„gh this ch^^^el Vol ,7 '"'''^ *" ■" """■ visible between northwest *t fu ''«'* '^'' »f '"»■) the name of Grinn^ChV A^-^^'''^'^*' ^ S^™ of the man in wh^e nhit ^I "" ''^^ '»<' h^art the idea of this IxZiio^^'T J°"^'^ °"^»«t«<' « owes its existe^S "' "^ *° *'""» munificence tant^ZTfol'tlLr' '""""^ ^•^•^- f""" -. dis- Fmnklin. rfnS tCb ^•™'' *^ """"' "'' *'°"''* r y t"- 202 ORINNELL land; OR, - land excursion from Point Innes.on the 27th of Au- gust, and has received the name of Griffin Inlet. 1 he small island mentioned b^forte wa^ called Murdaugh's Island, after the acting master of the Advance. " The eastern shore of Wellington Channel appear- ed to run parallel with the western; but it became quite low, and, being covered with snow, could not be distinguished with certainty, so that its contmnity with the high land to the north was not ascertamed." These discoveries, with the exception of Murdaugh Island, present themselves on the English maps in • new forms and with different names. I do not refer to those which were published in the newspapers and by the Hydrographic Office in September, 1851; though in both, of them the name of Prince Albert has the place which our commander had inseribed a year before with that of Mr. Grinnell : the authors of these two charts could hardly have been informed «f the- American discoveries. I regret that there is not an equally obvious apology for those who have followed since. _. ' . • xv. Mr Arrowsmith's map of th^ " Discoveries in the Arctic Seas" bears the date of the 21st of October, 1851 • though it was not completed, in fact, for sev- eral-weeks afterward. This is clear from some of the discoveries it records; particularly those of Dr. Rae, which were first announced to the Admiralty on the 10th of November.* The hydrographical map of the British Admiralty, with a^ similar title, is dated m April 1'852. Both of these documents reassert the name of Albert Land for ftie large tract of high lands seen by us ta the north. In the former, Arrowsmith s, ' . see Remarks made at the meeting of the National Institute at Washington, , in May, 1852, by the P r esident of th e Institute , Peter Force. Esq. ALBERT LA-ND. 203 Journal: independentiv »! ^^ "'" """'"nev's lain Penny and wfolfer^T."'' '.^^''T' ""^ ^"P- drographer of the IZZtr Jeff .^ ^""' "'« ''y' inscribes Albert Land "n [uT '"'""er: .t „„t„„ly after Mr. Grinnell hut . , 't^'"" ''^ '"'"' "»"'«<" and is the " GrinnellCl f .?'" «•"»"*»" W- ron." "^ ""^ "'" American squad- The controversy is perhaps of little moment Th. time has gone bv when tho™ """oment. llie ooa^t «,„Led on a navttorrL^ "'"^ "''' •''■^'*"' ownership of the sbU otTril, *"' """""f"'' '"her' even the planting TaZ17^\^ ^"™™ "^ P'-P'^ ^ ments at 'the to^and a^e tofd ^tM'T"'" ""l""^""" insure now«lays a conceZ tWe v' "T "' ''""^ ™' , explorers has Ip J hel'e .f tb^ """"^ °^ observers of nature, and holds it for 1 """■' ""™,*"''' that he who fir^t LJ, aT '"^ ''""'y "''"'re give the n^e TTn''uV''' """""""^^ ^-^U "l^" fhe ext ernfcWts t^^ilb'' "7 *" "'*"-- f™"' ^ rial, «ven-an Irdtee re'Tthra "s' '"'="'°- whose noble-spirited snW^'ctt f^-^ Sovereign, Sound. It WM onlv b . ■"" '" Lancaster ■ then, under Z ridL ^ T""'"' ""'* >"« ?'«"«''«'' us itfi;T ?""■''"<=« of causes that can assert for the mefidZ of oT' ""'' *'"' ""'^' ""'h*™ 'and on iS^f --'■ ^i'- Sir: ^^lery brief review of the facts will estabm tim— f^ ' .4 ^ ^■ C:^ Tti'"'^ iiJi. '204 GRINNELL LAND) OR, beyond the chance of doubt. To those who have read Captain De Haven's Report, even though it were not confirmed in its leading particulars by the extracts from my journal, it must be plain that on the 2 2d of September, 1850, the officers of the American expedi- tion saw, or thought they saw, from a point in lati- tude 75° 24' 21", a large tract of land, extending in the distance from the northwest to the north-north- east, and that they gave to it the name of Grinnell Land. The accounts, which filled the American news- papers immediately after our return in September, 1851, announced this fact widely, and the rude charts that were inserted in several of them indicated both the locality and the name. When this announcement was made, it was not known or supposed that any other party had ever sighted this high northern tract. There was no one from whom the Americans could have borrowed the knowledge of its existence, posi- tion, or outline. The fact, more recently ascertained, that others also have seen a similar tract in the same lirection, may confirm the truth of the American state- ment ; but it is difficult to imagine how it can be re- garded as impeaching it. It only proves that the land is* there, as the American commander said it was ; while to those who doubt his assertion that he discov- ered it, it leaves the somewhat puzzling question, how it came to pass that he knew of its existence. But it is not alone the report of Captain De Haven, corroborated by memoranda made on the spot — it is not on these alone that the asserted discovery rests. All the officers of the American squadron were present at the time wh«n it is said to have taken place ; they were all of them in New York when the accounts of ^^ were in the TiewspaperB | they^have all of them read r- *i'. ALBERT LAND. 205 the official report of their commander • «„,I ti. • a man among them who «o^T ' ""'' *«« ■« not gle moment the cou„r„anrof h^r,^'""' ^"^ " ^'"■ cated claim. I can nTT ^'^""'^ *» » ^bri- b^noh of the ,u:L:i;'tthT"*" -"""^^ *'^- Land of the Ame^ca^'^f^fTP''''' *'"** *" «"»»"" Hamilton Man7 p^iiTh "Z*' ^ '"»<'* ^aUlie marked on allthemf^L """"j'' ^'™<'- «« « «' of northwest from t^ 'lu^n 7^"-"% to the west of September. What K ?. T ™'«' °" *•■« a^d bribed and plotted was^^^T "." ^''™° ^''*- »■«' de- uorthwesttoL no^rirth! * rT"'"''^ ft"™ ^e It is scarcely a w^m„w , "5""' ^""^ Po^^'ion. i- e.pl„re^ "^Ch thetr^^f tt if d^^^" Sixty or seventy degrees * ^"^ ^^^^ di/tattTs:™' fc'd f '"^ ^'»''™''» ^"-j™" IMO, we are reL" ft he „1'""''"" '"September, d«overed it before tW '""'^' '''^ ^^ ""» thR SM Jo "" "'^^ second Of time Si.ofc ^ • "'»°w- theSM of September, i860, would be equaTT,. ,f.> /" "^^' '''""P-'ed up to favorable for aatronomical obaervattons '^t ""'""■• '"'^''^«'' *" r^U noted m my copy of theTpg m.T r" "L .^^ ""»' reliable one-wWefc f^ ^ nn><^ • """""uiuicai observationn Tk.. ' ■■""""er. was rareir noted m my copy of the r ng gi.T r" ^L .^" '""" '^'iaWe one-wWefc 3 ™m.. 930 8F^,^™^«««»fe™lon«ttude, i„ our extreme Stol^ J|; *i,i-. j:.,.- A 206 GRINNELL LAND; OK, ralty of September, 1851. But this was eight months after it had been seen by us and received its American designation. The Arrowsmith map of October 21, or rather, as we have seen, of Noveinber, 1851 — it is immaterial which is regarded as the true date — was completed after the discovery of Grinnell Land by the Americans had been made known in England. Our squadron arrived at New York on the 30th of September, 1851, and the intelligence crossed the Atlantic by the next steamer. It was in the maps published immediately after this that it was first made known to the world that the English discovery was older by nine months than had been supposed before; and that the very name of Albert Land, which this region ha^ received either from Penny or the hydrographer, after Penny's return in September, 1851, had, by a coincidence as striking as it was happy, been conferred upon it on the 26th of August, 1850, by another officer, in honor of the day on which he had himself seen it ; a day doubly fortunate as the natal day of the prince con- sort and of Captain Ommanney's discovery. Yet another notice, in the recent work of Dr. S^th- erland, defines the authorship of this discovery still more precisely. Passing by the American claim with- out remarking even that it ever was asserted, this writ- er allots the honor alternatively to Captain Penny's party in May, 1851, or to Captain Ommanney, of the Assistance, and Mr. Manson, mate of the Sophia, on the 26th of August, 1850. It was for me a matter of curious inquiry, upon what evidence this newest claim of discovery might rest. I have examined with all care Captain Ommann ey's report to Commodore Austin of the 10th of Septera- ■■a ALBERT LAND. 207 ber, 1850 and Commodore Austin's offidal reports of subsequent date, and have Wked through the differ entlette^of Captain Penny, who was the command. a claim. Indeed I am not aware that either Captain Ommanney or Mr. Hanson has authorized the astr" ton of It. HappUy, the question may be decided with- Z f "S^TT^^'""- "'''* "^''her of them did or tZm '"'™''' """'' '' ™- ™P»W to On the 26th of August, 1850, Captain Ommanney waa on board h.s own vessel, the Assistance. He 3 been detachediy Commodore Austin to make a thoV- ough exammation of the coast about Cape Hotham «.d fast ,n the ice.between that point and Barlow's Inlet He was seen there by Mr. Penny, by Commo- dor^ustm, and by every one on board the AdvTn™ He may not have been seen there by some of his Brit.' ish a^ocmtes on the 26th, for a reason which I shall aJvert to presently; but on the 27th he wa. there till the 3d of September. Now he who feels interest nj *•"„ 1''«««»" to e^end a scale upon any „f the charts, will prove for himself that on the 26th of August, Captain Ommanney, being then off Cape Ho- ttiam wa^ at the distance of a hundred miles from the tand he, s supposed to have that day discovered. We / had drifted more than sixty miles to the north of his ' poition before we saw that land, and it was then some foj^milessUll further to the north. We lost it SI -"fSwt-weirad dflftea back ten mUes to the south!' ^A-<. ■ -*V.^J»«r^^ - ^ .- 208 GRINNELL LAND; OR, -\.'i On the 26th we were oflf Cape Innis, and Captain Ommanney about ten miles further to the south. Our log-book speaks of two vessels beset in the ice off O ape Hp^am, which were no doubt his ; but the state of the atmosphere was such as to make it impossible to recognize any thing at that distance. My n>etebro- logical record for the day shows this : it was dull and heavy, till it was relieved by a fall of snow. The journal recei^tly published by Dr. Sutherland shows it also. Under the date of August 26th, it says : "At one o'clock A.M. the ships were made fast to the floe, to take some water from it, and to wait until the weather should clear up ;'^ and " during the day the weather was almost perfectly calm, the sky was over- cast with a dense misty haze, and toward evening there was a great deal of soft snow." — Vol. i., p. 296, 298. Captain Ommanney himself, writing on the 10th of September, sq^ys : *' During the day (the 25th of Au- gust), we kept along the solid field of ice, extending from Cape Innis to Barlow's Inlet, which bounded the horizon to the northward, and where wo land ii^ vis^ ihle. When six miles east of Barlow'a Jjilet, the pack- ice closed in and stopped my further progress. In this position we continued beset in Wellington Channel from the 25th ultimo to the 3d instaii^t, strong south-, easterly winds and thick weather prevailing." Tfie question of discovery by Captain Ommanney on the 26th of August resolves itsejf, therefore, into this. Could he, when objects were not distinguishable at ten mijes distance, make discoveries at the distance of a hund- red? As to Mr. Manson, he was on board the Sophia on the 25th, and does not appear, from Dr. Siitherland's journal, to have l eft her for some time afterw ard. On^ ■■■^^^"id^' a,-^^Wi*i;fu»*w~-t^,;i^.,,,,^|iajt*ffl 209 M..Manso„pe,hapr;„„tt^rit^ '"'"'''''■ for me to say that amn„„7i. ■ *"'' '* '* enough of informati™wh„h::i*47;^'"/--«''g pieces «>imnunicative seam™ 1 bT ■"' *''*' '«'»<'?' »<> discovery by his mXwiJnotTTT! '"'^^ "^ ^"-''' » the journals I have ate^"l";t *''"*"«^*. on board the Sophia cSthf^ r'*'"'* "o »»« distant discovery allll ^^ '"'™ """^e »y I pass gladly to other tonics Ti. i,-,- «% and feelinff that AmI .. . ° "°'"'''y "f eh-V- of Union Bay, fnd 1 tS^'-^.^r""'..^""^""''"''^ der to the gensro,,, ™ V^ obligations I am un- ments of the bS L" ''u "'"'"' '»■ 'he depart- Whic, have rn^e twf ^'™"^: ^^P^^-'ly the hydro- one. My reconectLl. ''''''T™ * ""'^' "nwelLi^ more nrIZ^^ZT^'''''1: "'"'PS ft.t the princi^, sh::r„:t:ir"'fer^'''- able for that which bears the sSJtH^^ ™™"- «-n.i„voJr:;;^-r.r:;!:-^^ THI ADVARCK IN TH« ICE, 26TH SEPTEMBER, 1850. 4 ^' CHAPTER XXVI. I\m reluctant to burden my pages \i[ith the wild, but scarcely varied incidents of our continued drift through Wellington Channel. We were yet to be fa- miliarized with the strife of the ice-tables, now broken up into tumbling masses, and piling themselves in angry confusion ^-gainst our sides— now fixed in cha- otic disarray by the fields of new ib^ that imbedded them in a single, night— again, perhaps, opemng in treacherous pools, only to close round us with a force that threatened to grind our brigs to powder. I shall have occasion enough to speak of these things here- after. I give now a few extracts from my journal; some of which may perhaps have interest of a differ- ent character, though they 6an not escape the smlden- ing monotony of the scenes that were about us. I begin with a partial break-up thalT occurred on the 23d. , . ,,. « September 23. Hd4 shall I describe \p you this ^ piessure^ts fearfuliiess an d sublimity ! Nothing that AN ICE BATTLE. 211 I have seen or read of approaches it Tk. ■ the iee »n^ tl.« i. "PProa^nes it. fhe voices of • Ini 1m "^ '^'"^ "f ">« overturned hum- mo ttables are at this moment dinning in my eaTs. Fourteen mches of solid ice thickness, with some half dozen of sSow, are, with the slow uniform advance :rTmi:f-:^t:s;i^trs£ toe, others take a downward directi^, and Sn Celh"' ¥h" 'S" "'"r^- «>">• " similar pile „:: demeath. The side on which one or the other of these *«tons takes place for the time, varies with the dir^ tion of the force, the strength of the opposite or rS J side, the inclination of the vessel,'^d the w^ht' of the sapenncumbent mounds; and as these cond^ hons follow each othe. in varying succdSsioMhe vet" sel becomes -perfectly Uedded after a little whillit crumbling and fractured ice. ■ "Perhaps no vessel has ever been in this position wood could resist such pressure. As for thft British vessels, their size would make it next t» impol"™e or them io stand. Back's ' Winter' is the ZwZ^t "nt "'^:'*''?'-™"-is >»« of ourpresent p3 "We are lifted bodily eighteen inches out of wate'r *t.se m »«me oases tt couple of feet above our but " •J ■ n 212 IN THE ICE OF THE CHANNEL. warks— five feet above our deck. They are very often ten and twelve feet high. All hands are out, labor- ing with picks and crowbars to overturn the fragments that threaten to overwhelm us. Add to this darkness, snow, cold, and the absolute destitution of surround- ing shores. "This uprearing of the ice is not a slow work : it is progressive, but not slow. It was only at 4 P.M. that the nips began, and now the entire plain is triangula- ted with ice-barricades. Under the double influence of sails and warping-hawsers, we have not been able to budge a hair's'-breadth. Yet, impelled by this irre- sistible, bearing-down floe-monster, we. crush, grind, eat our way, surrounded by 'the ruins of our progress. In fourteen minutes we changed our position 80 feet, or 5.71 per minute. '« Sometimes the ice cracks' with violence, almost ex- plosive, throughout the entire length of the floe. Very grand this ! Sometimes tl^e hummock masses, |)iled up like crushed sugar around the ship, suddenly sink into the sea, and then fresh mounds take their place: •« Our little neighbor, the Rescue, is all this time within twenty yards of us, resting upon wedges of 'ice, and not subjected to movenaent or pressure— a fact of interest, as it shows how very small a difference of po- sition may determine the differing fate of two vessels. ''September 24. The ice is kinder; no fresh move- ments.; a little whining in the morning, but since then undisturbed. The ice, however, is influenced by the " wind; for open water-pools have formed — three around the ship within eye distance. In one of these, the seals ihftde their appearance toward noon ; no less than five disporting together among the sludge of the open — ^wat efr^ Ist arted og'on a perilous walk over the ruia^ ^ / ^ u^ I WELLINGTON CHANNEL. 213 mg myself for forty minutes in an atmosphere tende. grees above zero, came back without a shot. The condensed moisture had ,o affected my powder that I could not get my gun off. nin7^^' «>n/«n«ation is now very troublesome, drip- ^1 ^,Ti^rr«»r carlines, and sweating ov;r the roof and berth-boards. When we open the hXhw' the steam ri*es m clouds from th« little cabin belof ^ We have as yet no fires; wot«e! the state of un- certainty m which we are placed makes it impossi2 to resort to any winter arrangements. Yet these lard lamps &ive us a temperature of 46^ which to men like ourselves, used to constant out-door exercise, exposure / and absence of artificial heat, is quite genial Butfo; > he moisture-that wretched, comfortless, rheumaS/ drawback-we would be quite snug. "mati^y "Our captain is the best of sailors ; but inteAf «1 ways on the primary objects and duti;s of hTs c^^^^^^^ he IS apt to forget or postpone a provident r gard S those creature-comforts which have interest for^others To-day, with the thermometer at 10°, we for the first time commenced the manufacture of stove-pi^ I tinWs Zr *'' "'' r^^ P^^y^^ hob w^h'the ^nkers. If they go on at the present rate, the pipes will be nearly rea^y by next summer. ^ ^[September 26. The hummocks around us still re mam without apparent motion, heaped up like snow covered barriers of street rioters. We are ttdgedT-' huge mass of tables, completely out of watef, crl- dled by ice. I wish it would give^us an even keel We^are^eighteen inches higher on ^ne quarter than _^he two large pools we observed yesterday, one^gn 214 SEAL HUNTING. each side of us, are now coated by a thick film of ice. In this the poor seals sometimes shsw themselves in ' groups of half a dozen. They no longer sport about as they did three weeks ago, but rise up to their breasts through young ice, and gaze around with curiosity, smitten countenances. " The shyness of the seal is proverbial. The Esqui- m^ux, trained from earliest youth to the pursuit of them, regard a successful hunter as the great man of the settlement: If not killed instanl^aneously , the seal sinks and is lost. The day before yesterday, I Mopted the native plan of silent watching beside a pool. Thus for a long time I was exposed to a temperature of +8° ; but no shots within head-range offered ; and I knew that, unless the spinal column or base of the brain was entered by the ball, it would. be useless to waste our already scanty ammunition. " To-day, however, I was more fortunate. A fine young seal rose a^out forty yards off, and I put the ball between the ear and eye. A boat was run over the ice, and the carcass secured. This is the second I have killed with this villainous carbine : it will be a valuable help to our sick. We are now very fond of seal-meat. It is far better than bear; and the fishi- ness, which at first disturbditis, is no longey disagree- able. I simply skin them, retaining the blubber with the pelt. The cold soon renders them solid. My bear, although in a barrel, is as stiff and hard as horn. " Took a skate this morning over some lakelets re- cently frozen pver. The ice was tenacious, but not strong enough for safety. As I was moving along over the tickly-benders, my ice-pole drove a hole, and came very near dropping through into the water. i^f ^eptemhe r g?- Th iff f>Y^"ing the th ermo m eter gave ,U\3" WELLINGTON CHANNEL. 215 3' above zero. A bit of ice, which I took into my awaj?,the skin. When we open the cabin hatch now a cloud of steam, visible only as the two currents meeT gives evidence of the Arctic condensation. ' Afar off, skippmg from hummock to hummock I «aw a black fox. Poor desolate devil! whaWid he \ so far from his recorded home seven mJlo„ 7 '1 .h. naked snow-hiUs of thriZywlSI^T \ a.e night-time I heard him bark. TlJlZTL f him ; but I .ecretly pla^d a bigger Wt'oZlTitt out a snare.l S»™ P">»i^ of a certam degree of security and rest. The Advance had been driven, by the superior momentum ofT ^ floes that pressed us on one side, some two bund ed th'-^hi: 1 R *'' ""^ v^ "™«"^ fl- » ar^ an!l ;i. * * ■"'"nwhile remaining station, ary , and the two vessels were fixed for a time on two fci-"!! f - --^^■-> -"" e-ose to ea.h°:ttr #j m. „ : — '""gio, twiu Close to each other Jto-unseea*n4«ryi„g«nergies ofthe ic«m„v^sl^ /' .*il.i I 216 PREPARING FOR THE WINTER. I had occasionally modified the position of each ; Jmt their relation to each other continued almost un- changed. We felt that we were fixed for the winter. We ar- ranged our rude embankments of ice and snow around us, began to deposit our stores within them, and got out our felt covering that was to serve as our winter roof. The temperature was severe, ranging from l°.o, and 4° to +10° ; but the men worked with the energy, and hope too, of pioneer settlers, when building up their first home in our Western forests. Tfte closing day of the month was signalized by a brilliant meteor, & modification of the parhelion, the more interesting to us because the first we had seen. "October 1, Tuesday. To-day the work of breaking hold commenced. The coal immediately under the main hatch was passed up in buckets, and some five tons piled upon the ice. The quarter-boats were haul- ed about twenty paces from our port-bow, and the sails covered and stacked ; in short, all hands were at work |>reparing for the winter. Little had we cHcu- lated the caprices of Arctic ice. " About ten o'clock A.M. a large prack opened near- ly- east and west, running as far as the eye could see, sometimes jcrossing the ice-pools, and sometimes break- ing along jthe hummock ridges. The sun and nioon^'^. will be in Conjunction on, the 3d ; we had notice, thereC-^ fore, that the spring tides are in action. "Captain Griflin had been dispatched with Mr.Lov- ell befoWithis, to establish on the shore the site for a depdt of provisions : at one o'clock a signal was made to recall them. At two P.M., seeing a seal, I ran out upon the ice ; but losing him, was tempted to contmue on abbut a mile to the eastward. The wind, which REMARKS ON Thp t^„ ^ «. v« THE ice-oPenino. 217 had been from the westwanl u]]\u shiiled to the southw3 «n . .^ -^^ "'^''"^"e^' ^«^ " be again in mSn The f ^^^ /^-tables began to 6 , "'""on. ihe hummme of beet mwl n,^ heaving hummocks, together^ wifh J^ a P' Earned me back to ihe vessel ^ ^"^ '''^*'^^ wilh^'slL'Lttl^rnTr '\'^"""' commenting out, that nZ^zi:z:t:^:i'''-^' -^^'^ began. Running on deck we f! ,^T^ P^PP'''^' ' -toning at thi. m.m™7tLdLd SZ T** ''""^' ""^ work with the rest V„« ij ^ "Imnerless, went to horsw. Befol daA I^ Tk*^ '"'' "'y«'«"*<'*«'l like tke Ll ■ aad^f tt ' 7 *'""S «"« «» "x^^d except ™ "*• ' *'«' "• tlus, snch were the unwenrioJ „ir Jl of our crew, that we lost Ut a ton orC ""f"* c-slit'^t::^rt! :z 't^-' r."-"^- •«• before how caDrinZi • "* '"'' nn-Jerstand it "vealed ITC ST"? T "»' I"^''™' 1' "1 The S.^, u °" *" ** """on of the ice ta; the wind i^n'fM"''^''*"' »"«^ "'"^^ed the « 2 -rtl 7 I . "'""'g'flg to the southward of the ^Z T^fT r *■"> "-- Wn W8 imDeS^ft *"*' *■'"**'■« '•ementation j»ra^~t!^' «'™"*«'» days of very low tem" I" T B. ' " •■"""■'to.rcB^ttr. bnja bl^ perhaps, to the > - ^^1^ l^*" ' -1 N, !"218 ICB-OPENING. / -'h' y massive character of the up-pW tahles, which pro- ^ tected the inner portion of them from the air, and to the constant infiltration {endosmose) of salt-water at the abraded margins. ^ .. » 3. The extent to which the work of super and in, fra position had been carried during the actions may be realized, when I say that the floe-piece which sep. arated from us to starboard retained the exact impres- sion of the ship's side. There it was, with the gang, way stairs of ice-block masonry, looking down upon the dark water, and the useless embankment embra*. ing a sludgy ice-pool. "We could see table after table, more properly layer after layer, each not more fhan seven inches thick, ex- tending diwn for more than twenty feet. Thus, it is highly probable, may be formed many of those etior- mou^ ioeltables, attributed by authors to direct and unh^t^frupted congelation. |/'"Che quantity of ice adhering to our port-side must / \e enormous ; for although the starboard floe, in leav- ' ing us, parted a six-inch hawser, it failed to budge us on^e inch from the icy cradle in .which we are set." •TtV A' ^ * .-.-'.....^^^m^ T»E 4DVAKCE, OFF caOKE.'s BAT. CHAPTER XXVII. . «xea. and we hlT/oIes ^^^^Z ?„? ^ V^^ was so liable to momen*arv «n,i i ?' ? Position irwouH have bee„rp'2tirate™Xttrr''*' a^ut .. o„f:rar hKra zz > our cabin floor. But the stataoftv "'"? "" whole, exceedingly comrorteTa^dtr ""i: °" *'«' «=«rvy had attacked, ^unrirn' ?r T''°''' *''<' when the lard-lamp died out Cth ""'T'*'- """e. the 10th that we got up our Ive, ' " ""^ ""' *"' le^^atiircklnflt^hTtLf-Cerr- Ihadjassftdthethrcc -urinf^... i. f . g^^at force. x> 220 WELLINGTON CHANNEL. I' ■' j-< watch patiently for hours together to get a shot at seals, with the thermometer at +10°. I wrote my journal in imaginary comfort with a temperature of 40°, and was positively distressed with heat when ex- ercising on the ice with the mercury at +19°. I return to my diary. « October 3. I write at midnight. Leaving the deck, where I have been tramping the cold out of my joints, Itome below to our little cabin. As I open the hatch, every thing seems bathed in dirty milk. A cloud of vapor gushes out at every chink, and, as the cold air travels down, it is seen condensing deeper and deeper. The thermometer above is at 7° below zero. "The brig and the ice around her are covered by a strange black obscurity— not a mist, nor a haze, but a peculiar, waving, palpable, unnatural darkness: it is the frost-smoke of Arctic winters. Its range is very low. Climbing to the yard-arm, some thirty feet above the deck, I looked over a great horizon of black smoke, and above me saw the heaven without a blemish. " October 4. The open pools can no longer be called pools ; they are great rivers, whose hummock-lined shores look dimly through the haze. Contrasted with the pure white snow, their waters are black even to inkyness ; and the silent tides, undisturbed by ripple or wash, pass beneath a pasty film of constantly form- ing ice. The thermometer is at 10°. Away from the ship, a long way, I walked over the older ice to a spot where the. open river was as wide as the Dela- ware. Here, after some crevice-jumping and tickly- bender crossing, I set myself behind a little rampart of hummocks, watching for sef^ls. "As I watched, the smoke, the frost-smoke, came* — doWM ill wreaths, like the lambent tongues « burning^- SEAL HUNTING. 221 I was sooii envel. turpentine seen without the bk^e oped in crapy mist. "To shoot seal, one must practice the Esquimaux laches of much patience and complete immob" t ^Z^LL 'T ^^'' ^"li experience, to sit mo- tionless and noiseless as a statue, with a cold iron zero ButC '^f V'"' *'^ *^^~«*- ^^^^^ zero. But by.and-by I wa« rewarded by seeinff some l^TmfaJr^vT ^'"' "^"^'^ expectation, they El.r^ again. Very strange are these seal. A coun liy^nance between the dog and the mild African apZ' an expression so like that of humanity, thatlt 2^ gun-murderers hesita^. At last, at long shot,Th one. God forgive mej > * "^ ■" The ball did not kill outright. It wm out of range .tmck too low, and entered the lungs. The p^r teS had ri^n brea«t.high out of water Jite the't^aZ , water swimmers among ourselves. He was thus si ported looking about with curious, expectant eye^ when the ball entered his lungs. ^ > " For a moment he oozed a little bright blood from h^ mouth, apd looked toward me with a Lrt of st^ er, he came up still nearer, looked again, bled asain and went down. A half instant aferward tlTe up flumedly, looked about with anguish in his 7Z for he was quite near me ; but slowly he sunk stag' iraie more. Th* thing was drowning in the element ^rsoTfo^'C'- ^^^'""-"^'^'X. JZk! 'hi; animal'. nhiTin '.'""'=«''"'« expression of jwaaimalspte? ^unosity, contentment, pain, TiT ifi«9t». ^< .>'-'.. ^ . i.,!V.ii^i.' /. f 222 PARHELIA. proach, 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 fresh meat led i|ie to it; but I shot him dead. " On returning to the ship, I found one toe frost-bit- ten — a tallow-looking dead man's toe — which was restored to its original ugly vitality by snow-rubbing. Served me right ! "'Spent the afternoon in unsuccessful seal stalking, and in rigging and contriving a spring-gun for the Arc- tic foxes : a blood-thirsty day. ;^ut we ate of fox to- day for dinner ; and behold, and it was gpod. "October 5, Satufday. The wind evidently freshens up. The day has been bitterly cold. Although our lowest temperature was zero and — V, we felt it far more than the low temperature of yesterday. Our maximum was as high as 4° ; yet, with this, it required active motion on deck to keep one's self warm. "At 12h. 55m., we liad an interval of clear sunshine. The utmost, however, to which it would raise one of ^ the long register Smithsonian thermometers was 7°. The air was filled with bright particles of frozen moist- ure, which glittered in the sunshine — a shimmering of transparent dust.* "At the same time, we had a second exhibition of parhelia, not so vivid in prismatic tints as that of the 30th of September, but more complete. The sun was expanded in a bright glare of intensely- white light, and was surrounded by two distinct concentric circles, delicately tinted on their inner margins with the red of the spectrum. The radius of the inner, as measured • TJnder the microscope these again showed obscure modifications of the hex- - s y w . . -- , . ■ , ■ ,. . . , . . ' y.*\. \ ICE CHANOES. 223 by the sextant was 22° 04'; that of the outer, 40° W oCthepircle^. '^^'''"^^ ^^^ *^« ^^o^^ontal diameters ty'Sh? JIm' P^^"*rfi«<-rsection were marM by bright parbeha; each parhelion having its circum he^ wh.ch may ha^e oorreqK,nded to iC2^ Z tote otthissupplementel circle were very bririit Thl' The strange openings in the water ofa few S <«.^Weares;Si:ar^S^^^^ "The strong floe of ice-table under iV« +nWo j and tohberate us, some fearful^isruption mu ?tak« .-- uiaua,4iK«a ftttl© peninsoIST cape. T-^ ~ 224 DRIFTING SOUTH. ^W- " Jo the south every thing is in drifting motion- water, sludge, frost-smoke — but no seals "We caught a poor little fox to-day in a dead^-falj. We ate him as an anti-scorbutic. " October 6,Sundq^, A dismal day ;- the wind howl- ingj and the snow, Ane as flour, drifting into every chink and cranny. The cold quite a nuisance, al- though the meroury is up again to +6°. It is blowing a gale. What if the floe, in which we are providen- tially glued, should tabp it into its head to break off, and carry us on a cruise before the wind ! " 8 P.M. Took a pole, and started off" to make a voy- age of discovery around our floe. ^ After some weary" walking over hunmiocks, and some uncomfortable sous- ings in the snow-dUst, found that our cape has dwin- dled to an isthmus. In the pidst of snow and haze, of course, I did not venture across to the other ice. " We look now anxiously at the gale— turning in, clothes on, so as to be ready for changes. "12 Midnight. They report us adrifl;. Wind, a gale from the northward and westward. An odd cruise this! The American expedition fast in a lump of ice about as big as Washington Square, and driving, like the shanty on a raft, before a howling gale. " October 7, Monday. Going on deck this morning, a new coast met my eyes. Our little matrix of ice had floated at least twenty miles to the south from yesterday's anchorage. The gale continues ; but the day is beautifully clear, and we have neared the west^ ern coast enough to recognize the features of the lime- stone cliffs, although many a wrjnkle of them is now pearl-powdered with snow-drift. *' Prominent among these was Advance Bluff"; and =^iG the so uth of i t » a gr eat iadeatatioa ia^the limestoii DRlPT—wiNTER. 225 ZZD off, Poi/t uCZlZTl^T'Tr- J'"'*""' Graves ;' and M^i^wn '"^'° '*«'' »'' ' *he ^outhw^rd a.d wfu^rf^ttht"''?''''"'' '" *"" to be Barlow's Inlet * ^P'"'" ™PPoseS a latitude of 74° 54' 07" Th *'™™«). gmng us place was i„ latitnVe 75° 24 ^rN"'^'***' ™f "S" Will ea^ us ^^C^ZtT^ "^^ ■s Lancaster Sognd ,iw^ P*"^ "'^ '™ *« the south " To-day .eemedliwr^' '^''f "<»»>*« »* +8°. from ourrece^rtu'*!! "^ f «"! ^ndkerchief Yet the Skies 0^^ bTt„ n!^^' " ''''''™'^ «•'»»• pinks, and the sun alhlVt ft I* T"™ »<''"^™ «•» out in full brUtn^ t/ "" * '"^'j' »'«"«>«. ^^one however, s,^St ^rf). 7^ ' """'^^'y of warmth, full raafance ofts'dl tf^iT""' "^{^ *» '^ erees: from +7° toV T„ f^' f°™- """t *^» <»«• heautiful to rememW ^" T ""^ this, the day was *ch we o„rrxxsrw:2''r'' f ^^ are shut out • a fti,rf,„„ * ^^^e. world from which we ^^ "^"Skt ahve in a trap this i f':^^/ "• •■^rr'.- ... \ ■A.) 226 ' OUR FOX. . ' - 7^ - ' ' ' morning. He was an astute-visaged little scamp ; and although the chains of captivity, ma4e of spun-yam and leather, set hardly upon him, he could spare ahundant leisure for bear bones and snow. He would drink no 'i^^ter. His cry resembled the inter-parox- ysmal yell ^f a very small boy undergoing spanking. The note came with an impulsive vehemence, that expressed not only fear and pain, but a very tolerable spice of anger and ill-temper." He was soon reconciled, however. The very next day he was tame enough to feed from the hand, and had lost all that startled wildness of look which is sup- posed to characterize his tribe. He wasevidently un-' used to man, and without the educated instinct of flight Twice^ when suffered to escape from the ves- sel, he was caught in our traps the same night. In- deed, the white foxes of this region— we carfght more than thirty of them-rseemed to look at us with more curiosity than fear. They would come directly to the ship's side ; and, though startled at first when we fired at them, soon came back. They even suflfered us to approach them almost within reach of the hand, ran around us, as we gave the halloo, in a narrow circle, but stopped as soon as we were still, and stared us in- quisitively in the face. One little fellow, when we let him loose on the ice after keeping him prisoner for a day or two, scampered back again incontinently to his oubby-hole on the deck. There may be matter of re- flection for the naturalist in this. Has this animal no natural enemy but famine and cold? The foxes ceased to visit us soon after this, owing probably to the uncertain ice between us and the shore : th^ toe -masters. ■iM& 1*> ^- V ■t^ ^- |^"J.FJ' fT*V^* ^18™"*^" "Mif ; CHAPTER XXVIII. . Channel. Ocoaa.onally a strong southerly wLdwS »Ctne'; of theZ r "thXr *""" ?" ^«"«» "Y-0 tHe force of'T'^tot r^'Z^t sisting our progress in that direction Anrrt^ T wmd, on the other hand, seemed th.™ „or«l'' actmg influences. A little while aolr ^i^ I' Our thoughts turned ^MhwZ^^^ ?' '""*''• of Lancaster Sound, Xh 1^ tu' a"^ "^T^ Wi* this feeling came an increasing desire f^ „„™ rritout TheReiXd;::ircr::r jytte party through the leads, and, on^ltTeH' X^ri^ "Th "" ^'"J " "«"* *«'"* »" » tions incident Th.^ f * *"°" ""y » ™*»- Pj„rt. °T™ .. ' '!'*? T^^ my ^^Lof t hin cotton - ■... w .uai weighed, when completed, but'foui; .ir 228 SHORE INACCESSIBLE. 'V teen pounds, soaking it thoroughly in a composition of caoutchouc, ether, and linseed oil, the last in quaij- tity. After it was finished and nearly dried, I wra^ ped it up in a dry covering of coarse muslin, and placed it for the night in a locked closet, at some distance from the cook's galley, where the temperature was be- tween 80° and 90°. In the morning it was destroyed. The wrapper was there, retaining its form, and not discolored ; but the outer folds of the tent were smok- ing; and, as I unrolled it, fold after fold showed more and more marks of combustion, till at the centre it was absolutely charred. There was neither flame nor spark. *" In a few days more the tumult of the ice-fields had made all chance of reaching the shore hopeless. But the mean time was not passed without efforts. ''October 23. I started with a couple of men on an- other attempt to reach the shore. After five miles of walking, with recurring altematioils of climbing, leap, ing, rolling, and soaking, we found that the ice had driven out from the coast, and a black lane of open water stopped our progress. This is the seventh at- tempt ta cross the ice, all meeting with failure from the same cause. The motion of ice, influenced by winds, tides, and currents, keeps constantly fading the shore-line. Any outward drift, of course, makes an irregular lane of w^ter, which a single night con- verts into ice ; the returi^ing floes heap this in tables one over another ; and the next outward set carries off the floes again, crowned with their new increment. "The haze gathered around us about an hour after starting, and the humtnooks were so covered with snow that the chasms often received us middle deep. We — walked fiv©^houfs and a halt, making in. all nutei AN ICE TRAMP. 229 miies; and even then wer« «f i . beach. "^^'^ ** ^east a mile from the "At one portion of our route fh«; u j , sugar character; the Juml ^ ^^ ^^^ *^« «^"«hed smallcantalouD^fpa '"217^*"^ ^" «^^« fr««i a ^^*«^ ^* zero cH^r n '^°"' ^"* ^'^'^ ^ frozen m tiptoe styj^^^^ll ".''^'' **»" «t"ff we.waiked "At anoth^^a7 T"'^^^' '^y^^ i* was. the fractured WS^ml ""'^^ *"^ * h»i^, we trod on stones; toss t^^^^'^'T . ^^'^^ *^««« ^^'^^ that their ed^sTalTt« ?"""' ^^^^^^ ^^^^^i"? care withflour cooled down toS""!!' '"^* *^««^ -- loose, in the centre of a mi:;'^ ^^^ if'^ ^^ wretch way over them to the shore! "^ ^°' * P**^- "At another place brfint iJ,o* ^ ".a^se, of ice, let m up anT^o^^r^T'*' '"''"'»'' dunes of old seasoned hnm.l'^r ™™' '"«' '""•"'e'l Sl-e. Again, it is ove' srwlC""^ *f ^'^'"-^ "cant and sufficiently crusT; LT "'' "'^*' <» ''""^, -;:;.outi..„,uLs™:^^--;-:; covered with snow to k*.«,. , 7 *^^' J"s* enough «S with a fine bracins ^^2 * """''• O™' «"« exercise, and the W^^C^^^'T^ ""^""^ *"" '■"« tif xrf:::*faiiiS"*'' r ^-"""-"^ jtimdiced. Snown?^- '■f'""" *'>« rf ^How *--^^^5^r^eS:^ // // f 230 WINTERY SIGNS* son, a Livournese, rejoiced in a couple of barbaric pendules, doubtless of bad gold, but good conducting power." -* The indications of winter were still becoming more and more marked. On the 11th, the sun rose but 9» at meridian; on the 15th but 6°; and on the 7th of No- vember, at the same hour, it almost rested on the ho- rizon. The daylight, however, was sometimes strange- ly beautiful. One day in particular, the 8th, a rosy tint diffused itself over every thing, shaded off a little at the zenith, but passing dpwn from pink to violet and from'violet to an opalescent purple, that banded the entire horizon. The moon made its appearance on the 13th ot Uc- tober At first it was like a bonfire, warming up the ice with a red glare ; but afterward, on the 15th,. whej) it rose to the height of 4°, it silvered the hummocks and frozen leads, and gave a softened lustre to the snow through which our two little brigs stood out in black and solitary contrast. The stars seemed to have lost their twinkle, ancLto shine with concentrated . brightness as if through gimlet-holes in the cobalt can- ouy. The frost-smoke scilrcely left the field of view. It generally hung in wreaths around the %izon ; but • it sometimes took eccentric forms; andlone night I remember, it piled itself iAto a column at the west, aiid Aquila flamed above it like a tall bfeacon-light. We were glad to note these f^ciful resemblances to the aspects of a more kindly region; ^W withdrew us sometimes from the sullen realities of the world that • encompassed us-ice, frost-smoke, and a threatening ^ We had pa rhelia Jj raln mor^ thtn once, but d^ oped imperfectly; a mSs o£ incandescence 22°, WINTERY SIGNS. 231,>, the sun, with prismatic coloring but wifhnnf fi. '- cular and radial appearances thft h«/i ! ^ ^''■ before. On the 27th a n«^ i . characterized it the first we obsLfedirrl M^^ I^We, arcs, destitute of prismaTc^^nVt teWn^ , ."' '"'^" flexes at about 23° dkf«« stretching hke circum- the moon about fo^ hthth '" '''^ "^^ *^« «^««-' eter30°55;atm sXretLf ~^^^^ T^^^ Wom- ly afterward, it shone out wifh T ^^ ^^"^""^ «^«^ While but diW a^^rthTta^xrr^ ^- ^ The thermometer was now ffenerallv ihli .V point, sometimes rising for a S^letZtZr"" fewdegreesaboveit,on5eonIyashiIhas +100* "tT" * there was no wind, even the lo^eft^l ' ^^'" quite bearable • and v^hu^ "" ^^^est ol its range was ly, it was dil t retveThaTor^'T^ ^^*^^- be so strikingly in con^^rJff h .u TT'''' ^""^^ ature. But a breeze „r! *he absolute temper- ut a oreeze, or a pause of motinn +ni , could raise the sextanf f« f * motion till we suade us, and that feelinffly tlTZ ^ ^'"■ honest. Night after mJhttl' u7 . '"^""'ry was feet ; and a Zl^yt'ttXTt 'T "' ""^ at the head of the canteinl h T "*'"'''' """t % 0f.heskyJ.tartedX4'Ltin7:»t^T Haven on a walk of inot^^^f . ^ ^^aptain De water, froeen"I^L"^X tTifr""''-, '"''« ""«"' thick, and at this low ^rtlT ".T [ ^ '-* hard and brittle as glass. WherXl /if ' "■"*' ^ff 232 WINTER ARRANGEMENTS. " The tension of the great field of ice over which we passed must have heen enormous. It had a sensible curvature. On striking the surface with a walking, pole, loud reports issued like a pistol-shot, and Unes of fissure radiated from the point of impact. It seemed as if the blow of an axe would sever the keystone, and break up by a shock the entire expanse. In one place the ice suddenly arched up like a bow while we were looking at it, burst into fragments, collapsed at the ex- terior margins of fracture, and by the work of a mo- ment created a long barrier line of ruins ten feet high. Our position was one of peril. We had crossed two miles of ice. A change of tide relieved, the strain, and we returned. *^The nearest break-up to our homestead floe is about one hundred and fifty yards off. It is now to the south ; though our position, constantly changing, alters the bearing by the hour. Very many of the masses that compose it are as latge as the grapery at home, two hundred feet long perhaps, and lifted up, barricade-fashion, .as high as our second story win- dows." The next day our winter arrangements were co, CS pleted. They were simple enough, and hardly wo describing in detail. A housing of thick felt was drawn completely over the deck, resting on a sort of ridge-pole running fore and aft, and coming down close at the sides. The rime and snow-drift in an hour or two made it nearly impervious to the weather. The cook's galley stood on the kelson, under the main h»tch ; its stove-pipe rising through the housing above, and its funnel-shaped apparatus for melting snow at- tached belo w. The ]!)ulkhead8 between cabin and forecastle had heeii removed ;-Biid two st ' \ sanB-storms op the'sahara. 233 . I ^confirmed hyo7L^il""a\t'"' ""' '"' »«r approach to LawasSlrf. .*"."'* ™"*™''>'' of our drift afe, ^rntredTC^tk^''^ 7' quent storms Somo «f *i, ' , "* marked by fte- tkat could Mont^r, T.""^ "" *••« ™Wi»i*y discomfort ThevrlirH^'"^,*r """"S" »d the Sahara. " TLfine „1m °"^ '^xi-t^™' of ;« a continuous^^^fr 'm: XtT fn ^ "^ "^ *««Wie mterval Ween the Cms^thetZ^ In 234 THE CHANNEL AND THE SOUND. of sweeping snow were so unbroken that its filaments seemed woven into a mysterious tissue. Objects iii^y ^ yards off were invisible: no one could leave the ves. sels." - • " • " The month of November found us oscillating still with the winds and currents in tlje neighborhobd of Be^chy Island. Helpless as we were among the float- ing masses, we began to look upon the floe that car- ried ,us as a protecting barrier against the approaches of others Jess friendly ; and as the month advanced, and the chances increased of our passing; iSnto the sound, our apprehensions o^ bfeing frozen up in "the heart of the ice-pack gave place to the opposite feai of a continuous drift. We had seen enough, and en- countered enough of the angry strife among the ice- floes in the channel, to assure us of disaster if we should be forced to mingle in the sterner conflicts of the older ice-fields of the sound. Yet, as the new fields continued forming about us, thickening gradu- ally from inches to feet, and locking together the floes in one great amprphous expanse, we retained a hope ^ to the last that our island floe, thickeni^ li^e tlie rest, and piling its wall of hummocks ar(S|tind us, would continue to ward us from attack, till the all-pervading frost had made it % stationary part of the great winter covering of the Arctic Sea. It encountered almost daily immense hummocks, some of them impinging against us while we were apparently at rest; some, ap- parently motionless, receiving the impact from us. At such times our floe would be deflected at an angle from its normal course, or would rotate slowly round its centre, and pass on — not, however, always in the ' same direction ; sometimes nearing the western^hore, ^ som et im e s c lo s ing in upon the be a ch nf " t ji e Graves^' ''«, JV'. If*' *■■': i .-" . Ir '"% old's island. 235 and sometimes fluctuatinff slowlv f« ^\ ^^ The chart opposfe pagefa tu Ihl '" . nature of this drift. * ""^ "apfoious ea^t. On the mh we were fairly in the sound It' at 19 , and ^nnk during the night to -27» ■ Ihe next day, however, a shift of wind^graduallv increasing m force, combined with a tidal iiSnce to wrat":iurtL*:r "'i'^^"""'- '^'■' '"-"--t was at this time lower than we had ever seen it, and the sky seemed to sympathize withthe tempera „°e UUs Tv R? '" '? '""''• ^"^""S "P»» «•« snow: mmation In the morning the sky combined all the tmts of the spectrum in regular zones, a broad band „f orange girding the horizon with an almost uniform i^ tensity of color. The stars shone during the e"t "e day. At daybreak on the 18th, Leopold's Island ros! by ref^a^tion above the ice, standing with its unmt akable outline clearly black a^ainsl the orange ski but it went down as the sun neared theJ»rizon and passed to the south of his low circuit. Aurllfor tt: dXttl''""' "" "^^ -'"'"'"i"-'- at ^Novemher 20, -Wednesday.'The winds are unlike^ hj« encountered I^arry, our only predecel t • this, region at Jhis season of the ^ It hajJbeen-, Tery providential, and very un.xpecWfor us, twfpre dommance of breezes from^he southward J eS Zmi ti„ . T™*°^ T ''"'■""8 '"*« *« dreaded SnCn K ^ """""'' "■" P'«'^'<' Fertane, into Baihn'S Bay by the easterly current. " lA/ rt U™J L > _^^ V ^-Wo had « IresTy pre ffom a F.M. of yesterday ^ ^ .■(t*« J«-|. •1i' •- I- f After this' 6und our. (l^th) un^ this n^ning fri^ south^aMio easfiiouth ^ Jtgi|iually^|«^way;\ilidnow;at a P.M.,w«^have a i^Me bree-feJSdm the same,%i*w:ter. Jk»^B«|P''» -«9»ious.iS 2 f '7 '^■'"o <"• •'<>»'. but I am fmmarSkfof^C^J- ^^ the northward, «lon«'>-*alone save tlSiV. ,™"" ''''"«*''•<'''»'« "orthwa^rjth S'^t-fe^*'" *» «■« floutL ^ • ^ '^^ ^^ ^®^ sunrise at the ■M-- ^^^^^•^^^^« «5We Side, and moW bright of* ^. «^^ ^ 23d MOONLIGHT. on the Othet : moonlight and s^lllight blemd overhead. To the north and south, each keeps its separate do. minion. I read the finest print readily. «12M Walked out to see thrice. I have no change of words left to describe noon(|Ay. The sunlight zone of color Was more light and less bright, perhaps-and the mooii^was more bright and less light, perhaps ; bu; both were there. , , x xi, «« 1 P M The light hardly dimmed ; but the moon shines out"so emulously, that it is hard to measure the ^"» 2 P M It 18 evidently nflonger day, although the southwestern horizon is flar.^d with red streaks, and a softening of yellow into the^ blue of heaven says that the sun is somewhere belo^^ it. The moon has con- fused the day ; and comind as she does at this com- mencement of our long nigh^, 1 bless her foir the grate- ful service. I make my four to six hours of daily walk, and hardly miss the guidance of day «3 P.M. Moonlight!!" ^ ^ 'M. s •■.■•■*. ^f^r^l****"*^-* ■" "f?*^ •^'^•iw£!j2^!*^ }'^ CHAPTER XXIX. ^^Novemher22. I walked yesterday, and to-day ac^ain ^. the open water that separates us.from Wellington Channel. It is a bold and rapid river, as broad as the Delaware a X|;enton or the Schuylkill at Philadelphia ro hng wildly between dislocated hunnnock cragsf and whirling along m its black current the abraded frag- ments of its shores. Ice of recent growth had cemenl ed he gnarled masses about its margin into a ragged wall some twenty feet high, and perhaps thirty paces wuie. I stood with perfect safety on a tall, spirLke pnmacle, and endeavored to trace its course. It cfuld be seen reaching from a remote point in the southeast! ern part of the channel, and is probably ddnnected with^ the open shore leads that stretch from Cape Riley past Cape Spencer toward the further coasts of North Dev an. It passed about a mile and a half to the^ north- west of our vessels, and was lost in the distant ice- nelds to the east. "Returning with Captain De Haven, we saw the ecent prints of a bear and two cubs, that had evident- ly been scenting our foot-marks of the day before^Bil old bear was not large, measuring by her trail onlf^ leet four inches ; thei young ones so small as to'sur- prise us. their track not much bigger than that of a ?:tr;^ut^ ;i have been for some evenings giving lectures on _^6s of popular science, the atmosphere, the barom- eter, &c., to the crew. They a re not a ^^r^: ■'>? *a M ■■) '^' V LANCASTER SOUND. ual audience, but they listen with apparent interest, and express themselves gratefully. "November 25. Great clouds of dark vapor were seen to the |^^y|^Myk^- ^he crape-wreaths of our first impiiwIPrasntrThis^ost-Smoke is an unfailing indi- - cation of qpen Water, and to us, poor prison-bputid va- ♦ grants, is suggestive of things not pleasant ^*sthink about. It streamed away on theP wind iMHack drifts. " Our daylight to-day was a mere name,' three arid a half hours of meagre twilight. I was struck for the first time with the bleached faces of niy mess-maifces. The sun left us finally dnly sixteen days ago ; but fbr some time beflflrft he had been very chary of his eiTect- ive rayMj an "j ^""^ Can it be that we are a#„ in a\ u ."^-''o'ored vapor. ent^to,,tberofreI7'"w trh''T''r"''- in. th"e";^;g t;;^: z:'ti:r\' ""^ "'» ^"■''^ «e my elemLs ■'"'""' "*'<'''"<=«• Here m2 Jhau! tot^rJ't'; - and edge-hum. sons ffrowth S«voroi i ""^re^an ot this sea- W; one. the i^^XtZTty'^^'ZTT'-j?- water-lead margined bv rnlh 'f * high. Tire Wto the we/wa d aL "outhwTdt^ T '""*' ward and east w«r^ f southward from the south. Bistaneet;X ;^^^^^^^^ ^ '^'" ^^^^ horseshoe. "2. To the south; over long floes of recerfL. «now.covered, and smooth, lithtwl^M^f heavy pressure at their iunction. ? "^.'Wi^ns <^f water, glazed over ^ith you^Tc; f^^^^T ^ "P^" of this lead east andW t. ^ ^^"^ '' ^'""^ north and south is thl •, . ^'^"^^^^ «^*h« Aoe, "3. To the ealt T 1^''"^ ^"^^ ^ ^^*«r. mixed ice with iL t ""'*^'^'* ^^ '^'^' ^ough, Thickness'of" e aZfc""^ ^^^ ^"— ^- -.1^0 01 thoeailyiiartol last August. Dist^ee .r.Sfc--.,. \»^ 242 LANCASTER SOUND. to open river, one at^^ three fourtts to two miles Marks of recent action excessive iiere ; hummock banks massive ; and^ tables sometimes five feet thick, rising to a height ot eighteen feet From the east and northeast, the tre^d of the break is to the southward at first, and son^ two miles below to the westward, " 4. To the ivest ; over the broken region of varied ice, traveled f ver in my atitempts to reach Barlow's inlet some 4ay8 ago. Distance , to lead, one mile. Chasm verV irregular ; but from the poiiit I visited at the nortV and east, trending nearly duo west, and pointing^ to thq southward of Cape Hothami "From all this it is clear enough that we are a mov. ing floe, comparatively isolated. The only point of our circumscribed horizon I have not visited, and where no frost-smoke asserts the near proximity of water, is the northwest. Whether on that side the ice of Lp- caster is blocked against us by the easterly current, or whether the frost has made our floe one more speck in the massive field, is the only question remaining. ''November 29. The doubt is gone. Our floe, ice- cradle, safeguard, has been thrown round. Its eastern margin is grinding its way to the northward, and the west is already pointing to the south. Our bow is to Baffin's Bay, and we are traveling toward it. So far, ours has been a mysterious journeying. For two' months and more, not a sail has fluttered from our frozen spars ; yet we have passed from Lancaster Sound into the highest latitude of Wellington Chan- nel, one never attained before, and have been borne back again past our point of starting, along a capri. ciously varied line of drift. Cape Riley is bearing, by compass, S. i E., N.N.E i E. (true) ; and Beechy Head, .::^ compass, S JI ^i.EM ^^i^E^(toie)-^- Ca pe K urd k Pii .1 liNOASTER SOUND. 243 ™>He to the northward and eastward, and to the east' are the .ce-clogged. waters of Lancaster Sound " November 30. When I «.„„ „„ ^^^ a^^,;^ erii sKy Had not even a trace of rerl n.,,. i j l . slewfiJrnihor «, A ^, ,'""'*' "I *ea. Uur head had siewea rather more to the southwarH * *,*,/! «• starboard beo^ sundry i^^iZl^ ^^ZZ 3^io^ walked t.*ard thlt^uo^; Off nVj, if ^.^''"' hazy north-^stUI opVn water as. ;^a]king after brffakfasi toward fh^ « ^i. ! ! ' breaking at their suinrnits fell nff n^ i ' . ' ■■^:i '* 244 ICE BREAKIliG UP. hf ;..■ / thickness by twenty of perpendicular height, and some of them fifteen yards in^ngth, surging up into thfe misty air, heaving, rolJing, tottering, and falling with a majestic deliberation worthy of the fdrces that i^n- pelled them. When a huge block would rise verti- cally, tremble for a moment-, and toppfe over, you heard the iieavy sough of the snow-padding that received it ; but this was only the deep bass accompaniment to a wild, yet not unmusical chorus. I can not attempt to describp the sounds. T^Jiere wa»^the-i;ijiging, chatter of ice, made friable by the intense cold and crumbling' under lateral force ; the low wiiine whiclfi the ice g'ives out when we cuttt at right angles with a ^h^^rp kfiife, rising sometimes into a shriek, or sinking to the plaint- ive outcry of our night-hawk at home ; the whirr, of rapidly-urged machinery, theKumofmultMdes.-.ajid ' all these mingled with tones that Vve ffo analog|^, among the familiar ones of unad\'«nturous liftf. ,. " So slowly and' regularly did these masse^pll^s^, break, and fall, that, standing upon abroad>t)Iefice* pole in air, we rolled when it rolled, rose whlli-i balanced when it^broke, and jumped as it tell. « wo^uld our quietpeople in brick houses say to ride ? *Tempera%re at 30° below zero. "On deck; looming up in the very midst of the haze, land ! so high ^nd close on our poft beam, that we felt like men under aprecinice.' We could- setf • the vertical crevices in the limeslo<»B, the recesses con- trasting in Ijlack shadow. Whai^ lanxijte this ? Is it the eastern line, of, Gape^' Riley or h^e we reachedj^.. , Cape Ricketts? : , * ]' ft . ^ .' ^^^ " Tliere is one thing tolerably certain : the Gryjnell /expedition is quite as likely, to be searched for herfe^ -; after m to s««Tefe. drift is an ugly on>en} John ErankliilL ihis4g hk i* THE AURORA. 245 , .ap over the locker-a sort of mythic eifey whirtha owner loAed upon pretty^muih .ssoZ'T^/m commodores,. do tho }nir«.v,^4. "^^ thin,, whiei; ie s'ls Zt'r leX'rlT """- inthe strong fajth of ignor^S tj^pe:; o"^^ 3 TOl, very mueh sueh a Saint Anthony have Zd^^'' '" ""'"f'nl'er^ staring o, always in'the tZe Z a verm,ho„ daubed puerility, with a glory tDuteh leaf stretchiiiff from ear fn onr. k * , i^utch , hearty representative "f E^: i* H'r I I.TT' ,.»o„th that speaks of stroufetrgS aTl^i I J kmdly heart and au eye-the other one is spoLdI in .hlie hthography-that looks st ^na"* the V whilelamwritfnl; hisfe« i. datenedTv-the", "* :«e.oatinr-;;,vt;sTr5tt;--. ' attLhed H, -''"^' barometer, Aneroid, 300^ 4; ,'^®WesemUedanUltii^i«ateaolnn/ m, "^ - ^=*^^^;*««^^^feiragainsf thetieep blue night sky; " x r . ■ . ■■•■ , ,-\ - '. '■■ . ■ 'S^ H^ ,.l' %■ ^ %• - Ai) .^ ♦ ■>. r> ' 246 THE AURORA. otherwise it resembled the mackerel fleeces and mare's tails of our summer skies at home. "It began toward the nprth western horizon as an irregqlar flaring cloud, sometimes sweeping out into wreaths of stratus ; sometimes a condensed opaline nebulosity, rising in a zone of clearly-defined white- ness, from 3° to 5° in breadth up to the zenith, and then arching to the opposite horizon. This zone re- sembled more a long line. of white cirro-stratus than the auroral light of the systematic descriptions. There was no approach to coruscations, or even rectangular deviations from the axis of the zone. Wlien it varied from a right line, its curvatures were waving and ir- regular, such as might be produced by wind, but hav- ing no relation to the observed air-currents at the earth's surface. It passed from the due northwest, be- tween the Pleiades and fhe Corona Borealis ; the star of greatest magnitude in the latter of these constellai tions remaining in the centre', although its waving curves sometimes reached the Pleiades. At the zenith, its mean distance from the Polar Star was 7° south, and it passed doAvn, increasing in intensity, near Vega, in Lyra, to the southeast. ' " There was throughout the arc no marked seat of greatest intensity. Around the Corona of the north, its light was more diff'used. The zone appeared nar- rowed at the zenith, and bright and clear, without marked intermission, to the southeast. The frost- smoke was in smoky banks to the northwest; but the aurora did not seem to be affected by it, and the com- pass remained cojistant. i * ''December 2. Drifting 'down the sound. Every thing getting; ready for the chance of a hurried good- b y t o o ur ve s s e l s. Pofkr, twd-trng^iS^Hl 4>r«a4 p>j ^4 I- A BRK\K UP. 247 m small hags to fling on the ice. ".Every man hb ?'knapsaok and change of clothing. Arm., blr knive ■ «nm«mt,on out o„ .l„ck, and .ledges oald Yet «n.the™.^m^ete,at-30o,tc,U„.tf.ticktotheI> ,:"a^Si7drLr:n:ri"i;\r-''- dered that seamen in pushing o^fromTCekler: w.th the rest or a^::L!;rcUe':7n r.nX^' "4 P.M. Brooks comes down while wo «ro a- ■ wa. cnt down to a .llameter o7 three hundrer"^ we had little to spare of* R * !f """''""' y^ds:. there already fifteerLf^aej:rat:T.ett7;:: ' paces from our bows, stretching acros. at rirhT . With the old cleft of October the 2d ^ "^''' 6 0>" « < t ilB fr ofedu ' f ^go tt« parallel to and «ongsideof the Rea P ■m •' ■ i, / r . ,i» ' ■■■* ' ... 1- ■ 1, ■ . y ■ '■'.'• -« 248 ' LANCASTER SOUND. ,,♦?. %■ cue, has not opened. Her officers have brought their private papers on board the Advance; and such indis- pensable arficles as may be needed in case of her de- struction. "Our ship's head is toward a point of land to the northeastward, but her position changes so constantly, that there is little use of recording it. Caught a Ibx, this morning ; have now two on board. - . "Our beariiags, taken by azimuth compass this morn- ing at eleven, gav6 Cape Hurd, S. by W. i W. ; West- ern Bluff, of Rigsby'a Inlet, S.E. i i^; Table-hill of ,, Parry, S.E. by S. * S.; Cape Ricketts, E. by N. 1,1 / • "Wind changed at 9 P.M. to N.N.W. ; thermom- eter, minimum, -26Q; maximum, -22°; mean, 23° ^^ December 4, Wednesday. This morning showeS us an interval of over two hundred yards already covered with stiff ice : so much' for our.,^hasm of laSt night! All around us is a moving wreck of ice-fields. • **Our drift seems to have been to the westward. We have certainly left the coast, which yesterday seemed almpst over us, though it is still too near for good fel- ... ij^tirship; ' . ; ' yThis is the first 'clear day — truly clear, that ]ire !^have had since my record of the chaiiiging dayligiit. *-• Compared with the gloomy haziness of its predeces- sors, it was cheering. The southern horizon was a zone otred light ; and althoiigh the clear blue soon absorbed it, we could read small print with a little ef- fort at noonday by turning the book to the south. The stars were visible all the time| except where the hori- zon was lighted up." . The next four days wer6 full of excitement and ^^^ anxiety. One orack ufttT a i nother pa.sBftd across qul. # ■' CRISIS. 249 hour afterward, the 0^1, f" ?" •'™" '""''• ^n a «.u„d like e,;aprg ,~° it''-°l'"°""'' "^ ^'^ . under «>n.e„sLL"^Zj!Z tZ 7"" T'' two to four inches thick wo Jdco^r ,h '"." '^""" mthout an apparent change „f ell, T ' '»'' *''""' s.des would come together with 7 ' '^« ^«Pawted mortar, craunching^he newiv 7 1 «?'»«'»" 'ikea it headlong in fta5me„t"Xr fift •'rl/'i''' ""<' '''™"g it pUed agfinst ouf bultl^. "^ "P?" "■" '''-till a crisis. Sledffes boat, „!,' ^'%*''ing betokened P<«ed in ordef'cSrc ^^'''°'^""^'^'-«"(li^- 1-ached by ne^ d"leX ^0^ dX """ " *''^^ ""• at work. officer and sefma^hke ^ ^''^r" ""' it spares no one, is essentis Iv H ' "^''^^Wty. when l«ard. The ne^:"^fZ7:^"'' ''™" °" ^'•'''• us to the further sid. nf . i, T™ "''"y &<»" •ker company coriaW wthTurro^^'^'K"'' SToaned ami quivered under the Z "^ """^^ »■<;- I g.ve my diary trjltiZTr" ^'""' "^^ ■ ■ «i„„ ibr el^t; ^* ■" f « "--tie of prep. «m ray journal Now Z Htt^ ' V'"'"'' ? "■'""^"' up again, and the ilanL .!» J rP"^"* '^ "^^ . little home Bible a h^d Lu "'' ''™PP«''- The ' " fof a jump ''• ""'' ""> ioe.ch.thei ready ^ # #' * 250 CRISIS. .'^ 1 Ucc.C. Doc ' "The above is a rough idea of pur last three days' positions and changes. ^, - • " From this it is evidenfrlhat a gradual process of breaking up has taken place. We are afloat " The ice; as I l^ve sketched it, December 7 began to close at 11 A.M., and, at the same time tlie bng ^vas driven toward the open crack of December 4 (r). \t 1 P M this closed on us with fearful nipping. " 1 P M Han on deck. The ice was comparafively quiescent when I attempted to write; but it reco.n- mcnced with a steady pressure, which mu^st soon prove irresistible. It catches against a protruding tongue lorwaf , and is again temporarily Jirrested "4 Im Up from dinner-' all hands! The m came il with the momentum before mentioned as 'ir- resistiblV,' progressive and grand. All expected to be- take ourLlves sledgeless to the ice for the open space nround tie vessel barely admits of a foot-board. Tk timbers, 3nd even crdss-beams protected biTshores, vi- br^ted sols to cotounicate to you the PefiUa^tre'nor of a cottolfactory. Presently the steriJof the bng, by a succeLion of jerking leaps, began f rise, whi e her bows Ipped toward the last night's ice ahead. Every body\ooked to see her fall upon her beam-ends, and rushed lut upon the ice. After a few an^aous breath-complssed moments,' our n--.4wo await lime, ^ape I* ellloot, S. bv W i Vir v> i i. • Fr^ndicuiar blufl;, S.S.E. ^e h1. E nT^E by compass ; Cape Hurd, N.W. by W. ^ W rtrttelT " . ';We are at least fifty mUes fromBeechy Is ardtn\l Umon Bay-about ibrty.fii^Ues from Leopold sTr >r stores Leopold Harbor, or our more distant E„ li^hfnends, about one hundred and twenty mHes^ff «e our only places of refuge. We are daL hourlf' dnftmg- further from both. It is this nake'dhess oV ^resources, even more than perpe(,ual darkness and ««e„durable cold, that makes ou\p„sition ol j teterne.. Dr.ft a little westward; ther^mlr My journal ^s not t«Il the story ; but it is worth notmg,as it illLrates the sedative effect of a Itact f, •"•^^"'» »f hazards. Out brig had just 2^ the floe, and as we st»od on the ile watching her vt ta„„,jt seemed so certain that she must come"™ on her beam-ends, that our old boatswain, Brools called out to "stand from under " It *i,- "™"''*' it occurred to one of the ^0:,! hat fhe filhaZo b»en pat out, and that the stores remati'g n boa"d would be burned by the falUng of the stoves ' Swi'g ng himselt back to the deck, and rushing below he found two persons in the cabin; the officfr who had be n reheved from watch^uty a few minu Jb^fte ,u.e y seated at the mess-table, and the steward i me »t r]*"! ™ ■;/.":• . " Y™ -« -> »-' "head o" me, he said ; you didn't think I was going out unon the I CO without my dinn e r." ^ ^^ * , 1252 LANCASTER SOUND. " Decembers, Sunday', 8 P.M. This has thus far been a day of rest. Our vessfel, lifted up upon the h(^vy ice. has borne without injury a few fresh pressures. The wind has been still from the eivstward, and m' have drifted about six miles ^ the westward again. This wind was almost a gale ; yet its influence upon the eastern drift is barely able to produce this limited westing. I now regard it as past a doubt, that should we survive the collisions of the journey, we must float into Baffin's Bay. "A small auroral light was seen to the northwest at 9 aA, the second within two days. Its axis was 16° W. of the magnetic meridian. The mean tem- perature of the day has been - 12°^ 70'. Wind more gentle from the eastward. "Mr. Griffin, who is now the executive officer of our consQlidated sqiladfon, has undertaken a systematic drill of the crew, lie has mustered them for an ice- march, with knapsacks fitted to their bWks.and sledge equipments, just suqh as will be required whetl the worst com^. Every thing is rigorously inspected; the lirovisiois and stores of all sorts are packed snug, and have their places marked; an;! t\ie men are in- structed as to their cours^e in the mom^it of emerg- ency. . " ^ c— ^^^i-* iv.*Tgyi jMi*- ' P - " Here is a sketeh of the present position of our ves- l^eTT^H looks extmTapmt, but1 .?> LANCASTER SOUND. 253 "December 9, Monday. Like it« .^ clear; that is to say for fh' ""■"* Predecessors, twilight, you .ee the skekl ™."'\'l'''''-^ °''^<'»«'y ^'i^ht stars, a, itt,ep:,2^trbrtfl:^- ■''■'''''' second-qnarter crescent wa^ fJl C, "" ""»"' » era and western horiEoiTst^LV"!" °" ""e north- crimson lamp. ' ^'"*""' ""e lite ourselves. sJislt ,^ ^ '"'""»'""' ■''■Ws tat from us, asternV "' ""*" «% X^^ds dis. Fromthis time to the 21st mL,A-c, lermission. As one headl«nJ«^ ' "''^ without in. »lf "gainst the horieoni w • "^ """*''" ''««"«d i*" ^ Airtinj the northern coalt T ."PP"?™' that we we,^ S^™ ut some anxiety^Ln o^rT"'- ^'«"' ""^ - «8«.nst the shore-ice ;; we doll "^ ^"^''"^ '"'"' P»">t, threafenJd to wreck j!"*^ '""? P^J"''*"? But as we drew nearer ^ the" h'?°"^ "^ <™g™ent, P"<* the new ha^aMrofttX'fil,''""''^ '»'''■ vn circumstance became for^i*®''^ B*y- '«. . of hope, Thebry, as well as ,S^f '»P°'^»t gi-onnd -.made the -..therterrca^rr''"?'"'"'^'' ' te »eat^f intense hu»mo!kS°Th'®™«'' Ji'tancefton. that point theh^!? ^T'■« 8T«ater thft «"« of the meeting c^lt.'' ""f f J "If ' '"' «>« curv- -" i^^^^rrsrs^ V rotation. Ther* e was. .(f " \ <1 'WP'^ .254 LANCASTER SOUND. V of course, no escape for us from this encounter r^ and the only question was of tlie degrees of hazard itWust involve. On the 19th, the tall, mural precipices to the^rth- ward, and the cape in which they terminatecr toward the east, convinced us that we had almost reajched the western headland of Croker's Bay. ,We had di|fted one hundred and eleven miles since the beginning of the month. Our course had been without any cheering incident. There was the same wretched succession of openings and closings about our floe, somewhat dan- gerous, but too uniform to be exciting ; and we had drilled with knapsack and sledge, till we were almost martinets in our evolutions on the ice. I group the few entries qi my journal that have any interest. ''December 11. Wind last night fierce from the north; to-day as fierce from the west. It has carried us clear of the great cape that stretches out east of Maxwell's Bay, and that threatened us with the variety of a lee shore. The Rescue has had another trial : her stern- post is carried away, her pintle and gudgeon wrenched . oS. A party of officers and men are out, trying the ex- periment of a night upoh the ice, tented and bag-bed- ded. I wish them luck ; but the thermometer fi%- s'even degrees below freezing is unfavorable to a fete champetre. '* December 12. Every thing solid, and looking as if it ha4 always been so ; yet, a few days ago, I had this jour^l of mine stitched up in its tarred canvas-bag, and- ready fpr a fling upon the ice four times in the twenty-four hours. The floes hare stopped abrading each other, and are driving ahead right peaceably, with our brig mounted on tqp : how far we are from the edges, it is tooiiark to see. — '—- -^^^^^-^^^ ^ '■•9^'r succession I LANCASTER SOUND. 25*5 ^t^-.^:^^::z:^y<>-f^. but "All our mess took our toafc^f t.ra„f x i all the tune. It looks strangely this undying fo,Zh! moon. The frost-s^oke is wreathing the red "0^0. our sonthem horizon. It would be a good nigh IT' ! for a painter. . ° 4 "ig"c-scene AH^llrf '-f ' therniometer rose from -3° to -lo At 100 clock It was -40. Its maximum was + 100 a temperature mild and comfortable. The wind ctan.;d '^ from west by south to west bv north and ih. 1 the drift are a^ yesterday. ^ ' *^' ''" ^"^ foiinl Ts ^'"^^'•^^'?* ^^«* ^ight by Mr. Carter, wa. found this mormng. about three hundred yards from « ice f;d"'.- ""' "^\-«^^«^ between'two IZ ir^t tketo? '^'"^^^ ^"^^^^ ^^'« "^"--^e deep into the frozen snow. Twice he had stopped to lie down during his death-walk, marking eachTace with ' a large puddle of blood, which brancLd ouVover the 'ZZ''ZrT''''y ''''''''' H--asureigh leet lour inches from tip to tip. I killed a fox • but missmghis head, opened the large arteries of the neck ^^^^^^^M.^-i^7;--^^'^^^ ft N 1- . ' ■ : . , ',1 !'■ r - V !; , ■ ' ' ■ : ■■ . ' '' ,. ft t r \ .1 1 - 1 - ■ L. i ■ ■i' - ^. ;.." -. ■' ■, 0, .; .1 1 . ' ' ■ ■ ■ ;■ ■ V I.. . . 'f '' -/- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) \ t 1-. -»' hO 1.1 ™ 136 m^m £ I" 12.0 L25 III 1.4 1.6 I " r" ■Ti V ■i- C *, ^"£«^ ^A^ ^Sdmces Corporalion 23 WBt MAIN ST4MIT WnSTIi,N.Y. 14SM (716)t72-4$03 '^ J,* \ , %. ■ik -H" ^> Jiff- \ ^ 6^ ' > ■ . " • I t t i I J ■ - .J ^ ■ ■ ■ ■ . r -1 <• • ' - \\ i> ¥ "tat^ »j \ « «. ■^^ J-**.Mf^ ' \ u }*!i^ljt^|^i^'>j£'«.1>:£iw» 256 LANCASTER SOUND. of the ball was +92°. The crew were at work till eleven, leveling our rugged floe, and heaping up snow against the sides of the brig. The position of our ves- sel, high perched in air, and dipping head foremost in a way most Arctic and uncomfortable, makes the pro- tection of siiow very desirable. We feel the cold against her walls. The crew had an hour of sledging, as well by way of exercis6 as of preparation for their expected trials. "A point supposed to he Cape Crawfurd bore, by compass, west. Our distance from the north shore is about five miles." e *. _■% \ M-r ■* ^ ■ V ^> ./^ ABCTIC HOOD. CHAPTER XXX. \ I EMPLOYED the dreary intervals of leisure that her- -aided our Christmas in tracing some Flemish portrait, ures of things about me. The scenes themselves had interest at the time for the parties who figured in them ; and I believe that is reason enough, according to the practice of modern academics, for submitting them to the public eye. I copy them from my scrap-book, ex- purgating only a little. .. ,;;. ^ "We have almost reached the solstice ; 'and things are so quiet that I may as well, before I foi^et it, tell you something about the cold in its sensible effects and the way in which as sensible peoi)le we met it. J^ou will see, by turning to the eaily part of my journal^ that the season we now look back upon as the perfection of summer contrast to this outrageous winter wa« in fa^t no summer at aJl. We haS the young ice forming round us in Baffin's Bay, and were measuring snow-falls, while you were sweating under yourgrass-cloth. Yet I remember it as a time of sun- jivTA.u.^^i:^ "V__" " 4"i"^i''"''LL^ as a r ime o l sun- -^Ti^eoreation, wten we s^t bears upon the floes, and -A^ 258 THE COLD. were scrambling irieriily over glaciers and murdering rotges in the bright glare of our day-midnight. Like a complaining brute, I thought it cold then — I, who am blistered if I itouch a brass button or a ramrod without a woolen mit. " The cold cam0 upon us gradually. The first thing that really strucki me was the freezing up of our wa- ter-casks, the drip^andle appearance of the bung-holes, and our inability to lay the tin cup down for a five- minutes' pause without having its contents made solid. Next came the complete inability to obtain drink with- out manufacturing it. For a long time we had col- lected our wateij frona the beautiful fresh pools of the icebergs and fld^s ; now we had to quarry, out the blocks in flinty] glassy lumps, and then melt it in tins for our daily dripk. This was in Wellington Channel. "By-and-by ihe sludge which we passed through as we traveled belcame pancakes and, snow-balls. We were glued up.j Yet, evej^^late,as the 11th of Sep- tember, I coUdcted a ^f^Kt^S Potentilla from Ba?- low's vlnlet. But now an^hing moist or wet bega|i to strike me a^ something to be looked at — a curiou^, out-of-the-wayl production, like' the bits of broken i<^e round a can »dif mirit-julep. Our decks became drjy^, and studded with botryoidal lumps of dirty foot-trod- den ice. The rigging had nightly accumulations of rime, and we learned to be careful about coiled ro|^es and iron work[ On the 4th of October we bad a mejau temperature below zero. , " By^this time our little entering hatchway had |be- come so complete a mass of icicles, that we had to gjive it up, and reabrt to our winter door- way. The opening of a door wa^ now the signal for a gush of smoke-Uke ▼apor : ever j[ stove-pipe sent out clouds of purple steam ; FilOZEN STORES. 259 of their cha„,?d Td t 1^ ThT driL-^rt' cameM solid brecoial mass of Imltd a„!?f ^,.'»- a eon^merate of sJieed ^halJonT Dried tf^ the same. To ffet thesfi nn+ «p^u / ^ peaches out of the™, wfa X Ip's'lrt"?'' ST' lard, less chanaed rea.,«o o , " ^'"*- -"utter and mallet. ThehfluT u'*"^ '°^^ ^^^^^^^ ^nd (iron-ore pfiXrC^^^^^^ ^^-^^t- cha„,e/a„d ilaL7lrn\t ^So be hT" "*"^ talfcutbyastiffiron Jle ^« ^^^ scooped, can hardiv chin it a \. *\ " • ^7 ^^ 30° the aM J^-^tor, a. flint . U^u Zt^;^^— iit. .;t ■■-' 260 ICES. 4 similar bulk of lamp oil, denuded of the staves, stood like a yellow sandstone roller for a gravel walk. " Ices for the dessert com"e of course unbidden, in all imaginatble and unimaginable variety. I have tried my inventive powers on some of tliem. A Roman punch, a good deal stronger than the noblest Roman ever tasted, forins readily at -20°. Some sugared cranberries, with a little blotter and scalding water, ahd you have an impromptu'strawberry ice. Many a time at those funny littliB jams, that we call in Phila- delphia • parties,' where the lady-ho§tess glides with such nicely-regulated indifferemce through the complei machinery she has brought together, I have thought I noticed her stolen glance of anxie1?y at the cooing doves, whose icy bosoms were melting into one upon the supper-table before their time. We order these things better in the Arctic. Such is the ' composition and fierce quality' of our ices, that they are brought in served on the shaft of a hickory broom ; a transfix- ing rod, which we usg as a stirrer first and a fork aft- ^^ erward. So hard is this terminating cylinder of ice, that it might serve as a truncheon to knock down an ox. The only difliculty is in the processes that fol- low. It is the work of time and energy to impress it with the carving-knife, and you must handle your spoon deftly, or it fastens to your tongue. One of our mess was tempted the other day by the crystal trans- parency df an icicle to break it in his mouth; one piece froze to his tongue, and two others to his lips, and each carried oflf the skin : the thermometer was . at -28°. ' "Thus much for our Arctic grab. I need not say that our preserved meats would make very fair can- iion-bal ls, ^ canister- shot jj A WALK. 261 -9*50 „^+ 1 ^'"siume. ihe thermometer is, sav venerable hoar-frost. The inurfa^he Ld Ze, li form pendulous beads of danghng ice. Put out 'i? tongue, and it instantly freezes l this icy crustks and a, rapid effort and some hand aid will be required « hberate rt. The Jess you talk, the better.'^ Mn. vT 'T^'^'r''''S «» your uppe^jaw by Z lutmg aid of your beard; even my eyes have often been so glued,as te show that even I wLk ma^be u„" afe. As you walk on, you find that the iron-worl of your gun begins to penetrate through two coats of woolen mittens, with a sensation like hot walS . wind Z% ^" »«PPosing your back to the wind and if you are a good Arcticized subject, a warm ^ow has already-been followed by a profus; sJZ. Aow tnrn about and face the wind ; what a devil of a change ! how the atmospheres are wafted off! how penetratingly the cold trickles down your neck- and leCiZ^'r- ^"-'"J-k-knVherfteCt hke Bpb Sawyer's apple, 'unpleasantly warm' in the ce andiot^ fiw: make your way back to the ship" iZTTf^T'^^* *'•"'" ""'«= »ff ^i* » freshening wind and at one time feared that I would hardly sef ' the brig again. Mrtrtnn a.K.w „„»^ ■^ - , •' *_ "■■K.nKttiu. iuorton, Who accompanied me, had ■:u«.. , .>^:,i.,..,j'j- •;. . • ',h . ,* 262 FRECZINO TO DEATH. l^is- cheeks frozen, and I felt that lethargic numbness mentioned in the story books. ''I will tell you what this feels like, for I have been twice 'caught out.' Sleepiness is not the sensation. Have you ever received the shocks of a magneto-elec- tric machine, and had the peculiar benumbing sensa- tion of * can't let go,' extending up to your elbow- joints ? Deprive this of its paroxysmal character ; sub- due" but diffuse it over every part of the system, and you have the so-called pleasurable feelings of indpient freezing. It seems even to extend to your brain. Its inertia is augmented ; every thing about you seems of a ponderous sort ; and the whole amount of pleasure is in gratifying the disposition to remain at rest,, and ipare yourself an encounter with these latent resist- ances. This is, I suppose, the pleasurable sleepiness of the Story books. "I coulifiU page after page with the ludicrous mis- eries of our ship-board life. We have two climates, hygrometrically as well as^thermometrically at oppo- site ends of the scale. A pocket-handkerchief, pocket- ed below in the region of stoves, comes up unchanged. Go below again, and it becomes moist, flaccid, and almost wet. Go pn deck again, and it resembles a shingle covered with linen. I could pick my teeth with it. "You are anxious to know how I manage to stand this remorseless temperature. It is a short story, and perhaps worth the telling. ' The Doctor' still retains three luxuries, remnants of better times — silk next his skin; a tooth-brush for his teeth, and white Unen for his nose. Every thing else is Arctic and hairy- fur, fur, fur. The silk is light and washable, needing neither the clean dirt of starch nor the unc omfortable N* e^OSTUME. 263 "T fTT/ 3k "^ seal-skm integuments .tcel^ifc •» "'o^hin. and the , 2. Legs. A pair of coarse woolen HrJ^io „ ^ p.ro..a..H„b.e«Utbe.j;L?^^^ at Disco «rmy4tur„kir"'"^^^ "^""^ ' ^ hooded shirt of i3n wir?h "^^.V^ «aohingasfarastl^TpTwdr*ftt'h ■' '"'"'* , 264 COSTUME. skin. Excellent is this Mormon fur ! Leaving the entire poll bare to the elements, it guards the ears and forehetul effectually: in any ordinary state of the wind above —15°, I am not troubled with the cold. Before I resorted to this, my cap was full of frozen water, stiff and uncomfortable, all the condensation turning to ice the moment I uncovered. When the weather is very cold, I up hood ; whea colder, say —40°, with a middling breeze — quite cold enough,"! assure you — I wear an elastic silk night-cap in addition, oner of a pair forced on me by a certain brother of mine as I was leaving New York, drawn over my head and face, and lined with a mask of wolf-skin. To prevent excessive condensation, I cut only two eye-holes, and leave a large aperture below the point of the nose for talking and breathing. A grim-looking object is this wolf-skin mask, its openings lined with water-proof oiled silk. "The only,changes in the above are a pair of cloth pants for fur, when the thermometer strays above — 15°, and a pair of heavy woolen wad-mail leggins, drawn over my fur pants, and worn, stocking fashion, within my boots, in windy weather, when we get down to —30° or thereabouts. A long waist-scarf, worn like the kummerbund of the Hindoos, is a fine protection while walking, to keep the cold from intru- ding at the pockets and waist : it consummates, as it floats martially on the breeze, the grotesque harmonies of my attire." \ ABCTIC MAHK. on OUKU>. ■AT,^D■0. n. CHAPTER XXXI. the naked table-l^nds of tin «„rth ^^"'"^ *°"» o»theother ride of C^ktrt Baf rr^*- . '^'"' '■»"» land, supposed to be cL W«^1 """ '^»"«»<1- From all rfwhioh it ;. i'^ bartender, is i„ ^iew. «y on wXii^n^X"' *" ''"'*'"^ "^■ .«rt^«d''7t€"wTb "^"L' '" *« '^'o *o «b«ut a mile rr T^i,^ i**^- ^* "«« «^Piored for the mth if^. ™' °'"^'*'- " •'»«* i-Jf a mile to 'lul^'weTh. «d'',^Th'rf'^ ^ P-"^ <■» "^riy- o»'huma„„;Se ^Ifw '''^'^ iAdiiference of saiK >» thus upon a lump"f dTTJ^,?*''™P*'°''«'^ " » ° raaewal of^e tronbfe. Tie ice ~ ,.^' A, l^isisLf. 266 CH-ANOES^. ( about us is apparently aa.strong and solid as the slow^ growth of Wellington Channel ; but we know it ^ ' - be recent, and less able to withstand pressure. Ev- ery thing now depends upon preserving our vessel and stores. A breaking ujp must take pla^e, and for us the later inthe spring th^l^etter. At the present rate (^ . , progress, we shall be in Baffin's Bay by the latter end %r:.. :. of January. There the dayfight will be with us again ; most providentially, for the icebergs are wretched en- / emies.in darkness. Thirty more days, and we may take a noonday walk ; forty-four, and the sun dbmes back. ,^ " Our men are har3 at work preparing for the Christ- mas theatre, the arrangements exclusively their own. But to-morrow is a day more welcome than Christmas —the solstitial day of greatest darkness, from which we may begin to date our returning li^ht. It makes a man feel Badly to see the faces around him bleach- ing into waxen paleness. Until to-day, as a looking.- glass does not enter into an Arjtic toilet, I thought I ' was the exception, and out of delicacy said nothing about it to my comrades. One of Them, introducing the topic just now, told m^ with an utter unconscious- ness'of his own ghostliness, that I- was the palest of the party. So it is, 'AH men think aU men,' &c. Why, the good fellow is as white as a cut potato !" ' In truth, we were all of us at this time undergoing changes unconsciously. The hazy obscurity of the nights we hq4 gone through made them darker than the corresponding nights of Parry. The complexions . ' of my comrades, and my own too, as I found soon after. ' \«rard, were toned down to a peculiar waxy paleness. Our eyes were more recessed, ^nd steangely clear. , - Complaints ofshortnessofbreath became general. Our \ < ''"E SOLSTICE. ier . - appetite was almost ludicroiwI„ „i. :' \ ^T'™'""^^-^* "^ <^"e^taS Most l„y ■ only one, ejtcept Cantain n. »• ' ""'««''. I was Vhe Fox, on the othirtad " ° ?''™"' """ ""' "^ W , ed to have changed the'iU^IteT"'- ' '^'""^ «»*■ ' food was at hesLl^^^UgH ' '""* "" '""""""-n^r. ■ wi^Zlt" ttCe'ssT^'''*:^""'"'''' ^-Wned -Men became moStel'lf " ^ "«■<"" ««■- m*-afe ■noming, dreams „/ he S "»'«'»''«ve., fo-the- -sing the term-were nar^ld/* ">"''' ™* help «.W shores of Ca^' W^^tir 7 ^^ "^^ ""e with water-melons Othe«S7' *"<■ ""™««1 Wen li" in a beautifu,^riS'''^''".^«''J''''"F™nk. -bees. Even Brooks^lr iti'J,'";^ "'''* """K'- boateV^n, told me „„„„ «]"':. """""W»tive Morfn«.g6«rors out „ "!,"'"• "^ *■»""? he^-i "w.saheaUtr„aXh-::^^ He-thought kgth of our little comianv^ ? , '" " *'"'''' '^e -^ired strenuous a^ZZ^^ff™''?'" "P^"' " ■«a exercise to keep th?" 'uTvv aT^: "f ^ ''"*' of scorbutio gums were ,^^1 ^- ^'«''* "ases One severe p„eui„Xlft'"»^r"I»» my Waok-Ust. its result. Them wi h "' "'."'*''•""''»''" a*"*" «f*e year ! ft colli wUhl'™ '"*' "^""'f!" "» ice, the opJn lead"?yZri * T"' "'°'''*™' » "^rcn'^'^^-tn^^'''"*"'^ -^-^.4.^^^^|^nJ-S~; /-" 268 CHRISTMAS. dnft. We could not read print, not even large news- paper type, at noonday. We have been wiable to leave the ship unarmed for some time on'Wccount of the bears. We reinember the story of poor Bar^ntz, one of our early predecessors. One of our crew, Blinn, a phlegmatic Dutchman, walked but to-day toward the * lead j a few hundred yards off, in search of a seal-hole. Suddenly a seal rose close by him in the sludge-ice: he raised his gun to fire ; and, at tjie same instant, a large bear jumped over the floe, arid by a dive followed the seal. Blinn's musket snapped. He was glad to get on board again, and will remember his volunteer hunt. Thermometer, minimum, -18°; maximum, -6°. A beautiful paraselene yesterday ! ! ''December 23, Monday. Perfect darkness! Drift unknown. Winds nearly at rest, with the exception of a little gasp from the westward. Thermometer never below - 12°, nor above -7°. "December 24, Tuesday. * Through utter darkness borne !' ''December 25. 'Y' Christmas of y* Arctic cruisers!' Our Christmas passed without a Itujk of the good things of tl^is li^. ' Goodies' we had galore ; but that best of earthly blessings, the communion of loved sympa- thies, these Arctic cruisers had not. It was curious to observe the depressing influences of each man's home thoughts, and absolutely saddening the effort of each man to impose upon his neighbor and l;^e very boon and jolly. We joked incessantly, but badly, and laughed incessantly, but badly too ; ate of good things, and drank up a moiety of our Heidsiek ; and then we sang negro songs, wanting only tune, measure, and harmony, but abounding in noise ; and after a closing bumper to Mr. GrrnneTI, adjouf ned witH creditable jollity from table to the theatr& ftom the caboose to the b^hT t'*" ^-''S"' *«»«'>«1 Ude the stage, and t^rn^"""; ^^^ """i^^tood to tees -prese'::w thr^,„r'-T°^'-r'' '^^'o- gave us -6° at first- hnf fvT 7' • thermometer changed this to th more eotfor^^ ^-" -4°. ^® comfortable temperature of "Never had I e^iraA +». x , ^ half so muoh*The the^Jl7 T''"'^ "^^e rae a wretohedsimnlation ZT v. ^""'^^ ^'^ *» little sympathy .^^ttte „lTto^ ■/"'' ^ «-« *- long. Not so our Arctic thea »^ * '''°»'"° *•» " folio from beginn^ t 'lid """ ""* '^'*'"«J cooH not read glibly enough ti^T^L^'' *''* 1'"™P*«' tking, whether jocose, "Shan't or "*'*• ^'^'^ or pathetic, was deUvered in I^* i\ "•""""'"Place, of despair; five words if 1, '"S''-*«««ly monolpne cording to the t^mesorVZ;,!^'' V^"^ with a pair of seal sti„ k 7 P'""'!'*"'^- Megrim, ft. gentle J^X'Z^^^^I "" «"'" "Pon "oeived it With maZott^^'^ij;:^ «-"'igh, -i«m,,i„ricS:^t^a^r*^h''r';:'':^'»»'- out roaring. Brace toot ti. r' ?f"- 'father ."with. James, and the^rtle^t^* ^'^'"»«'. Bon-on was Pl™ were takenCMetrsXr ?? T'^^'^^ ^e. "After this followedVbTt «^ ^^ •^°''"™n- •• oon.plioatod mZIiSso h^t^Ff f'T' *» "i then a sailor's hornpiw L th. ^ T^' ^*"- « ainous, Tolling, and brokef T, ' '"^'i"' ""»« »»"»*■ the ^V^ e7vr^h""r^ ?~» t"" -est, and rejoice at the coming sun E^^ '^ "^ "'"' ''•' ^ taken convince me that the helth „7 ""* *° '^ "'^■ resting upon a verv sound L "" "*''■ "e™' »ntinueiTnfl„encr"dti^t^:Sl^^^^^ luty to urge 1 1™ r'Stwl;™- '* T ". "■' "^ the dry heat of stoves and VhTT T?''* "'^'""'P'' of them uninterSXl^t Z? "'^,1'"' ^"^'"y' "^' feeble. The short mcL „fr^ T " *•"" *« Sf"* all our office™ e«ep^^^''"^etr'7 '""'""' "? friend Well, our stronC man V^*^ """ *° ^« "y ertioa The svmntZf f ' '^*'"^ "'*'' 'he ex- - growingX ttX™ » pC rr ;. """^ "SMnding a ladder • and »„ • j , ' "'"'"'' "P"" took, in spite of the obstrrW ha"e IT^? '"^"^"^ outline. It is not mn« rt . • i' ' •''«'"'K»«liable f% / 1. 272 THE DRIFT. " This cape is the great entering landmark of the northern shores of Lancaster Sound . Just one hundred days ago we passed it, urged by the wings of the storm ; our errand of mercy filling us with hope, and the gale calling for our best energies. We were then but a few hours from Baffin's Bay, and not over twenty-four from the coast of Greenl/ind. How differently are we jour- neying now ! "The Bay of Baffin, with its moving ice and oppos- ing icebergs, bathed in foggy darkness and destitutie of human fellowship or habitable asylum, is before us; and we, so utterly helpless, hampered, and non- resistant, must await the inevitable action' of the ice. This nearness to Cape Warrender makes us feel that our silent marches have brought us near to an- other conflict. ^ "December 29, Sunday. The drift shows an indent of the cape now abaft our beam. We are slowly mak- ing easting. The day is one of the same obscure and dimmed fog which for the past week has wrapped us in darkness. The ice gives no change as yet: the same great field of moving whiteness. "December 30, Monday. By a comparison of our sev- eral days' positions, I find that from the 18th to the 28th we have drifted fifty-two miles and a half, some- thing over five miles a day. The winds during this period have been from the westward, constant though gentle ; and our progress has been of the same steady but gentle sort. At this rate, we will in a few days more be within the Baffin's Bay incognita. "Looking round upon my mess-mates with that sort of 'scrutiny that belongs to my craft and my posi- tion, I am startled at the traces, moral and physical, j o f o u r Arctic winter l i fe. Tho s e . who eo n jt over the- \ .< REXURNING LIGHT. 273 If I were asked to „r« in? "/ *" * ^"''^ "g"- ha. been mo.t tSt worht "".l! ^V**-" *'"''* »al cold, nor the nni™ !j,l ° "■'""■■ ^^ P'^Pet .xclusion from thTX^ ^M 707^"^'"'''^'° ■ but this constant and opprelw „, ° i' ?**' '"™' darkness. "Ppressuig gloom, this unvaried bl^'of hTt :lZ .*"""' *^- =""*• ™ that the iwaikiitarittrza*''"""/'''''- to alevel meandering la„e^rlwh"'™'i"T Cunninghame MonnWns of cT^ C^ll" w *■" not make out our change of m^iLTS r',*""* ""'" tne thermometer fell n.t ai»i.t ii.- -210 n„ . . ' ^'ffo* *I"s mominff to 21 • By noonday it gave us -26° and -27o n »now-,a. The Wind is gentle a.rld,"ut.no: soZtTbfiJf^ltJi.'^*''' '""'"^ "^y "^ "^0 ' *y of deep ulEire. b^it^'HSn """ " br^ceo^da^ight i^,; ^.J^^^-^^the emem- andpasses^yp^ma^'X'' ™" '^'" *'"' «'»*'' -outiineStKr:;^:!^-':-": lungs tingle plsasantly as you draw it il ^^ ~ ^,;. \. RETURNING LIGHT. 11. Can read ordinary over-sized print. Started on a walk, the first tiine for twenty-odd days. Saw the great lead, and traveled it for a couple of miles, expanding into a plain of recent ice. " M. Passed noon on the ice. Can read diamond type. Stars of the first magnitude only visible. Sat- urn magnificent ! "1 P.M. With difficulty read large type. The cloids gathering in blacl^ stratus over the red light to the South. " 2. The heavens studded with stars in their group- ings. Night is again over every thing, although the minor stars are not yet seen. " Since the first of this month, we have drifted in solitude one hundred and seventy miles, skirting the fiorthern shores of Lancaster Sound. Baffin's Bay is ahead of us, its current setting strong toward the south What will be the result when the mighty masses of these two Arctic seas come together !" < (^^ ■iVrJ CHAPTER XXXII. » ' .M«a.yt£ of W irr' " "'■'■''. "'■™' "• merriment : we w^reteSlnu T. "" -""y ™ °" watch for the mo™r„g '^ ""• '"^''*' "^ ""^o *'»' in? day. ThL fnr^^ ^ ^'7!"' '^"™'«'« of ajvanc- , '=Th£'il tL ^ ^ *'* "B** in the zehitF™ " *°* **•« '"°*«''J horizon, with its evenly-iS: J-^ is .' „, 276 EIGHTH OF JANUARY. tributed bands of primitive colors, blending softly into the clear blue overhead ; and then, by an almost magic transition, night occupying the western sky. Stars of the first magnitude, and a wandering planet here and there, shone dimly near the debatable line ; but a little further on were all the stars in their glory. The northern firmament had the familiar beauty of a pure winter night at home, ^e Pleiades glittered " like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver-braid," , and the great st^ that hang ahdat the heads of Orion , and Taurus were as intensely bright as if day was not looking out upon them from the other quarter of the sky. I had never seen night and day dividing the hemisphere so beautifully between them. On the 8th we had, of course, our national festivi- ties, and remembered freshly the hero who consecrated the day in our annals. The evening brought the the- atricals again, with extempore interludes, and a hearty splicing of the main-brace. It was something new, ^^ and not thoroughly gladsome, this commemoration of the victory at New Orleans under a Polar sky. There were men not two hundred miles from us, now our partners in a nobler contest, who had bled in this very battle. But we made the best of the occasion ; and il* others some degrees further to the south celebrated it more warmly, we had the thermometer on oiir side, with its —20°, a normal temperature for the " lauda- tur et alget." But the sun was now gradually coming up toward the horizon : every day at meridian, and for an hour before and after, we were able to trace our progress eastward by some known headland. We had passed Cape Castlereagh and Cape "Warrender in succession, and were close en^he aflEeridiaarO^a p e Q s bo ra. The —^ a.* OUBJ FLOE. / 277 after the new moon we had lonV? Yu ^^^ ^^^^ to the closing VeCnt^i^^^^^^^ gone by without any unusual mo vLn^ and 'th needed only an equally kind visitatioTof tCLt;^ moon to give us our final struggle with th« rT7 Bay ice by daylight. ^^ ^® ^*®» « Yet I had remarked that the southern shnr. «<• t caster Sound extended much fSerTuf .?», ^^■ ward than the northern dif and I y,«^ I T' we might begin to feel thf c^^^nt'of^^^^^^^^ i^zj^To :ttat;™ ^*^" ^^^^^ X a liue arawn irom one cape to th« of h«r ne^,^.t.„„ received its «.,„«„„ ^ J„, „*-*- n^^Za:;"""""^ "" I"^"'™ - *« - »n the growth. The eye can not embrace its extent F«n fom the mast-head you loolt over an ,?^r i 7 " __nd west, there .s no such interception to onr wintery. in^e d«r.«oi --™"o tw sne was tossed at our c 278 COMMOTION OF THE ICE. snow, and her stern perched high above the rubbish. Walking deck is an up and down hill work^ She re- tains, too, her list to starboard. Her bare sides have been banked over again with snow to increase the warmth, and a formidable flight of nine ice-block steps admits us to the door- way of her winter cover. The stores, hastily thrown out from the vessel when we expected her to go to pieces, are still upon thd little remnant of old floe on our port or northern side. The Rescue is some hundred yards ofl*to the south of east." The next day things underwent a* change. The morning was a misty one, giving us just light enough to make out objects that were near the ship ; the wind westerly, as it had been for some time, freshening per- haps to a breeze. The day went on quietly till noon, when a sudden shock brought us all up to the deck. Runnings out upon the ice, we found that a crack l^ad opeiled between us and the Rescue, and was extending in a zigzag course from the northward and eastward to the southward and westward. At one o'clock it had become a chasm eight feet in width ; and as it contin- ued to widen, we observed a distinct undulation of the water about its edges. At three, it had expanded into a brdad^sheet of water, filmed over by young ice, thr(!»ugh/ which the portions of the floe that bore our two vessels began to move obliquely toward each other. Night closed round us, with the chasm reduced to forty yards and still narrowing; tfift. Rescue on her port- bow, two himdred yards from her late position ; the wind increasing, and the thermometer at -19°; My journal for the next day was wii|ten at broken interval^, but I give it without change of form: "January 13, 4 A.M. All hands have been on deck since one o'clock, strapped and harnessed for a fare- .,-J-i.^v.*. U.Ktel?fc V, 'ION Qa.COMMOIl'oN OP THE ICE. 279 well march The water-lene of yesterday is covered by four..*ch .ce; the floe, at its margiTmore thrfn hree feet thick. These have been clSing for some d «Ttiv the I 7 "°" ""f ^O" '=»"'i"g together more mZ n^ thei? "' '^^f'-'t'ering between them, and ■ "°"""8 ™" "f '^ »»«'ne with hummock riLes They have been fairly i„ con|act for thf&t ho." we feel their pressiye extending*to us through the ls«o floe ,„ which we are cradled. There is a quivering ' vibratonr hum about the timber of the brig Td ev e^ now and then a harsh rubbing cre^ along h« ^ sides, like waxed cork on a mahogany table Th! hummocks are driven to within fouf feJt of our Jun . te'-ond^tand there looming fourteen feet U^Z^Z, «7a ^1 A T^- 1^™"^' "^""'^ "»t«. made up n ss aftefft ttr '; """ ""* '^"'^ *he deep still' ness alter it, the mysterious ice-pulse, as if the ener gies were gathering for another strife " 6i AtM Another pulse ! "the vibration greater than ' we have ever yet had it. If „„r Utile brig h J^n t mated centre of sensation, and sotae rule force h^" ton, a nerve-trank, she, could not feel it mZlTe ^if f^t^""- ^°°''^« »"' *» 'he north this c^v ^r '°,''««™ up slowly against the sky in b Jfc hJb; ajjd ..we watch them rolUng tow^^d „, t; Ms sink again, and a distorted plain of rubbTshmelto Wore us Mto the night. Ours is the contZt oftf tet helplessness with ilUmitable power .>^j-^ f ^,J ; V "'# f 280 ICE COMMOTION. it- disappeared, and along the line of its recent course the j. w ice is heaped up in blocks, tables, llimps, powder^ajofA^^ ^ rubbish, often fifteen feet high. Snow coveD*^^^^--' decks of the little vessel, \and the disorderaf spoke sadly of desertion. Foot-prints .of#w seen in every ftnaginable corner; aim SH^iiie litt|e hatchway, where we had often cffit inTcomfortalile good-fellowship, the tracks of a large bear |iad broken the snow crust in his efforts to get below. "^ " The Rescue has met the pressure upon her port- bow and fore-foot. Her bowsprit, already maimed by her adventure off Griffith's Island, is now comj^etely,-- forced tip, broken short off at the gammoning. The ice, a^r nipping her severely, has piled up round hei* thr^gfleet above the bulwarks. We had looked to her as Our first asylum of retreat; but that is out of4;he " quejstioh now ; she can not rise as we have done, and any action that would peril us again tS^ bear her dpwn or crush her laterally. " J*he jce immediately about the Advance is broken into smaU, angular pieces, a^ if it had been dashed against a qra^ of granite, piir camp out on the floe, with its reserve of provisions and a hundred things be- sides,^lnemorials of sce^iim|^^a»e gone throuGrh, orJiD. pliailies and means fo|a^^|B§Hpead djpVfhas been carried away bodily. ^^^K^rrspecimen of the Arc tic bear is floatin'g, with an escort of bread barrels, nearly half a mile off. "The thermometer records cmly -.17° ; but it blows at times so very fiercely that I have never felt it so cold : five men were frost-bitten in the attempt to save fiottr stores. , , " 9 P.M. We have had no renewal of the pressure since hal f past six this morning. We are turning in; ma.*!-. 'i| ' \ <^f- / ICE COMMOTION. 281 f -- maeh feebler tZ yrterdav ■ tV^'P' "l"* *-'"'y *««' the icetroke up aU »„„d Z; tT. ' " """"* *" ''»" hummocks built ud lit„ ,JJ» bo*^ and stem from ^n «ve feet a'd:';i;r:::frvtrE™:"r*' ' This, I may say, was a fearful position • h»i ih thermometer, at a mean of -230^7" '.^o ^' brought back the solid character nf \ t ' ^"^ In less than two days evertlTnf t' f'^*"'^ "^•' firmly fixed a^ ever R.tff^ ^ f *^"* "' ^«^ «« 'icew^aschaLnndi^n ^^"^:*"^"^^P^y«^*k« ^ the,violenceTth?lre,"JT,?^^^^ ^**««*«» Nothing can be conn! tT ^*^ *^^" ^^P«««d to. inhospiL^ditrrFrraSS^^^ el«d wearilT over « limJ i • ^'*''**y«*f»if- ■^■^ ■ w, ; : ig p*:: ;"' ,^^^«^, h dark , j,^ ^ Wd telieved only hereand there by S 111 . - , "^ , -y^'i'i'*** '- tt* titn^^^l* ,* 4iHj ^ *-f- i ■% 282 ICE COMMOTION. of upheaved rubbish. Still further in the distance came an unvarying uniformity of shade, cutting with saw-toothed edge against a desolate sky. Yet there needed no after-survey of the ice-field to prove to us what majestic forces had been at work upon it. At one time on the 13th, the hummock- ridge astern advanced with a stfeady march upon the vessel Twice it rested, and advanced again — a dense wall of ice, thirty feet broad at the base and twelve feet high, tumbling huge fragments from its crest, yet increasing in mass at each new effort. We had ceased to hope ; when a merciful interposition arrested it, so close against our counter that there was scarcely room Ibr a man to pasa between. Half a minute of progress more, and it would have buried us all. As we drifted along five months afterward, this stupendous memento of controlling power was still hanging over our stern. The sketch at the head of the next chapter represents its appearance at the close of the month. ■BODBD ICI-FLOB. *;*«; tas ADVjlHCK, FEDBUABY, 1601. CHAPTER XXXm. We had lost all indications of a shore, and had ob- viously passed within the influences of Baffin's Bay We were on the meridian of 75°; yet, though the re^ cent commotions could be referred to nothing else but the conflict of the two currents, we had made very httle southing, if any, and had seen no bergs. But on the 14th the wind edged round a little more to the northward, and at six o'clock in the morning of the 15th we could hear a squeezing noise among the ice- holds m that direction. By this time we had become learned mterpreters of the ice- voices. Of course, we renewed our preparations for whatever might be com- ing. Every man arranged his knapsack and blanket- bag over again with the practiced discretion of an ex- pert. Our extra clothing sledge, carefully repacked, was ma4e free on deck. The India-rubber boat, only J l SftfH l int hiagolidw^stefercrossingoccasionatchWm^ was launched out upon the ice for the third time. Our .. %i • I 284 APPROACHING BAFFIN S BAY. % former depots on the floe had fared so hadly that we were reluctant to risk another; but our stores were ready to be got out at the moment.* Now began, with every one after his own fashion, the discussion what was best to be done in case of a wreck. Should we try our fortunes for the while on board the Rescue ? She would probabl]i^iO|; the first to go, and could hardly hope for a more proHacted fate than her cons9rt. Or should we try l(5r tllff shore, and what shore ? Admiralty Inlet, or Pond's Bay, or the River Clyde ? We have no reason to suppose the Es- quimaux are accessible on the coast in winter; and if they are, they can nol have provisions for such a hungry re-enforcement as ours ; besides, the chance of reaching land from the drift-field through the broken ice between them is slender at the best for men worn. down and sick ; much more if they should attempt to carry two months' stores along with them. There was only one other resort, to camp out on the floe, if it should kindly offier us a foothold, and then move as best we might from one failing homestead to another, like a band of Arabs in the desert. Happily, Captain De Haven was spared the necessity of choosing be- tween the alternatives : the ice-storm did not reach us. *^ January 15. The moon is now nearly full. Her light mingles so with the twilight of the sun that the stars are quite sobered down. Walking out at 4 P.M., * I have avoided speaking of my'brothcsr officers. From myself, a subordin- ate, only accidentally recording their exertions, it woul^ be out of place ; yet I should speak the sentiment of all on board were I to recognize how much we owed to our executive officer, Mr. Griffin. All our systematized preparation for the contingencies which threatened us, the sledges, the knapsacks, the daily training, and the provision dep6t8, were due to him. Our commander, thon so ill with scurvy that we feared for his recovery, was compelled to delegate to :rhis second la ciUBsaaBdiaeray exeeutive dutiefl which he would < taken on himself. Vt,^ 4K'J THE DRIFT. 283 With the thermometer at -24°, to find, if I could the cause of a s„u«i » g„„a j,,, ,i^^ ' ^f ^^'^^^^ w^ startled by a noise like a ,„a„y blast, eXte aud momentary, followed by a clatter like brken 8^7 Some l»n manutes afterward, it was repeats an^a dark smokeJie vapor rose up i„ the mLnfoht ?r2- th^same quarter. These thing, keep us on the ;S n:ft^?e,::„^rrnr.tt^rr^-'»- » wonderful instance of ,he7eTdin"elir^ rfT: ■rth:t-,-rstart':i\-^^^^^^^^^ one hundred and thirty paces in its longer dfrmXr ^d e,ghty.five in its shorter, and its thick'ls W famed this mormng was over five feet. I foundl^ crossmg .t i».day that the surface presented a ZorS curve, » segment whose versed sL could not ha™ been less than eight feet, abutted on each side by a bamcade of rubbish. It strikes me that the dehis oence lady's slipper or Hupert's drop fashion, of suS ten ely.c«mpressed floes, must be the cause of the o^d explosions we have heard lately. At -30= or -40o ™. Tf 1"^ """* ""'' ''"'*'« •« Sio^ iteelf; besides one^f those yesterday was followed by a rin^g itv'wTlT'^'^ ''''«»'"«'« 'Hllness, and the fa6il. ity with which sound travels over these Polar ice i^uTu T " "^ '•'"" '" »"' -timate "f r ^sTa^h rfa ;• 1 T.* ""* •"■•^"^ ^* D'^'eeland "^oh of a violent disru ption of t he ice, which .i,, **«* dectared they¥ad heard at aeteoTSde rf^ li.iLJk'^n f-va-i^J V '■ va^?j V ■ f^l 286 THE DRIFT. the brig. We had some difficulty in finding it : it was the closing of a fissure considerably more than half a mile off. " As we were returning we noticed some additional result^ of the ice action of the 13th. Among theiri was" a table of ice, four feet thick, eighteen long, and fifteen broad, so curved without destroying its integ- rity as to form a well-arched bridge across a water chasm. It had evidently reared up high in air, and then, toppling over, bent into its present form — a mark- _i,!1.-i.= J, ed instance of the segii-solid or viscous character which forms the basis of Professor Forbes's glacial theory. It is not, however,^ the firet "extreme change of form that I have npticed in apparently matured ice at a low temperature : its plasticity at + 32° must be much greater. ' ' ' " Observations by meridian altitudes of Saturn and Aldebaran give us to-day a latitude of 73° 47' north. Yesterday we were at 73° 5\ This progress to the south is shown also by the bearing of the Walter Bathurst coast in the neighborhood of Possession Bay. AVe are fully inside of Baffin's Bay, and with the wind at northwest. There are some signs of ice trouble ahead ; a crack has been gradually opening toward j(i!4r»..vA. I.'. . ^^^^OfiS THE DRIFT. 287 our quarter, and has got within eight hundred y<„ds quiescent; but t^Z^Z ZZ^T'^f' the transmitted ptBssnre ^"'™f " * . •'""P*^ "'"'«'■ a heavy sHow.drffilndwifhV^''"' *' "'''^' '"' another cractshlwedfts^f^'' **"'P*""»~ «f -30°, The shocks wtrrtachedJrdurC r ""*•"■''«'• tions are noted iA the 107^1, T * **"' ™'""'»- the vessel ailV the f X^tr TT*^^ ^'''^' that which has been Sl^edXingl'Ctirf o„ehrs^^ri;srs"!pt!i^?^r^ axil T; d°im°''ThfV" """T"'"' «" '"•-8« » «« axis 01 arm. Ine changes of the wind nnrifi,^ «n|. of Baffin's Bay havf impressed Ih ^^C whjcl. surrounds us with a mari^ed p4ress TZ " Throughout last night, and until nine o'cloolt thi, mormng a column of illumination depend^f^m th! be teen rea^hmg nearly to the horizon; wMe Zit \. 288* EFFECTS OF NIGHT. "Our snow-water has been infected for the past month by a very perceptible flavor and odor of musk, to such a degree sometimes that we could hardly drink it. After niapy attempts to find out its cause, and at least as many philosophical disquisitions to account for it without one, I accidentally saw to-day a group of foxes on the floes about our brig, who resolved our doubts by an illustration altogether simple and natural. ^* January 22.^ On reaching the deck at half past eight this morning, after my usual sleepless night in the murky den below, I found the horizon free from cloud stratus, and the feeble foresliadowings of day bathing the snow with a neutral tint. By nine we could see to walk ; and as late as "five in the afterrioon, the refraotpd twilights hung about the western sky. How delicious is this sensation of coming day! In less than a fortnight the grdat planet will be lifted by the bountiful refraction of the Arctic circle into clear eye presence. '< I long for day. The anomaloul host of evils which hang about this vegetation in darkness ard showing themselves in all their forms. My scurvy patients, those I mean on the sick-list, with all the, care that it is possible to give them, are perhaps no worse ; but pains in the joints, rheumatisms, coughs, loss of appe- tite, and general debility, extend over 4;he whole com- pany. FiiietBn pounds of food per diem are consumed reluctantly now, where thirty-two were taken with appetite on the 20th of October. We are a ghastly set of pale faces, and none paler than myself. I find it a labor to carry my carbine. My fingers cling to- gether in an-ill-adjustedp/«2:t<«, likQ the toes in a tight boot, and my long beard is becoming as rough aiid rugged as Humphrey of Gloster's ia the pliy. ■^~- ICE-MASSES. 289 but tr.y rtietzrit!^:re.if \^--- Batoning from a ohi aftTr I^^^^" ^*"*«'- came across, yesterday, a s«spe„de7huZockt' im' feet si. inehes, itsSh fi%^„f iTlff t^ age soUd thickness eight feet At it''! t"" was seven feet above thele™l ;>f,h ^- "" *"! " ite upper, twentyZe* Th wetht'^r™.* "" "' alWingnsibs'totheouJofoTCtlw^riSSa'r' thehununocks on the coast of Siberia We We he£ perhaps, some five hundred fathoms of water T«!t' Tnst^^L'.lTry'mtht"'''!^'^"' "^*^» ^""'^ tic withfll ia +».^ *«ar mem. bo stable and so elai- <» trifling bf^e If^f J '^'^ ^*^ °*^ inmg oreeze, if it deviates a very few points ■M^sir 290 EFFECTS OF NIGHT. from the axis of the last set, puts every thing into com- motion. '' January 23. The gale of last night subsided into the usual quiet but fresh westerly breeze, sometimes inclining to the W.N.W. To-day is very clear ; the stars, except one or two of the northern magnates, in- visible at noonday; and two or three well-marked crimson lines streaking the dawning zone above the sun. The hills around Walter Bathurst and Posses- sion Bay, the entering southern headlands of Lancas- ter Sound, have sunk in the distance. Two summits, bearing southwest by west, probably belonging to Pes- session Mount, are all that remains of the coast. We are ^ore than fifty miles from land, and still drifting rapiidly to the east. To the southwest, by compass (true i9.E. i E.), little volumes of smoke have been ris- ing; but after a tolerably long walk, I could not find any further signs of the open water. We are now in latitude 73° lo^ "The daylight is very sensibly longer: the noon was quite joyous with its little crimson flocculi ; and five, or even five and a half hours afterward, when we looked toward the day quarter, instead of a grim black- ness, or, as we hsid it more recently, a stain of Indian- red, we saw the pale bluish light, so gratefully famil- iar at home." The appearances which heralded the sun's return had a degree of interest for us which it is not easy to express in words. I have referred more than once al- ready to the effects of the long-continued night on the health of our crowded ship's- company. It was even more painful to notice its influence on their temper and spirits. Among the officers this :?vas less observable. Quy me a s seemed determined, come wrhat mightrte- »r-sa\'. ^^y'i'"'S'''.' EFFECTS OF NIGHT. 291 maintain toward each othor ih^^ i. manner, which thee who hi' 1^""^ „"»»'*-^ "' togethe» know to be iU «, T T ° '""^ voyages of'n,ut„-.I reapt^ tit T ! '''*™'' P^^ when each had his ho„,« tk-, T! ?'"'* '«"*»'« hap, the growWprobll S. ; ""'' "'™'™'' P^'" aearch pa^y mightCS'va n hetZ fotT ^'""" :™lr 7Z' r *'''^'' -™ ~opL:o7r: With thfrnen^owZ t wLdif "^rr'^"- fident in the re^TcmZ mZTJ 7^*' ^""^ •""■ by conventional u^^orl^^'Tt '7 "^'™"<^ communicating to e^" le;SThtlu ^ *■"■"" ris:fh:cStTtrfrr^^^^^^^^^^ fraction ; in a word, aJl that could stimulate ^r^i I rrSet:r-----^^^»-Tr^s .»I''foT:';Sa"^b:u:fTT'? '"^ •"'*-""' above the ic^leU ■* l7 1'" """''"S "P ^■«' -lo™ nf rlj J ! '"f ■°«'<>- It was there sure enough, a disk teinZ^b'"^"^," ""'" » ''^ """i^e and Si I w« at fiT T'"™S"el't at; dis. Uf ! *.^*' a* firat as much puzzled as the men • 2 1 "^ "* *'"°"' I «"" ^aw that it was notW„; ttuVRf ^-r *''""'• ''"She Siir^mf r.^ ^ K •• "5'«*'»° ha-l ™^<1 him above th; hiih .«W^JI»«olorw« rather more lurid than wheiT- 292 APPROACH OF DAY. he left u^ and the refraction, helsides distorting his out- line, seemed to have given him the same oblateness or horizontal expansion which wd' observe in the disks of the larger planets when nearipg the horizon. For some days the 8un-cloiJ4s at the south had been changing their character. Tiepijr edges became better defined, their extremities dqjimtedi their color deeper as well as warmer; and frtftnHne spaces between the ^ lities of stratus burst out a blaze of glory, typical of the longed-for sun. He came at last : it was on the 29th. My journal must tell the story of his welcoming, at the hazard of its seeming extravagance : I am content that they shall mticise it who have drifted fdr more than twelve weeite under the night of a Polar sky. "/anwary 29. troifl^ on deck after breakfasiat eight this morning, I found the dawning far advanced. The whole vault was bedewed with the coming day ; and, except Capella, the stars were ^one. The southern horizon was clear. We were cenrtain to see the sun, after an absence of eighty-six days. It had been ar- ranged on board that all hands should give him three cheers for a greeting ; but I was in no mood to join the sallow- visaged party. I took my gun, and walked^ over the ice about a mile away from the ship to a sol- itary spot, where a great big hummock almost hem- med me in, opening only to the south. There, Par- see fashion, I drank in the rosy light, and watched the horns of the crescent extending themselves round to- ward the north. There was hardly a breath of wind, with the thermometer at only -19°, and it was easy, therefore, to keep warm by walking gently up and down. I thought over and named aloud every one of our little circle, F. and M., T. and P., B. and J., and our dear, bright little "W. ; wondered a while whether •,./v^. I >SaJ I SUNRISE, NOON, AND SUNSET. 293 torpid, not worth the writtog dowf \* tT*"'' """' ;^^athe,a«.„tea.o.«^'^r;:;?^r side of this m^kedjloi, T *"^'"' ""'' »" "•"> other . little ::, Pr"entrtr "'""'' '""' "" *■"• till the grave-sod or fhTi ™" ''™«- »«W. thankfully with a great^Iotu "a Jy'tltl TK '" "Cwd'stLr:ta;^f:-^ c :* :ir r„tt "T^ "^-i"e wi^^^^^^^ out of Tom Thev !h if;" ""l"^ ^"'' ^"'^^^ the T "1 xuin. 1 ney shall draw Iot«s fnr if ,v « t ««#-.ffiei^^,i^S.^ weight *a._ «Bfflm»„** .^^ '™ 'B^ twilight wa»^ ,^^ffio.ent to guid-e a walking party Ter ThT *rfi »j the sun's rays on the southern, — 14Q. The observation repeQ.ted at J2h. 30m., gave -20° for the •^prtheiijri.^^ —15° for the southern side; liie differ- ence in ippylt-case being five degrees. The same ther- lomet^^ iiwefiiUy exposed about a hundred yards ^rom the sihip, ^1^ at noon, on the north and wind- Ijward side, -21°; on the south, exposed teethe sun, - 18° ; and at thirty minutes afterward (nearly), on the north, -20° 5' ; toward the sun, - 16°. The difference in these last observations Of 3° in the first and 4° 5' in the second was owing unmisj^kably to the effect of the solar rays. The ship's record, for the^same hours was pimply —19° and -18°. The fact is, that there is al- " "Vvays a varying difference of two to five degrees of tem- perature between the lee and weather sides of the brig; the quarter of the wind and its intensity, the state of our fires, the open or shut hatches, and other minor circumstances, determining what the difference shall be at a particular time. "^ "January 30. The crew determined to celebrate *E1 regresado del sol,' which, according to old Costa, our Mahoii^se seaman, was a more holy day than Christ- mas or A^U-Saints. Mr. Bruce, the diversely talented, favored tis with ft new line of theatrical exhibition, a itke r lis semmi of dp mes^fr«>mpo8itioBy * ThfrCot fl i.SiS'^-'^ r'" , A » ,rf •■■■ 1 Si4,,Sti)AW<£.W THE PLaV. 295 A Song Countryman Landlady . . Servant THE OOUNTRTHAIV, •By R. Bruce. R- Baggs. C. Berry. ...T. Dunning. Harlequin Old Man Rejected Lover , Columbine. PANTaniHE. ...James Johnson. ' R. Bruce. A. Canot. James Smith. Doors to be opened at 8 o'clock rwIiTi '■ ^ — — \,: ' . Staob Makaokb, "T" ■ • '■ S.B ENJAMIN. The strictest order -ilHe^^ii^^Wb^^ whlh Te!:ZZ oHiT *^P^«--d-at boxes, the ice Tho "^ "l^^'^-^^-nd^ed) for flinging out uoon of the pantomime afteWh f * " *» """'"e An «W man^Sr' B™™t '°»»« «f «•« newspaper. :°^^ a .a;a.i ^za^:iS'°-^ggl .4 ■•rafVAi • i « '' ^- iiiSi.* 296 THE PLAY. lover (M. Auguste Canot, ship's cook), and Columbine (Mr. Smith) exercised the same over the old man. Harlequin (Mr. Johnson), however, by the aid of a split-shingle wand and the charms of his *' motley wear," secures the affections of Columbine, cajoles the old man, persecutes the forlorn lover, and carries off the prize of love ; the fair Columbine, whp had been industriously chewing tobacco, and twirling on the heel of her, boot to keep herself warm, giving him a sentimental kiss as she left the stage. A still more sentimental song, sung in seal-skin breeks and a "nor- wester,'" and a potation all round of hot-spiced mm toddy, concluded the entertainments. The thermometer stood at —7°. THE UBCUI, IN LAKCMTIB lOUMB. ff > ¥^- *' "~.''7.7:'V.^V '"■<».,' li [1,1 .1 mil jmufwy CHAPTER XXXIV. >. but filled with minute spicute ^7)7" ""^ "''""• "ig more intense: our Znth ''' '''^ ''«'""»■ -32",my.pirit.tanaJdtr34o':X- ^'-"O »« at -380. The ice that had forme'd h j '' T""""' ' since our break-np of Jan.ZJ ,^u ''^°°" *''« Ao^s ty-seven inches thil 37Jf l" ^'«. '^'^'"ly 'wen- of five inches in the IwlT f '"basing at the rate crackled under "he intelett" ^"™• ™e floes explosions around us wUclt l'^ *" ''™"' '<""' kad seen land service iTitti"™ °" T"™' *'>'' to the sound of a musC firedl!' '^"^ ^'^ "P^X The 6th was stm Ser 4f *" '"'P'y *"*"• ■»y spirit standard w^ at -400 TiVn "r™""^ W been graced with some hours ot^Lu-' T™'' «rked and played foot-baU "u" 1 tt '^^f *" were many of us in . „,„f ™ '"« *'" we ■"orning my mTrclal ^b '^'^P'™"™- The next on. of the spirit sta„da«ls indicated th.""^' '"«'^' PP to this peHod, it was ourtwetJt^ZT^'- Thefrozenmercurrresemhl.Ji temperature. <«»tlychUled after „J^m"v'" «PPe«ance lead, re. "« edge, easily e„rJhi^*K ^"^ ~"" <""* ""e thin, "was heap^7p7^^ *'f T"^""■''= ■»" '^'"ere it was teniI„/;„T^ 3^ ""^o "'l *f «"M »«»«, J ac tur e dsurfaw ^ - °°*' ''' *" Proout , n so ^'l' ./. 1 1 '1 » \ T 298 METEORS. REFRACTION. Between six and eight o'clock in the evening of the 2d, we had a magnificent though nearly colorless ex- hibition of the aurora ; and on the 7th, at lOh. 20m. A.M., the southern sky presented the appearance of a day aurora attending on the sun. The observations which I made of these two phenomena may be the subject of a distinct chapter ; T will only say here, that it was difficult to doubt their identity of character or cause. We had several displays of the paraselene, too, in the earlier days of the month, and an almost con- stant deposition of crystalline specks, which covered our decks with a sort of hoar-frost. The rate of this deposition on the vesselwas about a quarter of an inch in six hours ; but in an ice-basin on the floes, surround- ed by hummocks, and thus protected fepm the wind, I found it nine inches deep. When accumulated in this manner, it might, on a hurried inspection, be confounded with snow ; but it differs as the dew does from rain. It is directly con- nected with radiation, and is most copious under a clear sky. Snow itself, the flaky snow of a clouded atmosphere, has not been noticed by us when the tem- perature was lower than —8° or at most —10°. Our last snow-fall was on the 1st of February and the day preceding. It began with the thermometer at -1°, and continued after it had sunk to — 9°; but it had ceased some time before it reached —13°. "February 9. To-day we had a sky of serene purity, and all hands went out for a sanitary game of romps in the cold light. Presently three suns came to greet us — strange Arctic parhelia — and a great golden cross of yellow brightness uniting them in one system. Un- der the glare of these we played foot-ball. "At meridian we made a rough horizon of the ice, Av ^'U'i^ ■»*' ■fyn^f-^ aEFKACTlON. 299 aud found ourselves in latitude about 72° Ifi- a,,v.- tae another marvel rose before u^iL TK ""' ster was to tile W S W ir. X V^^ ' "« ™<"i. topped hills, lifted up fo The « ^^"^ *^" "»'"'■ view. An hour or t^olLlrKTl'"" »•"•"«" of , mg, these hiiis cz::^^:^^^: ^ "■" ™»- tamoated cones, the spTcZ of .l. then aline of Inking a few r;un»tes'C outTtlJ^Se^d""'' our felt house the nni4 « ""^® door m where for this hit foCiX^r/ ""' '^■'^^- ^ has been »tretohi„gTthe f^r tlih "^'""^ "^ »<"' of icebergs standing aJoL in tb r '** " """P'o shadowytops their pl;tom«*y: »« two Grcenland^^ floating aTo«r«ra I °l "" *« "^* »' «lishly, libTJ / E"" '*""• " *^- •kese his allies. Mv berfi . "'"" '""^ »«gy of riglrt under the hateh 4 tT''°" "P»" *-' •>«« d^ok, lead of my cot, gi™' a i"'T'""«'«'-.Pl'«'ed at the »)'ftet,nn'derth!rrh*ar+trrr "'''^^ "* feet, vapor at my head Tk T *° "■*°— ioeatmv W officer, from 60° T 6™"'"' '''«'^*«' •>/ th' med! «.« leri^'lrh^Lts?"'- r" »'•"»''• -«• »«I»rts himself youVbrother H °" '■"*'• ^hu. ■"teofhisblankeis, Jdrinksa^" "% "^ » *« em nose, and xaouthlu * *'"' "'^"oW water ^ »««l«e evaporation Oh ,^PPy ""'' ''"'Pl'laok Md •»!',Thatover,rS;.b2ta in7 ?'^°'*'"f 'l^' *«ter VMorton, mish.lS=e^f4'"'^*""'-^'>™>'«ht«,und "•. V the aid of rh..3 , . *' ""^ '" «>" mixt 'keleton, friotionizing. "' «"°' °^" ''« ™tire >^ '-r 302 ROUTINE LIFE. *^ " Thi^ done, comes the dressing — ^the two pairs of stockings, the tteee under-shirts, the fur outer robing, and the seal-skin boots ; ^nd then, with a hurried coUgh of disgust ajid semi-suffocation, he is on deck. There the air, pure and sharply cold, now about 26° or 30°, last week 40° below zero, braces you up like' peach and honey in, a Virginiai fog, or a tass of lUQuntain dew in the Highlands. Then to breakfast. Here aire the mess, with the fresh smell of overnight undis- turbed,and on our table griddle cakes of Indian meal, hominy, and mackerel : with hot coffee and good ap- petites, wp fall to manfully. " Breakfast over^ on go the fur&^ain ; and we es- cape from the accumulating fumes of * servants' hall,' walking the floes, or climbing to the tops, till we are frozen enough to go below again. One hour spent now in an attempt at study— vai^ly enough, poor devil! But he doe^s try, and what little he does is done then. By half past ten our entire little band of officers are out upon thfi floes for a bout at anti-scorbutic exercise, a game of romps : first foot-ball, at which we kick till our legs ache ; next sliding, at which we sUde until we can slide no more : then off*, with carbine on shoul- der, and Henri as satellite, on an ice-tramp, v "Coming back, dinner lags at two. Then for the afternoon — God spare the man who can with un- scathed nose stand the effluvium. But night follows soon, and with it the saddening question, What has the day aphieved 2 And then we stretch ourselves out under the hatdhw, aad sleep to the music of our thirty odd room-mates. ''February 14, Friday. A glorious day, with the sun from nine to h alf pais t twa Three b ergs seen by re- "^fraction. The mercuryrose to +2 over aTbla^k sfiffer turned toward the sun. To-day the usual foot-hall. jAk;i-.\- .' <.^-^,,.J THE COLD. 803 mime. The sitting te^^eSS; wt-fo'^Lr'T ade, -36°; behind the scenes -2^^ A fl ; "^ by the delicate Miss Jem Smitl. ' "^ «**-'«'° »»«<1 atrical eiTect of bumi^rby "olj T *•"; ""^l*'''- «. ;nuch in her bare slefveTald h.nH w"" f"^''^ the iron t«nch*d she-.w^id r"w ' "* "^"''"™' IteoncU.dedwithho^hXdX"'""'"'"*' ""* ingthe remaininga;^- mf;L T^ "'"'""*'»» <<"•, moment of setting asWif j T ™'P"«'> »' ">« rose into »X tt ;^t:^"'¥,"^.T,'''^'' P«* timated by the latsstT.! ,°" ''^**'"*- <^ ^ IB well as other^^ so at u ! T '"S^S* «»>» V done he scmmbled up aiChl^ Ir. a?^'^*'"'' ^'^ *■•«" ^self into a »f fo^bl Z^t^r^' ' ""**^ with the thermoiieter at -«"^™1 f " "?"""«■ below the freezine Doint m!. ' '',™'"y-*>« degrees When aboat thr^Srom L7^ T * '""« ""o- »p: it-was very Zae- Cf . '!;'"'r""'P'*"ff ci:s*ti?r'^:^z";i,red''rirf ^■ tomed to cold thaf T ^.m * i. V® ^'^^ s® accus- back, thoCh it wl m^^^ suffer during our walk crossing. """"'^ *^^ ^ *^««' «f hummock rdSrun^STurable of these extreme- $«^< *-■ ■Mi 304 THE BIRTH-DAY. / ly low temperatures is a pain between the eyes and; over the forehead. This is quite severe. It remind^ ed me of a feeling which I have had from over-large quantities of ice-cream or ice- water, held against the roof of the mouth. I reached the brig in a fine glow of warmth, having skated, slid, and made the most of my time in the open air. "An increased disposition to scurvy shows itself. Last week twelve cases of scorbutic gums were not- ed at my daily inspections. In addition to these, I have two cases of swelled limb's and extravasated blotches, with others less severely marked, from the same obstinate disease. The officers too, the cap- tain, Mr. Lovell, and .Mr. Murdaugh, complain of stifi* and painful joints and limbs, with diarrhoea and iihtiaired appetite: the doctor like the resj. At my r(^(g^mm6ndation, the captain has ordered an increased allowance of fresh food, to the amount of twq com- plete extra daily rations per man, with potp,toes, saur- kraut, and stewed apples; and we have enjoined more active and continued daily exercise, more complete ' airing of bedding, &c.' I have commenced the use of nitro-muriatic acid, as in syphilitic and mercurial cases, by external friction. " The st3,te of health among us gives me great anx- iety, and not a little hard work. Quinine, the salts of iron, &c., &o., are in full requisition For the first time I am without a hospital steward. ,^It is Washington's birth-day, when * hearts should be glad;' but we have no wine for the dinner-table, and are too sick for artificial merriment without it. Our crew, however, good patriotic wretches, got up a theatrical performance, ♦ The Irish Attorney ;' Pierce feJE©n4>y^^©^miraWe-Brac^©ur Gricht *^l lA. fl »■ i**!^* t^. vi«.^"jiW«W«" THE COLD. 30S The ship's thermometer outside was at ^i«o t m among audience and actors by" U rfT' }"'"'''• and housings, we got aa high L 300 t,""^' '"'T' sixty-two below the freezinfprint " n^ll, T' T'^ est abnosplieric record of „ ^r * f'"'"'''')' "•« low- "It was a string: thWaSt "T'"**'™- sation.was so excelive Zt t? J, „u k ^"T '^"^T performers: they walked in 7 i j - '^'^ ^** *« extra vehemenceVd ^™r;^^^"'"'''' "^ ™r- Any nines of smolie Tl,« 1,» j^ was accompanied by vol- ed TJre^Sn took off Ms h^t r'*"; ^""^ » -"='*■ potatoes'^ men he sti„d 'C r"^*^ '*« " "^i* "^ ^^v^.w™at:edtxs:^z:r7:t- N:a.fcr^Zct-*«'--"-r5^ "Pfl, Jv,; ,i, " ^^^'^ bound.with gladness. KKrcrtir^fL"^^^^^^^^ work brinffs exfm -.roo, ^ "^^ Arctic »^. f xtr^rberh,: Tw^k^rir t^ fasttoZ C TLrh *»"^"\ "■» " i"*ntly only a smart null an/ i. T^ "°*'''''S "«»'' <»'«ns ^g, my mitten was itself a mass of ice in a 306 SNOW-RUBBIJIO. moment : it fastened on the upper side of my tongue, and flattened it out like a batter-cake between the two disks of a hot griddle. It required all my care, with the bare hands, to release it, and that not without . laceration. ^^ February 25. A murky day. Two hundred and forty-four fathoms of line gave no bottom at the air- hole. Scurvy getting ahead, ^egan using the rem- nant of our fetid bear's meat : nasty physio, but we will try it. It is colder to-day, with the wind and fog at -15°, thftn a few days ago at —46°. Wind south by east : sun not seen. ^^ February 26, Wednesday. The sun came back again with such vigor, that my spirit standard rose over black to +14° ; my glass— cased, to +35°. The difiiBrence between shade and sunshine is 30° : a ther- mometer freely suspended in shade and in sun gave —32° and —2°. Black surfaces begin to scale off their snowy covering, not by thawing attended by moisture^ but with a manifest diminution in the te- nacity and adhesiveness of the snow. We observe these indications of retuflltiig heat olose}y. " The scurvy has at last fairly extended to our own little body, the oflicers. Pains in the limbs, and deep- seated soreness of the bones, seem to be its most com- mon demonstration. The complaint is of ' a sort of tired feeling,' or as if f they had had a beating.' Our usual supper, the saur-krout, has become excessively popular. Even the abused bear is not quite as bad as it was. "The crew have been £noW;rubbing their blankets^ The snow is so fine and sand-like, t^at under these low Arctic temperatures it acts mechanically, and is _ a n effectua l cleanser.- WithaLit^oiL b e fttit-WflllM ^ THE INSECT. 307 on the lower decks th„ .^ . . . " '•wg-lines specm land a J„t ol AdreiiT "'. "^"^ ""' .hapes oval, houtriL In^t' "^T *'"' *'"''« J it^ tim^iti8exX„fhSr,^'T» ''"»"• Some. wdTSa^txrr4f«- a crepitating, inaectine wl Now Tf "^ ""^ every where else withonf vff ' "* ''°"«' ^^ or .lime of snai h1 "t ft f " *"" J' "^ '"''«P«''' «>rihe. surpri^, p,ef :^; Tt''',:^''^"J"^'^ *» -i^ dermeut, I oanirht mv I„^„ ^i ,^ t-know-why won. finger.^ * ^ '"'^ ^^^''^ '«'t«'oe» Uiumb and "An ail insect would be in «,;. j ^ "Old, an impossibility „e^' ^, 1 ^T^ ^^ "f mow.drift. Save » «!!! j^ **" *»""»'<' « *1>« A«.tio sumJe, hTv^'l'^"^^'"' oharaoteri»,d the 'Hg in the mat hZ ? j . ' ' "'***'*'= "» «J«nor. »o»th. Thf^lLT/""* ''»*«'••«»>'«« of the middle »»ter. ThlS^br .°T?* *" '"P""" »f open ^««.&armyownde.rhome. Thecro4in1^ 308 THE SCURVY. dark bird of winter, dings to the in-shore deserts. The tern are far away, and so, thank Heaven, are the musquitoes. There are no bugs in the blankets, no nits in the hair, no maggots in the clieese. No specks of life glitter in the sunshine, no sounds of it float upon the air. We are without a single sign, a single instinct of living thing. "If now, with the thermometer eighty degrees be. l(k»r the freezing point, and the new sun casting a cold gray sheen upon the snow, you leave the thirty, one, to whom you are the thirty-second, and walk out upon the ice away oflF— -so far that no click of hammer nor drone of voice places you in relation with that little outside world — then you will knov^ how I felt when I caught that * creeping wonder' on my rein. deer hood. It was a frozen feather. ''February 27, Thursday. An aurora passing through thd^zenith, east and west, at 3h. 30m. this raiwning. What little wind we have is coming feebly froi west and southwest. The theimometer has traveled ' from —40° to —31°, and the sun is out again in benign lustre. A difference of 27°, due to his influence, was evident as early as lOh. 20m., viz.: Green's spirit standard gave, in shade, -33°; over black surface, in sunshine, -7° and -6°. At noonday, the same ther- mometer gave +2. My glass — cased, hot-house Uke, gaverthe pleasant deception of +40°. " Still the scurvy increases. I am down myself to- day with all the premonitories. It is strangely de- pressing: a condentrated 'fresh cold' pain extends searchingly from top to toe. I am so stiff that it is only by an effort that I can walk the deck, ftnd that limpingly. Once out on the floes, my energies excited -and m^ Jalood wwmed by exercise, I can troanp^awfy- freely; back agaiii, I stiffen. k ■M^'^c*^ ^ * . OUR COOKS. 309 . captain i/the FrenS L* " ""'! <^'"'"'''' '''"''er. with Oudinot, l„rth th? • ' r f "' "''"« »«"'''« oftor, the son had Lured nn.u^ 7' ^ '^^ """"'hs for the affair at iy„„" IT" °i"' °'" "-""iemned the United State, The 1,?.' " '^^^l*'™ ""'^" «» i; no. BooiUng salt iu^icTBStr^''^.^''""'' frire, the modest but mft,,,! H.„ ,.^ ^' ■"" "»•• soldier, is a Wter IS „ « '. °"^'' '' """^ the gl^iers of La W H 1*'^* ^'^ '«« ■«»<»•? !>»«* He passed through thifl." ^"''''" "'"''■ to ^y.-opBcathedr and but fer » ""'*"' *''°8« me»t, mightbe noW at itli^ ""'"°"' *«'»P««^ »d bad Bordeaux It™ i ^'^v ' "P? ^ood wages «ve by t«mperam:^t,!7U ;^':^». '-''-*■•-■'• it not for the somewhatlli /"'"""• ^"» molars and an inX^ h^^ *** <''^'"'»>«™ of t^vo ^-ould be an insuS 'etTxCr TV 1'*"'' '"« Us infirmity with aml.M ^? ■** '* '^' ^^ treata tempt. He mI3f n^^At ' ?°* P'"''"^''''''' <"'"■ W, liver, i td^e rT'f, '"' "'" "^ ^''"« ff"r hippurio and aXtble ""Hti T^^ ^l""' *"« upon that most difflonlt «Z!ii *?,." ''"''*" ''™«''f P.-.husasea.^TiltSr''''''-^'^'- «""- fi»m the l^elf ort^W?!""*'"''''"'^''"'''^"'"''" kummocks. The 7^^ k ''.'" """*''« »<"» the wmcii, iikSja huge gira«,le, flash. ft^Sgai5K3.*£<-"iiS& ,»!<»., -^"VlJ ?H'^ 310 EXERCISE. / > > ■10* es the round sun. The clouds are of a sort seldom seen, except in the conceptions of adventurous artists, quite undefinable, and out of the line of nature, defy, ing Howard's nomenclature. They are blocked out in square, stormy masses, against a pearly, misty blue — ^harsh, abrupt, repjilsive, quite out of keeping with the kindly lightness of things belonging to the sky." The lowest temperature we recorded during the cruise was on the 2 2d of this month, when the ship's thermometei- gave us -46°; mypffship spirit, -52°; and my own self-registering instruments, purchased from ^reen, placed on a hummock removed from the y^^sels, —53°, as the mean of two instruments. ;lnay be taken as the true record of our lowest ute temperature. Cold as it was, our mid-day exercise was never in- terrupted, unless by wind and drift storms. We felt the necessity of active exercise; and although the ef- fort was accompanied with pains in the joints, some- times hardly bearable, we managed, both officers and crew, to obtain at least three hours a day. The ex- ercise consisted of foot-ball and sliding, followed by regular games of romps, leap-frog, and tumbUng in the snoV. By shoveling away near the vessel, we obtained a fine bare surface of fresh ice, extremely glib and durable. On this we constructed a skating- ground and admirable slides. I walked regularly over the floes, lUthough the snows were nearly impassable. With all this, aided byfao^s of hygienic resources, feeble certainly,, bttt still the best at my command, spmryy adtanced steadily. This fearful disease, so often warded oflf when in a direct attack, now exhib- ited itself iii a cachexy, a depraved condition of sys- t o m sad to encounter. Pains, diffuse, and non-lo c a-^ ( m' THE SCURVY. 311 tabto, were combined with .„ xl These, of cZT^L »» healthy eMitement. alone: o,i of ^Z^Xrr^ ZT *" *« *-- strange to sav four w«,.^ i ' "** o' these five. womds opened; even old hl^ T* """''«*' «W tati„nam.„,~:r::^-";^y^*h^finestconsti. days purpuric extrnvoBo« ^*- *» a few ady^2yeni*srrrrertelrf^V''^.r «mtio„, thri y nZKhL k"™"*' '"'»''* »»PP»- IV .2.1rt?w »i;.'*J^'- , — 'ir ▲0B0B4 SHN MVTH OF Ckft FABIWILL. CHAPTER XXXV. It might be supposed, at first view, that the acces- sion of solar light would be accompanied by increase of temperature. This, however, was far from being the case. Though February had brought back the sun, it was the first month throughout which the ice- fields remained frozen in their wintery rest. It was our coldest month. This effect was due to the great- ly increased evaporation ; a subject of frequent notice in my journal, confirming in this the experience of Ermann and other Siberian travelers. The renewed altemjition of day and night, with their increased range of diurnal temperatures, gave us in full perfection those different forms of meteoric ex- hibition which affect peculiarly the Arctic zone. The aurora, with a host of phenomena dependent upon the modifications of light, halos, coronae, tangent cw'cles, p a rhelia, a nfee lia,, and pMa s elenffi^c am aioj i aJ n rftBi^ '-■mt. METEORS. iTrfu^rS Tf-*^-. -i* its pre. The somtillation of the star- f k * T* oonneoted with alternatin«r T' ***^* P^e^omenon so m«i«. was wo„derf::i;^'"4^„r - fe „ftao«™ whose distance made the Za- /''*«*«' stem, to the eye, we« esp^o aSytJi'7""™* '«'™''''« plonets shared in the chaL« f ?''.= ''*' «™'' the starsathome. Ihave^SCL ™"^«' ""^^ «•<> of Sirins and Aldebaran b^ t^ f^"' "^^'^ afeeWe index of their P^fe^t?* '"?'*'"" 8^™ «.lor, which, with erL^XnT"^/ *■"* '"'' nightly. ' ^""* ™ intensity, greeted ns roltllf^fe:' 'cll""'^ ".'T"'«> - of the .We fo™ began X to^^Z? °' '™'^ '■'^■ light too, that lonrrrctic n, V""°' ''''« twi- ttary to aieorrtoL dT.^° "^^Pr"'''"'. soemed, con- t»ry hnut toits extenf lo'l'S: ^ ly'r ""■ search would wiih i«+«ii ^^ i * °®^" ^or re- •trnments, »d^^'S^'^ '»'l««itr. adequate in- the ioe-pli. of SX^ oo-operation, have been "TibedrBiot ™d T^w ■ Z ''"'"»°' '^i'Phiys de. %liA «p 1» in C^aSa^T™ *=""•«• »' ""> lanoasterWellinatlV? „ •*"°"'»- Those of Baffin ^CSSe'o^r "'''^'"''' """^ *« North "J though siC:^: mo^ZTrh^r^if r '^'^ ?^« "i s23r:"'l .- « 314 AURORAS. ,-X. ■: of the auroral displays, as compared with those of the Northern Atlantic, on the Europeaii side. I had the same feeling. " , . Their changes seemed to he dependent upon modi- fications rathet of intensity than fonn. They were ^ characterized hy neither active movement nor varied coloring. My tahular observations will be published elsewhere, but I subjoin a rude attempt at analysis of. their distinctive features. 1st. A mere illumination,^pparently emerging from a dark cloud some five degrees above the horizon, more resembling a nebulous patch or a moonlight cir- rus than the auroral light. '^ 2d. Detached bands of illumination, impressed against the sky, like a condensed nebulosity, uncon- nected with any visible central arc, and distributed near about the line of the magnetic^axis between the horizon and the zenith. These were sometimes strat- iform, converging by perspective, and reminding one of the auroral plates, plaques aurorales of Lottin. 3d. A well-marked zone or band, or sometimes sev- eral concentric ones, eit^ier broken or continuous, un* ia<;companied by the ordinary segments of light or cloud, passing through or neax the zenith in a direc- tion which, according to the mean of some fourteen observations, was sixteen degrees east of the magnetic meridian. These bands were constantly varying, not by active scintillation, but by changes of intensity- rapid flashing augmentation, sudden subsidence, or complete extinction— a wavy oscillation, resemhUng wind action. 4th. Bistre-colored clouds, assuming a segmentary . or arch-like form, and throwing out rayp of white ^ght; these jstreaming toward the^zenith, opdso"'^ .:. k £fj9 - 'J AURORAS. 315 •lirection of the sun then 2^' "^V °"«^«« '» «"» , below the horizo" anlin „ """ *»" «ight degfees «ed, might he Jooked uZ^l^iT"^^^ ""* "^'^ . those dependent rays, nor^g^tdWl"™' "' with their deVait«reSTh„?„Tl*«'P'«»g»'™ck Lie^t. Hood, L tCprnXiP *?*"'"« <''««'>'«1 by iti sometimes four or five^n„™^ r""""*"* 'rith trio series, .nd -^^^^ZX^^T^C'^' upon reaching the 7«niH. t '" *'titnde: these, «t«,ams. nev^f It^sinreth^r" l"T' "*««"'« with a rapid toteri* motC ^i" f:;,,'"! '*"'«*«»8 pkys; ' '°°' °™ with ohromatio dis. l»intTt.!e rris^W '"'^T'^ *«»^«'re« ^m toward the opSrru»rf ° *"" '«"*^ "P'' ^o't- «o»the.st,and»Cdi^^"' "'■,'»?**»» ftom the tkeyareaU UkeS. wSl'f' "■« "<""'-<'«'' i«« "merry dancers »»d^*^'^n^5 "'"""".flxl.- ^^Jl^$4^v \ In the auroras seen by the AmericamExpedition, a distinct scintillation Mvras rare ; and I observed a Wis. matic tinting in only a single instance. \ The moye- ments of the aiiroral bq>nds were so wave-like that ' they were at once suggestive of wind-action, althou^ no correnpoiidence was noted between them and thd^. direction of the lower atmospheric currents. \ This ef. feet, which I had repeated occasion to observe\ height- ened the resemblance of our Arctic aurora to lUumin- ated cirro-stratus, arid, I confess, always impressed me with its w^^nt of altitude. V Let me condense from my JountaLand Meteorolog- ical Record a description of the aurpra, as we some- times saw it. * \ The 2d of February came to us with sunshine, the at|mosphere in yellow light, and full of minute sp^ca* la^; our thermometers at 32°, my , spirit 8tandard\at 34^, and Green's mercurial at 38°. Drawing the fiii^ ger through the mercury of bur artificial horizon gave the sensation of scalding water. The evaporation and increased dryness were very perceptible: a brass cli- nometer, which was coated with hofdr-frost, became perfectly clean on exposure to the s^lar ray. The haze disappeared from the southern horizon, and the sky became strikingly clear. As late as half past eight A.M., I saw the North Star in the zenith, the tail of the Bear, and stars of the third and fourth magnitude. By nine every one had gone, leaving Arcturus ^nd Capella in possession of the field. Between the hours of six and eight P.M., we had an interesting display of the aurora. It was of a lu- minous white, not much more marked than any of the isolated nebulse seen through a telescope, which ^--k9 XUUVM7U XVMrtUxihCU* j-JliUO WUlllQ ««MUV OMtJIidivu •^^ 7- ^^^ THE AUEOBA. 317 otunulated masses fmm f>,« _li «4tem horizon, t^Zt'Z :^ *° *" «-»*''• »me regularity F?om ^« '*'"'"* »° ^'"'^ »f ^e, a* apparent ^H IT'^^' T'*'^'^^ P"-- horizon, and oonstenUy sSZ L * '^ ™* ^^ *'•" topnxiuoe an effect nejl^ iSat „Ti^;*'»''». - >« «<»me.«reg- ti^-d-fere^, U^f U^l^:^" ;-«» f««. five, £ »rie8 of paraJlel bands^ron! J^ ""^ ^ *'"'»" degrees. "''''»'"'« e^oeed-ng six or eigi,* twelve degrrSvetK!:^- "^"^"'J^ ^""^ "bout K ^hose^h^:: ^uzz^^T'rt '"'■ •s :fTora:t- sr •^"' ''-TteltT *. northweri ft fa^'"^« V? " "^"^ ""h to jLdisappe„ed itfttr^^^^^^ '^'' ""y "''• ^O"^ Cice. . *'*''^'"»*«" deteoted any dk. fire of^eTt^nr""' '""'" *''' "•""-fH^io wible with w tZT' V- " ' ™diinentaryfonn «u segment, takmg graduaUy an arc -.i^&m ^*iL '"^. '•^imtwjM^v^ < -'r-^. 318 THE AURORA. / ttke foim. The visible portion of this arc soon be- come^ surrounded with a pay^ight, followed by the formtition of other concentric arcs: next conie jets and colored rays from the dark part of the segment, break- ing up #8 continuity, and indicating a general move- ment throughout its mass — "internal shocks," as Lard- ner calls them— which issue from it as flames from a conflagration. Lottih's observations at Bossekop, in Finland, lati. 'tude 70°, which embrace no less than a hundred and forty-five exhibitions, begin with a " tinting of the constantly prevailing sea-fog," the upper border of which was fringed with auroral light. A^ If these, and the more familiar accounts of the au- rora in the middle United States, be taken as good types of this phenomenon, I would say that the ma- tured Arctic aurora resembled their incipient stages; but that the same law of correspondence, which marks the centre of the segment in or about the toagn^tic axis, gave to us, situated as we were in the immediatiB proximity of the magnetic pole of our earth, the strange spectacle of a complete arch passing" through or near the zenith, and embracing an amplitude of nearly one hundred and eighty degrees. The zone ojr band- like character df this auroral arch was its pervading characteristic. It seldom exceeded thirty, and was generally within ten degrees in width, a floating, wav- ing band of nebulous illumination. The likeness between some of the auroral appear- ances and a lower range of meteorological phenomena has been repeatedly noticed. The bandes polaires of Humboldt, the plaques aurorales of Lottin, the cino- otf^ilated resemblances of Hood and Richardson, are pSG , i.-.s-rmmtaf'iwimjiv: atfS^i^KfBBlfflMuyfe^i ^l^ •^ »AJf AUr\ra. H9 jelf to the appax^t windrmovXents of our exllibi tions m Lancaster Sound. ' \ ^ exflibi- I have quoted tke "fog or cloui^ke l^ffm.^nt- descriptions, for the purpose of ihtroduciim fro J mv the diff^eted ... ,:;;r ^etr S7a;5r;i:f rom. I giT, them verbatim from my notes T 4«1 f;" It 380 "tr" "'r ^ *e':m.m:ter, it 8h. 4um. A,jyj., at 38°, while on the vessol'a Bf^^« . j x «o ^.freely sus^nded b/th?^ ■;t™C „y AJU., but his rays were subdued by a sUght hazi Th T^^^ T'''^' "f crystallized spSkst^; m^aSLTir'^T, '''"^' -hen exLil^^d by .^it^eto? Frauenhofer at two hundred diameters^ ^5f.SnXr;tKut^sx^5:^ At wt" Z*°whfl'''^"'*r* ■" "^'^ phenomenon. ^ritarup^T^r/its taan approximate li*»iVi,f «ri«o ^^^ «*i'' ^^"s ajgjt ♦» . o """* """ upper summit miits disk- =«»«Hipp««.mat6l.eight of ISO.'' Th&expa^*,f^ ■^^ '• !>,, ' "^s;'' « m ^ 4-^-» ^■^liii^t. ^ -"^ W'^1*^ '?T""^' '"'■^ ■ '^ "^^ ■'1 ■ 320 DAT AURORA. fashion, as it rose, and was lost by its penciled radia. tions blending with the illuminated sky.' Thus far it did not differ materially from the vertical or crepuscu- lar rays accompanying rudimentary forms of parhelia. But by eleven o'clock this fan:like column had en- larged to a oloudjif^sfafifk of bright yellow light, t\fren- ty to twenty-four; degrees in height, and proceedmg from a complete segment of illumination, which was thickly studded mth cirrous clouds. The upper ter- minus of this coHmin, unlike the parhelia which we had seen before, assumed a curvilinear wedge shape not unlike the section of a pear, from whose sides rose tangentially a series of penciled iUuminations termin- ating in streaks of cloud strata. "The feature about this phenomenon of grib&test in- terest was a distinct play of light, a series of coruscat- ing changes resembling the scintillations of the auro- ra. -The rays wQich shot out from the three-curved summit sometime^ extended twelve or fifteen degrees, with a sudden movement of increased energy almost resembling ignition i then again they retired, until rep- resented by but a few feeble points. The cloud-like segment showed in % lesser degree the same mover ments ; and at the pei^d& of most active display, the vertical or fan-like shafV flashed up into more intense illumination. The diameter of this shaft at its en- tering base could not have^been less than eighty de> grees." . \ This singular exhibition recalled irresistibly the an- alogous phenomena of the aurora, ^th, those anomal- ous displays of coronae which have been referred to the diffraction of light by atmospheric vesicles or icy spiculse. I give it from my notes, as a simple detail of foot s , with oatem mwfflt ^ or opinion* — .,-.sr.S**^M -""■"': DAY AURORA. 321 enough to be worth trISn" °'*°""""'""«''8 "About ten o'clock ani^^ 1 ^ i».i. I noticed th::°:h;rfizs:hrrrther'- zon had nearly clearfiH n«r„ '""^•''*^« o* the hon. *wofe.the^ei^i:r/arur.^l-:5,,o-^^ spot where the banking remah^ Z^' l"^'^^ »°» .ri(. nearness to th"f ZZd 'iL^t^^jf '^■'«- , mentary character; Ito margin WMdMn « . ''^• ularly arched ; it, tinting fpe^u^"'''"^''' 7'';!p warmed or bron^d at its marS b^S ' '^^^^^^ » heavy brown at the Ve o^rLrfzir'^r^ T of the segment bore south tw.nf^T^ °* **"*'» -tic), its altitude eiXfe^sltdr rV""*" vapor. from. ship-s iirl, pur^S \,^°^' n** not ^-oleariy Visible; a'tmospht'^r-lSt radiHff nearTv tnih " r^^^ ^ "'^ g m int e nsity, e j i^ ing nearly to the eastern quarter of the sky By ?**^' ' *-' ■^-.-■k*fi^,v^,*»r4^f,^;5(^!3*9-.. ='i«9»«pnit»»W!p**WI!l!wr*i». ^, W7..£! 322 DAY AURORA. V coalescing at their bases, these radiating processes aug- mented the size of the central segment. The inter- vals between them appeared, by contrast, to be artifi- cially illuminated. " Till now there had been no movement ; but at 1 Ih. 20m. these cloud-like processes or radiations strik- ingly resembled the rays or beams of a coruscating auroi^al arch. Dr. Vreeland and myself witnessed re- peatedly interruptions of their continuity ; then sud- den shootings out, or inoreasings of their length ; and then a rapid 4nd momentary formation, followed by a sudden and complete disappearance. "At this time, too, a strange wavy movement was seien about the shorter prolongations in the neighbor- hood of the vertex of the mass. These resembled the rising wreaths of ' fro8t^-smoke' seen in Wellington Channel, and had an appearance almost of combus- tion. . " ''During all these phases, the cloud-like character was singularly preserved : the rays appeared to modi- fy the processes, as light would behind our ordinary clouds. The whole exhibition was a daylight one, perfectly cloud-like, differing only in the elements of shape, movement, and radiated illuminati4iiiti but not nwHaauoh ilia- .5^, "!^' /r ^If' DAY AURORA. ininated. were seen far as due "Before the proloilj detaohe nith The m also, had rizon.' 323 stratu* to the south (mamfetici; 'v.th the usual bonk abiutf:!^ J, \ ^ ./I • ■ y 7 ;. ' .// ; - "t ^ NiJ^ ■ - t ; - ^ •• ■ *t > ■ 't^-'TV * -' THI BESCVE IN HEB ICE-DOCK. CHAPTER XXXVI. Our brig was still resting on her cradle, and her consort on the floe a short distance ofl", when the first month of spring came to greet us. We had passed the latitude of 72°. To prepare for our closing struggle with the ice- fields, or at least divide its hazards, it was determined to refit the Rescue. To get at her hull, a pit was sunk in the ice around Itbr, large enough for four mf n 'to work in at a time, and fight feej; deep, so as to ex- ^ po«B her stem, and leavq only eighteen inches of fhe _keel imbedded. This novel dry-dock answered per- Tectly. The }mU. was inspected, and the work of re- pair was pressed so assiduously, that in three days the stern-post was in its place, epd the new bowsprit ready for shipping. We had now the chances of two ships again in case of disaster. , Since the middle of February the felt housing of our vessel had shown a disposition to throw o£f its snowy crust. There was anfji apparent 're/!bssion, or, rather, fwant of adhesion about it, tha|; spoke of change, ^ut if. Tltrnq nnf. fill • fV in TtVt nf A Tn i-fiX fVin f -v trn —.■?<•" /^^-c"'! on m tsW.' ^^-■•■• TREATMENT OF SCURVY. »d fell. leavi„/alSr:'«^'«#2^''"..*° '"'"™' orated or frozen imtantlyX L Ttl^tM™"- unequivocal moistnm i ,\ *^ ''°™ "»"«. vessel, kept iSef tomeet. ^''' *~' '^»"e^'''« *''-' felt «.verfg^ronl aoitC^r''^* '"''*^'^ rion to the unmi?t^ned T!r t ' ^°"" ™P'«»- water roUed ^Tl^^ „7 nTlT 1 m minute icicles. ' *°*^ ft>fmed ca^a ^^ltr,Ur •"' "'»™"^ -"»*'• I ascribed it in a^IS to t"SI f""^^ "^ "" "y- kraut «fld lime.j,ice ^TL t- *"*"'' ''"• which was enfor"d M Zrt !J„ ' ""u"*""* ^""''^^ But I attribu J?t ate rth! T*^ '*'^'P""»- chioricacid,appu:*d:;:^LT;^7frSra"n?t'r- .e fro. it, eLtn — » Z7orZ.1^ myselt to claim a sequence as a reanlf • K„* 7 ^g to^the ««=ept»d dialecti" of I pioSr tt iff f7y- ''^•"- -ay be reco Jend^T'C! hrbr adapted to certain Btage* of «»rbut«,. * mltaCthlf/"'*^*'"' '™'^'""' •"" «»«»'»»te,ed ■ ■'»( J * ""^^J^ wtsre woicroua enough. ^"B. Stewart, with purpuric blotche, Sa stiff 326 - TREATMENT OF SCURVY. ' knee, had to wag l^is leg half an hour hy the dial, op. posite a formidable magnet, each wag accompanied by a shampooing knead. Stewart had faith ; the mus- cular action, which I had enjoined so often ineffectu- ally, was brought about by a bit of steel and a smear ing of red sealing-wax. They cured him. Another, remarkable for a dirty person, of well used-up capillary surface, a hard case — one of a class scarcely ever seen by any but navy doctors — sponged freely and regularly from head to foot in water col- ored brown by coffee, and made acid with, vinegar. His gums improved at once. He would never have washed with aqua fontana. Another set of fellows adhered pertinaciously to their salt junk and hard tack, ship bread and beef. These conservative gentlemen gave me much trouble by repelling vegetable food. The scurvy wq^ playing the very deuce with them, when the bright idea oc- curred to me of converting the rejected delicacies into an abominable doctor-stuff. It was an appeal to their spirit of martyrdom : they became heroes. Three times a day did these high-spirited fellows drink a ^ wine glass of olive-oil and lime-juice, followed by %(r H potato and saur-kraut, pounded with molasses into a ~ damnable electuary. They ate nobly, and got well. But the causes of scurvy were relaxing their ener- gies only for the time. Before the month was out, the disease had come back with renewed and even exacerbated virulence. Some of its phases were cu- ijous. The joint of Captain De Haven's second finger became the seat of severe p^, accompanied by a dis- tinct tubercle cartilaginous to the touch. It exactly recalled, he said, the appearance and feeling of the p a rt for ^ om e months a fler it h a d bee n bi i rt J jLJ^ tjtl METEORS. 327 .pit f«..n the cavity .ZIX^^TZ. TZT"' chance o^examinins it hv ti,. . "S*' ^ '"'J no ■ impression ofthec^tv in LJ"'"?"°P''''"" «" fetly smooth, aid X v-*I f *'"' '''"'^ J^'" essiiication. iCveZlT^, '"T""'*'' ''>' ''"«« ^ in the ^oin: itta^te^^heS^slHhr "'"'' but iWi4w threatened sunDurJL ^® ^^^^''^^ .»™ the ma,^ of theV^^^S" r" ^"''^^ '' nant of drie/peaohesa:rsoJrii.l*ith t T and hrown «„gar, formed the fernTnt "' Zt ThI Jrii"hSi,rfhr4frThrT^r™ few pages back but q»L Jell ^^keT tT'"? ," lowed at ,mght t,y the p»ra«ler^ An„*K ? '^'• pherio disDiav wkLk r»'»«"™e- Another atmos- *«Z t:^ riSt """"^ " ^'^ "T '^'-ard, thLome^rt;^*^4:'.'--*^";P<'™J"-. ^he tlie wind wa« very lieht Y„t tl *' ""°"' ""<• •^%ahon.itZSe™«r artier " ™*'"^ tion as if evannr«««« • tmgle— a sensa- quite a pJX 1 T. f"^-"'^ ""'^^^ *^« '^^- pnerp W H S atu dd eU mih gl ret efilflrparticles. f " « 328 METEORS. have never seen them so manifest and so numerous. Our slide, a polished surface of clear ice, bejsame clouded in a few minutes, and before five o'clock it *was perfectly white. The microscope gave me the same broken hexagonal prisms, mixed with tables closely resembling the snow-crystal. A haze sur- / rounded the horizon, rising for some six degrees in a bronzed', purple bank; after which it gradually blend- ed with the sky, a clear blue, undisturbed by cirri. "Accompanying this redundancy of atmospheriq ^' spiculae was a parhelion of remarkable intensity. There was no halo round the pun, and no vertical * or horizontal column; but at the distance of 22° 04^ from the sun's centre were three solar images, one on each side, and the other immediately above the sun. This latter image was intensely luminous, but not prismatic; the others had the rudiments of an arc, highly colored, the red upon the inner margin. The haze rose as high as these horizontal images ; and the arc, which in so short a segment presented no visible curvature, expanded as it descended, so as to form an elongated pyramid or column, the prismatic tints in- creasing in intensity as they approached the horizon. The efiect of this was that of two illuminated beacons or rainbow towers, the sun blazing between thent As we stood a little way off on the ice, it was very beautiful to see the brig, with its spars and rigging cutting like tracery against the central light, with these prismatic structures on each side, capped by a spectral sun." Two evenings later, the parhelia ^ve us another . spectacle of interest. Two mock suns, which had ac- companied the sun below the horizon, sent up an il- Inmi nated and colored arc some eight or ten degrees f *« , .jiii^ri APOLOGY. 329 in height. Midway rose a brush.llkepolnrrtn f • son (barvta) liaht A «. r^^'^'l^^^ column of crim- brightness. The wZoTe l^^l^ ''"'■nuhon of iu tinWasintheeveiltStXB:^"""'^' Indeed, from the beginning of the month the skies , had undergone a sensible change of as3 T * j I am tempted to apologize, once for all, f^Thf 2 perfect character of these observations. Our stek rf mstruments on board w«« scanty at the b^t Md thi routme observances of a ship of war do nTf .? pmsecution.ofmerelyscienll'/rZrlw wTh^J ' no actmometer to mark the daily increment,!!/, i n«iiation: our thermometers ~3Sy 5 7 construct«,,and were not so pSc^^toy^'t h«h*t vlfte to their results; «„d „„ ent^ ^Moh I oMs:ersir*'*r-''^»^^™-«e^t» "itarch 12> To.^, for the fiqfcjimft during th.^- cruise, I had the pleasure of seeinMr luj^ ^ rometor released from its^stoWaT^d .! « ^W ^ade to compare it with our aSs^iefore'^^^iS' ^ «an our drift to the north, when we had no &-™W^ IrdTthTr*'^ f f""^ te»I.e«t„re,ld Z ZlVfi'r ^ r°L'"1"°L°°"^J >to the over. -mmdedc a binofopr ^grto^^tf^lg / ^ ^ h X- '^ M', :HE .1- ^ o%gistra%)tj^ith % owr#t,might hav^^J^^n well to:m%e a c|^te compfJison of the two witKth<>seof thti^tish vi^Ps, and with pfXtg mountain l^qtolhietet v« Jhe ih^i pfpint 0a\d havfe "be others that weije ju#f*i'^;G have lifeen practioablei^ba-piC EiS infetj- «n «s zero 1^%ence to ail ;|t would :ve eoinetnirig of in- ■■\ v.^f ■• • V, ged Value to our log-book records of the atmospher- ^rfiiio pressure, ^ Under alLth* circumstanxjes, \ have not ' ' ^thought it nepessary tb%insfer them to my journal.'' 'is'y As the middle of Mais^h approached, our drift be- came gradually slower, ittj|il we almost reached a state of rest. For several day^ke advanced at an average rate of scarcely half a mile a day. We were at this time some seventy miles eaji^ of Cape .Adair, our near- est Greenland shore being somewhere between Upper >, Navik and Disco; -and the\idea of eTicountering the ■•. final hreak-up among the closefy-impacted masses that surrounded us^ or of being carried back to the north by'spme inopportune counter-current, was far from pleasant. But our log-line, in an attempt at sound- ings, showed still a marked under-draught toward the south ; and in a few days mote we were moving south- wiard again with increased velocity. The 1 9th gave us a change of scene. I was aroused from my morning sleep by the familiar voice of Mr. Murdaugh, as he hurried along the half-de^ : " Ice opening"-T-" Open leads, "Frost-smoke all aroui ward, Henri nad b gen t carbine in hand^ After a heavy iVwas — the opeji, loruiiug i <|ur starboard quarter" — Five Ininutes after- [M from the galley; and, ling over 4he hummocks. ... a mile, sure enougl^here staretohing with its fihn of perapeotire io the fi as t. -m- •'Sh w^ W k£* 'nbreak „po„ complete ^liditr wmcn we had khown since the 15th of Jannn^ i* ■, was a breach iij onr prison-walls Th.jT. ' movement of thJ mercSrvZIth. , , ! ""dnlatory of the clouds weri noweZpS I^t t'TT' — this mo4g, tC^^i/r^Zt £ t ing on for days, /perhaps a week. Onr winds W t. vored the separation of cracks intoJwide cZmefs w r ™'* "'^'^'^ ""t ''''™ «» p?- « Jt 'eT«hTfeet°™ h'^ "^ meifnrements, was fh.m' commotions, I can hardly realize'that sucTextenTi™ *asms should have been formed almost in suZ hundred miles acrots, !:fZ fi fdTayT^ t^ ^««s onrin the other direction. Perhlps thrwave •ction of a heavy sea, great s«b.glacial billows urfrf! at our fast^mented little vessel,LyhaTbrken [he Tber*^""'?'"' r"* ""'' """"It of a c^lion of »r W "^" ^ ?"''«""""«' »■ *» «•« -theast cleata-^gedfraotur^diSersified by driftand humm^k o7f"Mf "^"^ *'"'«*«"««ag level, lite thTba^,' rfat,daess „ver, margined by -new ice and craC „ ■ ^ rP- ""'^' """r vj,ry T,la«k,-gave eviT" / '«^-:;.^ ..M^ '.-?'«■ l'^-- .„,; ^ "X , -u. ^ K ■j 332 THE LEAD. dence of open water. In this, surrounded by exhal- ing mist and frost-smoke, were our old friends, the seal ; grave, hirsute-looking fellows, who rose out of the wa- ter breast-high, and gazed upon us with the curious faces of bid times. Near them was a solitary dovekie, dressed in its gray winter plumage, tl^e first bird I had seen for days ; here, too, had crossed the tracks of a bear. All this was very cheering. To see something, no . matter what, checkering the waste of white snow, waa like a shady groYe to men sun-tired in a prairie ; but to see life again— life, tenanting the desolate air and inhospitable sea — was a spring of water in the desert. My old hostility to gun-murder was forgotten. I wast- ed, of course, some small remnant of poetic sympathy with fellow-life thus springing up out 6f*the wilder- ness ; but then, in the midst of my sympathies, came the destructive instii^ct which longed to make it sub- servient to my wants. TJl^ scurvy, the scurvy pa- tients, myself among the rest ! — but the seal and tEe dovekies kept themselves out of shot. At this lead we saw the rec6nt frost-smoke within a few yards of us in pointed tongues of vapor: further off, the long, wreathy broWn clouds were rising. I never before, not eVe'n in "^kVellington Channel, saw this phenomenon in greater perfection : in Wellington it was an interesting, sometimes a gloomy feature; here it was imposing. As far back as the twelfth, we had caught glimpses of brown vapor in this very.-|ir -jffiction : we now lea^ipied td look upon it in certain phases as an unerring indication of open water, and wondered that we did not so regard it earlier.;^ The chasms were not limited to the long lead be- ^^fa:e tts. They exten de d to the •-,17. "i. 1. / FR0ST-8M0KE. ) 833 + 10° UnZ ft. ''"^^'*''*^y' ^«^suig the mercury to As I stood upon a tall knob of hummock th« .„ toe horizon seemed to be sending up eZw « K ine smoke—not the Iflrr,h««+ i ' ®*^*"nff a bronz- ^j-ruoi, me lambent, smoky wreaths wfiinh t mey rose, like the discharges of artUlery over waW or a locomotive steaming over a cold, wet IX' They were wafted by the wind, so as to driVelhem out in hnes two or three hundred yards long but th- dung tenaciously to the water »d young /ce^il^^ »» a varying but always narrow hLof TtS t^??«-srs^:?;^ Sin7etdsro?o7r:tsrr -"'•--- V. r ^'1 2jJ^M^ l^. ^ 1 '•^' ilf chapt|:r xxxvn. "March 20. Thursday, the 24)j^ of March, opens T(Kitri?f,|i gale, a regular gal^. On reaching deck after breakftist, I found the wind from the southeast, the jll^ermoineter at lero, and ridng. These southeast storms are looked' upon as Jiaring an important influ- ence on the ice. Thefy are always warm, and by the , sea whicife^hey' e^mQ at i^e southern margin of the paclj;, have Vgwiat effect ^iisbrejlkiiig the floes. Mr. Olrik.tol^jpr^^iiat tiey were^^^xiously looked for on thejOijienland cpast as precursors of open water. The dal^PthA southeast ^ale last year, at Uppernavik, waiMlpril l5th. Oiir thermometer gave +5° at noon- day, '+7° at one, and +8° at three o'clock!! ** This is the heaviest storm we have had since en- tering Lancaster Sound, exactly seven months and a day ago. The snow is whirled in such quantities, that our thick felt housing seems as if of gauze: it ..^5'i. \ A TRAMP. 33C not only covers our decks )..,* j • like fine dust or flour A.ttJ'ir "'*° ™ "'»"'«» visible fourteen feet iro,n ih "'^"">™«'w was in. often paces off „rouTou^r^ t"" """ ""'""""o «« every tUng, theTZ. ' *7''"« "P""/ *>«'• This lieavy mow-dr ft ^r.! T' """"P'PteJf liidden. oonc«ved^lC„hAlvT T'^'^^S^^be^ 1 had . had dispo^rsed wSfewSlt ^"''' f"'"''^ d.8comforts. As ta facing tt ! ,f r " '"''' ""<' nothing human could- f„f " stationary position, ten minutes. Ev^ t ^Lu— ''°"''' "« •>»"»'' *» ^we tumble up to :„^"„ Sir ""'\''"""''''»' .^utes before the very'S'^ fcrT'^Xh:""' to tal ';^ain o? ,:'Sl/>tS^^,,0"'^^»^^^ uries of Lancaster Sound F^^' "*''*' '''^• fer better this with the «„i . ^ °™ I^' '«"er, ~ the corroding ri?enS?^''"^"^''''"''^'*''an pa^t two mof h? E™"/ Itff ^""^' "^ *« peetation. '"^'^ moment now is full of ei. "^"rch 21. The wind changed th#S»_„- . tto westUd, and by daylight w^ bSl^^,^ After breakfast, Murdaugh andZse^^?'"^'''- tramp to the 'op«n water' I, . .1 T*'' »" " 8»'e. The dn&tJl ' ^ ^ *■"" effects of the company. The win] IT" t'^cZal -t^'''"'? have seen it at -3(A and th. « "* ^ faees; but the surfXw^. r '""'' P*'*"" <"» wJked over the crasfe 'Z'" ''"<' *'"'* *« hour we ^^h^ the i"' " " """• ^^ ''-'f »» "«»ntmff a signal pnfo .^fe^^gtfc a ^ndtei^" tiliKr' V x"*. h ./ -i' 336 THE OPEN WATER. chief as a mark, and taking cojnpass-bearings to guide us back again, we began to look around us. Oui expectations of hummock action were agreeably dis- appointed. We thought that the storm would have driven th§,ice from the southward, and that the change of fwind would have marshaled opposing floes to meet it. But it was not so. Even the young, marginal ice, though warped, was unbroken. The pressure had evidently taken place, but with little effect. After the gigantic upheavings of Lancaster Sound, excited by winds much weaker, no wonder I was surprised. Upon thinking it oter, I came to the conclusion that the absence of a point d'appui, either . of land or land-ice, was the cause of these diminished actions. We were now in a great sea, surrounded by consolidated floes, and away from salient capes or shore-bound ice. The pressure was diffused through- out a greater mass, without points of special or even unequal resistance. If this reasoning hold, we will not experience the expected tumult until we drift into a region where forces are more in opposition; perhaps not until we reach the contraction of Davis* Straits. "The young ice margin of this open lead had the appearance of a beautiful wave-flattened sand beach. The. lead itself had opened so far that its opposite shores were barely visible. The wind checked the immediate formation of new ice; and, to our inex- pressible joy, there, glittering in the cold sunlight, were little rippling waves. So long have W€> been pent up by this wretched circle of unchanging snow, that I make myself ridiculous by talking of trifles, with which you, milk-drinking, sun-basking, melted- _^iyfttiftr-seeing people at homo can have no sympathyt. .y- ...' •, . -v."-. V ., 4<' / ' / / / .^^ / . ltCB-V0ICE8. 3S7 ..heir tempo^r^*'^ "'"''» "^ 'W laughed i, h,L.o^k?„f ;I"tLir°'"7»"-.. S^ll there W w^aZf^ the Mjess. The puJse-like interv^ 5°* ?"^'fi«' '^ry t^ng, iny feeUnge most of ^ thing very like gratitude came over me, as I tboueht ofthe uncertam gloom or HpaWe midnight wUck ^mpanied a fe* weeks .go Z ■ voiees rf ftlfe^ Tie thermometer was 210 below zero, and the wtod b1 T/th" "'frr"«''' ""y "»»« h^e a t^^^w nZ blew tte^'' of my reverie. So I rubbed the "S«oi ,£w*i ^nen started off on a tramp. of ih^. T Vii J „V:r "^ ii«at.8eeicing sei^ses. One /■'/ ^rr '■ ■ • \-::jt^«^^ ■• > 338 ICE COMMOTIONS. •«■»• 1 that my one ball could mt align his mate. ° This was the first ganSe we haf obtained since the fall: he was divided, poor fellow, between twp of my scur- vy patients. In getting this bird out, 1 came very near getting myself in; and that, wjien a ducking means a freezing, is no fun. " ^ "10 P.M.< To-night finds me knocked up. Be it known, that after crawling on my belly, not like the wisest of animals, for two hours, I came nearly with- In shot of a week's fresh i«Bat. The fresk meat edited, / first shaking his whisker tentacles at my disconsolate l^ard, leaving me half frozen and whollf- disconte^it- ed. Fool-like, after the long walk back, tjie warm, ing, the drying, and the* feeding, 1 returned by the ' other long walk to the ice-openings, tramped for . two hours, saw nothing but H^t-smoke, ^gid carae"^ back again, dinnerless, with legs quaking, and spirits f^ wholly out of tune., . - JiOm drift to-day, at meridian', Was In the ner borhood of 9 miles; our latitude was 71° 9' ^" "March 23, Sunday. After divine service, "sj for the iqjfeopeningfe. We are now in the cei an area, .which Mte estimatied roughly as four mr? from north to soutil, and a little more east and west, On reaching what was yesterday's sea-beach, I was forced to recant in a measure my convii^^ions as 4o the force of the opposing floes, ^sterday's beach existed no longer; it was swallowed ^, crushed, .crumbled, submerged, or uplifted in long ridges of broken ice. * ■ / , ' ' ^ • ^ ^' ' ''^' • "The actions were, still in progi truding upon the solid old tee which is ourtJidlhe. stead. The ice-tables Aow crumbling into hummcfcks were from eight to fojrtejgg incheg^ thick^ geqerf^Uy ^ )gress, 'and fast.in-^ '.-'• t . J' > I- BREAK-UP. 339 line of comi^n ZZZ *^'""" "'""^ ^"'"'^ height of ten or twTC feT Th" ^'\'^'"'*^^ '<- "^ the upheaving ice, and rode upon tL ftf T"'''' amusement I cdftld hardiv l,.. V ™g"ients— an I had studied tTe" S^^™ ^'^'"''^ «"% before .;er;~[^;^rzt ^^'-"^ -" ,- between tlie older ice monf . ?^ P'"*^ ^"e. ing hummoek-line r„ 1™ C ]f *" «"»'-''. after a walk of a short K if f ' ^P"" "W «'««. , *ps obliteraw, ™d the t^^o\"r """•' °" '■»'■ yards of this older /'i*'"L™'»''«l'.lme within a few 1^ • ''A.^wcraoT4^'re„oST''''''"«'"S"'P'<"y- - ftethird oja JhCmZV ** T °'""<'''' "»«"* ,:the sun showed thMS^KflYr "' . since enterine BafRn'.. n , T^' '"' ™ fi«t time JWnorthwSd. H®7w!;^; "^'l^. <»''««erably to ' aUon. So, as soon ^7 ' " ™"'J<""' ^<" "^""in- ^ Davis M^dWmZo'^'""''''"'''*^^-^^^ a «lk to ihe opeiil*, ^I r'?. ^""""^'"- "« - we found the iMTe^e^tt "C ""• ''<='"' '"*"'. black wate« in a cZrT t T^^' *'*• «"<* «»? , the^ast and ^t # t h h „* '^°°* '^''*-^ 'unningi^^ >tgia«^Tbv«.« °^" """^ of Esquim^ ■ »t,lnStK' 7"™*"?? of theseVeat'floes; wdlpaM.1^ "^ over v*Wifed on. -UTe wefe- . v» k^ 'Ik* i>, '^•' 4 fcll!l'-'J:'''j M t'Pn, tra rt^ y erae to Jha toM>\>t. ^ ^ ^ ^ " . ^ " - ' ^* * ■ ■ -fi y ■!■ ■.i 'l«^ ,i'SS^., % > - ^ ^f^ I Jt'tftffcjfeii^i 1* r 340 NARWHALS AT PLAY. •'The hummockings of this morning had ceased; the wind so gentle as hardly to he perceptible: the lead before me was an open river of water, and in it were narwhals (M. monoceros), in groups of five or six, rolling over and over, after the manner of the dolphin tribe. They were near me; so near that I could see their checkered backs, and enjoy the rich coloring that decorates them. The horn, that monodontal proc ess which gives them their name of sea-unicorn, was perfectly examinable. Rising in a spirally indented cone, this beautiful appendage appeared sometimes eight and ten feet out of water ; one especially, whose tall curvetings astonished my body-guard. I never saw a more graceful, striking, and beautiful exhibi- tion than the unrestrained play of these narwhals.* In the same open water, almost in company with the narwhals, were white ^hsAes {Delphinopterus albi- cans, or Beluga: these cetacea have so many names, they puzzle me), and seal besides. » I was tempted to stay too long. The wind sprang up suddenly. The floe began tO move. I thought of the crack between me and the ship, and started off. The walking, however, was very heavy, and my scur- vy patients stiff in the exffensors. By the time I reached the crack, it had opened into a chasm, and a river as broad as the Wissahiccon ran between me and our ship. After some httle anxiety— not much —I saw our captain ordering a party to our relief. The sledges soon appeared, dragged by a willing par- • I have seen many of these fish since, but never under such cincumttances. I stood on a tedge of hummoclt within short gunshot The animals w*e en- tirely^napprehensive. The non-symmetrical character of the " horn " (an un- duly developed tooth, say the naturalists) was not seen ; and As this long lanws like process played about at a constantly yarying angle, it reminded me of the mast of some simken boat swayed by the waves. ^5-, STATK OF THt pack. 341 these ice openings '"''' ""» ^* «P «» tendantL Jn^ aTe h„t „ '^''7"'°«''.ng and oter at- ing up. Our preriourlr *"? *" " "^"P'^*" •»«*• ruption of S Ce °*! "' """" *'"'' 'he dis- LanLterSouL^™ toX ?'' '? ^'■'"*»'"' «™» i"' although the veteTb: TZ^""' *^''»-'""" -"P"- hJ":, twi't "2— y. tke date of our ,a.t months/'The^toltld'irfeeX*^^**" absence of impact or coIlilstatZr/;, ''»''*'''' rity of this great pa«k I thh^k H ™ '^ "'"''S- ' doubted whether it wfllV, """y ""^onaWy be hberatio„ordes"uotirn Z ' ''^'" '^''""' »« the tabK the ttld tfi rSlS"^-"^ ' . centre of com,gotio„. ItTpiZl T ^ -' "' '" * f*t, the sun's greater depression below fh. h^^' ^ -owlS^, the limit of tJretT^ltSlt '°»'' H^dayr=Tfi^ same peculiar crisp- t \ "'Hi u 'i* 342 A WALK. >*t ing or crackling sound, wRich I noted 9n the 2d of February, was heard this morning in every direction. . This sound, as the 'noise accompanying the aurora,' has been attributed by Wrangell and others, ourselves among the rest, to changes of atmospheric terpiperature acting upon the crust of the snow. We heard it most distinctly between seven and eight A.M., when the solar ray should hegin to affect the snow. The mer- cury stood at -27° at five^jising to -19° by nine A.M., and attaining a maximum of -2° by noonday ^^^ But this is not tp be regarded as indicating t^e tempera- ture of the snow surface. The snow, when horizontal, accjording to all my, observations, differs but little in temperature from the atmosphere, owing probably to its obliflue reception of the solar ray^ while the snow- coverings of the hummocks and angular floe-tables, ' which receive the rays at fight angles, show by re- peated trials a niarked auglheet^ion. I ' venture, therefore, to refer this peculiar crisping so6nd to the unequal contraction and dilatation of these unequally presentirjg surfaces, not to a sudden change of atmos- pheric temperature acting upon the snow. " T§.day we saw a couple of icebergs looking up in' the far south. " ' ' "^arcb 27, Thursday. The sun shbtie olit, but not as jfelterd^y; The little cirrous clouds interfere wit|i its brightness, and affect very perceptibly its warmth. To the eye, however, the day is undimmed. "The wind, which we watch closely as the index of our ice-chianges, our leading variety, came out at seven in the evening from the northward ; and with it canie a rise of black frost-smoke to the south, shovring that the old ice-opening had gaped again. I had start- ed before this at half past five, with old Biinn, my f Vii- THE NARWHALS. 343 faithful satellite, for a KrJrrK+ , • low .unshine so^e threemSlt'th ''"f^^ " *« rection. We did not get back «U -^ T*' * ""'^ <«- "Let me nAke a pWure f ^'^'^''^■ faucy ab«,e it, and ySlyfet h",""'""'"' "^ J"* »f ors if he canJ TUeL„7lt "' '" P"* " '"<» «">'■ l«»g, slanting beamro? c^I ' I"'' '""^ ' »<• h« fell upoa old Bli„r»1Xrif '„"'^T''''''''''P«^P'«. of ice which overhun/tle/el Thlr* ''° " ""* hops s mile, wide anH ♦!,. . T'"'? *'«» Per- «. painted by the gl^^ TtJ'^th'^''"' ^^'o f>^ like sLakf ofl °e t^ '^' *■"' """^ "P" Theplacs to whichwehS^^l i "/ «'"«'»■»'•» water, objected to tbree, wWchlo °t ■ "^ '™' *"«• '"'™ otic, -atui enormona, and in^ll" -''"'''• ™ """^ A line of did Joe, e ght fe St' 7.'""" *"* ^^X- n^ up in great efflorescing^ fift^^''""'. '"'^^'• ^ f-»t high ; and from an^fd%tl jft^-^ ""'' *"'"• from the foam of, catai^t ^ ', * '"^'"''' '•''*» -^ ■ ofWae ice, floating rtt!^^""°° *P'"^Pare„t table, ness. Soie of t W & °" ""^bstantial white. thickne,..by JXi^tZtrti"" ''^' '" depth, one side bein» rii„ ?' ? "^ '"•'eto'minate On one of thes^S ^T^^. {^""^ '" *''« »««■ »P*«-point; diitc«r«et ll '1^^.?»' "'''^"^ your brother' and hfs ZmJ^ ,?' *'^'" ''""'''IM narwhals were pirahCr^R ''''.?'"^''' "**'■» porpoises, I could «oa ♦»,„ i ■ - ^***''»P»*til our own fies.*Sea.,breaslM;rreL?S*''^*»«*''!* : ' 'Nr horizontal tails, and the Th te^."^ *?««:-»'*■> ' • ■*ki3f^i:-y*''-i%.A *f * » * i- ."! , H- 344 RETURN TO VESSEL. "March 23, Friday. I visited the western opening of yesterday. The sea has. dwindled to a n.fi|frow [ane. flanked by the heavy hummocks, whose ruptare formed the sides. Although the aperture was so digtant yes-* terday that I could barely see the further banks, here and there xiotting the horizon, it has no\\^ closed with such nice adaptation of its lijie of fracture, that, but for a few yards of lateraJ deviation, this * yesternight sea' would be nothing but a crack in the ice-field. The area of filmy ice that was betwe^^ the edges of the lead had been thrust tinder the flo6, thus aiding the process of re-cementation. These ice-actions are very complicated and various. " Retracing my steps by a long circuit to the south- ward, I came to a spot where, without any apparent axis of fracture (chasm), the ice presented all the phe- nomena of table-hummocksi It was very old and thick,, at least nine feet in solid depth. About a little circle of a hundred yards diameter, it had been thrown up into variously-presenting surfaces, with a marked bear- ing toward a focus of greatest energy and" accumula- tion, presenting an appearance almost eruptive. The crushed fragments exuding and falling over, and roll- ing down toward the level ice, so as to cover it for feet in depth with powdery, granulated rubbish i r KIMAlNa OF A BEJIO. Iv^ ^*?i^ ,\ *■■■■ TBB FLO! IB APaiL. 'i\ CHAPTER XXXVIII. gradual though scareelv 1 ' , Tr** '^ \^y ^"""e of our oxtri Jion t^'jl*"' P™eess>e wo* would come to JtZlZl ,,^"""™«^ *he wi^ "P wind, a. we iSu br„f;^V''l'''r^'''"^- -taction of the floe, deveo^d ; Ll^.''r''^'''^'J *''^' "lore frequently from thlS . ■ ^'™''' ' •""* to amoregeniaUaZde Thefl ''1'""^ """°"^« however, muoh mom 1 ?' themselves were, w« had ;^rw!r "^ ""'' ?"'"'«'' *han any dons of theShlt"^ I'**" «^»«S«™ted impres. pleasurable auiiroitr. ™"'' ^'* "^''^'y Sx.ni my journal may show howT .i, ^**'"'' 23 V. 346 MEASURES OF AeAT. *'Apnl 7, Monday. For the last fortnight the ice has been {)erceptibly moist at tl^e surface. The open crack near our brig.to, the south Jtias now been closed for nearly a fortnight ; yet the &aow which covers it is quite slushy. The trodden paths around our ship ^ are in muddy pulp, adhering to the bj^ts. All this "i , can hardly be the direct influence of the sun upon the surface; for tlie thermometer seldom exceeds +16°, and is more generally below +10° at noonday. Yet i this temperature has an evident influence upon the I status of the ice, increasing its permeability^ and per- mitting some changes analogous to thawing, but which ! I can not explain. May it be that the crystalline • structure of the ice is undergoing some modification, that increases its capilarity, or develops an action like the endosmose and exosmose ! " It is a mere puzzle, of course, \for we have not j datsL enough to make itj, question. Yet there is an- other like it that I can not^*help setting down. Can it be that our thermometers, so notorious in tl^is Po- lar region for their imperfect coincidence with *^ensa- tions of cold,' are equally fkllacious as measures of < absolute incremientsyr decrements of sensible caloric 1 It will not do, I suppose, to admit such a supposition; yet the marvels which come constantly liei^die mi> may almost justify it. You know that I am no heat- maker. Well! my winter trials, as you4nay imagine, have not increased my vital energies. Suppose me, / then, as you knew me when I left New York. For \ the past week I have almost lived an the open air— geniai, soft, bland, and to sensation just cool^enough ,to be pleasantly tonic. I walk moderately, and am in cimiibrtable, globing warmth. I walk over the hummocks or ice floes, and am oppressed with per- ■•. ' •\ THER TRICAL FALLACIES. -^- - 347 spiration and lassitude. This at . + zero^in the shade, and -flio /„%? *^";P«r*t^e of realise it. To-dav thp f h ^^ '"'^ ' ' ' ^ ««» not .hade of the l^^^ to^raTr f^^ ^^'° ^ *^« radiation, +340 in thr«" "^* * '^**^" ^^ side, +130 by my owt o>^ T *^ '^'^'^ P^^^^^^ same circumstances in th71 a ^' ^"^ ""^^^ the sepmed spring.Iike ^Vdd Jf^^^^^ ^7/ Yet the day (B A.M.) from the southett ^e w^h' '"'^ '"^^^^ reviving coolness, although to Th ^ ''"'^*^«^ «^ haps owed our -^sa^f pVa/an^^^^^^^^ th«^ "I hav«j often alluded tn fKic a- «»r feelings and thelecorfS , '"P*""'"^*^'™ read of the same ZlTtA^T'"'"''- ^ """^ reference to contrast for h. f " ™y°«''' '"'"h a «»«, ^day rear/rfn,;t:':^^"*^-™' ftom within by a mvsterin»r j * **^'e warmed tnoFn system oS2r'''^"*"**««™. in. , liebig could n4ke a pif v3"'t- ' *'* oiMn-windowed at the first hrlT^ . ^' ''™ <«' «ft your thermomeW ft t ,"«^-» ''»y «<■ Sl*ing, tbe thermometeTaTz^^.' ™™'" «"°' ■» ''^'l I '^ith "■ipril 10, Thursday, 2 PM Th« ... Wows on with steady enduran™ ' I» '"»t''«Mtei «% a snowstorm „mi~„„' J'j^^Y ««* by • »''«»tX. a ready drift, .houM we hfve 1 1 '' ^ '" ^'^ "^ ^, *«ere ...idoubtediy mZl ft^T^^ '''"''• ^« " "i^-nV 15. The sun perctuf , I "^ """" "^^in. fetions of thaw une^S^f '^ ^''™''^-»'l «he in. *« can against the cha„cr„f the f ^"'"'' "^ ''''' •« separated among the floes when th. "T'" ^'"^ - "mes, we began a trench t„J^f ^""^""^ teeakup Bgoes dow/throuTthe ;„ ''^""1"""*" 'he <"h" ;'- a-going to sti"':etr,t';*'r"'' '""■ •"■'• *at even a slight scratch „„t? /' '•'"h«'nbering i- the line o/fralT ^Ve tiirt "t "'" ''^"^^ eran acfcss the entire a J. Htu ^ " "^^ ""y ™te, ">«=king«t the open water th'^r™* ^'"'"f 'mm- »~ly or ,„ite two X' '"r ^ " T " *^*'™™ of approaching disruptio" M^th »h T '°*"S «» ««' "hether our theorC„r! j ''""*"*''"^^; »nd, «ething t6 thMlrtofkl^M '""^ ^'™ » ««l.ine belongs to tUsal f ^"r*' "^ '"^-cutting '«^a,™dit^ib:tTe7tii;L^^«"'^''»^" "* feet hiffh on fL , ,'^ ^ "P «"»« seven or fating heat TyVX 'l^''^ *'"' '^'«' *^' ' fcrt I am strnU/j^^^l^ y exp am this dep ression. ■ WBfs-i, the icef *» «r''e jE".endosmotic "^ .•f .'v V ■ -r •1» , '■' >.' . ;* ■']'\y'i-'i "■f .1 /■ ■-, •■ M t !■ f/ ' /■ r . .*v.?-. ^ ->■ .>r^ .r.-.!,l . .... -•^ r- •■ - f" >. ■■ ' ' '^ f ',. •• ■ -^ J ~" >" .- • - • ' - .» 4 ' •" ft -„ > . t ' ■ ^^^^Hh^ *■ " f .2.'.;. , ' -'„ :.!..■-»■ .i^i.vl, '„"■;■-'* , ' .■.--.*.,' ' \ ■ 1 ^ b- • « . It ■ ■ n m iii M ■ « f ■T v» / "^ 'A if IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I li^|2£ 12.5 ■^ 1^ |2.2 1.8 L2| i U 1 1.6 Photograpte Sciences Corporation // \. <^ Z- ^ ^', 23 WIST MAIN STftEET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145M (7l6)«7!l-4503 ^^' =-^^^-- '^ \ X t/. . *'* #>. " * ■ - '" - • k ,? • ■* » '^^' •f' . X fefi* {»!;, ^' i^^ %( -^_*^i Aii^ "t-.- 350 A BE.AB. " April 16. To-day the salting continues. The men call it our spring-seed sowing. On board the Rescue, a party are at work preparing for the return to her. The ice-cutting machine proves a failure: "This afternoon a solitary snow-buuting was seen flitting around pur vesself^' The last time we saw this little animal was at Griffith's Island, in the midst of the terrible storin which we were sharing with our English brethren! Goodsir saw the same bird on the 13th, in latitude 54° ; but he was not at "Winter Island till the 27th. Since then, the little family have made . their migratory journey, and are now on their way again to these Polar seas. They breed seldom or never south of 62°, and linger late among the North-, em snows. This poor little wanderer was an estray from his fellows. He paused at the treasures which surrounded our ship, refreshed himself from bur dirt pile, and then flew away again on his weary journey. ''April 17. A memorable day. We put out our cabin lamps, and are henceforward content with day- light, like the rest of the world. Our latitude is 69° 62' ; our longitude, 63° 03'. "This afternoon, while walking deck, this endless deck, with Murdaugh, we discovered a bear walking tranquilly alongside, nearly within gunshot. We have lost so many opportunities by the bustle and ignorance of a universal chase, that I crawled out to attack him alone. To my sorrow, the brute, who had been gazing at the ship dog-fashion and curious, turned tail. He was out of range for my carbine, hut I gave him the ball as he ran in his right hind-quarter. He fell at once, and I thought him secure; l>ut ^ii^ instantly, he turned upon his wounded haunch,^d, very much as a dog does at a bee -s ting, bit spagmodi- ;ii* ^vjyi ^0^ THE BEAR. 361 cAlly atthe wound. For a little while he Spun round, biting the bloody spQt with a short, probing nip; and then, before i could reload my piece, started off at a hmping but japid gait. I mention this movement on account of thfe very curious fact which follows. The animal had found the ball, seized it between the in- cisors, and extracted it. The bullet is now in mv dos. session, distinctly marked by his teeth up to him at the young ice. He stood upon th^brink of the leaa. I was within long shot, and about to make preparations for a more deliberate and certain ajm, when he took to the water, and then to the oppo- site young ice, Bleeding and dropping every few yZn. "Joined by Daly, a bold bull-headed Irishman, I crossed by a circuitous channel, and then took to the young ice myself, and tried to run him down. It was very exciting; and" I fear I was not a« prudent as I ought to have been; for a dense ftg ha^ gathered around us, and the young floe, level as the sea which It coyered, was but two nights old. The bear fell several times; and at la^t, poor fellow, dragged him- . self by his fore feet, trailing his hind quarters over the mcrusted snow so bm to leave a long blaisk imprint stained by blood. "The fog wa« getting more and more dense, and the frail ice-we were now walking, as it were, over the sea itself-bent under us so much, that I, like a prudent mail, ordered a retiirn. This chase cost us at ^ast ten miles of journey, part of it at an Indian trot. We dnpped like men in' a steam bath. '^April 20, Sunday. Daly started with a company of sailors after the wounded bear. They walked, by Jheir ow n^aflQQunt.^Mx^ miles bef^e they found hintr— .4^ !,'♦ 'M««v25«»nS, - — \ -^ 352 THE BEAR. He was unable to retreat — stood at bay ; and the fools were so scared at his '^owjings' and his 'bloody tongue,' that they returned without daring to attack him. "April 21, Moinday. I have more than common cause for thankfulness. A mere accident kept me from starting last night to secure our bear. Had 1 done so, I would probably ^ave spared you reading more of my journal. The ice over which we traveled so carelessly on , Saturday has become, by a sudden movement, a mass of floating rubbish. An open river, broader than the Delaware, is now between the old ice and the nearest part of the new, over which I walked on the 19th more than three miles. " In the walk of this morning, which startled me with the chiange, I saw for the first time a seal upon the ice. This looks very summer-like. He was not accessible to^ our* guns. To-day, for the first time too, the gulls were^flying over the renovated water. Com- ing back we saw fresh bear tracks. HiH|i|a)nderful is the adaptation which enables a quqflKd, to us a^ociated inseparably with a land e3f*stence, thus to inhabit an ice-covered ocean. We ai;e*at least eighty miles from the nearest land, Cape Kater ; and chan- nels innumerstble must intervene between us and terra firma. Yet this majestic animal, dependent upon his own predatory resources alone, and, defying cold as well as hunger, guided by a superb instinct, confides himself to these solitary, unstable ice-fields. " Parry, in his adventurous Polar efibrt, found these animals at the most northern limit of recorded observ- ation. Wrangell had them as companions on his first Asiatic journey over the Polar ocean. Navigators have found them also floating upon berg and floe far f <»'...*• ■■T,^^.,_ ,4 ,,- ,J- THE BEAR. \ 353 out m open sea; and here we havl5.them in a region some seventy miles from the nearest" stahle ice. Thev have seldom, or, as far as my readfcgs go, never-if we except Parry's Spitzbergen experience-been seen so far from land. (In the great majority of ca^es, they 8eem to have be^ accidentally caught and carried adrift on disengaged ice-floes. °' In this way they travel to Iceland; and. it may have been so perhaps with the Spitzbergen instances. Others have been reported ^ T^ft^ from shore in this bay. \ myselF noticed them fifty miles from the Greenland coa^t last July. There is something very fo^d about this tawnv savage; never leaving this utter destitution, this frigid inhospitableness-coupling in May, and bringing forth m Christmas time--a gestation carried on aU of it below zero, more than half of it in Arctic darkness- Imng m perpetual snow, and dependent for life upon a never-ending activity-usfng the frozen water as a raft to traverse the open seas, that the water un- frozen may yield him the means of life. No time for hibernation has this Polar tiger; his Kfe is one great winter." * i > I -\_ 5St-^_ - . CHAPTER XXXIX. ''April 22. The past week has been one of dis- mantling, rubbish-creating, ship-cleaning torment. First, bull's-eyes were inserted in the deck; and the black felt housing, so comfortable in the winter dark- ness, but that now shut out the sunlight like a.great pall, was triced up fore and aft, remaining only amid- ships. Next, the Rescue, with her new bowsprit in, Received her crew and officers. They slept on board last night for the first time, but still walk over the ice to their mea\s. "When I saw the little brig through the darkness, on the afterneon of the 13th of January, moving slowly past us and losing herself in the gloom, while sounds like artillery mingled with the shrieking, howling, and crashing of the ice, as the great ridges rose and fell— and when the India-rubber boat was launched, and the men took their knapsacks, and old Brooks called out to us to get out of the way of the rigging, believing the brig about to topple over— I did not think there would J)e a spring-time for the Rescue. "We are now in the midst of those intestine changes which charaicterize the house-cleanpgs at home. The _ disgusting lamps have done smoking, the hatches are^ f / H THAWING. 355 allowed to look out at the sun, and the galley, with Its perpetual odors, is hanished to the hurricane, house on deck That peculiar interspm^e Between the coal and the 'purser's slops,' sbdark and full of head-bumping beams, exults in the full glare of day. It'll ^^^:^^«^'.«« ^* ^ «^Ued on%ard ship, is three , feet m inches high, by fourteen feet longand seven- teen Voad. On it, forgetful of precedence and rank, our bedding separated from the loose planking by a canvas cot frame, slept Murdaugh, Vreeland, Brooks, DeHaven two cooks, and Dr. Kane. The la^t-named came on board la^t, and found, though he is not a very laxge man, a sufficiently narrow kennel between the companion-ladder and the dinner-table. Our cloth- ing, a« It now welcomed the sun, wa« black With lanM- T'\^^A ^^ff \^^v« fringed, and festooned, and oT h« j; It" '""'"• ^y ^d-coverings, frozeri over the fee m the winter, are bathed with inky wa- Wt ,\f , ' ""^^ '""^^^^'^ to-day; and we go lotbta^L '""^^^-^^ '^'«' ^^^ daylight, and^a "The day was bright ftnd sunny. I walked out to the open water. Marks of commotion, hummock ndges, and chasms. A new feature was the thaw. Heretofore I could stand upon the brink of the cleajilv- Beparated fissures, ahd look down upon the bleak water aa securely a« from a quartz rook. To-day every thinff ai^und (pshaw! tfee snow and ice, I meL; w^ ha^f no thtngs here) w^ wet an(< crumbling. The snow covered deceitfully som6 ver^ dangerous cracks: in one of these I sunk neck de4p. My carbine caught across it, and Holnjes pulled me out. ^JlWewejery anxious to obtain fresh meat for the— *\ ""Ti*^*-"- /'■' /> 356 PROGRESS OF- THE SEASON. invalids. Indeed, our longing for something fresh is itself a disease. To-day a tantalizing seal kept me prostrate upon the slushy ice for an hour and a half. In spite of all my seal-craft, the prime secret of which is patience, I could not draw him into gunshot. With the characteristic curiosity of his tribe, the poor animal would rise breast high to inspect my fur Cap. Pres- • ently a whale spouted, and off he went. "The decks are clear! the barrels stowfed' away below, the fore-peak restored, the old bunks reoccu- pied, and my 'messmates snoozing away as in old times, a fire burning in the stove, and lard lamps flaming away vigorously upon my paper. Paylight still finds its way down the hatch, although it is eleven o'clock. "4pn7 24, Thursday. The snow falls in loose, flaky, home feathers. The decks are wet, and the misty air has the peculiar ground-glass translucency which 1 noticed last summer. When I came up before break- fast to look around^, the theriftometer gave +32°, the familial' temperature of old times : to me it was warm and sultry. " The season of summer, if not now upon us, is close at hand. It seems but yesterday that we hailed the dawning day, and burned our fingers in the frozen mercury ; now we have a summer snow-stonn at 32°. "This little table will show you how stealthily and how rapidly summer has trampled down winter: Mean temperature for week ending March 14th, —23° 94'. •> " " " " " 3l8t, — 9° 07'; gain, U°87'. it II II five days 28th, —16° 90' ; loss 7° 83'. April 4th, —4° 31' ; gain, 12° 39'. " nth, -1-8° 69' ; gain, 12° 90*. " 18th, -i-9° 65' J gain, 0° 65'. " 23d, .^-1*° 66' ; gain, 6° 01'. ^Changes show themselves in the configuration of^ ..■%■■; A FOX. 357 tiie snow s^rface^ .The hummo6#8 seem alreaxly to larLrhrH'' '^ r^^^^*^^- ney are less angl? JNight has gone. I see still at midnight the circum- ern sKy, but I can read at midnight northeast. The snow is melted through the crust I smk up to my knees. Saw tha trac& of a fox very r«^nt. The little fellow had cole from the dteS of the poor wounded bear, now cut off from us by the Mg, some fifteen paces. So long as.his patron could have supplied him with food, the little p^asite wou d not have left him. It may be that the^ear hrper^ ished from inability to hunt for both geese at 9 A.^, wmging their way to the northward, and flymg very low. They were so irregularin thei^ order of aght, that 1 would have taken them fo"d^ks -the Somaterm ; but my messmates say geese "jpnl 26 Saturday. One of the changes^whkh we must expecrhas brought back to us comparative w^ tor. Yesterday gave us a noonday and morning tern pemture of +28o. It i, now (10 P.M.)„-9o ft t^ change is due to a northerly wind It !.„. ki Steadily throughout the day IZlZt^ nortT We hope much from it in the way of drift. Our lat itude wa. 690 .0^ 42'^N ; our longitude, 63o 08 46^ W I A ^Z'^'''^ J^^^Se ha^ given us no new ruptures' S T^ '^T'"* "^ *^« environing fS around us. This may he a good preface to a squeeze • for I can see no water from the m ast.h e«^ ^ ' / 368 NARWHALS. " The stars at midnight remind me of our Lancas- ter Sound noondays. The peculiar zone of fairly blend- ed light, stretching over an amplitude of some seventy degrees — ^the colors red, Indian red, Italian pink, with the yellows ; and then a light cobalt, gradually deep- ening into intense indigo as it reaches the northern horizon. ''April 27, Sunday. The cold increases, and our northwest wind continues. The day's observation gives us 69° 35' 50'', so that we still go south eficour- agingly, though slowly. This big floe is so solid, that some of us are beginning to fear it may resist the press- ure, and not break up in the bay; leaving us to the thaws of summer and the stormy winds of September before our imprisonment ceases. The apprehension has no mirth in it. "Walked to the open water to the northward, near- ly ahead of us. The leads were so frozen over as to bear me. Looking across the level, letting my eyes wander from tussock to tussoclj: of entangled floe-ice, as they had grouped themselves in freezing, I heard the blowing of a narwhal, followed by the peculiar swash of squeezing ice. A short walk showed me some six or eight conical elevations, forced upward upon the recently-formed ice, evidently by a force pro- truding from beneath. While looking at these, the sounds, though seemingly further off", increased to such a degree that I was convinced the ice was in action, and started off" to double a cape of hummocks and see the commotion. Our steward, Morton, a shrewd, ob servant fellow, who was with me, suddenly called out, ' Look here, sir— here !' "Each of these little cones was steaming like the salices or mud-volcanoes of Mexico, the broken ice on KETUKNINO LIGHT. 3S9 top Vibrating and every now and then tnmbline as U by some pulsatory movement below. PreaenUy Tn one concerted diapason, a group of narwhals, impris release, scattenng spray and sfcw in every direction I was not more than three yards from the nTaest <»ne, yet I could see nothing of.the animal eZpl ,ullt^ "Tu '"" "" «""'* *''** ^ «°»W ho'dfy make the steward hear me. It had, moreover, more of vd™ ■ -a distinct and somewhat metallic tone, thrown out unpulsively, and yet with the crescendo and Zinu endo of an expiration. Acoor^ling to the views ofTome systematic natumlists, the cetacea have, strictly speT t^on. The white whale in Wellington Sound whis- Ued whJe submerged and swimming under our W- ^d, in the present singular case, the ejaculatory ch« % ?%?" r '"'«» "te a gigantic bark!t H,. 5 \ ' ^'T,''»y- A little before ten this morning.N ^n wtbV '"T*''°'"^'"''""-™*esnowhr Wedl^H r"^ T™"^' of pearly opaJs and mel- lowed fire displayed about the souttem heavens At nooni watted out in the full glaffventy-five degret .bovethefreezmg-pointonmyfJe^ndaLutriSly Wlow It on my back-a May^iay frolic in the snow^ t On this occasion, 1 heard the white whnL «m.ri„ i»l. I»t,een th. whistle aild U.e S^.f, 2°«n """ "■""— l«°"li" IbeJewUmj. Once oirc.n» r.„ •! ^ On' men compared h lo teMipenings, hcen slartled bv o,. S™« """''"»«.» "J ""Iks oier the «« namLi B«l a^Sg o?.'n°.„'y. ^'f""'"«° 't° "■"I o n iH«i« of . ^ -4 .\ 360 THE BCURVY. ^' -♦'. The crisp covering, over which I used to skim along a few we^ks ago,hrokQ through with me at evety step. It was just strong enough to tantalize and deceive. Nev- er, in the warmest days of summer harvest-time, have I felt the heat so much as on thife Arctic May-day ; and yet no life, no organization carried me back to thp spring-tiriie of reviving nature. Even the tinnitus of the idie ear, that inner droning that sings" to you in the sl^erit sunshine at home, wtfs wanting* Ip |*act, the^i,- lentness was so complete, and the refleqtiom from the snow so excessive, though I had a green rag ^er my face,, that when I got far jiway, and out of sight of ev- ery thing hut the intermijiable ice, it made me feel as if the world I left you in and the world ah^out me^were not exactly parts of the same planet. "Apd so I traveled baclc to my sick men. God bless us ! here are old Blinn, and Carter, and 'Wilson, all on ray list for fainting spells : the same scurvy syn- cope our officers complain of. Captain Griffin faint- ed dead away, and Lovell complains of strange feel- ings. We need fresh food sofefy. I hardly think any organized expedition to these regions was, ever so com- pletely deprived of anti-scorbutio diet as we are at t^ time. " IVEdriight. My old- scurvy symptoms, it may be, that keep me from sleeping. But I write by the light of the sun; and it repily seems to me that there is a something about this persistent day antagonistic to sleep. The idea thrust itself upon me last summer. Thinl^ing the fact oyer afterward, I referred it to hab- it, acting unphilosophioally, as it is apt to do ; and condiided that my sleeplessne^ was not connected - directly with the augmented or continued light. But this is not so. I neither get to sleep so easily nor sleep H-- SNOW blihdiIess. 361 a. long nor, mdeed, do I seem to need*he same quan- fly of sleef a« when we hAl the alternation ofligh't and .tarkness. ft, the other hand, 1 think our long •the same restohrfb, blessing, thongh my journal has jown you that .ur waking energi^ durLg that peri^ od were not bo heavily t«ed a, to>uire more !kl their usual mtermission." ^ The^day irfterilJi, entry super^dai the visitation iTr^^H ^i"*" ^ •^*^'^- Fo"' of the party were attacked severely, myself among the rest so severely, mdeed, 6 to miSke it impossible for 1 t^ wnte and, what was much more inl^ortant in the et tt V ! ''"«'^n,°-to» *Wcl. were made in my journal by the kmdness of a brother oifioer spe^ of oursenst los-field. Though the windsVere generally ftom the m one day we reduced our latitude eighteen mUes Cvf '"' T" *'""' ""'"y " -'ogi'eo «f 16np"ud^: hventy-two jules to the east. The ic^ too, w^ W cojg more mfiltratod, tod the heavy snow-banks ' ta surrounded our ^ssel were saturated with water ' opnng was doing its office. • if '^n =#«- . - A ■/,- COITIMO OUT, MAT, 1651. CHAPTER XL. On the 11th, I was well enough, or imprudent enough, to attempt a seal hunt. Our mean temper- ature had sunk to 19° 5^ and the snow-crust was strong enough to hear. A gale haxl swept away he loose, fleecy drifts of the fortnight hefore, exposmg the familiar surface of the older snow. I walked over it as I did in April. , ^ .v. . "Readhing the seat of the ojJen water to the north- ward, I found it closed hy young ice, an extensive surface frail and unsafe. Ahout a quarter of a mile from the edge of tfie old floe, almost in the centre ol this recent lead, was a seal. The temptations of the flesh were too much for me: I ventured the ice, crawl- ed on my helly, and reached long-shot distance.. The animal thus laboriously stalked was large; a hirsute, bearded fellow, with ^e true plantigrade countenance. All his senses were devoted^ e^^ T. CUTTIIJiO OUT. 363 ment: he wallowed in the sludge, 'stretched out in the sunshine, played with his flippers, lying on his back, much as a^eavy horse does in a skin-loosening roll I rose to fire-and down he went. An unseen hole had received him: a lesson for future occasions. This hole wa^ critically circular, beveled from the under surface, and symmetrically embanked round with the pulpmous material which he had excava- ted from the ice. "Crawling back less actively than I'ha^ approach- ed my carbine arm broke through, oaj^ing my gun and It up to the shoulder. It waJKSry well, aU thmgs considered, that my body did not follow for I wa^^on a very rotten shell, and nearly two miles from the brigs, alone. "Wednesday 12. For the last fortnight, our ice-to, und^r Murdaugh's supervision, has been hard at work To-day we have a trench opened to our gangway "The ice shows the advancing season. It is no ongersphntery and quartz-like, spawling off under the axe in dangerous little chips; but sodden, infil- teated ice, such as we see in our ice-houses. Th« water has got into ite centre, and the crow-bars, after he sawmg out, break it rea4Uy up for hauling upon tje field The process is this: First, we cut two par- aUel tracks, four feet aaunder, through six and five feet ice, with a ten-foot saw; then lozenged diagonals; then stoaps (ropes) a^re passed around the fragment^ and a block and Ime, nautice jigger, or watoh tackle, made last to the bowsprit, hauls the lumps upon the floe where they are broken up by the ice bars. A formi-' dable bamcade of dirty ice, about the size and shape of gneiss buildmg stones, is aJrea, . cut; feet in seal-hide socks or bus- '^^' kins, of Esquimaux fabric and Es- quimaux smell; a pair of crimson ^^^H.^sW woolen mittens, which commenced ^^^^^^ ' then- career aa a neck comforter- ,^ and a little green rag, the snow veil, fluttering over a weather-beaten fa.e : pla«e all this, for want of a be ' ^^fr"! r ^'"^ ^'''^'' ''^^he Arctic squ«^;o„ credfT h ' ^^^^°«^J; ^hich may possibly do^TZ credit, I have never before alluded to the garniture of my outer man. I may a« well teU the truH oLe We are m uncouth, snobby, and withal, shabby-Zk mg set of vaxlets. L'iUustre Bert^and would be a ^ Beau Brummel alongside of us. We are shabby because we have worn out all our flimsy wardrobes' dllnlTi ^'. ^!Tl °"'. «,. 366 COSTUME. ^\ wish some of my soda-water-in-the-morning club friends could see me perspiring over a pair of pants, dorcassing a defunct sock. We do our own sewing, clothing ourselves cap-a-pie ; and it astonishes me, \ looking back upon my dark period of previous igno- \rance, to feel how much I have learned. I wonder \srhether your friend the Philadelphia D'Orsay knows ho\V.to adjust with a ruler and a lamp of soap the seat *^f a jia^ir of breeches ? .>• ' .**" Why, I have even naade discoveries in— I forget the Greek word for i1>-^the art which made George the Fourth so famous. Thus a method, adopted by our mess, of cutting five pair of stockings out of one hammock blanket-^a thing hitherto deemed impossi- ble— is altogether my own. In the abstract or specu- lative part of the professiwj, I claim to be the first who has reduced all vestiture to a primitive form— an in- tegral particle, as it were. I caft't dwell on this mat. ter here : it might, perhaps, be out of pla«e ; perhaps, too, attributed in some degree to that personal vanity almost inseparable from invention. I will tell you, however, that this discovered type, this radical nucleus, is the 'bag.' Thus a bag, or a couple of parallelc gramio planes sewed together, makes the covering of the trunk. Similar bags of scarcely vaiied proportion cover the arms ; ditto the legs ; ditto the hands ; ditto the head : thus going on, bags, bags, bags, even to the fingers ; a cytoblastic operation, having interesting an- alogies ydth the myceUum of the fungus or the sa«. cine vegetation of the confervas. "All this is a digression, perhaps ; yet I am not the first traveler whose breeches have figured in his diary of wonders : you remember the geometrical artist of =^taputa who re-raforoedthe^ wardrobe of Mr. GuUim. Land. 367 But to return to less ambitious toi)ics. The birds, in spite of the increasing wind, fly over in numbers, all seeking the mjrsterious north. What is there at this unreached pole\to attract and sustain such hordes of migratory life? i Since the day before yesterday, the 16th, ^»re can jnaibe. on deck at any ho^r, night or day -th^y are one jnow— without seeing small bodies, rather groups than flocks, on their way to the unknown feeding or breeding grounds. Toward the west the field of a telescope is constantly crossed by these de- tachments. The ducks are now scarjce : in fact, they have been few from the beginning. Geese are seen only m the forenoon and early morning. The guille. mots, also, are not so numerous as they were two days ago; but from to-day we date the reappearance of the Uttle Auk. This delicious little pilgrim is now on his way to his far north breeding grounds. Toward the ^pen lead the groups fly low, sometimes doubtless pausing to refresh. At the water's edge I shot five, the first game of the season ; and most valuable they were to our scurvy men. If this snow blindness per- mits me, I hope to-morrow to prove myself a more lucky sportsman. ''May 19, Monday. Jim Smith, little Jim Smith, reported ' Land.' We have become so accustomed to this great sameness of snow, that it was hard to real- ize at first the magnitude of oiir drift, dur last land was the spectral elevation upreared in the sunset sky of the 9th of February. The land itself must have been eighty miles ofi". Our drift, although now not absolutely fixed by observation, has probably carried us to within forty nules, perhaps thirty, of Cape Searle. Land it certainly is, shadowy, high, snow-covered, and skangfr. It is^iaety^nine days since we looked at tfir^ -» \ 368 CUTTING OUT. lefracted tops^ the Lancaster Bay headlands, our last land. X^ ' ' ^'May 20, Tueschiiy. So ?now-hlind that I can bafe- ly see to Avrite. A gauzy film floats between me and every thing else. I have been walking twelve'miles upon the ice. No sun, but a peculiar misty, opalescent glare. I bagged thirty-three Auks ; but my snow- blindness avenges them." For some days .after this entry my snow-blindness unfitted me for active duty. Several of the officers and men shared the visitation, Captain De Hav^n more severely than any of us. My next quotation from my journal dates of the 24th. ''May 24, Saturday. The ship shows signs of change, grating a little in her icy cradle, and rising at least nine inches forward. The work of removing the ice goes on painfully, but constantly. The blocks are now hoisted with wilch and capstan by a purchase from the fore-yard ; the saw, of course, pioneering. The blocks when taken out resemble great break- water stones, measuring sometimes eight by six feet. "Thus far, by persevering labor, we have cut a four- feet wide trench to our starboard gangway, a httle vacant pool of six yards by three in our bows, and a second ilench now reaching amidships oi^ our fore- chains. " The difference of level between the deck at our bows and stern is still five feet three inches. It is proposed to launch the brig, as it were, from her ice- ways. To this purpose a screw jack is to be appUed aft, and strong purchases on the ice ahead. The ex- periment will take place this afternoon. We have now been ^ve months and a half, since the seventh ^trf December, living oa an inclined plane of about ona, foot in sixteen. ( >■" ARCTIC VOYAGERS. 3'69 «10 KM. The effort failed, as no doubt it ouglrt to have done: we must wait for the:great break up to give us an even keel. From the liia^t-head we can see encroachments all around. The plains, oVer which I chafed bear and shot at Auks, are now wa. er. The floe IS reduced to its old winter dimensions, three mJes in one diameter, five in the other. We have not yet reached the narrow passage; and the wmd, now from the southward, seems to be holding us bac^. Strange a« it sounds, we are in hopes of a • break-up at Cape Walsingham. =• • "^Tl^/ ^Z^^^' ^^^^^"^ * P^^M gale; drift unpenetrable By some providential interferenie the wmd returned la«t night to its old quarter, the north- west, a direction corresponding with the trend of the shore. It IS undoubtedly driving us fa^fto the south- ward, and is, of all quarters, that most favorable to a , passage without disruptibn. Once past Cape Walsing- ham the expajsioi| of the bay is sudden and extensive. 1^ then our floe ifaaintains its integrity through the strait, the rehef from pressure may ^llow us to con- tinue our drifting journey. So at least we argue. • . And just so. It may be, others have argued before us about chances of escape that never came: there IS a cycle even in the history of adventure. It makes me sad sometimes when I think of the fruitless la. bors of the men who in the very olden times bar- assed themselves with these perplexing sea«. There have been Sir John Franklins before, and searchers too, who m searching shared the fate of those th^v sought after. It is good food for thought^ere, whSe 1 Mn of and among them, to recall the heatt-burnings and the failures, the famishings and the frepzings, the Q ent, unreconted transitTof' y* Arctic voy^eres.' ! •»■ 370 ARCTIC VOYAGERS. " Mount Raleigh, named by sturdy old John Davis * a brave mount, the cliffes w^hereof were as orient as golde,' shows itself stUl, not so glittering as he saw it two hundred and sixty-five years ago, but a 'brave mount' notwithstanding. No Christian eyes have ever gazed in May time on it^ ice-defended slope, ex- cept our own. Yet there it stands, as imperishable as the name it bears. « I could fill my journal with the little histories of this very shore. The Cape of God's Mercy is ahead of us to the west, as it was ahead of the man who named it. The Meta Incognita, further on, is still as unknown as in the days of Frobisher. We have passed, by the inevitable coercion of ice, from the highest regions of Arctic exploration, the lands of Parry, and Ross, and Franklin, to the lowest, the seats of the early search for Cathay, th6 lands of Cabot, and Davis, and Baffin, the gt&ye's of Cortereal, and G^bert, and Hudson— all seekers after shadows. Men still seek Cathay.''' 'N^^ r^i«SP.-'^^H^ -:\- =ss 372 DRIFT. «' May 27 The land is very near to the eye ; but in these regions we have learned to distrust ocular meas- urements of distance. Though \»re see every wnnkle even to the crows' feet, on the cheeks of Mount Ra- leigh, I remember last year, on the west coast of Green, land, we saw Almost under our nose land that was thirty.five miles ofl^ A party from the Rescue meas- ured a' base upon the ice to-day, and attempted trig- onometrical measurements with sextant angles. They make Cape Walsingham seven miles distant, and the height of the peak at the cape fifteen hundred feet. Our observation places us in latitude 66° 42^ 40^; our longitude by time sights, at 5h. 43m. P.M., was %^^ 54' According to the Admiralty chart, this plants us high and.dry among the mountains of Cape Walsing. *nt is evident that our rate of drift has increased. The northwest winds carried us forward eight miles a day while near the strait-a speed only equaled in a few of the early days of our escape from Lancaster Sound. What has become of all the ice that used to be intervening between us and the shore? At one time we had a distance of ninety miles : we are now close upon the coast. What has become of it ? If it moves at the same r^aa we do, why have we no squeezing and commotion al^is narrow strait ? Can it be that the ice to the Westward of us has been more or less fixed to the^lan^ floe, and that we have been drifting down in a race-course, as it were, an ice-nver whose banks were this same shore ice ? Or is it, aa Murdaugh suggests, "that the in-shore currenl^, more rapid, have carried down the in-shore ice before uS, thus widening the pathway for us? It is certainly ve ry pu zzUng to^flnd ourselves, at the narrowest j/ REFRACTION. 373 pas«Y, dose into the W; ^j „„ cortimotiin no eacapo from our .mpnsoning, but-thankfully I say rt-proteohng fl«,, „« might ,oon bo moving in opel "May 28, Wednosday. The f«=t of the dayis^he station of our iloo. I„ epite of its irregularLpe it has rotated a complete circle within thf pa.t tZi^ four hours. It ,s still turning at the same rate, whed- mg us down'along the in-shore fields. The ^«=„e early this morning, was hetweeS>us and theird Strange tht^ no rapture takes place i ™,r^1i; ''';i7^"^f5'•' ' '"'™ J"'* !-*« witnessing one of the oddest of Arctic freaks. We were ail of m Zfr^R"; -T"^ r *° ^^g-"* Mentations on Mount Kaleigh, as the floe was rolling out vessels otS^T ^T""^ Wa'-gham, when aTfiv oclock in the aftefnoon-the thermometer at 27° the barometer at 30.31, and the atmosphere of the usnal peariy opa^escsnce-the captain, sweeping shoterri . welbdefined figure projecW in front of it, ev dent - ly animated «id moving. Murdaugh, WkiW afte^ Wd, declared it 'a man.' I saw it next, I largl' MZa^riSwr? """ " •'""*■ «*n>otionles^ Murdaugh took the gl«s again, and holding it to his ,r;2?™ y. •"«''""'«'' '« ■n»™s:' -it sj^eads ou ifa arms:" It IS a gigantic bird!' "The hummock wa« within a mile of us The wonJs were hardly uttered before the object had dis appeared arid the white snow.wa. without a spect ldisc««u.n followed. The si.e made us at on^ii^ >' ^ ,.^ks 374 A BEAB KILLED. jpct the bird idea: the shape, too, was that of a cloaki*^ covered man; the nwotion, as if he had opened his mantle-covered arms. Convinced that it was a hii- man being, an Esquimaux astray upon the ice, Mur- daugh and myself started oflF, nearing the hummock, with hearts full of expectation. The traces on the soft snow would soon solve the mystery, and remove our only doubt, whether the Rescues might not be. playing us a tridjt. , ^ » Whatever it was, it either did not perceive us &p. preaching, or was willing to avoid us ; for it kept it-' self hidden behind a crag. Reaching, however, the spot where it had stood, we found traces, coprolitic and recent, of a bird ; footprints, as a learned professor would have said, of certain familiar animal processes, exaggerated and dignified by those of refraction. ^^On returning to the brig, the watchers told us. that we had been o»|ii4ves curiously distorted; and that, when perched 6lS the little icy crag we had gone to scrutinize, we lengthened vertically into^igantic forms, the position of the bird, probably a glaucous^J^ gull, had been breast toward the brig: a vertical en- - largement, with the white body and moving wings, explained the phenomenifti. " The 'Rescues' had a very large bear boverihg around them all this morning. . At one P.M. We came within reach of a carefuUy-prepared a^^fej^®^®!^" ing four out of a haJ|4ozen balls, a n'M^^^ in- creased to nine. You may have ^^^^SSSf^^t^' perb tenacity of life of this beast, whenTlmi yoiTthat he ran, thus perforated, with his skull broken and his shoulder shivered, tie even attempted a charge, ut- inffa hissing sound, ejaculated by sudden impulse,- f ^^Mbwfeg of a whalej'^to use Capt ain Griffin's / I' HABITS OP:a SEa*L. 375 the »g5jj^tricke„° hl^*- ^'"'* " 8'»"o»« feed for ■^- I'^efiMttime.wehadaTide.madeevi^' :- tQ«.»th, against the sun. bat n^ Zu^^w"" """1 in number, and verv oftiitinna w ^"^X are lew ja^ariaM^^eleotJo^rrforThe-tlli:^^^^ they-never leave it more ihan a few len^h/ ThJ e^ie a p^^:7"" ""! 'K,*^^-^ Poking t^^t " J^ first act of a seal, after emanrin^ ;,, . ^ . ™nrey of , his limited horiz«r fS ^uZ"! ::i::.tSdorrTh*"«^^^^""^- ^ > 376 SEAL HUNTING. ( *% allied to sweeping ; brushing nervously, as if either to rub something from himself or from beneath him. Then comes a complete series of attitudes, stretchmg, collapsing, curling, wagging; then a luxurious, bask- ving rest, with his face toward the sun and his tail to his hole. Presently he waddles oflF about two of his own awkward lengths from his retreat, and begins to roll over and over, pawing in the most ludicrous man- ner into the empty air, stretching and rubbing his glossy hide like a horse. He then recommences his vigil, basking in the sun with uneasy alertness for hours. At the slightest advance, up goes the prymg head. One searching glance ; and, wheeling on his tail as on a pivot, he is at his hole, and descends head foremost. «' I have watched so many without success, that to- night I determined to try the Esquimaux plan— pa- tience and a snow-screen. This latter, the easier por- tion of the fonnula, I have just returned from complet- ing ; it was a mile's walk and an hour's snow-shovel- ing.' The ot^er, the patience, I attempt to-morrow, ' squat like a toad' on the ice for an unknown series Of hours, With the sun blistering my nose, and bUnk- ing my eyes the while ; a sort of sport so much Uke fishing, that it ought to be reserved for the Piscators ofour Schuylkill Club. " The walk over the snow to-night was very delight- ful. The opalescence, so painful to the eyes, had giv- en place to a clear atmosphere ; and the low sun was full of rich coloring. Land, too, that pleasing repre- sentative of the world we are cut off from, was refract- ed into grotesque knolls and long spires. " The surface of the floes shows more and more the - Uiawing influenee^ d^oar^Miai BOW half as high, atme^ >« '--v- INFILTRATION OP SALT WATER. 377 ridian as in the torrid 7nn« i Tk« • «. . fi^H«.ir «roo ^'' "'"***. 2:one! The immediate surface to.day wa^ often entire, though we plunged ahntS knee-deep m water hfilnur ,•<• an.* i'*"^K«" aunost derstend wheH tl^yoTthat ZT" ^"^ ^'^'^^ ""■ Mill a«v« f«,^ ^ ^* *"® thermometer in the sun gave, for four successive hours to-dav fl"^moo« v nearlv 80° Thix oi,-<« xi. """ ro-aay, a mean of «irough which it has descended 0.,r r^L 7 ^ oflate has varied buUUtletwrn^a^^S 27° for any twenty-four hours. "The infiltration of saline water through the ice a.. mis the process of disintegration. The waflr fl a by surface or sun thaw if hv fhl J^^^.^**«'/o"ned action whir-h T »^i T^' ^ *^® peculiar endcimitic aouon which I believe I have mentioned elsewhere at once rendered salt, as was evident froni Baum^' hydrometers and the test of the nitrate ofTver The surface crust bore me readily this eveninrat a tl ^^e of 210 ^ 190, ,i,4^, evS; Aw Beneatii for two inches, it was crisp and fresh I* ' j^ '' ^"^''•' °"**^i^ ^^refully with my winife S^r' *T t *?^ ^^^^ *^«l^«' salt-water pa«te On he other hand, all my observations, and?h^^e made a great many, prove to me Uiat oo d, if inteZ enough, wiU, by its unaided action, indepenctent o7 Ztr"' "''If *^^^*' ^«P^"di"«f ^siS or even The drift i» wmei^artolhe ea8twaTd:^^The~ ^w*i'--tH- v-:^*^.^.-.'.., ..;^ 378 SUMMARY. tables were heaping up actively, and the chewing process of demolition was in full energy among them. I have some hope that the action may extend itself to the core of our veteran flob-oircle ; but for the present it is confined to those peripheral adjuncts that have grown up around it in more recent freezings. A bird's- eye view from the mast-head, corrected by my walks, enables me to map out its present shape with consid- erable accuracy." The " month of roses" closed on us without ad- venture ; but its last ten days were full of monitory changes. The increased temperature had been visibly acting upon the ice, softening down its rough angles, ^ and reducing bowlders to mere knobs on the surface; its weary monotony becoming every day only more disgusting. From the 1st to the 19th we had drifted almost a hundred miles, and had been expecting daily to make the eastern shore, when land was reported ahead. ,JIfe proved to be the Highlands around Cape Searle,'^about thirty-five miles ofl". It was the first inbreak upon our desolate circle of ice and water that we had experienced in ninety-nine days. The hundredth gave us a complete range of dreary, snow-covered hills ; but to men whose last rec oUections of terra firma were connected wjth the re- fracted spectres that followed us eighty miles from shore, just one hundred days since, the solid certainty of mountain ridges was inexpressibly grateful. We studied their phases, as we flrew nearer to them, with an intentness which would have been ludicrous under different circumstances : every cranny, every wrinkle spoke to us of movement, of a relation with the shut- out world. Our drift which brought us thisblesaed "^netywas favored by an unusual prevalence of uu^th- i,.: , ,. :™^-..»— il.«»^.»vi^^— • VP"V SUMMARY. 379 westerly winds. We ma4e in the t^irty-one dav« nf n«)idtran.«-.„ !f expenenomg at tUs time the ^n'+7o M' r5,*J "'"^'^ ■»""«•. April, had oeen +7° 96'; that of IJay was 20= 22'_a different of newly twelve depee,. At the same time, there w« ^i'J^f ^^ ""^ ^^' '"ok ^0 ^ not known under the deep, perpetual frosts of winter. Coldth^ .»en.od a tangible, palpable something, whioh-we wuu While warmth, a. an opposite condition, wa. leaUzo. be and apparent. Bnt here, in temperkture. S at some honrs were really oppressing 60= t. aTo in the Btth, and with a Polar altitude of 4So one half tl^ equatori-U maximum, we had the anomalyrfaMl jMomfort from cold. I know that hyBTomeMT™!^ i^ons »d extreme daUy fluctuations KrCnZi eter expl«j much of this; but it wa, impo»iibrfor De a physiologjoal cause more powerful than either. bnds. They were most welcome visitors. Crowds of htt e snowbird, {Embem. and P&cfropWWift ™w"1:^"i; '"^ '^'^- -"o "^aoted iv the garbage which the thaw had reproduced around u. tfieif unexpected store-house. Some of the larger 380 SUMMARY. birds, too, were with us, returning to the mystenous North ; the anatinae, represented by the eiders {Soma- teria), followed by two of the uria genus, the grylle and the alke. We recognised the latter as oUr Uttle fat friend of last summer, and gave him treatment ac^ cordmgly. I shot thirty-three in one day, which my mess-mates made up to sixty. The characteristic disease of May waa the snow- bUndness, severe and acute, leaving with some of us a disturbed, uncertain state of vision far from pleasmg. The remedy most eflfective was darkness. A disk of hard wood, with a simple slit, admitting a narrow pen- . cil of light, we found a better protection than the gp^. gle or colored lens ; the increased sensibUity of the ret- ina seeming to require a diminution of the quantity rather than a modification of the character of the ray. The slightest automatic movement varied, of course, the sentient surface aflfected by the impression. ••».,. M HDMIIOCK rORMIO MAIOR S3, 1831. CHAPTER XLH. As we ne^red the narrow Straits of Davis, our ex- pectations of disruption and liberation underwent many changes. All our ipasonings seemed to be negatived by the results. We were the illustration of powerless ignorance; what we hoped for one day, we congratu- lated ourselves that we had escaped the next. We were rotating on the disk of a great wheel, with a rag. ged and constantly changing periphery. Our position on this was eccentric, and our rate of motion variable, as the obstructions which our ice-field encountered made it revolve on one or another axis. We felt that our prison could not retain its integrity much longer against the diversified agencies that were assailing it: beyond this we scarcely framed a conjecture. It was evident that other changes more constant, and probably more effective than those of disruption, were taking pla<5e in the great plain around us. The s nowy erast b e gan t o ytdd-nader mt feetfirad thr^ yiia^i^i '4-41 L : 38 REVIEW. hummock ridges, which had so long hristled in every <^ection, were losing their sharpness or hending hefore tne sunshines We had seen this great field grow up from the hosom of the ocean; and, traveling hack in /memory, it seBmed hut a few days since our sails 'swelled useless against the mast, as this ominous and unyielding .Carrier closed us in. What hetter type can we have of the universal prin- ciple of change than this solid immensity of varied ice, only three months ago a quiet liquid sea, and now resolving itself, under the resistless action of natural causes, into its normal element! The destructive and conservative energies, those great powers of displace- ment and renewal which sustain the equilihrium of the glohe, may he seen, in an humhle yet impressive scale, in the formation, growth, increase, degradation, and departure of this icy terra.firma. • The geological analogies eochihited hy the changes in the configura- tion of this pack — changes involving the nohlest dy- namic forces, as well as thos^ slower actions now oper- • ating upon the crust of our iearth— woy^d form a vol- ume for the comprehensive record of Von Buch or Mur- ohison. Instead of sea aud land, the two great reciprocat- ing agents and subjects of geological change, if for a moment you read sea and ice, hosts of analogies come crowding upon you, which, even to an unedu- cated observer like myself, assitnilate the. theoretical genesis of the one to the practical eye-seen growth of the other. The conversion of sea into ice, and of ice to sea, the excavation of valleys, the degradation of hills, the transfer of materialrto other unkindred sur- faces, the transition from dry ice-fields to marshes im- -pregnated with salt^»the Miomalous influences of cur. ^ a fj. ,1^ i FORMINO ICE. -^3' rents and winds, and the final depravation of crystal- line structure, Are maxshaled with forces of upheaval and depression the synclinal and aiiticlinal axes which chaxaxjterize the splendid dynamics of ice in motion. I intended, when I hegan to arrange this narra- tive to ofier my ice-notes as a contribution to the Smithsonian pubhcations. But a new duty is before Tat T b T^ u It' ^"^ '' "^^ P«^*^^P« ^« -« ^vell that I should hold them ba^k, till the experience of a northern winter or two shall have enabled me to test the conclusions which they point to. For the present I content myself with a mere resume. My immedi- ate subject IS the growth of the pack On the twelfth of September, while attempting with a free top-gallant breeze to make our way to the east, the thermometer indicating a mean daily tern- perature of +14° or 18° below tjie freezing point, the sea was observed to gradually thicken around us. A paaty sludge, formed of crystals broken up by the ac- tion of the waves, began to resolve itself into those polyhedral plajes described by Scoresby under the name ol pancake ice. •LDDal. 'AHCAn. ••k*."*- As the wind moreased, these were roUed into act- ual spheroids ; their forces being regulated by the J^LEkck^centrol^uaUy compressed spheres, giv^ ^'-v 'i ' 384 HEVIEW. ing rise to a rudely pentagonal arrangement not un- like a tesselated pavement. To such an extent had this increased by the night of the 13th, that we lost all power of progress. When morning opened around us, we found our- selves in the midst of a great area of five-sided tiles, marked at their lines of juAction by a slightly uplift- ed ridge : this would already bear a man. From this moment unl^ the date of our escape, nine months after, our sails were without use; and our move, ments, as well as our destinies, were regulated by our ice-jailer. By the, 20th of October, the floe un- mediately about us waa twenty inches thick; and it had so interlocked iteelf with other ice-fields of differ- ent diameters, that to the eye it became a part of a great plain, terminated only by the headlands of the shores, and a narrow water-channel which separated =="^n8 Iromtfaem . — ^:= ~\. HUMMOCKINQ. 38S f to mas8 infiltrated with Jt i . ^'?™' 'P'"?''' such that it c^^MeTa'dtblS .^1'"^''"^ under pressure, which .„„M oth:^!*:;!*™™ ness, and a spUntel 1^ ^ °^°'* ^^t^ hard- h»ri;„ntal Ze Zill " "* "^'" »"«'«' *« '*» Pletely fre.r»d. wht CteZil^ ^^trl'^ T' gave not the alijhtert discoloratton "'™''' millTdtrVr*^'?""^ "' " »«» «"« «f twelve ■mles a day, throogh a channel compressed hv fk! salient projection of the slinro t\. 7^™?"®'*'' "y the ofouri^isruptionso™' The """^ '■'"^'" detraction ™' "' ""* " '''^ »f immediate 1 ., — '■""•**ooo auu iniies in diAmA "*»* *ti»».arginal fines. The pure^ 386 EEVIEW. surface of the snow lemttins unohanged.^ Presently, rthfn some particular zone, determined by cause, ^ t^ be ente«d into here, you see a shght cnmping, ?dlowed by a dotted or Petersham-doth appearance on tl« ice This U foUovre^ again very rapidly by a multitude of taahsverse ridges or *»™; J.*"* "T,,^' the first time you become conscious of a sharp, hum. ^"^cttlttrrover the level fl^^oN minute ago-and you will see that on each «de of Z there is a descent, and that the descendin^8«r. ]Z is curved. The snow is in motum an4.««all toures fly over it in every direction, but pnncpaMy pLallel tithe lines of pressure. The noises now W Lme mingled with reports, not loud butpro'^IJ. like breaking the crust of a giant loaf of bread Sud. denly the liies of snow-fiSsures op^n mto wedge-hke diasL Now run for it, withou^ppmg to qu^ t^; you have been standing airthi, time m the very centre of a forming hummock. •^ As you run, loud explosions, accompanied by a wMrring as of spinningiennies, and a whmmg a^^^ young puppies, bring you up; and^ming, yon we^ ■l^' HUMMOCKINO. 387 ^.Si,~ the floe slowly part in the middle, the lines of pre- viou# marked Wres rise up into gigantic tables. Tables of one 8idt^of,po8e those of the otheV, and th^ margins of the floes from which they have arisen are pressing on with renewed energies to fill up the par- tal vacancy. Tables become more and more perpen- diculax; the edges beneath meet again, grind, fight reax tiiemselves mto fresh tebles, thrusting over those firsfr formed. New cracks ren^ the level ice. New curves fall mto tahular masses; ajid thu^ in a few minutes the tranquil surface of frozen snow is cSver- ed by fra^ent^jy barriers, grander and more massive than the Pharaomc rubbish of the Ramesium Difierences of resistance along the margin of the floes, owing to irregularities in their lines of junction, give, of course, every irregularity conceivable to this action;* a.id it is only after it ha^ continued suffi. ciently long to break all protruding edges, that the axis of the hummock approximates io a right line My sections exhibit great diversity in this; but we learned, by the direction of tlie forceg and the chara«. 388 REVIEW. ter of our floes, to determine pretty accurately before- hand the type of the Approa«3|ing l^uijimock. SometimeV a hummock is as coWete* jumble of confused tables ^as if Titans Had lieen emptying rub- bish caxts of marble upon the flo^. , ^^^^^^' ^H are so crumbled by the excessive ^on. that they « like crushed sugaf, and; again, I have seen neatly, squared blocks^piled regularly ohe. above the other in a Cyclopean wall. ^ These pressures sometimes develop grotesque and singular forms. . One of the most simple, an arch, of ice four feet in thickness, bridging a fissiire is pictare^ ht^aUy.in a fonner" ^h^Efe^ Jt^^ ^LTr daugh, pointed out to me two nawow tahles forffiing ATMOSPHEBIC DEPOSITS. 389 the gable.end.and the roof of a house. I am sorrv I have lost the sketch. I made of them Onoe well on in November, while walking toward Barlows Inlet with old Blinn, we came to a cross perched on.a«,u„ded dune, and sonorous whenstruck ; «d I remember, long after day had returned to us unng some of my waJks «po„ the floes,^mihg to a httle grave-yard of ice-tablets. They needed L in! MTiption to record that winter had been Th« tw„ , etches that follow are of one of these monumenr fteseoonddrawing shows the actipu of gravity on the bl^k^rsomeweeksofex^ure. ItfasmJre^t It wil readily be seen that these actions, renew. «i at intervals throughout many months, wZTZ »aWly ehange the topography of our i e "unt^ h fact although I have compared the primary aSd elemental forms of ea«h floe ^ parts of a SaW paTement, our great ice-field w^ one vlaT^^ »a confused mosaicwork. composed of itfieSs™' Afferent ag^ and thicknesses, and marked at thrir iir'"" "' """'^ "''"' of cually-varying »ms m these Arctic regions to take the pla^ of a ™!«jl??ctJU«cli«teli \ 390 REVIEW. snows, which, at low temperatures and in times of high wind, were h^dly distinguishable from the driftinga of former snow-fields. It was not until our clo^ng month, with one exception, that the snow fell in the familiar flakes of home. All these tended to modify the aspect of our surface, rounding oflf edges, and fill. ing up interstitial cavities ; while those frozen vesicles, with modifications of the hexagon form, which I have alluded to as accompanying our parheUa« and coronal phenomena, also contributed their share. Thus, then, we continued driflmg toward the south, sharing the movements of the icy system of which we were the centre, and only conscious of motion by the observation of that greater system which shone out above us. With March came a renewal of the ice- openings, and animal life, so long suspended, came back to us. The first bird seen was a diver (C. Sep. tentrionalis), still in his winter plumage. On the same day we saw several seal. As the openings increased to rivers, and began to permeate the great pack more thoroughly, the narwhal and beluga, an4, in two in- stances, the mysticetus, or right whale of the whalers, began to resort to them. The Laridae, represented by the ivory, kittiwake, and the Burgomaster gulls, screamed over the^floes. Our old friends, the moUe- mokes, fed once inore upon the garbage around the vessels. The predatory jager (Lestris parasitica) soon joined them. Bears stalked about in numbers, a«com. panied by their satellites, the white foxes. I have spoken of the first renewal of migratory lif?, as seen in that famiUar Uttle frijigUUde, the snow- bird. In company with the Plectrophanes, they crowd- — €d Mound otg^bips^ f^ t a very gaily, day ; but it waa^ only in the second week of May that the great W ! •• iV .,.W. Ai>«C&t 1 """^i^ INPILTIATIOK 0? SALT. 391 L3t .'°*"y '"S*"- The air was checkered «. tlirust even tlurty feet. Our great pack probably extended ma contiguous Une from Lancaster So Jd toCape W.Jsmgham,w.th abreadth of not less than two hu^S! ., J- iTw i'"»'«*°K *» »'»«'ve the compensations bv which Nature got rid of this vast accumulation. The «mple effect, of solar heat, whether from the atn^^s! phere above or the heated currents below, do not sat ^ta ml""'", *J: '""""'«°" °f *>■" '- Chan^^ m It, mechanical straoture evidently took place ore- P«mg the way for the subsequent 'actions' o^haw My attention was first called to this fact by hearing ftrou^h my friend, Ueutenant Brown, that L o^l ^ry of Sir James Bos, at Leopold Island was moist »«d saggy, while ttie outsid, ice remained dry and to. In the month of May, while our mean temper, .tore was still below the freezing point, I noticed, dur- ZrhL"^ °™; '^ '"•"»* '^'^ snrface-koe , »toh had been during the winter hard and fresh begM to yield under me as I walked, and gave a decidedly bractuh taste to the palate. The ice, too, m many case, lost ite tenacity and resUtance. Ou; coal, w hich had b een thrown out loosely on it, so de^ |H»»ed Uie Uttie area around it. ii to be surmund^ i; r,*."*»w.*»..^„ . — ».-v-v* -''-^.7f$*'^ 392 REVIEW. by water; and some of the larger hummocks, whose colossal blocks had attracted my attention during the winter, were now wet and marshy to approach. Upon excavating blocks of ice with the saw and pickaxe, it was found, in many case^, to have lost its well-con- densed character. It was divided by vertical lines into prisms, which stood prominently out, and ran continuously from the watery to the atmospheric sur- face, with an arrangement almost basaltic* Struck by this circumstance, I was led to test the ice of different localities by both the Marcet's bottle and the nitrate of silver, and discovered that the floes, which had formed in midwinter at temperatures be- low -30, were still fresh and pure, while the floes of slower growth, or of the early and late portions of the season, were distinctly salin«. Indeed, ice which only two months before I had eaten with pleasure, was now so salt that the very snow which covered it was no longer drinkable. This is a subject well worthy of future examina. tion. The dissolution of the great ice-fields of the Polar regions bears upon physical questions of the highest importance; and it really seems to me thai; changes, independent of expansion and contraction, must take place in the moleoulaf oondition of the ic« at temperatures greatly below the freezing point. Another element in the disintegration of the floes, of which this was but a preliminary process, struck me forcibly a little later in the season. The invasion of the capillary struotnre of the ice by salt water from below would act, both chemically and mechanically in destroying its struotore ; but I am led to believe • I am happy to find Unes mj retani. that this baaaltio arrangement of the ^rBero nWtew t^w by Si r John RiehaBleeB. - — - =y X" .*-.^^,.— -^^y-v.*.^-. -''-^*i** V4I1IED STUttCTCRE OP ploEs. 393 lorces allied to endoemosis are called into olav i ice Wh«r. H,^ . dependent portions of our i;ri™a^L'rn7erntTttT"rH r*«' ofde..„„tionwenrTwl'trdeepd:rAf ftough our mean temperature was greaUy beW tte" would renderMI „ nn'^tfe"'' f TiVT ''''* """y' thrust nearly throu^hThTi^^ J ,,^;t^-;^,^^^^ tions, except that of a membraneous interspace which .i ., J- • "'"*> *"<• an mtermediate structn™ sboundmg m capillary ducts "structure • The presenting face of the hummocks, approaching .ari^lt to i "*''"'° "^' "^'•'^ »»" i ""'l thei^ aaes begin to thaw m oonsequencff. while «.« ™™ horizontal floe, remam unchanled : anlL ft«^ h"? ta thev'l"''""'*""' ""'' "f P-"~ent: »ZltI "tr" P'T"^ *» Income those of first W:m cemrti'r "^ ""'* ""^"^ ^-« '-^ Before pawing from these causes of disinteirratioi, »d destouction in the p«,k, I would refer^ata to he feet whioh I have mentioned already of U. LL . SS'Il°:r^°""'^ oftoblesJf V J„^£! ^«raiWerre;^en subjected to mechanical ptessuT 28 394 REVIEW. whether by the action of currents and winds, or of pro- truding headlands, must present throughout its entire area a varying momentum and resistance. ^This, in connectibn with the fact of the hummock ridges or lines of junction being the soonest to give way, will explain the facility with which this great pa«k yields to assailing forces from without. »> I believe I have adverted already to another most interesting and beautiful provision of nature to prevent the reconsolidation of the ice after it has been once broken up during the seasons of thaw. Fragmentary masses, which were fast cemented^ring tl|e winter to the under surface of the floe, now rise through the water, interposing themselves between the opening tables, and acting as checks or wedges to jreVent their reapposition and cementation. By such impressive compensations d^les i^ature ef- 'fect the eiluUibrium of the year. In a short ftjid irreg- ularly.graduated season, this great ice-raft, thigrowth of nine months of congelation, is returned to ^ater by means almost independent of thaw, and resilmes its office of tempering the climates of the distant south. As the views I have detaUed in this chapter^ of the causes which effect the final disintegration of the pack . may perhaps be novel, I venture to recite them in the form of a summary. First. Changes in the ^^loleoular condition <>f the ice at temperatures below the freezing point, ^ving rise to infiltration of salt water and rapid decoiftpQsi. tion of the ice in consequence. Second. A greater intensity of this action, oinng to the infraposition and superposition of two fluids of diffe ring denaities, in ducing a rapid circulation a|i'-» to endosmosis. -II SUMMARY. 395 Third. The facile disruption induced by transmit- ted forces throughout a plain of varying diameter and resistance. Fourth. The softenings Bown of humrfiock ridges the Imes of previous junction. * Fifth. The interposition of floating fragments or calves, preventing their reconsolidation. . A BRODBD BIBa. ' r TOPOOBAPHT OF THB FLOE, MAY 31. , B D Shorter diameter, SJ mue«. t" wlLT' C C. Longer diameter, 5i mUe.. S ' Di-tance bet^-'the ve«el., MO yanU. \ CHAPTER XLin, ^ ^'Jnne %. June opens on us warm. Our mea'n tern- pe'ratui^ to-day ha. been above the freezing pom , 34 our lo^^est only 29° ; and at 11 this mormng it ro to 40° The snow-birds increase in numbers and m confidence. It is delightful to hear their sweet jar- ffon They alight on the decks, and come unhesitat- fZy to ol ve^ feet. These dear litt e Fringilhdes have evidently never visited Christian lands. ^'June 3. The day misty and obscure: no land in sight from aloft; and no change apparent m the floe. But we nbtice a distinct undulation m the ice tren h- es alongside, caused probably by some propagated ==-«well* ^walked out at night between 9 an^ irWocTir c.'V, ^\. THE BREAK-UP. 397 search Of open water. We had the full light of dav bat mthout rts oppressive glare. The thWed eondl' ton of the marginal ice made the walk difficultand , top of ahummock, we could see the bayroliine itsi^ most summer waves close under our view ifwltv Uke our cup of Tantalus j we axe never to rea«h it ^^ the sLeh. we ZZZl:^l^ - "June 4. Yesterday over again. But the water is <»nung nearer us. As we stand on deck, we ersee the black and open channel-way „n ever^ side of us except ^ff our port quarter: it is uselesT to talk of pomto of the compass; our floe rotates so constantly from right to left, a« to make them Useless in de^ ».pt.on. To port, the extent of ice baffles the eye ™n fn.m aloft; it must, however, be a mere Jh-' "June B, Thursday. We notice again this morn- .ngthe movement in the trench alongside. Theflolt >ng ^um of rubbish aSvances and reLes with a ™' ul«.^ that can only be due to some e\uable undZ hon from without to the north. We Itinue^-iit cember. A more careful measurement than we had mi. before, ga* us yesterday, between ourTeight Jft and depression forward, a diflerence of lev"l of 6 te 4 mches. This inclination teUs in a kn^h of 83 feet— about one in thirteen. "^* ^S^Z «"»!. A little aftertW TFir-iv- "^' r™"""""' '''^"M-i, A little after fivg auB afternoon, Mr. Griflin left us for the RescW^^ 398 THE RESCUE FREE. making a short visit. He had hardly gone before I heard a hail and its answer, both of them m a tone of more excitement than we had been used to for some time past ; and the next moment, th« cry, * Ice crack- ing ahead !' , i j i • x • " Murdaugh and myself reached the deck just in time to see De Haven crossing our gangway. We fol. lowed. Imagine our feeUngs when, midway between the two vessels, we saw Griffin with the ice separat- ingbefoi^ l^im, and at the same instant found a crm;k tracing its way betweert us,, and the water spmning up to the surface. 'Stick by the floe. Good-by! What ifews for home?' said he. One jump across the chftsm, a heaxty G^. bless- you shake of the, hand, a ilong jump back, and a little river divided our party. ' ' . « Griffin made his way along one. fissure and over another. We followed a lead that was open to our starboard beam, each man for himself. . In half a minute or less came the outcry, ' She's breaking out; all hands aboard !' and within ten minutes from Grif- fin's first hail, whUe we were yet scrambling into our little Ark of Refuge, the whole area about us was di- vided by irregular chasms in every direction. "All this was at half past five. At six I took a bird's-eye sketch from aloft. Many of the fissures were already some twenty paces across. Conflicting forces were at work every where ; one round-house moving here, another in an opposite direction, the two vessels parting company. Since the night of our Lancaster Sound commotion, months ago, the Rescue had not changed her bearing: she was already on oilr pott- ^beam. Every thing was change. " Our brig, howeyer, had not yet found an even keel -4iti^'<.-. i\ THE ADVANC »<• 399 / . BIRDViVS view of ClOB, IVHt 5. ^•^'Wanro. D. Flo« adhorlng lo iho A-lvuncfl. K. Itesoue. c. Pa,h bciwecn briga before break-up. II II. Hummocks. The enormous masses of ice, thrust und^r her stern by the action of repeated pressures, had glued themselves together so completely, that we remained cradled in a mass of ice exceeding twenty-five feet in solid depth. Many of these tables were liberated by the swell, and rose majestically from their recesses, striking the ship, and then escaping above the surface for a moment^ with a sudden vault. "To add to the novelty of our situation, two cracks jemmg together obliquely, met a few yards astern^ us, cleaving through the heavy ice, and leaving us* at- 4U0 ROLLING ICE. tached to a triangular fragment of 14 by 22 paces. This berg-like fragment, reduced as it was, continued its close adhesion. Its buoyancy was so great, that it acted like a camel, retaining the brig's stern high in the air, her bows thrown down toward the water. W«|. are so at this moment, 10 P.M." All hands were in the mean time actively at work. The floe had been to us terra firma so long that we had applied it to all the purposes of land. Clothes and clothes' lines, sledges, preserved meats, kindling wood and planking, were now all bundled on board. The artificial horizon, which had stood for eight months upon a little ice-pedestal, was barely saved ^ and I had to work hard to get one of my few remain- ing thermometers from a neighboring hummock. The cause of this sudden disruption— I mean the immediate cause, for the summler influences had pre- pared the floe for disintegration— was evidently the sea-swell setting from the southeast. This swell had given us minor manifestations of its existence as far back as the 1st of June. Whether it was increased without, or our floe made more accessible to it by the drifting away of other and protecting floes, I can not say. This, however, was clear, that the great undula- tions propagated by wave action caused our disruption. The proof of Ihis I shall not forget. Standing 6n our little deck, and looking out on the floe, we had the strange spectacle of an und#fting so- lidity, a propagated wave borne in swell-like ridges, as if our ice was a carpet shaken by Titans. I can not convey the efiect of this sublime spectacle. The ice, broken into poly hedrio masses, gave at a few hund- red yards no indications to the eye of the lines of sep- "^a^ion; besides virlich;mT^ ofsalt water Ai» »si»nw«ww««»e^" THE CALVES. 401 had no doubt increased the plasticity of the material Imairine, then, this apparently solid surface, by long assmation a^ unyielding to us as the shore, taking suddenly upon itself the functions of fluidity, another condition of mattei^. It absolutely produced some- thing like the nausea of sea-sickness to see the swell of the ice, rising and falling, and bending, transmit- tmg with pliant facility the advancing wave A hummock hill, about midway between us and the Rescue gave me an opportunity of measuring mdely the height of the swell. It rose till it covered u ^"^'j^^^^^tj linking again till I could see the side of the brig down to her water-line, an interval 01 hve feet at least. "As we walk along the edge of the open fissures, we see a wonderful variety in the thickness of the ice. Our apparently level surface is, in fact, a mo- saic work of ices, frozen at separate periods, and tes- ' selated by the several changes or disruptions which we have undergone., Thus I can see the tables un- der our stern extending down at least twenty-five ■ feet: adjoining this is ice of four feet: next comes a field of SIX feet; and then hummock ridges, with ta- "Twent '''^' '° ^ ^ ^^« ^« ^PP^^ent depth "The 'calves' also, of which a greatinany have now risen to the surface, are worthy of note. These singulaj masses are evidently fragments of tables of every degree of thickness, which have been forced down by pressure, and afterv^d, by some change in the temperature of the wa*er,\r by wave and tidal actions, have been liberated again from the floe, and find their way upward wher ever an op e nin g pe rmits. ( ^W9awthm fionesr-com^ed and cellular, water-sod. ^_^, .,..^^j 402 STATE OF THE ICE. den and in rounded feq^lders, rising from the depths of the sea. Their density, so near that of the hquid in which they were suhmerged, made this rise slow and impressive. We could see them many fathoms helow, voyaging again to the upper world. Once be- tween the gaping edges of the lead, they effectually prevent the closing. They are about us in every di- rection, interposed between the fields. "The appendage which sustains oulr^.brig has a^ good deal of this character. I will try "fo make an exact drawing of it as a curiosity, if it hangs on to us much longer. Its buoyancy indicates great sub- merged mass. A strong cable and ice anchor have be6n carried to a floe on our starboard bow, and the swell drives it upon us like a great battering-ram. This ingenious method of pounding us out of our te- naoious cradle subjects us to a regular succession of heavy shocks, which would startle a man not used to ice navigation. At the time I WTite, 11 P.M., we have been nearly three hours subjected to this bang- ing without any apparent impression. To-morrow we will, if not liberated, apply the saw; and then again to the warps ! " 11 20 P.M. In fde midst of fragments, "few more than a hundred yards in length, neagly^l much smaller. Between them are zigzag lea4s of open water. Astern of us is an expansion of sdme fifty yards across; ahead, a winding creek, wider flian our brig. Thus closes the day. "One thing more: a thought of gratitude before I turn in. This journal shows that I have been in the daily habit of taking long, solitary walks upon the icgj miles from tfie s hip. Suppos e this roj^ture to have come entir^y without forewarniiigrTiE^ -A STATE OP THE ICE. 403 gre^d my boots for a walk a few hours before the change, and only postponed it because I happened to get absorbed in a book. ff^nmi w ! ( ■ ^■^ ifl TorooBAfBv or rLoi, ivaa i. %. V') ■'.■«4 FBOriLB or FLOS ; FOBT SIDI. rsoriLB em »M« 1 •taebo/ud. PTER XLIV. '■ f -i q -^'^Z '^June 6. pur bumping continued all night, -with- out any apparent effect upon our • stickitig-pla^r. Acting, as, this impact does, at the long end df a lev- er, our stern being immovably fixed, it must be hard upon tike rudder post, a beam that is now protruding from tlie least strengthened part of our brig into a transparent glue of tenacious ice. ' The twelve-feet saw, suspended from a tripod of spars, is at work, try- ing to cut a line across the mass to our keel. But for -thir f^pesdagej we woul d bej n ow w arping througt^ the fissures. ji *. V • iio n ^« M W' m the west, and by a|fernoon blew quite freshly We ^ toade aU sail, even to studding-sails, in hopes offer- cmg the cracks ahead, and tearing ourselves,.*^ it T' '^/"'i"'^^^^"'^"*' Thus far Wl has failed. 10 FM. Tl^e ship is covered with canvas: she stands motionless amid the ice, although her wings are spread and tense. The wind is fresh and steady from the northwest. Our swell ceases with this wind and the floes seem disposed to come together again:' but the days of winter have passed by. and the inter- Jingc al ves ffl-eveni^e apposition of the edpsr " The effects of a constant force, slight as it seems, ^. if m i^Bj '■ ■ ^^■; ^1' '^■^ »il fl' ■1 406 REMEMBRANCERS. have been beautifully shown by our brig. Pressing as we do, under full canvas, against heavy yet qui- escent masses, we gradually force ahead, breasting aside the floes, and leaving behind, us a pool of open water. Our rate is ten feet per hour ! Remember that the old man of Sinbad still clings to us, and that we carry the burden in this filow progress. I hope that the Sinbad comparison will end here ; for I can readily, without much imagination, carry it further. " 12 Midnight. Still advancing, dragging behind us this pertinacious mass. We have butted several times rudely againsi^projecting floes, but it is as unmoved as solid rook. Very foggy: Rescue not visible. Ther- mometer at 29<^. " We recognize, among the floe fragments around us, old play.fellows. Here we played foot-ball ; there we skated ; by this hummock crag stood my thermom- eters ; and here I shot a bear. We are passing slowly from them, or they from us. Now and then a rubbish pile will show itself, cresting the pure ice. Even an old Champagne basket, full of nothing but sadly-pleas- ant associations, is recognized upon a distant floe. This breaking up of a curtilage is not without its re- grets. I wish that our 'old man' would loosen his griping^nees : three hours would put us into compar- atively open water. "Jmhc 7, Saturday. The captain says that the shocks ' of the night of the. fifth were the hardest our brig has experienced yet. " This morning we made our incubus fast to one end of a passing floe, and ourselves fast to the other: double hawsers were used, blocks and tackle rigged, and rtll hands plac ed at our patent wjn oh, the slack bemg controlled by a windlass. "We parted oiir ^— .^' 1^ STATE OP THE ADVANCE. 407 m^^ZhJSk T" ^"f '" ""■» *» *dd one oheer more to tb^Hoh came from the ice A l.r™ c ment. extelSfftom her saw.r«k l„g^J^'«^t"S; ourKeei, and by its aize sustainine us in nnr r^,«t. 3 condition. We had settled bnt nL ii^"he, „T^ quence of our partial disengagemel ' "" ""* I-ooking from the taffrail down the stem r^t can now «e the posiUon of this p^rtLn 2^-^^ distinotly. A stdp of her false keel ha^ beerf<,«.^f fiom rt. attachments, drawing the heaVwtf ^d ♦eanng away «,me of our sheathing. sZ f^The ^ jury extends, whether the entire Ing^^rfthft^ or through «,me few yards, we ean noftell. It mutt have occurred during the groat ice commotion ofX ^tar 7th «,d^8th. The diauption^yZ^^ ^''^''^^^^^^rx^^ 408 UNDER WEIGH. / i %t out keel probably received its, shock at the same ^e that ^re received our elevation. We have es- , caped wonderfully. . . ^ ^^Jum 8, Sunday. Evgn keel again ! ! Once more floating ship-fashion, in a ship's element. It was be- tween twelve and t)ne o'clock this morning. Mur- daugh went down upon the fragment, which was stUl adhering to our starboard side. He had hardly rested his weight upon it, when, with certain hurried, scarce- ly premonitory grindings, it cleared itself. He had barely time to scramble up the brig's side, teaiing his nails in the effort, before, with crash and turmoil, it tumbled up to th^ surface, letting us down once iftore into clear water. When I reached the deck, I could hardly realize the level, horizontal condition of things, ' we have been accustomed to this up and down lull work so long. \ , » , \ e " 9 ]^. At 1 o'clock P.M. the wind freshened trom " the northward, enough to make sail. We cast off, and . renewed the old times process of boring, standing ir- regularly among the fragments to the southward and eltward. We received some heavy bumps, but kept uTder weigh untU 6 P.M., when an impenetrable ice- fog caused us to haul .up to a heavy floe, to which we tore now faat by three anchors. We esthnate our prog- ress at six miles. The Rescue is not visible.. " From the heavy floe to which we are secured we < obtained fresh thcmed water. This is the first time since the 15th of Septeiiiber that I have drunk water liquefied without fire. Eight months and twenty-iour days : think of that, dear strawberry an^ cream eating ^Two saw m ice^floe to^ajr, which had evidently^ come from the upper northern regions ^f Wellington, MAGNIFICEJVT FLOE. 4t)9 or the North Baffin's Straits. This ice,4hough pure ^ and beautiful, could' never have been c;eated in'ny SL"t;\ \*>-' "^'^ ^' understand for the first time the startling .tones of Wrajigell. This floe IS now more than two hundred and fifty yard/ W b^ S"tlbt whil'f '".^^^^ *^ '^'^^ fo/infraS , of tebles, whJe Its purity precludes the idea of ground ce. Its depth, ascertained from its mean UneTflo tation, exceeds forty feet. Its surface is leveUnd thJ appearance looking down into its pure deptL W ^1 beyond description. It forms part of a^great fi"d milesmcircumference,^. similar coaptatingfrI„ are seen m every direction ; the great swefl oSsth having no doubt destro3?M its integrity. From thlt great winter ba^in comes ihis colossal ice ^ " • ."^ •^ ,r /^' JO- f ' ■ '\ -W- CHAPTER XLV. kvESsoMnued our progress through a labyrinth of ic^ sometimes running into a bergH^r grazing against its edge s^ close as to carry away a spar oi stave a quarter-boat, but still making our way across to the Gi£enlafid shore. The sed, Was studded with low beigs and water-washed floes, wearing the fantastic foJms which had surprised us the year before Some mre both complicated and graceful, supported gener- ally by peduncular bases, which gave them a curi4 •' ■' • ous aspect oj Ira-V gility. This was' evidently due to the action of the waves at the wa- ter-line, aided by the warmth of the atmosphere. Sonic of these forms 1 have already giv- en at the foot of chapters; others I group in the margin. If we suppose a near- ly symnietrical lump ot ice, floating with that stable equilibrium which ■.^^^ belongs to i ts excessive ^ ^ ^^;;Jg^;;^lbK^tmosphererwM^^^^ on PREPARATIONS TO RETURN. 411 perature as high as 64° in the sunshine, wilTgradu- ally round off and crease the edges, and at the same time will melt the portions of the ^ass which are above water Its buoyancy increasing as its weight IS reduced, the berg will now rise slowly, presenting a succession 6f new surfaces to the abrasion^f the waves • and thus we shall have the familiar mushroom or fun ■^' gold appearance which is shown in many of the plates. ^^ The process continuing under all ' tHe modifications of wave action, tvhile the opposing face of the berg varies with every change of its gravitating qentre, we may have ec centric |esemblances to animated things sculptured in the ice, and at other times forms of classic symme- .. try, or the frets and garniture of mediaBval art. Our sail through this fanciful archipelago was a most uncomfortable one. Our stoves had been taken down; and the scurvy, exaggerated by the increased exposure to damp, began again to bear hard upon us We devanred^eagerly the seal, of which, by gooij for- tune, we Bad several re-enforcements ; but as the ex- citements of peril declined, the energies of the men seemed to rekx more and more ; and I had reason to fear that we should not be able to resume our search . effectively, until the health of our party had under- gone a tedious renovation. It had been determined by our commander that we " should refresh at Whale Fish Islands, and then hast- en back to Melville Bay, the North Water, Lancaster Sound,aiid Wellington ChflJinfel; ani certainly there==^ was no one on board who did not enter heart and soul 412 < KRONPRINSEN. into the scheme. It wag in pursuance of it that we were now bending our course to the east. The circumstances that surrounded us, the daily in- cidents, our destination and purpose, were the same as when approacl^tig the Sukkertoppen a year before. There were the same majestic fleets of bergs, the same^ legions of birds of^the same varieties, the same anx- ious look-out, and rapid conning, and fearless encoun- •ter of ice-fields. Every thUjg was unhanged, except the glowing confidence of young health at the outset of adventure. We had taken our seasoning : the ex- perience of a winter's drift had quieted some of our en- thusiasm. But we felt, as veterans at the close of a campaign, that with recruited strength we should be better fitted for the service than ever. All, therefore, looked at the well-remembered cliffs, that hung' over Kronprinsen, with the sentiment of men approaching home for the time, and its needed welcomes. We reached them on the 16t"h. Mr. Murdaugh, and myself, and four men, and three bottles of rum, were dispatched to communicate with the shore. As we rowed in to the landing-place, the great dikes of in- jected syenite stood out red and warm against the 6old gray gneiss, and the moss gullies met us like fa- miliar grass-plots. Esquimaiixcrowded the rocks, and dogs barked, and children yelled. A few lusty pulls, and after nine months of drift, and toil, and scurvy, we were once jjaore on terra firma. God forgive me the revulsion of unthankfulness ! I ought to have dilated with gratitude for my lot. Winter had been severe. The season lagged. The birds had not yet begun to breed. Faces were worn, and forms bent. Eve^ body was coughing. In one hut, a summer lodge of reindeer and seal skins, w®" ■i^ AT GOPHAVEN. 413 a dead Child. It was many months since I had look, ed at a «,rpse. The poor little thing had been fo, once washed clean, and looked cheerfully. The f" tt'l t« r' " "'^P'"«' *" '* -"" a M; and nltu ll 7 ""'" '"•'^"^ lamentation in a most natural and savage way. ^ a LrV^^ ?T^ ? «trinW blue beads, and bought JZ .T^f'^ ^°*^ forXe„ty.five cents; and we rowed back to the brig, ha very little Uile we were under sail for Godhaven We were but five days recruiting at Godhaven. It wa. a shorter stay than we ha4 expected; but w^ were all of us too anxious to regain th. s^axchinl ground to complain. We made the most of it of course. We ate inordinately of eider, a^d codfish, and seal, to say nothing of a hideous-looking toad fish a Lepodogaster, that insisted on patronizing our pork.baited Imes; chewed bitter herbs, too, of every sor^ we could get; drank largely of the smallest of maU-beer; and danced with the natives, teaching them the polka, and learning the pee-oo-toi-k^ in re turn. But at the 22d, by six o'clock in the morning we were working our way again to the north. We passed the hills of Disco in review, with their terraced ^mmits, simuiatfng the Ghauts of Hindos- tan ; the green-stone cliffs round Omenak's Fiord, the great dockyard of bergs; and Cape Cranstoun, around which they were clustered like a fleet waiting for con- voy. They were of majestic proportions; and as we wound our way tortuously among them, one after an. her would come into the field of view, l|ke a tern- pie set to be the terminus of a vista. At one time ^hadth^wAole Acropolis looking down upon a s k^ silver ! ftF nnnfVior «.,. t>u:i_j-i • t~ * ««r^«- V ^=.^^.^.,^^,~^ ^—-^^^f^e^^^'' ivuti^ug uown upon as4a silver; at^ another, our Philadelpia copy of the Par- 414 BEROS. , thenon, the monumental Bank of the United States, stood out alone. Then, again, so;ne venerable Cathe- .W*^* 1^ •^ife»ir% 1:^-^ *^^-^' '^^fe. dral,^ith its deep vaults and hoary belfries, would spread itself across the sky ; or perhaps some wild combination of architectural impossibilities. We moved so slowly that I had time to sketch sev- ert/of these dreamy fabrics. The one which is en- graved on the opposite page was an irregular quad- rangle, projected at the extremity of a series of ice- structures, like the promontory that ends an isthmus : it was crowned with ramparts turreted by fractures ; and at the water-line a great barreled arch went back into a cavern^ that might have fabled as the haunt of sea-kings or smugglers. Another, much smaller, but still of magnificent size, had been excavated by the waves into a deep grotto ; aiid the light reflected from the bay against its transpt^/ent sides and roofs colored them with a blue too superb for imitation by the brush, or pencil. ^ OFF STOROE. .41.J In the morning of the 24th we made the pack- more to the south, therefore, than last year. It an' peared at first like a firm neck, extending out among ..heavy bergs well into Haroe Island; and remember mg our last year's experience, we mov^ cautiously. But after a while our captain, now perhaps the best ice-master afloat, determined on boring. The dolphin ' strdcer was triced up, the boats were taken on board, and the old sounds of conning the helm began again This tune we were lucky. In four> hours we were through the tongue of the pack, and out in nearly an open sea. ■' We did not move long, however, b^bre the navi- gation became embarrassed. The ice between Cape Lawson and Storoe was too compact to be wedged aside; and after some rude encounters with the floe^ and a naiTow escape from a reef of rocks which Cap- tarn Graah s charts do not mention, we found our- selves, on the 25th, nearly embayed by the nol,le heaxl- lands off Ovmde Oerme. The ice, in ^ horseshoe 416 HABITS OF THE SEAL. curve, completely shut us in to the north, and the tohgue of the pack we had come through lay between us and the sea. The wind had left us. We were drifting listlessly in a glassy aea that reflected the green-stone terraces and strange pyramidal masses of its romantic shores. We amused ourselves killing seals. There must have^en hundreds of them of all varieties playing about us. Generally tjiey were to be seen paddling about alone, but sometimes in groups, like a party of school-boys frolicking in the Schuylkill. One of their favorite sports was "treading water," rising breast- high, keeping up a boisterous, indefatigable splashing, and stretching out their necks, as if to pry into the condition of things aboard ship. We compared their behavior to that of the timorous but curious natives, when the Europeans first met them in the wate^ of America; and in our intercourse with them, confon^d accurately to the Spanish precedent. Occasionally only we obeyed our "manifest des- tiny" with reluctance. Some of the younger of these poor sea-dogs had overmuQb of the honest expression of their land brethren : the truncation of the muzzle in others, with no external ear showing behind it, set their faces in almost perfect fi«id human-like oval. When one of these would come up out of the water near us, and, raising his head and shoulders, that stoop- ed like those of a hooded Esquimaux, gaze steadily at us with his liquid eye, then diving, come up a little nearer and stare again ; so drawing rieaarer ahd nearer, diving and rising alternately, till he came within mus- ket range ; it sometimes went hard to salute him with a bu llet. We shot, among others, a very liarge beast (P. Jar- W- 8EAL HUNTS. 417 fate), lying upon a floatiiigjiece ofice. The caDtain'» ball went through his heart; and my oTr^XZly deadly, within a few inches of it; b«I the unXldv creature continued struggling to re;ch the water it« a shot from Mr Well, dose upon him. drove a mus ket-ba^l through hi, head. He measured lulZ from tip to tip, five feet eleven inches in his |™ate^ ahapeleaa cylin- lepresent tho >rto, when kill- brain or spinal But the rule- the fore-flippers. His carcasi der, terminating in an awk head. We lost two seals by sin^.„ ed on the instant by perfora|io»-, *„, marrow, they had invariably floated, ^uz tne rule does not hold al^rays. I wounded one so as to cl^y away the crown of his skull, and Captain De Haven gave him a second shot from within a few yards dT «cly through the head, and yet we lost him. As the baUs struck, he discharged, almost explosively, a quat tiiy of air and went down like a lool The whalers say wound your seals ; but my own experierice is, thlT If they are fat, it is best to kill them at once A Dan ntth^r.r ' ^^ r .^^ "^ ""^ '''^''^ ^* I>i«eo told M iu ^ ^T^^' '^"^^"8^ ™ » proof that he had no blubber He was probably right : we certain^ not secure kny that were in good condition. Iw Ihe next day gave us excitement of a difierent sort We had been lying in the young ice-field, close under the southeast shore of Storoe, with the^current setting strong toward it, and a grim array of bergs to the west 01 us. It waa an ugly position; but we were fairly entangled, and there was no escape. Early in the ^mn^^freshened.andhle w :i ni o Ld^^ island: the inn ml in (raYra;^ c,4.4.k i . . #J island , the icepihng against the rocky precipice under i^ifi" .', J'^'l^'-^ pwl/if/ I I \ ,'r'i. 1*. 418 A RAMBLE ON A BERG. our lee, and opening in broken masses to windward, The Rescue managed to make fast to a crag between us and the shore, but our ice-anchprs missed. At four In the afternoon we were within rifle-shot of the land, and still drifting ; the wind a gale, and the sea-swell coming in heavily. r ' W0 stopped, of course, or there would have been an endof my journal. But for some hours things looked squally enough. Our soundings had become small by degrees and beautifully less, till they were down to thirteen feet ; and the black wall looked so near that you could have hit it with a filbert. It could not have been fifty yards off, when we brought up on some grounded floe-pieces. By eleven, our warps had head- ed us to windward, and^our bow was off shore. For once, at least, we owed our safety to the ice. The Rescue followed a few hours after ; and we took the direcfion of the pack together to th« N.N.W. By the next day at noon we were within twenty-three miles of Uppernavik, but a belt of ice lay between. We anchored to a berg, and for two days waited pa- tiently for an opening. My messmates in the mean time went off on a hunt to a flat, rocky ledge, that showed itself inshore, and I amused myself with a tramp on the ice-«land to which we were fast. I had fo| company a nobl^ Esquimaux slut, that Goveriftr Moldrup had enabled me to get at Disco, and a j|og of the same breed belonging to Mr. Lorell. I do not know what has become of Hosky, as Mr. Lovell named his favorite ; but my poor Uir^i M\ a martyr to our Philadelphia climate i^nd his Arc tic costume together, some three days after we got hpme^ . . t,,_i " "*lhaairquretdafs Wftm.^^y companions^ambled- «> ^ f .^ EXPLAXATIOX, 419 work. But the^ cryIrpa,^e?o IT "' r/ *''^'- thing else undet this nort ,er„Tk' 1 ""'' '''"' "'"^' ly in their apparent siri?: titrir"'™"^- chored, that the hew was a Ul ' '""' ** ™- more than the third^f a ml i a"l!' f T'»»'-i l^fore we reached its further Xe " '""" ""^ The purs surfaces which we trnvli„,i ded with irregularblookilfi! ,'■*""■' ''"<'- ta«hed and cemented on a^Un""''TT''™">: T' ''" -^> - '^ otliJlt !"!!!!!«"« •'«'"'">«■'■>- «...ested obtrusively the rk, they kept turn- ing somersets by the dozen, nAing their egg-shel sldffs revolve sideways by a l^uch of the paddle, and hardly disftPpearing under the water before they were heads uplSain, and at the gangway to swallow their ''^ The inshore ice opened on the thirtie>*(and toward evening we left the hospitable moorage of our iceberg, ancT made for the low, rounded rocks, which the Hosky pointed out to us a^ the seat of the settlement. The W^ were out to tow us cl ear o f the floatmg rubbish, essary, an age, wher pleasant ( priest, Loi cousin, an The bap erated thes not conforn minutes, to covered wit I * blow their tive and pic assured, the; They voluni ly that the] smok A Loi ing liquids, air had mad Hospitality hard tack, a: tion at once. It is not fc company. I M. "^8 the light ay variable winds made their hetriicr. » wTtiout an it ESQUIMAUX GUESTS. 421 ZZr "^^ T' ''-^^J' -PPtoaching our anchor. J, when a rough yawl boarded us. She brought a ^ZrLT^T^'^""' *•"« -hoolma^ter and parish l^a 7' *"' ""**■■' *''° g"""' Amalia, Louisa's* cousin, and some others of humbler note. The baptismal waters had but,,uperflcially regen. not conform to our nicest canons. For the fir»t «v. ' u .u ■ **"" '""'''• ""h withdrawine them to rn^dr/rr """"""■ »»* th-i-'n.odesty thul Ir tha7 S!t hi " f '""=«'r"''«' to US confidential, ^r that they had educated tostS^Amaliaihat .he mok^ Lou«a that she tolerated the more «Sw™ " "Sl.qn.ds and both that their exe^ise Tthe Z, Hoqiital ty IS the virtue of these wild regions- ora lir t*t!'?' .'? *^.^ of his afl»r.din„er «thout an mt.mat.on that our guest, paid niggard 42* PROVEN. f honors to the jolly god of a milder clime, the veri. est prince, of bottle memories, would not have qiiar- reled with their heel-taps. * * * We were inside the rocky islands of Proven harbor as our watches told us that another day had begun. The time was come for parting. The ladies shed a few kindly tears as we handed them to the stem- seats: their learn«^d kinsman took a recumbent posi. 'tion below the thwarts, which favored a continuance ©f his nap; and the rest of the party were bestowed with seaman-like address— all but one unfortunate gentleman, who, having protracted his festive devo- 4^ tions longer than usual, had resolved not to^" go home till morning." ^- ' The case was a difficult one; but there was no help for it. As the sailors passed him to the bottom of the boat, and again out upon the beach, he made the air / vocal with his indignant outcries. The dogs— I have ^ told yoii of the dogs of these settlements, how they welcomed our first arrival— joined their music with his. The Provenese came chattering out into the cold, like chickens startled from their roost. The gov- ernor was rouged by the uproar. And in the midst of it all, our little weather-beaten flotilla ran up the first American flag that had been seen in the port of Proven. " OOMUK. *••.-' 1.. •^m^' !^ ■■ >■ ' ^^. ^^h:-> nSVEll HILU. '^ CHAPTER XL VI. The port of Proven is securely sheltered by its mon- ster hills. But they can not be said to smile a wel- come upon the navigator. A smiling country, like a smiling face, nepds some provision of fleshly integu- raents; and no earthly covering masks the grinning rocks of Proven. They look as if the process of crum- bling and wrinkling, and splitting, and splintering had been at work on them sip,?^,the first Arctic frost succeeded the l^st metamorpl^^fire; and even now gr?at ledges are wedged off from th^, hillsides by the ice and roll clattering down the slope^to the very midst of the settlement. v ^ Summer comes slowly upon Proven. When ww amved, the slopes of the hills were heavily hatched with snow, and the surface, where it showed itself >m frozen dry. The water-lina Ava^4;Qothed with. •«"Ts of broken ice, which scraped against the beach a-V ■si 424 HOUSE OF PROVEN, as the #s roi and fell; and aniceb_ or. otbeThad fojind its way<^into|ife h was a^harmless ;Wp, to^^^ ^"^l gereus nearnesst^d its'%i^ rosemieasa ^Xf^ i into d^ft ly, like a village church. ^^ ,-'#*i. t'*.^ ►use^^ ^■^^ illage cnuruu. ^^ • Y^+v,* / Hoskv' "JmZi/ 3. I^AItt writing In ih*^Hj)^ . ^^ . IS^ CristiftlJsen is 1^ SIbNT g^« W ^^j ' ^ this house of Cristiai^W^7^»; ownefl^a simiile a^s^^MDaS;, ilitolA;tiiirty.one of whose sixt-foiir win- S^l^ within the Arctic circle, north o m^^ia Sf in his lonely region-¥ifi four sons and ■.■\ < ^\ ^'''^X,^ V »'•> ^l-i lin, exeept when he ™.ts TJppema.j^to good oW Hm, except when ne ^^«^^» ^*'*'^:"'";S^„_,:;r His mS hasiie sa^isftxjtion of knowing «%"P«V!I: ^T Stt ;re three fourths E^quimau^^ ;;tlM^^^^^^ ish and the remainder Provenish, or peculiarly his owk His wife is a half-hreed, and his family, in kn- gnaee and aspect, completely Esquimaux. . ^ « When the long, dark winter comes, he exchanges book^M^Si his friend the priest of Uppernavik . 'The be caUed the loft of the house, its only apartment i the one in which I am. And here eat, and drink an :^k, and sleep, and live, not only ^j1»*^nsen and all his descendants, but his wife s motM drenjaandchildren, and'great^^ id her chil* len who are 5r6ad by six- / teei with just height THE FAMILY. 425 Iv without his cap, to stand erect, and not touch the beams. The frame of the house is of Norway pine, ■ coated with tar, with its interspaces caulked with moss, and small window-panes inserted in a deep casinff of \^ood; ' «. » '^ The most striking decorative feature is a ledge or shelf of pine plank, of varying width, which runs round three of its sides. Its capacity is wonderful. It is the softr^id bed, on wi^jch the entire united family find rooin to loll and sleep ; and upon it now are^iud- died, besides a navy doctor and his writing board, oiie mk-bdttle, sundry articles of food and refreshment, one * sleeping child, one lot of babies not in the least asleep ^ one canary-bird cage with its exotic and most sorrow' ful little prisoner, and an infinite variety ^f othel* ar- tides too tedious to mention, comprising seal-skins, boots, bottles, jumpers, glasses, crockey both of kitch-' en and nursery, coffee-pots, dog-skin*socks, canvas pil- -^. lows, an eider-down comforter, 'and a sick hitch with a youthful family of >Vhining puppies. "Una, the second daughter, has been sick and un- der treatment ; and she is now hard at work with her sisters, Anna, Sara, and Cristina, on a tribute of grati- tude to her doctor. They haVe been busy all Jfi^^..^ morning whipping and stitching the seal-skins with reindeer tendon thread. My present is to be a com- plete suit of ladies' apparel, made of the richest seal- skin, according to the stai^^Md mode of Proven, which may alway^^^^^^ the ' latest winter fash- ion. It is, m^ly elegant^i:eg^,' ;ro some the unmen- tionabl|^Inight savor of mascularity; but having seen somethiftg of a more polite society^ mg feminine assfe ^ iiiationftMe^fltjes^et|^ tope^co^. Ext femfes m^ --~ the Esquimaux of Greenland and Amazonaaf Paris. '^ /^ % .S M^... trf* if. A • **-<^, t,' V' "^^f 426 ^^ ESQUIMAUX LIFE. " The" large family is a happy ^j/ one : so small a home could not /| tolerate a quarrelsome mess. The [ s(Ms, the men Cristiansens, brave 'Ji^. and stalwart fellows, practiced in the kayack, and the sledge, and the whale-net, adroit with the harpoon and expert with^ the rifle, are cohstant at the chase, and bring home their spoil, with the honest pride |^l?oming good providers of their household. And the women, in their nursing, cooking, tailoring, and housekeeping, .are, I siippose, faithful enough. But what favorable impression that the mind gets through other channels can contend aga-inst the information of the nose ! Or- gan of' the arist9,cracy,' critic and magister morum of all civilization, censor that heeds neither argurilent nor remonstrance — the nose, alas ! it bids me record, that to all their possible godliness cleanliness is no^ super- added. " During, the- short summer of dayUght — il is one .^f the-many appar^t vestiges^ amojig this p60Bl/,jfL ancient nomadic habits— the whole family gather joy- ■ jtones, whiol ESQUIMAUX LIFE. 427 ously ,„ the summer's lodge, a tent of seal or reindeer skin pitched out of doors. Then the room ha^TaT nual ventilaton, and it, cooking and chamber feni" ture are less hablo to be confounded. For thewinTe; ciSse by the ledge I have spoken of, stand as many arge pans of porous steatite or serpentine, eleZZZ shght wooden ti-ipods. These, filled with sKub ber, and garnished with moss round the dge tote^^ as a wiek, unite the functions of chandelier Ind st^™ In rA V"T' "'"'' "" i»-Wn"n«l lamp at home should be disciplined by one of them. ■ eJ, bdlsTts half-gallon kettle of coffee in twenty minute aid smoker Ike a small chimney on fire ,?^^and the ftree burn together. There is no flue, or fire'-place, or op^n mg ot escape. ^ ' ^ ..W?" '^"""^'"/ng ^W^ of the room stand a valued ' toble and three chairs; and with these, like a buhi " cabinet or fancy Stag^re, conspicuous in its modest «.mer, a tub. It is the steeping-tub for curing skinf Its contents require active fermentation to fit them &; their oflice; and, to judge from the odor, the process had been going on successfully." ,.- We waited out to sea again on the aftefiiSn of the third, with our friend the cooper for Dilit- th^lJ settlement turning out „p„„ th'e rl'^^s'^. by, and remaining there tiU they looked'ln the dfa tencehkeajjerdofseal. But we found no opent„ fourth ""I ' """^ ■"""! '"^'' '«'"'' *« I^°™n on Z fourth, not sorry, as the weather was thickening t^ pa^^ur festival mside the little port ""'"'•'"'"S. *» _^uted % t^Bmth^one of the latgesfr bafaroe^ Jtones, which ^rolled down from thTcliffS^ ; t He »« y? ■#• ^m^ ''■m 428 ,V'.-.. H T S C E i;^ B« and made an egg-nogg of eider eggs ; and the men haA|k Hosky Ball ; and, in a word, We all did our best to make the day differ from other days^which at- temi)t failed. Still, God^jver bless tl^e fourth!^ The sixth was Sunday, and we attended chimm m the iftorning at the schoolmaster's. The service con- si«te(f iik& long-winded hymn, and a longer winded sermon, in the Esquimaux— surely the longest o^ng- winded langua^s. jThe congregation were some tgo dozen men and v««nla, not coun|ing our p4rty. We put, to sea in tU a^ernooii. . The weather was soft and^mwl shore; but outside it was perfectly tielightfulTno wiridr-the stream^' of ice b^y^hd en- forcing a^mM^yperfecits^lm upon theater; the ther- 'mometer,i^^sunshine||Bquentlyilis high as 76°, and never, sinking below 30^^^? shade«rf,**I b^ed -. on deck all night, sleM)in|^pFtVe sun. , ,M And such a ijigh«I saw th^ .nftwil at midnight, . awhile the sun was ^linf along the tinted horizon, :^'^^and duplicat^tl by r%ction from the water below it: the dark bergs to seaWa,rd had outlines of silver ; and tw» wild cataracts on the shore-side were falling from ice-backed cliffs twelW^undred;feerinto tte sear ^ €^ % ^ \ BRITISH WHALERS. 429 Juhj 7. I was awakened from my dreamy slefep to receive the visits of a couple of boats that were work- mg slowly to us through the floes. An English face- ^two English faces— twelve English faces : what a hap. py sight ! We had had no one but ourselves to speak our own tongue to for three hundred days, and were a^ glad to listen t6 it as if we had been serving out the time in the penitentiary of silence at Auburn or tsing-Sing. Their broad North Briton was music U; was not the offensive dialect of the.prpvincial English- ,^an, with the affectation of speaking his language yvreotly; but a strong and manly hbrpe-brew of the best.langu^ge in the world for words of sincere and hearty good-will. They had to tdrn up their noses at our seal s-liver breakfast ; but, when they heard of ^ur winter trials, they stuffed down the seal without »-sting? it. I felt sorry after they were off, that I had ^ taken their names down every one. || whaling vessels to which they returned were in the fre^water outside the shore stream, the Jane O Boness^ptain John Walker; and the Pacific, Cap- tain P>tt,erson.^ These gentlemen boarded us as soon as we got through the ice to them. They thought our escape miraculous; anZ:tZ7t4TZ,Z Z' enmrcled day, and the sky looked L if its Sid" igold sunshme eould never cloud ,ver or end ■ th„ -T T/u""^ ■"•* I^»«f»Ily the sea revived the colors pf the atmosphere. Wherever weZked ..down .nto .t,.t showed deep, like an inverted sky it r»^ S! ""^,'*""*"''"''»""«» '"O- We could see • fte,^/fe« jungle ofsea-weed that Wa« growi^gunder i J.vtXtif ""J^ '""' -lorl-wentftreat !?g iron »? tides ;.'tntomo«traca and Limm;in» .^uped th*msu^j^.tag^e|^^^^ M^'^^^^^^^^wkratifte. » Jhe whalfe/s (^il Bafliu:« Islands the Du6k L^land, - -r accent of £h. numW of these biMs^^^b^^- ' in THE EIDER. 435 The duXd^L tad r '""' "'^" *" «««»•• the n«ta from m^ld 2uhe gbrT"^ u ^'"'^ f'"' them firmly by a liuttol, ""!.*"««*■""•' """'"■t , vhole of the int<^f !!*.?,. "*'""' *"'' P""! «he ' "«it well ag^^t 1^1*"'' "™ «- "-". felt- lite head, set clumsilvTl I' .u "''"** «"'' """h- disagreeably «nhep» T? ,*''* "^''''' «"'''"1'' one the edge, of tie l^rS ^ """"" ''"*''^^ «" «».cking and feedl » ^he Z^'^'^ '"S^*''"'' »«m another animal Th f •"'*'' ^''""'''' 'hey «ht; andtteyl^^^^teSXf ''%"™''^ ■ aounated. When in ^,,J^ j ' "' ""''V and ™y and hard tapproLT'TtTw *' "f' > "'-' A,are„otea.4':;^;;;,tmt"rTn:'^^^^^ Their apparent stupidity in swe„„;Z * "'«*'*• lieadland8,»fteronrrewJ 1 u?"^ °'°'' "^fW" was like that of ourTn t ? ^' "*""""' ''*"""'• ' kUWn„mber.;nt:rZir^^*H'^- ^^ ■ wH^l^rltOethrrNl^^ri"''''-'^*^' » Old England, are, like ZyZlti^^ '^v'^'""''' ' i-«. in oner^in^x^ratr-trtr \ .1.,i ' ■, •f« ^f'' '^*' > . > ■■>■ ■•:! 436 THE 'pRiaf^- ALBERT. Melville Bay in a season, they vrould take froi^ a couple of hundred tkousand to half a million. On the ninth we qverto6k a vessel, which proved to be the M'*LeUan of New London, the bearer to tis of letters and papers from home. My seals, thank God, were all in red wax ; and I missed my count of twen- .. ty.four hours, by sitting up through the whde day. light night, reading them till it was breakfast-time. The tenth, we tjame up .with the whaling fleet ly- ing at the Barrier; and before midnight had seven ndtth cotmtry whaling captains from them, "holdii^g clack" in our little cAbin. The sturdy good fellowB were overrunning with sympathy for dangers which they appreciated better than ourselves, but did not limit its expression to words of advice and^warning. 1 must be excused for saying that our countryman, Quail, the master of the M'Lellan, made us pay freely fp# «, few stores we obtained from hintf, lest the hber- ality of these good Britons should be esteemed- a mal^ ter of bourse. Money could hardly have paid them for ihe luxuries which they insisted on giving up to ys. Their malt^ and brandy, and vegetables, and quarters of fresh beef, an^ haunches of venison shot on the islatfds, covered our decks. - On the twelfth, from the highest point of otfe of the , Duck Islands- we descried with our objectgjass a top, sail schooner to the southward, which proved to be the Prince Albert, bound on the- sajne errand tfs ourselves. Her comms-nder, Mr. AV;illiam Kennedy, boarded us ai midnight betWeewvthe sixteenth arid seventeenth- He had more home letters for us, but he brojight his own welcome with him besides. His demeanor announced his character" at once. He had with him Dr. Cowne, "HepguniF - the He pbur n uf poor F^^utklili'B Copp e r^ A ■" , •'/-:; /.«.: ME. KENNEDY AND „. BELtOT. ^gj hi» second in col:,:^!, m"!^:, „';''77°f*^'^^' the French navy, an ^<^pl^M's:i^^:i'"- I regret that the relations of confirm.?? ■/?''• bave e^hlMed with the^e M^^t^t^^' cate on my part to speak of them here aTl clu I I have no means of knowing if Mr v '^^^''}'^ ^hf ciaW at home-his .eSen'yfnfphlwhro " Tl tion, and unostentatious enelgt^'CttT" '™ great pJaasure ,» W that M^^Bel,: hl'::S 1 ^ce,ved from lus government a deserved Sotfs!^ We communicated our olans t^ „. V o ^ed, as ^ Praeticahie^Xtrourtrr^ , o-r three little vessetsXd T^'t^tV:^;' \ ' lowed each other's leads wnrm. J T , . ^® ^®^- ) -hadaU.urco„mrw,^hTfic!Ckr^^'^ we were beset and at a stand «ifni ^^^^"^^ ^^^n o.Ws company, J^^^^ZrCZlTt buntmg and took long walks with each 0"^ One. evening I remember enioyinfe I ZLu<- , 5n':t ^*''. *'•»•'"'" "^d ^.tnn^y^'t ^: .ht'^th':r:urr ^- c^e "i„^«- - ^^^g^;^^e_h„„dred ,nd twe.. "is ^ j iQ£ M.B eHefe '\ „ excitement, tumbled down twice, and faJd »:; AT once. '%, j^llfV.^; "a^ ' ii, .U 4;fe PICTURESQUE BERGS. f ' ' Mr. Kennedy hallooed also repeatedly, and discharged his piece. I am perhaps warranted in helieving th^ the bear heard both reports before leaving us to our- selves, which he did shortly after without further no.« i tice. .* This feilure put us in the mood for a long straight- •' forward march. We proceeded due north to a region - completely encumbered with bergs, thrown off from a . .rreait glacier hard by. About four miles from our Brig they assumed a picturesque variety of shft|e, rarely i§enm those found floating out at sea. It was not sr"much their size that impressed us— though they ■ were very large, several measuring a third of a mile ' along the base— al the sharpness arid boldness of the , • ihies^where they were caverned and cloven down. ; ' We attributed some of this effect to their freshness and recent origin. They were in sbme cases so stain- ' ] f . ed by earthy matter as to show plainly the different colors .of the cliff-side they had rested on, some dyed '" ■ with a burned umber, others with the black of an . •' '■ augite formation. One was a conglomerate of great ' '. ice.bowl4ers, stained of a dark tint, but cemented to- gether by iee that was perfectly clear. Arwither had the shape and the melancholy coloring of a half-torn-down old mansion-house. Some dusky ' " earths, and ash-looking silt from the ground-up gneiss- es, streaked the gable-end, like the sooty chimney. - 'flues; other ash-colored patches stood for old plaster ' and darkejned whitewash; and the base was choked ,, up. with piles of building stone. There are few things to me more suggestive (rf sentimental moralizing, even ashore, than these zigzag smoke-passages and cham. '' v. bers torn open to the day. But I had not s^n a real ' ■ . hoilfiio for full fiftcon monthB; ftnd this dreamy profile if V -»*;'hoes. 439 year's ^ea„ temperatut „f il^ J^/.^^" ^W" broader caver™ ,1^^'' ''i„*:L"'" """'"""^'^ *" the echoes were sta lil A whtl"'"'"" '°'"'"'''^- tie-jou.could hardly"fco^ prayers of a frosty niltrrL, """''' ^"^^ ""'^ «.^ inrc i?^rr » '^~- 'i».eswith the atm fpheric If Ah^r^'^ "'"^■ m the afternoon the .„n i, ^"' '*'» "'elo-^k - With thTJ^I c "y etr hi W r '"'"'' "' ftnes see when it ,-J..l ^ ^"* "^■""'^ ''e some. »«heT sto^L riT ?K "^"'"^ """' '■""'"g "Mking for thHntv 7. ""t* "" '"«' J°^t been Acted over «f„»fl.'' t"*'' "^"^ '"'''"• " -<« " m.^ ■■ J'-'C l, "^i "'^ """""""y g 'een. that _ "" ■ """' 'ne scene-painters are / VI ,./■' . 44Q adVenture in THE SLUDGE. SO fond of for tUir scenes of diablerie, without one ray in sympathy with the cheering verdure of vegetation. 1 have never witnessed the same effect m nature. They were pleasant things these rambles on the ice with our new colleagues, and I should Je sorry to tor- . get them ; butithey were sometimes less-^poetifial than the one I hav6 been speaking of. There was a part of the ice-field that extended between the two vessels, which we had nicknamed the Albert Floe. A part of this had been broken up by the swell, and a space of some hundreds of yards close by us was filled up for the time with skreed, forming a floating platform of . tesselated structure, but without a cement. Mr. Ken- nedy and M. Bellot were on their way to visit us, and had just reached this uncertain pathway. Know- ing the difficulties they might encounter in the tran- sit; and somewhat vain, I fear, of my owiVice-craft I took a boat-hook and startedjiff to meet them The ice happened not to be convenieritly arranged for my procuress in a direct line; and a^ the best of times it, requires the composure of a well-balanced mind to\ make long leaps from one slippery fragment to anoth- er especially when th? d|^rk water between is some- what cold an^ deep, l^^as in a hurry, I suppose; for in one of my jumps I damaged the garniture of m^. . nether limbs, and was constrained, to hait long enough \l to administer some temporary repairs. It Idst pie a little time; but I jumped along for some hundred yards more and was soon near enough to see JVI. Bellot-up to his neck, and Mr. Kennedy trying to, fish him out with a boat-hook. When I got up to them, which J did by a process of ferriage, using little blocks of floe for a r^ft^M. Bellot's Arctic attire presented an ap- peaianco strikingly aquatic and unco mfortable . AV ith as we were nea V • ESQUIMj DOGS. / 441 iW world o? d?lZ' or T "^"'^ *" ""' constrained to sZkZ^'u Of^^.^^H I am not to Mn. the a.ve£e; oftheX t\tC' ^ " to his laugh at mv exDnn... T "° T ^ '^"'"ome . -cond Le swiLZg l„t i^hti "^"t'"' ™^^ feared his dip would be a deep .^"/i"?^': \''^"y the evidence of my shipmates thTV I. ."" "'"■' ™ the effect is unique of r^„l „fV T 1'" " ^""P' ping heels up o'n an ice^fg „t3:L;'""V';r .og up a third by the strap ofhis sho p'o'uTh ''°"'- 4Xnrut.rd-3ot:^ But those on ^ii:^':^^^: t^r'"'- S.11 a. wild as jackals: let loose uporhe Leit w'' aUnost.unpo.sible to catch themCn On' T' noon, a little below the Devil's Th„T\ . """• of «.. Albert were out ^ Ihe^'^f™'';:,'::"!,:? den breeze allowed her to *ork to wi„W»rdS " J «d gesture to ooZ't^^lT^r^f C' ZZ^r savage, though he stood gazing-at us wiMW !►. ^ H^tohisfr ^:::r/::^:\^Li:'z"':. speck uponjre white floe; a«d afte ward t' ij^l-. ^ the spy-gX^s served, still with his he^ r^,lK^ ^ My thrown back on bis haunch^ 1^^,^^^ th.-»^-^^t„„., ^rowU„g; ,,.„i^^ - ) .^ • J*' kt:.. \ / Hp^ 442 ESQUIMAUX DOGS. fainter and fainter, for eight hours after we left the '''The training of these animals hy th0 natives is of the most un^pcious Sort. I never heard a kind ac- cent from an Esquimaux to his dog. The drivers whip of walms hide, some twenty feet long, a stone or a lump of ice skillfully directed, an imprecation loud and shaip, made emphatic by the fist or foot, and a grudged ration of seal's meat, make up the winters ^ entertainment of an Esquimaux^team. In, the sum- mer the dogs run at large arid cater for themselves. . I remarked that there were comparatively tew ot them at Holsteinberg, and was told a melancholy sto- ry to account for it. It' seems that the governor, .riest>id fisherman keep goats, veritable goats, , in a fire- warmed apartment in winter, and al- the rest of the year to crop the grasses of the V valleys. Now the half-tutored, unfed Esqui- maux dog would eat a goat, bones, skin, and, for aught I know, horns. The diet was too expensive. It be- came a grave question, therefore, how to reconcile the incompatibilities of dog and goat. The matter wa. settled very summarily. When the green season ot sunshine and plenty came, the dogs werd.sent to a rocky islet, a sort of St. Helena estabUshmei^, about a mile from the inain, with permission to Uvebv their wits • and the goats remained to browse and grdw lat /at large. The results were tragical. The dogs Vere afflicted with sore famine. Great life battles bega^; the strong keeping^^hemselves alive by eating the ■ weak By thisterrible process of gradual reduction, the colony was resolved into some four or five scarced veterans, whose nightly combats disturbed even the vex eraus, wuuod wigx^^xj ^_ "^K-waiu on i milk drinkers at the settlementjumil the mnnant«t« stitijte IfBTreii] BSftUlJTAUX D0O9. 443 ^!l^^ ^J^ »» desperation, aad succeeded in rut^ti.:r.fr^ sa^t^w S''^; ^r^''' *^' ^'^^^^^ ^^^ "««««■ sary than further to the north. It is^iily wh* the winters are both long and eta, for the stJi the Te hS? r '**' ™^^ "^^" «^ temper^that the Holstemberger can make a run as far L Bisoo ikZ th?r".T'^- ^°""^' ^^"«y«' -^i«^ «*re<^^ ba^ like the fiords to interior lakes " tnff r^.r V ^ ''^"'*^"* intercourse kept up by t^tt fnolT t' "'^^ ^i«««' -»d for some three months, mcludmg January and February, they are pernavik. At these last settlements the dogs are ex Z hf ^/T""" «- friend, the coopfr at Pra." ven, had twenty-seven, and ea^h pf the stalwart sons ofCrisha^senhadatemoftwelm Large numbers "7 ConsTl *'^ r "i^^' "^^ theirpflh br tT ren of Constantmople and the Nile. They do not bark: I distinguish between tl,e bark and he how and they have not the intelligent movement of 7h« tai Which, like the fan of a 4anish S ta I hdd to beth most expressive and graceful of all the sub titutes for voice. I succ^ded, after a while, in mak- ing my poc^ Disco greet/me with her tail e e^ ^ she died before she hadiearned to wag it ' bv a «i!;',^7T of draught, the dogs are fastened by a simple brea^t-strap, eight, twelve, or even four- .^^on the^ledp. The long ^hipis the^«b^ stitute for reins: a sharp hiss, accompanied by the m m -+., F 1* J ■4> i 4 — ■ ..1... ..,11.,^ ; ■ ■ . ' . ■ . , » ■ • t 'V - t. ■'■ f. . ^ ■; . ; ■','-.'. - f ■ ■*■» 1 ■ *■ , k 1 ^ ■ * , ■ 1,^.1. ^^— -...jg^...,.,..,... ■■■ — , -., • . • -r,. ■■^ " . * I > r.^;. ; fllj^ 1. ^■^^ : X , : kv;" ^. '^ \ ■ Ic -Jil- r '^ « ■ir, / IMAG^ EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) \ ■•J..J r^ 1.0 LI «/>. m IB Itt u ■AO IM ll?:^ 1.8 I L25 IIIIU ii.6 6" . if .#■^4 ••if s <(!^ v /-» « v^_ ■• as WnT MAM STIHT Carparabarl , v 4 ,j»s, •. *: W-^i ■■"t X •a- 1 .^^ - L I. I , im. 1 ^ \ /■■ ' ■«■ , .VlA^ .asses of ice, at whose ba^es the animals escapinTfrom the musquitoes fall an easjr prey to the hunter. ;• When we reach the latitude of 69°, where the'green. stone dikes begin to modify the gneissoid character of the ranges, the glaciers approach more nearly to the actual coast The crystalline schists, however, con- Imue with lo% headlands as far ^as Wilcox Pomt • and it was only here, where ,the mean level of the coa«t seemed to be reduced, that the great glacier ' properly Speaking, began. \ ^ ^ Taking a headland near Wilcox Point, which was ^WHtobefifteen hundred feet above tfee level of the _: 448 OLACIEKS: sea, arid sweeping round to another headland of simi- lar elevation, we made a rude approximation to the height of the glacier between : it was about seven hund- red feet at the coast-line. FolMwin^ it back from the sea with an excellent Fraunhofer telescope, we could see it rising slowly by a gradual talus till it was lost in the distance. Its undulations over the buried coun- try, which it overlaid like a great tombstone, were marked by considerable diversity of surface. They were occasionally furrowed by ravines, indicating wa- ter action ; and in these, wherever the cliffs protruded, a long earthen stain, garnished probably with detrited rubbish, extended down like the lines of a moraine. Sometimes the surface was smooth, and unmarred ; but more commonly, and especially on the |aces of more abrupt descent, I recognized the crevasse character which I have noted in the bergs. I also observed es- carpments of ice in some instances, great mural faces, beyond which the glacier was continued again ; but these were rare. The general color of the glacier, like that of the berg, was a dead white, varipd only a little by alterna- tions of light and shadow; and through this the higher land peaks rose like dark knobs. In two places I no- ticed a land spur, extending at right angles tO the axis of the chain until it reached the sea, and thrust- ing itself boldly through the ice to the water-line, flanked on each side by the glacier face. I thought too, though my observations with the fflass wer^ too rude to assure me of their correctness, that I could trace, in the general configuration of this great ice-surface, delta-like divisions, such as might be induced by surface streams expanding and divari- cating a^ they approached the sea. In fact, hosts of ■&. THEIB >UBSTANCE. 449 geological analogies suggested themselves, which I do «ot venture to enlarge upon. It was evident that the te waw' ''°"^™'«"«"> "or* diffused, and that the water gorges were more ramiform ruptly, presentmg to escarped fa™ with nearly verti- cal ftactnre and varying in perpendicular heighTI cording to the profile of the protruding m^ Th^ aTdTcfd f tr"1*^"""'°''^»'P»-*-"^- . and decided ; the only departure from its regular con. tinuity being at the gorges I have just refeS^d to o at^cleanly-out chasms, referable apparently to di^'u" ri.'jT' *'''°''.*^ substance of the Greenland gla- cier differs materially from tl,at of the Alpine. A tfl ment, examined by the microscope, exhibits the same vesicular structure ; and it breaks into numerous pietr whose separation isdetermi„edbytheircapillary'^tr„:' ture_ This fragmentary composition of the glaiier ice enables you to walk on it without slipping. ^ Its co or « barely translucent, and at a distant ^ op^ue 1 «««. sjlver. It is only where cracks or ch2 hav^ been filled by waters and frozen up afterward, that we have a truly transparent ije. I have exainined the n«v6, which forms so interest. "« a feature in the study of glaciers, only once .Tsl^ Tins wa« at the small glacier north rf 76o, where thU But for the partial cementation of its particles, and a grain-like character which could be detected on dos^ examination, I should have regarded it a. a mere r cumulation of snow-drift. "^ .^ I * 4.'50 GLACIERS. " ^ The change of the Arctic sno|w8 int6.n6v6 or lirn might be the subject of interesting examination. Even the surface drifts of our winter icej-floes underwent this granular transformation rapidly. After tossing about as a dry and almost impalpable powder during the long Polar winter, the returning sun, with its alterna- tions of thaw and congelation, developed a grain-like or almost beaded structure. I have seen these crys- talline pellets as large as a cherry-stone, diminishing down to the size of shot or mustard-seed. The Polar gl§fiieT, as may be seen clearly when it has taken the berg form, is commonly coated over with this modified snow, a^id its valleys and minor depressions are often filled ^ith it by drift-laction. I have noted by sections stra\ta of fifteen and twenty feet, whose composition was ^tirely analogous to the firn of the Alps. It may hav^ been by observing por- tions of the berg like this, tha^ Professor Forbes was led to the assertion that the iceberg is com]»osed not of true ice, but of neve. That the Polar ^ftciers obey the same law ( ment as their Alpine brethren, I have seen to doubt. The advance of the glacial faces a|t Jacobs' Harbor, of which Mr. Olrik informed me, is the only direct fact which I can add to those already [noted on this subject. But the very circumstance of |their oflF- casts, the bergs, being so numerous, seems tc| indicate a continuously protruding influence. It may be that in the more southern settlements of Greeriland this advance is limited by atmospheric causes; /but I am strongly inclined to believe that in those furj;her north, the debacle or berg disgorgement is the mos^ powerful countervailing agent. It would be presumptuous, with my verV meagre of move- reason *■' A. i BENDING ICE. 451 data, to theorize as to the causes of this progression, or to become the advocate of any one view to the ex. elusion of others. But I confess that my observations of the bergs, and of the ice-fields of our winter-pack, point to the viscous or gelid flow of Professor Forbes.' The definition of a solid is at best comparative ; and I have had abundant proofs that ice, even at very low temperatures, undergoes molecular changes which modify its external configuration very largely. On the. 20th of March, \vhile we were imbedded in the floe, with a temperature many degrees below zero, one of those great convulsions called hummocking had thrown up a table eight feet in thickness by twenty odd in width, and in sucll a position that it was only sustained by masses of ice at its two extremities. In the month of May, the thermometer never having risen in the interval to within many degrees of the freezing. ^fo'mt, I saw th,e same ice-table completely bent down, its centre depressed -five feet, until arrested in its de-' scent by a new support.* This beautiful illustration of the semi-solid charac ter of the ice during the depths of a Polar winter, when — *-Se e the drawings of this ice-table on page 389: - i )] 452 GLACIERS. its tenacity more resembled glass or granite tjian the familiar ice at home, was not a solitary one. The pre- ceding sketch will exhibit an equally marked curva- ture in a larger mass, where the gravitating pressure was applied at the two extremities. Contorted ices, natural bridges, and, as the season advanced, nodding, pen- dulous, stalactitic hum- mocks, were not unfre- quent. These had a dou- ble interest, as bearing not only on the plastici- ty of ice, but on the in- fluence which temperature exerts upon its condition at points below that of congelation, 32°. I have already described the only glacier which I had an opportunity of surveying. It reminded me of La Brenva ; and although I- overlooked the ribboned structure, riot having seen then the detailed work of Professor Forbes, I recollect that it had the peculiar scalloped shell summit, which he has regarded as il- lustrative of mechanical advance. , It was from the icebergs, however, that formed so characteristic a feature of the sceue before us, that we derived our best idea of the glaciers from -which they had come. To the eye they presented almost infinite diversity ; but it required very little generalization to reduce them all to a few simple primary forms. Thus the vertical fracture of the glacier, which would indicate the formation of a berg by debacle, would divide the mass into parallelopipedons or other rudely symmetrical solids ; and where the surface of the original plateau was parallel to its base, the de- tached mass would float evenly upon the waters, a FORMS OF BERGS. '453 great table-land with perpendicular sides. --This was the most frequent form of the bergs, and the most im- InT^A ^ measured some that were thirteen hundred yards on a single face whl"h *^' iJ"f,°^«^* «^*h« &l«^ier to the country on winch iris built generaUy prevents such a symmet- rical equilibnum. One or another of its great sides Will be inclined toward.the water, destroying the vert sloping hill rising from the sea. Over bergs of this form, and they also were very numerous, 4 walked as over a terrestrial surfaoe, met by every diversity of configuration, valleys, gorges, hills, ^plains, and preci- plC6S* A third form, so abnormal as to characterize a class, but at the same time comparatively rare, was that of a mass, which, probably by continued avalanche mo- tion, had acquired such an irregular form, such a dis- proportion, perhaps, between its width and depth, that Its centre of gravity, as it fell, wa^.not within the sub- merged mass. Its equilibrium , was therefore uncer- tain, and its side sometimes what had beeh at first its surface. With some exceptions, the different forms of the berg could be deriv^rom these; their subsequent changes being depeffct on atmospheric or aqueous erosion, or both, or on accidental fractures, and on changes of equilibrium consequent on the others. These la^t were productive of the most eccentric diver- sities. Great Ungues, which had become cavernous under the action of the waves, would rise bristling into the upper air; and gnarled peaks, stained with the silt through which they had. plowed, cut in darkened pinnacles against the sky ,; 1 f ^ V 4-54 BBRUS. k There was one great monster, That we called the Tower of Babel, nearly three hundred feet high, with a spiral stair-case as unsatisfactory as some of Martin's imaginings of infrflterrene architecture. Another was an enormous honey-combed- mass, studded aU oyer with bowlders, and staged .with syenitic detritus. But curious among all the rest was the berg, of which a Bketch is given on the opposite j^agd. It was but partially overturned, and thp exposed sur- face was marked all over by cit|?ular depressions, ten inches deep and a fo«t in diameter, so close together as nearly to touch at their upper edges. A small- er berg was so covered with these spot-like excae:' « 8TDDDED .SEROS. 455* vatioYis, and had wjthal so strik- ing a form, thait it could have no other nickname but- the Giraffe. In . my efforts to arrive at the . cause of this strange leprosy, I • q^jce only, found the bottoH* of th,e: catties filled with slimydiotom'a- ©eous life. It is possible that a^ vit&r action had determined this . Jocal' thawing ; but its symmet- noal character still remains a puzzle. . It was very interesting to follow these secondary lorms m their qhanges. Nothing can be more impos- ing than the rotation of a berg. I have often watched on^, rookmg its earth-stained sides in steadily-deepen- mg curves, as if to gathe^ energy-for some desperate: gymnastic feat ^and then turning itself slowly over in ' a monster somerset, and vibrating as its head rose into the new element, lijce a leviathan shaking the water Irom Its crest. It was iijipossible not to have sugges- tions thrust upon me of their-lagency in i The berg is beyond all doubt a most important agent in modifying the soundings upon the coast. The grounded bergs off Disco are known to leave troughs, plowed by their projecting tongues, as they float and ground with the rise and fall of the tides. Where the bottom is of mud and till, as is the case on the west coast generally, this action must be very marked ; for on a berg I surveyed trigonometrically in July, which had grounded in soundings of five hundred and twen- ty feet, the great tap.root that anchored it to the bot- tom admitted of an easy rotation, and the berg swung upon its axis with each change of the tide. That such great tongues, though irregular in their shape, do in fact rock and rotate with the movements of the berg, might be inferred, indeed, from the facettes that are worn on the imbedded material; many of ') THEIR GEOLOGICAL INFLUENCES. 459 Which are disposed about a convexity of uniform curv. We are to remember besides, in coaridering the ee. ologioal eccentricities which are to be referred 7„ ^ actjon of i^terp, the immense quantito" f feel" -material which I have spoken of a^discoloml TX uig so many of the-bergs of Omen.t n,? j i Melville Bov Ti, ■ "-"nenak, Ovinde, and , of tons allof th^T -■"*T'' "« '"'»«°y ■»"«<»» Iks to LI . ^"""^ """ «'"'»«■>*» of gneissoid rocks to be deposited itf distant localities. A refer ence to my current chart will show that they pass te tte bat r^*'™ «•"«*' Porfo™ the entire circuit of. tne bay. The extensive reaches of shoals, which are CarKafer' "TV ""^ '=°'^' ''""^ Pond Bay to Cape Kater, ma,y be due to this character of berg-drift oound must, I suppose, be referred to it alsif. BOWLOSRS IN ICBBIBO. n /^ ilMOIlO THB BEBGR, MELVILL'V BAY. CHAPTER XLIX. I RETURN from this long digression to my iifarratlve.<^ In the night of the 15th of July a mist cleared away that had inclosed us for some days, ^nd the attnosphere had the pellucid clearness of the Tropics aftSer a rain. We then saw hoijt completely surrounded wis were by bergs. We had made fast, on the shore side, to one of magisterial proportions, that had anchored itself in the floe. As we looked coastWard, others |still closer in were so piled up against the land that it was im- possible to separate them : a jagged wall of ice con- trasting with the hills beyond was all that could be ' seen. To seaward, I counted seventy-three within the visual angle. \ As the tide ebbed, the s^me phenomena of drift which had startled us last year in Melville Bay were renew- ed. Th e floes were choked in around us, so as t o pre- rent the possibility of warping from our position ; and i. :.M ,-':!ii^;bi^V'^:/i^^^Bp^-i^£^~-^ MARCH OF THE BERGS. 461 the/kir/gly bergs began their impressive marcH. Our ^n6horkge seemed to be a fixed centre, influencing the g^eraj tidal streams. The set of the surface]ice was ra^pid to the south; but where it struck against our i^tanfl safeguard, the counter-stream worked tts way JW|rd the shore. i 1 C,In ihe midst of this combination offloe-moiements, t^e^tjde changed, and the inshore bergs begai to bear ^w4 upon us, moving steadily against tU surface ,durr^nt, and nearly Against the wind. One fef these Wf qiJadrangular form,^ with a back like a t^ble-land' and in bulk more than equal to two such asfour own' advanced from the recesses of the land at tie rate of a krtot an hour, crumbling all opposing floes^^ before it. Mr. Murdaugh and myself had accomplish^ a some- whalt arduous journey over the ice to the Prince Albert. We returned just as the two bergs ierc about to hieet, crushing our little vessels to atoms in their embrace. It was a sight to make " the bravest hold his breath;" more fearful by much than any whose peril we had shared. But we doubled a projecting cr|ig ; and it was past. Just as the drifting berg was about impinging on the other, it yielded a very little to spme inexplicable counter-drift; moVed slowly round on Its axis to the northward; and, passirfg within fifty yards, of the brigs, continued its majestic progress di- rectly m the wind's eye. It was a narrow escrfpe: tU ■ Rescue was heeled over considerably by the floes which were forced in upon her, driving in her port bulwarks and demohshmg her monkey-rail. The same fearful scene was renewed the next day A second quadrangle stood out from the shore at the ^me rat^ as the other, and had approached within— ^oft^iscuifccaet, when a deep, protruding tongue, al- i:< 462 THE, SEASON GOING. togetlXinvisible trf us, opposed itself against our ad- vancing eiiemy, and with a shock that vibrated to our very centre brought him up. Why does not the at- traction of these masses bring and retain them in ap- position ? Collisions between bergs are certainly rare; and my own experience, corroborated by the results of much inquiry among the Greenlanders and the fisher- men, se^ms to say that a union between two bergs, except when one is aground— an exception on which I lay some stress— is almost unknown. A few days after the scene I have described, we neared our hated landmark of last season, the Devil's Thumb. But here the leads closed ; and our labyrinth of bergs attended us still, clogging our way, and wea- rying us with their monotony. Our commander had but one thought, and we all sympathized in it— how could oiir little squadron regain its position at the searching grounds? We had otherwise no lack of incidents. There Were parhelia, intricate ones, with six solar images and eccentric circles of light, one of which had its circumference passing through the sun. And we had bear hunts now and then of mothers and cubs together ; and sometimes we shot at a flock of birds. « ITT But the spirit of the hunt had left us. We were close upon the middle of August. Less than four weeks remained for us to get rid of this vexatious en- tanglement, press on through Lancaster Sound, com- piete our explorations in Wellington Channel, and re- turn to the open waiter of the bay. It was before the middle of September that we had been frozen m last year. And here we were in a perfect ice-trap, unable ..^to win an inch of progress. 1 We were without the Albert too. As long ago as GOOU-BY TO THK ALBERT. 463 the fifth, her g,K)d folkn had- determined to mukelouth despairing of success in a northward effort; and L the eleventh while we were yet attached to the oldlland- floe, she found her way to an open lead, and Lan- peared on the thirteenth. We could ha dly ta k o'f the egrets we all felt at losing them. It seem.d to me hat for days after 1 could hear their broken hearted little hand-organ grinding "The Garb of Old Bible, Bellots French treatises, Cowrie'7 Shet land OOOD-BY TO THI mmci 4l„„, NKLV.LLK BAT. ^^e perhaps thought of their departure the more because it implied something of uncertainty as to ou; own fate. They had avowedly left us, fearless and Anterprismg as they wor^, to escape from hazards that we were continuing to brave. Mr. Leask, their vet- ^ 464 CRISIS APPROACHINO. oran ice-master, thought, when he left us, that if we followed the northern leads there >vas almost a cer- tainty of our being caught, like the Swan, and the York, and a host of others before us. A pleasant neigh- borhood, truly ! Here perished the ships of '47. Here the North Star was beset in '48 ; hereabout, the year before last, the Lady Jane, and the Superior, and the Prince of Wale« ; and, coming to our own experience of last year, here it was, in this very devil's hole, that we wore out our three weeks' imprisonment. Moreover, the season was more advanced than last Cyear's had been. The thermometer, which stood at noon in the shade at 54°, isunk in the evening hours to 30°. At such a temperature the ice forms rapidly on the deeply chilled water, and the day sun barely melts it. We began to observe too flocks of the little Auk streaming south, as if to harbinger a change of season. It was evident that a verjf few days must : decide \yhere we should pass the approaching winter. The crisis came soon enough. My journal is prolix throughout this period ; but I venture to give it as it stands. I begin with the eleventh of the month. ^^ August 11, Monday. The wind has beisn nearly all day more or less from the northward. Now, though almost calm, it is from the eastern or shore side, ac- companied by weather sunny and beautiful. " We are still attached to the oM land-floe. This so-called land-ice» is rather a huge field, hemmed in, by bergs, so as to be immovable. It is, however, young and frail, not exceeding eighteen inches in thickness, and perforated with water-pools, cracks, and seal-holes. It is so rotten that marginal pieces are continually breaking off", and carried into the chaos of floating ===^drift outside. Were we to share the same chance, w e — THF RERGS MOVING. 465 off in the part thaSn'.' 1""^'?''^ """"" ing on without mtermission .„'.i , "P'f*^^ '" 8"- M.) we have a huJZZl ^ ah /'"; 'I' "',""'"' -tern. We are surroj^ly ZZZ\tj^ """] """AstiTer" -^- ''^?2tr:,^thhisr ' taring about our anchorage. SrTrf uf 5^ T^""' to the westward, are five' so n/a ^ ah^f rto "' .embie one ragged mountain pZcipL. The^ ^Z one of these smaller than our Washin,rtnn n . ? an one of them would fill the c:;^to,C«a^''''' D^ rectly ahead only a hundred and fifteen Tjsofl-^t :X"^ehr;.irstrs:l^^^^^^^^ Cgttr:r'^^r"^-'''™Xiiirv^ t^ll ! r^ ^ anchoring ice ; but every now and hen ,t breaks offin g,eat masses with a reZn Uke art lery. Between it and the nearest astern ^us *e distance is about three hundred var,l, n„ • ■ we have the equivalent of a roSound moZS ing for if ■ ^^' "'" '" ■""""» »«''''•• "d bear. 'Ui,^« 12, Tuesday. The berg ahead st.lP l,„ij Its anchorage. It is an amorphous'masrl w n tha K^x^rrjtmrtatz:^^^^^^ ti \ 4G6 A DRIFTING ICE-BEACH. /"' '' About one^ o'clock to-day, a fragment about ao large as Independence Hall fell from it inta the ice- sea below. The noise had not the usual sharp, reverb- erating character of these disruptions ; but the effects of th^ avalanche upon the field into which it fell were very striking. At first, from the centre of turmoil came a circling series of large undulations clothed in foam. Next the floating rubbish began to roll in prop- agated waves ; and these, passing our brig, extended tlremselves under the margin of the fast floe, breaking it up, dnd still expanding in one ridge beyond another till th6y disappeared in the distance. We coi^nted at least five wave circles in the ice-field at one time. It reminded me of our scene in the pack on the fifth of June. "August 15, Friday. The floe we have been fasten- ed to so long still holds together, though traversed by innumerable cracks. The margin is constantly break- ing away ; but our whale lines are laid far out, and as one comes away we warp closer in by the others. " This has kept us from drifting, but it has sur- rounded us with the off"-shed fragments of the floes. These are already recemented about us, thougTi^^ coifi- stantly cracking and breaking away by the varying pressures; and outside of them the loose floes are drift- ing by, morning noon, and night, like the foam-cov- ered surface oV& millrace when the ice gives way in a spring freshet. We may be said to be moored to an uncertain shore, a drifting beach of ice ; while qii ^ every side, striving to tear us from tHis ■faithless anch- orage, are the unquiet, grinding floes. But the bergs ! it seems almost profanity to speak of them: where are they? ' , ^. ^ I have compared the outside drift to the foam o£= PROCESSION OF THE BERGS. 467 ' V^ ■ ) ' ■ a millrace The^mparisoa, was a wretched one Imagine the horizon a great sea, visible here and there at the end of long marble vistas, one unbroken but moving whiteness. Let that sea be choked with jag- ged mountains, pale and chalky, but moving too. It is^the panorama that surrounds us; They are not the same bergs that girded us a week ago. It is a con- ^tant series : as fast as one column passes another takes its^pW At this moment, looking to the nort^rec- TlfVt^ ^T"' ""^l Babylonic «»wer, just losing itee f behind the fast1>ergs to seaward. Yesterday that same berg emerged from the solid ice-mountain tp the southward. Then it was the last of a long cav- alcade; but they have all gone, and another train is now following it, so continuous and compa<;t that I sometimes can not see the horizon. The procession like a phantasmagorial dream of some giant theatre! glides slowly in from the left, passes across the front and IS lost far back to the right. " Night before last, standing on the fast floe I counted, between the two anchored bergs that sei^e as framinp of ^he picture, thirty-two icebergs in a >«ll™shaled group. Standing afterward on the summit of our northern buttress, I counted two hund- red and eighty, the glacier terminating t^e eastern view Most or these ber^s w^re above the standard height of two hundred and fifty feet; some exceeded three hundred; few were less than one hundred. ^ We see no open water; but it is designated dearly by a dark sky, something between the bistre of the trost smoke and the indigo of our thunder clouds at home. The tint is deepest at the horizon, and fading as It ascends. We have seen these signs of water %„ the last lour days. We confidently hope the^ southT^ O X 468 BERO FRACTURE. -' % eaaterly wi^fis are driving the pack to the northward, for both the skreed drift and the bergs seem to have a northwesterly trend. It is probable that the leads may not be more than the third of a mile from us. We have been trying to warp toward them; but, after much hard labor, have moved not quite a hundre^ yards. - .^*ii ' ''■August 16, Saturday. Ou repositions is th#s£ - yesterday, except that we are l^^day Wder \n it. bergs keep the same curved '8creen(pf bristling wall to seaward ; and to the east, the glaci0r;>ith-its black knobs oT protruding mountain, shows dimly through the mist. The wind is from the northward and east- ward; but we are so girded in that our floes can not ' relax; Outside, to the south, whenever a momentary opening permits a glimpse beyond, we haye leads and a water-skgff "It ia evident now that our berth here is a horse- shoe indentation, the loose ice of which is hemmed in by a rapidly changing army of bergs. Lagt night, or, to speak more accurately, this morning, though the wind was off-shpre from the east, we experienced some tolerable nipping: the 'young puppies' were whining half the night. Under the circumstances, especially as the fast floe seems to yield very little, our captain lias determined to try the >4kij^^- ^^^ ^"8^'^ head is pdfted into the <^''|^^ft^^^ ^^W^^^ spring her past the loose ipemSmW^^'- " 9 P.M. While three men were out on a low berg this morning warping, one of them, Dunning, struck his ice-chisel against the mass. It parted instantly; with a short, sharp cra«k; one fragment sinking for a time nearly below the skreed, with two of the men ^^j^^Xh'ey had some difficulty in keeping theiilooi- BfiRO Fr/ctURE. ^ 469 hold as it rose, and fell, and rocked al^ut with the.n; but they managed to do it. Dunning was left on the ,^ other Side : it see-sawed with him a good deaJ but he slumped for it safely. s ^ ' ^"^ "** ^fli' ^^'^ T '^^'"' ^"^ '■^'*^^ "^^••"J"? ^^nd evening, nrob- •ng up their interminable procession, some of.theL inaking subhine evolutjions- as they puss. O.ie to^v broke nght beforeus in a vertical disruption, and;cld away, in two i^early equal inasses. Lbther seem^^ to stop to show us how he could oscillate, and then gracefully turned himself upside down and floated • •" 10 P.M. The thermometer ha« got up to 36°, and tire air is transparent again. The sun is shining out and the glacier glitters at its fractured face like satin spar and diamonds. , "August 17, Sunday. The same revolving wall of bergs meets us!5HheM^est. hut the glacier on the other side IS partniJly hidden by a new procession inshore. While profaning the day by an attempt to sketcih these sublime monuments of creative power in my drawing- book, I was mterrupted by a heavy undulation, roll- ing under the brig, and passing on to the solid inshore Hoe. It was followed by a number of others, coming m quick succession, and breaking up the floe drift in every direction. The action conti.iued for some min- utes. It must have been caused by some veiy large and probably irregular berg overturning at a distance; but It was without noise, and indeed without premo- nition 01 any sort. The direction of the wave where Jlgt j rMkj i awaafcomiheHoi t hw est.?lT^^ this mo^^ r'' .> .,. 470 THE OPENING. r r* ment, all the heavy heaving and warping of to-day had been without any eflfect. Now the floes separated ' as if by magic: there was relaxation every where; and we made at least two hundred yards before the ice closed again, " This afternoon, the captain, with Murdaugh and myself, walked and climbed over this same ice, to make a reconnoissance of the region beyond the bergs. By the aid of boat-hooks and some slippery jumping we achieved it, and were at" last able -to climb one of the imprisoning bergs, and look froiii its crest to the other side. " It was a sermon such as uninspired man has never preached. . There; there, far down below us, there was the open water, stretching wide away to the south ; placid and bright, bearing on its glazed surface fleets *^of bergs and rkfts of floes, but open water still; and yet further on, the unbroken water-sky. Our little brig was under us, the tiny fretwork of her spars traced clean and sharp against the arena of ice ; but, thank God ! she is nearing the gates of her prison-house. De llaven was right. One quarter of a mile ! Now, lads, for the warps again ! " Midnight. We are out ^ at ten minutes past eleven we shipped our rudder, the first time in three weeks; and made sail, the fitst time since the 26th of July. "We owe it all to a relaxation of the floes. The wind was from the northward : the bergs that hemmed in the loose drift around us yielded a little toward the west, and the skreed began to separate. The main- brace was spliced; springs took the place of warps; and the men went gallantly to their work. They were as anxious to get out as any of us. M A t last we reached aa^opening ;. two iipmense THE ESCAPE 471 bergs, overfianging and ragged ; and down toward the water-line, an opening between them like a gateway. Shall we pa^s ? We have seen so many disruptions, and capsizings, and accidents of all sorts in this work ot anchor.planting: sometimes a mere breath brings down masses that would bury half a dozen such ves- sels as ours ; and these bergs are so water- washed and pendulous. Murdaugh waited for the order. De Ha- ven gave it; and, in deep silence, we passed the Gades of the Devil's Trap. '^August 19, Tuesday. The Rescue is close astern ot us: she got through about noon yesterday. Our commodore has resolved on an immediate return to the United States." The game had been played out fairly. Lancaster Sound was out of the question; and for our scurvy- riddled crew, a nine months' winter in the ice of North Baffin would have been disastrous. ■"*% ±1t' ,.,.^.. ''y_-. ■. .-hf:." fm^,^ »^ v.. . . - '^m'^<^ ':i;4 CHAPTER L. After our escape from the congregated bergs, we sailed to one at a little distance, and filled our water- casks. The berg crumbled and fell while we were do- ing so, but nobody was hurt ; and in two days more, , after a closing skirmish with the ice-pack, we headed homeward. On the twentieth we made our last sal- utation to the Devil's Thumb; and on the twenty- third,, in the evening, we were near enough to Upper- ilavik for a little boating party of us to make it a visit. With the exception of Kangiartsoak, this is the most northern of the Danish settlements. Its latitude is 72° 47', three hundred and seventy miles within the Arctic circle. But reaching it, we felt as if we had renewed our communication with the world ; for here, once in every year, comes the solitary trader from Co- penhagen. We had become so familiar with the drear- iness of Greenland, that the gliaring red gables of the ...,.j«;i«-.^..,i. THE governor's MANSION. 473 three houses, and the white curiosity, which stood for a steeple above the church, were absolutely cheering • and we landed, poor souls ! after our twelve miles' row, with hearts as elate as ever frolicked amonff the orange-groves of Brazil or the cocoa-pain* t)f the East- ern Jracific. * Disappointment once more! The governor had gone to Proven; the Danish ship hml gone to Proven; the priest had gone to Proven. But the gentler sex re- mained. The governor's lady gave us a kindly wel- come, and extended to us all the hospitalities of his mansion. The mansion wa^ far from picturesque. It was a square block of heavy g"^ timber, running into a high-peak gable. The roof was of tarred can- vas, laid over boards; thp wooden walls coated with tar, and painted a glowing red. A little paling white and garden-like, inclosed about ten feet of pre-' pared soil, covered with heavy glass frames; under which, in spite of the hoar-frost that gathered on them we could detect a few bunches of crucifers, green rad-' ishes, and turnip-tops. It was the garden, the dis- tinctive appendage of the governor's residence. Inside the house— it is the type of those at Disco and Proven— you pass by a narrow-boarded vestibule to a parlor. This parlor, a rbom of dignified consider- ation, IS twelve feet long by eleven : beyond it, a door opens to display the suite, a second room, the state chamber, of the same size. v tie most striking article of furniture is the stove, a 81 fl \ 474 THE FEAST. tall, black pylinder, such as I have seen in the Baltic cities, standing like a column in the corner : the next, a platoon of tobacco-pipes paraded against the wall : the next — let me be honest, it was the first — a table, with a clean white cloth, and plates, knives, and forks, all equally clean. Overhead hang beams as heavy as the carlines of a ship's cabin : below /is an uncov- ered floor of scrupulous polish : the windows are re- cessed, glazed in small squares, and opeiiing, door-like, behind muslin curtains : the walls canvas, painted, and decdrated with a few prints altogether remarkable for intensity of color. The looking-glass ; I reserve it for more special mention. ' It was not very large, but it was the first we had encountered since we came into the regions of ice. " To see ourselves as others see us" is not always the prayer of an intelligent self- love. ' Sharp- visaged, staring, weather-beaten old men, wrinkle-marked, tawny-bearded, haggard-looking: the boys of Uppernavik are better bred than the New York- ers, or they would have mobbed us. The ladies — they were ladies, they knew no superi- ors; they were self-possessed, hospitable ; they wore frocks, and they did not laugh at us — the ladies spread the meal, coffee, loons' eggs, brown bread, and a wel- come. We ate like j ail-birds. At last came the crown- ing act of hospitality ; on the bottom of a blue saucer, radiating like the spokes of a wheel or the sticks of a Delaware's camp-fire, crisp, pale, yet blushing at their tips, and crowned each with its little verdant tuft— ten radishes ! Talk of the mango of Luzon and the mangostine of Borneo, the oherimoya of Peru, the pine of Sumatra, the seckel-pear of Schuylkill meadows; but the palate must cease to have a memory before I "yield a place to any of them alongside the ten radishes of Uppernavik. 1.. . ., ,ivA, THE KAYACK. 475 On the twenty-fifth we reached tfi^ Whale- fi«h Islands, and at six in the evening were near enough to be towed in by our boats and anchor off Kronprin- sen Flocks of kayacks hung about our vessel, like birds ^bout a floating spar. We thought them more sprightly and active than the Esquimaux we had been among ; but perhaps it is as unfair to judge of the Es- quimaux without his kayack as of a sloth off his tree There was a bright boy among them, under ten years ol age, who could manage a little craft they had built *for him admirably. He calfed to us that his name was Paul. Next him was our »ld friend, Jans, of the overturners— whose portrait I have given in the mar- gin of the following page— and under our^ow, Zach- anas, the quarter-breed ; and Paul, senior, the pilot of my fur expedition to Lievely, I promised, inan early part of my book, to say some- thing more about the kayack and its occupant. I re- turn for a few minutes to the subject now. .J^e common length of the kayack is. about eight-- een feet, its breadth on deck some twenty-one inches, ■It i / 476 THE kayack: and its depth ten inches in the middle, just such as to al- low its occupant to sit with his feet ex- tended on the h^ot- torn and his hips be- low the deck. It is always built with a nice adaptation to his weight. Its frame is light enough to startle all our notions of naVal construction, and it is covered with noth- ing but tanned seal- hide. Yet in this egg-shell fabric the Esquimaux navigator habitually, and fearlessly, and successfully tpo, encounters risks which his more civ- ilized rivali^ in the seal-hunt, the men of New Bedford -vSs: an^ Stonington, would rightfully shrink from: I am not sure that I carPihake such a description of its pro- portions and structure as a ship-builder would under- stand ; but the drawings I annex have been made carefully ftom one of the best models, and maybe re- lied on f or all the information that can be gathered from them. ITS CONSTRUCTION. 477 T >» . The skeleton consists of three longitudinal strips of ^Tst ; 1 ^r^ ^'' "^^"^^^y '^^^'' *han a common plasenng lath - stretching from end to end, and shielded at the stem and stern by cutwaters of bone The upper of thes e, the gunwale, if I may call it so, is ^g somewhat stouter than the others. =" ^ The bottom is framed by three sim- =^ il{ir longitudinal strips. These are 1,- I, P ^ , °^^®'^®^ ^y ***^®'" st"PS or hoops, which perform the office of knees and ribs : they are placed at a. distance of not more than eight to ten inches from one another. Wherever the parts of this frame-work meet or cross, they are bound together with reindeer tendon very artistically. The general outline IS, I think, given accurately in the sketch on the opposite page. Over this little basket-work of wood is stretched the coating of seal hides, which also covers the deck, very neatly sewed with tendon, and firmly glued at the edges by a composition of reindeer horn scraped and hquefied in oil. A varnish made of the same mate, rials IS used to protect the whole exterior. The pah, or man-hole, as we would term it, is very 478 THE IMPLEMENTS nearly in the centre of the little vessel, sometimes a few inches toward the stern. It is circular or nearly so, wide enough to let the kayacker squeeze his hips through it, and no more. It has a rim or lip, secured upon the gunwa,le, and rising a couple of inches above the deck, so as to permit the navigator to bind it wa- ter-tight around his person. Immediately in front of him is his assay-lent, oi line stan(f, surmounted by a reel, with the sealing-ftne snugly coiled about it, and revolving on its centre with the slightest touch. He has his harpoon and his lances strapped at his side; his rifle, if he owns* one, stowed away securely be- tween decks. * Just behind the kayacker rests his bladder-float or air-bag, an air-tight sack of seal-skin, always kept inflat- ed, and fastened to the sealing- line. It performs the double office of a buoy, and a break or drag to retard the motion of the prey after it is struck. The harpoon, or principal lance {unahk), is also at- a b. tached to the sealing-line. It is a most ingenious de- vice. The rod or staflf is divided at right angles in two pieces, which are neatly jointed or hinged with ten- don strips, but so braced by the manner in which the tendon is made to cross and bind in the lashing, that, except when the two parts are severe^ by lateral press-^ ure, they form but a single shaft. The point, geneF" «"* OF THE KAYACKER. 479 ally an arrow-head of bone, has a socket to receive the end of the shaft: it disengages it- self readily from its place, but still remains fast to the end of the line Ihus, when the kayacker has struck his prey, the shaft escapes the risk of breaking from a pull against the gram by bending at the joint, and the point is carried free by the animal as he dives. At the right centre of gravity of the harpoon, that pomt I mean, at which a cudgel-player would grasp nis statt, a neatly-arranged cestm or holder {noon-sok) 00T8IDE OR BACK 01' THE ^OON-SOK. tin. msiDB OB SECTION OF THt N0ON-8OK. fits Itself on the shaft. It serves to give the kayacker a good gqp when casting his fweapon, but slides off h-om It, and is left in the hand, at the moment of dl-awmg back his arm. The bird javelin {neu-ve-ak), ■ In. the seal lance {ah-gnu-vcto), ai^d the rude hunting-knife {ha.poot), will be easily understood from my sketches Y\ I In ..^ 480 THE kayackkr: The paddle {pa-uh-teet), about which a knowing Esquimaux will waste as many words as a sporting gentleman upon a double-barreled Mant^n or a bridle- bit of peculiar faifcy, is in every respect a beautifully considered instrument. It never exceeds sevpn feet in length. It is double-bladed, and its central por- tion, which receives the hands, presei;its *,n ellipsoid face^ yrell adapted to a secure grasp. „ The blades are four inches in width, and some two <^et in length, forming very nearly sections of a cofl^^H Their edges and tips are carefully guarded from tngJcutting action of the ice by the ivory of the walrus or narwhal. Thus constructed and furnished, its seal-skin cover- ing renewed every year, the kayack is the life, and pastime, and pride of its owner. He carries it on his shoulder into the surf, cla4^n his water-proof seal-skin dress, belted close round tj^f neck, his hood firmly set above ; wedges himself into th^ man-hole, unites him- self by a lashing to its rim, and paddles off for a frolic outside the breakers, or it may be a s^al-hunt, or to throw his javelin at the eider, or perhaps to carry dis- patches to some distant settlement, or to take part in a crusade against the reindeer. In their long excursions in search of deer, the ka- yackers paddle their way to the nearest portage along the coast, and shoulder their little skiff till they reach the interior lakes. Their dexterity is admirable in the use of their weapons. I have seen them spear the eider on the wing and the loon as he was diving. Scud- ding along at a rate equal to that of a five-oared whale- boat, they fling their tiny javelin far ahead, and, with- out interrupting their progress, seize it as they pass. The authorities of Greenland communicate con- stantly with their differe nt posts by m e ans of the ka- V HIS DEXTERITY. 481 ) aofcj , On these occasions tjie express consists of two. traveling together for assistance and fellowship. Thev are expeditious, and proverbially reliable. They travel only during the day. At night they land upon some ifrT^Til''^''''^''' *^" ^^y^^k is carried up, It . f ' '^' ^"'^"''^ ^^«« «f «^«^« protecting rock, and, after a scanty meal, the Hosky seats him: self once more in its closely-fitting hole; then, draw- mg over him his water-tight hood, he leans for sup. port against the naked stone, and sleeps. One of these messengers arrived at Holsteinberg while we were there from Fredericshaab, three hundred and sixty miles in ten days ; traveling along a tempestuous coa^t, with varying winds and currents, at a mean rtfi« of thirty-six miles a day. It is said the eicpertness of the kayacker increases a. you proceed south. If the natives of Julianshaab and Licht^nfels surpass those of Egedesminde and Holsteinberg, their feats are unnecessarily wonderful Here are some of them, not performed as such, but mu^tratmg the accomplishments of a welUriied thr^nn^vfTw "JV'T ^" °ff««t*ingmountIin.ridge to the nor^h of Holsteinberg, is a rocky reef or ledge, over which the sea breaks heavily, and the currents ru^i with perplexing caprice and force. In almost all sort« of weather, if there be only light enough to see, the kayacks may be met playing about these surf-beaten passages, regardless of wind, swell, or tides. When our vessel was entering port, we were boarded by a kayack pilot. In spite of the heavy seaway, he L proached fearlessly to the side of the brig, then, poil' ng himself on the slope of the waves, he avoided the trough, and, passing a running bowline fore and aft-^ 482 FEAT8 OF THE KAYACKER. over his little crafl,. man and boat were lifted bodily on board. " Going Out to seaward, with a heavy inshore surf rollinj^, is no ti^fle, 6ven to welhjhanned whale-boats The kayacker paddles quietly oat -toward the break- ers. The roaring lip of green water bends roof-like over him. Down cowers the pliant man, his rig^t shoulder buried in the water, and his hooded head bowed upon his breast. An instant and he emerges on the outer side with a jutting impulse, shaking the wq,ter from his mane, and preparing for a fresh en- counter. The somerset, the " cai^trum," as the whalers tenn it, may be seen any hour of the day for a plug of to- bacco or a glass of ruin. I have seen it with different degrees oi address ; but one, that Mr. Miiller, the gov- ernor of Holsteinberg, told me of, is the perfection of dextrous overturning. The kayacker takes a stone, as large as he can grasp in his hand, holding the pad- dle by the imperfect grip of the thumbs. He whirl? his hands over his head, upsets his little bark, buries •it bottom up, and rights himself on the other side, still holding the stone. . But after all, the crowning feat j^ the every-day one of catching the seal. For this the kayacle is con- structed, and it is here that its wonderful adaptation of purpose is best displayed. Without describing the admirable astuteness with which he finds and ap- proaches his prey, let us suppose the kayacker close upon a seal. The line-stand is carefully examined, the coil adjusted, the attachments to the body of the boat so fixed that .the slightest strain will separate them. The bladder-float is disengaged, and the harpoon tipped r=^wittits barb, whiQhibrm&tha extremity of the coiL^ HIS flEAL HUNT. 483 b-n h« body ■ li»r , * *"' "'""I"" boftie. Whirr' feces tl,« l.ttle oo. , and the float is bobbing om t L wlte^ Td th:'::"™''/"""' '"'''' h- entered the trL "pi «i r t "!r '" """'"'• Now the harpo™ . M well as address Th- i. ! i '"""* ''*«'««on uaArt^^i^^^^^^ he contortions of a large seal thus wounded may 'tea ain hT "f"" ''"""'■ ■»■• 'he merest creviS^s cer torn destruction If he has with him the ligrjlveTi^" Zi^^otlTZ]^' ^"»? --"' ^-er litS he mkes a hol„ ^ * """.""^'"K ^'^^ "^ ^s knife, b^nr.21ti u'"' """""J** of the seal: the 6one is passed trough ; and the seal, towed aloneside pendent of the mere danger of the sea. What then i*^uT -T "" "*^ ^^^««^i and the ka^ itselfis^mere maphragm of skin, stretched on a^ \ ^- %- 484 HAZARDS AND RESCUE. wQpden frame. Even by the friction of use, it be- comes as attenuated as parchment, and sometimes parts by the mere contraction of changing tempera- tures. I have seen them at the brig's quarter so trans- parent that the wash of the waves, and even the float- ing actinia, were visible through their sides. The segims, too, however carefully secured at first, will nev- ertheless warp in the sunshine. Constant scrutiny and skill can hardly insure them against hazard. This proves itself sadly. About three kayacks a year are missing from Holsteinberg, and the other set- tlements have a nearly similar ratio of mortality. The kayack is sometimes the coffin of its owner, and the two skeletons have more than once been found togeth- er on the lonely beaches of this bleak coast. In quiet weather, however, by much address, two may save one ; or by towing, if the distance be not great from shore, even one may save another. The first of these modes of rescue consists in lashing the two kayacks at the sides of the wreck, or by running the paddle that belonged to it through the strong cross- lines of walrus hide which stretch across the tops of the other two. The unfortunate man^js then extii- cated from the pah or hole, and sits very comfortably/ behind witb a knee on each boat. I have seen Esq tii->^ maux carried ashore from our brig in this manner. In the other case, the unfortunate, with his inflated float, may grasp the stern of his friendly helper, and be tow- ed to shore ; but in these icy waters nature sustains herself with difficulty against the cold. / ' It has happened sometimes, but so very rarely as to be chronicled always for a wonder, that a strong and determined fellow, with the aid of bladder-float, and ^superhuman exertion besidei^iisr managed tor reaeb^" ^ ^•' INVOLUNTAKV EXPATRIATION. 485 the transit of the bav 'l "'';*'"?''''«'■ having maJe I believe it to te a UWa^S tham" "'^"V"'''- ^"^ to » Greenlander. T Ztame, f^"""' " '""™ "™" ti.e a^Egeaes^indt^.Tr tit: rCltet TeX irtf^Trso"„rrj:> -^f- ™ aero, the W. so as to open on the one shore Z oS This occasional tendency of the ice raft in fl . the^stones that are weU authentic»W of th^rpo^r messages have corne by the^^lt ouZrtZt the unknown regions of the West «nH TiU Y ro-.tnr^t;cr„ns^s::Ji;t asledgeinquestofsfifll TKo ^*"^es. set out on 1 «tift^ *^1 ^ '"^^P' ^^""d t hat the wind i shiiW to th^ eastwara. It was blowlnggent^ 486 CONCLUSION. and could hardly have been blowing long. They har- nessed in their dogs, urged them to their utmost speed, and made for the land they had left. Too late! a yawning chasm of open water lay already between. A day was lost in frantic despair. It blew a gale, ai4 offshore southeaster. The fog rose, the wind still from the east: the shore was gone. The story is a wild one. They reharnessed the dogs, and turned to the west, one hundred and thirty track- less miles of ice before them. On the third day the dogs gave out : one of the lost men killed his fellow, and revived the animals with his flesh. The wretch- ed survivor at last reached the North American shore about Merchant's Bay. Years afterward, this account came over by a circuitous channel to the Greenland settlement. He had married a new wife, had a new family, a new home, a new country, from which, had he desired it never so much, there could be, for him no return. ^ The traditions of all the settlements have tales of similar disaster. Yet the Esquimaux are a happy race of people, hapjpy so far as content and an elastic tem- perament go to make up happiness. I shouN like to dilate for a while on some of their superstitions, which crop out now and then through their adopted faith, as if to show the Scandinavian mytliology it overlays. I have the materials by me, too, for sotne passages about their seemingly innate fondness for music, their roundelays and hymns, the little organ at Holsteinberg, which has come back from Denmark repaired since Sir John Ross's visit, the vio- lins of the church orchestra, and the abominably it- -crated accQrdioiiS4_with. their kindred Jewji-harps. I CONCLUSION. 48: should have been excused, perhaps, for adding a chap- ter also on the probabilities of Sir John Franklin's company being yet alive, and the duty of adventurous Christendom to persist in the effort for their rescue But the story of our cruise is told ; and my readers will be almost as willing as I was to hurry onwards to our own shores. Be§bre these pages can pass through the press, I shall have given such assurance as it is in my power to give of my convictions that th*»missinff party may be found, and should be sought for If God shall favor me, I may be able to speak hereafter Irom a renewed and more intimate personal knowledge of the habits and feelings of the Greenland people. We left the settlements of Baffin's Bay on the 6th of September, 1851, grateful exceedingly to the kind hearted officers of the Danish posts; ahd after a run of some twenty-fbur days, unmarked by incident, touch- ed our native, soil again at New Y<^rk. Our noble ^fnend, Henry Grinnell, was the first t0 welcome us on the pier-head. v A. Instructioi the U. S. B. Lieut. Be J C. Current.CI of the U. J E8q.,«ftl D. Half-month ture of th( Level oft U. S. Coaj E Table o/th( to August, the meridi (both inclu Esq., U. S. F. liCcture on after Sir J Geographic Kane, Deci >. lUjss.* • * / *' § . ■'^'- ■ ■. > >■ ..',J APPENDIX. B. Lieut. De Haven's Report on th6 Return of the Expedition ""■ ';nru''s"S;rAH"''''T'"^ Meteorological Abstracts of the Log-book D. Half-monthly Abstract of the mean Force of the Wind, the mean Temoera tur« of the A.r and Water, and the mean Height of U,e Brr^meS aUh; F. lecture on the Access to an Open Polar Sea in connection with the Sean-h . after S.r John Franklin and his Companions, «ad biZi AmerS 82 ' \ t 1 ' ^ . • / 4» N '\ * fl iHfe:''-'"-i\^V - * • ■ rf * . - ■: : ' 'V . : ..;yM;- J % \' Finding the» expedition, tt tempts. If 8 Acquaint I during the tc appoint a plB( a change desi ==1«rcgMiBrn each may knc 1 ^<.Va <*uij44 APPENDIX. A. ' '^Ste?*^ °^ ^"^ SECRETARY OF THE NAVY TO LIEUT DE HA^r^. COMMANDING THE U. S. GRINNELL EfpEDmolT United Slates Navy Department, ) fer wth hilJn • ! m"'"' '"'"'''''" »»^ '"•y""' second in command. Con- ler with him, and treat him accordingly. tn'^rilU'^^^'t "'■'1?" "P**"""" « »" sean'h for. and. if found, afford relief to Sir John FranWin, of the Royal Navy, and his companions. You wai. therefore, use all diligence and make every exertion to this end paying attention a. you go to BUl.jects of scientific inquir, only so ?aj^ they may not interfere with the main object of the expedition ^ WeUington Channel, and we»tward\o Cape Walker, and be governed by cir- cumstances as to the courw you will then take erneaoycir- of thT ioJ'"*^'^' ^°!? ""*" l"""" y°"' °*" '''''"««'^"' «««' ««ei"g the condition for SrwT,; ""'' 7''i^'""'' ''^''^'' *''« '*» ^"^^^'^ ^hall here separatHnS for Cape Walker, and the other for Wellington Straits ; or whether they^^ both proceed together for the one place or the other <, St^L" 'ir" "n 1" 'T'"""' °" '"""""'* °^'^^ '«=«> *° K«» through to Barrow's ? „T;r "" , ^l" ' "? ^"^ "**""'°" *° •'°"«»''' Sound and Smith's Sound Finding these closed or impracticable, and failing of all traces of the misS expedition the season will probably then be too L advanced for any 0^ a' tempts. If 80, you will return to New York. ^ Acquaint Passed Midshipman Griffin before sailing, and from time to time during tbe voyage, flUly with,^l your plan, and ii^entions, an?S™ saSg ;'cZl« H ° "ST'-i "•"'"«' " "i^^ "« ^"'•"nstances may renS 4rS^ '' ^",' "T/? ""'" ■ P'"*^ of ^ndezvous fixed uponfso thaL =ft««»thetwo YeueU of the expedition may at any time become separatS^ each may know where to look for the other. i«'aiea, / -* ( 492 INSTRUCTIONS TO Nearly the entire Arctic front of the continent has been scoured without find- ing any traces of.the missing ships. It is useless for you to go there, or to re- examine any other place where search has already been made. You will, there- fore, confine your attention to the routes already indicated. The point of maximum cold is said to be in the vicinity of Parry Islands. To the north and west of these there is probably a comparative open sea in summer, and therefore a milder climate. > This opinion seems to be sustained by the fact that beasts and fowls are seen migrating over the ice from the mouth of Mackenzie River and its neighboring shores to the north. , These dumb creatures are. probably led by their wise in- stincts to seek a more genial climate in that direction, and upon the borders of the supposed more open sea. There are other facts elicited by Lieutenant Maury, in the course of his in- vestigations touching the winds and currents of the ocean, which go also to confirm the opinion, that beyond the icy1)arrier that is generally met with in the Arctic Ocean, there is a Polina, or sea free from ice. / . You have assisted in these investigations at the National Observatory, and are doubtless aware of the circumstaniceB which authorize this conclusion ; it is therefore needless to repeat them. This supposed open sea and warmer region to the north and, west of Parry Islands are unexplored. Should you succeed m finding any opening there, either after having cleared Wellington Straits, or after having cleared Parry Isl- ands by a northwardly course from Cape Walker, enter as far a,s in your judg- ment it may be prudent to enter, and search every headland, promontory, and conspicuous point for signs and records of the nyssing party. Take particular care to avail yourself of every opportunity for leaving as you go records and signs to tell of your welfare, progress, and intentions. For this purpose you will erect flag-staffs, make piles of stone, or other marks in conspicuous places, with a bottle or barrica buried at the base containing your letters. Should the two vessels be separated, you will direct Passed Midshipman Grii- fin to do likewise. Avail yourself of every opportunity, either by the Esquimaux or otherwise, to let the Department hear from you ; and in every communication be full and particular as to your future plans and intended route. If by any chance you should penetrate so far beyond the icy barrier as to make it,, in your judgment, more prudent to push on than to turn back, you will do 80, and put yourself in communication with any of the United States naval forceo or officers of the government serving in the waters of the Pacific or in China, according to your necessities and opportunities. Those officers will be instructed to afford you every facility possible to enable you to reach the west- em coast of the United States in safety. In the event of your falling in with any of thti British searching parties, you will..ofier them any assistance of which they may stand in need, and which it may be in your power to give. GfiTer, also, to make them acquainted with your intended route and plans, and be ready to afTord them every information of which you may have become possessed concerning the object of your search. JB^case your country should be involved injcar during your absence on this service, you will on no account commit, or Buffer any one of the expedition ■t ■4 "^ ^ /- COMMANDER DE HAVEN. / 493 to commit, the least act of hoslUity against the enemy, of whatevei nation he BPiay be. J Notwithstanding th« directions ,in which you have been recommended to carry your examinations, you may, on arriving out upon the field of operation, -, find that by departing from them your search would probably be more effectual. The Department h^ every confidence In your judgment, and relies implicitly upon your discretion / and should it appear during the voyage that, by directing your attention to poii^te not named in this letter, traces of the absent expedition would probably be found, you will not faU to examine such points. But you will on no account ^elessly hazard the safety of the vessels under your com- mand, or unnecessarily expate to danger the officers anft men committed to your charge. / Unless circumstances should favor you, by enabling you to penetrate, before the young ice begins-to make in the fall, far into the unexplored regions, or tb discover recent traces of the jnissing ships and their gallant crews, or unless you should gain a position from which you could commence operations in the season of 1861 with decided advantage, you will endeavor not to be caught in the ice during the ensuing winter, but, after having completed your examina- tions for the*eason, make your escape, and return to New York in tlie fall. You are especially enjoined not to spend, if ifcan be avoided, more than one winter in the Arctic regions. Wishing you and your gallant companions all success in your noble enter- prise, and with the trust in God that He will take you and them in his holy Keeping, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, ■ ' William Ballakd Pesstoh. To Edwin J. De Haven, Llentenant commanding the > American Arctic Expedition, Ac, New York. - ) ' Jl»& J' ' 494 COMMANDER DE HAVEN S / B. LIEUT. DE HAVEN'S OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE AMERICAN ARC- TIC EXPEDITION. V. 8. Brig Advance, ) New York, October 4, 16SI. \ Sir, — I hare the honor to submit the following as the proceedings of the squadron under my command subsequent to the 22d of August, 1850, up to which time the Department is already advised of its movements. On the 23d of August we approached Port Leopold ; but the necessity of a detention here to search for information was precluded by our falling in with the English yacht Prince Albert, Commander J'orsyth, R. N. He informed us that the harbor was still filled with ice, so as to render it iikiccessible to ves- sels. A boat, however, had been sent in, but no traces of the missing expedi- tion were found. ' We now stood over for the north shore, passing to the eastward of Leopold Island, threading our way through much heavy stream-ice. Barrow's Straits to the westward presented ons.mas8 of heavy and closely-packed ice, extend- ing close into the coast of North Si^merset. On the north shore we found open water, reaching to the westward as far as Beechy Island. At noon on the 26th we were off Cape Riley, where the vessel was hove to, and a boat sent ashore to examine a cairn erected in a conspicuous position. It was found to contain a record of H. B. M.'s ship Assistance, deposited the day before. Another record informed us that our consort had visited the cape at the same time with the Assistance. Fragments of painted wood and preserved meat tins were picked up on the low point of the cape ; there were also other indications that it had been the camping ground of some civilized traveling or hunting party. Our speculations at once connected them with the object of our search. While making our researches on shore, the vessel was set by a strong cur- rent near the point, where, becoming hampered by some masses of ice, she took the ^ound. Every effort was made to get her off, bi|t the falling tide soon left 'her hard and fast. We now lightened her of a lLjye ighty articles about deck, and prepared to renew our efforts when the tidelSSuld rise. This took place about midnight, when she was hauled off without apparent ii^ury. The Prince Albert approached us while aground, and Commander Forsyth tendered his assistance ; it was not, however, required. Soon after, the Res- cue came in sight from around Beechy Island, and making us oiit in. our awk- ward predicament, hove to in the offing, and sent a boat in. She had been up Wellington Channel as far as Point Innes. The condition of the ice prevented her from reaching Cape Hotham (the appointed place of rendezvous), so she had returned in search of us. On the 26th, with a light breeze, we passed Beechy Island, and run through a narrow lead to the north. Immediately above Point Innes the ice of Wel- Jington X^hannel wa» fixed and unbroken from shore to shore, and bad eseiT^ indication of having so remained for at least three years. It was generally «te J- - OFFICIAL BEPORT. 495 Jr»hS S.^.^ta nS hi '° "*"° " ""»" ■"""• °"*' ">« '" fk. pJace ' °" '" "'='""' "»'" • "■"-We change .h«u .-» Of ,he ™ i-jLpp?.: Er.CwTr.'krr™' ^'" "• correct Three wP^lt„T ^""'"- °" ^^'^i'"'""". Ws report prdved to be ^^^'^Z;^:::^ P«i-d bead-boards of Ist. " Sacred to the memory of W. Braine RMHuroir'i. .^ 2d. "Sacred to the memory of Jno. Hartwen A B H m q . ir u . ' . year,. .Thus saith the Ld of hosts^iSder ^'„r ways i " "'' ^'' ** 3d. ditil?h?* '^''"' "?" ''^^'^" unmistakable evidences of the missinir exne- iZof ."/ ""'''."' *"* ^'"*'' ''«^«- ^•"'y consisted ofTnnZCS^ ■craps of old rope and canvas ; the blocks on which stood th« ' T f With many pieces of coal and iron around it ThTont ^, „f 7 ' *"'"'• houses, supposed to have been the site oViie ObSrry " -^^^^ .heltering the mechanics. The chips and sHavin^Tthlcairr stm Z mained. A short distance from this was found a larw «um^T ^ ^t tins aU having the sam^lab^ thosaibtd aVK^^ From an these mdicationn th« infi>ro.,»<. u _-,... . ( ^om an these md.cations the inference could not fail to be arrived at that ,//" f' 496 COMMANDER DE HAVEN 8 the Erebus and Terror had made this thejr first winter quarters after leaving England. The spot was admirably chosen for the security of the ships, as well aa for their early escape the following season. Every thing, too, went to prove, , up to this point, that the expedition was well organi*ed, and that the vessels had not received any material Injury. Early on the morning of the 28th of August, H. B. M. ship Resolute (Captain Austin), with her steam-tender, arrived from the eastward. Renewed iflTorts were made by all parties to discover some written notice, which, according to his instructions, Sir J. Franklin ought to have deposited at this place in some conspicuous position. A cairn of stones, erected on the highest part of the isl- and, was discovered. A most thorough search with. crows and picks was in- stituted at and about it, in the presence of all hands. .This search was contin- ued for several days, but not the slightest vestige of a record could be found. The graves were not opened or disturbed. Captain Sir John Ross had towed out from England a small vessel of about twelve tons. He proposed leaving her at this point, to fall back upon in case of disaster to any of the searching vessels. Our contribution to supply her was three byrels of provisions. From the most elevated part of Beechy Island (about eight hundred feet high) an extensive view was Jiad, both to the north and west.^ No open water could be seen in either direction. On the 27th of August we cast off from Beechy Island, and joined our consort at the edge of the fixed ice, near Point Innes. Acting Master S. P. Griffin, com- mander of the Rescue, had just returned from a searching excursion along the shore, on whibh he had been dispatched forty-eight hours before. Midshipman Lovell and four men composed his party. He reports that, pursuing carefully his route to the northward, he came upon a partially-overturned cairn, of large dimension?, on the bea^ a few. miles south of Cape Bowden. Upon strict ex- amination, it appeared to have lieen erected as a place of depM of provisions. No clew could be found within it or around as to the persons who built it, neither could its age te arrived at. At two P.M. of the 28th. reached Cape Bowden without further discovery. Erecting a cairn, containing the information that would prove useful to a di»- . ^ tressed party, he commenced his jodimey back. t Until tlie 3d day of SeptenAer, we were detained at tfljidtpoint by the closing in of the ice from the southward, occasioned by strong*northeast winds, a(> companied with thick weather and snovi'. On this day the packed ice move! off from the edge of the fixed ice, leaving a practicable leadto the westward. Into which we at once stood. At midnight, when about two thirds the way across the channel, the closing ice arrested oar progress. We w<*re in some danger from heavy masses coming against us, but both vessels passed the night uninjured. In the evening of the 4th we were able to make a few more miles westing, and the following day we reached Barlow's Inlet. The ice being im- practicable to thasouthward, we secured the vessels at its entrance. The As- sistance and hoj^team-tender were seen off Cape Hotham, behind which they disappeared in the course of the day. Barl^'s Inlet -would afford good shelter lor Tessels in case of necessity, but It would require some cutting to get in or out. The ice of last winter still re miffied unbroken. -'Ji^ . ■\" OFFICIAL REPORT. 407 bought u, to a7e;Z,a'„7Zl th'"* "'"'' ^^'^'^'^ "^ '""^ '''« • '""««'*• '» •el. were deaor ed Zde L " ''" ' '' "' ^"*"'"' """'""* '"^ into .eriou, conair^r ' r^o^. arnTalT^^^^^^^ Seti^M ItS wTnd 7 "T"'"' "" "'^*"« immediately upon this decision. gale Which coming off, the ice brought with it ck,„ds of drift snC from r T^- IT* ' *** '^«'"" "'^ '•=«• The driving snow soon hid her 5^1,2 J"".^^^*"*^ «<«»« nea"- meeting the same fate. The edge of the fin.7h: K !^ ' ""•*" *® '*"' "'■^hich we found our coneort, made STi! «^ , ? '^'" 'he inclemency of the weather. In bringing to under the tee of the island, she igd the misfortune to spring her rudSS L that o„ JOtatag u^ft^wa. with muoh difficulty she could steer To7ns "e Z^^^ up Wth a fine breeie from flje westward. Off Cape Martyr we left th« Pn«ii.V «iu.d™„ under Captain Auatin. About ten mileffS'to !,« e«t the^ 1^ft, . .K ; ^ J*- ** """^ advanced as far as Cape Hotham. Thence ta.^^™J?„?"""^'"'"'" ""*•" "'«''^ «"""«'» "» »»•««. 'here w^S-' ^t Sl^m^ """'"^ T*" "•" ""^ ''^- '^"'' ^'* « 8»<^ hreeze. would ™iJt? t T^ ^"""•^ ' "*"* unfortunately, the wind, when it was most re- SS SmJnL ^,V •»°''7''h Which the surface of the water ^vas cohered S?wihZ;»„„'{? '""!'; ''"""'°'" "'•*• *""«»» ^»>'«'h it'was impoS ' ble. withrilo«,.ppli ,noeMo forcetheTes,el,. AtSP .M th ev c^nu^ tn nT ! ; •^ "^ — ;; ~, w^ .www Mip TPPppiB. Al ne ten mueii to the east^TBarlbwVSletT A '.S'l 498 COMMAfJDER BE HAVEN 8 The 'following day the wind hauled to the southward, from which quarter it lasted till the 1 9th. During this period the young ice was broken, its edges squeezed up into hummocks, and one floe OTemin by another until it all as- sumed the appearance of heavy ice. The vessels received some heavy nips from it, but they withstood them with- out injury. Whenerer a pool of water made its appearance, ey;ery effort was made to reach it, in hopes it would lead us into Beechy Island, or some other place where the vessel might be placed in security ; for the winter set in un- usually early, and the severity with which it commenced forbade all hopes of our being able to return this season. I now became anxious to attain a point in the neighborhood from whence, by means of land parties, in the spring, a goodly extent of Wellington Channel might be examined. In the mean time, under the influence of the south wind, we were being set up the channel. On the 18th we were above Cape Bowden, the most northern point seen on this shore by Parry The land on both shores was seen much further, and trended considerably to the west of north. To account for this drift, the fixed ipe of Wellington Chan- nel, which we had observed in passing tp the westward, must have been broken up and driven to the southward by the heavy gale of the I2th. On the 19th the wind veered to the north, which gave us a southeriy set, forcing us at the same time with the western shore. This did not last long, for the next day the wind hauled .again to the south, and blew fVesh, bringing the ice in upon us with much pressure. At midnight it broke up all around us, so that we had work to |haintain tlie Advance in a safe position, and keep her from being separated frbm her consort, which was immovably fixed in the centre of a large Jfloe. ■^" We continuedlb d|?ft slowly to the N.N. W. until the 22d, when our progress appeared to ^tm^^d by a small low island, which was discovered in that di- rection, alKm s^en miles distant. A channel of three or four miles in width 8eparated|R from Com wallis Island. This latter island, trending northwest from our position, tenninated abruptly in an elevated cape, to which I have giyen the name of Manning, after a warm personal friend and ardent supporter oftAe ex- pedition. Between Comwallis Island and some distaB^ high land visible in the nortl), appeared a wide channel leading to the westward. A dark, misty-looking ckiud which hung over it (technically termed frost smeke), was indicative of much open water in that direction. ..£^ This was the direction to which my instructions, referring to the investigaf >,' tions at the National Observatory concerning the winds and currents of the ocean, directed me to look for open water. Nor was the open water the only indication that presented itself in confirma- tion of this theoretical coi^ecture as to a milder climate in that direction. As we entered Wellington Channel, the signs of animal life became more abundant, and Captain Penny, commander of one of the English expeditions, who after- ward penetrated on sledges much toward the region of the frost smoke, much further than it was possible for us to do in our vessels, reported that he actually arrived on the bprders of this open sea. Thus these admirably drajnfn instructions, deriving arguments from the en- larged and comprehensive system of physical research, not only pointed with flmnhflBJB to an 'unknown op en n uA into which TVanHin had nrrthphlv IamiwI ] \ilf- . . ,l^t ? ^ 4, tAJ^ \U y:^: OFFICIAL REPORT. 499 To the channel which appeared to Ipaa intn «k« * cloud of frost smoke hun/as a st" I hl« T" "^^ "'^' ^'''•"' '^^ «^ p.... w „. .H, „^ ,r^„s iir;;^"r ntiro"; Th..eaMer„ rtore of Wellington Ch.nnel .ppenral lo ran nmll.l with ih. a^ nlSreaJeVeTtr''" ^ •"''""^^ "^ "^""^ ""' -^ cLedTe' ce Jj wifh snot" frol"r„' '" "~'"'"^"' •''•^- "^^ ^^'"* -«» '•™"' "^rtheast. pied in keeping it out. The pressure and commotion did not cease till near nudrnght, When we were very glad to have a respite from our la3and fea " i^a :^Zr "" ''"''"'' """ " "••""" «""«' ""' " ^'"--'^•y -Id driSVbutlhtr"S« w-^'"''"'^'" ""' ""*" *« *'" »'■ O^tol^er. tbe vessel. " .r^TA T. ^? '^"•"l? ^"« 'ery light, the thermometer fell to minus 12 andice formed over the pools in sight sufficiently strong to travel up^ We WBre now strongly impressed with the belief that the i^ hJTbecom. S Z '^" ""f • *"" '""' "^ '••'•""' •* «"" *» -"«» out travel n?p"Z from the advanced position for the examination of the lands to the nortftart would materially faci.ita?S::oS:ror;nie7LLT^^^^^^ G 500 COMMANDER DE HAVEN S was stai found to be detached from the shore, and a narrow lane of water cut us from it. During the interval of comparative' quiet, preliminary measures were taken for heating the Advance, and increasing her quarters, so, as to accommodate the officers and crews of both vessels. No stoves h^d as yet been used in either vessel ; indeed, they could not well be put up without placing a large quantity of stores and fuel upon the ice. The attempt was made to do this, but a sudden crack in the floe where it appeared strongest, cfcusing the loss of sev- eral tons of coal, convinced us that it was not yet safe to do so. It was not until the 20th of October we got fires below. Ten days later, the housing cloth was put over, and the officers and crew of the Rescue ordered on board the Ad- vance for'the winter. Room was found on the deck of the Rescue for many of the provisions removed from the hold of this vessel. Still, a large quantity had JQ be pl3bed on the ice. The absence of fires below had caused much discomfort to all hands ever since the. beginning of September, not so much from the low temperature, as from the accumulation of moisture bji condensation, which congealed as the temperature decreased, and covered the wood- work of our apartments with ice. Tliis state of things soon began to work its effect upon the health of the crews. Several cases of scurvy appeared among them, and, netwithstanding the inde- fatigable attention and active treatment resorted to by the medical officers, it could not be eradicated ; its progress, however, was checked. AU through October and November we were drifted to and fro by the chang- ing wind, bftt never passing out of Wellington Channel. On the 1st of No- vember, the new ice had attained the thickness of thirty-seven inches. Still, frequent breaks would occur in it, often in fearful proximity to the vessels. Hummocks, consisting of massive, granite-like blocks, would be thrown up to the height of twenty, and even thirty feet. This action in the ice was accom- panied with a variety of sounds impossible to be described, but when heard never failed to carry a feeling of awe into the stoutest hearts. In the stillness of an Arctic night, they could be heard several miles, and often was the rest of all hands disturbed by them. -" To guard against the worst that could happen to us — the destruction of the vessels— the boats were prepared and sledges built. Thirty days' provisionf were placed in for aU hands, together with tents and blanket bags for sleeping in. Besides this, each man and officer had his knapsack containing an extra suit of clothes. These were all kept in readiness for use at a moment's notice. For the sake of wholesome exercise, as well as to inure the people to joe- traveling, frequent excursions were made with our laden sledges. The offi- cers usually took the lead at the drag ropes ; and they, as well as the men, un- derwent the labor of surmounting the nigged hummocks with great cheerful- ness and zeal. Notwithstanding the low temperature, tU hands usually re- turned in a profuse perspiration. We had also other sources of exercise and amusements, such as foot-ball, skating, sliding, racing, with theatrical repre- sentations on holidays and national anniversaries. These amusements were continued throughout the winter, and contributed very materially to the cheer- fulness and general good health of all hands. The drift had set us gradually to the southeast, until we were abou t five miles to the southwest of Beechy Isfcnd In this position we remained OFFICIAL REPORT. 501 S^^^t. w *"•''' "P "'■ **"*"• "' »»•« "•^^''y °f the prevailing windraS iSSrk. ^ V "°! !.""« •'" •" ''""*'* " «° 'he direction we'hrdtpur- JjttThe wmds prevailed from the westward, and our drift wa. steady a^d JHH^ward the mouth of the sound. ^ *°^ QI^Kprospect before us was now any thing but cheering. We were denrivpH tions could be earned on by means of traveling parties irthesJrC The vi- se^ were fast being set out of the region of search ^ '^' '" tw„t!^fi'""''fT"'"^'"""'*'^"^'"»^"«*"«"- The line ofour drift was from two to five mdes from the north shore, and whenever the moving ice mTt 12 any of the capes or projecting points of land, the obstruction would cau2 fTac tures m it. extending off to and far beyond us «vlT ""."? ZT f^ *"* ^"'^ """"' P^minent Point ; we were but two mUes from It on the 3d of December. Nearly all day the ice was both seen a^ h"ar3 to be m constant motion at no great distance from us. In the even^g a crack m our floe took place not more than twenty-five yards ahead of thTLvance r?urtheV -Vr' "''".' ^'^"'"^ '" '""^ *"'«' "'•""^ hundred yardl .Tl iiH S ^. T"'" """^ unmistakable sound of the ice grinding against the side of the sh.p. Going on deck. I perceived that another Sk ISd tZn place, passing along the length of the vessel. , It did not open more than a foot : this, however, was sufficient to liberate the vessel and she rose several inches bodily, having become more buoyw! since she froze m. The following day. in the eveninj. the ci^cniedT end yards, leaving the sides of the Advance entirely?^, a"d she v^a, oTj more supported by and rede in her own element. We were noMhrgh by 2 means, m a pleasant situation. The floes were considerably brZt aU direcuons aiound us. and one crack had taken place between the two vesseta The Rescue was not disturbed in her Iwd of ice ^ December 7th, at 8 A.M., the crack in which we were had opened and formed a lane of water fifty-six feet wide, communicating ahead at the disUinTof saty feet with ioe of about one foot in thickness, ihich halld tncrthe 8d. The vessel was secured to the largest floe near us (that on which ow Vare stores were deposited). At noon the ice was again in jnotion Td iZ to c PM, affording us the pleasant DrosDeet af «« i™«*^i- »^i «^1* — **? jf/w- „#■ .u u ^^ . "" i»«««w«H prospect oj an tneyitabte "Tifp"^etween tW6 floes of the heaviest kind. In a short time the prominent pointi took ouTsire!^ 4 502 COMMANDfiR DE HAVEN S on the starboard just about the main-rigging, and on the port under the counter and ^t the forerrigging ; thus bringihg three points of pressure in such a posi- tion that it must have proved fatal to a larger or less strengthened vessel. The Advance, however, stood it bravely. Afler trembling and groaning yi every joint, the ice passed under and raised her about two and a half feet. She was let down again for a moment, and then her stern was raised aboHt •' five feet. Her bows being unsupported, were depressed almost as much. Itt this uncomfortable positipn we remained. The wind blew a gale from the eastward, aM the ice all around wds in dreadful commotion, excepting, fortu- nately, that in immediate contact with us. The commotion in the ice continued all through the night, and we were in momentary expectation of witnessing the destruction of both vessels. The easterly gale had set us some tw:o or three miles to the west. As soon as it was light enough to see on the 9th, it was discovered that the heavy ice in which the Rescue ba^been inibedded for so long a time was entirely broken up, and piled up around her in massive hummocks. On her pumps being sounded, I was gratified to leaiii that she remained tight, notwith- standing the immense straining and pressure she must have endured. During this period of trial, as well as in all former and [Subsequent ones, I could not avoid being struck witbrthe calmness and decision of the officers, as well as the subordination and good conduct of the men, withoyt an exception. Each one knew the iinminence of the peril that surrounded us. and was pre- pared to abide it with a stout heart.. There was no noise, no confusion. I did not detectf-even in the moment when the destruction ofthe vessels seemed in- evitable, a single desponding look among the whole crew ; on the contrary, each one seemed resolved to do his whole duty, and every thing went on cheeril]^. and btavely. For my own part, I had become quite an invalid, so much so as to prevent my taking an active part in the duties of the vessel, as I always had done, or even from incurring the exposure necessary to proper exercise. However, I felt no apprehension that the vessel would not be properly taken care of, for I had perfect confidence in one and all by whpm I was surrounded. I knew them to be equal to any emergency ; but I felt linder special obligations to tlijB gal- lant commander of the Rescue for the efficient aid he rendered me. With the kindest consideration and most cheerfui alacrity, lie volunteered to perform the executive duties during the winter, and relieve me from every thing that might tend in the least to retard my recovery. , During the remainder of December the ice remaj-ia^ quiet immediately aroiind us, and breaks were all strongly cemented by new ice. In our neighborhood, however, ci«cks were daily visible. Our drift to the eastward averaged nearly six miles per day, so that on the last ofthe month we were at the entrance of tlie soAnd, Cape Osbom bearing north from us. January, 1861. On passing out of the sound, and opening Baffin's Bay, to the north was seen a dark horizon, indicating much open water in that direction. On the 11th a crack took place between us and the Rescue, passing close under our st^m. It opened, and formed a lane of water eighty feet wide. In the afternoon the floes began to move, the lane was closed up, and the edges of the ice coming in contact with so much pressure, threatened the demolition of the narrow space which separated us from the line of fracture. Fortunately tnometer indie :*s'..t ( • OFFICIAL EEPORT." 603 WhL L J!™-^ r". ^^' *•"* *"''"""*'^ ^«' ««'»tan«^ from us 700 yards. le Oft rk,^ ;r LsSr "T V"^ "^'^ "" '"« - -- - »»««-- Ti.» f„ii '"^" "" *"« Rescue, and of course were carried with her • motion.* Tl'e STeTfhf c« 17''''''"'' " """' """" «"' '"'° '■«'«"» edges of the thick ^IJ crack near our stern was soon broken up. tha furth'e r remo^d^nTheoS sfdeVthr "I '/""""• '^' "'^"'"^ '"'"'^ being firmly imbedjedlta vytri l?rh "^ ''.""" of crushing, and This was not thisdase for Z I i ^ ^^^ *°"'"^ '*""^*" undisturbed, to see. the floe waJ fou^d to Z hTv * '° '" '" """ '" " """' "«h» ^"""gh I. *» h.C" "SJ^ ""iVr r™ """" •" "'"«" p-i""- * ' ta be crD««».r tn it. .>i.iiii..„ 1.7 _. , " "'" "'owi ng, ttwas dan gerous .i r..,.^.. 504 COMMANDER DE HAVEN 8 -V*" 9^ I'he ice around the veaa^B fsoon became again cemented and fixed, and na other rupture was e^rienced until it finally broke up in the spring and allowed us to escape. Still we kept driving to the southward along with the whole mass. Open lanes of water were Tisible at all times from aloft ; sometimes > they wotfld be formed within a mile or two of us. Narwhals, seals, and dove- kies were seen in them. Our sportsmen were not expert enough to procure any, except a few of the lattfer, altlut^gh they were indeflitigabie in their ex- ctrtions to do so. Bears would frequently be seen prowling about; only two were killed during the winter ; others were wounded, but made their escape. A few of us thought their flesh very palatable and wholesome; but the major- ity utterly rejected it. The fl^h of the seal, when it could be obtained, was received with more favor. As the season advanced, the cases of scurvy became more numerous, yet thc> were all kept under control by the unwearied attention and skillfiil treatment of the medical officers. . My thanks are due to them, especially to Passed As- sistant Surgeon Kane, the senior medical officer of the expedition. I often had occasion to consult him concerning the hygiene of the crew ; and it is in a great measure owing to the advice which he gave and the expedienti^hich he rec- ommended, that the expeditioii was enabled to return without th^loss of one man. By the latter end of February the ice had become sufficiently thick to enable us to build a trench around the stem of the Rescue, sufficiently deep - to ascertain the extent of the injury she had received in the gale at Griffith's Island. 1 It was not found to be material ; the uppc^ gudgeon alone had been wrenched from the stem post. It was adjusted, and the rudder repaired ip readiness for shipping when it should be required. A new bowsprit was also made fof her out of the few spare spare we had left, and every thing made seaworthy in both vessels before the breaking up of the ice. On the 1st of April a hole was cut in some ice that.liad been forming since our first besetment in September, ; it was found to have attained the thickness of seven feet two inches. In this month (April) the amelioration qf the temperature bectun^ quite sens- ible. All hands were kept at work, cutting and sawing the ice around the vessels, in order to allow them to float once more. With the Rescue they succeeded, after much labor, in attaining this object ; but around the stem of the Advance the ice was so thick that our thirteen-feet saw was too short to pass through it. Her bows and sides, ai far aft as the gangway, were lib- erated. After making some alteration in the Rescue for the better accommodation of her crew, and fires being lighted on board of her several days previous, to re- move the ice and dampness which had accumulated during the winter, both officera and crew 'Sfen transferred to her on the 24th of April. The stores of this vessel, which had been taken out, were restored, the housing 61oth taken df, and the vessel made in every respect ready for sea. There was little pros- pect, however, ofaiir being able to reach the desired eMment very soon. The nearest water was a narrow lane more than two miles distant. To cut through the ice which intervened would have been next to impossible. Beyond this lane, from the ma s t - he ad , wothingbut jn ter mi n ahle floes could bo aec n . ItJn»- thuught best to wait in patience, and aUow nature to work for ua. ii>*f'>* .-V". OFFICIAL REPORT. 505 Stm ih« H..!.? . ^^ """ ''^"™° *'''«'y. and difficult to walk over alone Mo e J" ^xZZ il"' '^"''\'" '^•"'™ ""^^'^'^ '"""^ »»»« ~ ™ust soo^^r^rnriSertTaX^^^^^^ A few days later wewerf off rZw, u"^*' '"^"' '^^ ^^'^ of January of the ArctJzone ^ Waleingham, and on the 27th pa««ed ou place between us andfhe Kuf atd "n atw '' .""T^ '" *^"*"^ ^""'^ inunense field in which Lh!^!' < u /^^ °"""'^^ thereafter the whole entirely liberated, the Advance only oartlallv 'A? The Rescue was was imbedded still adhererto her ^^^^^31!! »"' '" Jl''' ""'' ""'""'^ elevated in its unsightly Doition Th« n T? "' ^"' ''^^P"'^ ''^' «'«™ the people went to wZl ZTnZJ 1 ,^'*'' '^"''' "^"' ^""^ ''^P^^ars eighrhours succeeded SI ! * , """"^ """■ ^"^ "^^^ ^'''^ "'^^ <"«' forty- The wind, which in the ice was merely frpah nm™;. ♦ ' k • . C' m» us:s jr- ™7^ •^-^sroi'r::,c»' iDg. When it moderated, the coast of Greenland \yas in sight -tiad two ot^jeotrtiTWfingffieiel 00 i p# 506 COMMANDER DE HAVEN S arriving, could be much bettet obtained, and the former quite as well, at Lieve- ly, on Disco Island, for which place I bore up, leaving orders for the Rescue to follow us. We arrived on the 17th, and the Rescue joined us the day after. The crews were indulged with a run on shore every day that we remained, Which they enjoyed exceedingly after their tedious winter confinement. This recreation, together with a few vegetables of an antiscorbutic character tvhich were obtaing^ was of much benefit to them. There were no fresh provisions to be had here at this #ason of the year. Fortunately, one of the Danish com pany's vessels arrived ffcm Copenhagen while we remained, and from her we obtained a few articles that we stood much in need of The company's store was nearly exhausted, but what remained was kindly placed at our disposal. On the 22d, our crews being much invigorated by their exercise on terra firma, and the few still affected with the scurvy being in a state of convales- cence, we got under way, with the intention of prosecuting the object of the expedition for one season more, at least. From the statement made to us at Lievely, the last winter had been an ex- traordinary one. The winds had prevailed to an unusual degree from the nortli- west, and the ice was not at any time fixed. The whaling fleet had passed to the northward previous to our arrival. On the 24th we met with some obstruction from the ice off Hare Island, aiid on the follbwing day our progress was completely arrested by it at Storoe Island. In [peeking for a passage we got beset in a pack near the lee shore, near to which we were carried by the drifling Ice, and narrowly escaped being driven on the rocks. Alter getting out of this difficulty, we availed ourselves of every opening in the ice, and worked slowly to the northward, near the shore. On the 1st of July we were off the Danish port and settlement of Proven, and as the condition of the ice rendered further progress at present impossible, we went in and anchored to wait for a change. Here, again, some scurvy grass was collected, and the men allowed to run on shore. On the 3d we got under way, and ran out to look at the ice ; but finding it still closely packed, returned to our anchorage. On the 6th the accounts from our look-out on the hill near us were more fa- vorable. Again we got under way, and finding the pack somewhat loose, suc- ceeded in making some headway through it. The following day we got into clear water, and fell in with two English whaling vessels, the Pacific and Jane. To their gentlemanly and considerate commanders we are much indebted for the supplies furnished us, consisting of potatoes, turnips, and other articles, most acceptable to people in our condition. Much interesting news was also gained from them respecting important events which had occurred since we left home. Their statements as to the condition of the ice to the northward was any thing but flattering to our prospects. They had considered it so very unfavor- able as to abandon the attempt to push through Milville Bay, and were now on their way to the southward. On the 8th we communicated with the settlement of Uppemavik. The next day two more English whaling vessels passed on their way to the southward. )^i ike-aameji^ ihe M'LellanrOf New London^the^nl y. A im e r ican w haleL jb Bafnn>'fMy;^va8 descried, also standing south. On communicating with — -4- KP.'.'V- OFFICIAL REPORT. ' QQJ ^^:;^SZ:; a-^ letters.„d papers n,.„ ho.e. .ra„sm.tted by the , were purchased from heX ' '""' ^' ^''""* '»"'=" '" •^f mirof t wLf„n£teL-:r Th"«"* " *''^'""^'" -^ -^ '^•^ - us by the Pacific and j'ane rS3 o the ulvrar'''^.'" ''""""^^ ^*^''" an early passage through MelviUoBay ""'^^""'^"'"^ <=™'l'""" "^ '"« ice fo, lotte,ofdo.; h1 ofdi Ann\/^"n^ Advice, of do. ; Princess Char- do. ; and LodaiL^of'-^' l""' ' Regalia of Kirkaldy; Chieftain, of names of their eTtSsY„r7„„ ^^ "°f ^""^ ""f"'^""^t«^ly ^t fault as to the vied with the otCrSowrl ^'"""""^^^^^l commanders, each of whom be in want orS^Z^rZ^Z^^-:^y {,- ^ '"^ to compensate them they would not XZT'- T ' ^- ^^^ Proposition to our position, afler havingUen " S^fot s:veraS '^^^ T'T T _ commanaer,eamemiSSard and brought us letters ^ ""'^' ''" The berth m which our vessels were made faot in fh,- ,>i am wm '^ **!" '"" "'"""'^ " ""'"' ^""^ ^'« g"* """"r way. Hence till the Jisday.whi,erunni„gthr^oughrr:wri.tTc ZsX^^^^ Th^ ' Advance was caught in a tight place, and pretty severely S.D^ Wp J^^ aged to unship her rudder, but before it could be secured thPn™,.- _thoug^earus,wer^mbette^berths^^^^^ We were closely beset in this position, and utterly unable to move until the 608 COM. DE HAVEN 8 OFFICIAL REPORT. / 4th of August, when the jce slacking a little, we succeeded in getting hold of the land ice one mile Airther to the north. The Prince Albert was still in the pack, a mile or two to the southward of us. Mr. Kennedy informed me that it was his intention to abandon this route and return to the southward, as soon as his vessel could be extricated from iet present position, in hopes of finding the ice more practicable in that direction. Some letters and papers that he had brought out for the other English searching vessels, he placed on board of us ; linfortunately, we were unable to deliver them. We lost sight of the Prince Albert on the 13th. For our own part, there was nu possibility of moving in any direction. The berth we had taken up, un- der the impression that it was a good and sAfe one, proved a regular trap.; for. the drift pack not only del in upon us, but innumerable bergs came drilling along from the southward, and stopped near our position, forming a perfect wall around us at not more than from two hundred to four hundred yards distance. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to get out. The winds were light, and all motion in the ice bad apparently ceased. The young ice, too, began to form rapidly, and was only prevented from cementing permanently together the broken masses around us by the frequent undulations occasioned by the over- turning or falling to pieces of the neighboring bergs. My anfjety daily increased at the prospect of being obliged to spend another winter in a similar, if not worse situation, than was that of the last. On the 18th the ice was somewhat looser. We immediately took advantage' of it, and managed to find an opening between the large bergs sufficiently wide to admit the passage of the vessels. Outside the bergs we had open water enough io work in. We stood to the northwest, but the lead closing at the distance of a few miles, and the ice appearing as unfavorable as ever, I did not deem it prudent to run the risk of besetment again at this late period of the season, and con- sidering that even if successful in crossing the pacH, it would be too late to hope to attain a point on the route of search as far as we had been last year, therefore, in obedience to that clause in my instructions which says, " You are especially enjoined not to spend, if it can be avoided, more than one winter in the Arctic regions ;" accordingly, with sad hearts that our labors had served to throw 80 little light upon the object of our search, it was resolved to give it up and return to the United States. We therefore retraced our steps to the southward. The ice that had so mucli impeded oilr progress had entirely disappeared. We touched for refreshment by the way at some of the settlements on the coast of Greenland, where we were most kindly and hospitably received by the Danish authorities. Leaving HqlSteinberg on the 6th of September for New York, the two vessels were separated in a gale to the southward of Cape Farewell. The Advance ar- rived on the 30th ultimo, and the Rescue on the 7th instant, with grateful hearts from aU on board to a kind and superintending P>rovidence for emr safe deliv- erance from danger, shipwreck, and disaster during so periloj]0 a voyage. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, (Signed) Edwin J. Dk Haven, Lieut, coimnanding Arctic Expedition. To the Hononbia WUliam A. Oraham, Secretary oftbe Navy, Waahington. METEOROLOQICAL ABSTRACT. 509 METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT^ ^- Thb meteorological abstract was prepared froih the- private journal of Dr Kane and the notes in the log-book of the Advance. The latitude and longitude, ocean currents, directions, andVorce of winds are given as in the " log." ' C-nlll ^T^i"^ abbreviations, adopted by Lieutenant Maury from those of Captam Beechy, ate used to denoie the state of the weather : A for blue sky. c " clouds. d " drizzling ra:in. / " thick fog. ; dark stormy weather. hail. lightning. misty or hazy, cloudy. STATE 0» WEATHER. h I m The force of the wind is marked as follows : for calm. . ' I 2 3 4 5 6 light airs light breeze, gentle. • moderate, fresh, stormy. p for passing showers. q " squally. ^ r " continuous rain. «." snow. t" thunder. « " ugly threatening weather ■ w " wet dew. A star * under any letter denote ^ an extraordinary degree!! ollowEf: J 7 for moderate gale. 8 " fresh gale. 9 " stormy gale. 10 " heavy gale. 11 " storm. 12 " hurricane. The state of the weather, and the ditection and force of Ihe wind, were noted hourly; the daily mean and the true direction have be6n given in the abstract Three houriy observations (with some exceptions) were made for the temper- ature of air, and water, and atmospheric pressure, of which the daily mean read- ings are given in the abstract. The readings of the aneroids are given uncor- rected, as me^e approximations. For all of this labor I am indebted to the in- teUigence and zeal of my friend. Mr. Schott, of the United States Coast Survey. E. K. K 3^:5 -^-t^. 510 METEOROLOGICAL ABSTIIACT. V '^ /: ■jaiauicu«(i (ouJHjingjo ■Jiy »iii JO iJui«X o'H svwvSSvv i'si'ggl-g'g "S-gfi S o » o C n 00 « 0* q6 o o I-* no not 94 M ■tunufi M S5 M ■&> •^Hvi •oooooooe* ' -v — e -^ ■♦ o -^ SSSS;SSS» Si ■o O ^««i~ »j ■< pit > » a r ;i CA 1> . a .^ • . ^ o « t. J_8 g S S__S _J3__g gj 8 g gi gj g Ij 8 S^ ss ss nn CQ PI w V V ^ + ' I r « M ^»i M CO WW J5»i 2 : S 2 w "^ «> :"> >■ «o to o o j^ o o o °9 ^3! gg $ ■; ggssaasa M e« '«f o -^We*iS£au':imj!#^'^'--'-**;mr2 b» iitj^i^ ;awyiwtH. < O PS n CO ■P w O. w o o n I c o 5 »• I ^ S * CJ — > mi ^ fc« e c >. •§ a, ttt s g ^ « — a S O £y« = £= = •!« ^' J« J^ J ii a tj o t CO to cd n e s. a. Q. * e.^ C ci. bo ■ ■■ g c g g e e c c c = cct3"*2°^ = g J(>«.iujjngjo :s 1 ■•■.— . .J O O O fc. .XJ J3 s jiy "in I" •|'"iA\ 1^ xa + ««-• — MeO»MM_CQMc "> ei n n ^Z. 'uno|} W 01 yuQ H H 'S IS I'd <. CI O ?s? ■S 5 ■•i«a. i gsagggg s issssa a 8 « S!! ; t-,«i / 514 METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. • * 1 HALF-MONTHLY ABSTldcTS OF THE LOG-BOOK OF THE UNITED STATES BRIG ADVANCE. n b ta. < pq 's § < 1 i ■ Made fast to the land floe. Thick fog. WaQied about Jihs ofa mile to the eastward. Much ohsiructfd by the bay ice. Open water to the S. and E. Water sky. Refi-action very gteBt. Ice opening to the N.E. Warped i^laliou, 107 feet. W4rping toward Urowne's Islands. Still in park. Fasit with ice. Young ice, in some places thick enough to bear a man. he drifting to ths leeward. Glaciers. Thermomeier 53° in the sun. Fog sometimee so thick as not to see a ship's length. IceopBiiing a little. Difficulty in steering the vessel on account of the cur- rents. Beating to the eastward through bav i«>, Open water. Melville Pay. Rocky bottom at 32 (^thorns. Off Cace York. in V Z - n J?! ••S o. f. b. b. , b. f. b. . b.c. b. Q ■<< o • w < Eh w Q M H 2;. & u X E-i Ph O « o o 6 O >^ S H hi a o n <: >^ I-) a o M o ■•I .£.91 •ai €>• c <=>•• OZ 0; x: I 2 «> tzja 1^ 2_ Of Is 55 2 • A ■'•tj n ■OS Id I e . tm i V — -- -its 5=x^g|. = o ■5S £<« 5 « ,7 ^-o o 25 'i»iaiiji£iuf] uita|4 ^. juajirjjiiifjo 'da ^5 SSSg » O M « ceo M <9> 00 CO (6 I-* 00 ■P"'M a'n JO aJJu^ ■Jiy aqijo O U3 00 04 64(0 lO(J0 e« « to (•■ Q, T «l- «-«»»„ ««„,^L 2 2 S:'2i, H H H H .I'M . °2ifefe;s |-^- "WnoH 22' I' o » CD o I" i Sr 8 : ■•••ajf 2 8 5 S S «o « 8 _2ea snasas saassT ',« 516 METEOROLOGICAL 'aBSTRAcT. • * * * HALF-MONTHLY ABSTRACTS OF THE LOG-BOOK OF THE UNITED STATES BRIG ADVANCE. i X •< u O s s .J S oo M M m * a u CO \ ^ Sounded in 30 l^tboms water, ittas of a mile from shore. Off Point Innes. Off Point Innes. The tide changed and set to the south (true). The floe we are f^t ,to seems to drift in the same direction. Loose ice drifting to the N. and W. (compass). True bearing of Cape Riley, S. e?" 42* E. Ice closing in upon us. Sounded in 38 fathoms water, soft mud. True bear- ing of Barlow's Inlet, S. 84° 52" W. Ice opening Barlow's Inlet. Ice opening and closing. Off Barlow's Inlet. * Off Barlow's Inlet. No change in the Ice. Open water in sight to the westward (true). Bar- row's Strait. A great deal of bay ice abont ns. Barrow's Strait. No change in the ice. Barrow's Strait. Floe ice drifting to tbe northward. Barrow's Strait. A feeble aurora at midnight. Pancake ice very thick. < Barrow's Strait. Got into a lead of open water. Barrow's Strait. Entrance of Wellington Channel. A feeble aurora. a s s fc* * ««r » ^ . ^ . m 6 . o , .a .DO - ■40iaujujifi •lljnJ'lSiaH "••re 29.84 30.03 30.23 30.32 30.38 30.38 30.54 30.71 30.46 30.27 29.87 29.72 29.99 30.i2 30.03 QO |O03ujjtisjo +30.4 30.8 30.4 29.1 30.3 31.6 30.5 30.6 29.9 29.8 29.0 + /- •JIV »i|l JO +34.9 35.5 33.1 27.5 28.7 32.3 31.4 25.2 27.6 34.3 28.1 14.6 1.3.4 21.5 19.0 1+ 1 •in JO Kjjoji i^ « «-H et —oimm ^9i JO03|{JJ||gjo ■JAlSUiOJUfl HUH 9 B ".2 US §s E ii II -i 15 fl, 3 « 5 8 O OS. ££« a o I S "t_ o a, .-8 P o — c a o — c — © as • ".d Ol-O 8. «z> *■ ^'^ T3.S »-2 = WW*. ,25 i *i » Q 01 O c " 0) c au s ■ K = _ o J> o = 5 » — = t3 J£ il .2 o c-o V £ s = « £ o o op > ..a 00 u , « ■ o . . . u . . ) U OA . O sr: 8 8 88 8 S SSSggSgfc \:> *dlU9X UKI]f ^1 fJIIOff n "I una «» « n « ^«>» n «««<«««« (CO ^-^p ,3" •§8 ss 2 2 :8 'sa a sasaaas '^ > .» e ||tft^ r^P > -< METfeoilOLOOICA-L ABSTRACT 519 'C ^sasssadl^ss asss T Ji Ja, '->■•'* ^ 520 meteorological abstract. Pi n K Ui / -.1 o w - • . H o o P3' ^ 6 s • ■ •' g ■ 1 •J H z ■< EB o i iS ft bT u n H (► > •s J A parhelion visible. Ibe three feet thick. Off Beechy Island. Two parhelia, visible from 10 to 12 A.M. Off Beechy Island. Off Beechy Island. Off Beechy l»land. Off Beechy Island. Off Beechy Island. Aurora to the southward and westward, 5 A.M. (true). Drifting slowly to the northward and weat- Off Beechy Island. Very little drift since yesterday. Off Beechy Island. Heavy snow-drift. ''. Ice much broken near the vessel. Off Beechy Island. ^ Off Beechy Island. Off Beechy Island Off Beechy Island. . a 1 a 1 % % e 2 a , y "S 6-a ^.'^A^ E = Se66S .. o-.oo^ .o .fiOiO . O . . £t .0 0.0.0 29.97 30.03 30.03 30.06 30.18 29.93 29.85 30.04 29.98 29.50 29.65 30.08 30.32 30.32 30.16 3 ' •"I'M "m jo»j«j4ngji) ; 1 1 \ i ■■#■ ■unoH W UI yua : :■: : ; : : : ::::::: s ■li o • :': : : : : : ::::::: It o a P o ^ m It ■i i i-ict« -r^not-^ ^®^sa2;s \ t ■ -fa • ■ \ *1 '#' o o m s ^ 1" - 8 ■sg |2 < J ■■J"U iiiuiii.^ m- \ METEOROLOGICAL ■ kl ^H s i ^^1 §3 V ' ■ fi> ^^H ^^. . ^H :*»< ^^^1 t^ ^H fl^ 1 fis ■ ^1 wS •Log II! " H c> 5 ^H S. by E. Weal cape o A paraselen Soand. * Drift since 1 'M s 1 °S '. 6.; " -^1 «A 1 sa 1 o>«o « 1- ODr* eJii ' 1 1 1 T «- PS m ^; , &; e^ ^2 f . ^ &\ #1 S S'M... 524 o o M METEbROLOaiCAL ABSTRACT. IIWR fON^Ilg 10 S *duMX V»i ■i!V KO JO «l)JO«W>J ij •UMH M <■! vv>a ia h ■4 a: .a 11 30 ga DH ^ fl-o cot: b"** i .A 88 8 8 giiaa 88 8 88 8^ ff IN? TT ) iT It soim*-* e«n "^ ^ CO, < Q W H I—* o I* o s CO H ^ ■■ S %!=; i K " 6 • . ft- « '■ J » << >li3 ' ■u » V ;^ i" J> #: A • V V •• <. ml METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. 527 k»1 r '',.\'^ «}'«i 528 METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. ■\-'. HALF-MONTHLY ABSTRACTS OF THE LOG-BOOK OF THE UNITED STATES BRIG ADVANCE. n OS •—• i Ice found to be three feet thick. A heavy snow-drift. A heavy snow-drift. Could feel Ice through a bole cut to the depth of 11 feet. * Drift since the 20th ult. Position at 9 P.M. No bottom at 330 fathoms. 11 A.M., a parhelion visible. 10 P.M., a halo about the moon. I.A.M., afaint aurora to the southward and eastward. 7 P.M., a halo about th* moon. 3 A.M., heav^y snow-drift. No bottom at.a64 fhthoms . Line drifted southward. 1 A.M., a bright paraselene visible for an hour. At noon, a bright parhelion, atmosphere filled with minute particles of snow. 2 P.M., heavy snow- drift. A faint parhelion visible. ♦ Drift since the 4th. Position at 84 P.M. 1 Means. ■1 . E «j . .-^ o « O.. .a ^-O Xi XIJDO ^.O O J3 £t£i joaj«jjiis,l<> •jiyoiUjo III 1 1 1 11 III II .11 f w-*^ « «« — »- e»TCiO «rt «« m ll ■MiniH : : : ?? : : : : : : : : : :S « «. Ed H , . il U- a 1" -•■■■■ a' 5 s ■ s 6 i 1 t i' o / « 71 55 40 N. 71 54 57 71 53 02 71 51 18 7150 32 714820 71 41 27 7137 20 71 27" 59 I-? — iMc« ♦ inot-ai'aor- e«« ■*'0 ■ 1 .■ . \ n > ' . '^ METKOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT o t a < « CO Q O o c n 6 s C o oa < s H O n III ^1 'si-o i 529 r^ ii u» Ojs « toed JS S V »^« E" b£ -Cn* 3V7 s^ .<: ■ 1^ ID =c?l?S se |i|e C t > •- »l 3 ? I 5 a- s 3 ^1 ls»1g5 s .9 3 SSs tn O o . — ^ 17? --c ® £ S ■5S a<5 as 5 " II ■j-tiaiutuva, US.t[{ jojaBjjnsjo £sr!iisi w-go^it a. B « » o _• S 1 - B S £ i *ssa; 3 2 g,Z OB ^is«SS ■a S3 ,5.S5^£ SaS 8 If (o — -c ^ a> t^ o C V ja &; ^ u m w 3 2 O < ss ^■■g. E^es ISS ES S EE «-v3m o"SS gj i>S s c^ or ■iiV»i|ljo ••n ■P"iA\ JO iJMi n fjnoH fiff iTTT +iTT T' n^^co r«o<«<^ Si Si. nZZ ■) -i 1 1 cn<7« QDO TT 1 1 1 T mo ^n / V WW v< ■'; — 1 ^>;^» w&^' zz 'zz *<« H 2 ' 2^ 1 w tn M-i ' ,■ * M ;i ■: ' » ■t% s z ea ■«» to tx V 3> C — 5f M ^ F^ ^ -« M Ol jJ ^ 2 £2 ** » $ s s^ n ^ 55 p oo 1 \ V " <^ St r (I 530 METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. < > < w ■e\ H 02 .ca M H • D (i3 X H Em O o o » 6 o .-3 S H Pi ^C(SC>,-C-D'4;iu>ct3 . c =■ S "^ u s .2 5fiz k -3 s. = -s£-Ss£s.5 So •til" ggaS '".5-e=Sc. .«« " O », .2 o S I- = 6-j=.2-*oia.t:a)T3 "S. O On « s 03 V OCL1.O ea s 15 ' -.53' "|1J>')'I*''H JO aJHjjtig ji> M A A .^ .:^ cd ex w W O OD ^ > .t ; o a) 5 S - , . O " « u i o-° = =«. . — o "1"1 ■ « o i; ^ i: 0) . ^ ^a m a S S*'S25; tot "O ca.co a •* = ex; <5 « as a±: »■ S.5b *£ ■=.£■£ * ?; o o ■— -5 .8 S = i ISw £| ■•=•=3 "l-jiS -1 '■g.= 2 •Vzs'sS-'; ,go«3Sog.S£o 0^ « cj , 2x: 11^ w .-■=,:: .a- E BBS d r.a S,i S S S o o ■J!V aifi JO CO A O tO •PWAV ar|ijo»jjoj| >? 2 ,P3 -unoH £.2 I I -H-l + ++ •rt O* to to 5D PI + ++ +++' c«o»>-i c» cim ^« w -«o izi 9, 8. 1 1 Is -M 8 :g g 2 S 2 8 R S2 SS 2 '3 It I'll «■ " C \£ C .. = .^D = M° 5 5 i; ^ l-^ = - c— c - > = w sf 5 ■- « bi-b - «;=£ = o ,-:) .■3°C I — 5: c a c S I in - 3) ^" w^ I = o 3 ■" -r 5 I "■='- ^Z^ 1 S >i et = ^- <:S = H;5 lu £ - X •- U I 2 •IBU -^ e*> ^ in uD t.- - " O — aj J— « 9 9 ,£■ 3 I •* » - 2 - w .E-o o 3 - ^ SC « C C 31 . =." — r a ' e r: " * & turn I V," *-S! = ■a E i: »"J \ *-!^ > ...>>,. ■;«• ,» . . . ,.. i, lit ||Si? ed =-i = c J ^ S'iti g ■fl" S£'i£ = g &?5^. fej: = =r «. -, = '■ - 1 'S "".l^ti; .S ■ « •: 2 -3 = ■■• t» C-" c t * "ft '- ££»li-S B • i=s=-o €^3^ii ,-s .-aSs £i - ?5S .'^ 0» ■»! •T» -/ •■ w - » S .p ■s-ll^l "litl»i o w ill^^l -D «J X 5 r-3 = = " -is. 5 »■ I = ST "s^-tl ■-■?il.-5 r~ — — = 111-'? M j:.c.e.Jo.^ lift! .5^ 3 =~" j,-' ■MP 51 S fj "t- = ■- ?•= H 5f six': ■^ : §■ f ?. s 3 o METEOROl^OGICAL ABSTRAC?: 531 w •f- a < S n H :: I ~ s o <3 Q :*■ : •8 • S 3 8 S- 5SS5! : :S S5S': $2 "g gggs s ess ss t^ QO 01 9 '^ sagaaa a a a saft -^i^ *, r-' 1^' m -i. t-* "'■•'" \' .f- METEbROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. "-^.. -i» •= o'. § ^ IS n 33 11 c c .Q.J . . .ciS . . . ^ .a A . c o c ^ 'niauioiig •injojii»i»H ••■•I'M ""n losoqingjo ■iiy Mn JO duidx u«aw •in JO »jjnj sfSsassR wwCTWcoTOC'Sca r-; p CO m -tr o ^ oceai A AM et "-"t" O 0> CJ M 00 l'^ onmeo*-4e9io oe«e««-^<<<^io ^1 -sjiiuH toto^ ZZ - ?. K ^=asa* i 8 'o s 13 SSSgoSSS •5S5;S88S ■1 «> w ^ in o t- a) c o — w !». »■ •/» r • , •>' METEOROLOGICAL ABSTRACT. 533 534 METEonOLOGICAL ABSTRACT. >- -- o o a 0.8 = o C W) Bi =) S 3 B n 4- r jj u .' t — "* ^ « * 1* <- 2 -a .a = .H >. -a ^ ~ J' = JS^ .E 3 CO . 2 ^Tl c « c s 3 .2J' o (tf » « S 2 S; » o >^ ™ "^ ^ " c 5 c E«; i2-3 ^, u SKaS S S £ "- M= on S fct — ~'^C&-3.-,"*T''^3032 Z •3Jg=S '=Ji'2s5' -" J - :? •-1 4 Three fathoms water. At anchor, PrSren. \ At anchor. Proven. ■< At anchor. Proven. '• \ At anchor, Prdverf? ^( At anchor. Proven. Ice loose. Beating through loowi floe ice. Heavy stream of ice. Off Sanderson's Hope. Lati- tude of Uppernavik by midnight altitude, 72° 55' 30" N. Many bergs In sight. Beating along the land. Working through numerous bergs. A good deal of ice in sight. Heavy bergs and loose Ice. Land abom five mUes distant. Run aground. Ice driviirg slowly to the northward on both side* of the island. Ice W«se Slid setting to the somh. » c s ■St H c. r. 0. r. 0. r. 0. f. r. m 0. m. 0. b. f. b. ' b. b. b. c. m. b. c. b. c. b. c. 0. f. b. c. f.~ J'|l.l'ili|3.JH 30.48 30.32 30.48 30.41 30.34 30.20 30.26 30.24 30.00 30.19 30.29 30.12 29.92 10.04 30.00 U "l".\\ ."11 to , % ■jry a.|, j„ CO CO + "i|l JO J.U..JI « — — «««-.«« M m etmv — c« 11 n S. S.W. Variable. W.N.W. W. S.W. by W. N. Variable. N. by W. S. by^. S. by W. S. byE. S. E.'byN. ■r ts 111 (Ilia ^ u 1 . > 3 ''''■'■ ' ' - '■ ■ I . 01 — «m .«o! I e m ■ ■•■t ■^ i-i",*..* ri«-N> ' ir * ."^ ^ ' ■' J 1 MUT'LOUOLOGICAL ABSTRACT. 537 i m O ^ >~-< m X o < n ■dtii*x "it-iK •jiy »ni JO e '- * » O >■ ( « w o. . ^■ 61 = ei =->."■" = o 3 ; 5 w = « 1, J) - o C 0) » , ■ « « "~ =7 H.« - u w U u . t. u • . . . C . , I ^^^pi^^^^^^^f, «sr c 5* o o o =' o o ^ * ~ "^ ^ I^ " C O M 9 -. O *» I-. S P3 C 1/5 ' *J« « Mi m « to CO o a. jAcV^oi oo jj oTo^i ao i 1+ w^ ^ '^ C J= c ■= c , . . . U) >}i.>Z-r' 2««i; tinoH II a -= 5 •WTp :S : TlS'i^ qp-O ^ w w ■^ 85 \ / • • ■ ■ ; - ^ : , , lift \^*fc / ■■ . ■ ■ , «. , . .» .' ^ if • i ■.;<"■ ,'■ i b , <,,;^* ■ . ^ . ■— "-r ■ ' " ' * - ► ' ',' 1 ^v^J.. • • > 4 % i il,' -^ : ■' ■ ■ H. ■t' ■■'■ 1* ' ■ sH ■■1 ■M Hi ^^^k^ ^ ■ ' i: >.'■-•,, . _ ^^ -■ ' , » ■- ■. ■^ . ' , '' .<. I ' ' • ' ■ ■ 1 . ' ■' ' . ■ ' 1 1 V .. • r » ■ "■ % » * 1» \ ■ 1 ', t '• ' - - J-: ' ■ ■ ' , * ' - . . . .„ — - ■•— -v — ■ ■■•" —....-.-. . 'f 1 , ^ 'Tf;(^ ;*■ ;-:iiflttilflflll i 1 • ' • 4i> V .' , 1' "7 1 f* ' fir- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) \ 1.0 ^BS I 2.5 ^ 12^ II 1.1 11.25 us lU I' i MS. 12.0 M. IIIII16 PhfitriQrflrihip _,Sciences Corporalion J ?" ji*. \. « /, {/ ^ A ^.^^. A ,% A .^1-^- T#^' €; s V, 23'WnST MAM SIMET WiaSTIt,N.Y..14StO (716) t7a.4303 \ •L ■■(■f^'ni'.'X'. ■a\ , ■ * '' . ' ■■ V* ■■ • ..^■.t:tii\: " "v ' V _ OoS M K T lO.g UOLOGICAL ABSTRACT. w j«»« .Z-i CQ ■.^S: < ? M 73 u P9 oE-e . E .'S :i's^i = .- s =3 S=S o = ?. Wo y METEOaOLOGICAL ABSTRACT. 53<) O I < n CO M E- CO Q Eh W O O o n I o o s O w H o H tn n t— 00 S : + C4 0» O O 04 5g5 gi ■JIV^'llJo eocor S S3 V ^ ^ ^ p- 9t\% JO rfjjuj S3 P a ^3 si — -"«M " * «n« « w i-< CQPsm a ei 55 . -^ 5 i^M^' CO ^ > > S5 • 03 Zm O! si r •«»a S S S 2 •8 fe s a23 i 5 sas a a a ? jgi§ _i L /■ .■A 1 540 METEOROLOGICAI^ Fb^TRACT. • ■0 HALF-MONTHLY ABSTRACT. 541 ■J half-monthLy abstract of the mean Force of the Wind, the mean Temperature of the Air and Waler, and the mean Height of the Barometer at the Level of the Sea. \ Mean Latitude, Month. Force of the Wind. Temperatnre of Temp, of Siir- the Air. , nice oflhe Waler. Height of Ba7 1 roincter. o 1830. 49.4 N. 66.8 June. 4 3 + 41.1 39.2 + 40.6 36.9 29.95 29.77 73.1 July. 2 36.2 31.7 29.76 ]t\ ■ ** 3 35.7 30.1 29.88 August. 2 35.8 32.4 29.99 75.2 ti 4 34.2 31.6 29.97 74.8 September. 3 27.1 30.2 30.18 75.4 tt 3 16.5 29.77 74.9 October. 3 6.9 :: • 30.13 74.8 t( 2 — 2.8 SO. 18 74.7 November, 4 — 6.7 30.01 74.6 74.3 Cecember. 2 3 — 8.6 •»-16.1 -- 30.37 30.13 74.3 I85I. 2 — 13.5 -- 29.98 73.8 January. 3 — 16.6 29.76 73,3 (t 3 — 17.3 29.92 72.5 February. 2 — 26.9 ' 29.82 72.1 i« 2 — 32.2 30.38 71.7 March. * 3 — 22.7 29.98 71.0 i( ,4 — 11.5 30.14 70.3 69.8 April. 1* + 6.0 9.9 -- 30.34 30.47 68.7 May. 3 16.0 30.36 67.2 (1 3 24.2 30.11 668 June. 3 32.8 , 32.0 30.45 70.2 i ii 3 36.7 32.7 30,20 73.3 July. 2 38.3 32.6 30.22 73.8 u 3 36.4 31.5 30.22 74.7 August. 2 34.4 30.31 71.8 t4 2 " 37.3 36.7 30.08 64.4 ' September. 3 40.3 40.5 30.09 fi 542 • FREQUENCY OF THE WINDS, J -7 ■ ^ ., E. /. ■ TABLE OF THE RELATIVE FREQUENCY 6f THE WINDS m each Month, on the Meridian of Baffin's Bay {during' the Months of September Ortolcr, November, and December, on a more Western Meridian), showing thl Number of Days on which each of the ei^ht Winds blow. Meun Latitude. .StN. 74 75 '75 75 75 74 73 72 71 70 68 68 73 74 Mean Longitude. Month. 54 W. 58 70 93 93 93 85 75 70 6 62 57 56 56 • June, 1850. July. August. September. October. November. December. Jan., 1851. February. March. April. May. June. July. August. ( Sept. V. For the fall months . . . < October > \, (Nov. S _ ( Dec. ) For the winter months . < Jan. > ( Feb. S I March ; For the spring months . \ .\pril } i May V For the summer months \ "j"?^ ) (mean of 1850 and '51)1 ."'y \ ' { August J For the year . isj^ 12 I 63 29 15 23 26 14 78 From which it appears that N. and N.W. winds blow during five months of the year. During the other seven months the winds are equally frequent from each of the other quarters. r 6 23 32 I 30 34 142 \ - ■'..ski.. ACCESS TO A POLAR SEA. 543 &■ ^ * 3 4 1 9 1 4 2 6 3 1 6 8 6 12 12 6 6 3 11 1 4 2 U 4 4 1 1 3 6 3 15 26 23 6 26 7 14 12" 78 7 r ^ '*«/»""* to an Open Polar Sea in connection v,ith the Search after Sir - t. ^'"f'""'^ *" Companions, read be/ore the American Geographical and Slc^v,t,cal Socxety at its regular monthly meeting, by Dr. Kane, December 14, Thb north pole the remote northern extremity of our earth's axis of rotation. IS regarded, even by geographers, with that mysterious awe whicli envelops the maccessible and unknown. I It is shut out from us by an investing zone of ice ; and this hir^ii is so per- manent, that successive explorers have traced its putline, like 5,at If an ordin- ary sea-coast. > [ f ba?!!"L^QnIf A'n"'T''' f ^'"^"'*' ^"'^ '^''" ^''*^"«'°" '» 6ree/land. asfar S M I ^f'Z^"""^"^ « protruding tongue of ice from th^ unknown north, alohg th^oast of Greenland. I must express a doubt if the earlV voyages of Cabot, and Frobisher, and the Cortereals did more than establish dJtached points L »^,ii.?' J ''"^''^^'' •"'*ever, of the Basque and Biscaykn fishermen, about 1675, to Cape Breton, made us aware of a similar ice-jfaft along the coasts of Labrador to the north ; and the commercial route.s of the old Muscovy com- pany, a.dcd by the Dutch and Enghsh whalers, extended this apross to Spit^ bergen. and thence to the regions north of Archangel, in the Arctic Seas. The English navigators of the days of Elizabeth, the " notable worthys of the Northe Weste Passage," spoke of a similar ice-raft up Baffin's and Hudson's Bays, and the Russo-Sibcrians gave us vaguely a girdiflg-line of ice, which iprotruded irreg- ularly from tlie Asiatic and European coasts into the Polar Ocean Lastly Cook proved that the same barrier continued across Behring's Straits as high as 70° 44' north. ^ ° From all this it appeared that the approaches to the pole were barricaded with sohd ice. We owe to the march of modern discovery, especially stimulated by the search after its great piopeer. Sir John Franklin, our ability accurately to de- fine nearly all the coasts of a great polar sea, if not to lay down the no lessin- teresting coast of a grand continuous ice^border that encircles it. It is worthy of remark, that this ice, although influenced by winds, currents and deflecting land masses, retains through the con-esponding period *T-eaoh successive year a strikingly uniform outline. During the winter and spring, from October to May, or eight months of the year, it irfay be found traveling down the coast of Labrador almost to Newfound- land, blockading the approaches into Hudson's Bay, and cementing into one great mass the numberless outlets which extend from it and Baffin's Bay to the un- known coasts of the north. Influenced by the earth's rotation, this ice accumulates toward the Westward, leaving an uncertain passage along the eastern waters of Baffin's Bay • after which it resumes its march along the eastern coast of Greenland, shutting in ' that extensive region appropriated to the interesting legend, or that meteoro- logical myth, as it has been designated by Humboldt, of " I»st Greenland."_ Ita >' Twxteourse IS to the northeast, sometrmeseiivelopihg Iceland V and thence, ex- ^t. ■c 544 ACCESS TO A tending to* ti.e cast by Jan Meyen's Land and Spitzbcrgon, it crosses tl.e merid lan of Greenwich at some point between the latitudes of 70° and 73° I nowca^^your attention to a remarkable feature in this great ice coast line ^Jpon reaching a longitude of about 70° east, it suddenly turns toward the north forming a marked indentation as high as latitude 80° ; then, coming again to the -southeast until it reaches Cherle Island, it continues on with a varyhig line to . "le unexplored regions north of Nova Zembla. '> This indentation or sinuosity, best known as the old "Fishing Bight" of the Oreenlaiid Seas, is undoubtedly due to lie thermal Influences of the Gulf Stream We know that the coasts of Nova Zembla feel the influences of its waters : iind Feterroann, ami many others, guided by the projected curves of Dove, suppose that us heated current is deflected by that peninsula, so as to impress the polar ice to a grpater degree of northing than on any other part of our globe It would be important to the objects of my communication, that I should trace this ice throughout its entire extent ; but I have not the means of doing so with exactness. Dafentz, in 1596, was arrested by ice in latitude 77° 26'. upon the meridian of 70° east. Pront-schitsehelTmet the same rebuITat the same height thirty degrees further west (100° east). Anjou, Matieuschin, and Wrangell found It in a varying belt along the Asiatic coast, at furthest but fifty mUes in The enterprise of our American whalers has also traced this ice across Beh- nng 8 Straits, as high as latitude 72° 40' ; and it is probable that Herald Island in latitude 71° 17', is a part of a great island chain, continued from Cape Yacan to Banks Land and the Parry Islands; an archipelago whose northern faces are jtt unexplored, but which undoubtedly serves as a cluster (if points of ice- cementation, and abounds more or less with polar ice at all seasons of the year We have now followed, throughout its entire circuit, this immense investing body. The circumpolar ice, as I will venture to name it, may be said to bound an imperfect circle of 6000 miles in circumference with a rude diameter of 2000 miles, and an area, if we admit its continuity to the pole, one third larger than the continent of Europe. """ mrgtr But theory has determined that this great surface is not continuous It is an annulus, a ring surrounding an area of open water— the Polynya, or Iceless Sea Polynya is a Russian word, signifying an open space ; and it is used by the Siberians to indicate the occasional vacancies which occur in a frozen watei surface. Although such a vacancy as apphed to a polar sea is generaUy recoe- nized t<» exist, it is right for me to state that this opinion is not based upon the results of exploration. It it due rather to the weU-elaborated inductions of Sa- bine and Bergl,aus, and especially of our accomplished American hydrogranher Lieutenant Maury. The observations of Wrangell and Penny, and stm more lately of Captain Ipglefield, although strongly confirmatory, were limited to a range of vision in no instance exceeding fifty miles, and were subject to all the deception? of distance. As, however, the arguments in favor of the existence of such a sea are of.the highest interest to future geographical research, and, so lar as l am aware, have never yet been grouped together, I shall take the lib erty of presenting them to the society. The North Polar Ocean is a great mediterranean, draining the northern slopes of three continents, and receiving the waters of an area of 8,761,270 square miles. In deed, the river systems of the Arctic Sea exceed those of the Atlantic ,/ N< POLAR SEA. 545 w2.rat!lTr °^*'°"««'»""» »««• ^i'Jed by the diminished intensity and the Wvdim^^l .1 ™^' '""^''"^ '^^ atmospheric precipitation, and proba- bly dimmish the compensatmg evaporatioo. Yet this position calls for further mvest.gat.on to establish it absolutely ; for recent experiments show thafeven m the dark hours of winter, and at temperatures of fiay degrees below zero evaporation goes on at a rapid rate. That it holds, however, in genLl ter^I' « evident from the inferior specific gravity of the A;ctic waters S aS , (10265) mdicates about 3.60 per cent, of saline matter.. ^ The atmospheric preisipitation extending to the adjacent land slopes, thi melt- ing of the s^ows and accumulated glacial ftiateriaUnd the floods of the\reat Siberian rivers, are sufficient to account for this f harinrUetTnrt°'"T''' '' '' '"'""' '*"'* ""^ ^"^^'"'^S*''' ^^^'" ^"«' have an outlet, and its contents a movemejit independent of the faws of cur- rents generally operative, wMch would determine them toward the equator. BehiL^ITr!', ""^f ""•""*=« .*° «"'» ^Sres. filom the polar basin are but three ; Behring s Straits, the estuaries of Hudson's jind Baffin's Bays, and the inte.va^ tendTe^ fn'f H ' '"' f "'''^' "•"" '""^ ^'1^"^''' «--' •'"-" - the Sn 1« snrL« . .'"* ^i'""'' *' •' P'-°''»We,lfix,m imperfect observations, that Lour NPittr'.r " ^""'"y^^^ing f'""™ one to two and a half knots an hour. Neither the soundings nor the diameter of this strait indicate any very large deep-sea discharge in the other direction. J- «=r, fplnr n "'^ ?'?."• ""* ^'^'^'""^ **'° ^^'^'^°' ''"''«°'' »"« been traced by Pro- fesso Dove to the uppef regions of Nova Zembla; so that Baffin's Bay, and th^ Hudson, and Greenland Seas, constitute the only uniform outlet to thelK,lar It is by these avenues, then, that the enormous masses of J^ng ice with the (teeply-uninersed bergs, and the still deeper belt of colder JPfare convey- tSZ ,^"'^''!y'r '^' «""• Sfean.. whose waters it is es'tilated at least ufTr '" KK • !^ ^"'* submerged icy river flows southward to the regions of the Caribbean. The ^recentMabors of the United States Coast Survey and Nautical Observatory h^ve, as the society is aware, developed and confin^ed he previously-broached idea of a compensating system of'^lar and S cun^nts ; and we are prepared to consider these colder streams as equahzers to the heated areas of the tropical latitudes, and analogous in cause and eflect to the recognized course of the atmospheric currents In fact, Dove, Berghaus, and Petermann, three authorities entitled to the high- est respect, recognize for the Arctic Ocean a system of revolving currents whose direction during summer is from north to south, and during winter the reverse or from the south to the north. The isotherms of Lieutenant Mau,^ projected by Professor Flye) point clearly to the same interesting result Co2 ^Tt ^S^h!,*^* """^^'nen's of discharge and supply with the surface ac tions, we find during the summer months a movement along the northern coasts of Russia clearly from east to west, from Nova Zembla westwardly and south- westwardly to Spitsbergen, wheje, after an obscure bifurcation, it Is met by a great drift from the north, and carried along the coast of Greenland, in a large body known as the East Greenland current. The observations collected by Lieutenant Gommandipg De Haten sBdwthat tfifsstrtam is deflected arouiid"" 646 ACeESS TO A Cape Farewell, passing up the Greenland coast to latitude 74° 76' ; where, after coming to the western side of the bay, it passes along the eastern coast of America, evenfi^ the Capes of Florida. During tiie winter, when the great rivers of Siberia and America lose their volume by the action of the frost, a cur- rent has been noted from the Faroe Islands, north and east, along the Asiatic coast, toward Behring's Straits. And then it is that the great surface ice, form- ed upon the coasts of Asia, gives place to a warmer stream, and the heated waters of the Gulf current bathe and temper the line of the Siberian coast. All these facts go to prove that the polar basin is not only the seat of an act- ive supply and discharge, but of an intestine circulation independent of either; while the intercommunication of the whales (B. mysticeltis), between the Atlan- tic and Pacipc, as shown by Maury, proves directly that the two oceans are united. Admitting the important fact of a moving, open sea, the recognized equaliza- tion of temperatures attending upon lar^e water masses follows of course. But is the Arctic Sea, in fact, an unvaried expanse of water i. For if it be not, the excessive radiation and other disturbing influences'of land upon general temperature are well known. It is, I think, an opeTi sea. And an argument may be deduced for this belief from the icebergs. . The iceberg is an offcast from the polar glacier, and needs land as an essential element in its production —as much so as a ship the dock-yard on which she is built, and frojji which she 18 launched. From the excessive submergence of these great detached masses, they may be taken as reliable indices of the deep-sea currents, while their size is such that they often reach the latitudes of the temperate zone before theii dissolution. Now it is a remarkable fact that these huge ice hulks are con- fined to the Greenland, Spitzbergen, and Baffin Seas. Throughout the cntiru circuit of the Polar Ocean, almost seven thousand miles of circumscribing coast we have but forty degrees which is ever seen to abound in them. A second argument, bearing upon this, is founc], in the fact that a large area of open water exists, between the iflonths of June and Octol)er, in the upper parts of Baffin's Bay. This mediterranean Polynya is called by the whalers the North Water. After working through the clogging ice of the intermediate drift, you pass suddenly into an open sea, washing the most northern known shores of our continent, and covering an area of 90,000 square miles. The iceless interval is evidently caused by the drift having traveled to the south without being re-enforced by fresh supplies of ice ; and the latest explora- tions from the upper waters of this bay speak of avenues thirty-six miles wide extending to the north and east, and free. The temperature of this water is sometimes 12° above the freezing point ; and the open bays or sinuosities, which often indent the Spitzbergen ice as high as 81° north latitude, have been observed to give a eea-water temperature as high as 38° and 40°, while the atmosphere indicates but 16° above zero. But, besides these, we have arguments growing out of the received theories of the distribution of temperature upon the surface of the earth. The actual distribution of heat in this shut-out region can only b6 inferred. The system of isothermals, projected by Humboldt upon positive data, ceased at 32° ; and the vifews of Sir John Leslie (based upon Mayer's theorem), that the north pole was the coldest point in the Arctic'regions, have, as the members are aware, since been disproved. : . .'iiiit.-, .^v.:v.»;.. . b POLAR SEA. 547 , Sir David Brewster, by a combination of the ob^ervatiort* of Scoresby, Gieseke, anlie clinjate'must be milder, or, more properly speaking, the mean annual temperature must be more elevated! Petcrmann, taking as a basis the data of Professor Dove, deduces a movable pole of cold, which in January is found in i line from Melville Island to the River Lena, and, gradually advancing with the season into the Atlantic Ocean, recedes with the fall and winter to its foriner position. Such a nlQ^vement is clearly referable to the summer land currents with their freight of polar ice. With the consolidation of winter, the ice reeedrs, aifd'ttie Gulf 19Efeam WTeiS more perc(y)tibly into tlie far north. The mean temperature of the northeast coast of Siberia is forty or fitty degrees colder than that of the western shores of Nova Zembla, while in July it is twenty degrees higher. • But if any point between 75° and 80° north latitude, a range sufficiently wide tojnclude all the theories, be regarded as the seat of the greatest intensity of cold, we may, perhaps, infer the state *f the Polar Sea from the known temper- atures of other regions, equally distant with it from this supposed centre ; though, as the lines of latitude do not correspond with those of temperature, this must be done with caution. ^ I have been interested for some time in examining this class of deflections ; and I find that they point to some interesting conclusions as to the fluidUy-of the region about tl^ pole, and its attendant mildness of weather. Thus, for in3ta|mte Cherie Islancl, surrounded by moving waters, but iii a higher latitude th||^lville Island, the seat of the greatest observed mean an- nual cold, the temperature was found so mild throughout the entire Arctic win- ter, ^hat rain fell there upon Christmas-day. Barents, a most honest and reliable authority, speaks of the increasing warmth as he left the land to the north of 77°. Tlie whalers north of Spitzbergen con- firm the saying of the early Dutch, that the " Fisherman's Bight" is as pleasant as the seS of Amsterdam. EgedesminJe and Rittenback, two little Danish and Esquimaux settlements , on. the west coast of Greenland, in latitude 70°, w ah a climate influenced by adjacent land masses, but nevertheless not completely, ice-bound, are in the isothermal curve (summer curve) of 50°, giving us a vegetation of coarse grass- es, and a few crucifers. , In West La|\Iand, as highas 70°, barley has been, and I believe is still grown ; though here is its highest northern limit. If 80° be our centre of maximum cold, the pole, at 96°, ia at the same distance from it as this West Lapland ^imit of the growth of barley ! ^ But there are other arguments based upon known facts, and facts popularly ^nrecogniwd, bearinf upois tM tfieorjr of an opn seal ~ v : />'. » A 548 ACCESS TO Ji Tub miobations or iNiHAL life. At the utmost limits of northern travel at- tainpd hy man, hordes of animals of various kinfls have been observed to be travfhng still further. ^ The Arctic zone, though not. rich in ^cies, is teeming with individual life, and is tlT6 home of some of the most numerous families known to the ti^uralist. Among birds, the swimmers, drawing their subsistence from open watrr, ^ro predominant ; the great families of ducks, Auki, and procellarine birds (Analina, Alcintt, and ProttUarinct), throng the seas and passages of the farliorth, and even incubate in regiond1)f unknown nOrthemness. i The eider duck liap been traced to breeding grounds as high as 78° in Bafflnl's Day, and in conjunction with the brent goose, seen by us in Wellington Change, and the loon and liltte auk, pass in great flights to the northern waters beyond. The mammals of the sea— the huge cejacea, in the thtee great families, Beltnida, Delphinida, and Phocida, represented by the whales, the narwhal and the seal, as well as thaf ■Strange marine pachyderm, the tusky walrus, all pass in -tchooh toward the northern waters. I have seen the white whale {Dejphinopterus beluga) passing up Wellington Channel to the north for nearly four successive days, and that too while all around us w{is a sea of brokenHce. So with the quadrupeds of this region. The equatorial range of the polar bear (U. maritimut) is misconceived by our' geographical zoologists. It is fur- ther to the north than we have yet reached ; and this powerful beast informs us of the character of the accompanying hfe, upon which he preys. The ruminating'aninials, whose food must be a vegetation, obey the same im- pulse or instinct of far northern travel. The reindeer (Cmus larandiu), al- though proved by my friend, Lieutenant M'Clintock, to winteY soraetimes^in the Parry'group, outside of the zone of woods, comes down from the north in herds as startling as those described by the Siberian travelers, a "moving frfrest of antlers." , * The whalers of North Baffin's Bay, as high as 75°, shoot tiem in numbers, and the Esquimaux of Whale Sound, 77°, are clothed with their furS. Five thousand Bkins are sent to Denmarjcjrora Egedesminde and HolsteiiiBerg alone. Before passing frorn \his branch of my subject, I must mention, also, that the POLAR DBiFT-icB comes fir^t from the north. The breaking up, the- thaw of the iceiplain, does not continence in our so-called warmer south, but in regions \o fhe north of those yei attained. Wrangell spejiks of this, on the Asiatic Seas, Parry aboVe Spitzbergen ; and my friend. Captain Penny, shrewd, bold, and ad- venturous, confirms it in his experience of Wellington Sound. In addition to all this, we have the objkbvations op actual travel ; although this, confirmatory as it is, must, like the theoretical views, be received with cau- tion. Darentz saw an opening water beyond the northernmost point of Europe ; Anjou the same beyond the Siberian Bear Islands ; and A^^ngell, in a sledg^ journey from the mouth of the Koijrma, speaks of a " vast ^imitable ocean," illimitable to mortal vision. ^ ' To penetrate this icy annulus, to m^ke the " northwest p&ssage" the north- rast passage to reach the pole, have been favored dreams since the early days of ocean navigatidn. Yet up to this moment complete failure has attended ^ every attempt. One voyager. William Scorcsby, known to the scientific world for the range and exactness of his observation, passed beyond the latitude of 6 1 ° 30'. But after discarding the apocryphal voyages of the early Dutch, whose / POLAR SEA. 519 N imperfect nautical observiTtion rendered entirely unrclmbic their assertions of' • - Jatiludes; we have the names of hut two who may be said to have attiunea the parallel of 88° ;. Heindrich Hudson in 1007, and Edward Parry in our own times. , This latter'navigatJ^t that tfio sea, ice-dogged with ils floatta^masHcs, was no^tho element for successful travel, and with a (iarinK^unequalcd, 1 (liink, Jn the history oijpers^al enterprise, determined to cross the ico upon shMlges y The spot he selected w^north of Spitzbergon, a gfoup of rocks callod the Seven Islands, the most northern known land upon our globe. With indomita- ble resolution fib gained within four hundred and thirty-five miles of his !uy». terious goal, and then, unabloto stem the rapid drift to the southward, was ' ^ forced to-ireturn. But the question of access to the Arctic pole— the penetration to this Sk sea— is now brought again before us, not as in the days of Hudson, and ScinTs- by, and Parry, a curious problem for scientific inquiry, but as an object claiming ■ philanthropic effort, and appealing tluft to the sympathies of the whole eivili/.td .world— the rescue of Sir John Franklin and his followers. ' « The recent discoveries by the united squadrons of Do Haven and Penny, of Franklm's first winter quarfrrs at the niRuth of Wellington ChanneC uidi'd by the complctej)roof8 since obtained that he did' not proceed to the cast or wvM, render it beyond conjecture certain that he passed up Wellington Chiiiiiitl to the nflrth. Here we have lost him ; and,%ave the hinely records upoii the toitib-stonog of his dead, for seven years he has been lost to the world. To assign his exact position is impossible : wrf only know that he has traveled up this land-locltod channel, seeking the objects of^his enter^jrise Vb itie north and west.' That some of his party are yet in existence, this is not the place to argue. ;,et the queBtion«rest upon the opinions of those who, having visited this regioti, are at Ijjrfst bettor qualified to judge of its resources than those who have formed their opinions by the fireside. '* . - The journeys of Penny, Goodsir, Manson, and Sutherland have shown this tract to be tf tortuous estuary, a highway for the polar ice-drift, and interspersed with islands as high as latitude 77° ; beyond which they could not see. It is up this channel that the searching squadron of Sir Edward Belcher has now disappeared, followed by the anxious wishes of those who look to it as the final nope of rescue. I regret to say, that after considering carefitfy the prospects of this squadron, I hjve to confess that I am far from sanguinjb a« to its sue- cess. It must Ife remembered that Wellington Channel is all that has just been stated, tortuous, studded jvith islands, and a thordSghfare for the northern Ice ; and the open water stghted by Captain Penny is not to be relied on, either as extending very far, or as more than temporarily unobstructed. If we look up from the highland^ of Beechy Head, fifty miles Of apparently open navigation js all that we cart assert certainly to have been attained by the- seirohing ve». •sels, and to reaofi the present known limits of the sound would require a prog." ress in a direct line on thei^part of at^«a8t' one hundr^ and thirty miles, f : Thfey left," moreover, on the fifth of August; and ^rly as this is there con- sidered, and open as was the season, they have but forty days before winter oemenU the sea, or renders navi^itton impossible by clogging the" running gear. By a fortunate concurrence of cjrcumstapces. the squadron of Sir Fdwan} "<> w' .^,jy- . 55a ACCESS TO A -;% Belcher may do every thing ; but I must repeat that I am far from sanguine aa to their success. The Chances are against their reaching the open sea It IS to announce, theh, another plan of search that I am now before you- and as the access to the open sea forms its characteristic feature, liM^e given you the precedmg outline of the physical characteristics of the reglSTln order , to enable you to weigh property its merits and demerits. It is in recognition of the important office which American geographers may perlorm toward promoting ite utilityVnd success, that I have made the society the first recipient of the detaUs and outlines of my plan. ' Henry Grinnell, the first president and now a Vice-president of this society has dong me the honor of placing his vessel, the Advance, afmy disposition; and the Secretary of the Navy has assigned me to "special duty" for the con- duct of the expedition. My plan of search is based upon the probable extension of the land masses of Greenland to the far north-a view yet to be verified by travel, but sustained by the analogies of physical geography. Greenland, though looked upon by Gieseke as a congeries of islands cemftited by interior glaciers, is, in fact a peninsula, and foUows in its formation the general laws which have been rec- ognized since the days of Forster as belonging to peninsulas with a southern trend Its abrupt, truncated termination at Staaten-Hook is as marked as that which IS found at the Capes Good Hope and Horn of the two great conti- nents, the Comorin of Peninsular India, Cape South East of AustraUa, or the Gibraltar of Southern Spain. < Analogies of general contour, which also liken it to southern peninsulas, are even more striking. The island groups, for instance, seen to the east of these souther^n points, answering to the Falkland Islands, Madagascar, Ceylon, New Zealand, the Bahamas of Florida, and the Balearics of the coast of Spain are represented by Iceland off thejjoast of Greenland. It has been observed that all great peninsulas, too, have an excavation or bend inward on their western side, a "concave inflection" toward the interior. Thus, South America be- tween Lima and Valdavia, Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, India in Cambaye, and Austraha in the Bay of Nuyts, are followed by Greenland in the great excava- tion of Disco. Analogies of the same sort may offer when we consider those mfre important features of relief so popularly yet so profoundly treated by Pro- fessor Guyot. Greenland is lined by a couple of lateral ranges, metamorphic in structure and expanding in a double axis to the N.N.W. and N.N.E. They present strik ing resemblances to the Ghauts of India, being broken by the same great injec tions of green-stone, and walling in a plateau region where glacial accumula- tions correspond to those ofthe Hindostan plains. The culmination of these peaks in series indicates strongly their extension - to a region far to the north. Thus from the South Cape o«Jrccnlan^to Disco Bay. in lat. 70°. the peaks vary in height from 800 to 3200 feet. Those of Proven, lat. 71°, are 2300, and those observed by me in lat. 76° 10', gave sex- tant altitudes of 1360 feet, with interior summits at least one third higher. The same continued elevation is observed by the whalers as high as TV, and Scoresby noted nearly corresponding elevations on the eastern coasts, in lat 73°. The coast aeen by Inglefield, to the north of 78°, was high and com. ntaiiding. POLAR SEA. 551 Fram these alternating altitudes, pontinued throughout a meridian line of nearly elevien hundred geographical miles, I infer that this chain follow* the nearly universal law of a gradual subsidence, and that Greenland is continued further to the north than any other known land. In the ofd continents the laud slopes toward the Arctic Sea ; but although in the New World the descent ol the land gtts^"Z".T 'T'^ *"" "^^ "^""^ ^^«""«"y. Should no lounger LrlltZJZrZT' ^'""^ '""' '"^ ^"^^ ""-^ ^-^- India-n,bbercfoth.ofTne:ratn wnrared^^r^^^ """«"'*-' °' main dependence will be the snow hTdse of Sb F.n °" T*""^ •>"" *'>» credible, in the face of what obstalles to wh«t f '''"""«"''• ^' « "Iniost in- ^arty can advance The relaUve imn:,^!^ 7' ' ^*'"-«'«»"i''«d "'odse calculated, and the sysL of adv3 de^tf r*^ °""'' °'"^''«''' ''"" "« rably. aavanced dep6ts of provuions organized admi- Alcohfll or tallow is the onlv fupl ■ anH tK^ „ »■ is more for thawing the snow for k-tl*';^^^^^^^ ^^^^ «PP"»»-- ^^-^ ried in a little bag. Lieutenant M^Pl^^r^l r "« '^' "°" "« «="• tion. traveled thus eigh ^"5 i^^le^tTeVn ' ?"™'"'''' ^"^""'« ^^P^*''" tion equaled several thousand and B^lw""'' 7" T'''^' °'''"' "^P^'^i' in seventy.fourdays.andr ;rat:il^^^^^^^^ ^^ '^°^« ^^^ ">"« nedy"wtfer;Lt?„:^^^^^^^^^ "^"^ friend. Mr.Ken. turning upon his track to avaJ t^Jle^ofi^^^^^^^^^ * 1 i ( ^ .^ THE END. } ■A * --y- ~ - ^ • ,; «* ii H^'